BBBB #3 -- continued

I'm about an inch past the 1/2-way point in the pattern and about 1/2-way through the 4th of 7 balls of yarn which I purchased for this project. If my math is right, this means I'm right on track to have enough yarn to finish the blanket! You can double-check me if you like: I bought 7 balls and I have 3 1/2 left and I'm slightly more than 1/2-way done. Sounds good to me!

I wanted to take another photo so show my progress, but the pattern change just doesn't show up well yet. I think it will by the time I'm done with this ball of yarn. I added the latest ball sometime on Friday while Hazel was resting and worked on it during rest periods from house cleaning. The i-L(s) moved here over the weekend. This might not normally cause frantic housecleaning, but they decided to stop by our house for dinner on the way to their new one, bringing some of their oldest friends with them. At least I found out before Sunday morning. To be honest, I didn't do all that much frantic housecleaning, although I should have. With TL ill and not feeling well myself, I put HUGE blinders on and so avoided seeing too much of the dust and grime.

OK, the point was that I am making some progress on two projects. Sorry for the mini-rant.

My First Sweater

So, I'm now working on my first sweater in my first knitting class. The name of the pattern? "My First Raglan" by Lisa Knits (SW-024) I can't stand the coincidence in all these firsts. I'm hoping that none if it is a hint toward the future where these are all also "Lasts!" To be honest, the pattern I'm using is only based on the Lisa Knits one, as my teacher and I decided not to do the increases after the ribbing, eliminating the "puffy" look at the waist. I hope that the waist looks more like the adult version in the photo from the pattern on Lisa Knits website.

The sweater is for TL, but I'm attempting to make it large enough for him to wear next cool season, but not so big as it will overwhelm him even then. He loves the color!

Pattern: My First Raglan, Lisa Knits #SW-024
Yarn: Filtes King Australian Merino (product of Italy) 100% Merino Virgin Wool
It's supposed to be shrink resistant according to the label. Color #1021
Needles: US size 5 for ribbing, US 6 for the rest.
Began: May 3, 2007 at around 8 pm
(please note the Finished time in my last post)
Finished: TBD

Alterations: My teacher says I'm a "tight" knitter, so we went up a needle size to get the right gauge in the body of the sweater. We also went with TL's measurements (taken from an appropriate shirt). My teacher plugged everything into Sweater Wizard and printed out customized patterns for each of us in class. This way we don't have to negotiate the different size options in the original pattern. She also figured out the CO based on the yarn I chose, so I'm fairly certain that that is also a change. Since I don't actually have the original, I can't be certain, however.

Between Thursday and Friday, I knitted the first 50g (153 yd) ball and I have about 9 inches of the back done. The back is 17 inches wide. When the back is 14 inches long, I start the decreases to make a place to attach the sleeves.

I have decided at that point that I had to knit another ball onto a different project.

Breathe and Relax --Done!

Pattern: Relax and Breathe from Knit Socks! by Betsy McCarthy
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Encore D.K. in 4 colors (217-black, 1383-orange, 3335-green, 517-blue)
75% Acrylic, 25% wool
Needles: US size 2 (2.75 mm)
Began: April 20, 2007;
Finished: May 3, 2007 at around 6 pm

Woo Hoo! I am finished with the Breathe, Relax socks and they have been happily tried on, modeled, and approved of by TL. He didn't want to try them on until I got the ends worked in, but I guess that's alright. As you can probably tell, his actual feet fit into the actual socks (whew!) and he seems to enjoy them.

If you look closely, you can see that the heels and the turning of the heels are two different colors. Getting tired one evening, I did try to convince TL that both of these areas could be either the same color as the body of the sock (highest hope) or at least be the same color as one another. But there was no negotiating, I should have known not to show him the photo in the book. Lesson learned! You can probably also make out most of the words, I didn't want to post more than two photos of the same socks, just to prove that I spelled both words correctly on each sock. You'll have to trust me.

The banding was kind of fun to do, but I was worried that I would increase the tension too much and make it pucker, but that didn't happen. I did knit Continental style and English style at the same time on those areas in order to even out the tension when changing color, and to be more efficient. I did end up regularly making the stitches face the wrong way from the yarn in the left hand, but it got a lot better with practice and not knitting late at night. I simply turned those stitches the right way as I went along the next row, so it wasn't disastrous.

Cables, weekend

Well, not the kind you're expecting. I have forgotten where I put the cables to connect my phone to the computer. This means that the great shots of the Breathe, Relax socks being modeled are stuck in there until I can get my brain to work. Hopefully, I'll remember today and post the photos tonight.

I did not contribute to the blog over the weekend because TL was sick with two things at once (pink eye and upper respiratory infection), and so my energy was elsewhere. I'll write up some notes on the TL sweater and post it later today. I did have to make a run to the bookstore because TL finished the novel he was reading and was desperate for the next book in the series. While there something WK mentioned forced me to look at the magazines, a section I studiously avoid in bookstores in order to protect my wallet. So, for the first time ever, ta da, I flipped through and purchased a knitting magazine! I actually got two. I picked up Vogue Knitting and Interweave Knits. I think I may ask my knitting teacher if she thinks I can handle one of the cardigan projects for myself, and the other has entrelac instructions and directions for entrelac socks. Who could resist? Also, there are some cute baby projects in there.