Finally, some progress.

The buttons are on! All that remains is to sew on the loops.

I can't wait to wear it - I've already planned out my whole outfit to go with it. Is that obsessive?

Also, I stopped by Tuesday Morning yesterday and added this Laines Du Nord to my stash.

The color is a little off - it's more of a teal/emerald color. It's very vibrant. They also had a dusty rose and a lavender color that I'm considering returning for. I've already decided to make Fetching from www.knitty.com. My sister might go for them in lavender. :)

The last 100 miles

Do you ever get the feeling when you're driving someplace that the last 100 miles are the longest? That's how it's been for me with the Estes Vest. A month ago I was diagnosed with a skin condition on my hands that has prevented me from knitting much while I wait for it to heal. So my knitting time has been cut in half. No, make that 1/10 - it's been decimated. So I'm really surpised that I've made any progress at all.

I'm happy to report that despite these difficulities, I have finished the I-cord edging, bought the buttons, and crocheted the loops. All that remains is to sew on the buttons and the loops, then weave in the final ends. Unfortunately now I've lost my sewing needle and my spare is in the room with the sleeping (and sick, he has a cold) baby. So it probably won't get finished tonight, either.

I'm trying to decide what I want my next project to be. I'm excited about the Gathered Pullover from the Winter 2007 Interweave Knits. I'm thinking of using some Louet Sport from Pieces of String in Moorhead - she's clearancing out her yarn to make room for more finished products. I think Fern Green would be a great color on me!

Don't think I've been here before...

Okay, I have a confession to make - I have NEVER blocked a project before seaming it. I should also point out that I have only seamed one other project, but the fact still remains. So, am I doing this right?

I pinned everything out to measurements (and noticed a few mistakes while I was at it), then lightly misted it with water before leaving it sit overnight. I checked it in the morning, and decided to remove the pins despite some slight curling.

I have since seamed the shoulders, picked up and knit the neckline ribbing, and seamed the sides. Also, the shoulders were VERY wide, so I decided to do some tricky sewing instead of ripping back all four shoulders. I folded the shoulder edge over and sewed it down, then folded the flat edge back over again and sewed it down. It looks so good that I've decided to skip the I-cord on the armhole edging, especially since I definately do not want to make it wider again.

Now I have to pick up and knit the icord on the lower and front edges, then add buttons. Hmmm... I guess I need to go button shopping!

Oh, if I had known then what I know now, I would have cast on fewer stitches for the back front and done fewer waist decreases. I also would have decreased a lot more around the front of the armhole openings and a little more at the back armhole openings. I think that would have provided the room I need for my bust without giving too much room in the lower back and the tummy area. It would also have narrowed the shoulders for me.

Are we there yet?

I'm almost done with my Hills Vest! I'm starting on the front pockets, then I have seaming, weaving in ends, and the i-cord edging to do.


I like how the pocket trim looks with the turning row. It is so clean and easy to fold.

I still have to sew it to the edges after I knit the pockets. I'm planning to make them as deep as is reasonably possible - deeper than the pattern calls for.

Karen's Shawl is coming along nicely too. I finished the second repeat of six total. It's going to start taking a LOT longer though - last night I spent nearly half and hour on two rows!

It looks beter now that I stretched it out a bit. I'm sure blocking it will work miracles, as always. Pretty soon I won't be able to stretch it out the length of my circluars... It almost doesn't fit now. but it is getting easier to knit because the stitches are getting pushed around instead of me constantly having to readjust them.

On the other needles

I got my yarn for Karen's shawl yesterday, and started knitting to see what would happen. I did switch the decreases to slant the opposite direction.


If you look at the left side here, there is a line of "openness" that follows the outside of the k3tog that is not visible on the right side outside of to sk2p. It seems that the k3tog pulls the stitches next to it out of shape. I'm thinking this is the nature of the k3tog, and not a fault of left-handed knitting.

I don't have another picture, but I did go into the next chart, where the k3tog is on the right side instead with the slant leaning a different direction. There the stitches aren't stretched. I've decided to just leave it and know that it won't be a perfect mirror image. I'll have to see if after a few repeats it looks okay or if I just can't stand it.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..

Well, my friends, I have reached a crucial juncture on my Estes Vest. This is the point at which I would typically begin making accomodations for my "assets." I deliberated over the weekend, pondering the best coarse of action. The size I choose has a scant 0.5" positive ease. However, because of the cables and because of the stretchy Lamb's Pride, I'm thinking there is more give in this fabric than than is necessary to adequately cover my chest.

