Felt Like Knitting

Gauge aggravation

My gauge swatch for Green Gable is done, but I'm not sure what to do next.  The pattern says the gauge is 20 sts and 28 rows = 4" in St st.  I have 19 - 19.5 sts = 4 ".  The swatch isn't off the needles yet, but it looks like I have 30 rows = 4".  What does this mean?  It seems that I would need a smaller needle size to get 20 st/4", but a larger needle size to get 28 rows/4". 

Stitch gauge is more important than row gauge, right?  Can I ignore the row gauge since it is close and add a few more rows when I knit?  And is 19.5 stitches/4 inches close enough?  Maybe this will change a bit when I take the swatch off the needles.  The stitches look pretty "tight" already, I can't see going to smaller size needles.  In Knitting Rules!, Stephanie says to block the swatch.  Does this change the gauge much?  I haven't done this step, either.

Maybe this will seem less confusing and intimidating after I get some sleep...

For Project Spectrum, it's goodbye to May (green) and hello to June (blue).  I didn't do much with green this month and I didn't finish as many things as I had hoped.  Oh well, there's always next month!

Twenty Years Ago

                                               

Just now I was sitting down to knit when I thought back to what I was doing twenty years ago.  I would have been finishing up the rehearsal dinner for our wedding and getting ready to be married the next day.  It's hard to believe it has been that long already.  I feel incredibly blessed to have S in my life.  He's a wonderful person.  And who else would put up with yarn and needles all over the house?  :)

Aaaargh!

You are never going to guess what I did.  It's the stupidest thing.  I went to a LYS for needles for Green Gable today and BOUGHT THE WRONG SIZE!  And needles are not exchangeable at this store.

I bought 12" size 5 circs and 32" size 5 circs and I need size 6 circs (20" and 32").  What was I thinking?  (I wasn't, I guess!)  Here's what I think I did:  The other day I knit a small swatch to check the yarn I already have that I think might work.  I got the recommended gauge of 5 stitches per inch.  So all of the sudden 5 must have become the magic number in my tired, confused, mixed-up, 40-something mind.  I even blogged about using size 5 needles.

My husband doesn't seem to think this is a problem.  He figures I'll eventually need every size needle ever made.  This should be reassuring, but I could still kick myself because:

1)  I contemplated buying interchangeable needles but decided I wasn't sure about them and didn't want to waste money buying something I wouldn't use.

2)  I looked at the swifts and ball winders while I was there.  The $30 I spent on Addi Turbos that I don't need could have gone toward a swift and ball winder that I do need.

3)  I can't start the sweater until I go back for more expensive needles on Tuesday.

Sigh...I can picture myself using the 32" needles some day, but what does a knitter do with 12" size 5 circular needles?!  I think I'll carry them in my purse as a reminder to not ever buy anything unless I have my pattern with me.

Legacy

"Corabella likes roses, and she needs a new shawl too."  So I shall surprise patient Corabella with this blue, lacy shawl.     (From Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriet Scott Chessman, recommended by Pooch)

                              Lydia Crocheting in the Garden at Marly  www.artchive.com

While reading this book, it saddened me to realize that I will never paint something that will be prized and recognized around the world like the paintings of Marry Cassatt or Claude Monet.  Their creations are treasured by many people.  Paintings, sculptures, drawings...these are a visible legacy of a generation.  These artists have impacted our culture in a real and tangible way.  Knowing that I will never make a mark like this bothered me.

Then I came upon the passage above.  Mary Cassatt is painting her sister, Lydia, crocheting a shawl for their niece's doll.  The shawl would have meaning for their niece, Elsie.  She would wrap it around Corabella to keep her warm.  Later when Lydia died, Elsie would treasure the shawl as a way to remember her aunt.  The shawl would be part of Lydia's legacy.

                                       

Just like this sweater and vest are part of my grandmother's legacy for me.  She sewed, knitted, and crocheted many things for my brothers and me as we were growing up.  Most of the sewn items have worn out, but this knitted sweater and vest remained and i have carried them with me from house to house as I've moved throughout the years.  They are a way to remember my grandma and share her with my daughter.  These hand-knitted items are more important to me than popular artwork.  I wouldn't trade them for a Cassatt or a Monet.

So my sadness turned to happiness when I realized my creative efforts do make a difference and can show love to those around me.  A lady from church knows I care when she gathers a prayer shawl around her shoulders.  My mom thinks of me as she ties her scarf around her neck when it's cold.  My daughter may one day show her children the purse I knitted and felted for her to use at the dance.  These things are my legacy to those I love.

Needles

Time for a quick post before we head to swim team practice.  I decided to knit Green Gable.  I really like the simple yet stylish look of this sweater.  If I can knit this the right way and it fits, I think I will wear it a lot.  As an added bonus, many people have knitted this already and can help me if I get stuck.  (Thanks, Katie!)

