There Is Not Enough* Headdesk* In The World

So, I was excited. I had finished knitting the pieces of my Whiskey sweater. I pressed the pieces as advised by the designer. I seamed the sleeves onto the sweater. I sat down and prepared to pick up stitches to knit the neckband.

"Hmmm", I thought to myself, "this looks a little weird". I proceeded to begin picking up stitches anyway. (de nile, it ain't just a river in Egypt) Ran into a roadblock immediately. The pattern read "pick up 10 stitches across top of sleeve". Ummmm, I had no top of sleeve.

I laid out the sweater carefully on the floor. The knitting inspector ran over to investigate.



I seamed the sleeves on UPSIDE DOWN. fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
I need a drink. Of actual whiskey, I think.

Fingernail Friday

Sorry for the delay posting this. I had to oust the troop of gnomes practicing riverdance on the inside of my skull. I had to bring in the local sheriff, but they have been evicted. So, on to the fingernails!

Whiskey Shots

Most of my Whiskey sweater is knit up:

Now to weave in the ends, sew in the sleeves, pick up the stitches for the neckband...wow, that sounds like a fair bit of work left for an almost completed sweater!

I'd better hold off on the celebratory drink.

Bob's new boots

For those of you wondering, Yes, this is Bob of Ravelry fame!

Wonky, Like Me

Dishtowel #2 has been christened 'Wonky'. Somehow I made it a little off-center. Which is prettty much how I feel after the spring forward daylight savings time thing. Please forgive the uncropped photo. I feel like a truck ran me over. Too. Tired. To. Go. On.


4 more to go!

Fingernail Friday

I Need a Drink

I cast on for a sweater. Tess by Kim Hargreaves. I love me some Kim Hargreaves.
I did not have enough bulky yarn in my stash, so I am using some other yarn doubled up. I think it might still be a tad less thick than the pattern expects, but it is turning out nicely, so I'm not worried.
Getting this knit started was a bit of a process though. I had to cast on 3 times. The first time I started knitting the medium size. It was HUGE. Probably due to the yarn sub I did. So I cast on again for the smaller size. And then screwed up a stitch. And dropped a couple of stitches trying to fix the screw up. Swore and threw yarn across room. Ripped. Cast on AGAIN. Third time is the charm, I suppose, as it is going much better now.
The knitting has progressed to the splitting for the sleeve-holes. so the knit looks a bit funny as it is curled up on the cables, but here is a progress picture:


Here is a better angle for the eyelets along the lower edge:


Obviously, this is unblocked, raw knitting...and just in case you were wondering at the project box:


Seems appropriate considering the trouble I had getting this to start off properly. Verily, I name this knit.....Whiskey!
( this project 'bag' has the added bonus of being cat-proof)

Breaking the Silence

Oops! I had no idea it's been so long since I posted!
So, I have finished some Giftmas knitting,


A dishtowel. I got a bunch of Bernat's Handicrafter cotton at a really good deal, so I figure I'll make up some dishtowels as little gifties for people at Christmas. This is, technically, the placemat pattern on the ballband. I knit it on slightly bigger needles (5.5mm) to make the fabric less dense and more suited to a towel. It turned out nicely. I have enough of this cotton to make another 5 or so towels. But I think I want to change up the pattern to avoid boredom. What patterns do you like for dishtowels?

Fingernail Friday

Infinitude

A friend's birthday is fast approaching, so I needed a fast, fun knit for her. I also really liked this pattern, so the combination is a WIN! in my books. The pattern is Infinitude, an 'infinity scarf'. In other words, a big knit circle. The pattern comes in 2 sizes, I knit the larger one because I like drama.
Laid out to dry after it's bath:

Wrapped 3 times around the neck:

Wrapped twice around:

And a last, out of focus shot (sorry!) of how long it is:



The yarn is Lorna's Laces Lion and Lamb, it took a whole hank and about half of the next, so 300 yards-ish for the larger size scarf.

This took me about a week to knit up, with interruptions for, oh, work, eating, sleeping, migraines, you know.....life.