Hmm. Yes. Definately. This is just the back....

On another note, guess what?

I'm going to have to get started on Karen's shawl soon!

5 skeins of Elann Callista in Morrocan Blue. It's not as bright as I envisioned, but it has this great shiny ply in with the cottony plys.. (plies?) The color is reminicent of my favorite boyfriend jeans. I hope the finds she finished shawl just as comfortable and comforting.

From a Distance

It looks like a vest! Well, the back of one, anyway. I tried to pin it to my back to see what it will look like, but my FIL had to point out that it's a little difficult to wear half a vest.


This picture shows the color better, but it's harder to see the pattern...

Traveling Stitches

DSC03754
Originally uploaded by andreatoman

I used my new Lamb's Pride to cast on for the Estes Vest frm the Fall 08 Interweave Knits. It has a gorgous honeycomb pattern with traveling stitches that was pretty easy to follow once I got started. I spent a lot of time knitting over the weekend, especially the long trip back from Rapid City.
I made a few discoveries when working on this pattern. First, knitting left-handed truely is knitting backwards. I have to look at the charts backwards, and if I'm knitting the "left-front" according to the pattern, I'm actually knitting the "right-front" for my project. I haven't had to make any major modifications to this pattern because of it, but it has been floating around in the back of my head.
The most important difference this makes is in the slant of decreases - they're opposite, so I have to be careful to switch them to make them slant the right way. I'm considering how that will play out in the shawl I'm knitting, and I'm going to have to swatch it to test the slant-layout and see if I need to change it to make it look good.

My stash hunt

I took my family down to Rapid City last weekend to visit Neil's aunt, who was just diagnosed with cancer. It was a good ttrip, with lots of time to visit and go exploring. I stopped at 3 yarn shops, and drove past another that was closed for the holiday weekend.
The first stop was Dakota Treasures on Rushmore road. About half of the store was beads and such, and the other half was yarn. There were lots of nice choices, but not what I was looking for. She was very helpful though, and helped me find the address for the yarn store in Hill City, my next stop (Let it be known that I had to go to Hill City anyway, so I didn't drag my DH 45 miles out of our way just to visit a LYS).
Wool N' Stuff in Hill City had a large seclection of wool items, including finished garments, roving, and the exact yarn I was looking for. The yarn manager was not in, but the guy at the counter was nice enough. I think it might have just been the day, but it didn't have a LYS feel - more like a dark wool market feel.
Finally, I did stop at Yvonne's Yarn Shop in Spearfish. She was super nice and had lots of sock yarn on hand, but nothing for the shawl that I want to make for aunt Karen. She kindof profiled me a bit, thinking I had only done small projects with big cheap yarn and was looking for more of the same. Hmm... not really me, but that's okay.

Oh, here's the yarn I was looking for:

Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky, 8 skeins of Blue Boy
Purchased 8-30-2008

The Tiger Pants, finished

The Tiger Pants, finished
Originally uploaded by andreatoman

Go Team TARDIS!
Tiger Pants
Pattern: Itchy Fingers Longies
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted
Needles: Addi Turbos, size 7 and 5, plus size 7 dpns
Finished: August 24th, 2008 at 10:53 AM CST

My hands ache, but the Ravelympics are now officially over. I do plan to finish my one remaining project, pair two, this weekend. However, I am excited to return to my WIPs as well as start a few new things. But first, I must give my hands a rest... DH, will you massage my hands, please???

Entering the home stretch - another project done!

Pattern: Cherie Amour, modified to become a skirt
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky
Needles: Size 13, 9, 8 Boyle Circs
Started: August 8th, 2008
Finished: August 23th, 2008
I just finished weaving in ends on my Hiipie Tunic Turned Skirt - and folks, it is fantastic! I love how soft it is, and it holds it's shape well dispite being a little heavy. The lace at the bottom keeps it from being too warm. Also, the hint of purple in the color will go nicely with the plums and grapes I've seen for fall. I can't wait to buy a new top to go with it!

I had to bind off SUPER loose to allow it to stretch as much as the fibbing does.

Here you can kind of see the yoke "pannel." Next time, I think I'll start those decreases sooner and make the yoke a little deeper.
Ta Da!

1st Gold Medal Finisher!

