tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20180820169381019642024-02-08T01:23:55.252+01:00Misadventures in KnittingThings could go right in life, but they so rarely do. So, I go with the flow and laugh at my misadventures as often as possible. Laughing hurts a whole lot less than stabbing yourself in the eye with your knitting needle. I know, I've done both, literally - the latter was unintentional. I'm not a masochist you know.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.comBlogger190125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-79558584206965174372011-04-18T13:09:00.000+02:002011-04-18T13:09:27.269+02:00Hi, remember me?After a lot of blood, sweat and tears on several people's parts, we've finally gotten ourselves sorted and have a new website, where <a href="http://inkysticks.blogspot.com/">Inkysticks</a>, <a href="http://the-pink-sheep.blogspot.com/">Thepinksheep</a> and myself will shortly begin blogging. We can now be found at <a href="http://sheepandink.com/">SheepandInc.com</a>. We hope that the three of us will provide you with more interesting posts and more entertainment than each on his own, at least this all came about because we find out e-mails a whole lot more interesting than what we were posting in our respective journals. If you have the time and inclination, swing by and take a look.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-23794266104767679072011-01-20T18:47:00.000+01:002011-01-20T18:47:20.976+01:00Still Alive, Still KnittingBut I lost my blogging mojo. My own blogs were beginning to bore me which is just not a good sign. I've been teetering on the edge of quitting altogether, but that seems so final, so I just left it hanging day after day, but something needed to be done one way or another. Procrastinating is always the easiest decision to make. Sooooo, what to do. <br />
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Then a friend of mine e-mails me with an idea that sounds pretty good. We're still kicking it around and hope to come up with something definite soon, so watch this space. There should be something a little more interesting than my usual self coming this way.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-15563363949887801622010-10-29T20:50:00.001+02:002010-10-29T20:50:58.941+02:00HalloweenThis has absolutely nothing to do with knitting, but I’ve been asked several times recently if we celebrate Halloween here, so I thought I’d give you all a global answer. It’s pretty much no, we don’t really. There is no Samhain or Thanksgiving tradition here to speak of, so there’s nothing to work with really. They do have Carnival, which takes place anywhere from November to February depending on where you are, but it’s not really the same thing. Carnival is more about music and dancing than anything else. Yes, they do dress up in Carnival, but the date varies (I think they like dragging it out so that you always have something fun you can go do during the winter) and it lasts longer. I think it usually lasts about a week in each place instead of just one night. The atmosphere is completely different, so there’s no place for Halloween to get its foot in the door. <br />
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They have tried to get it going the last few years, but not with a whole lot of success. Mostly there have just been adult parties, but the kids pretty much just get left out of it. It’s not traditional to go from door to door, so many people feel they’d just be bothering the neighbours if they sent their kids around. Having said that, I guess my boss’ neighbourhood does have a lot of kids who do trick or treat, so he’s laid in a store of candy. I live out in the country where there are, fortunately for my grumpy, cantankerous self, few children. The village children aren’t likely to walk all the way out to our house in any case, so even if it were a tradition, I doubt we’d get many. Anyway, I haven’t actually seen any ads for parties this year, just a few decorations and costumes on sale at the supermarket. Some people do carve pumpkins, but not many. I stopped carving them a few years ago because it’s a lot of work and there’s no one around to enjoy it (I don’t have one in the house, so I don’t even get to admire my own handiwork!)<br />
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So no, no Halloween to speak of. I did all my celebrating on Monday when I brought Halloween cookies to work (Christmas cookies cut out like bats, ghosts, cats and skulls and decorated with powered sugar and lemon juice frosting dyed black, orange and white). That’s all she wrote this year I’m afraid.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-34525379404748559452010-10-22T06:58:00.000+02:002010-10-22T06:58:32.781+02:00SweaterI am wearing my new sweater and I love it. It's bliss. Only thing is, I've said it so much, that I can't stand the name anymore, so it shall hereforth be named Happy Sweater, because I love it and it makes me all happy and comfy like. <br />
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That's all really. Hope everyone has a nice weekend!TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-47995705872996388602010-10-14T06:45:00.000+02:002010-10-14T06:45:34.668+02:00Just when you thought it was all over…You betcha! More Inishmore because I can apparently not get enough of it. Actually, I have worked on a <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/TheBlackSheep/simple-sock-in-three-sizes-26">plain sock with Knit Picks Kettle Dyed in Timber</a>, getting the first one done and the second started. This is the same yarn that caused <a href="http://theblacksheep-misadventuresinknitting.blogspot.com/2010/06/dear-knit-picks.html">colour havoc</a>, with the first and most of the second being a solid colour before the variations started popping out given the pair a sort of Frankensock appearance. However, this time, they are nice and lovely and I really like the colours that come out. These are how these socks are supposed to look.<br />
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I’ve also knit a slouchy hat from a pattern called <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/felicity">Felicity</a> in the left over Inishmore yarn (Knit Picks Simply Cotton Envy) for bedtime wear. I’ve never worn a hat to bed, but it used to be common practice, so I figure there must be something in it. I would have waited for pictures to post about it, but we’ve not been having good photo weather so I’ll wait until we do. That might be a while if the forecast is anywhere near right.<br />
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Speaking of forecasts, it’s autumn! And I love autumn! Cool enough to be comfortable, but not cold enough to freeze. The leaves are turning and everything is beautiful. I love kicking leaves, sometimes even wading through them, while walking the dog. The squirrels are out in full force picking up nuts off the ground and taunting the pooch. Every year I swear I see them sticking their tongues out at the dog before running up the nearest tree and holding their tirades (some of those little buggers are really grumpy!). Best of all, it’s knitting season again!<br />
