I finished it. Saturday. And promptly gave it to my father, as I had been knitting it at his house.
It wasn't a birthday present even though he had a birthday last Monday (his 80th). It wasn't for anything, really, other than when he modeled middle nephew's beanie for the blog, I promised him I'd make him one, too.
And now, I am once again between projects (other than the reluctant sweater which I still haven't managed to start).
About the beanie:
Since last week, I only added about an inch in length.
But I'm only working on this on Saturdays. (I really, really need to get going on the reluctant sweater, but I never quite find the time.) However, I had my father try this on, and we're at the point where I get to start decreasing for the crown. Woo-hoo!
Although, once this is done...
One thing I don't think I've mentioned on the blog is how I like to knit things in the round: inside out.
I'm not sure why I do this. My very first in-the-round project just naturally ended up inside out, and ever since then, I do it like that.
In this case it might be a good thing. The floats from the colorwork need to be a little loose, or else the hat is too tight an/or puckers.
So, as I knit, this is what's on the outside:
I'm rather happy at how even that looks. Of course, it's because I'm holding the purple in my left hand and knitting continental while I'm holding the yellow yarn in my right hand and purling that the English way. Because it's two stitches of one followed by two stitches of the other, doing it two-handed makes it go a whole lot quicker.
Will I have a finished hat next week? Unlikely. Next weekend... Well, the plans aren't the usual plans, so I might not get much of anything done. Although, that's fine. It's not like this is on deadline.
Saturday, and I was back working on the beanie. I wrote about it last on K-day. And I haven't gotten much further on it than the last time you saw it:
Very observant readers might notice that the colors have changed position. (No, not really. I doubt experienced knitters would notice without my pointing it out.) In the previous round, I did the cable crossing where the purple passes over the yellow, creating those little windows.
(I think I did three whole rounds on this since you last saw it.)
I did have Dad try it on. It's big enough to be a tight beanie skullcap type if I were to start the decreases now. But he said it wanted it longer (although, he doesn't really have any knitted caps, so he's not sure what he wants).
He did not request this beanie. I offered to knit one for him (after he modeled middle nephew's), and he didn't sound interested. Basically, I'm forcing this onto him, and he'll probably never wear it. But that's cool as I did want to knit another, I had the yarn, and I was curious as to how this would look with the colors reversed. I'm knitting it for my fun, and I've just decided that he gets to store it after it's finished.
Kinda selfish, no?
I had planned a few projects that got set aside when I started my Christmas knitting last year. And I still have sister-in-law's sweater to do (which I whined about last week). It's time to get on the starting of things. Or, the getting back to things.
We've made it to the last week of the challenge. What's something you've learned via the challenge (through your own writing or that of someone you've followed)? Are you planning on taking time off from blogging in May?
Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...
I really appreciate K falling on a Monday this year. Makes my life so much simpler...
Last July I asked the family what they wanted for Christmas. Middle nephew requested a beanie in Lakers colors. I finished his in about a week, and he seemed to like it.
When I finished it, to show it off on the blog, I asked my father to model it.
And at that time, I offered to knit my father one.
I started it a few weeks ago. I'm only working on it once a week for a couple hours at a time, so that's why it isn't done yet.
I decided to reverse the colors. And I'm not sure which one I like better. Here's where the new one is as of this writing:
It's not too far from done. But I really should be working on other projects. I'll get there. Eventually.
So, what do you say? Which is better? Option one, with the yellow on top? Or option two, with the purple on top?
Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...
It was July in Ohio. I asked my brother, his wife, and their children what they wanted for Christmas. Eldest nephew (after a reminder from his mom) asked for a heavy winter sweater in forest green. Okay, then.
The last Thursday of the year I do a recap post, "This year in 13 posts", and every year I link to a post of a major knit/crochet project. But that post rarely is more than a post-of-the-week on the in-the-minute of where the project is. So, since April, I might as well let newer visitors get a better idea of the full picture.
I found a pattern on Knitty: When Harry Met Lucy. Heavy winter sweater means cables to me, and cables are easy enough. Cleared with eldest nephew, I ordered the yarn, and waited.
