Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Back on track...

I know you were waiting with baited breath to see if I resolved my DFS drama (hehehe). Well, I have resolved it after very veray careful tinking back. Four rows and eventually spotting the small mistake that threw me off so severely. Instead of doing a yo I did a knit one. A word to the wise, don't knit a shawl when you're sleepy! Also, don't make a mistake on a shawl and leave it alone... go back! check and see what went wrong before proceeding.

I still haven't started the swatch for Lucy... I took it to work but was busy during lunch so I didn't get to start it. I should do it tonight. Meanwhile my poor poor Laura Tee lays lonely and abandoned atop my basket... right next to Sonata Crest of the Wave. Am I going to finish these? In the words of Lofty from Bob The Builder - um, yeah I think so!

We'll see!

Monday, June 25, 2007

*Bawl* My DFS has a big fat mistake...

I really can't say exactly how it happened but somewhere between round 40 and 43 of the 7th repeat, an error occured. Maybe I didn't do extra yarn overs somewhere (and I suspect it may have been somewhere on round 40) but when I went on to knit row 42 I didn't have enough stitches to complete the round - or so I thought. I completed the 13 repeats and when I went to complete the last few stitches, I only had 5 instead of 11!!! So I picked up stitches (quite horribly I might add) and sucessfully completed the row. The next row was the purl row but when I went to the 44th row, low and behold I had too MANY stitches!!! ARGHH!!! How did that happen? If I had too little on row 42 to complete, added what I needed, why would I then have too many on row 44? Simple, I screwed up somewhere in row 40. Now, I have a clump of stitches where I added them erroneously and unfortunately am not brave enough to tink back to the offending row and undo it. It's already bothering me... big time. I'm soooo close to completing this lovely shawl... I have fantasies of blocking it on my bed... and here I've done something so very wrong with it. What to do? I think I may have to leave it alone for a bit.

*BAWL!!!!*

Friday, June 22, 2007

I need more yarn!

Oh my oh my oh my. I'm probably the last person to discover No Sheep For You and Fitted Knits (well I have seen them advertised in various magazines and seen some bloggers knit items from them but didn't really think I would be interested in them) and I am impressed! I've put them in my cart at amazon.com and will soon purchase them. I can't wait! I want to knit Cables and O's from No Sheep For You, but after the DF shawl is done. I actually would like to wait a bit before sinking my needles into that one as I still want to knit my mother's cardigan before her birthday in August. Once again I've changed my mind on what I want to make for her. I've finally settled on Lucy In The Sky from cosmicplutoknits! I really think she'll like it. I still intend to do Pippa but that'll be sometime in the future... since it promises to be a time consuming knit, It's best to get the right yarn for the job. I've also recently purchased some books from amazon (I only wished that I had "discovered" Fitted Knits and No Sheep For You before I shipped them here. Argh). I bought Gorgeous Knitted Afghans, Sensational Knitted Socks, and The Art of Fair Isle Knitting (see why I need even more yarn now?)

Ok, enough of the hankering for yarn (lol). Here's a personality type quiz I shamelessly got from Knitters Delight's page. I think it's spot on (although I'm not sure about the other's finding me boring... then again that may explain a few things. Otherwise it does seem spot on especially career wise.

You Are An ISTJ

The Duty Fulfiller

You are responsible, reliable, and hardworking - you get the job done.
You prefer productive hobbies, like woodworking or knittings.
Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you.
Conservative and down-to-earth, you hardly ever do anything crazy.

In love, you are loyal and honest. If you commit yourself to someone, then you're fully committed.
For you, love is something that happens naturally. And you don't need romantic gestures to feel loved.

At work, you remember details well and are happy to take on any responsibility.
You would make a great business executive, accountant, or lawyer.

How you see yourself: Decisive, stable, and dependable

When other people don't get you, they see you as: Boring, conservative, and egotistical


What's your personality type?

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Half way done...


Here's my DFS. It is coming along swimmingly. I have no complaint about this shawl. The instructions are easy to understand and it knits up pretty quickly. The wrong side of the shawl does not have a pattern to it so basically every other row is easy going. I'm 50% done.

I've changed my mind again about the cardigan I want to knit for my mother. I'm now thinking I would like to knit Pippa from My Fashionable Life's site. It's very beautiful but it looks like it might be a challenge. I might be up for it. I also want to knit another cardigan for myself. I'm thinking of knitting the Nantucket Jacket from the Interweave Knits winter 2006 issue... but with longer sleeves. Maybe I should finish my LT. We'll see.

Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Having fun with my seasilk

I love LOVE this yarn! It is knitting up wonderfully and it goes very well with the DFS pattern. I am enjoying this pattern very much as well! It is less complicated than the Mountain Lace Shawl and it is working up beautifully! I am more confident with it and am almost finished the second repeat of the shawl (10 repeats for the shawl and 6 for the scarf I think).

There's not much to show right now... looks like a mass of bumps (I guess that's why Sivia instructs to "block severely". I really can't wait until it's done. It's going to be stunning!

Friday, June 01, 2007

Loveliness anyone?


My seasilk came! I got it much earlier than I thought I would and am very happy with it. I'm hoping to make this with it. I hope it's a good marriage of yarn and pattern! Or I just might change my mind. There are a few other shawls that I could see this yarn with. Oh the possibilities!

I'm also casting on for this for my mother. Her birthday is in August but I hope to be done way before then! (but then again... I knit like a snail on Ambien). For this I'll be using Knitpicks Shinesport in Sky. She likes blue so I think she'll enjoy the finished product.

Tonight I hope to do a little updating to the blog... just to post some of my FOs... not alot mind you as yarn is a little more difficult for me to get. Herein lies my problem. Here in Barbados, the only yarn you can get is acrylic and the thick kind. Not suitable at all for this boiling hot weather (think 86 degrees but feels like 96 with a uv index of 10!!!! yeah, that hot). So I have to buy my yarn from overseas. This wouldn't be a real problem except for the fact that some yarn companies don't ship directly to Barbados and if they do it costs alot to do so. So I have to send my yarn to a US address and then they ship them on to me but it takes a week or so (if customs is slow)... so when I buy yarn, I try to think of all the patterns and yarn that I could buy at one time (to cut down on shipping/ customs costs). So it can take a while between yarn purchases. Anyways, I'm always happy when I get my goodies!