Wha?

I've been meaning to post for a while now with a list of all the projects I am currently working on and a status of what is left to be done. Not that any of you really care, but it would be a useful exercise for me to figure all of that out. I'm going away in a week for six days on a trip that will provide lots of knitting opportunities and I need to figure out what to bring!

However, my head is a whirl. Buddy has been sick (fever of 104.5 last night!), I worked yesterday, and we're getting a new cat this evening. I've got a million things to do and I can't figure out where to start, but a lengthy blog post isn't going to happy today!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Duh

So I finally blogged about being on Ravelry, but did I remember to tell you my screen name? No. Duh.

If you're on Ravelry come say hi, I'm Loopie.

If you're not on Ravelry, consider getting on the wait list, it's a fun way to connect with a community of knitters, and keep track of your projects/yarns/patterns/needles/friends/etc...

Why?

Why?

Why did I dare to utter the words "All it needs now are a collar and zipper, so it shouldn't take me too long, right?" (It's almost as dangerous as saying the words "hey, neither of the kids has had to go to the doctor lately!" The last time I said that my son swallowed a dime. I try to not even think those words anymore).

Why didn't I think to try on the Ribby Cardi before I seamed it?

Why did I alter the pattern and make the sleeves one inch shorter?

This is the Ribby Cardi now:


I tried it on before starting the collar and instantly realized the sleeves were too short. Short enough to bug me. So, time to undo!

I have now removed one sleeve and ripped it back to the start of the cap shaping. I have washed the yarn (to remove some of the kink) and will make the sleeves longer before basting together and trying on again (I try not to make the same stupid mistakes twice, at least on the same project!)

Wish me luck.

Everybody into the pool!

I, like many others (and many more to come) have joined Ravelry. I actually did it a while ago, having signed onto the waiting list on impulse some time before that.

And I, like so many others, am finding it to be fun. I've never before been interested in online social networking, but the knitting angle of this makes it completely up my alley.

This is not to say that I have spend all that much (or nearly enough) time on this yet. I have only just begun to import photos and list the projects that I am working on, and have not even started past finished projects. I have signed up for several groups, but have had little time to try to read group discussion boards. And I have surfed other's project pages and found lots of things I'd like to make but have tried not to fall too far into that black hole.

I am also finding, like many others, that I am working lately on trying to finish projects. I have a few (half dozen or so) unfinished projects, some of which are pretty close to being done, and I am trying to move some of those closer to completion.

For example,

Ribby Cardi in Cascade 220.

I started this last fall, I think in September, and had the pieces complete in a couple of weeks. I did a little bit of the finishing, and then put it down so I could work on Holiday Knitting. Then I had to work on Sockpal knitting, then baby blanket knitting, and here we are one year later. It's getting closer to sweater weather around here and I'd like to wear it this time around, so I'm working on it again. All it needs now are a collar and zipper, so it shouldn't take me too long, right?

Two finished projects

Last week I finished this

Artfully draped on our back fence (at least, as artfully draped as I can manage)


A close up shot (playing with the macro setting on the camera)


Modeled by Punkin (how did she know to strike such a pose?)

The Eyelet Squares Blanket made in Cascade 220 Superwash.
I used less than four balls and could have made it bigger by at least one repeat, but it is a fine size as it is. I hand washed and laid it flat to dry, pinning out each of the squares along the edge. It has a lovely soft, drapy feel, and is a lovely newborn blanket.

Just in time for the second finished project - the baby girl for whom the blanket was made!

My brother and his wife had a baby girl last week, their third child. Everyone is doing well, and the baby's two older brothers are happy to see her. I mailed the blanket on the day the baby was born and have received reports that she is loving it already! I wished that they lived closer so I could go see the baby, but 2,700 miles is a big chunk of territory.

I learned something important in the making of this blanket. As you may remember, this is the second blanket I made for this baby. The first was felted during its first washing, not to the point of being unusable but certainly not worthy of a newborn. I was determined to not repeat this problem, so I made a good sized swatch of the yarn from this blanket and experimented.

First I machine washed the swatch in cold water with clothing and a towel. It came through the wash just fine, nice and soft.

Then I machine washed the swatch in cold water with two large fleece blankets, and we have found the culprit. The swatch came out of the wash felted, dry and slightly crunchy. It was an odd kind of felting, though - the stitches were still distinct, but the surface was very fuzzy and matted together. I think the fleece just was too "grabby" and really gave the knitted piece just too much of a workout. So now I know, and am sharing with you, don't wash piece made in Cascade 220 superwash with things made from polar fleece!