Alright! I finished my Toddler socks, which turned out to be more premie than toddler. Here is Zeke modeling them for me:


And here they are in all their glory. I thought the stripes matched fairly well. However, I do believe one is a row shorter than the other one. It's barely noticeable, but it kind of bothers me.

Pattern: Stephanie's Fixation Baby Socks
Yarn: Cascade Fixation
Needles: Size 3 Susan Bates
Started: August 8th, 2008
Finished: August 20th, 2008

I still have 38g of this yarn left. One could easily make 3 or 4 pairs from a single ball. Enough for me for now though - I have to finish my other projects!

The Tunic becomes a Skirt

I got past to the ribbing and realized my guage was way off row-wise, so I tried just working fewer rounds. That doesn’t help with the neckline decrease though.

Anyway, I tried it on the other day. It’s knit in a bulky yarn, and something Lori said struck me - I’m not overly large, but a bulky yarn sweater, esp. a fitted one, makes me look HUGE. DH saw me trying it on, and when he couldn’t refrain from laughing I knew the gig was up.

So here I was, trying to wrestle my way back out of it, and ended up taking it down instead of up to take it off. Pause, glance in mirror… It looked really cute, as a skirt. Plus, at this guage and in this yarn, it's certainly firm enough to be a skirt.


I let it rest for a day or so while I pondered the idea, and I decided to go for it. The hard part right now is I want to do a few decreases above the hip before the waist, and I’m trying to figure out how to do that and maintain the ribbing as well as possible.


I want them to fall here on the backside, and I'd like to maintain the ribbing as much as possible. I need to decrease about 8 stitches overall, two per dart. I want to keep the vertical lines from the outside ribbing and bring them in - first across a purl rib, then across a knit rib. I have about 16 rounds to work them in. I don't want it to be too abrupt, but I don't want to drag them out forever, either.

Nightmares!

Argh! My Tunic is giving me nightmares. The gauge is right for the stitches, but off for the rows - by a LOT. I cut short 4 rows on the ribbing, and it's still 1.5 inches too long. At one point I thought I'd just continue as is and knit it for my dear sis, but now I'm starting to think of modifying the pattern significantly -as in, turn it into a skirt. I know, you all think I'm crazy. I think I better put it aside for a day and get a little perspective - I'll think on it again tomorrow.

Must... Knit...

I'm going through withdrawls. I haven't knit at all today. You'll see I've done a lot of other work, changing my site over. Look it over, check it out, play with it a little. Let me know what you like, and what you don't. It's a work in progress.

I'm going to get off the computer (as soon as I finish the 500 other things I have to do) so I can sit and KNIT tonight. I still have to frog on that Tunic...

In the beginning...

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." (Genisis 1:1)

"All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made." (John 1:3)

And so begins my new adventure. I plan to migrate all my knitting content to this blog, while maintaining The Ruby Life for family stuff. I hope this will clear up some of the confusion and allow for better access to what you, dear reader, are interested in. I may cross reference from time to time, but I will try to keep the posts targeted to the stated topic.

Steady as she goes

Neil took this picture of me this afternoon. Apparently, I knit in my sleep now.

I'm up to the gusset stitches on my Tiger Pants. I'll finish that and graft tomorrow, and then start on the legs.

For only 5 days into the knitting olympics, I think I'm doing quite well. My biggest obstacle will be if I don't pace myself on the longies and the socks. I know I can get those done lickity split, but if I do I will have only the tunic to finish out the competition. I prefer to have more variety in my knitting day to ward off boredom and sore hands.


I'm crusing right along on the Hippie Tunic - I'm now up to the ribbed waistband. Two days of 2x2 should cheer me up to go back to the lace pattern....
...Oh, great. Just realized I forgot to change needle sizes three rows ago when I switched into the ribbing... Argh! I'm going to have to rip that back and switch needles. :( At least it's only 3 rows.

Great Expectations

With all this knitting olympic fever in the house, I decided it was time for some ground rules. Specifically, ground rules related to the other people in my house, in support of my knitting. I found a great list of Support Team Roles and Responsibilities, published by Megknitficent. It clearly outlines what I expect of DH and the kids during this period of extreme knitting.

What event is this?

I had to break out my calculator today. Apparently my math is rustier than I thought, because I had figured out the short rows for my Tiger pants and the repeats for my Hippie Tunic all wrong. Apparently I was planning on knitting dresses for Zeke and I, instead of pants and a tunic. I had 78 rounds for Zekes pants instead of 35 (forgot to divide in half for front and back and allow for short rows in back), and I had 31 repeats of the lace pattern instead of 31 rounds in the lace pattern for the Hippie Tunic.

