Below are the 18 most recent journal entries recorded in knittingmonster's LiveJournal:

Friday, November 18th, 2005
5:20 pm	Once Upon a Looking for Donna As I think we all know, a busty curvy woman and I have a hard time fine sweaters that fit and flatter my titsframe. Last year MagKnits published Donna a pattern designed to fit a curvy woman. I squealed and decided this would be my first sweater even though it's knit flat, requires seaming and short row shaping. Behind the cut are lots of pictures of this sweater, and my thoughts on the pattern. ( Whole lotta Donna ) (17 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 1st, 2005
5:47 pm	Behind the cut are pictures of two recent knitting projects ( pictures of Flower Basket shawl and Cascading Leaves socks ) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, May 12th, 2005
12:48 pm	Once Upon a Looking For Donna You know what is not chasez? Ripping out the neckline 3 times. I ripped it out once because I had forgotten to do the vee neckline decreases along with the raglan shaping. I ripped again again because I had decreased unevenly and one half was wider than the other. The last time I ripped out because I screwed up the decreasing again. However, the third time is the charm and I've finished the front of "Donna." YAYE!!! I've decided to do a more interesting ribing on the sleeves of Donna. I was initially pondering a cable rib pattern, but after perusing Knitting on the Edge with great lust, I've decided on a ribbed pattern called "Jump Over the Broom." It should be v. sexy. I'll post pictures as soon I get cracking on it. I'm about 3 inches into the back of "Donna" which is now my public transport knitting again. Bus/subway knitting is anything fairly mindless where you can stop mid row and you won't lose your place. Socks can be good, because they're small, but I am skilled at snapping my DPNs which is a problem. Ah well. Maybe my girlfriend will get some socks out of me as well. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 9th, 2005
2:46 pm	More Donna I'm continuing to knit on Donna. I had to rip out a few inches of knitting because I missed that on the front you do raglan shaping decreases and neck shaping decreases. Oops. Watching an episode of the new "Dr. Who" fixed that. You know for a first sweater this is coming along quite well. I'm sure when I get to the land of seaming I'll be more crabby. Right now the thing that is hardest is keeping track of the neck decreases. I've put in locking stitch markers when I decrease so it's easy to see how many times I've done it. I'm a huge fan of locking stitch markers (they look like fat plastic safety pins) to mark when you've done something in a pattern like start decreasing, or finish a sectin of lace or whatever. (Comment on this)
Friday, May 6th, 2005
5:06 pm	Sweater of POWER! I'm working on my first sweater which is Donna from Mag Knits. When I saw the pattern I became obsessed because the designer, like me, is a curvy woman with a big bust and a more defined waist. Also, she said you could pretend to be a 1950s lady with pearls and a flouncy skirt while wearing the sweater, and that's very appealing. I purchased Classic Elite Imagine yarn which is a cotton/tencel blend in a pretty periwinkle blue color. I hit gauge on #4 and #5 needles (instead of #6 and #7. Whatever). The first new thing I learned was how to do a tubular cast on. It's a bit fiddly at first, but it gives you a clean looking stretchy edge ( tubular cast on pic behind cut ) So good times. The next new skill was short rows with wraps and picking up the wraps. Short row shaping makes extra material in a section, in my case the bust to accomodate my enormous breasts. I got help from this site which has great pictures of what is going on. I picked up the wraps pretty neatly. The rows aren't invisible, but they look mostly like a dart. ( wrapped short rows behind cut ) Right now I'm 1/2" away from the raglan shaping at top. I've already cast on for the back and have started the bottom row of ribbing (I needed something mindless yesterday and I didn't want to worry about dealing with raglan shaping on the go). I really like this pattern. It's coming along smoothly and the ribbing along the sides breaks up the stockinette enough that it doesnt' get too boring. I will definitely make myself one in alpaca for winter. ( 14 inches of Donna! ) (Comment on this)
Monday, March 28th, 2005
