The hell of sweater knitting

There is a  reason why I don’t knit sweaters, jackets or cardigans. And after this I will never EVER knit another one again!!!
Started the Kiloran. A wonderful garment you can find here:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kiloran
Lots of work, fairly expensive yarn. So I swatch. I measure myself, measure the swatch. Wash it, block it..I am spot on!!!
Cast on, knit about half of the waistband and it could fit around a beer barrel! What gives?
I unravel, start over with a smaller needle size AND I go down one garment size. Hooray! The waist band fits perfectly! I pick up the stitches for the fron and the back and I finish the top part of the garment. Took a picture and it looks kinda large.
What was supposed to be a waistband of 40 inches circumference ( and was 40 inches when it was by itself) has now grown to a circumference of 48 inches!!!!
I am so mad I could spit fire.
Unless someone wants this sweater completed and has a 48 inch under-your-girls circumference this thing will be left out for moth food!
Maybe I shouldn't have swatched and just gone with my gut feeling, like I always do.
Here is a picture of the work in progress:
I don't know if I will ever finish this.
Time will tell.

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Got a booty call from life....

...apparently it still wants to screw with me.
Well, in short...moved BF in, he drinks a lot, two violent incidents later I throw him out. Last week I had emergency surgery for a "yucky" gall bladder. That is a medical term, because the surgeon used it to describe the organ he took out. I am doing fine, but quit my job on Monday. A decision that might not be smart in this day and time, but was necessary to save my sanity and my integrity. That's all I will say about that.
In all this mess I have awesome friends that help where they can and I can not tell you all how much I appreciate and love you guys. Thanks a bunch for being there. I hope I will never have to return the favor, but know I will always be there for you.
But on the bright side: I never had this much knitting time!!

I finished a test knit for the ever so talented Liz Capik from AppleTreeKnits. A very lovely shawl. Here is a pic:

The pattern has not been released yet.
I love her patterns. They are easy to understand and fun to knit.
I also finished a birthday present for my friend Lolly. It was a few days late. But we all determined that the month of your birthday still counts as being on time.
Let's see if I can insert another small picture of "Faroese Roses for Lolly".

Blogger doesn't always want to cooperate with me.
Well....what do you know! It worked.
My patterns are now also available on Patternfish.
What a delightful bunch of people to work with!
I am still working on that darn stole/shawl pattern of mine. Is it sad that I forgot how to read my own notes when I picked it up after leaving it alone for a few weeks?
It took me forever to re-create what I started!
Anyway.....send some good vibes for my job search my way...I'll see you all later.

Creative workings..

Just a little glimpse into the workings of my creative mind.
I love to check YouTube for "old" music videos...you know, the times when MTV was still actually Music Television. I usually get sidetracked really quick by other recommended videos. Last weekend I stumbled across a little gem taken from a russian vampire movie.
That triggered a Wikipedia search on Vlad the Impaler Tepesh. That taught me that he was married twice. The name of his second wife was Ilona. A name very familiar to me. I had a classmate in elementary school with that name. That lead to a search of old wood carvings and paintings of this era. And a lace pattern for a triangular shawl was born. Still in the workings...but soon it will be up for a test knit. So from YouTube to Wikipedia to a lace pattern for a shawl. And some history learned along the way. Go figure.
Without further ado....the video that made a lace shawl:

Adventures in lace

Long tail cast on sucks!.......Oh...sorry about that. I don't know how I manage it, but with that type of cast on ( and mind you the first line in the pattern says "cast on 329 stitches") I always end up about 4 to 10 stitches short, or I have enough tail left over to cast on a second shawl.
My next victim....errrr....friend on the list will get a shawl called Rosebud from the book Wrapped in Lace.

This will be a new one for me as well, because you knit the points of the shawl first, using short rows. Once you got the hang of that it is actually rather fun.
I have completed all 11 points in a day, but now the set-up row for the continuing pattern is giving me grief. I'm sure it is operator error though.
I think I will try this shawl in a fingering weight as well. I like the construction.
Here is what I got done so far...
Much to my enjoyment, Netflix has Twilight Zone available for instant viewing. Yay!!!
This shawl will be completed with Rod Serling.
I wonder if he would appreciate that honor.

