Tag Archives: knitting

Gap closed

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So Mr. Aitch and I went for a longer than planned motorcycle ride yesterday.  We left around 10:00 am and got home around 4;30 pm.  The weather was P.E.R.F.E.C.T.   We made a loop from our home near the Potomac River, over the Allegany Front, through Mountain Lake Park, Oakland, Terra Alta, Kingwood, Reedsville, Masontown, and finally to Morgantown.  The return trip was a straight line on I-68 east.  When we stopped for lunch in Morgantown, I stuck my gloves in my jacket pocket and discovered a swatch for the sweaters I knit for E&Z (the twins) last December.  Why was the knitted swatch in the pocket of my motorcycle jacket?  I have absolutely no idea.

I got on Ravelry to see if I could find a good way to close the gap on the February Baby Sweater at the sleeve join.  When I got to the “gap”, I picked up more stitches than called for.  It took some help from a crochet hook after the first few rows but I have no gaps.  I hope I can get the rest of this sleeve finished today and the other one finished tomorrow.

If I can get my card reader to work, I will post pictures.

Almost there

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Well, I tinked the February baby sweater Friday night and started the whole thing over.  Deciding how I was going to make it my own was the time-consuming part.   (Pictures if I can get my card reader to work.)  In the end I decided on the garter stitch yoke then stockinette for the body with a horizontal rib row evenly spaced.

I’m now ready for the sleeves on circular needles to avoid sewing any seams.  I need to figure out how to do the underarm join so I don’t have any gaps.

Technical question:  How do you avoid gaps when joining thumbs and/or fingers in gloves or mittens?  It would be the same technique when joining the sleeves.

Please leave a comment on your favorite technique.

Mr. Aitch and I are getting ready to head out on the Harley for a little ride.  We’ll be back by mid afternoon.  Now if I could figure out a way to knit while on the back of the bike…

Tink, frog, rippit

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Elizabeth Zimmerman’s February Baby Sweater is kicking my behind.  I get to Row 10 in the Gull stitch and I have one less stitch when I get to the last repeat.  Happened twice.

If I didn’t need this sweater finished by September 10, I’d try again.  And again.  And again. Or however many times I needed to get it right.

Not this time. 

I really want to make this top-down sweater so…here it comes.  I’m going to alter the pattern.  I haven’t even made one sweater from this pattern and already I’m altering it.  Actually I’m just going to fuggetabout the lacy Gull stitch and knit stripes or something in stockinette with some other stitch.  But no yarn overs, k2tog or ssk.

So tonight I will be tinking, frogging, and rippitting (Is that a word?) back to where the garter stitch yoke goes into the lace pattern.

I’m sure you lace knitters (or anyone who’s completed this sweater) think I must be a knitting nightmare by giving up on such a simple stitch.  How would I ever make a shawl?!?  But in this case I know when to hold ’em and when to fold ’em.  And I’m folding this hand.

Patience

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I had to tink* (That’s for you, Leah!)  back to beginning of the gull pattern on the February Baby Sweater.  I’ve made some headway but it’s still not ready to travel with me to work on during lunch.  I need to be confident in what I’m knitting so I don’t have to carry all my gear in case I need to tink.

I made another swiffer cover.

Mr. Aitch and I tried to MacGyver** our vacuum cleaner on Monday.  It’s a canister type and has a “power head” that is controlled by a switch on the handle.  This thing is nine years old and was designed to fail at the connection between the handle and the wand/power head.  The electrical connection has too much give so when you push the handle/wand/power head, it works.  Pulling it back disconnects the power.  So we cut a synthetic wine cork and tried to wedge it into the space so the connection would stay.   Didn’t quite work.  I thought I would try it again and cut a bigger piece of cork wanna-be.

Mr. Aitch doesn’t have the patience and just ordered a new vacuum.

Sometimes I have too much patience.

*tink is knit spelled backwards.  Used when you have to unknit, frog, or rip out a few rows or stitches.

**MacGyver was a 1980’s TV show starring Richard Dean Anderson.  He used everyday things to get out of harm’s way such as a paper clip to disarm a nuclear weapon.