Phew! I did it.

Well, after many, many attempts I finally got the knotted wad in the yarn. :-)

I can continue now

I made a beginner mistake.  Of course, I am a beginner so I don't feel too bad. I just started using yarn straight out of the skein.  I didn't make a ball first.  The yarn got a HUGE knot in it about 3/4 of the way through.  It was bad because I had so much on the needles I didn't want to frog it.  So I had to undo the partial ball that I had already started.  It took at least 3 weekends of frustration to finally get it undone.

I must admit, I am very excited now to keep on working on the sock.  Of course, I have learned my lesson the hard way but i do feel proud of getting it fixed. There were many times I wanted to just grab some scissors, cut out the yarn, and restart.

Onward and upward.:-)

 

Flap and Turn

After finishing up the leg, I worked on the heel flap. I must admit I worked on it during a meeting at school. I don't see how my knitting is any different from everyone texting back and forth.
The sock has the standard Slip 1 knit 1 pattern for the flap.  This was on Friday morning. The pattern was for 20 rows. This gave me 10 large stitches on the side that I can pick up for the gussets.

Today, I began the heel turn. It was pretty simple but you have to pay careful attention.   Row One we knitted 12 stitches in (out of a total of 20) and then started the short rows.



After this, I then piced up through the back loops to create my gussets. I hope it works. I have 52 stitches just like the book says. So that is at least a good thing.  I don't know if I will finish by the closing ceremonies though.  I am going on trip and will be in the car for 2 hours so hopefully this will help.

This is my favorite view!!

Go Team!!

I am continuing to work on my socks for the 2012 Ravellenic Games. Currently I am getting ready for the heel flap.  I have finished the leg part.  I counted 25 rows from the cuff to where I have stopped.  I am not sure if this is the length I want.
Pros:

• It is the same length as the socks that I wear now
• I can get finished quicker
• I am getting a little bored with the stockinette stitch

Cons:

• They seem quite a bit shorter than those in the book
• I don't want to regret making them too short.
• I can use more stash if I make them longer

can you tell which is handmade?

I am excited about starting the second part of the sock.  I am trying to make notes on everything because I don't want to have the second sock look different.

I deliberately tried to make it look like the picture.

We interrupt this regularly scheduled broadcast....

For Ravelympics 2012!!1
This is my first year participating and I am excited to actually begin something on-time.  The team I am on is Team Tribute after The Hunger Games. WooHoo!!!
The project I am trying is my first pair of socks.

I have had to reknit the cuff several times. First, I measured the widest part of my foot like the book advises. Then I multiplied it my 5 stitches per inch.  Multipling 8.5 *5 gave me 48 stitches. The opening ceremonies were starting and I wanted to get started so I cast-on these and worked for about 5 rows.

After the Internet was available again, I looked up the gauge of the yarn I was knitting.  It turns out the yarn I was knitting is 4.5 stitches to the inch.  This gave me 39 stitches which was easily divisible by the 3 needles used to knit the socks.  I had 13 stitches per needle. Following the directions, the ribbing was worked in knit 3 purl 1 for about 2 inches.

It didn't match up.  It was always ending up with a knit 2 section before starting again. After feeling disgruntled, I read the instructions.  It said that these socks would be knit using a double ribbing, knit 2 purl 2, for the cuffs. 
Yikes, I had to restart again.  This time, cast on the 40 stitches to make the pattern work out. It turn out that 40 stitches was what the pattern suggested I cast on in the first place!! 
Sometimes you have to do things wrong 4 times to get it right once.

Back to the Beginning

Well, I have frogged the sweater.  I was trying something new: cables.  The cables did not seem to work out. That tends to happen when you don't know what you are doing.:-)
I am going to start again.  I don't think that I am going to cast on as many stitches as before.  When I was frogging, the sweater just seemed to be WAY to large ( and for me that is saying something).  On to the knovel.

In these next two chapters we find out that Martha is Helen's cousin from Wyoming.  Helen stayed with Martha for a while when she was younger.Helen had gotten preganant in high school.  She then went to Wyoming to have the child and give it up for adoption. They two became very close during that time.

Martha was also suffered from some domestic abuse and that is why she came to Fort Conner. Helen helped her and got her a lawyer, Mr. Chambers to help settle things. Her husband died in January and they are looking to see if Martha is going to inherit anything. 

On the lighter side, Steve helps Kelly with her dog.  He brings over some old golf balls to keep Carl occupied.  Some of the golfers try to say that Carl is a danger and needs to leave the golf balls alone.  However, Steve offers to give some free golf lessons an that appeases them.  Steve must be a great player because they are all excited.

Focusing- Chapter 3

Do the right thing(ish)

It seems that when you do things they way they are designed, life goes so much better. Tonight, while sitting on the porch, I turned on the podcast that I listen to and actually knitted while listening.  The Cast-On podcast is designed to be listened to while you knit. It lasts approximately 1 hour. When I actually did this, I couldn't believe the progress I made. 

By having a set time to knit, instead of just knitting "when I can" I got much more done. I doubled the size of my knitting.  I had 2 inches of ribbing and added 2 inches of stockinette stitch.

WooHoo!  If I keep this up the sweater will hopefully be finished in no time.

 

As for the book, however..

Chapter3 begins with all the friends going to Aunt  house to help clean it up and straighten out things for Kelly. Jennifer takes the loan papers while the others vacuum and clean windows. They notice that Helen's family quilt is missing and can't find it anywhere.

After meeting with the detectivie in charge of the case, Kelly also finds out that a knitting needle is broken and purple yarn is missing.  Why would a vagrant take a quilt and knitting? The two off-duty dectectives found him on the golf course that borders Helen's property but, as it is pointed out, the golf course goes all the way to Old Town and the river.