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Which brings me to my latest project, another <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/projects/TheBlackSheep/inishmore-2">Inishmore</a>. After having seen my choice of sweater, my aunt decided she’d like one too (in <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/people/TheBlackSheep/stash/simply-cotton-worsted-3">KP Simply Cotton Haze</a>), so I cast on two nights ago and finished the back border last night. I’ll be starting the body pattern this evening. I was going to do this one in the round in order to avoid having to do those twisted stitches backwards, but I learned something very valuable from the last Inishmore that made me change my mind. Usually I sew up the side seams and then set the sleeves in, trying to make the sleeves fit the hole. This rarely works well and I usually wind up bunching up fabric in the arm pit to get it to fit in. The Inishmore, however, is one of those sweaters with sleeve saddles. I’ve not done well with these in the past, so I decided to follow the instructions to the letter and actually knit in the sleeves first. In retrospect, I have been stupid. It’s now totally clear to me that sewing the sleeves in first is the way to go. If you sew the sides up first, you have a finite hole in which you must set the sleeve. If you don’t sew the sides up first, you can fudge a bit by sewing the excess sleeve onto the “side” material. Your armpit might be a little bit further down, but at least there’s no fabric bunching. This might not work for certain, very tailored sweaters, but should work well for most of those I knit. Hindsight is 20/20 they say, but somehow I really think I should have seen all this coming and changed my ways ages ago. <br />
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The new, smarter me decided to put this knowledge to good use. The sleeves of my aunt’s Reindeer Arwen wound up terribly bunched (I wasn’t following a pattern and they were really too big I suppose) so I spent two evenings picking out the sleeve and side seams and re-sewing the sleeves in using my newfound fabric fudging method, all the while cursing my inborn fear of seams coming apart, well, at the seams (forgive me, I couldn’t help it). It took untold patience not to just pick a likely looking thread and cut, but I didn’t. I held myself together and picked out the woven in threads stitch by stitch; even though I sometimes couldn’t really see where the yarn was going (I weave into the seams “for good measure”). Two evenings later, voilà! I had a sweater whose sleeves looked, if not brilliant, at least acceptable. I swear on my stack of knitting references, I will never sew up the sides first again.<br />
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All of my links are in Ravelry this time. I'm sort of assuming anyone who blogs about knitting, or reads knitting blogs, is on Ravelry. If that's not the case, let me know and I'll put in real links.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-8793597883513518002010-10-05T18:49:00.000+02:002010-10-05T18:49:07.062+02:00Inishmore Finale<br />
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Ok, Ok, I know you’re all tired of hearing about it by now, but I’m still thrilled to death with this sweater. Especially as a friend who has been knitting for longer than I’ve been alive looked at it and declared it one seriously fabulous sweater. She even thought the seams look good and didn’t find any of the many mistakes. Then she was kind enough to come into an empty office with me to take pictures of it while I was in it. I fell in love with it all over again. I hate pictures of myself. Cameras automatically go to the ugly setting when I get in front of them. It doesn’t matter how good I look in front of the mirror, take a picture and I looked washed out and bald. However even I have to admit that I look good in this sweater, even in the pictures. Admittedly she cut off my head in all of them because I wanted the sweater and not my face, but they still look good. Or maybe that’s why they look good. <br />
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OK, enough self-congratulations. Here it is!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/16435956@N00/5054155101/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="IMGP1931 by canootles, on Flickr"><img alt="IMGP1931" height="232" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5054155101_94399ce927_m.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5054156193_83cf4e4df0_m.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="IMGP1934" border="0" height="240" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5054156193_83cf4e4df0_m.jpg" width="180" /></a></div><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/16435956@N00/5054155531/" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" title="IMGP1932 by canootles, on Flickr"><img alt="IMGP1932" height="240" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5054155531_39da809c08_m.jpg" width="198" /></a><br />
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I will eventually get some more pictures hanging and folded for my Ravelry page (ones with better stitch definition and lighting, but I won’t subject you to them here. <br />
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Now, what to knit next…<br />
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Oh yeah, Aunt wants one of the same…TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-72681696940868538392010-10-04T22:49:00.000+02:002010-10-04T22:49:28.413+02:00Finished!It's done!!!! And it's lovely! It fits like it was made for me (har, har har), it's super comfy, the yarn is soft, the pattern turned out well and I love it! Now it just needs to get cold so I can wear it. <br />
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I feel like doing a dance of Joy whilst singing a rousing chorus of Hallelujah. <br />
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However, seeing as it's 11pm, I think I'll refrain. Not only do I have downstairs neighbours who might not quite share in my enthusiasm, especially at this time of night, said neighbour is my landlord and I kind of like living here.<br />
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Pictures will follow in a day or two. Tomorrow is out since it's supposed to rain, but the rest of the week should be nice. I'll manage it sometime.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-11353177970995603842010-10-03T23:20:00.000+02:002010-10-03T23:20:51.979+02:00InishmoreIT FITS!!!!!!!!!<br />
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The sleeves are finished, the seams sewn, the ends woven in and it fits! Not only that, but the seams look good and I think I might actually be happy with this sweater. *happy dance* I'm sure there are mistakes and some sloppy work, but none of that's to be found unless you really look for it with a magnifying glass, so I'm not bothered. I can't believe it actually fits! Now I just have to do the neck and I'll be done. Another two, maybe three evenings work. I might even be more motivated to work on it now since I know I'll actually be able to wear it. I think that might be the reason I've not been knitting so much lately, because I thought it surely wouldn't turn out right. So yay!<br />