Dear me!

Dear me!! Has it really been this long? Since September last year? Oh...right. Started dating then. After 7 years. Moved in with BF (BoyFriend...even though I find this term slightly ridiculous at my age...) on June 1st and already dislike it intensely. Maybe my mother was right all those years ago when she claimed :"You are just not cut out to live with anybody but yourself! Just like your Grandma Lucie!"
Which right now sparked a new pattern in my head. I am working on a rectangular stole that will bear my Grandma's name. Maybe that's why we always got along splendidly, while everyone else didn't like her.
Here is a pic of the little house....

It has definitely a cottage feel to it. Well, I shall let you know how things are going. As soon as I am totally settled in, I will need some test knitters again.
I'll keep the blog updated...

The Universe and other musings

Somewhere in the Universe sits a God or Goddess and snickers. Mainly because they created not enough hours in the day. At least for me....
But first things first.
My camera broke. It dropped onto the couch, bounced onto the floor and now all outdoor pictures are just white. No matter what setting. The indoor ones turn out nice....as long as I turn off all lights. ???
So for now pics with the Blackberry. Which work surprisingly well.
Here is the finished shawl made from Nici's hand spun mentioned in the previous post.:

Another shawl was finished this weekend. For my good friend Sarah whose birthday is on Saturday. Oh, I so hope she likes it!!!!
The first time I started a shawl from the widest point and decreased. Pretty neat! Here is a picture of "Sarah's Spring Wrap": Made from Cascade Heritage Sock. Very soft and very rich colors.

I am also hosting a Mystery Knit along in the FGF group on Ravelry. This should be fun. I will probably never ever want to do it again. Especially since I had forgotten what month I signed on for. Now I had to knit all three designs at once, because I wanted to make it like a multiple options pattern.
But all is well in the Knitting Universe now. Pattern is ready, one of my glove patterns is in the KnitPicks catalog, a lace stole pattern is in the designing stages, a heavier warmer shawl is on the needles for me ( another pattern from the wonderful Seni , or Ines Sousa, called "Estio"). I have picked up on a baby blanket that was a test knit and required only three repeats to be done. I think I'll finish it for a friend of Nici's.Let's see.......
That's pretty much it. Here a quick photo of the shawl for me in progress: Knitted from Malabrigo "Rios". Ultra soft and very pretty colors.
Join the KAL if you like...it is right here:
http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/fingerless-glove-fanatics/1841276/76-100#89

I keep you posted how it goes.....

Addictions

I believe I finally understand true addiction. Mind you...I was a pack-a-day cigarette smoker three years ago. That was easier to quit than this new indulgence of mine!  It occurred to me yesterday that I just replaced one addiction with another.
Here's the story: I perused a shop on etsy called ToPlyFiberArts. She has awesome hand dyed yarn. But also beautiful roving. Since my daughter Nici is the spinner I ordered some roving I really liked . It was a light gray with purple and cream and some light pink in it.


Nici spun it up for me and I paired the yarn (which looked just gray in the skeins) with a pattern called "Duett der Elis". You can look it up on my Ravelry page, if you like.
Talk about the perfect pairing!!!! It's like crack!!!!!
I have knitted since last night! The yarn is yummy! So soft. The color is so subtle that you don't notice the slight changes from gray to cream to lavender to pink until it is knitted and you look at it in daylight. Or take a picture.

Like this one......

So not only am I giddy with pride (mind you she spun that with a drop spindle!!!), I am also addicted to the pattern and am eager to try it out with different yarns.

This is one of those "to be continued" things, me thinks.
Needless to say: do not cast on when you had a glass of wine. It will turn out as follows:
Pattern: "Cast on 275 stitches"
Me: "Okay.......count'em: 273. Okay...add 2 more....count'em......283....what the hell.....drop 8.....count'em...261....WTF?????"
Now my daughter has a wishlist from me for Sweater quantities.
Better get going, Rumpelstilzchen!!!!!