3:33 pm	First attempt at lace knitting: IK Flower Basket Shawl My first "real" lace project is the Flower Basket shawl from Fall 2004 Interweave Knits (lots of google image links to shawls people have already made). It's pretty. It's done on #7 needles with doubled lace weight yarn, so my head probably won't explode and yeah. Pretty pretty. I'm using Cherry Tree Hill glitter alpaca in Wild Cherry which is beyond yummy. I want to roll around in a pile of it. I'm 2 repeats in with lots of ripping and redoing. Here is a picture of it in progress (click for a bigger version). The color is off but you can see the general pattern ok. I've been having all kinds of problems with this pattern with mysterious extra stitches and lost stitches. I used lots of stitch markers and counted carefully, still having the problems. The picutre above is me about to rip back to a lifeline (thank god for lifelines). Today I almost lost it when I was counting sittches in sections and after triple checking, one section had 9 stitches but dirctions for 10. WAH. Then I noticed another section had dirctions for 8 stitches but 9 stitches in the section. At that point I looked at my chart again and realized I had put more stitch markers in than they had in the chart. I recounted and the entire section (which I had divided three parts) had the correct number of stitches. Oops. At least I'm back on track for knitting it correctly. (Comment on this)
Friday, January 7th, 2005
2:36 pm	Mittens and Gloves One of the projects I've been working on is a pair of mittens for a friend of mine (yet another late Xmas present). I'm making them out of Debbie Bliss Bulky Cashmerino and while the yarn is amazign, the pattern has been kicking my ass up and down the town. I was doing color work and messed up it multiple times. I finally got a completed mitten with color work pattern done correctly and notice I had neglected to leave a hole for the thumb. More cursing ensued. I finally have one complted mitten with stitches on hold for the thumb. ( Read more... ) I've also been slogging away at Knitty's Broadstreet mittens (fingerless gloves with a mitten shell on them). Slog slog slog slog. I had to rip out the entire hand portion at one point because, although I hit gague when I swatched, the hand was mysteriously almost 2 inches too wide. Grr. I just finished the pinky on one of the gloves. Bow down before my glove-fu. ( Read more... ) And last, but no in way least, a completed project. Gloves made ouf Cherry Tree Hill supersock yarn. They are gorgeous and sexx-ay as all get out to match their new owner wyoluvr( Read more... ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, January 3rd, 2005
10:10 am	DNA Scarf ARGH!!! I left my DNA scarf at my girlfriend's apartment instead of bringing it home with me to finish in time for X-mas so I am sadly, sadly behind on the knitalong. GARGH!! This is about where I am. You can't see, but all the neck ribbing is completed and I'm at row 2 or 3 of the chart. I have some "Sharpe" movies to get me through the chart or maybe I'll pop over and sit with bbbsg and knitty knit. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, December 17th, 2004
3:22 pm	Recent FOs Some recent knitting projects which I made for charity. An adult hat, baby hat and one of those Irish Walking scarves. This hat was done out of Lamb's Pride superwash worsted weight wool. It's your generic watch cap pattern, but I added a slip stitch pattern once I finished the ribbity ribbing. I used Excel to plot out the decreases while still retaining the red pattern. This is an Irish Hiking Scarf All folded up. It's also done in LB superwash to match the hat above. This hat is Shining Star</b> by Kate Gilbert, of Knitty's Claptois fame. Wool-Ease worsted weight this time. (Comment on this)
Thursday, December 2nd, 2004
6:00 pm	Gauntlets of Power: From Start to Finish So, I bought this lovely bright green baby alpaca/cotton yarn while in San Francisco that I knew was going to be my new winter warmth yarn. I initially planned a hat and scarf set, but I don't wear scarves super often. First, I made Knitty's Coronet hat with a cabled band. Once I was done, I decided to make gloves (inspired by IK article on making them). Since I loved the cabled band on Coronet, I made my gloves with a cabled band to match. ( Lots more about the project and pics behind the cut ) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, November 18th, 2004
1:04 pm	[DNA Scarf] No pictures just ribbing Monday night I was tired about to go to sleep when I realized I was 5 rows away from finishing the last DNA chart repeat before the neck ribbing. I stayed up and finished. Then, the ribbing. Rib rib rib rib. Ribbity rib. At first I didn't like the wide ribbing (overall 5X5) but after several inches I am digging it. I've finished about 2 inches of neck ribbing. I'm taking a little bit of a break so I don't get a huge wool rash. If I was smart, I would pop anti-histamines before knitting with this stuff. ugh. (Comment on this)
Monday, November 15th, 2004