For new visitors, my brother has five kids. On the blog their names are niece (who is now 24), eldest nephew (who is 20), middle nephew (15), and the twins (who will be 13 on V-day).
I started the project at the end of July. I had hoped to get the back finished by the end of August, but work... (I started the school year in a vacant art class, so I got kinda busy the last couple weeks of August and into September.)
While I wanted to have the sweater done in time for Christmas, well, nope. I had the front and back done, but I had just started the first sleeve.
The family came to visit, so I showed eldest nephew where the sweater was. I'm not sure if he was disappointed it wasn't finished as he spent the first couple days of that trip (the day I saw him was his birthday) with a miserable cold. But I had warned him it might not be done in time.
In February, with one sleeve done and one in progress, I planned to get the thing done in time to mail it along with my brother's birthday gift. (Brother's birthday was the end of March. Last Monday, to be precise.)
I just barely made it.
I mailed the package the Thursday before. It arrived ON my brother's birthday. Phew.
And the main purpose of this post? Would you like to see the sweater ON eldest nephew?
All done. And delivered. Just in time for spring.
Now it's time to start the sweater that sister-in-law requested. For last Christmas. Sigh.
Have you ever gotten a late Christmas gift? (Not March late, necessarily.) Anyone started for this coming Christmas? (Yes, I know it's eight months away.)
Today's A to Z Challenge post brought to you by the letter...
The sweater's previous posts:
The sweater is finished!
And, if the tracking on the package can be believed, it will arrive at my brother's house in Ohio today. Just in time for my brother's birthday. Today.
(I ordered my brother's birthday gift a while ago with the intention of mailing it along with eldest nephew's Christmas present. I cut that real close.)
I finished it late Tuesday night. I packaged it all up Wednesday after work, and then Thursday after work I dropped it off at the post office. As I write this Sunday evening, the tracking says the box is in Columbus, Ohio. Which is the closest distribution center to them.
(The closest distribution center to me is Los Angeles. If a package for me is in LA by, like, 3 AM, I will have that package that day. That's why I'm not hedging in saying that my brother is getting this today. Save for some wackadoodle occurrence.)
Phew. That only took me eight months. Not bad, really.
April starts in a couple days, and you may have noticed I added the A to Z Challenge image in the sidebar. Yes, I'll be on the A to Z thing. I haven't mentioned this earlier as you won't really notice much of a change around here. I don't do a theme. My game is to fit what I'd normally post to the letter of the day.
As of this writing, I've got A and D done for this week and I've got a pretty good idea what B and C will be. And yes, I will continue to scream into the void on Tuesdays (read: write about current events). X falls on a Tuesday this year. I don't know how I'm going to make that work, but I will, somehow. That's a problem for me in a couple weeks.
And somehow, my yarn-y post for next week will begin with the letter E. How? I have no idea yet. You'll have to visit me to find out.
The sweater's previous posts:
I have a sweater.
All that's left is the collar.
If all goes well, next week at this time, it'll be in the mail. Hopefully it'll be there, actually, because next Monday is my brother's birthday.
A couple months ago I ordered my brother's birthday gift, and the plan was to have eldest nephew's sweater done in time so I could mail them all together. And... I really would have liked to have mailed this past Saturday. Sigh. I still can mail the birthday gift and just mail this sweater later, but I'm so close.
So close.
Fingers crossed.
I mean, it's only three months late for Christmas. That's not bad for me. Really.
The sweater's previous posts:
Well, I made some forward progress. I attached both sleeves:
And I got set up to sew up the side seams:
And that's about it. Sigh.
Hey, it's something. Although, I really need to get this done. Like now. At least, if I plan to mail it with my brother's birthday gift, and have that, at least, arrive on time.
I don't like deadlines.
Anyway... I need your help. Have you heard of Humble Bundle? It's a website that sells digital libraries. Well, it sells video games and computer books, but it also sells other sorts of books. About a month ago they did a bundle of all of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, and I grabbed that one so fast...
