Sunday, April 30, 2006

It's Big, it's Bad, it's Banff!

Row gauge: why it's important when you want to knit a raglan sweater. Take a look. Take a good look and remember. Why? Because in a raglan sweater, your row gauge determines the width of your sleeves. It also determines the length of your scye (Is it a scye when you have a raglan sweater? Who knows. I mean the part of the body with the arm decreases). When your row gauge is off, bad things happen.




Of course, the fact that I'm a size 2 doesn't help. Because, believe it or not, my width is dead on. 25 inches wide, just as the pattern states.
My grandmother used to tell me stories of people in her village who were so poor, they only had one pair of pants. They'd take turns wearing them when one of them had to leave the house. Well, I've solved this problem! If we ever go completely broke, both I and my husband will be able to leave the house, wearing the same sweater. Methinks it may even be big enough to house a kid or two!

Pictures!!!

Oops, I think I just used up 3 of the 6 exclamation marks we're allowed to use in life! Oh, that's 4. Darn. Now I can't get excited anymore...

OK, first up is a picture of my Cozy. Isn't it great? It's knit on US8 needles in knitpicks Andean Silk, and the color is Sangria. There's a closeup of the pattern a bit further down, right after the Edgar scarf. I really need to learn HTML!



Here is Edgar, in Silk Garden, I think the color is 305. It's a wonderful pattern, I've received lots of compliments. Can't figure out how to take a decent picture of it, though. This really doesn't do it justice -- it's much prettier in real life!

Clesup of Cozy:


Bobbles! Bobbles from the back, bobbles from the front, they're simply Bobblicious! I love the bobbles, and the super-chunky WoolEase made it a fast knit. Don't usually go for acrylics, but I love this one.




Branching Out from Knitty, knit in Alchemy Sanctuary on US8 needles. It was a fun knit, and the yarn was so pretty to work with! Here it is blocking on a bunch of towels. I just love the sheen of that yarn. Add just a bit of silk, and magic happens.



I'd post some pictures of my husband's Fuzzy Feet, but the first pair is already worn through, and the second pair is still on the needles. Eek, it's the only thing that's on the needles right now! Tremors starting, breaking out in a sweat, grasping for the handle of my yarn closet...

Monday, April 17, 2006

Banff... or is it Texas?

Oh, how I want my camera to work! Yesterday, I started seaming Banff, the fun oversized raglan sweater from knitty. My row gauge was off, but did I remember to double the decreases to compensate for the extra length? Of course not! The sleeves are humungous. The length of the sweater itself isn't too bad, the width is just fine, but those sleeves! Now there's a mistake I'll never make again.

Sunday, April 16, 2006

First post ever!

So here it is, my blog! I wanted to start it off with loads and loads of pictures of finished projects, but our digital camera decided to run out of juice. What a perfect reason to finally finish that sweater! It's been blocking upstairs for two weeks now, and I just haven't been able to get myself to sew it up. Why is finishing so much less appealing than knitting?
Freud would probably say it has something to do with my mother. But I just don't know.