Desert Poncho continued

I was working on the desert poncho all day yesterday.

I wound up frogging several rows because holes were too big, or things just didn't look right. Now I'm not sure how it's going to turn out.

After what seems like 12 hours of knitting, I only have fabric at the top of the shoulders, shown by the first circle in this picture. I'd hoped to be a faster knitter than that, and be at least as far along as the second picture.











I wish I hadn't frogged that swatch. I could have wet it down, wrung it out, and stuck it in the dryer to see if it shrunk some. It may need to shrink a little if it's too big for my friend. I hope it fits okay.

Swatch does not compute...

Lion Brand Suede. Soft, pretty, touch-it, feel-it yarn, until I started trying to get gauge. Then I started to hate it.

Swatch #1 looked great. It felt great. It was 4 inches like it was supposed to be horizontially. Vertically, it was 5" instead of 4".

I decided to block it and see if it got better (and shrunk a little). It stayed 4 inches across horizontally, but that didn't quite work out. Now it's 4" x 6" vertically. Oops.

If I make something else out of this, it will have to be something that doesn't require gauge, like a blanket or a scarf.


This is the swatch I wound up with. I'm going to make another in smaller yarn. It should work out, because she's a bit smaller than the pattern's smallest size.


A photo of the swatch:

Sonny and Shear 20% off yarn sale

I checked my e-mail and there it was -- a just-in-time-for Christmas sale at http://www.sonnyandshear.com.

This text is from the e-mail they sent to their customers:

"Use coupon code KNITMORE and take 20% off all your yarn purchases between now and
October 31st. You can use the coupon once, twice, as often as you like. You can pass the code
off to your friends, family....and you ShearLinks folks....feel free to post the code on your blogs.
We're fine with that and you benefit by getting the links counted toward your reward
certificate."

How awesome is that! It was all I could do not to order $30 worth of stuff. Remember, all bets are off after Oct. 31.

Swatch Love

A slightly better picture of my swatch for the Juliet sweater.

Rhetorical question for myself: If it takes me two months to knit the swatch, how many years is it going to take for me to finish that sweater? I'm not telling anybody in my family that I'm going to make it, because they're already on my case about other UFOs.

Good thing I really, REALLY love it!

I have to find a nice rectangular lace pattern that can use 437 yards of yarny goodness too for the new Misti Alpaca.

Oooh, Ravelry! I'm madonnaearth on there.

I'm in, and I like it a lot. I think I may have screwed something up a little bit though, because if I check their yarn list and I have it in a different color, I tried to add the new color. Then I'd get the yarn added to my list, but it wouldn't show up, so apparently they have to approve it before it gets added.

The fill-in-the-blank for colourway is bothering me too, because there are different blanks depending on what page of your section and ravelry you're looking at. One asks for colorway but not lot number, another asks for lot number but not colorway, and then NONE of the yarn labels actually have the word colorway on them.

So I get to the blanks, and it's kind of like, "HELLOOOO, I don't know the details." I feel bad when it comes to that part, like somebody's going to have to come behind me and finish filling out all the blanks I had left. Especially the comments part. I haven't used some of them yet, so I don't know what to say except, "It's soft and really pretty, but I haven't used it yet."

Darn you, dropped stitches!

I have already had to frog the bits of the scarf I dropped Monday night and restart it. The Knit Picks lady says you don't have to frog rows and rows of stitches, but I disagree with this pattern since it's not plain stockinette. There were so many knit togethers and SSKs and yarn overs that there's no way I could just tink one stitch five rows down to the error and still have it look like it was knit correctly.

I have also decided not to twist anymore knit stitches because I don't like how the little V's of the knit stitch don't look smooth and even. It looks a little raggedy when you twist them.



The first six rows of the scarf are worked in seed stitch to give the work a little more of a border. I was so pleased with the way it got a zigzag look as I started the leaf-looking edge of the pattern. The yarn is Caron Simply Soft or something like that, in their navy blue color range, same as the socks.

