redhedlvr2 | Entries tagged with knitting

I don't knit things for myself very often. Other than socks. But I'm trying to take a wee break from a steady diet of socks for me and baby sweaters for the grandbabies. They're both rather like potato chips. Once I start on them, I can't stop. And they go fast.

Anyway, my Knitpicks catalog came in last week and I'm intrigued by this sweater. Yes it's just basic knitting for the most part but it has steeks. Getting scissors anywhere near my yarn makes me very nervous. So, have any of you worked with steeks and what kind of results did you have? I foresee a terrible, yarny mess in my near future. Ugh!

I have finally completed and worn TWO pairs of socks I made for myself. Every other pair I've made have gone to others. Usually Daughter-type. But I did make the Yarn Harlots Tulip Socks for my daughter-in-law. She loves and truly appreciates them. I'm not sure what Daughter-type has done with hers.

I made one pair toe-up and the other cuff-down. The cuff down pair, which I did first, have turned out rather loose. I think I was worried about possible "armor rating" of the knitted fabric so I knitted rather loose. They have stretched while wearing and the heel is all over the place.

The toe up pair turned out tighter and more in line with my foot length, but the heel is kind of pointy. I think the solution there is to have fewer unwraped stitches left over when I do the turning.

Anyway, I'm so happy to have made something for myself for a change. With each one I learn something new so the knitting is never a wasted effort.

Yay me!

I'm making these socks with this yarn, color is High Note. Oh fun stuff indeed. Yes, the pattern has charts but they are clear and easy to my anti-chart mind. I'm loving them so much I will absolutely make a pair for myself. These are going to daughter-type as they seem to be a bit snug around the cuff area for me. I'll make mine with a size 2 needle and switch to size 1 for the foot.

Yay to fun, easy projects.

I found this really interesting cardigan in a recent magazine (no details, sorry, cause it's at home and I'm at work). I really REALLY want to make it but they would have me use charts. Like five of them. I thought, ok, I'm reasonably intelligent, I can do this. But just to be sure before I cast on even a dry run kind of thing, I added all the stitches from all the charts called for in the directions, and came up with ten extra stitches from what the cast on indicated. Also, in BIG BOLD LETTERS, they told me if I'm making a large size to start the charts right away. Well, what else would I be doing, and why the heck did they go through the trouble of printing out stitch by stitch directions if they gave me charts to begin with? I'm so confused I don't even know how to write it all out. And I'll be damned if some little chart is gonna defeat me! Its also rather alarming because it seems to be the current trend. Just about every pattern has a chart of some type. I HATE CHARTS!

Sorry, rant over.

If anybody has any words of wisdom concerning knitting with charts, I'd love to hear from you.

You HATE putting zippers in sweaters! Do NOT make another that requires a zipper. PUT THE ZIPPER DOWN!!

Oy vey.

Current Mood: frustrated

I've been watching Dexter. I'm a very sick pup for sure and quite possibly going straight to That Special Hell (for other reasons), but I really like it. Its just so dark and rather sarcastic at times. And he should be taking his shirt off more often IMHO. I might have to actually buy the series. Ugh, need more room on the dvd shelves.

I've also been watching NCIS. I bought the first season a few years ago along with one of the CSI series which I didn't like. Wound up giving that one away to a friend at work but never got around to doing anything with NCIS. Then a few weeks ago, I dusted it off and thought, I should either watch this and give it a chance or get rid of it as well. Oh man, what I'd been missing. I've even watched the current episodes airing, that's how much I like it. Except this past week when Rudolph bumped it back an hour. Damn Christmas specials.

Have to say at this point that I don't care much for Director Jen. She just has that deer in the headlights look to me no matter what lines are coming out of her mouth. Not strong enough to play with Gibbs and I can't see her as any kind of an operative, let alone the director for the agency. I'm also finding myself drawn to Gibbs/Abby as far as fic goes. Which is really strange considering my decidedly slashy tendencies.

As for That Special Hell...I'm really, really going there. I've crossed over one of the last lines I swore I'd never even get near. I've read a few Charlie/Don fics from the Numb3rs fandom and have liked them. Alot. Print out on paper alot, which probably says more for the authors since I tend to find a few I like and read everything they produce. And I've given thought to why this paring over the Winchester. Must be they are somewhat older, in their 30's as opposed to the Winchesters still in their 20's which is the age of my kids right now. I'm a sicky, just shoot me.