Kelly also learns the bad news that they loan has some pretty strict rules and penalties. The house can't be sold or refinancesd for 2 years from the acceptance of the loan.  If she decides to sell the house, with all the penalities involved, Kelly will wind up having to pay about $30,000 instead of the original $20,000. Yikes!

We also meet, Steve, who comes over to get some balls that Carl took off the golf course. He knows Mimi and helps with repairs to the shop. I think this is going to be the "love interest" for Kelly.

Chapter Two-Ribbing

Well, as soon as I started the sweater, I decided to change the pattern and do a 2 inch ribbing at the bottom.  I just like the look of the ribbing. While I was working on the ribbing, I was listening to my favorite podcast Cast-On.  It was one of the first episodes and she was discussing how she forgot to change to lower size needles to do the ribbing on a sweater on time. 

Yikes! I realized I was doing the same thing. I immediately frogged all that hard work and switched to lower size needles.  The needles I was working on were size 15. The needles that I had available were size 11.  I am not sure how it will work but we will see.

Right size ribbing

Chapter Two- Knit One, Kill Two

This is the chapter where Kelly goes to the yarn shop that used to be her aunt's house.  It has been named "House of Lambspun" and she loves it. Being an accountant, she isn't used to all the bright colors and wonderful textures.

The other characters at the shop are introduced at a potluck they are having at the yarn shop.
          Jennifer- the waitress from the coffee shop who is also a real estate agent.
          Lisa- physical therapist.
          Megan- consultant
          Mimi- the older owner of the shop known as Mother Mimi
          Burt- retired police investigator who spins for the store

We also learn that the man arrested didn't have any money on him but Aunt Helen's purse was in the bushes. The ladies also volunteer to come over to Aunt Helen's house in the morning to help with straightening the house and papers.

Chapter 1

I have almost finished the gauge on my socks. I have decided to work on the Knit One, Kill Two project.  The main project is the Lambspun’s Whodunnit Shell.  There is also a simple scarf pattern but I thought I would skip it. It is simply casting on 10 stitches and then knitting a garter stitch until you reach the size you want.


To complete the shell pattern, you need size 15 needles

I like bamboo better than metal

a bulky yarn

Lion's Brand in Homespun

and the pattern to start.

Hopefully it is very easy like it says

 The gauge should be 2 stitches per inch. I hate doing a gauge but since I am not sure of this yarn, I will.  Now, on to the book J

Chapter  1

We meet the main character Kelly Flynn.  She has come back to Colorado because her Aunt Helen has died and Kelly is in charge of the estate.  The first person that she and her dog Carl meet is Mimi Shafer. Mimi appears to be a nice lady and owns the knitting and needlepoint store in town. Mimi takes Kelly to the bistro that is attached to the yarn store. She learns of the wonderful cinnamon rolls made there.

After the coffee and roll, Kelly heads off to the lawyers office. At the lawyer’s office, Kelly learns that her aunt died because of a robbery. She couldn’t understand why someone would rob her aunt. The lawyer tells her that Helen had taken out a $20,000 loan just days before.  They believe the money was taken from her purse. They saw a homeless person in the area and arrested him. 

Back to Basics

Well, I have decided to take my blog title more literally.  I am now reading a Knitting (K)novel. I have decided to try the "classic" by Maggie Sefton. This is a murder mystery involving someone who owns a yarn shop.  It also includes a pattern which I want to knit and post as well.

I hope to start on it pretty soon. The reason I am posting this is to kind of kick my butt into gear to get some projects done.

Needle Know How

In the book Knitting Without Tears, Elizabeth Zimmerman talks about all the different types of knitting needles. She even has some that are made out of walrus tusks. Wow! The needles that are my fanciest are my carved wooden ones I got at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC. 
She mentioned that if the coating has come off aluminum needles and you use oily wool (boot wool) the needles may turn blackish. It come off the the wash, but I thought it was interesting to know.

While reading her book, you can tell that she has knitted for a lifetime.  The way that she casually adds deep infomation shows how relaxed and comfortable she is about knitting. For example, when discussing the stockinette stitch, she explains why it curls at the bottom.  Each stich is just a minute bit bigger on the front than back.  They are bigger horizontally than vertically and she suggested NOT using stockinette for borders.

I alway forget which is garter and which is stockinette. I try to picture a stocking (sock) in my head and remember that it has a right side and a wrong side.  Therefore, stockinette is knit one row, purl the next, knit then purl etc. This stitch is great for circular needles.

My favorite the garter is knit every row, not to hard to think about. However, it is harder on circular needles because you would have to knit one, then purl next row.  This stitch is great of afghans and baby blankets because the edges don't curl. :-)

Ribbing is great for socks because of its elasticity. She then adds that if you knit into the back of knit stitches and purl in the back of purls, the ribbing will be even more elastic.

Next "chapter" talks about the techniques used in knitting.

I love her attitude about knitting and I assume life.  If you don't want to do it, then don't.  Life is too short. You should enjoy knitting and not stress over it.

Moving on...

Well, this is what the finished product looked like.

Glad my cat doesn't look like this.

It is doubtful that anyone would want to wear this. However, much was learned. I know that I can knit 3 together and was able to look up some new knitting terms.

Hopefully, the title is accurate

The next project should go much better.  Finally reading the beloved Elizabeth Zimmerman.  This was the only book they had at the library by her. Everyone seems to love her. After the last book, no tears while knitting sounds great.:-)

Seems unusual that there are no "projects" listed.  Let's hope things go well.