I am now tempted to make another for me. Although I have 2 new cowls I just knit!

ciao

Fix

My clog/slippers developed a hole or 4. Not feeling like knitting a whole new pair right now as I am working on a couple of other projects I thought I would fix em.

The before pic (well, the 'I got started and then realized I should take a 'before' pic' ) :


Then I needle felted some fibre I had lying around onto the holes:


Tada! Like almost-new! I was a bit concerned the bottom of the slipper would feel lumpy, but it doesn't. I can't tell there is a patch at all. Or 4 patches, as the case may be.

Fingernail Friday-Valentine's Day Edition

Hubby Hat or Melonhead II

Hubby really needed a new hat. His old one is pilling and not very nice anymore.


His request was that it 'cover his ears'. So I cast on 96 stitches, k2p2 for 8 inches, decrease and done! Decreases were done as this pattern in the round has written up.

What to knit next? I am ogling 2 'infinity' scarves. What to knit? The Infinitude scarf or the Gap-tastic one...?
I know, I'll go raid the stash and whatever one I find yarn for first wins! Sounds fair ,right?

Ciao

New Knit!

I finished anothe rknit. I am on a roll, I tell you. This time it's Spirogyra fingerless gloves. Made with Oceamwind Knits Merino II. A lovely yarn. I made the shorter version of the mitts and they are plenty long, 21cm from one end to the other.





This picture is closest to the actual colour:


All in all, a very successful knit. I cast on and it took 8 days to complete and that is with several days of not knitting at all due to work and the like. 2/3 of that was over 2 days. I could have knit the whole shebang in a weekend if I was dedicated.

I have already worn them and loved em!

Sewing

I have managed to iron all the squares and sewed in the ends on all of them but one. I found a lonely one I missed in the bottom of the bag. I'll deal with it, eventually. Today I sewed up one 'cube' of mitred squares. It's about all I can manage at one go. Getting the stripes to line up is,um, fiddly.

This is the 3rd square out of quite a few that I have sewn up. Onwards!

Ciao

Fingernail Friday

Nail art for the week:

Another One!

I have another FO! Really. I'm shocked, actually.

I turned this:


Into this:

Which looks like this:



The yarn is soo soft and squishy it's sinful. It was very similar to Malabrigo in that it was a thick single. Maybe that's why it was squishy?

Details:

Pattern: Climb and Swirl Cowl
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino in Baltic
Needles:Size 9 (one size up from the suggested needle size)

It's Done!

I finished my shawlette! May I present, the Berry Citron:



This picture shows the colours most truely, and I just like the pic...


Pattern: Citron
Yarn: Handmaiden Kidsilk
Yardage: Slightly less than 410 yards

Thoughts: This turned out exactly as I had hoped. It's the perfect office weight shawl for me. Instead of pinning the ruffle when I blocked it, I should have pinned the section just above the ruffle. As it is, the ruffle was 'pointy' from the pins, so I steam ironed it to make it smoother.

Modern Technology Teaching...Sort of

People tend to come into the pharmacy with all sorts of odd ideas picked up from the internet or tv shows. The example below I filched from Not Always Right/Funny and Stupid Customer Quotes, but is a pretty fair example:



A Bit Grey With Anatomy, Part 2from Not Always Right Funny & Stupid Customer Quotes by
(Bakery Concord, MA, USA)

(A girl begins to choke on some bread. The mother then proceeds to try and give the daughter some bizarre imitation of the Heimlich Manoeuvre.)

Me: “Ma’am, wait for her to stop coughing before you help her.”

Customer: “What? She’ll die by then!”

Me: “I’m certified in CPR, I know what I’m talking about. It’s not an emergency until she can’t cough. When she can’t cough anymore, I can help her.”

(The customer is now basically punching her daughter in the stomach, and I’m becoming increasingly worried that she is going to injure her. Suddenly, the girl stops coughing.)

Customer: “See, I didn’t need your help. And you know what? I’m certified too; I watch Grey’s Anatomy every time it’s on!”

Fingernail Friday

The first Fingernail Friday of 2011!