the Akamai Knitter

This weekend passed by in a blur as I’ve been getting ready for a big surprise. I’m not going to say what the big event is just in case I jinx it. For those of you who already know what it is or might be, please keep it to yourselves. Besides, everyone likes a surprise. Right? ;-)

I didn’t get much gift knitting done as I was too excited to sleep. Sleep deprivation and fair isle is just a recipe for disaster.

Instead, I worked on Something Tweedy and now I’m almost done with one sleeve. Here’s a picture of my progress. (I won’t mention the acrobatics involved in getting the pictures ready for today. I’m surprised I got any decent shots.)

This sweater is such a soothing knit. It was the perfect balm to the hectic pace of the past weekend and the sad football game I watched yesterday. (I still love ya Tony! DeMarcus you were spectacular!)

I’m still in love with the yarn and the pattern is deceptively clever in its simplicity. I’ve been trying it on as I go and I just love the way it fits so far. I have high hopes that this will turn out to be a favorite once it’s done.

One sweater that has become a favorite of mine is the Ariann. I finished this back in November for NaKniSweMo. I didn’t really give it much blog time once it was done due to a lack of photo opportunities. I still didn’t manage to get a really good shot of it, but here it is.

Pattern: Ariann

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease

Needles: Size 5US/3.75mm and 4US/3.5mm

Started: November 6, 2007

Finished: November 24, 2007

I had a couple of problems with this sweater. First I had to rip out 14″ and start all over again when I realized that my initial try would have resulted in a garment much too big for me.

Then there was a spot of trouble when I had to attach the sleeves to the body and I ended up breaking a pair of needles. To avert a repeat of this disaster, I put each section on a separate pair of needles resulting in a monster of a project in my hands. I managed to work through that and once the sleeves flattened out a bit I was able to get it all back on one pair of needles.

Despite all that, I really did enjoy knitting this sweater and I love it now it’s done. It’s roomy and comfy and soft and cozy. Who could ask for more? :)

Well I could ask that the white cat stay away from the black sweater. Hrm. Does Pressie look just a little bit disappointed?

First off, I wanted to thank you all for the wonderful comments and emails of condolences regarding Onyx’s passing. You have all helped make this difficult time for me so much easier. I can’t say that I’m back to 100% but I am feeling a little better and I have been able to do a little bit of knitting.

Not much progress has been made on my Seaweed Lace Socks (Ravelry Link). I only managed to get past the heel. It hasn’t been much of a priority since this pair is for me and I’ve got to get some other things done first.

I did manage to finish up the Anemoi Mittens to the point of where all that’s left is the thumbs. It’s a good thing too as I’d hate for my friend Dani to leave the islands without these because it’ll be quite an adjustment for her. She’ll be going from temperatures of 80F to 50F. Brr. (Yes, I’m a total wimp.)

There is one project that I’ve been working on for myself and that’s the Something Tweedy. It’s a completely mindless knit, which makes it something akin to comfort food. I find it perfect for those times when I’m feeling a little overwhelmed by my feelings of grief over the loss of Onyx. Though I have to admit that it’s also great football knitting too. (Go Warriors!)

Right now it’s at the point where it actually looks like a sweater, instead of a brown blob of ew. I was a very good girl and took the sweater off the needles to try it on and it fits! There’s nothing like having the confidence in knowing a garment fits to make the knitting all the sweeter.

Another great comfort has been my other two cats. Pressie and Quincy have been wonderfully affectionate since Onyx has been gone. I don’t talk much about Pressie here on the blog because she’s always been more my mother’s cat, but lately she’s been sticking to me like velcro whenever my mother’s out of the house.

We adopted her back in 2001 (at least I think that’s the year) and she was already an adult at that time. She had been a feral cat when she had been rescued. At the time she was rescued she was also pregnant with two kittens. By the time we came into the picture, Pressie’s kittens had already been adopted out.

Pressie didn’t have such good luck. I think it was mostly because of her appearance. She had to have her ears cropped because of some cancerous growths. She also has some really horrible eye allergies which makes it seem like she’s crying blood. So she sometimes looks a little like a demon cat. In fact she’s been known to strike fear in the hearts of men.

(I kid you not. Once, she really scared one of the strong hurly burly workmen we had working on the house. He was afraid she might attack him and she only weighs maybe 7lbs and he was at least 180lbs of pure muscle.)

Regardless of her appearance to others, she is one of the sweetest cats I have ever had the privilege of being with and I thought she deserved some time on the blog.

Thanks for reading, I didn’t know I had such a ramble in me! Have a great week/day/evening! :-)

… but I’ve been busy. The past week has been filled with football. Lots and lots of football. (UH won the WAC Championshop! YAY!) With football, comes knitting. Lots and lots of knitting.

I managed to finish the Ariann and I am ever so pleased with it. I still have to put buttons on it and block the collar, so I’m holding off on photos until I can get that done. Instead I have three other projects that I’ve got to show you.

First up is a sock that I began right after I finished the Idle Love socks. I got the pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks and I’m using Shibui sock yarn with size 1US/2.25mm needles.