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Pictures will follow.<br />
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Now I'm off to say a bedtime prayer that I don't find any huge mistakes in the cold light of day tomorrow.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-14467914977561430612010-09-30T13:21:00.000+02:002010-09-30T13:21:13.196+02:00Dearth of KnittingThere has been a dearth of knitting in my household lately. Actually, I have been knitting, it's just been knitting the same thing over and over and over again. I'm <em>still</em> working on the Inishmore. It's the sweater that keeps on giving, especially if you lack the necessary concentration. After having knit the first sleeve three times, I figured I'd be pretty safe of the second sleeve. Well, you can see where this is going, can't you. One purl in the wrong place and several hours later you realize you get the pleasure of re-knitting the whole thing again! Woo Hoo! Second time around it seems to be going pretty well, thus far anyway, and with any luck I'll finish it sometime next week. I'm managing about an inch an evening, so I won't hope for sooner. After I get the sleeve done, I just have to sew the bits together and then add the neck and I'm done. I think I'll have it finished by Christmas. I hope so because it's green and I can call it my Christmas sweater.<br />
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Can you say, "this sweater is kicking my proverbial backside?" I know I can.<br />
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Things I've learned from this sweater:<br />
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1. Complicated is not the same thing as difficult. There are no stitches, stitch combinations or techniques in this sweater that are new to me. I've done them all quite sucessfully in the past, so it is not difficult for me. It is, however, complicated and if your attention wanders for a moment, you might as well just save yourself the time and frog before you find the mistake.<br />
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2. Sweaters like this should be knit in the round with a fake seam added if necessary. Yes, it might take longer and may be heavier on the needles, but it may just keep you from taking that short walk to the nice, soft room they have reserved especially for knitters.<br />
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3. Cotton yarn is lovely, but not quite as forgiving as wool. It's also not as strong if you catch an individual strand.<br />
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4. Even a cotton sweater can be quite warm if you add enough cables. If I had done this in wool, I would have had to vacation in the Antarctic in May to be able to wear it. Norway in January might do too.<br />
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5. Before offering to knit someone a sweater, make sure you know just what you're getting into. Three seconds on your tongue will earn you three months of knitting.<br />
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Wish me luck on the rest of it!TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-76365511262528272522010-09-09T06:48:00.000+02:002010-09-09T06:48:01.899+02:00Random MemeSnagged from <a href="http://scrabblequeen.wordpress.com/">Scrabblequeen</a><br />
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1. Why did you start blogging? I frankly just don’t remember. <br />
2. If you could travel anywhere in the world with no restriction of costs, where would it be and why? Canada and Alaska including a kayaking trip somewhere cool.<br />
3. Did you have a teacher in school that had a great influence on your life? If so, what? I don’t remember many of my teachers and I don’t think any one particular teacher had any great influence. <br />
4. If you could spend the day with a famous person, who would it be, and what would you do? I don’t think I’d want to spend the day with a famous person. It would be too odd. I also think their lives weren’t/aren’t as great as we think they are and finding out that were true would just be depressing. Just imagine visiting Victorian London. That would just kill the romance of the age methinks.<br />
5. Toilet paper – over or under? Is under an option? I wasn’t aware that it was.<br />
6. Name one thing in your life that you would do over if possible. My whole education and choice of occupation.<br />
7. Tell about your pets – if any. I’m down to one dog, Biscuit the Great Dane and Sydney the really annoying cat. Biscuit is 6 and is a lovely dog who is so well behaved she’s very nearly boring (but not quite and I would take boring over misbehaved any time!). Sydney is a 10 year old second hand cat who was abused at her former home. I’m the only person she’ll let near her and she would turn herself into Velcro and attach herself to me if she could. It’s terribly irritating.<br />
8. Do you live in a small town or a large town. A small village.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-34449114338446576512010-09-06T18:25:00.000+02:002010-09-06T18:25:55.968+02:00Lost my Knitting MojoDunno if it's the Inishmore in it's twisted stitch frenzy or if I've just lost interest but I'm having a hard time concentrating of knitting at the moment. The Inishmore is a slow knit so progress is negligible and maybe that's what's doing it. I had hoped so, but then I started working on my Cabled Grapes (plain sock with plain cable down the sides) and things just got worse. First I forgot to write down how I had knit the first one and by the time I got to the second, I'd forgotten how many stitches I cast on and if I increased the amount of stitches on the leg for the cable. So, I winged the second sock. That would have been OK, but somewhere along the line, I kept losing stitches and cannot figure out where they went. This is very unlike me. I'm usually very good at socks (if I do say so myself). I can practically do them blindfolded. However, this pair just didn't want to be knit. Topping it all off, I just just about finished with the second sock when I realized the cable was running down the wrong side. Both should have been on the outside of the socks but now both are on the left side, which is silly. However, this still doesn't bother me enough to frog the whole sock (or even just up to the shaft) so I will be wearing silly socks. I console myself with the fact that I bought purple sock yarn in a silly moment and probably wouldn't wear them to be seen anyway.<br />
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Then, to make matters worse, I looked at the sleeve of the Inishmore, which I'd finally cast on last week and got going pretty good on. Turns out, I increased every other row instead of every third row and it was looking pretty bat like. I frogged back to the cuff, put the stitches back onto the needles and then realized that I lost a stitch somewhere. Now I'm going to have to frog the whole thing and start over. If I didn't really want to wear this sweater, I'd toss it in a corner and never look at it again. Wonder if that would hurt its feelings.<br />