I knit the first 6 rows of seed stitch last night. I'm going to stick with it and see how it turns out. If it looks good enough, it might be someone's Christmas present. If it doesn't, it will remain mine.

I'm so excited!

I finally ordered some laceweight yarn to see how it stacks up to my regular Wal-Mart specials. GREAT prices available from some sources I'm going to list here.
FABULOUS KNIT BOOKS FOR LESS!


Bless you, www.bargainyarns.com. I LOVE your book prices--you are a book lover's best friend! Especially a book lover on a budget. I don't care if they're used, folded, spindled, or otherwise mutilated, but I do have to pace myself when it comes to craft books. I'm always wanting way more than I have room for, and they get a huge chunk of my checkbook.


I was very pleased to find the Harry Potter patterns book, and I appreciate that you had The Advanced Knitting Architect for about $7.


I think I'm going to try to knit Juliet from the top down, and I'm not love traditional sweater construction. I find myself a little teary-eyed with fear, thinking about how it might not be long enough in the torso or sleeve,waist and bust shaping. Those beautiful Asian models don't seem to have my body type.


FABULOUS SKEINS AND WONDERFUL PRICES!


http://www.shonnyandshear.com

Don't let the company's logo cuteness fool you.


I went there once yesterday, for the very first time since I've started knitting, I ordered dang near immediately!


I have been so curious about working with laceweights, and I recognized the Misti Alpaca name brand and ordered a merlot-style color for $6 bucks!


I hope this new relationship works out, because there's a lot of stuff I want to make.


I love them so much right now, just on price point alone. There's some even nicer stuff in the $22-32 dollar range I could see myself splurging on next payday if the colors I love are in stock. Awesome...can't wait to go back.


GREAT SUPPLIERS FOR YARN FETISHES!


The Loopy Ewe at theloopyewe.com


Can I tell you that they are already the awesomest, even though I haven't ordered anything yet? I love them already, and let me tell you why. I created an account there. I signed in. I had a little look around. I added some yarn to my cart, added a pattern to my cart, removed the pattern from my cart. I added another pattern. I decided I just don't have enough money to order yet, so I signed out.


I surfed somewhere else. Went back the next day and signed in again (to practice password memory and cherish a future purchase of Cherry Tree Hill in their fabulous cherry solid. I love that color. Full of fuschia goodness,which is very hard to find in a yarn, even more especially in the web's highly rated yarns like CTH).


But I digress.


WHY I LOVE THE LOOPY EWE: My cart selections are still there waiting for me! I couldn't believe it--I almost fell out of my chair.
And I'm not even one of the people quoted on there who love the company's way of doing business.







I am so ready for a visit from the UPS god that I casted on last night for a scarf to tide me over until my orders get here.


The scarf is based on Madli's shawl, a rectangular project I want to make from Interweave's Summer 2004 issue.


I hope like hell this doesn't put me in the category of little old ladies with shawls, canes, and a bad attitude for the younger folk, 'cause I'm already all that except for the shawl and cane! lol


About that 2004 summer issue. It set me back about $20 bucks but it was worth it, I think. There's about 5 projects in there that I want to make, and 3 of the 5 that I'm sure will turn out really well.




I think this Serape Jacket would be easy to make. I love the colorwork. I like this tank. I think it'd be fairly easy to make in a size that would fit.

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AND (I neglected to add...) my Ravelry invite is THIS close!



I am 772 people away from being added in, and I can hardly wait! There's so many to dos I want to have in one place without going through my entire stash. Thank you Ravelry staff for working so freaking fast now! I am READY to be spoiled, overwhelmed by knitting goodness, and whatever else you may have for me!




* You signed up on August 30, 2007
* You are #30125 on the list.
* 772 people are ahead of you in line.
* 14461 people are behind you in line.
* 57% of the list has been invited so far

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Didja get a look at the request from Interweave Knit's mailing list on how many UFOs people have going? I 'fessed up to 6. It would probably be 10-12 if I counted the individual parts of the bathroom crochet set that I have left to make.