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March 30, 2006
Ceci n'est pas Montréal
Hi. This is Kate. I'm not here right now. I've gone on a roadtrip with my mom and daughter in search of relatives, friends and yarn. Please leave a message and forgive me if I don't write back quickly. BEEEEP
Posted by kate at 11:12 AM | Comments (17)
March 27, 2006
Public Knitting Humiliation Part 2
You didn't miss Part 1. I'm going to have to do this like Star Wars and show the beginning later because I can't find my very first project though I'm sure I kept it.
I had finished a scarf, which I was very proud of and was now ready to move on to bigger and better things, like a sweater. In complete ignorance of the existence of yarn stores "Yarn comes from craft stores and those big walmart/kmart type places" I thought I went to one of the -marts and bought yarn to make a sweater. How much did I need? I didn't know. What I was making? I didn't know. I bought some yarn and went to the library - the only place I knew to get knitting patterns. As you might imagine, this being the early 90s, knitting was not hot and there was little to choose from, a Vogue book from the 80s, a Maggie Righetti book, things that wouldn't appeal to a 16 year old. So I took them home, looked through the patterns, and never having worked from a pattern was quickly bored, annoyed and uninspired. I figured I knew how to knit, I knew how to purl, what else was there to know?! ...um, hello, Kate... what about increases, decreases and gauge for starters? One of the patterns I came across made the whole body in one piece, sleeves and everything. I thought that made sense since I didn't know how I was going to be able sew this up on my mom's sewing machine ha! so I decided to do that. I cast on a bunch of sts. Just a bunch. You know, until it looked like enough. And I had heard of that gauge thing but I didn't know what it was and was too lazy to read those chapters so I just ignored it. I started knitting. And I knitted and I knitted. At one point, I realized that I had gone too far to make sleeves so I figured I would just stick those on later somehow and started the neck instead. Using some graph paper, I charted out a circle that would fit over my head. No, the size of the squares on this paper had no relation to the size of the stitches in my sweater. Of course not... I actually remember sitting on the floor with a piece of graph paper on my head - whatadork. I was really proud of my circle-neck thing and was so excited to finish the back. And I knit one sleeve too before realizing that my sweater was really wide not to mention hideous and just abandonning it. Here's what I ended up with:
keep in mind it was not going to be a poncho and I probably weighed 110 pounds soaking wet at the time, in other words, less than now
And since I've already begun the humiliation, let it continue:
I look like a big enough dork without showing you how my pixie haircut is growing out into a mullet so I cut off the top of my head
Let the public ridicule/stoning begin. For those who would prefer to copy my accidental poncho from before ponchos were cool, it's made in Lion Brand Wool Ease. Make sure you sit with the graph paper on your head. It's an important step.
Posted by kate at 10:51 PM | Comments (34)
March 21, 2006
forgetful
I forgot to tell you all about something fantastic I did last week: I walked to the metro and felt very light and strange. I kept feeling like I had forgotten something. I took the metro and got off at my stop convinced I had left something behind. Then I walked down the street very quickly. I went into a café and sat down and knitted and chatted with these ladies. Then, I went home. Do you see what was missing the whole time? Tadpole. She stayed home with her dad. It was awesome. I love my daughter more than I ever thought possible but it was really great to have a couple hours without her. And her hem has now grown a good chunk of sweater. It had to be red.
Posted by kate at 09:29 AM | Comments (20)
March 18, 2006
slow going
My fair isle sock hasn't progressed. My mindless sock got pretty far and then I decided I wanted a tighter fit, ripped, cast on, started again and realized I cast on 5 too few stitches so that's going nowhere real fast. I keep meaning to post and end up napping instead and Tadpole's sweater is still a hem. My friends brought me the Dale Baby Ull and I hate the color kind of like the color really hate the color think the color is too neon like the way the color looks in the light of the metro don't know what I think about the color. I originally imagined the sweater in red and white so I had my mom toss in a ball of a red I didn't have, but having seen it badly photographed on several sites, I was convinced I wouldn't like it and had her get me the purple for the main color of the sweater. I couldn't figure out what I thought of my choice so I did a swatch.