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Maybe I should go cast on a washcloth. That's got to be foolproof, no?TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-55795128349571694932010-08-06T13:04:00.002+02:002010-08-06T13:18:47.738+02:00InishmoreWell, I've finally hit on the cable pattern that is the lace of cables. Confused? So am I. I've never had such a problem with cables, well, not after I discovered marking the cross row with a closable stitch marker anyway. I can look at it, it looks fine, 10 min. later I look at the same bit and it's completely wrong. There are places where I get stuck and can't figure out where I am and what I'm supposed to be doing, rows seems to melt into each other and everything just kinds of fades in and out of focus. It's really what I imagine Alzheimer's is like. <br /><br />The bigger problem is that I'm just about finished with the back of the first, yes, the first of two sweaters. This is promising to be a very long knit.<br /><br />On the positive front, our summer, or at least high summer, seems to be over with. It was hotter than heck for 6 weeks, then it turned and now we have autumn. I love it, everyone else hates me for loving it. It's cool but not cold, it will still get warmish this weekend, but not hot (25C / 78F). Nice and adaptable all around. You can sit out without freezing or keeling over from heat stroke. Brilliant. It does make me feel sorry for all those folks still suffering from the heat wave though. I hope that wave ends soon.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-86565118073591519342010-07-29T13:07:00.005+02:002010-07-29T13:18:02.866+02:00RandomnessI may have drown at lunch today while walking the dog. Either that, or I grew gills and didn't notice. We are currently experiencing liquid air. If it doesn't stop soon, I'm going to run out of dry clothes to change into. I changed my damp clothes after the lunch walk only to become newly drenched walking from the parking lot to the office door. What fun. If the rain gear from lunch isn't dry by the time I get home this evening, the dog will have to do without another walk.<br /><br />I forgot to mention yesterday that I'm working the Inishmore on 3.5mm needles. This is probably another reason why it's taking so long. Even with the small needles I'm still over gauge and the sizing is already large. This will be the first time in a long time that I can acutally wear a small.<br /><a href="http://wanderingcatstudio.blogspot.com/"><br />Valerie</a> reminded me with her post that I forgot to mention my <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/celtic-knot-stole">Celtic Knot Stole</a>. I'm afraid it's taken a bsck seat to the Inishmore, but I did almost get one whole cross done first. I haven't mentioned it before because I haven't much to show for it. Oh look! A blob of possibly knitted material with a white line running through it!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjnnVCAe9ZesJRS0k9VZ_Zt1yAZ5GTi-8G7fUwchU92rXOnCe2J4dteXRk8HE1uElCAWwQiV4-K6XvN6T1SCHaMR5M619RAp4CdiSFjIuuq3Gf9_jY7jX5WCEGMFU8t-61e1VyxGH7Xt3A/s1600/Celtic+Cross.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjnnVCAe9ZesJRS0k9VZ_Zt1yAZ5GTi-8G7fUwchU92rXOnCe2J4dteXRk8HE1uElCAWwQiV4-K6XvN6T1SCHaMR5M619RAp4CdiSFjIuuq3Gf9_jY7jX5WCEGMFU8t-61e1VyxGH7Xt3A/s320/Celtic+Cross.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5499285253288090786" /></a><br /><br />Fascinating isn't it. Lace should buck up and realize that we'd all like it more if we could actually see some of the beauty while knitting it. I might knit more if I didn't have to wait unitl I'm finished to see decent results.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-63206417681957643132010-07-28T12:33:00.004+02:002010-07-28T12:49:14.443+02:00InishmoreBecause it will be a while before I actually have something to blog about, I thought I'd share my rather bad shot of the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/inishmore">Inishmore Sweater</a> I'm knitting at the moment. It's a slow knit with lots of twisted stitches. While I love the look of twisted stitches, I loath knitting them, from the back. The twist from the front is easy enough, if a bit slower, but the twisted purl stitch is enough to make me wish I'd elected to knit this in the round. As it will be a heavier sweater, I thought putting all that weight on the needles would be a bad move as far as my wrists are concerned, but now I'm regretting it a bit. Ah well, there's pros and cons to both sides. <br /><br />I've probably mentioned it before, but I'm using the <a href="http://www.knitpicks.com/yarns/Simply_Cotton_Worsted_Yarn__D5420199.html">Knit Picks Simply Cotton </a>in the Envy Heather flavour. The colour is completely washed out in this picture, but after 20 different shots everywhere from shady places to full on sun, I finally decided that the colour just doesn't want to be photographed. <br /><br />Just so you get an idea of what the colour should look like,<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqVYhm6e7Jxltk8y3SJlD2l6DBG02Iu-QpBfxogeTkLRLEE0goArPbhoch3OrQVdUvhW4CkEHCS8OvuVd9G9xW5fYTOvryUqBWxLm6mCC8EbjOZ27DBzWvUiLWhyphenhyphenGpGJj_S-vVLTflO1dB/s1600/KP.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqVYhm6e7Jxltk8y3SJlD2l6DBG02Iu-QpBfxogeTkLRLEE0goArPbhoch3OrQVdUvhW4CkEHCS8OvuVd9G9xW5fYTOvryUqBWxLm6mCC8EbjOZ27DBzWvUiLWhyphenhyphenGpGJj_S-vVLTflO1dB/s320/KP.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498906888905381810" /></a><br /><br />I do have a good few more inches knit on this, but it will still be a while before it's finished.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoiWuw_bCG95T-6QvAsd1BG2MaFkBt7iPoGcdu3zjh1gfrnlKvWFbyjuRJQ4pDm_81FmOo_x94lLqNBGyug1orKOJy7UaciESnZmTaiKIMfklhxwFsVno6k8rOkUeF2pHfF7ILsQLKzXGW/s1600/Inishmore.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoiWuw_bCG95T-6QvAsd1BG2MaFkBt7iPoGcdu3zjh1gfrnlKvWFbyjuRJQ4pDm_81FmOo_x94lLqNBGyug1orKOJy7UaciESnZmTaiKIMfklhxwFsVno6k8rOkUeF2pHfF7ILsQLKzXGW/s320/Inishmore.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5498907343455032578" /></a>TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-88209684216414117102010-07-17T06:26:00.003+02:002010-07-17T06:39:47.207+02:00Another HomerSometimes I just can't believe how overwhelmingly silly I can be. While procrastinating on the internet just now, I realized that I forgot to mention yesterday that the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/celtic-knot-stole">Celtic Knot Stole</a> pattern is available for a free download, so my offer to share my Excel chart with other people should be both legally and morally acceptable. This led to me to the pattern page which I really read for the first time. Just under the note that errata were added two year ago, there is a link to the full Excel chart. D'oh! Seriously, how blind can you be? OK, my chart goes a long way to making it easier to read since I added what is for me clearer symbols, like a double line for k2tog and left the ssk single so I can tell the two apart (because it's amazing how long it can take me to figure out which direction a line is slanting in). I also coloured in the knit stitches and wrote in the number in that sequence so I didn't have to keep counting to make sure I got the number of knit stitches right. The point is though, that I could have done it all a lot faster by just modifying the chart that's already there instead of typing it all in again and hoping I got it all right. It would have saved me a lot of time and effort. Par for the course for me I suppose.