Monday, March 20, 2006

Ouch...

Alright. This has been an annoying day! Remember those mittens I was working on? Well, I had to pull every stitch out.

Warning to anyone who has the Folk Mittens book from Interweave Press and who plans to do the Selbu Mittens. There is a major discrepancy between the chart and instructions and the way in which the author intended the mitten to be knitted. Oh, and now I'm supposed to be a mind reader????

Anyway... I got a good piece done on the mitten and started comparing it to the sample photo. Hey! The palm area on my mitten doesn't look at all like the sample. Shot off an e-mail to Interweave last night and got a reply today. At least they're quick.

Turns out that the author intended the knitter to not knit the stitches between the thumb gore and the border. This of course subtracts five stitches which need to be increased in the thumb gore, not in the first pattern row as she states.

The instructions say to cast on 54 stitches, work cuff in 2x1 rib as long as you wish, then increase 6 stitches evenly in first round (60 stitches). This should leave you with 30 stitches for the back of the hand and 30 for the palm, except for the fact you have to leave out those five stitches! So basically at the end of the cuff, you make sure you have 30 for the back of the hand, then add one measly stitch in the first row of the thumb gore and increase the next five as you go up the thumb gore!

Big difference!! So I ripped it all out and I'm starting over. Sheesh, and to think I plan to give these mittens away!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Long time no blog!

Catching up on UFOs sure does take time away from new projects. I'm finishing up some things that I started before the Knitting Olympics. OTN (On the needles): bedsocks for me in worsted weight llama fiber, a sweater for my youngest for next year, and dress socks for my husband.

Last year I got a lot of knitting books for Christmas and I promised my family members mittens. (I got the Folk Mittens book.) I've been going through it and picking out patterns for my brother, SIL and mom. My husband is getting kilt hose from the Folk Socks book. Four fairly complex projects finished by Christmas??? I hope so.

I've started the mittens for my SIL. I'll post a picture of my progress as soon as I have achieved some. Right now all I have is one blue 2" long cuff...

Getting back to the sweater for my youngest. You think you know your kids. His favorite color is green. He picked out a nice leaf green last year that he wanted the sweater made from. I got a sweater complete except for one sleeve; he looked at the pattern and said, "No, Mommy, I wanted a green one like my brother's."

Two years ago I did a sweater for my oldest that looks like the sweater Harry Potter wears for Quidditch matches--burgundy crew neck with a wide gold stripe across the chest. Stephen tells me that he wants a dark green sweater with a silver stripe. "But, honey," I say, "green and silver are the Slytherin colors. They're not the good guys." "That's OK, Mommy," he says, "I'll be the good Slytherin." Oh, dear...

So now I'm knitting a Slytherin Quidditch sweater in a rather nice mohair yarn. Gotta admit that it's a pretty color combination.