Right now they're offering digital copies of 26 crochet books/booklets. And... I don't need more crochet patterns. Not really. I mean, the amigurumi book looks interesting. But there are books of afghan patterns and baby layettes. (Neither of which I need. At all.)
Please talk me out of getting this. I am so tempted. The price is great. The money goes to charity. But I have books and magazines and so many patterns. I can resist this.
The sweater's previous posts:
I have just been so tired. I was dragging all week. I'd get home from work, eat something, and then close my eyes... After a long nap, then it was time to get ready for bed. Sigh.
But I did manage to sew the shoulder seams.
And that was all. Sigh.
So, I have officially missed the winter with this sweater. I mean, unless, is it still cold where you are? (We have finished our cold winter weather. I switched my bedding to my summer sheets.)
Maybe this week I'll get it done? I really don't have a good excuse at this point.
At least eldest nephew will get to wear this next winter.
The sweater's previous posts:
So, after finishing the knitting of the sweater I today have a fully finished sweater to show you? Of course not. I didn't touch the sweater all week.
(I had a rough week last week. Even so, I could have pulled out the sweater and started the seaming process, but no.)
But when I go and visit my father on Saturdays, I bring along a project to have something to do with my hands. And seaming that sweater was not a bring-along project. Time to find something new...
Do you remember the beanie I knit for middle nephew for Christmas?
After my father modeled the thing, I offered to knit him one. When I had time. Well, now I have time.
I haven't gotten very far:
I decided to flip the colors, so the purple will be the mesh thing on top. I was kind of curious how that will play out.
I will not, however, tell you how long it took to find those size 6 needles that I needed to start the ribbing with. It turned out they were actually in the first bag I looked in, only in a front pocket because they weren't in use. I only checked that front pocket after tearing apart every other place those needles could be, at 11 o'clock at night, so I'd have something to work on the next day.
Sigh.
Of course, I'm going to need the size 8 needles for the collar of the sweater as well as the two-color portion of the beanie, so we'll see if that gets me working on the sweater, or if this beanie gets finished rather quickly.
Sleeve two is finished!
While the pattern told me the piece needed to be twenty inches long, I had already knit one sleeve, and I noted how many rows of that I knit to get to the twenty inches.
I almost finished it Wednesday night, but it got late, and I was tired. So, Thursday night I knew I needed to knit two rows and then bind off. And done!
Well, not quite...
Then Saturday I knit the ribbings onto the bottom of both sleeves.
And so, now, officially, the knitting of the piece is (almost) done. All that's left is to sew it all together.
Which is going to take some time. Yeah, just when you thought I was done...
First shoulder seams. Then the sleeves. Then all the way up from the bottom seam to the end of the sleeve. Using mattress stitch. It's not hard. I will want to take my time to make sure it all stitches up nicely. No use doing all this knitting to have a mess in the end because I rushed the seaming.
Then, once that is done, I have one last bit of knitting to do. The collar.
But that's only after I'm finished seaming.
I'm close. I'm very close.
The sweater's previous posts:
Last week I got a question about how I keep the pattern for this sweater straight while I'm knitting it. This is one of those things that we knitters figure out along the way. My process works for me. I picked up some of it from other knitters, and some of it just made sense to me.
The pattern is When Harry Met Lucy. If you scroll through it, you'll see that the sweater is made up of five different panels. One center cable. Two side cables. And two raindrop stitches.
Each panel has a different number of rows to complete the repeat. How could one possibly keep track of all of that? Well, it's not really that hard.
There's my current sleeve. I have added lines to show each of the five panels.
Before I started, I took screenshots of each of the charts for each panel. (Working from charts is much easier than working from written out instructions. Especially for this.) Then I took those images and added them to a document. I adjusted the size so that it all was about the same and all fit on the same page. And I printed out:
The paper shows the wear it's gotten as I've used this for the front, the back, sleeve one, and now sleeve two.
I took a picture of the sheet where it's at right now, so you can see my sticky notes. Each one is underneath the row I will knit next, so I can easily see which stitches I should be making. It's numbered one to five as that's the direction I work while knitting.
