A good excuse.

I know I promised that I wouldn't start any new projects until I made a dent in my list of current projects. But I am planning on starting a daisy sock tonight.





My good excuse is that I am "out of town*" on business this week and none of my current projects travel well. Right? That's a good excuse? So - new socks!

I am using Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock yarn for the first time. My Aunt picked this yarn out for my as a Christmas gift and it is so totally perfect for this pattern.


*the reason I am "out of town" in quotes is because I am attending a conference at McCormick Place in Chicago and staying at a hotel on Michigan Ave, even though I could technically drive in from home each day. It's much more fun this way. Especially with the exceptionally crappy weather we are having.

Progress

I am glad to see that I am not the only one who dislikes the new Interweave Knits layout. Maybe they will consider making some changes if the majority of readers are unhappy.

I was very excited about how fast the front of Diamonique was going. I even took this photo:





I say was excited, becuase I realized that I had been counting rows wrong for the neckline and would have to take that whole section apart.

What happened was that in between increasing for waist shaping on the outside and decreasing for the neckline on the inside, I managed to lose track of what I was doing and was not marking off the purl rows on my notepad. This means that the decreases/increases were actually two or more rows further apart than they should be. It's not really noticable right now, but it's certianly not something I can leave and hope to get away with!

I need to sit down and figure out how far back I need to rip. This is not what I call fun, so it has been sitting here all week untouched. I knew it was all going too smoothly!

New Interweave Knits

I received my copy of the Spring 2007 Interweave Knits in the mail yesterday. At first I was so excited because A) I had something new to look at and B) the post office managed not to mangle it up this time.

After taking a closer look, I realized that they have changed the design and layout of the entire thing. Before I continue, it might help you to understand that I do not do well with change. At all. Like SERIOUSLY. This is something I have been able to work through in most aspects of my life but my FAVORITE knitting magazine? I was almost hyperventilating. I almost couldn't bring myself to look at it.

I'm sure the new layout is fine. I'm sure every normal person will love it/not even notice a difference. But see, one thing is they changed is the one thing I loved most about IK: the fact that the photo and pattern were placed together. Now, all of the photos are in a section near the front, and you have to turn to the back to see the details of yarn, gauge, sizes, etc. as well as the actual pattern. Having to flip around like this ticks me off for no real reason. Also, I don't think the quality of the photographs is the same. Not the photographs themselves I suppose, but the angles shot. There at least two tops that I couldn't find a back view for. I really would like to know what the entire sweater looks like before I knit it.

So like I said, I might be the only one who has these issues but I do feel better now after venting a little. =) I still managed to find a few things I want to knit from this issue; I guess I’ll add them to the end of my list!

Diamonique

This week (Wednesday maybe?) I finished the back of my Diamonique top.



This photo was taken just before it was finished.


I just love how bright and summery this looks. I am using Dale Svale yarn, which has a nice sheen to it, but can be a pain to knit with since it is a little splitty.

I plan to start the front tonight while watching a DVD (movie or TV show? not sure yet...) with my husband.

Now, you really should click this link to see all of the patterns SaunShine has written; there are at least four more I need to make.

ETA: I just read this about Svale yarn on the Dale of Norway website: "To prevent colors from bleeding, make sure the soap is completely dissolved in the water before placing your garment into the water." Has anyone heard that before? It's new to me. I wonder why having the soap dissolve would have any effect on color bleeding?

All cold and disappointed.

It is so. cold. here. I know I have been spoiled by a couple years of mild winters, but this is ridiculous! I didn’t start my car up at all over the weekend (how very brilliant of me) and as a result it almost didn’t start for work this morning. I can’t say that I blamed it – with wind chills in the minus 20-30°F range, I didn’t want to go anywhere either!

Ah, the Chicago Bears. What can I say? It is fabulous that they won the division title and had a great (good? decent? surprising?) season. But it would have been nice if they had actually shown up to play in the superbowl.

Here is something ironic. In 2003, I was in that very same stadium watching the Iowa Hawkeyes play USC in the Orange Bowl. The game started out exactly the same – with a dramatic touchdown from a kickoff return. The rest was all downhill from there for the Hawks, ending with a USC victory of 38-17. Do I need to explain why I was nervous when Devin Hester scored that first touchdown??

One Down...

I finished my first unfinished project! It feels so good to cross something of a list, doesn’t it? I don’t have a good photo of my sweater yet, since I have not been home during daylight hours since it was done.

I am pleased with how the collar turned out. This was my first time attempting a v-neck, so I was blindly following the pattern without knowing exactly how the ribbing decreases would work.



Debbie Bliss Merino Aran (brown, obviously)
Pattern from Family Circle Easy Knitting Fall 2004


The only thing I am not too pleased with is the fact that it is a little too large. My gauge is right on, but I seem to have a tendency to overestimate my size. This is proven by the fact that every sweater or top I have knit or sewn for myself is too big, and also because I have a closet full of loose-fitting clothes. Hmmm… I really need to work on that issue.