From left to right, colors 0010, 4227, 4018, 5135
I love the sweater on paper, but I'm not loving this swatch. Hopefully it will be nicer when you can see the whole pattern, not just a random chunk of it... and it will only be two colors, not switching all the time.
Looking at the top photo, I hate the purple. And much of the time, I think it looks like that. Looking at the bottom one, I like it. But most often seeing it like the first photo, I thought it might be better if white was the main color, still not happy, I tried the 4227 as the contrast, then switched it to the main color. I thought I had decided on the red background with the white. Now I'm not so sure. Ugh. Indecision. Tomorrow I've got to sit down and look at it in natural light. I aslo have to remeasure the gauge. And yes, I knit my swatch back and forth so it won't be exactly what it will be when it's knit in the round, but I'll have an idea. I've got to get this sweater going before it's too late size-wise and/or weather-wise.
Posted by kate at 01:14 AM | Comments (11)
March 08, 2006
On the needles
In yesterday's post, I wasn't trying to be hard on myself and I didn't think I was - I thought I was just taking stock and looking at how I work, but thanks for your comments telling me to take it easy and enjoy my time with Tadpole. I'm trying to and I am, though the introvert in me is struggling with this never ever being alone thing. So I'm also trying to enjoy the brief periods of time I have when she's asleep and I'm not. Here's what I've been doing:
Posted by kate at 11:37 PM | Comments (28)
March 07, 2006
You can't escape your destiny
I've been going kooky lately. I kind of feel like I did three months ago. I just don't know what to do with myself. I have about a million projects I would like to work on and very little time to actually sit and do it. So when I have 2 minutes of peace and quiet without a baby in my arms or on my lap, I'm torn between knitting for fun and getting something done on my lingering projects. And if I decide to knit for fun, what do I knit? What project is worthy of my time?
So I found St Columba.
Then before I ordered it, I started really feeling an itch to knit some fair isle.
I started thinking about Poetry in Stitches
which made me think about Norwegian knitting
which made me think about Kris and the Dale Baby Ull that she brought me back in June.
So I went through my stash looking for it.
and I came across a bunch of unfinished projects that I had completely forgotten.
I started thinking that I never finish anything.
So I went back through my blog looking for what I have started vs what I have made in the last 1.5 years.
Here's what I found: About a billion PRE-PRE-PROJECTS - Projects I want to make and stay up nights thinking about and imagining but haven't done more than that with. There are too many to even list. They are floating around in my computer and sketch books and head and always seem more exciting and potentially successful than anything I currently have going. 8 PRE-PROJECTS - swatched and/or designed but not cast on for. 3 GHOST PROJECTS - have already been knit and are just waiting for me to write them up and they haunt me and make me feel guilty to the point that I have trouble working on anything else. 12 HALF PROJECTS - half knit and not yet ripped nor finished - only 2 of which I have been working on lately. 2 EX PROJECTS - have been totally ripped but not forgotten. 18 FOs - that's more than I would have guessed and some weren't shown on the blog because they were for magazines/books.
So I didn't feel so bad about my lack of FOs, but I felt pretty bad about all of the projects that are just lingering and looking at all the yarn I have an all the unfinished projects gave me a burning desire to use some of my stash yarn.
So I figured I would start with the 6 balls (2 balls each of 3 different colors) of Dale Baby Ull I had and start something and finish it.
And I started to design something for Tadpole
but the design I liked the best only used two colors.
I realized I didn't have enough yarn.
I thought about making a vest.
I didn't want to.
I sent my mom to the yarn store to buy me enough yarn to make a sweater for Tadpole
and while she was there, I had her grab a few other balls (in the hopes that I could use them with the 6 balls I already have to make something else later).
So here I am again. Designing something that I want to knit and hopefully won't abandon and adding more yarn to the stash.
I need help.
Posted by kate at 11:33 AM | Comments (24)
