Friday, September 27, 2013

FO Friday - Super Chunky Socks

Finally another FO Friday post! :) I managed to replicate my weird adaptions to the super-chunky sock, and finished the last one on Monday :) After I'd finished I realized it looked like one was a round or two shorter than the other, but they're just for puttering around with in the house anyway, so nobody but me will notice ;)



I think they're super-cool, and will definitely be making more of this pattern... possibly next time actually sticking to the pattern rather than misreading and being too lazy to rip back, so adapting instead ;) I hadn't tried knitting with such thick yarn before - it was kind of a weird feeling, but the socks knit up really fast (think the second one took me less than 3 hours), so I'm all for it :)

Pattern: Super-Bulky Socks by KnitFreedom
Yarn: Katia Fabula - 100% merino
Adaptions: MANY due to a misread. I accidentally increased to 22sts rather than just 16sts in the guesset and had to adjust the heel accordingly. I think it turned out well though :)

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

WIP Wednesday: Same Old, Same Old

I fear you guys are going to tired of seeing photos of these sweaters waaay before I finish them!

A bit of progress has been made on both again this week. Not much to say about them, as it really is starting to be "same old, same old".

Doesn't look like much progress has been made on my sister's sweater, but I've actually managed to knit almost 30 rows, which puts me at just about 25% of the front done. I get to see her this weekend, so I can see how the back measures up against her.

I've finished the short rows on the right edging of the Red Chocolate.
I brought it to show my friend last Saturday, and she couldn't spot the error even when I told her which part of the pattern it was in. When I finally just pointed it out to her, her reaction was, "Oh! I thought that was on purpose! Yeah, definitely just replicate it for the other side - I love it :)" So now we've agreed that her sweater will have a design error a'la Maria ;-)

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

WIP Wednesday - Short Row Challenge!

Not much progress on the individual projects, but on the other hand a little progress on each... not to mention that I had a sneak-attack by a new WIP that I just HAD to knit ;)

To start with the sneak-attack. I'm a huge sucker for thick, cozy socks and these super-bulky socks from KnitFreedom fit the bill perfectly - especially as I already had the yarn for it! I just HAD to knit them. Unfortunately my ardor diminished somewhat when I finished the first one and discovered it was about 5 sizes too big... I frogged it down to just before the gusset and tried again... only to discover that apparently I just cannot read, and somehow misread "28 stitches total" for "28 stitches on the bottom needle" - yeah... HUGE difference. By that time I had already reached 22 stitches on the bottom needle and really didn't feel like frogging AGAIN, so I fubbed my way through it by trying it out constantly. As a result I ended up with a sock that fit me perfectly... and that I have no idea whether I'll be able to deconstruct to replicate for the second sock!
However, not counting the frogging/re-knitting it only took me about 3-4 hours to knit, so I really just need to get my A in G and finish up the second one as well. Love the yarn, love the colour :)

Next up, the Boticelli. I've cast on for the front, but have only just made it past the first increase - this one will show up on quite a few WIP Wednesdays yet. It's so soft!!!! :)

And finally, the Chocolate Passion. This has seen some significant progress - not so much in quantity, but I've made it past the big hurdle of reading and understanding the short rows!! Woohoo - go me ;-)
I'm starting to understand why the pattern has been written the way it has - there really is no simple way of explaining "you have to continue knitting each section in pattern, but because of the short rows, the chart will no longer match up to what you're actually knitting, so keep your head on straight!!!" I still think they could have improved matters by better formatting, but the wording itself I understand now... after being REALLY worried for awhile if I was doing it all wrong!

I did make one error though... and only noticed too late for me to want to go back and correct it. I accidentally crossed one of the cables the wrong way just as I was starting on the short rows -- like I said, gotta keep your head on straight! Now I'm wondering whether to replicate the error on the left side to keep them symmetrical, or just hope nobody notices ;)

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

WIP Wednesday: A Bit of Progress

Not as much progress this past week as I would have liked. I've been feeling slightly under the weather and have been too tired to pick up my knitting as often as usual, but fortunately even just two evenings of TV viewing was enough to finish the back of the Boticelli :)
It's an interesting way of knitting a top, but I think it'll look awesome once it's done :)

The chocolate passion has seen even less progress - 20cm done of the right lining, then I had to start doing too many different things at once to attempt while watching TV (while watching a new movie anyway), so it's stuck here for the time being.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

WIP Wednesday - Two Backs Almost Completed

Every time I pick up Chocolate Passion I'm surprised by how quick a knit it is! Because it certainly doesn't look that way when looking at neither the photos nor the chart, but the cables make sense so after awhile you hardly don't need to chart any longer other than for a vague guidance, and the thicker yarn means less rows per cm ;)

So despite only having worked on this for two days since last WIP post, I've now finished the back! Granted, I did work on this pretty exclusively both Saturday and Sunday ;) It helped that we had the friend I'm making this for over for a movie night Saturday, and she's used to me knitting while we watch TV together... might as well knit something that's actually for her!


I haven't cast on for the next piece yet though. I haven't had much knitting time at home so far this week, and for an "on the go" piece, the Boticelli is much more suitable. I've been bringing it along to work every day to knit while commuting (when the number of people in the trains allow it), and am about halfway with the sleeves. Another 40-50 rows and I'll be able to bind the back off here as well!


It was a bit nervewrecking to redo the pattern for a different gauge and I keep thinking that the body looks too long for the sleeves, but a) I still need to knit the cuffs of the sleeves afterwards, so they will grow another 10cm or so in length. And b) I keep checking the measurements against the original pattern (having calculated the row-cm ratio for both gauges) and it fits perfectly! So I guess I'm fine :) I see my sister next for the last weekend of September so I can measure it against her there :)