Giving in

I’ve been a little ADHD in my knitting lately.  I finished a pair of Fetchings, made a scarf for LouLa, made a cowl/neckwarmer, started a hat in Noro, and started Christmas socks for Josh.  The hat may be too big.  I did swatch, but it was a very small swatch.  I’m so happy to be working on socks again.  It’s just something I love to do; I don’t know why I’ve denied myself.

My Christmas knitting started off small, then it started to grow, but I think I’ve pared it down some.  I will finish up the dishcloths (I have 4 or 5 done, and I only need 7), and I’ll  knit another pair of Fetchings, and I’ll do Christmas socks for Josh and LouLa.  I pretty much have the stocking ornaments done, though I could do more, but I’m not stressing about it.

Our Christmas tree is up.  LouLa has been playing with the various other decorations I have.  To her, they’re just more toys.  I don’t mind, since there isn’t anything that I’m really attached to.

Exhibits A and B

I was a little wound up when I wrote that last post. As if you couldn’t tell. But, I have news. It’s not great news, but it’s better than awful.

At this point, my loose-ness is not the horrible thing that it was once.

Enter Exhibit A:

This dishcloth was knit on size 7 needles, casting on 40 stitches, using plain old garter stitch. It is approximately 9 inches square, and I used Peaches ‘n Cream cotton yarn.

Enter Exhibit B:

This dishcloth was also knit on size 7 needles, casting on 40 stitches, using garter stitch. It is approximately 8 inches square. I also used Peaches ‘n Cream cotton yarn.

The differences:

-While both were knit using Continental style, I held the working yarn differently in Exhibit B than in A. In A, I held the yarn over my forefinger, under the next two, and over my pinky. In B, I held the yarn over my forefinger, under my middle finger, over my ring finger, and wrapped once around my pinky.

-In Exhibit B, I made sure to keep the yarn close to the tips of my needles.

-Also in Exhibit B, I kept the tips close together. My right needle kept contact with the left needle at all times, finally pushing the yarn off of the left needle. In A, I created loose stitches by not keeping the tips in contact, and using the right needle to pull the yarn off of the left needle.

Conclusion:

I created a dishcloth an inch smaller in width and about 3/4 of an inch smaller in height.

All is not lost. Now I just need to make those modifications a habit. Since I’m working on the second of my first pair of 2007 Fetchings, and they fit, this is very, very good. In fact, they may even be a bit small for the recipient. I have very small hands, so she can always send them back to me and I’ll use them.

Can I just say how much I wanted to make some lame joke about feeling like a used up prostitute with my last post? How crass!  As if using the worst-of-the-worst in terms of four letters words wasn’t bad enough.  It’s probably a good thing I held back.

Knitting Depression

Fuck.

My plan was to knit a couple of pairs of Fetching for various people.  It’s super cute, looks complicated (to the untrained eye), and is fast.  Last year I knit up a couple of pairs and the recipients seemed to really appreciate them.

A couple of days ago, I found a baggie in my stash with one Fetching done, and the other on the needles.  I vaguely remembered starting them around Christmas last year.  I was happy to find them, because I could just use the same pair of needles and all would be good, since I had also bought the same yarn for this year’s pairs.  I ended up frogging it because I noticed that at one point, I had dropped a stitch.

I started a pair with the needles and after about 5 rows, I tried it on.  The one I had from last year had a nice, snug fit.  This one is HUGE.  Like, a loose bracelet.  The pattern calls for a size 6 needle and I was already using a size 4.  As you know, I’ve had gauge issues before.  I always use a size 0 for my socks.  I’ve known that I’m a little loose for some time now.  This is a bit ridiculous.  And depressing.

It could get so bad, that at some point I won’t be able to knit patterns because I won’t be able to get a needle small enough.  Knitting is supposed to be relaxing.  It won’t be very relaxing if I have to concentrate to pull my stitches tight all the time.  I posted about the problem on Ravelry and it was suggested that I could try holding the working yarn a little differently, to create some tension.  I’ll try.

In the meantime, I’ll be swatching a worsted weight on size 2 needles.

No Socks for Me

I had tons of Vesper left over, and since I’ve grounded myself from knitting socks for me, I’ve been working on using the leftovers to knit LouLa a pair of socks.

This will be her first pair of knitted socks. And I’m reminded daily why I didn’t/don’t like Vesper.

I have three sock ornaments done. They’re cute and easy and they satisfy my need to knit socks.

Other than that, I’m still working on the first sleeve of the Not-So-Much-A-Wrap Cardigan.  I really need to make myself just get it done already.  I don’t have to work tomorrow, so maybe I’ll put some time in then.  Or, maybe I’ll knit socks that aren’t for me.

My OCD baby

Three year olds are weird.  Josh and I joke that LouLa has OCD.  We know that it’s just a three year old thing, but there are times when a little joking helps.

Like when she’s crying because you didn’t fill up the *entire* line with the letters she is dictating to you.  In her world, there are no spaces in between letters and you must never, ever, skip lines.  The smallest space can cause her world to come crashing down.

Or, when she runs around before going to bed, picking up everything off of her floor, because she doesn’t want to “see” it.  It’s really weird when you find a piece of paper and a small toy that she has pushed under her door after going to bed.  When you ask her the next morning why she did that, she tells you about how she doesn’t want to “see” things.

It’s crazy, I tell ya.  Thank god for daddys that are willing to play Candyland (after stacking the deck-he’s not crazy!).

It’s not a wrap

No pictures today because I’m being lazy, but the wrap cardigan is not going to be a wrap.  The good news is that I think it’ll still be cute and wearable.  I’m working on sleeve #1 now, so it’ll be awhile.  I’ll post a picture of the finished product, I promise.

I have been working on the mini-socks.  I’ve gotten three done so far.  I love that they are a fast knit.  I’ve banned myself from knitting any regular sized socks for now, and it’s nice to be able to work on a sock, even if it’s a mini one.  When I’ve gotten the non-wrap cardigan done, I’ll let myself do a regular pair of socks.

I also have gotten one dishcloth done.  I really don’t like doing them.  I think it’s the cotton that is the problem.  It’s good cotton for dishcloths, but not so much fun to knit with.

I finished The House of Mirth yesterday.  I really, really loved the book, which surprised me.  It was one of those books that left me wondering about Lily after I had put the book away for the night.  That doesn’t happen to me very often.  While I’m reading, I can be pretty engrossed in a book, but once I put it away, I don’t usually think much about it.  The ending kept me guessing.  All I’ll say is that I’m glad it ended the way that it did.  I’m not a big fan of “happily ever after.”