Good Knit

I’m ready to do split off for the back and front of the halter. It’s been a bit slow because my knitting time is rather limited and I’m so tired in the evenings it takes some effort to even move.

I waited too long to get a nice outdoor photo of the top, but the picture shows the shaping off well. I also picked up the elastic to sew into the waist of the shorts – a detail I almost missed until I re-read the pattern. I will have to do short rows for the shorts which is a technique I’ve never done before.

I’m seriously considering knitting the underwear in the book too.

Okay don’t get used to these frequent posts. I’ve just been so excited about Raverly that I’ve been making time to photography my latest projects. So here’s where I’m at with the halter top in the pj set I started on Thursday (actually Friday since I made a mistake right off the bat and had to rip it out and start over):

It is the soft thing I’ve ever knit and I can’t wait to wear it!

Where to begin. First off I’m ‘breaking my only one project at a time’ rule. I’m still working on this:

My lace cardigan (and probably to become a twinset).

And I’m going to cast this on as soon as I finish this entry:

Yes, I broke down and ordered the beautiful Treasure Island cotton (pictured in the photo) from White Lies Design. I won’t tell you what I paid, but it was worth it for the softest cotton I’ve every touched. I had a bit of trouble rolling the skeins up into balls – I can’t believe a knitter of 25+ years and I’ve never handled a skein before. Anyway I got the first one tangled up really good, but my bullheadedness resulted in a ball of yarn instead of a pile of knots.

The last bit of great news is I got an invite to Raverly! I’m so happy to be part of a cool knitter’s online haven. If you’re looking for me there my user is goodknit. (go figure).

I’ve been slow with the posts as usual, but at least when I do wite I have something interesting to share. For instance I got this book for my birthday last month:

My first reaction with a raised eyebrow was “who is this really for”?  But it’s actually a very interesting book with wearable patterns. I’m planning on knitting up a few pairs of the cotton undies and see if they are comfortable. Right now I’m trying to justify spending the money on the yarn needed for a pj set in the book. It’s boy shorts and a halter top knit in light soft cotton. I think it’s lovely and I could knit it up in one weekend. The yarn would cost $46.50 U.S. though and I’ve never spent much money on yarn before. I think I’d better sleep on it.

I got this cool T-shirt for my birthday last week:

My DH ordered this online from Diesel Sweeties.

The lace cardigan as you know had to be restarted. Here’s the how much I got done before I realized the thing was too big:

And here’s the new sweater now (I’ll try not to cry – at least it’ll be the right size):

Sadly I’ve been very slow knitting my latest project. The lack of time and energy have little to do with it, believe it or not. I got several inches of my lace cardigan knit only to realize my gauge calculations were off. Sound familiar? Instead of like with the Celtic Sweater, the gauge was too big. It wasn’t 8 sts per inch but 7 sts and trust me that one extra stitch per inch really makes a difference (2 inches to be precise). So I started over with the correct gauge and things are looking better.

That’s the problem when you don’t have a pattern and are creating your own – the ‘bugs’ haven’t been worked out yet. I figure it’s worth the extra time to make it right. Had I created the sweater a few inches big all around I wouldn’t have been satisfied with it. It would have been a bigger waste of time because I would never wear the sweater.

I will post images of what I’ve done so far soon. Time is a major factor in my lack of posts.

The new job is going good, but I’m tired. It’s a lot of work running around getting everything done. Work has started reaching some stressful stages now, nothing horrible, but some tight deadlines.

I started the lace cardigan, but I’ve only knit about a inch. I’ve been just too tired to knit in the evening. Hopefully as I get use to the change in my lifestyle things will get better and I can knit again. Now I’m off to a daycare centrein the hopes of getting the girls in.

I’ve started designing a sweater. It’s knitted lace which is pretty new to me, but lots of fun. Anyway I’ve pull some yarn from my stash like a good girl. I found some beautiful, thin weight, black, 100% wool yarn. I think that’s perfect. I start knitting with it to discover black smudges on my fingers. The dye is actually transfering onto my hands!

Needless to say I had to return to the stash to find some different yarn. I can’t imagine knitting with wool that keeps staining my fingers. Any thoughts on what I can do fix the yarn so I can use it? I thought about wrapping it back into skeins and washing it in cold water and vinegar. It would be a lot of work, but if it worked I think it would be worth it.

A quick peek at my initial swatch.

The new job is going well although I had an anxiety attack yesterday. I think it’s the result of all the changes in the family’s life. For my mom’s birthday I knit her soft, fuzzy wrist warmers. I forgot to photograph them before giving them to her – sorry all. At the moment I don’t have anything on my needles. I seldom have UFO’s. I’m crazy like that, one project on the go only. I haven’t decided what’s next. I have tons of patterns and yarn in the stash. Part of me would like to design some sun dresses for the girls and the other part of me says I need a light cardigan for the summer. I need to make the decision soon because I don’t like having nothing to knit. That’s probably the real reason for my anxiety attack yesterday.

I think this is the most posting I’ve done in ages. I finished the sweater and sewed the buttons on last night. I won’t have this sort of time after this week as the new job starts. But I may get some time to knit at work or on the bus.

My goal is to change my lifestyle to include some exercise. I know I’ve gone on about this before and only made a bit of progress only to stop. It’s different this time. The new job is going to require a great deal of energy and organization on my part. I need my rest and my health to be able to handle the stress. I know I’ll be happier for it. I got the bike out last weekend and took it for a ride. I realized how out of shape I am but I also recognized how good riding the bike would be. If I can work myself up to it I could easily ride my bike on nice days to work. Imagine how fit I would be with a several 20 minute bike rides a week.

Right now I’m just focusing on breathing and trying to relax. I can do this, I can make this big change and my family and I will be better for it.