<br /><br />The other positive is that I always feel like I know and understand a pattern better once I've had to type it out myself. It makes the repeats clearer and helps me understand the design. I also got on a lot faster last night with the new chart, so all is not lost.<br /><br />Still, D'OH!TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-8166399711586904992010-07-16T12:39:00.005+02:002010-07-16T12:54:12.938+02:00FinishedFinally I’ve finished the Arwen. Well, almost. Maybe. <br /><br />While it’s true that the sweater is done and it can be put on and worn, I’m not happy with the sleeves and will probably re-sew them in. They are, as sleeves always seem to be, too big for the armholes and I had to fudge a bit to get them in. There are a couple of bunches that didn’t come out in the washing, blocking, so I may redo the sleeves so that the bunching occurs under the arm or something. I know a true knitter would reknit the sleeves, but pigs will fly before I do that. I’d only mess them up a second time and regret ever having started the sweater. <br /><br />The pictures also aren’t as good as I would like, but it’s hot and humid here and staying out in the sun is just not a good idea, even without bulky hand knit items. I also couldn’t get a good front shot since there are no clasps/buttons on it yet. This is because the recipient doesn’t want to make up her mind what she wants. Actually, she knows what she wants, it just won’t work. Ergo, it lacks clasps.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfdLE_hmMpfAyVJMT7-1oPTG2wv-WX7ftjUI9J_q9Gp0QU-EVuekxrF3nm2uoWukuP3HelpNxab3o8bKyC8YVUvWsZj9Eb_WwEt7RWTKxO0QBAxlJ9KduToN52GawhDtF9twzVVY3mmBY/s1600/A1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 219px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXfdLE_hmMpfAyVJMT7-1oPTG2wv-WX7ftjUI9J_q9Gp0QU-EVuekxrF3nm2uoWukuP3HelpNxab3o8bKyC8YVUvWsZj9Eb_WwEt7RWTKxO0QBAxlJ9KduToN52GawhDtF9twzVVY3mmBY/s320/A1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494454646185861186" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7unZgmDlyn4D5L8tU2g4-VKvhCGYcTwpUozaoGm25qMjKMmK9Kl-e6PXBaJsNp8qxgeJl8jBRi7a8HXAy7VL2k7INNmFytJLTixnregWJlg8_jKDHbIWtbJDShEknG0_LB3kQ2MFkJCU-/s1600/A3.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7unZgmDlyn4D5L8tU2g4-VKvhCGYcTwpUozaoGm25qMjKMmK9Kl-e6PXBaJsNp8qxgeJl8jBRi7a8HXAy7VL2k7INNmFytJLTixnregWJlg8_jKDHbIWtbJDShEknG0_LB3kQ2MFkJCU-/s320/A3.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494455337784559890" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJKwB8zFwQWsJ7xvvHUAJECBr-W_o0c8zXj32yqP8_4hE3tiDyDGV0DoMFG42LYgLyRGqmvEs1fB83vltmkeGzHAX9cZJvdteC6K05W2zwduq-xe6rO84lSN_e5ZCsMGJ_FJW0KyPQyfPo/s1600/A2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 190px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJKwB8zFwQWsJ7xvvHUAJECBr-W_o0c8zXj32yqP8_4hE3tiDyDGV0DoMFG42LYgLyRGqmvEs1fB83vltmkeGzHAX9cZJvdteC6K05W2zwduq-xe6rO84lSN_e5ZCsMGJ_FJW0KyPQyfPo/s320/A2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494455331117137330" /></a><br />My latest project, because I’ve gone completely off the deep end with not so much as a greasy pipe to get back up, is the Celtic Knot Stole in Knit Picks Basalt Heather Merino Lace weight. As someone who usually sticks to DK weight for bigger projects, it’s a bit like knitting with cobwebs. Add that to my ineptitude at lace knitting and you have programmed rants, tears and incurable insanity. So why am I even bothering to try you ask? Well, that’s because God smote me with a triple helping of Stubborn squared when I was born and I’m darned if I’m going to let cobwebs and symbols on a piece of paper stand in my way of a nice, soft room at the local psychiatric clinic (randomly, our local clinic is just 800m away from where I work and not only does it provide for constant joke material, but it’s very, very nice with some of the most beautiful grounds I’ve ever seen). So, with a disproportionate sense of determination, I cast on and promptly spent two evening re-casting on after anywhere between 2-5 rows because I was simply not made to knit lace. Just as I was threatening yarn and pattern with death by cow (they are camped outside my window), they decided to behave themselves (the yarn and pattern, not the cows) and I now have 60 rows of completed lace with no less than 2 life lines. The eye strain was still getting to me though, so I did my Excel thing with the centre chart and now it’s much easier to read. If anyone is interested, I’m happy to share, although I don’t guarantee that my logic is comprehensible to anyone but myself. Provided they don’t ban the internet at the clinic, pictures will follow as soon as it looks like something other than a wad of wool.<br /><br />As a last ditch attempt to grab hold of that non-existent, greasy pole, I’ll also be casting on the Inishmore in Envy Heather for me. Nothing like a few cables to relax you after a hard hour of lace knitting. <br /><br />I will give lace one thing though; it’s a good summer project. It’s hot and humid here, and looks to stay that way for a while, so having a lump of wool on your lap isn’t the bonus it is in the winter. A lump of cobwebs, on the other hand, is hardly noticeable.<br /><br />Finally, a gratuitous picture of my cat Sydney. It was all I could do to keep her off the sweater.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyTCWz-0FpDkET7c2kYKGfcYR_MufICGQrnwOG2v_17B18866Y_gP2XeDNa0vUdh1hkoLt4KE7zZak1sWOiy5d7_UZd_34h7lQwpfQGIen09Q0esWZD0MB0x6ZqU1MQEZj0AYf0ZuR9Gm/s1600/A4.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNyTCWz-0FpDkET7c2kYKGfcYR_MufICGQrnwOG2v_17B18866Y_gP2XeDNa0vUdh1hkoLt4KE7zZak1sWOiy5d7_UZd_34h7lQwpfQGIen09Q0esWZD0MB0x6ZqU1MQEZj0AYf0ZuR9Gm/s320/A4.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5494455338867331538" /></a>TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-78913721933189627072010-07-07T13:07:00.002+02:002010-07-07T13:09:26.065+02:00Just call me HomerDiscovered last night that:<br /> <br />I knit the Arwen Hood too short.<br /> <br />I weave my ends in much too well. I worry they will fall out, but apparently this is not necessary.<br /> <br />Knit Picks Simply Cotton does not like it when you spend three hours trying to pick the ends out with your fingernails and a needle. It will eventually become thin and break (if you don't go mad with the scisors first from frustration) leaving you with 27 pieces of short yarn you will never again be able to use. <br /> <br />Knitting time to knit hood properly the first time? 5-6 hours.<br /> <br />Knitting time to knit it too short, pick it apart and re-knit? 11 hours.