Finally, on the knitting front, nothing I have made for Christmas for anyone has turned out right. Everything is too small. This isn't too much of an issue for the grandbabies since there will be a smaller one in the ranks who can wear it eventually. The main issue is what the hell was I thinking when I cast on in the first place? In my own defense, maybe I just didn't want anyone growing up too fast and therefore knit to my own frozen-in-time happy memory size. Ugh, no Christmas sweaters from Nanna. WTF!

How pathetic is it when the high point of my day is having the yarn delivered to make these designed by the Yarn Harlot? Then again, they are terribly cute and both my daughter-in-law and daughter *gasp!* asked me to make them a pair. Black for daughter-type of course. Also let me say I couldn't have been more impressed with the shipping time for this yarn. I ordered on Monday, Sept 3, which was a US holiday might I add, and the box was on my door step Thursday, Sept 6. I ordered from Royal Yarn. The price was so-so.

The ~~car-cover~~, flag afghan only has 10 more rows and then I get to start crocheting all those stars. I have a feeling due to the hugeness involved, that I could probably fit all 50 on there instead of 32 called for in the pattern. This thing is a monster. But warm, so very, very warm.

The audit is well and truly over. No blood was shed and no tears wept. That has to be a first in recent history. And as usual after the event, I wonder why I let it get to me every stinking year. Mine is not to reason why, yadda yadda.

I watched Firefly and Serenity again over the long weekend. What a great show. So now I'm reading all the fic out there that sort of fills in the gaps and/or continues the story. If anybody has any good recs, please let me know.

There have been a few folks who've inspired me to get off my fat ass and loose some of the weight I've gained back. To that end, I went back, again, again, to Weight Watchers last Thursday night. They have that points thing going on there which I compared to the plan that I actually lost 65 pounds with. If I follow WW, I'll be eating like 1300 calories a day. I'm 5'7". I'll die! Or maybe just be really, really hungry all the time. So, WW for the group support and 1600 calories a day which I know works for me. The weekend was fairly good. I came out about 1 pound lighter than I went in with. Considering that I usually gain 3 or 4 over the weekend, that's a good thing. And those Weight Watchers frozen chocolate mousse fudge bars are extremely good. Who knew?

Thoughts on House S3. I didn't like the Tritter arc. It just made me mad and anxious and I get enough of that in real life. However, the kiss was pretty hot. Hope there's more of that, but with only 1 disc left, I doubt it.

Thoughts on "The Afghan From Hell". It will make a great car cover.

Thoughts on Starsky and Hutch first four episodes. OH MY GOD! Did we think the music was cool back then? Was the ENTIRE generation on drugs? But of course, it has that disco beat going on, so I'm thinking I hated it just as much then and now.

Finally, the audit is OVER!! Woo hoo, yippee, praise The Lord. Peace and quiet for the next 11 1/2 months.

Current Location: Work
Current Music: Go Ahead Angel by Eddie Burns

KNITTING - Never start to knit something with multiple strands of yarn unless you are absolutely certain you will not need to rip it out. It's never as much fun ripping out 5 strands as it is working it up in the long run.

WILD HOGS - Funny, so very funny. And no other redeeming qualities at all. Although, I was happy to see Ray Liotta had lost some weight. I still like him and his maniacal laugh.

MACGYVER - I never knew the reason Dana Elcar wasn't in the show as much towards the end was that he actually had glaucoma. Very sobering. As many of the the episodes were.

TOUR of DUTY - How in the world could I have missed watching this show when it was aired? This thing is just so everything I like in a tv series. Well, seasons 1 and 3. Didn't care much for 2, but as with most of Stargate season 6, I'll just pretend it didn't happen.

I'm very discouraged. I finally knitted a sweater for myself as opposed to always making things for others, and find the cuffs hang about six inches below my fingertips. I swear I followed the pattern exactly and checked frequently as I got to the underarms, but once assembled, the sleeves are just too long.

So, for all the knitting folk out there who might read this, any suggestions? I am NOT taking the thing apart so whatever fix is going to have to be very creative. I have been pondering snipping into the arm just above the wrist and re-knitting downwards, towards the hand. It would have to be circular, but I can do circular.

Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated.