interannette knits

today i packed up and mailed out my first ever swap package! it's so exciting! i took pictures! but, i'm paranoid about posting them until my partner gets the package. don't want to ruin the surprise!

this pasted week i did two (knitting-related) things i never thought i would do.



1. i succumbed to the siren song of silk and pretty colors.




while i always thought recycled sari silk was pretty, i'd heard only bad things about the actual quality of the yarn. pieces of hay and sticks, over/underspun, too grippy, smelly, etc. and they were all true. but it's just so pretty!



i'm making my own version of knitty's unbiased. so far i've made it smaller (i only bought one skien) and am knitting in stockinette instead of garter stitch. because even in the most uneven, crazy textured yarn, i still can't stand the look of garter stitch. i am seaming up the body now, and that is where the flaws are really getting to me. it is really hard to seam when you can't see the stitches and you can't even get the yarn in the eye of a yarn needle. so far there's been a crochet hook and lots of tugging, and cursing.


2. i started ripping out an entirely complete project to make changes and start over. and it was a sweater no less!



i decided my lucy cardigan was just too tight and started ripping. i have plans of a top down raglan with some sort of patterned yoke using the light blue swish i have left.



as you can see, i haven't gotten very far in the ripping/winding process. but the hard part is out of the way. mentally, and physically. i ended up just cutting out the neckband, because it was just too hard to figure out what was going on, and i still have a few extra balls of black swish that i can use, so i should need to worry about running out.

Well I made my goal and finished my Coachella in time for Lollapalooza, with a week to spare.



I really liked the pattern. I didn't quite get gauge so I made the small instead of my actual size and they canceled each other out, because it fits great. I am undecided on my opinions of Wick. It is really soft and squishy and machine washable, which is great. But it is such a smooth yarn that it really shows any mistakes, of which I have many. I think part of the problem was that I was knitting it at a looser gauge then the yarn was really meant for. Other than that my only complaint is that the back was shorter than the front, probably because I dont think they were the same length when I jointed them after the arm holes. I thought about doing some short rows on the back to make it longer, but decided to finish it up and try it on then rip back if necessary. Right now I am leaning towards it not being necessary, but we'll see once I wear it out of the house.

I finished Center Square within like 6hrs of starting it!



So right now I am wishing it was colder. Both because its awfully hot, and now I want to wear my hat! Ah well, come January I will be cursing the cold. I really enjoyed this pattern, probably because it was big needles and double stranded worsted weight. The color work was easy to memorize, but interesting enough to keep me interested. I used some of my left over Swish from my Lucy In The Sky. I guess that's all there is to say about it, really.

Thanks to my recent troubles with my Coachella, I decided to take a break and start something quick, easy, and fun. After a quick browse through my ravelry queue (Have I mentioned how much I love ravelry yet?) I cast on for Center Square and popped in my netflix.



One viewing of Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom later, I am about to start the crown decreases and feeling much happier about knitting. Size 10 1/2 needles are great! Nothing like instant gratification!

Too bad it is disgustingly hot out and I'll have to put my hat away for a few months before I can really enjoy it.

last night i had the depressing experience of ripping out a half done project! i dont think ive done that before, usually i just chug along and hate the end product. but i got to the point in my coachella where you can try it on, and the cowl was hanging wicked low. so i tore it all the way out. on top of that, i lost my size 7 circular which was only needed for the beginning! so i spent this afternoon going first to walmart, then our crappy joann's, and finally finding one at michael's so that i could start over.

i cast on again, this time in a small, which seems so not my size, tonight while watching desk set with my parents. on the plus side, the drape was good and i liked it except for the horrible fit. i fly back to madison tomorrow and should be able to make up for lost time on the plane.

in related knitting misfortune news, my dollar and half cardigan is still sitting on my floor waiting to be seamed. i got one shoulder set in, but it looks pretty crappy and is not motivating me at all!

i'm not usually such a hater, but this knit iphone keeps popping up and all i can think is, damn that looks awful. i could make one way better. so, i think that is on my list of things to knit, after finishing up my dollar and a half and starting on my coachella.

so remember how i quit my dollar and half cardigan? well, i changed my mind. i only had one sleeve left, and nothing else was calling to me, so i went ahead and finished. i am down to the button bands and assembling. i am predicting disaster for the set in sleeves. but, i checked out a book on finishing techniques from the library so maybe i'll learn something.

once this is done, and i get my paycheck, i plan on starting coachella. i just need to find a good yarn substitute, because i don't do suede anything.