<br /> <br />Wouldn't it be handy if I learned something from all this? Probably. Chances that I'll do it differently next time? Not very high. Sad, isn't it?TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-32722261175087277642010-07-05T12:52:00.004+02:002010-07-05T13:04:18.909+02:00Surprise!Wow! A post! Actually, it's more like, wow, it's been a long time since I updated. I'm afraid, once again, nothing blog worthy has happened. I've been steadily working on my aunt's Arwen in Knit Picks Reindeer Heather. I cannot possible say enough good about that yarn. It's really nice to work with and the finished product is lovely and soft. It remains to be seen how good it holds up, but I've not heard anything bad about it and I don't see why it shouldn't. I'm so convinced that it will be fine that I have another 2 colorways coming. One for me, Envy Heather (Dark Forest Green), and one for my aunt, Haze Heather (light blue with lavender). We both want the <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/inishmore">Inishmore</a> sweater with the mock turtle neck. Sometimes I wish she would choose something different that I do, but at least I will have practice and she flatters my taste.<br /><br />The other thunderous news, and yes, this is thunderous news, as in mark this date on your calendar because it's as rare as a pink moon, is that I went to the yarn store this weekend and came out not having purchased a single skein of yarn. Yes, you heard correctly, not one. Not a single one. Not even sock yarn. History has been made. The constellation that made this happen is that I have my next few projects planned and the yarn in on the way (Inishmore). I've put a gift I'd like to do off due to financial difficulties. Finally, it was hot. And humid. And it was worse in the store (no AC). Try being hot and sticky and still desirous of purchasing wool. It doesn't work. I had a gander to see if there were any new yarns I hadn't seen before and must have, there weren't. I picked up a couple and the immediate reaction was eeeewwwww, it's hot. So I left it. I still spent quite a bit on summer clothing in this store (because it's decided that we are going to have summer after all and they're saying it's going to stick around a while), but no yarn. <br /><br />That's all for now. I'll be finishing the Arwen this week, so hopefully pics by the weekend! Then I will have something to blog about.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-75108658607453103802010-06-01T12:55:00.005+02:002010-06-01T13:00:11.680+02:00Dear Knit PicksDear Knit Picks<br /><br />I have a small complaint. I understand that you cannot possibly check every single skein of yarn you have for defects and abnormalities. I know you cannot be held responsible for minor things that go wrong with your yarn. I realize that I purchased my Knit Picks Essential Kettle Dyed sock yarn about a year ago, that it was on sale and that I have no right to return to you and complain at this late date. Honestly though, as knitters, I think you’ll understand why I want to have my little rantfest about this particular yarn. Someone, somewhere, did something wrong and I wound up with some funky looking socks. Now, just so you know, I’m not particularly picky about socks and sock yarn. I don’t make any effort at all to avoid pooling or to match up my stripes on self striping yarn. For me, two socks that look like they came from the same dye lot are a pair, even if the stripes are off and that bothers other people. Seriously, I can’t be bothered with that sort of thing. If someone has enough time to look at, complain about or let themselves be bothered by my mis-matched socks, they simply have too much time on their hands – and they certainly shouldn’t expect me to knit anything for them, ever.<br /><br />Back to the topic at hand. As mentioned, last year I bought some of the Knit Picks Essential (now stroll) kettle dyed yarn when it was on sale. My aunt picked out the colours she liked and I put it aside for (mostly) her socks. So far, so good. Last month, I dug the Timber yarn out and started knitting a pair of socks. However, instead of giving me that lovely shaded effect I usually got from the kettle dyed yarn, it was just a solid colour, and not a very pretty one at that (mud comes to mind, as do a few other shades, but we just won’t mention them since I prefer to keep that kind of language out of my blog). I figured since it was much to late to even contemplate complaining about it and my aunt likes the brown colours anyway, I just kept knitting. This is where we come to the heart of the problem. As I was nearly finished with the shaft of the Second Sock, I came to the last few yards of the skein and it suddenly started looking like it was supposed to look; the different shades started coming out. Worse still, I started a new skein to finish the pair, and it was perfect. All the highlights started popping out and it really looked quite nice. I was so surprised, I even checked the yarn and dye lot numbers to make sure I wasn’t using two different lots or even two different colours. I wasn’t. It was the same yarn, same dye lot. Since this is all very difficult to visualize, I give you pictures:<br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4656105567_464488b24e.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4656105567_464488b24e.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4656105889_693f2015fa.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4055/4656105889_693f2015fa.jpg" /></a><br /><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4656106187_aec01ca300.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4049/4656106187_aec01ca300.jpg" /></a><br />Tell me that after having seen the socks, you don’t understand what I mean. Tell me you can’t see the problem. Obviously as knitters, you will. It looks like I abruptly switched yarns 2/3rds of the way through. This tests even my ambivalence towards less than perfect socks. Seriously, a lot of knitters I know would have abandoned these socks, thrown out the yarn, knit a new pair and complained copiously about, at and to you at Knit Picks. Fortunately, I am lazy and have no desire to have knit for 12 hours without actually having something to show for it. I am now seriously trying to convince myself that not only will my aunt probably just be happy to have another pair of hand knit socks, but she’ll mostly likely only wear them with her boots and no one else will ever see them. It’s not easy, even for me. It’s asking a lot in my opinion.<br /><br />I will say that I’ve been perfectly happy with the kettle dyed up until now and am slightly miffed that you’ve taken it out of your selection (although I have to admit I bought quite a lot of it during your sale). I’m sure something just went wrong during the dying process and someone fell asleep on the job and let it soak too long or forgot to agitate the barrel or something (I don’t dye yarn, so I’m guessing here). Still, I can’t help but find the whole episode a little less than satisfying. So Knit Picks, a slap on the hand to yourselves so that I feel better, OK?<br /><br />Of course, you could always argue that if I have enough time to complain about this, I have too much time on my hands anyway, but shhhhhh!TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-48709692356685158762010-05-25T12:50:00.003+02:002010-05-25T13:08:20.006+02:00Driving by AgainWe had an absolutely gorgeous weekend. It was warm, but breezy, so not too warm and we spent pretty much the whole of the weekend outdoors either walking the dog or lounging in the shade. I got my new outdoor beanbag bed thingy on Friday, which was perfect because it meant I could read and snooze in comfort. Got a lot of reading done and sleeping and playing with the dogs, and possibly a little imbibition of alcohol, but not much knitting. Still, since I last dashed by, I've finished my Spring Bandit<br /><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3362/4621482223_67bfda2baf.