Going on, ongoing....

I realized it's been a while since I posted anything.

Working on a few things right now - a shrug for Barbara (WHAT a nightmare - NEVER buy Trendsetter Segue unless you can sucker - oh I mean convince someone else to wind it for you), and percoloating one or two more things to pack up and send to Impending Baby Ackenhausen, making her first appearance here:



And no that's not a joke - apparently you can see a lot in an ultrasound - a CREEPY lot!

Stay of Execution

I've had a call from the Governor - you'd think he'd be otherwise occupied - and have yet to destroy the Yoke Vest.

In fact I had the idea to do a single crochet (my new favorite thing) border on the collar, cleverly closing the "wrong" gap by decreasing, and will put the thing on later today for an evaluation.

I want to show it to knitters and non-knitters and see if it's as bad as I think. I'd hate to rip the thing out - it's very comfy. Overall it's still too tight (but may relax with blocking and wear) and damn it I just don't want to kill it.

I wish I had someone to give it to but it's so riddled with mistakes I wouldn't have the nerve -

Hey Jerk, Here's a crappy present for you ---

Nope, I haven't got the nerve.

... Goeth Before a Fall

(Part two of a two-part post. Here's Part One.)

So I guess Jesus was a knitter, or at least he knew some.

I realize I should just rip this damned thing out and pretend I never got past the last post on it, but that would be dishonest.

So here's the deal.

I did finally finish my new nemesis, the Loop d Loop Yoke Vest, but it was an utter disaster and will need to be completely abandoned. I'm not doing it again.

I decided to ignore the pattern and do my increases on either side of what I'd marked as the center stitch, which didn't give exactly the same result as was pictured in the book but was fine.

But when it was nearly done and I needed to divide for the neck I was SOOOO careful to follow the directions, but I still managed to screw it up and now - yikes - the neck is off center!



And do you see the lovely row of "decorative" twisted stitches just below the bust? That's from when I ripped it out the first time but put every single stitch on backwards.



Yup, I got a lot to be proud of. I'm a real pro.

I see after the fact that even doubled this Blue Sky Cotton is too soft for this pattern anyway - the book shows the collar standing up but mine just rolls down. Not that I would have hated that look, but I can't deal with it now that it's completely off-center (80s revival or not).

So by the time you see these pictures, this top will be a thing of the past.

I do have to say I like the shaping, and am halfway tempted to just rip out the collar - no, in the name of all that's decent it must be destroyed.

Maybe I will start fresh with a different yarn. Maybe I will just know when to admit defeat instead.

PRIDE

(the first of a two-part post)

Hoo yeah I am all hopped up on how great I am - why I can knit with the best of them I surely can -

Just marvel at the finished shrug, done the night before we left for Carmel for a weekend of wedding festivities for two dear friends!



But wait - there's more!

Jenny's pal Cynthia is in town, and she shows us how to crochet, so I am now able to put a nice finish on Picovolo:





Snappy, eh? That's two rows of plain old single crochet, but I had been crocheting WAY too loose and Cynthia set me straight. I couldn't be happier with the top now and can't wait to do another.

Impressed?

Well maybe you should reserve judgment until you've read the next post....

Bursting with pride!

OK, here it is - Peggy's Ballet Top!



Remember this is Peggy's first non-scarf project, and with the exception of one afternoon of help from me she did this All Alone!!!

Here she is, looking GORGEOUS in it (even if she thinks it's too small) -



And from her summary email to me:


What went wrong:

Well, it's too small, even with the increases we engineered. I actually
had to knit 60 rows total to get 14" under the arms.

I screwed up the ssk decreases and consequently, the next set of
increases, which were to originate center front and center back, were
moved to one side.

There are some weird little "holes" -- might have been tension, might
have been me dropping something.

What went right:

I learned to increase, decrease, knit in the round, and use two strands!
And follow a pattern, duh.

I think I did a good job binding off and finishing. I felt like there
should have been one more stitch to bind off -- it looked a little weird
-- I did my best to bring the last round together with the finishing
threads.

And the Blue Sky cotton was so soft and easy to work with, as were the
Denise needles.

I have some lovely Bingo yarn for my next project, which will be a beret.

The videos at KnittingHelp.com are fantastic.

PEGGY WE SALUTE YOU!