Then the "wrong side" is the exact same, so I knit back (from five to one) knitting the knit stitches and purling the purl stitches. At the end of the non-public side, I move each sticky note up two rows, and I work from one to five again.
The sticky on the sticky notes wears off after a while, so I have replaced those sticky notes a few times. I also cut them to fit each panel. Panels one and five are worked multiple times over the stitches, while panels two through four are only worked once. The panels are worked bottom to top, so when I reach the top, I start over again at the bottom.
You can't really see the markers in my knitting if you look at my knitted piece, but they're there. I have a marker at each one of the lines, marking each one of the panels. Because if I somehow get lost in one of the panels, I only have to count back to that section, not back to the beginning of the row.
Any questions, comments, or concerns?
I'm getting close to finishing this sleeve. I'm not going to say how long it should take, because experience tells me the minute I make that guess, something is going to rise up out of nowhere and hit me across the face, stopping me in my tracks.
So, until next week...
The sweater's previous posts:
There's something about knitting sleeves...
My great-grandmother, the one who taught me to knit, stopped knitting sleeves. When I knew her, she only knit vests. (This post contains some pictures of her work.)
I'm beginning to understand why.
When I started sleeve one, it seemed like I'd be working on that sleeve forever. It didn't seem to be gaining any length. Until it did. And there was a moment when I looked down at my work when it went from, "Will this sleeve ever be long enough?" to, "Wow, I'm almost done."
For sleeve two, I hit that point Saturday.
That's roughly 13 inches. I just need 18 inches to be finished. I think it was 18 inches... (My notes are across the room. I'll look it up later.)
It's closer to the length of sleeve one, anyway.
My self-imposed deadline is looking more and more doable. Wish me luck.
The sweater's previous posts:
I may have done something stupid.
The place where I usually get my brother's birthday gifts was having a sale, so I bought his present. Since it is way before his birthday, I'm shipping it to me, and then I'll ship it out to him closer to his birthday.
I mean, I'm going to eventually have a package to ship to Ohio. This sweater I've been working on since last July, eldest nephew's Christmas gift, is going to be finished. Eventually. My brother's present can hitch a ride when I mail that out.
So, now I have a deadline. I need to get this sweater done in time to get my brother's birthday present to him on time. That is, if I want to only ship one package.
Can I do it? I think I can. We'll see.
My brother's birthday is March 30th.
I have sleeve two to finish.
Then sleeves one and two need the ribbing.
Then the sweater gets assembled. And then the collar is knit on.
We'll see...
The sweater's previous posts:
This past week I made some progress on sleeve two:
Last week I was here:
I'm content with that.
I wish I had something more to write. But some weeks are like that. No major hiccups. I would have liked to have gotten further, but work. And it's still winter, so I'm not terribly behind.
I'd say I'll have more drama next week, but I really hope that's not true. Slow and steady is good. I'll get there. Eventually.
The sweater's previous posts:
Sleeve one (complete):
Sleeve two (started):
Sleeves together:
So, progress. Once I complete sleeve two, I then add the ribbing onto the bottoms of both (without the detour into Kitchener stitch). And then I put them all together. To finish, I knit the collar.
In other words, it's getting there. Will I finish before the weather warms up? Well, before the weather warms up in Ohio, as that ship has already sailed for SoCal. (It's January, and yet as I write this at 4 PM on Sunday, I'm sitting in shorts and a short sleeved shirt with my window wide open.)
I'll keep plugging away on it.
(It's been a few weeks since I linked to the pattern, so here it is in case you want to knit yourself one: When Harry Met Lucy.)
The sweater's previous posts:
I'm about an inch away from binding off sleeve one:
The plan is to then do sleeve two, and then add the ribbing to the bottom of both at the same time. Much as I did with the front and back (albeit without the detour into Kitchener stitch).
I don't have any subbing jobs booked for this week (as of my writing this Sunday afternoon), so that means I might not work at all, or I could work up to all five days. The fewer days I work, the more likely I'll get more sleeve done. I'll keep you posted.
