| Monday, April 04, 2005 |
| As I was saying... |
...so to finish Sunday, Yannick took me to his friend Mike's mom's store in Chateauguay that sells the Charmilia beads so that I could spend my gift certificate. I was having a really hard time picking something out! There were a lot of cute things, but they can get expensive so I don't want to get something just 'cus it's cute. I want it to have meaning. And I found the perfect beads!
But you'll have to wait until I pick up the bracelet (they ordered in my size) to see a pic...
I'm such a tease.
After the store we stopped by Mike and Laura's, then headed back home for our reservation at a really fantastic Italian place. Frank, my computer guy, recommended it so we tried it out, and it was delicious! If anyone is ever in the West Island, it's called Mundo and is off of Saint-Charles blvd. After dinner we went to Laurentian Lanes so Yannick could bowl with my cousin while I knitted.
After my little tire rendez-vous this morning I went to my knitting class. So easily enabled, I bought yarn for 2!!! more projects.
1) 3 skeins of Watercolors mohair in black to make a shrug- really practical for both home and out. Uh huh.
2) 10! skeins of Decor to attempt a machine-knit sweater. Which leads to....
A Sweater: From Concept to Completion
12:30 pm: I arrive home with my 10 spanking-new skeins and place them lovingly on the kitchen table.
12:45pm: I go up to my office and fetch 2 knitting books: Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, and Nicky Epstein's Knitting on the Edge. My theory is that since I already have a machine knit swatch, I can choose the gauge I like and make up a sweater following Ann Budd's patterns, and use Nicky Epstein's for the finishing touches.
1:00pm: I realize that my gauge doesn't work out evenly to "4" or 5" sts/inch like the book uses, but rather 4.25 sts/inch. This is a foreboding sign of things to come.
1:15pm: After searching I discover the book has a section on how to use alternate gauges, and I make notes accordingly and proceed with optimism to write out a pattern. I decide I will be smart and write everything out so if it says to knit 11 inches, I'll already have calculated how many rows that translates to based on the gauge (since machine knitting must be done by rows, I have discovered.)
1:22pm: I discover that Mrs. Budd has decided to write the raglan pattern for knitting in the round, which is impossible for me to do on the bulky machine. I proceed nonetheless, fearlessly converting the "body" directions to "front" and "back" directions.
3:31pm: I finish writing out the front, back and sleeve directions so far and discover that Ann has chosen to join the body and sleeves into a seamless yoke for her raglan pattern. Much swearing ensues as I try to figure out how to fiddle/subtract/analyze the breakdown of this.
4:04pm: I head upstairs to try on shirts I already own to see if I really *need* raglan sleeves, even though I'd wanted them. Luckily I find a shirt that fits great with semi-dropped sleeves, a pattern for which dear Ann Budd has conveniently written in pieces, not in the round. Much rejoicing takes place.
6:18pm: I finish hand writting the entire front and back directions including an adaptation for a v-neck. I then decide to go through the borders book to see what I'll do. I choose a basic ruffle, which requires casting on double the sts I need for the front/back pieces, working in st st then decreasing to create the ruffle, then I can put that on the machine and continue.
7:46pm: I take a break after row 10 of the 18 planned rows of 208 stupid stitches for the silly ruffle. I'm sure I'll love this later. Right now all I'm thinking is that this is my only day off alone and I haven't even touched the machine yet, and I only started knitting an hour ago!
At least there is nothing on tonight so I can hopefully do something on the machine, although my thoughts of having a sweater blocking by sundown are completely dashed. |
posted by Jennifer Lori @ 7:46 pm   |
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| 2 Comments: |
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Oh! A machine knitter who blogs! Kool!
Hey, just knit that raglan sideways .
(Truth in advertising: Not a beginner pattern.)
Good luck! I hope you find the pattern you need.
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I'm always amazed at how much prep work I have to do before sitting down at my knitting machine (which, in truth, is something I haven't done in quite a while anyway! I'm sure the ruffle will be worth the time.
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Oh! A machine knitter who blogs! Kool!
Hey, just knit that raglan sideways .
(Truth in advertising: Not a beginner pattern.)
Good luck! I hope you find the pattern you need.