Ladies and gentlemen... We have a jersey!
*Okay - it means plait not knit, but the ancient Romans weren't big on jumpers!
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Veni Vieo* Vici
Ladies and gentlemen... We have a jersey!*Okay - it means plait not knit, but the ancient Romans weren't big on jumpers!
Good News, Bad News
Good News
I'm not innumerate... just stupid (and forgetful).
So I'm looking at this jumper, trying to work out what to do on the yoke, and it dawns on me that the pattern I wanted to use - feather and fan - works over a multiple of 12 stitches as well as over a multiple of 18. And since I clearly don't have a multiple of 18, I wonder if I have a multiple of 12? And then I think, 'That's a familiar thought...', and I go back to my pages and pages of calculations, and realise that in fact, that was what I intended to do all along. (Some days I shouldn't even get out of bed). So I whizz up the yoke, working my decreases in, whizz round the neck (including Elizabeth Zimmerman's suggested short rows because I'm feeling invincible) and cast off. I sew in all my loose ends, sew up the underarms, and Voila...
Bad News
The neck is too small to go over Katie's head.
So I'm going to have to unravel the neck and a fair chunk of the yoke and work out what to do next. And I've never successfully picked up stitches after unravelling in my life. Generally if I bugger something up this badly, I wind up undoing a whole piece. But because this jumper is basically knitted in one piece, that just not an option. So I grit my teeth, gird my loins (without quite understanding what that entails) and start unravelling... And what do you know?
Good News
It worked! I managed to pick up every stitch (and with none backwards yay!) and I can now work back up the yoke and make a bigger neck! And I'm throwing a photo in now in case it all turns to custard again and gets thrown on the fire:
The girly pink jumper is not the only project on the go, of course. I actually finished off Jessie's cardigan. I went to a handful of shops (two seconds to type that - three days to do it!) and
Bad News
I couldn't find any buttons that would work anywhere. But we are not to be defeated by a mere dearth of buttons! Oh no! Katie and I got busy with the fimo and created our own:
And, Good News
They work!
You can't really see them in that picture, but Jessie's forced smile was too good not to share! Here's a better look at them in place:
The 'I' keeps coming undone because it's so skinny, but do I care? Not even a little bit.
I'm not innumerate... just stupid (and forgetful).
So I'm looking at this jumper, trying to work out what to do on the yoke, and it dawns on me that the pattern I wanted to use - feather and fan - works over a multiple of 12 stitches as well as over a multiple of 18. And since I clearly don't have a multiple of 18, I wonder if I have a multiple of 12? And then I think, 'That's a familiar thought...', and I go back to my pages and pages of calculations, and realise that in fact, that was what I intended to do all along. (Some days I shouldn't even get out of bed). So I whizz up the yoke, working my decreases in, whizz round the neck (including Elizabeth Zimmerman's suggested short rows because I'm feeling invincible) and cast off. I sew in all my loose ends, sew up the underarms, and Voila...
Bad News
The neck is too small to go over Katie's head.
So I'm going to have to unravel the neck and a fair chunk of the yoke and work out what to do next. And I've never successfully picked up stitches after unravelling in my life. Generally if I bugger something up this badly, I wind up undoing a whole piece. But because this jumper is basically knitted in one piece, that just not an option. So I grit my teeth, gird my loins (without quite understanding what that entails) and start unravelling... And what do you know?
Good News
It worked! I managed to pick up every stitch (and with none backwards yay!) and I can now work back up the yoke and make a bigger neck! And I'm throwing a photo in now in case it all turns to custard again and gets thrown on the fire:
The girly pink jumper is not the only project on the go, of course. I actually finished off Jessie's cardigan. I went to a handful of shops (two seconds to type that - three days to do it!) andBad News
I couldn't find any buttons that would work anywhere. But we are not to be defeated by a mere dearth of buttons! Oh no! Katie and I got busy with the fimo and created our own:
And, Good News
They work!
You can't really see them in that picture, but Jessie's forced smile was too good not to share! Here's a better look at them in place:
The 'I' keeps coming undone because it's so skinny, but do I care? Not even a little bit.
Monday, August 04, 2008
1 + 1 = oh bugger!
It's official - I'm innumerate.
When I was planning out the sweater I'm knitting for Katie I couldn't find the calculator, and I had to work out how to fit the pattern I wanted on the yoke in with the decreases. So I have five pages that look like this:
It took ages, but I finally did it - and was very smug about not relying on technology... So I knitted the body up to the underarm, and I knitted the sleeves, and I joined them all together. Then I did a few rounds plain, and confidently began the pattern. I got to twelve stitches from the end of the round and realised that it just wasn't going to work.
I now know that 96 is not divisible by eighteen, so I guess I can count it as a learning exercise. And Katie is getting a sweater with a dead plain yoke. D'oh!
When I was planning out the sweater I'm knitting for Katie I couldn't find the calculator, and I had to work out how to fit the pattern I wanted on the yoke in with the decreases. So I have five pages that look like this:
It took ages, but I finally did it - and was very smug about not relying on technology... So I knitted the body up to the underarm, and I knitted the sleeves, and I joined them all together. Then I did a few rounds plain, and confidently began the pattern. I got to twelve stitches from the end of the round and realised that it just wasn't going to work.I now know that 96 is not divisible by eighteen, so I guess I can count it as a learning exercise. And Katie is getting a sweater with a dead plain yoke. D'oh!
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Look
I just found a photo that the lovely Tracey from Knit Rangers had posted on flickr - this is me knitting the orange thing at a Knit Rangers meeting:
Apart from showing the glorious orangeness of the orange thing, this photo also shows my lovely new spectacles. I first got glasses when I was eleven, and I wore them off and on through my teenage years, but I stopped wearing glasses over twenty years ago. Then at the beginning of July, I trundled off to the optometrist and had my eyes checked - and I now have to wear glasses all the time (which will make the roads of Auckland a damn sight safer for everyone else!).
So there I am, all excited about my new specs, and about how clear everything looks, and do you know? Not one person aside from my immediate family has even noticed??? The other day I commented on a customer's new hair cut and colour, and she was thrilled because no-one else had mentioned it, and I'm sitting there thinking, "I noticed your hair cut because of my new GLASSES. If I wasn't wearing GLASSES I wouldn't have noticed!" but nothing, not a sausage.
I said to my partner, "Maybe it's because people just expect middle-aged women to wear glasses." Which made him go white, and mutter 'middle-aged??????'. Then he had to race off and look at sports cars on trademe until he felt better.
Apart from showing the glorious orangeness of the orange thing, this photo also shows my lovely new spectacles. I first got glasses when I was eleven, and I wore them off and on through my teenage years, but I stopped wearing glasses over twenty years ago. Then at the beginning of July, I trundled off to the optometrist and had my eyes checked - and I now have to wear glasses all the time (which will make the roads of Auckland a damn sight safer for everyone else!).So there I am, all excited about my new specs, and about how clear everything looks, and do you know? Not one person aside from my immediate family has even noticed??? The other day I commented on a customer's new hair cut and colour, and she was thrilled because no-one else had mentioned it, and I'm sitting there thinking, "I noticed your hair cut because of my new GLASSES. If I wasn't wearing GLASSES I wouldn't have noticed!" but nothing, not a sausage.
I said to my partner, "Maybe it's because people just expect middle-aged women to wear glasses." Which made him go white, and mutter 'middle-aged??????'. Then he had to race off and look at sports cars on trademe until he felt better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