Gosh, I love this yarn! It’s so soft and smooshy. There’s some very subtle pooling, but I can live with it because the colors are just so gorgeous. I might even dare to say that I like it.

The color is called Seaweed, so I’m calling this sock Seaweed Lace Rib. The pattern even reminds me a little of seaweed.

Next up is a present for Dani who is moving to Washington State. Dani has worked with one of my doctors for years and has always treated me with kindness that goes beyond the call of duty. I’m going to miss her tremendously so I really want to make her something special.

I have until December 15th to finish so I needed something that would knit up quickly. I decided to make her a pair of Anemoi Mittens since she’s not used to northern winters. I really hope she likes the design. I love it, but I don’t know her well enough to say she will.

Finally, I couldn’t resist casting on for another sweater for myself. I chose the pattern Something Red. I’m using Tatamy Tweed with size 4US/3.5mm needles. I adore this yarn. It’s so soft and easy to knit with that I often forget that I’m working with cotton.

I’m only loosely following the pattern as I had to recalculate the numbers to accommodate my gauge. I really couldn’t have done it without the help of Shelly and this website. With the success of Ariann and Shelly at my side, I’m feeling much more confident in my sweater making abilities.

That’s it for now! I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!

I have been diligently working through the Ariann. I completed two sleeves since we last talked and I was near the end of the raglan shaping, but something was nagging at me. So I tried it on. And guess what?

Yeah, you guessed it. The sweater was too big on the top. Way too big. Phooey is just too mild an expletive.

I didn’t take into account that even though I may be wide, I am not as long as the designer assumes for the size I was knitting. At the point where I stopped knitting the sleeves came down to my knuckles. This was supposed to be a 3/4 length sleeves. Not good.

So I ripped back and I shall reknit the sleeves to a more appropriate size. I shall also adjust the raglan decreases so that it will fit my shorter body. I remain hopeful as I continue on my pursuit of a perfect fitting sweater. (There are no pictures as I just couldn’t take the heartache of documenting the carnage.)

Shelly suggested I take a break from the Ariann, so I did and I managed to finish a pair of socks.

Idle Love

Pattern: Pomatomus by Cookie A.

Yarn: Socks That Rock in the colorway For Love In Idleness

Needles: size 1US/2.25mm and size 0US/2.00mm

Started: October 25, 2007

Finished: November 15, 2007

If you remember, I had some concerns about whether or not I’d have enough yarn to finish the pair. As it turns out, those concerns were completely justified. Do you see any difference in the toes?

I had to stop short on the second sock because I did indeed run out of yarn. In fact, this is exactly how much yarn I had left.

Can you say “too close for comfort”? My heart went through a series of palpitations that were rather uncomfortable as I was kitchenering the toe together. Luckily, these are for my mother and she says they’re perfect. If they were for me, I’d probably have to fix the other toe to match. I’m just that picky. :-P

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of reknitting to do. I only have 2 more weeks of November and I really want to have Ariann done before December for NaKniSweMo (Ravelry link).

I think I can do it. I have a ton of football coming up, which means lots of knitting time, and some new Harmony needles to make the experience all the more enjoyable.

Have a great weekend and wish me luck!

ETA: I forgot to say thank you for all your opinions on whether or not to give the shawl to my great-aunt. I’m going to be sending it to her for her Christmas present. I think it’ll be in very good hands. I’ll knit another one for myself as soon as I can figure out what color I’d like it in. That could take awhile though. ;-)

Yesterday I was feeling pretty good about myself. I had gotten about 14″ done on the Ariann and I thought I was progressing at a pretty good clip. Then I realized that I forgot to put in a button hole about an inch down.

“No problem”, I thought. “I can rip down an inch.”

So I took the sweater off the needles and then I took the sweater off the needles. Then I took the sweater off the needles.

Yeah. This thing kept coming and coming. It was too big. About 51″ across truth be told. Now I’m big, but I ain’t that big.

I’m not sure what went wrong, but there really was only one thing I could really do.

I would just like to say I couldn’t have done it without the love and support of my friend Shelly. She held my hand and she convinced me that there’s no way I’d be happy with a sweater that fit like a tent.

So after much gnashing of the teeth, I have restarted the Ariann. Let me tell you, the second time around just isn’t as fun. Yes, I know all the ins and outs of the design at this point.

Only, I feel like I’m knitting at a snail’s pace and I’m seething with resentment at having to reknit such a huge chunk of sweater. Plus, I just can’t seem to get my Zen on with this yarn. I miss soft squishy wool that doesn’t fight the needles.

And after having 14″ of lovely sweater goodness falling from my needles, a measly 2″ or so after a day’s work just doesn’t satisfy me the way that 14″ of lovely sweater goodness did.

To keep my head above water, I keep picturing the lovely sweater that Kim made with the same yarn. It’s soft. It’s cozy. It’s just the thing I want to wrap around me when I get chilled.

I know I can make nice with this yarn and eventually we’ll get to be friends. I just need to try and try again.