Girl Who Knits

So even though I had written off my Deep-V Vest attempt as an unfortunate, un-wearable mistake, I still check out the knit-a-long to see how everyone is doing. I mean, I still love the vest and I am planning on making another one come fall but I do still love the the one I made. I love the colors and I worked hard on it and the stitches look good but...it just doesn't fit well. I really had no hope.  That is, until, I read this post today on the knit-a-long.

It appears Marika had the same wing problems I did and I am cautiously optimistic about her fix.  So do you guys think this could work on mine? Is there hope after all?  I would have to frog the armhole ribbing and figure out how to re-pickup the stitches to the size I want it and then sew to secure it and cut the extra material. In my head it works but is there anything I am missing that I need to take into consideration? Should I try it?

I am relying on the greater wisdom of the blog world to give me advice. Of course if no one gives me advice then I will take that as a sign.  A sign for what I don't really know.  If you have any ideas for what the sign should be then you can let me know that too. 

Soon I will have news of another...yes, another...project I cast on for and another...I know, another...knit-a-long I joined.  I am crazy.  But I also found out I have 15 days of vacation that I have to use before the end of August or I lose them so it looks like I have some summer knitting days ahead. 

Awww yeah, you gotta love my argyle mini-dress:

After 42 hours of blocking the vest is ready for pictures...but not for the public.  Turns out, after all my mistakes, fears, miscalculations and close-to-frogging moments, I was right.  I should have started over when I first got worried.  You know the funny thing?  What I was most worried about was the length...it is long, but I kind of like that part of it.  I am 5 '10 and the length looks good.  So what is wrong you ask?  Perhaps you can't tell from the above picture—it is kind. 

Meet...the wings:

Some people might call them armholes but they have a very distinctive aero-dynamic feel to me.  I really don't know what happened.  Did I make the wrong size?  Was it my longer row gauge?  I just don't know.  I still highly recommend the pattern.  It is incredibly well written, full of useful information and very easy to decipher.  Just make sure you know your gauge and make correct adjustments.  Mine didn't turn out because of my own folly.

Here are the specs:

Pattern: Eunny's Deep-V Argyle Vest 

Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style, Storm (6 skeins) and Tide Pool (4 skeins)

Needles: 29 inch circular US 4's

Modifications: I didn't make any intentional modifications but due to not understanding the implications of row gauge I accidentally made it about 5 inches longer then it is supposed to be (it measures in at 29 inches). Read all the details of this experience here.

I am sad because I love it. I love the pattern, the argyle, the colors, the style...oh well.  I am going to have to re-knit, I just don't know when or how I will avoid the wings in the future.  I don't think I can bear to unravel this vest so if anyone knows a broad shouldered, long torso-ed lady who wants to tempt it away from me...I could be convinced to do a trade. 

I spent Saturday morning, in bed, doing this:

Yes, that is me going against all natural instincts and cutting my knitted work.  Steeking is fun...ish.  I am still nervous that the whole garment will unravel in a mess of aqua and navy but it seems to be holding up just fine now.  I am so close to being done with the vest and will hopefully have finished pictures up soon.  I am beginning to feel better about the length but I can't really be sure until I try it on.  I refuse to try it on until I am all finished.  This drives sister/roommate Kara crazy because she desperately wants me to try it on.  I think I might have put it on last night after I bound off the neck band but I didn't want to give in to her incessant pleading.  It is my vest and I will try it on when I say. 

In other news...thanks to zeneedle's post today, I learned about the Estes Park Wool Market in nearby Colorado and Kara and I decided on the spur of the moment that we are going.  Yea!  I am so excited!  It will be my first of these types of events and I am excited to walk around and see what is there.  I think Kara is most excited to take pictures of llamas so she can be a cool llama-pictures-in-her-post-blogger.  Either way it is going to be great fun.

I can't believe I made it this far but see what I am working on now:

Steeks!

For a while there I thought this vest was going to a pre-mature grave.  Here is the story...

So my extra yarn came on Wednesday and that night I picked up the vest and got to finishing.  A few hours into my work I finally let my mind address what I had been subconsciously worried about ever since I reached chart two (about half way).  It is too long.  Some of you may remember that I had already discovered my row gauge stupidity but I thought I fixed it.  Or, I should say, it was supposed to be fixed.  Around midnight on Wednesday, I stood up and held the vest to my body only to discover...it was knit for an amazon.  My sister roommate Kara was on the couch knitting and when she looked up and our eyes met, there was only one thing we could do.  We laughed.  We laughed hard for a good while.  The whole thing just seemed so ridiculous.  I mean, why can't I have one handknit sweater that turns out.  Why?  I sat back down and thought things over.  Frogging was the only solution I could think of and the only one I was unwilling to accept.  Then I started thinking, surely this will fit differently once it is seemed, steeked, and blocked.  Perhaps I am being too hasty.  Perhaps the late hour is addling my brain.  Perhaps it is just fine.  Don't be so hasty.  