11:33 pm	Starting a new ball of yarn For my Honey is who is learning how to knit The way I start a new ball of yarn (to begin a stripe or because the old ball is almost ended) is as follows. First, I pull out a tail from the new ball that is several inches long. I hold the new yarn tail with the old yarn tail and tie them together into a slip knot. Then I pick up the new piece of working yarn and start knitting the row using the new yarn. The first stitch or two will be loose. Don't worry, you can tug them straight and tighten them up later. Assuming this is a flat piece, you turn and knit (or purl) back to the end where you started the new yarn. Tighten up those few loose stitches and continue knitting (or purling). The following rows should have normal tension. I usually undo the slip knot after a few rows and just let the ends dangle. When I'm all done, the ends will be woven in and the loose stitches can be tugged and tightened more. I had a coworker take pictures. I highlighted the tail of the new ball of yarn in pink and the new piece of working yarn in a blue/purple color. Here I am with the yarn held loosely. The pink is the first 6 inches of yarn off the ball that will become the tail. Here I am tying the light blue yarn (the old working yarn) in a slipknot with the new yarn tail. I cut the light blue yarn a few inches past the slip knot. The knot is completed. You can see how the old yarn is tied to the new yarn. The yarn behind my needle is what I'm going to start knitting And here I go starting to knit with the new yarn. A couple stitches later. You can see the right side where I added yarn is kind of messy looking. This will be sorted out in finishing. Don't worry. Two rows of stitches with the new yarn is completed. You can see on the right that I undid the slip knot and let the tails dangle. Those will be woven in later. (Comment on this)
Friday, November 5th, 2004
11:06 am	More DNA scarfing Brutally behind on my DNA scarf because, well, I am allergic to wool darnitt. I may have to pre-wash the rest of th ewool so I can tolerate knitting with it more. However, I think I am one chart repeat away from the neck ribbing. Woo!! I plan to have a marathon watching of "Smallville" this weekend, maybe I can chug along to the neck and get ribbing. My newest project is making wyoluvr Christmas gloves. I'm using the "Progressive Gloves" article from the Winter 2003 issue of Interweave Knits which is fabulous. Basically, you can calculate a glove pattern based on pretty much any weight yarn and any size hand. Rar! It rocks. If you've never done gloves, go order this issue and learn how. These gloves are made out of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn in Wild Cherry hand painted colorway (I ordered the yarn from Hand Paint Heaven in VT. They shipped quickly. woo). This yarn is quite possibly the sexiest yarn ever. It's insanely soft and yummy feeling. I had to start balling it immediately (at work no less) because I wanted to fondle it extensively. I ended up dropping the hank, causing it to snarl like mad, and it untangled easily. People on the street have stopped and complimented the yarn. I only wish I wasn't allergic to wool, because otherwise I would knit with this until the cows came home. (Comment on this)
Friday, October 1st, 2004
10:30 am	Knitting on DNA Scarf No progress pictures, sadly, I accidentally deleted the files. Oops. Anyway, I'm well into the scarf and near the part for the neck ribbing. Although I realize now that it would have been clever of me to leave a lifeline in after each chart repeat so it would be easier to tell when you should start ribbing. Whatever, I'll just fake it. I knitted almost 2 chart repeats while at WorldCon. yay! However, I now have a nasty skin rash from fondling the wool so much. Boo. I'm waiting for my skin to calm down before I work on it more. (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 30th, 2004
12:37 pm	Works in Progress. I swear my knitting ADD is out of control at times. I need to do finishing (weaving in ends etc.) on my Coronet hat from Knitty. I also want to add a row of crochet along the bring in a contrast color. I need to have a finishing party or something. Maybe at the SnB in Davis or at coraline's next knit night. Weh. I'm working on the second glove made to match my Coronet hat. They have cabled band from the brim of the hat along the cuff, some 1X1 ribbing and then fibonacci striping on the fingers. I need to rip out the thumb, which is mysteriously huge, and the pinky, which is mysteriously small on the first glove and redo them. Bah. FYI, the contrast color is a beautiful deep purply pink, like this, I'm also working on making a mystery baby hat for coolwhitestare to give to someone. Ooohhh....mystery. I finally gave in and bought a skein of Alchemy's silk purse yarn in "sour apple" It's so beautiful and soft and glorious. The sheen and color are such that it glows. I'm so inlove. I think a beautiful scarf in a leaf pattern is what will happen. I'd make the most beautiful pair of fingerless mitts ever, except the yarn would probably end up getting ruined because hands get grubby easily. I'm obessing like mad over Claptois. I can't use the yarn they call for since it's a wool blend. I would love to use the Alchemy silk yarn, but it would cost me about $90 in yarn. I could use the Alchemy alpaca yarn, but I'm jonesing on a scarf with the sheen that comes from silk. Maybe Cherry Tree Hill glitter alpaca, though I'd have to modify the pattern to have it work with a lighter weight yarn. It'd be about $40. Bah. I should just suck it buy some damn yarn. Maybe molesting yarn at Newbury Yarns will help satisfy me. (Comment on this)
