My First Adult Sweater!

Behold

The sweater is done!!! Well, I still have to block the ribbing for the buttons and then sew the buttons on, but I am done! I am relatively happy with the result.

The buttons are off as you can see in this photo.......I don't know how that happened because I was counting evenly as I went down that row! It's that darn knitting troll.....he always jumps in there and messes my garment up when I'm not looking! Any suggestions on how to fix that? I will probably look in my knitting dictionary to see if they talk about how to trouble shoot that!

Here's a few things I learned in from this project:
1. When it says cast off LOOSELY, do it right from the very first time it says that. I think that is why my ribbing for the buttons is puckering. I finally got it right by the collar!

2. I need to figure out how to fix a stitch that gets dropped several rows down. I thought I could do my own little fix but it shows.
3. Read and mark each section I am working in if it says 'work as for back' and you are on the sleeve. That's how I ended up with the Christopher Columbus incident. So in other words.....

PAY ATTENTION!

I was finished knitting in 30 days! Start date January 6th. Completed knitting February 5th. Took me a few days to actually get the opportunity to get buttons. And then there was that little stint in detox (caffine that is! That's a whole other post. If you have had caffine injected into your system for 20+ years without stop, it hurts a little to go cold turkey.....took an entire weekend to feel better!)

Of course I have to jump right in and start something new......the knitting ADD was killing me but I was determined NOT to start something new till I finished this sweater!


Here's the purse I am working on....impressive don't you think?










Here's the purse that I had knitted a few months ago but never felted so I felted it this AM and it's drying. Here are some potential embellishments for it......


This one is cute and I want to find a black and white stripe ribbon to go with it.









Which one of these 2 do you like better? I got
these flower and thought they would look great

on a bag but I'm having trouble getting my

mental vision come to reality.

I'm in a purse mood again.............the ideas are swirling! I've done several in the past. See the Sept 29, 2007 post to view my other purses....for some reason couldn't get it to track back to that date.

Next project after the pink bag....or maybe during is a sweater for my husband.

This one by Brooklyn Tweed from the Interweave Knits mag is what I am planning on doing.

It's knit in the round!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You know how I love that!

No Exploration for Me!

Well, I didn't even make it out of the harbor and the queen called the expedition back...see previous post if you're in the dark!

Good Side Bad Side

The more I looked at it the more I realized I would have the collar of the sweater in my mouth based on how high up it was going to be without the neck shaping!! So I ripped them both out....^&*(%$. How many times have I been told....trust the pattern!!!

But I must find a positive in this scrapped expedition......I really only had to rip out about 20 rows or so. It REALLY could have been ALOT worse. So I am really thrilled about that. The sleeves and the right and left fronts are drying after blocking so I should be able to start putting it together tomorrow after work.

I plan on studying the pattern VERY well to make sure I don't put the sleeves on the front part of the sweater!!!!! Don't laugh, it could happen!!!

Good Night Good Knitters!

Holy Moly! Nina, Pinta and Santa &^%$!!

So last night I weave in the ends and lay the back and two front pieces out to block and what do I find but a mess up!!! On one of the front panels I had shaped the neck all wrong!! So I blocked the back and one side then waited till this AM to fix the one side. Now that I read the directions I think the one I blocked was the wrong one, not the one I just fixed!!!!!!! &^%$#@(*&!!!!!!!

Soooooooo I think I can make it work! At least now they both match and I will be able to continue with the ribbing and I really don't think it's going to make that big a difference. I will find out when it's done whether or not directions are important! HA! I have a feeling I will be proven wrong, but I'm in the mood for an experiment....and aren't the best knitters the ones who have made mistakes and either found they needed to do it the right way OR they indeed are Christopher Columbus and have charted a new world!!!

This is the back, not the mess up!!!

The other thing I was thinking as I was dragging out all the gear for the blocking..............."I probably could have bought this sweater in five minutes flat for a whole lot less money!" What is it about spending hours and money on making a sweater????? Is it because I can't find exactly what I'm looking for? Is it because I like to be able to tell people that I made it and have them look at me with shock and awe? Is it just because I am stupid? Time will tell, huh?? When I'm off to the next crafting obession, maybe I will find the answer......or maybe it's in the 'New World'.
Off to EXLORE!!!

Happy Knitting from Christopher Columbus!

One Down, One to Go!

Here's one completed sleeve!! I can't believe how far I have gotten! I know now, I can actually finish an adult sweater!!!!

Once the second sleeve is complete then I have to block all the pieces and sew together then cast on for the ribbing for the buttons and collar.

Not too many adult responsibilities this week in the evening so I might be able to get the sleeve done in a couple nights and will be able to start the ribbing by Friday!!

Happy Knitting!

It's NOT about winning he says.....

Meet Lego Driver - Car 51

We survived the Pinewood Derby! Despite many attempts, 'Lego Driver' came in second to last in the Bobcat standings. He looked tuff and he hung in there to the end but just didn't quite have the goods to compete with the big dogs! In the words of the 'designer/manager' of the Lego Driver crew.......'this is a building year'. So car 51 will be retired and an entirely new design will make it's debut in a year. We think we have a 'ringer' in the family.....Papa, the mechanical engineer! It will probably cost us big to bring in an expert, but money is no object when you're trying to win a race. Maybe we can get some sponsors....

The funny thing about it all was that I was trying to instill a little competitive spirit in the kid and all he keeps talking about is that he got a trophy even if he placed second to last. I say 'wouldn't it have been nice to win?' And he replies,' but I got a trophy, it's not about winning.' HMMMMM......after all these years in the work world I'm not so sure that's how it really goes........

Rock on Car 51, Lego Driver!

PS....yeah, the knitting hasn't gotten much farther.....I'm not even to the arm hole on the right side yet. Too much adult responsibility!!!!!

I'm Consumed!!!

Day Eight!

I am now on the right front and moving quickly.............BUT nothing else is getting done! I have worked my job on Sat nite, gone to church Sunday morning and downloaded a trail version of Adobe Photoshop Elements to try but THAT'S IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is consuming me! I am so bent on seeing how fast I can get this done I can barely think of anything else! Watch me come to a big screeching halt when I probably do something like run out of yarn!! AND I got this yarn at my LYS at the lake so it's not like I can just run there and get more!

ANYWAY.....

This is really fun and it's a blast seeing how quickly it's coming together! As I have said before, I have yet to finish an adult sweater so I am feeling like I'm accomplishing something here!

The only road block is I have to work for the next 5 days straight and have things going on at night, Tues, Wed and Thur!! Serious blips in the knitting time. Oh the tribulations of being an adult!

I'll keep you posted!

Happy Day!

Oops!

Sorry it was Day Six!!!!