I discovered all this when figuring out how much knitting I need to do each day to finish on time. With my incorrect numbers, the task seemed very daunting. Now that I have everything worked out right (hopefully), it seems much more manageable.

I'm nearly finished with my first pair of baby socks!

I think the next pair I'll knit a little bigger, as these are a little short for my big footed baby. Have I mentioned before their shoe sizes? At 37 months, Jackson wears a toddler 10. At 19 months, Nicholas wears a toddler 6 (he has very thick ankles). I have no idea what size Zeke is, but I figure he's on par, since his feet are quite long. These socks will work for him for a little while, but not too long.


I had to rip back a few rows on these to reposition the short rows. Can you see how beautiful the Malabrigo stitches are? They're so uniform and smooth... I love it.

I'm about 10% done with the Hippie Tunic. I need to knit aproximately 15 rounds a day to finish before the Olympics are over. So far, I'm on track.

I love the pattern. It reminds me of a crochet afgan my mother once made. I think that's how I associate it so well with "hippie." I do keep thinking I should have knit it in hemp...

Keep watching, I hope to have my first FO tomorrow!

A little shopping, a little sightseeing

I've been working on my Ravelympics projects. Today I added some rows to the Hippie Tunic and Tiger pants.

The Hippie Tunic has a great lace effect for a chunky yarn. I love how it looks like a net, and how it builds concentric V's around a tulip shape. You can't see it too well in the picture, but maybe once I get a few more rounds on it will be clearer.

My Tiger Pants are coming along nicely. I love how drapy the Malabrigo is - it just flows. If I set it down it pools almost like water. I can tell they are going to be super comfy for baby Zeke. Plus it's so soft, I could just sit and knit with it for HOURS.
I went out in search of needles for my baby socks. I thought I'd try Magic Loop, but I couldn't find 32" or longer US 3s, so I went with DPNs. And I went with cheep DPNs, so I could get this:

Crystal Palace Yarns Kid Merino in Fern Mix. I'm hoping to do the long sleeves from One Skein. I think the mohair haze will tone down the varigation enough to make it look super fine.
Oh yes, the baby socks.

These little cuties knit up super fast. I could do a sock a day. It took a little bit to get used to the stretchy yarn and the way the pattern marks rounds and the heel section. The pattern says to work on two circular needles, but I don't have two circs so I got DPNs. Instead of using stitch markers, it calls for keeping all the heel stitches on one needle and all the top stitches on the second needle. I ended up using one DPN for the top stitches and two needles for the heel and gusset stitches. I then used a stitch marker to mark the start of round for the gussets.

Opening Ceremonies

I watched the beginning and ending of Opening Ceremonies last night. It was spectacular! I saw the 2008 drummers (that's two-thousand eight musicians/artists) with the syncronized drumming. I loved the colors - the gold and red together. I may have to look for some yarns in a similar colorway. Anyway they were all together, perfectly syncronized. Their drumsticks and drums lit up as well. It was REALLY cool.
I cast on for Tiger Pants and for Hippie Tunic. Pictures are forthcoming - a friend borrowed my camera for a wedding. Anyway, casting on for Tiger Pants was hell - my figures were off. The directions say you need an even number of stitches, but I found I needed stitches divisible by 4 for the 2x2 ribbing. I ripped it out 3 times before i finally got it right. I'm now past the ribbing and the first set of short rows, and it's looking good! I have no doubt that it will be finished in time.
The Hippie Tunic didn't give me quite as much trouble, except that I cast on a little tight and the first row is a lace pattern row. I had a hard time with the ssks and k2togs. That I also had to rip back about 70 stitches on. I believe that when you first start a project, it is important to start it right to build a good foundation for what is to come. I insist on fixing small problems that I would probably let slide later in my knitting.
I'm going shopping later for needles for the baby socks. I have to decide if I want to Magic Loop them or use DPNs for size 3s. Any preferences? Maybe bamboo?
Oh yes. I went to AuneGirl's for the Opening Ceremony for the knitting olympics. It was a great party! HiLite had some music selected, and she and AuneGirl had a torch ceremony all planned out. I made some Sweet Taffy Apple Tartlets for everyone.

Gearing up for the games

I swatched for my This Tiger Pants, using the Itchy Fingers pattern in Malabrigo.