I went upstairs still a little depressed but with a hesitant optimism.  I decided to play down this newfound optimism to find out what Kara really thought.  Depending on our moods we sometimes withhold our true opinions until we know the other can take it.  You know how sister's can get a little sensitive.  Anyway, here is how our conversation went...

Me: It is so long.  I am probably going to have to frog it.

Kara: Aw...is it not funny anymore?

Me: Um, yes (laugh) it is.

Kara: (she giggles) Good.  Muahahahahahahahahahaha. 

This is when I smile and go to brush my teeth.  Then I hear...

Kara: Yeah, too bad your vest didn't turn out. 

Ah Ha!  The truth.  She thought it was hopeless.  Well, I went to sleep feeling that way too.  It took a night's rest and a day's work to come back to the vest and realize that while yes, it is long, it is not THAT long.  I made the decision to accelerate the end (making the neck decreases more frequent and starting the back shaping immediately) and by doing that I cut about 10 rows.  It might only save an inch and a half but it is something.  Tonight I finished the body of the vest:

I am now working on the crochet steeks.  I haven't cut anything yet (yikes) but I will be cutting this weekend.  Honestly, messing up in other areas makes me feel better about the steeks.  Bring it on I say.  If I mess up on the steeks then...sucka...the vest was already too long so who cares?

Secretly (between me and you) I want it to turn out.  I have visions of putting it on and discovering that the length is, in fact, hip and elegant and that it is the best fit piece I have knit.  Perhaps this is the same optimistic yet faulty thinking that led me to believe Ben Affleck and JLo were going to go the distance.  And I really did too.  Hopefully the vest has a better fate.

...to ripping this all out.

I discovered today that I am an idiot.  I measured my vest and couldn't figure out why it was so long.  I mean, I added extra rows but that was to make up for my short row gauge...yeah, that is when it dawned on me.  I completely messed up.  My row gauge is 26.  The pattern gauge is 30.  I was thinking that I needed to add rows in order to make it right.  I know...so dumb.  I spent a lot of time reworking the pattern and trying to figure out the decreases and increases.  When I thought I had it all figured out I got started and got as far as you see above until the moment today when it dawned on me, a smaller row gauge number means a longer length per stitch.  If I did the pattern as written, it would already come out longer.  So by adding rows, I was adding even more length.  I got so turned around.  In fact, I still get turned around thinking about it.

For about 3 hours I was thinking I would have to frog it.  Three long and sad hours.  Then I though that if I just continued with the pattern and played with the spacing of the increases then I could follow the pattern as it is written from here on out, not add any rows, and not be too bad off.  I wanted it a little longer anyway.  I am just hoping my shaping doesn't look wonky when I am done. 

Now the only other concern I have is that I am pretty sure I am running out of the main color yarn.  Perhaps it was the several swatches I did but I am almost at the end of my next to last ball and I have 1/2 of the vest left including the collar and arm holes.  So I will be ordering some more—the question is one or two skeins?  It is so annoying when everything doesn't go according to plan.  Vexing. 

But I am still liking the vest.  The pattern is very fun and easy to get the hang of.  I am still nervous about those steeks though.  I will cross that bridge when I come to it I guess.

Guess what arrived in the mail today?

Gorgeous, gorgeous sock yarn.  Kara and I both ordered from Sundara Yarn which is a brand new yarn company selling amazing hand-dyed yarn.  Plus it is run by one woman.  She is crazy talented and has beautiful yarn.  We each got two skeins of the most beautiful colorway cherry blossom and it arrived super fast.  I am in love with this stuff.  I don't know yet what I will use it for but I am excited to figure it out.  I think I am going through a sock phase.  Who knew knitting socks was so fun?  I am loving my Orchid socks.  I am on the second one and will hopefully be done this weekend.  I have learned a lot about knitting socks from this project so I will share all and show how they turned out as soon as I am done.

In the meantime, I also started the Deep-V Argyle Vest.  Here is my start:

I settled on the gauge after several tries swatching.  I decided I liked the way it looked knitted up on 4's best so I am working out all the math to knit it with that gauge.  The most difficult part is that I have a shorter row gauge and so re-working all the rows makes my head hurt—but I think I have it figured out.  I am enjoying the pattern so far, it is easy to remember and fun to watch grow.  I am glad I learned to knit with a color in each hand when doing my Norwegian stockings because it is making this a lot easier to do.  Anyway, I am excited to continue but very nervous about the concept of steeking.  Even the word sounds hard doesn't it? 

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to everyone! 

Last night I swatched for the Deep-V Argyle Vest.  Besides the fact that I messed up the pattern towards the end, I really enjoyed knitting the argyles and feel like my Norwegian Stockings gave me the right experience for a two stranded knitting project like this one. 

See how pretty (I am loving the colors):

Don't mind the mistakes at the top.  Eunny strongly suggests in her pattern that we should wash and block out gauge just like we would the final sweater so we really know what our gauge is.  I usually knit up a gauge but I have never before done such a serious gauge...a bound off, hand washed, pinned to the blocking board gauge.  I like to dive into a project and not spend too much time on a gauge.  I know...bad me.  So this time I listened and actually really enjoyed the process of blocking the swatch until this morning when I found out I was off.  You mean I have to do it again??!?  I got 24 stitches and 26 rows when I need 22 and 30.  Looks like I will be swatching again tonight.  Grrr.

My Orchid socks are coming along nicely.  Now I am just trying to figure out how long to make them and what that means about shaping.  I am thinking of making them around mid to upper calf length.  Does that mean I need to increase stitches?  I just want them to fit perfectly you know? 

Okay, I am off to swatch.

I love new yarn purchases don't you?  I don't know about all you yarn dieters and stash-busters.  I just don't get it.  First up...I know I said that this weekend I was going to work on finishing my intarsia sweater...but...I just wasn't feeling it this weekend okay?  On Thursday night I was cruising knit blogs for project ideas and remembered how much I like all of craftoholic's socks and was inspired to knit some socks while waiting for a couple of online yarn purchases.  I emailed craftoholic to get some of her patterns and she sent them to me the next day so on Friday I went to my LYS and found this...

Gorgeous sock yarn—the picture doesn't really do it justice but the yarn is a subtle mix of pink, purple, burgundy, orange, and a heathered green.  Seriously, I think I pet it for most of the night.  It is Schaefer Yarn's Anne which is 60% merino wool superwash, 25% mohair, and 15% nylon.  One skein is quite large at about 560 yards and it took forever to wind but each second was worth it.  This yarn is beautiful.  I love love love it.  

I decided that socks are a perfect side project—you can take it with you anywhere and they are fun to knit up.  Today I did something I have never before done...I brought my sock to work and knit during my lunch break with my co-workers.  It relaxed me from work drama and my co-workers didn't seem to mind so I might do this regularly.  I was accused of having a dorky hobby from another co-worker who saw me but I kind of like being a dork so it didn't bother me.  

So about my socks...I decided on Steph's Orchid socks and cast on this weekend.  It has been slow moving at first because I decided to learn toe up socks and short row heels and have been making up that part of the pattern on my own.  It has been a bit of a learning experience and I used several web helps to figure it out but now I am on the leg of the sock and will hopefully be done with my first soon.  Here is a progress pic:

I love the lace pattern and love watching it grow.  I have been enjoying my socks so much that I almost forgot that I had two orders of yarn on their way to me.  The first arrived today.  It is my first order from Knit Picks.  I have been curious about this yarn for a while but to be honest I am a bit of a yarn snob and I thought for sure a yarn this cheap can't be all that.  A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across Eunny's Deep-V Argyle Vest and fell in love.  Isn't it pretty?  I bought her incredibly detailed pattern and started looking into yarn for the project and saw that a lot of people over at craftster.org are using Merino Style from Knit Picks.  So I took a look at their site, couldn't argue with the price, and figured I should try it out.  Today I got my order and am very pleased with the yarn.  Obviously I haven't started knitting with it yet but I am excited to get started. 

Here is a picture of my yarn for the vest, Merino Style in Tide Pool and Storm:

I will swatch this week and hopefully cast on this weekend.  Since I wanted free shipping on my order (need $40 dollars to do it...yes, my vest yarn only cost about $20!) I also ordered a book (Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks) and some gorgeously soft yarn for Grumperina's Dad's Sharfik:

This is the Andean Silk line from Knit Picks in Slate and I am very pleased with how pretty and soft it is.  So far I am extremely impressed with Knit Picks.

So kind of a long entry but I wanted to share joy of new yarn with you all.  I only hope everyone can be as happy with their yarn as I am with mine.