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3362/4621482223_67bfda2baf.jpg" /></a><a href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4621482043_912c2e871c_m.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4621482043_912c2e871c_m.jpg" /></a><a href="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3362/4621482415_eab9045519.jpg"><img style="WIDTH: 400px; HEIGHT: 275px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3362/4621482415_eab9045519.jpg" /></a><br /><br />Yarn: <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/wanderingcatyarns">Fluffy Cat in Morning Glory by Wanderingcatyarns</a><br />Pattern: <a href="http://kelbournewoolens.com/springtimebandit.html">Springtime Bandit by Kate Osborn</a><br /><br />I love both the yarn and the pattern. The yarn is super soft and will be really warm. Even trying it on in this weather made me realize that you don't need a lot of weight to make something very warm. There's Alpaca, wool and cashmere in that there yarn, so it's bound to be warm. The pattern was insteresting to knit. Repetative enough that it was possible to remember the pattern without checking every few seconds but not enough to be boring. The only thing I had problems with was my own stupidity (again, so what's new there?). I tried using stitch markers to separate the pattern repeats, and it took me a while to realize that that just isn't going to work on a triangle like it does on a rectangular scarf. The increases take care of that. So, many frustrated hours later, I cottoned on and after that it was plain sailing. The only down side to the project was that I really didn't have enough yarn so it's a bit on the small side, especially as I had to stop before the pattern actually finished. It still looks fine, it's just a little small.<br /><br />While waiting for the yarn for my next project to arrive (my aunt's Arwen in Knit Picks yarn), I'm working on what has got to be the world's most boring sock. It's a plain stockinet sock with a 2x2 cuff knit in Timber Knit Picks Kettle Dyed Essential sock yarn. The Timber flavour was on sale because they took it out of their colour range and now I know why. Most of it is just a coffee with milk coloured yarn with little to no variation, like the other kettle dyed yarns have. I'm not going to like these socks, but I have a sneaking suspiscion that my aunt will think they are the bee's knees.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-82870535898727624062010-05-13T19:03:00.005+02:002010-05-13T19:19:46.362+02:00Drive By PostJust a quickie: I finally finished the <a href="http://www.interweavestore.com/knitting/patterns/byzantine-bazic.html">Byzantine Bazic</a> (with no further mishaps at all):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4592673079_527fa5a330_m.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 340px; height: 280px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4035/4592673079_527fa5a330_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1382/4593293598_987bb8715c_m.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 340px; height: 280px;" src="http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1382/4593293598_987bb8715c_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4592672785_d254e48182_m.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 340px; height: 280px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4592672785_d254e48182_m.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />and have now started on <a href="http://kelbournewoolens.com/springtimebandit.html">Springtime Bandit</a> recommended to me by <a href="http://www.ravelry.com/people/CatBookMom">Catbookmom</a> of Ravelry in Fluffy Cat by <a href="http://www.etsy.com/shop/wanderingcatyarns">Wandering Cat Yarns</a> in the colour Morning Glory. No pictures as of yet, but I can tell you I now remember why I really don't like knitting lace. I don't get it, it confuses me and mistakes are harder to fix. You also can just ignore them because it will look like total, well, a total train wreck. However, I'm stubborn and the yarn is <span style="font-weight: bold;">Wonderful</span> and I will finish it.TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-59696427444750229912010-05-03T19:13:00.004+02:002010-05-03T19:21:05.712+02:00Need RecommendationsCan anyone recommend a good, non-pilling, soft, 100% cotton yarn for knitting a sweater (<a href="http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/a-cardigan-for-arwen">Arwen</a>)? <br /><br />In other news, I'm sure Kathy Zimmerman would be very pleased to know that I've finished my first sleeve of the Bazic by following her very simple, straight forward directions and it looks really nice. Just like it should in fact. Nice, yes? Don't mess with Kathy, she's a Badass designer. I, on the other hand, am not.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4571014024_c83f8512d8.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 275px;" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4571014024_c83f8512d8.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-21390346019363624872010-04-27T13:03:00.000+02:002010-04-27T13:04:13.357+02:00D'Oh!Dear Kathy Zimmerman, despite never actually having criticized your pattern and never blaming you for my inability to knit the Bazic’s sleeves, I feel the need to apologize. Would a little self-flagellation be enough to atone for my last post? I would offer to knit a few things for charity, but that wouldn’t be painful enough because as the saying goes, stupidity should hurt. It really should and not just to punish people for being stupid, but to warn them that, yes, you are about to enter the stupid zone, so please, turn back now before it’s too late. After all, pain does tell us that it’s really not very healthy to touch a hot stove, so why shouldn’t it be there to warn us that we’re about to do something we will probably regret and/or cause us public humiliation? (Ehem, as in blogging about said stupidity before realizing just how dense you really are.) <br /><br />But I digress. I thought I had put enough effort into deciphering your instructions. I spent hours thinking about just how to work the sleeve increases into the pattern. I mapped them out in Excel, I knit and re-knit and still I wasn’t happy with the result. Then I decided to read the pattern again. I did that and still I was confused. I went back to thinking, improvising, knitting and again was baffled. I couldn’t imagine that you wouldn’t have mentioned it if it were going to be this difficult. Then, suddenly, in a flash of “OMG I am so stupid I should be jailed” illumination, I realized that I am my own worst enemy. In my bid to be a smarty-pants and avoid sewing up the sleeves, I knit them in the round, even though your pattern says, knit flat. Looking at the work in my hands, I was looking at a piece of round work and trying to make those increases somehow fit perfectly between the first and last pattern repeat in every row. Needless to say, this doesn’t work. They aren’t going to fit perfectly. Ever. Never ever even. I needed to be working these increases into the pattern as