My guage on 7s is 4 stiches and 5 rows per inch, so about on target for worsted weight. I love how the colors pool - we'll see how that plays out in the actual pants, or if it does end up looking more "stripey" as I predict.

I did try a run of "knitting backwards," and I'm so glad I don't have a project that will require that for this Ravelympics. It was doable, but very slow.


Why, yes, this IS a hand-wound, center pull ball. I know, my mother taught me well. :D

I still need to learn Magic Loop, but I figure those baby socks won't take long anyway, so I'll either learn tomorrow night at the Cast On party or Saturday at Barnes and Noble.

Hmm.. I still need to track down the needles I need for my Hippie Tunic.

Alright, I'm all geared up to cast on... Tomrrow at 7am CST - or, perhaps I'll wait until after coffee....

Training and qualifiers

The knitting olymics are fast approaching, set to coincide with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Cast on is at 7:00 am CST on Friday, August 8th, same time as opening ceremonies.
I will be competing at the Ravelympics on Ravelry.com with Team Tardis (is my Doctor Who fanatacism showing?).
My events include: Sock Put, Sweater Sprint, and Baby Dressage.I plan to knit four projects in ten days. The "This Tiger Pants" for baby Zeke, two pairs of baby socks in red/orange and green, and a tunic style sweater for me.
So far, I have wound my Malabrigo for This into a ball. I still have to swatch for This and for my tunic, and learn magic loop for the socks.

You guessed it!

It's Malabrigo merino worsted in the Roanoke Gold colorway. I think it looks tigerish, and will make adorable longies for baby Zeke. :) I'm saving them for the Ravelympics. Go Team Tardis!

I got one!

Care to guess what it is?

Something old, something new

I went out to Sage Junction last Saturday, and was sad to hear that Katie will be closing her doors as our LYS. It's only to make room for something new though - and in September there will be a new LYS coming to downtown Bismarck! I can't wait to have a comprehensive Local Yarn Shop.

Ballet T-shirt, all finished

Ballet T-shirt, all finished
Originally uploaded by andreatoman

I dug this out a week ago and did my first post-baby fitting. It was WAY short, so I added another 3 inches, for a total of aproximately 30 extra rows. I did break into a new skein , finishing just under 2.5 skeins.
Here it is, all done. It's very breezy - I'll need to find a dark tank top to wear under it for modesty. It stretches a great deal across the bust - it looks a bit like wearing a fishnet top.
I do like the color, and it was fun to knit. I could see obvious progress very quickly, and the yarn was easy and comfortable to work with. I had 3 tie-ins the whole project, so with CO and BO ends, only 5 to weave in. Not bad.

New stash

Shayne stopped by this morning bearing gifts. Thanks Shayne!
Cotton/Acrylic
Mohair blend
Acrylic/Nylon
There was even some BAMBOO! Yummy! I have no idea what to make with it, however.

So of course I immediately set about finding things to do with all my new stash. :)

First, I'm making the Lilian Tank Top for me out of the blue variegated Bella Colour. I'll make the large, since I doubt this yarn will be very stretchy at all. I actually did a gauge swatch this time, since it's a fitted garment. Good thing I did, I had to drop a needle size.

Second, I started a Hemlock Ring doily in blue.
I think my MIL will like it. She LOVES blue, and has a penchant for doilies.

I also lanolized all my wool diaper covers today. Wet wool is kinda stinky. *bleh* Hopefully that won't be much of an issue with them as diaper covers.... We shall see.

Friday the 23rd - Lion Brand yarn goes on sale at Hancock for the weekend.

You spin me right round baby...

Wow, does this Ballet T-shirt work up quickly. I'm going to have it done before baby gets here and I won't be able to wear it!



Okay, so probably not, since I won't bind off until I can be certain the length is long enough. But it does knit up fast.

Monday Night Knitting

I met a new knitting group last night! I found them off of Ravelry.com, and we had a great time. I enjoyed seeing what others were making and the yummy yarns they were using, and I learned a few things too.

• I pick, and I throw. I pick when I knit, and I throw when I purl.
• Self-striping sock yarns self stripe no matter what size you make.
• Yummy yarns almost always come from somewhere else, not North Dakota.
• I could do two-stranded colorwork, I just have to try. So, I'm going to try with a fair isle headband.

So that means I need to get a couple WIPs off the needles so I can use those needles for something else. :D It's a great distraction from the coming new baby.