Monday, September 20th, 2004
2:19 pm	Gerat Green Gloves (in progress) I'm working on a pair of gloves based on Interweave Knits Winter 2003 article on making gloves. They're going to match my coronet hat from Knitty. The yarn is Paco a baby alpaca/cotton blend from ArtFibers. ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Thursday, September 9th, 2004
12:21 pm	DNA Scarf of glory I'm behind on my picture taking and posting. Sorry. This is the scarf after one chart repeat plus a few rows. If you look at the bottom, you can my messed up cables which I did not frog and fix because, I didn't want to. I'm not obssessed about doing the pattern perfectly, and most people who look at the actual scarf aren't going to say "Hey, the last bit isn't quite right." It's like my theory about hems. No one is staring at the bottom of your skirt going "hey, that hem is kind of uneven over there" so why spend hours obsessing over getting it perfect? The yarn I'm using made me nervous at first because the initial knitted fabric is kind of stiff and scratchy. I almost ripped out the project based on that. However, one quick handwashing of my swatch made the fabric drape nicely and made it much softer. One thing that is a little sad about charted knitting, is that it makes watching certain shows difficult because I have to look down and count frequently. This isn't one of those memorize and go patterns, for me at least. So, no complicated TV shows. Alas. I did manage to knit a fair bit during WorldCon which was great. I thought a DNA scarf was the perfect geeky thing to knit during a science fiction convention. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, August 31st, 2004
12:45 pm	DNA Scarf Knitalong So, the inaugral post for this knitting journal is that I'm doing a knitalong for a DNA scarf. I'm using a washable wool yarn from Dale of Norway called heilo. Dale of Norway are the official sweater makers for Norway's national and olympic ski teams. I'm using #4 needles (addi-turbo). So far I've completed one and a half repeats of the DNA cable. My big helpful suggestion to those new to cabling (like me) is to use lifelines. Basically, you take a piece of heavy duty thread (or fine scrap yarn), thread it onto a needle, and run through a row of stitches that are on your needle. This way, if you screw up your cabling, it's really easy to rip back to where the lifeline is. I would suggest doing one on the row before you start the DNA pattern, and then maybe every 10 or 15 rows. Snags in knitting the pattern. The first may be obvious to more experienced knitters. The pattern mentions selvedge stitches, which I didn't realize you do seperate from the general scarf pattern. I kept on having extra stitches on my needles and was very cross until I realized this. So, the scarf pattern is given as " 5 stitches in seed stitch pattern, purl 2 stitches, 2 stitches in right twist mini-cable, 20 stitches in DNA cable, 2 stitches in left twist mini-cable, purl 2 stitches, 5 stitches in seed stitch pattern." When knitted it's actually "slip one purlwise (selvedge stitch), 5 stitches in seed stitch.....[rest of pattern]...5 stitches in seed stitch knit 1 (selvedge stitch). The second thing is that I misunderstood how to read the chart. The sitches given on the wrong side rows are not how they should be knitted, but how they should look on the right side. So, you need to do whatever to the stitches to get them appear as knits or purls on the opposite side. I did not realize this, so half of my first repeat has the cable in garter rather than stockinette. I ended up modifying how I was knitting the cable so that the cable was stockinette. I'm still following the pattern incorrectly, since I am knitting the rest of the stitches as they're written. Whatever. It still looks like cabled DNA so I don't care. (reading cable patterns for dummies which apparently I should have printed out and stuck to my forehead) Below is the swatch I did in scrap yarn (the actual scarf is not this blinding color) following the chart incorrectly. You can see that the cables are messed up. Bah. (1 Comment |Comment on this)