if the sleeve were flat. As soon as I figured that little gem out, I realized that I had been thinking too far with all of my concentric pattern diddling (at one point I’d even thought about changing the pattern completely!). So Kathy, in that instant, I realized that your pattern was so simple any child could have done it without blinking and that I should be hauled up in front of the knitting inquisition where I should possibly have my all of my needles revoked. Like I said, I would apologize for having blamed you, but I never really did. From the beginning I figured I was missing something, and I was. Oh boy was I! (possibly a few million brain cells). Still, I’m sorry anyway. <br /><br />I am now working the increases into the pattern like you told me to Kathy and the results are lovely. They no longer look like a train wreck of the worst kind, but like a pattern that was meant to be. <br /><br />In the immortal words of Homer Simpson, “D’oh!”TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-31534370563366084562010-04-22T19:58:00.001+02:002010-04-22T19:58:34.184+02:00ConspiracySeeing as how my elbow hasn’t heeled yet, and indeed shows no signs of getting any better at all, I know I shouldn’t knit. However, seeing as how I haven’t been knitting and it’s made no difference one way or t’other, I figured I’d start up slowly again and see how I, or rather it, faired. Thus, I took up my Byzantine Bazic sleeve last night. It was never going to be easy getting this sleeve going again, not after having let it sit for a month in the middle of increases I was unsure of in the first place. So, I knew I’d have to take my time about it. I sat down, looked at it, realized I was on a stitch adding row and stopped to think. The pattern instructions read: inc. one stitch at end of each needle every other row 8 times and then every 4 rows 21 times, working new stitches into pattern.<br /> <br />Deceptively simple. Dear Kathy Zimmerman, I love your pattern. It’s a beautiful sweater, lovely to knit, it will be wonderful to wear and I just can’t say enough good things about it. Honestly though, not all of us have your brain and you’ve sent mine into overdrive with your deceivingly simple, working new stitches into pattern. If this were simple ribbing, it wouldn’t be a problem. If the pattern were totally regular and concentric, it wouldn’t be a problem. Unfortunately, you, in your knitting wisdom, have chosen a pattern which is neither regular, nor concentric – or at least not with this stitch count. This means you really have to sit down and think about when to add which stitch and how to work them into the pattern without winding up with a lop-sided sleeve. It would have all been relatively simple if I could have just bunged in another 16 stitches in the middle of a repeat, but since the repeat starts and ends differently, this isn’t possible. Trust me on this one, I tried. If I had turned my brain off and continued knitting the way I had set up these new stitches a month or more ago, I would have wound up with one very uneven sleeve. One side would have dropped to the floor with the weight of the cables while the other tried to fly off the arm due to lack of balance. It did not look good. <br /> <br />On the other hand Kathy, I have to thank you for sparing my elbow by keeping me from knitting for at least another evening. As I sat down to knit, I looked at the train wreck of a sleeve I had in my hands and knew I must frog or face knitting a sweater I would have been too embarrassed to wear, unless I sold it as an M.C. Escher work. That might be just a tad difficult though, since I don’t think M.C. Escher ever wrote any knitting patterns. Feel free to correct me if I’m wrong because they would most likely be brilliant and I would probably wind up knitting them ASAP, but I really don’t think it’s likely. So, returning to the subject at hand, I looked at the train wreck and frogged, re-wound the yarn and started to knit again. I got exactly one stitch on the needles before I realized that I still didn’t really know how to work the incs into the pattern. <br /> <br />It was time for the computer and a little bout with Excel. Two hours later, I had my increases mapped out and ready to be knit. I’m still not going to swear that these are going to work, but I think I have a better shot at it now and at least they look balanced, or they do on paper anyway. How they actually knit up, remains to be seen. <br /> <br />I do have to admit to another bonus in this lost evening for knitting. As I was winging my way through the incs on sleeve one, I couldn’t rid myself of the small, nagging feeling that I would never be able to recreate these stitches on the second sleeve. I could just see it coming that I would think I could wing that one too, and then finding out that, no, that just wasn’t going to work. Now that I’ve got them mapped out, that worry is gone and I can go on knitting without losing sleep over how I was ever going to manage to wing two identical sleeves. What a relief!TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018082016938101964.post-29195419696737071012010-04-19T21:03:00.005+02:002010-04-20T13:09:54.869+02:00Life Without KnittingWell, it's been a while. There's little to report in the way of knitting since my elbow is still not a happy camper. I had been really good about not knitting, alas, it's still inflamed and I finally gave up, or in, as the case may be. I just finished my Nordic Shorts, which, as the name says, were a little short. Not only in stature, but in yarn as well. I ran out of yarn just after starting the toe.<br /><br />A normal knitter would have ripped back the toe of the first one and used a contrasting yarn to finish them so they would look the same. Or, they would have frogged both the socks and reknit even shorter. However, since I've never claimed to be normal and I'm fairly lazy, sooooo, I went and grabbed a similar yarn and finished the toe. Yes, it's different, no it doesn't have the nice blue bits in it, but in the light of the living room at night, which is when I'll be wearing the socks, it's not noticeable. Even if it is noticeable, it's not noticeable. I refuse to notice it. Refuse, point blank.<br /><br />Actually, I think that it may actually endear them to me in the end. They're special and no one else will have a pair like it, ever. Of course, it might just be that I am thrilled that I was actually able to pick up the needles and knit without having to think about it. I was beginning to worry that I might have forgotten. It seems like it's the same as with a bike though, you don't forget. So, here they are, my lovely, non-matching, yarn disparate socks.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4535094793_e323a81d84.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 360px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 270px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4013/4535094793_e323a81d84.jpg" /></a><br /><p> </p><p>And should you be interested, I there's a a meme about blogging on my <a href="http://blacksheepbooks.blogspot.com/2010/04/meme-y-meme.html">book blog</a>. I'd like to hear everyone else's opinions too.</p>TheBlackSheephttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13384038059799833795noreply@blogger.com2