Sweater Tracking:
It's hard to tell by itself, so let's compare it to the sweater front:
Decent progress. But I think you can see why it didn't get done in time for Christmas. I still have a second one to make, plus assemble the thing, and then knit on a collar.
I wanted to get more done during my time off from school, but then I fell... Well, it wasn't a big one, but I'll explain.
Sweater Tracking:
New Year's Eve. It was raining. As I do pretty much every day, I took the dog out for a walk. The rain had let up a bit, so I figured it was a good window.
Buttercup did her usual sniffing around, and she finally did her business a bit too close to the water.
 |
| The scene of the incident |
I went to pick it up when the mud underneath my feet gave way, and I landed on my butt and slid, heading straight for the water. Luckily, I managed to only land my left foot in, my right remaining in the mud.
One shoe (the left) floated away. (I was wearing slides, because of course.) I removed my right shoe and tried to get some traction to get me up, but no dice. I slid more. And, of course, no one was around, so it was up to me to get up and get home.
(Buttercup hovered on the sidewalk, waiting.)
I flipped over onto my belly, and attempted to find a way to inch up the bank.
 |
| This is pretty much head on from where I was |
I reached for those rocks. I didn't have enough to pull, so I wrapped my arms around that tree. From there, I was able to pull myself up to where I could crawl to the sidewalk and stand.
I was barefoot and covered in mud. I looked back to see my right shoe had now also fallen into the water and was floating away in the other direction.
I picked up the leash, and I took Buttercup home. We weren't far. I went in through the garage, and stripped out of my mud-caked pants. I went in search of my grabber/reacher stick, and once I found that, I went back out to retrieve my shoes. (I had put on another pair of pants first, though.)
They were too far for me to reach, but a neighbor happened by, and he was able to get both shoes out of the water.
So, no visible injuries. I'm only sore, mostly from the exertion of trying to get myself up. The mud came off my clothes in the wash and off my body in the shower.
I just knew I was due for another fall. At least this one was minor in comparison to my previous.
As predicted, I did not finish eldest nephew's sweater in time for Christmas. The next question is: will I finish it in January?
I do not know. I have about half of one sleeve. So, maybe?
As luck would have it, the family made the trip out to SoCal, so I could give presents in person. I brought along the work-in-progress so eldest nephew could see how it was coming along. He was impressed. Apparently, cables are impressive. Who knew?
(Eldest nephew was also dealing with a miserable cold. On his birthday.)
But I had finished some things. Like, the beanie for middle nephew in "Lakers colors".
Yeah, he was wearing a Lakers t-shirt. Because, of course.
And the beanie for my brother:
Then the two of them took a selfie in their beanies:
I took a pic as they took their selfie.
So, I will be continuing the Christmas knitting after Christmas. I knew this would happen, though, so I'm not terribly upset about it.
The irony? When I referenced what they had asked me for in July, they had forgotten. So, the twins were quite content with the purchased long-sleeved sweatshirts (with Minecraft on them), and my sister-in-law wasn't upset that I hadn't started her sweater at all.
This is the last thing I'll be able to finish in time for Christmas:
This is random beanie's cousin. Same pattern, different colorway. Modeled by me, it will go to my brother (who is actually letting me knit him something this year).
I realized too late how busy that background looks. Sigh.
Sorry about my squint. The sun was bright.
As for eldest nephew's sweater, I did start the sleeves this past week. If I do nothing else this week... But, there's a bathroom asbestos issue ongoing, plus I have my semi-annual dental cleaning this week.
As luck would have it, the family is making the trek out to SoCal this year, so I can show eldest nephew the progress even though I won't be able to give it to him yet. That should be an okay Christmas/birthday present, right? (His birthday is the 26th.)
But that doesn't explain the post title, does it?
In Friday's post, I mentioned a kiddo ripping branches from a tree, and I made mention of other students bringing in flowers to draw in an art class. To which Alana commented, "...flowers? In December?"
Yes, flowers in December.
Pictures taken in my father's backyard on December 20th, in the afternoon:
We're due to get lots of rain this week. So, we were enjoying the sun for now. (Sorry, I don't know what kind of flowers these are.)
The beanie posts:
