One By One

"W"hat do you think?

Watched it dry... re-measured... it dried some more...biting of finger nails... re-measured... back on the blocking board... more drying... a bit more biting of finger nails...a trip in the machine dryer... re-measuring...

Try-on... and...

   

What do you think??

I may have been freaking out for no reason? It is a bit longer than I would probably like, but I could always rip out an inch of the crochet bottom if it ends up really bothering me.

So, here are the specs:

Pattern: W from Knitty Spring 2005, size Medium.

Yarn: Tess' Superwash Merino, one hank (8 oz/560 yds.) - Exactly 30 grams left over.

Needles: Addi Turbos, size 8s.

Alterations: I had to change the needle size used to obtain gauge due to using an alternate yarn then what called for in the pattern. I also knit the tank in the combo-continental method, and I did wrap all the yarn overs - even in the garter stitch sections. I also crocheted the bottom band instead of using garter stitch. And, under the recommendation of a couple of experts, did one round of single crochet around the necklines and around the arm-holes. This gave it an overall clean finish.

Impressions: Love the pattern and love the yarn. Would definitely make again as it was a fairly quick knit for me and a good use of hand-dyed yarn. It was a change of pace to knit something side-to-side versus bottom-to-top, but I enjoyed it.

(P.S. - Sorry E!)

   

   

Whoa!

I finished "W" last night while knitting with Kris and Miyon.

Don't believe me???

Check it out:

I'm a bit bummed though. I couldn't wait to wash-block it, so I stuck it in a bath early this morning, and it grew. GREW A LOT! Grew so much, do you see the lack of blocking pins in the picture? It was way longer than before I dunked it. So, since it's superwash merino, I figured I would toss it in the dryer for a bit.

End result?? It is 3" longer from the bust to the bottom edge! Way too freakin' long! I'm hoping that it will shrink up a bit throughout the day as it dries completely. But I am pretty worried because it was not very damp when I laid it out on the blocking board.

I am soOOoo taking suggestions on this one - Anyone have the same kind of experience? Were you able to fix it? The bottom edge has 1.5" of crochet edging that could be ripped back a bit. Help?

If I'm able to get it to behave, there will be a proper model shot and specs. If not, maybe the garbage disposal is calling it's name....

Randomness

First off, I owe a couple of shots of our new table:

Just too cute, isn't it? And so versatile.

I feel like I'm all over the place with my knitting, too many projects and not enough time!

Jaywalker "zebra" socks, heel flap and turning of heel completed on the first sock. Now I need to pick up stitches and start that gusset.

The start of one of the sleeves for Homme #77.

One and a half wedges completed on the second half of W. I love that this is a bit of a quick knit - it makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something.

In the wings are Betty and the self-control I'm exerting to not start Marcella or the Mountain Peaks Shawl, Peacock Feathers or the Adamas Shawl!

Oh, and guess what I got???

Doesn't the suspense just kill 'ya??

Half-Baked??

Well, after watching Paula Abdul last night on American Idol, I think Kris, Miyon and I might all agree that she must be (is that vodka or rum in that coke cup?). This, however, is not:

First half of W completed (one half to go), and after making the decision to rip out what I had finished as of Sunday you could say I'm not "half-baked"- looks like size medium was the way to go - it pays to admire the knitting often :)

Hey all local San Diego Knitters and Knit-Bloggers: Kris and Miyon are meeting at the Starbuck's in Clairemont (next to the Pacific Theaters) on Saturday (tomorrow) at 1:30PM for a KIP get-together. If you're in the area, join 'em! (unfortunately I can't make it - I'm out of town to visit my grandma - but I'll catch all of you next time!).

Blogger Lunch

Sunday Kris and I took a mini-road trip to the LA Blogger lunch organized by Lauren. We stopped at Erika's on the way, and she drove us over to Buster's. Before departing, Erika gifted me with Greta:

Isn't she soOOoo cute?!? Her home is on a bookcase in the living room - high up enough from Diony (our *retarded* cat, no really she is, but we love her anyway) so she won't think Greta is one of her toys and carry her around the house :)

Anyhoo's - back to the lunch. It was really great to meet a few new people. Being at the end of the table did not allow the meeting of most of the LA crowd, but I did get to chat a bit with some of the other San Diego bloggers that made the trip: Nancy, Hilari, Jessica, Crissy, Wendy, and Heidi,. The LA bloggers in attendance included: Susan, Jillian, JenLa, Monica, Andrea, Kathy, Roberta, Lori, and Michelle.

After lunch, everyone headed over to Alamitos Bay Yarn Company. I think we may have overwhelmed them a bit - but they were probably happy with the increase in sales for the day :)

I picked up two skeins of K1C2 Tartelette in Grape for one of the patterns I picked up at Stitches West (oh, yeah, I forgot to update about Stitches!) - White Lie's Designs Marcella (this design is not up on their website for some reason). Now I'm on a mission to find a yarn for the body - it calls for Cascade 220, but I'm thinking about sub'ing with Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (has anyone worked with this yarn?? Love it? Hate it? I'm looking for something "cooler" than 100% wool, but with the nice memory of wool - any opinions??).

I digress - the blogger lunch was great - seeing Erika was great - the road trip company was great - all in all, a wonderful trip :) I worked a bit on W driving up to Long Beach and while waiting for food. I continued to make progress during the Academy Awards (got half way through the third wedge) when realizing that I was mistaken in my thought process in picking the size to knit. I remember reading awhile back that some knitters were disappointed with the size they made, and had wished they had knit one size smaller. So, remember this, and thinking that Tess's Superwash may have more "give" than other yarns, I did the same. Oops - big mistake - there was no way (even after I lose the weight I want to) that the tank was going to fit. Blah. So, last night, I did some frogging, and re-started making the next size up. Being that this is a pretty quick knit, I'm already half way through the second wedge. Not bad!