That is a good segue into a question I already have...  I need to buy four sets of circular needles for this project and that translates into a lot of money.  I am considering buying some Denise Interchangeable Needles.  If you own these, do you like them?  Are they easy to use?  If you don't own them, do you own a different set of interchangeable needles and how do you feel about them?

One problem with these needles is that the website shows that they only go to a 5 and the pattern calls for a 4.  I think this must be for the ribbing on the sweater.  I'm wondering if I could get by with using size 5 needles instead.

Thank you all for your kind words about the Wobbly Circles Tote!  About a month ago I bought a skirt at a thrift store to use for projects.  It matches the tote perfectly (for a lining) and I never even thought about that when I bought the skirt.  I guess if you are drawn to the same colors all the time, things work out like that.  :)  I'll post another picture when it's lined.

Time for practice.  Have a great weekend, everyone!

Wobbly

Well, the Wobbly Circles Tote is done and is now drying.  This is not the best picture of it, but I did want to show how the instarsia turned out.  Funny that Estella just asked me about the progress on this tote.

I wanted to learn how to do intarsia knitting, so I'm happy with it in that respect.  And I still like the colors (even though they don't photograph correctly).  I'm even happy with the size (it's smaller than it's supposed to be).  If I like all these things, why am I not wild about this tote?  Am I "felted out?"  Or maybe I'm just anxious to start a sweater.  I really want to knit a sweater!

Regardless of why I am tired of this project, I think I will giving felting a rest after I finish the Noni bag (or maybe even before).  Actually the Noni bag may be a Noni bucket/bowl for my knitting/sewing room.  I'm not seeing it as a purse right now. 

Field trip

                                       

Today our family went to the new Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest.  It is a very nice aquarium with lots of interesting things for people of all ages.  It was easy to find, close to 75/85, and was very easy to get out of, too.  If you are ever in Atlanta, it's worth a visit.

The aquarium is divided into 5 galleries which are off a main hub.  Our favorite gallery was  Ocean Voyager.  This is where the whale sharks (my favorites today) live.  They are really impressive fish and can grow to be the size of a school bus!  My second favorite animals were the sea otters in Cold Water Quest.  They were so adorable!  This gallery also houses the beluga whales and some cute South African penguins.

One note for families with small children:  this is a kid-friendly (and parent-friendly) aquarium.  There were several touching stations with handwashing stations nearby and the Georgia Explorer gallery included a large play area for children.

The only downside of the visit was a personal issue.  I don't enjoy looking at caged or tanked animals.  I end up feeling very sorry for them.  If they are pacing (or swimming back and forth in the same spot) it's even worse.  I know that some of the animals have been rescued from bad situations, so that does help me feel a little better.

And one more thing I should mention...I got some knitting done while I was there!  S and E (my husband and daughter) went to get some more pictures while I was in the restroom.  As I waited in the lobby/hub for them to return, I did some dishcloth knitting.  I was leaning against a pillar by the exit and felt very conspicuous!  I'm usually pretty brave about knitting in public, but this was right on the very edge of my comfort zone.

An incredibly large flower

  I wondered about that flower, I really did...  When I started knitting my Noni bag I decided to follow the gauge suggestion, so I went up a needle size.  The flower looked incredibly big to me, but I went ahead and knitted a second one.  Then I realized that I probably wouldn't have enough yarn in the skein for a third.  So, today I felted the bag and one flower to check the size.  Yep, that's one incredibly large flower!  I will be making the rest of the flowers smaller and I'll be doubling the Crystal Palace Fizz in the flower center to make it show up more.

In other felting news, the knitting on the Wobbly Circles Tote is all done.  Now to finish the weaving in of ends!  I'm really looking forward to felting this tote.

And I have a confession.  I told myself to never knit a dishcloth.  It seemed like a lot of work for something I'd be throwing into murky water.  Well, Maggie (the nice lady from the Felted Bag KAL) suggested I join some dishcloth groups that she was in.  I thought about it.  Then I saw that Katie knits dishcloths and Gina is knitting one now.  And I realized that our dishcloths are looking like dishrags.  So, I decided to join to see what the groups are like.  While awaiting approval to join, I got a little excited and looked at some patterns online and found a lace one I liked.  All of the sudden it hit me:  knitting dishcloths is an excellent way to try new stitches and learn new techniques with very little time or materials invested.  Dishcloths are very portable.  Everyone needs dishcloths.  Another confession:  I'm already halfway through my second one.  :)

MLB Knitting

Thanks to everyone that gave me info about knitting at MLB games.  I ended up not taking anything.  I decided since it was a company event for my husband, I shouldn't take the knitting.  Plus, we didn't have long to wait anyway.  By the way, what are those wand things they use to probe into your purse?  I'm thinking they are mini metal detectors or something.

We ended up leaving during the 7th inning and after that's when all the action started.  (The Braves ended up winning in overtime with a homerun by Chipper Jones.)  But my daughter (I'm going to start calling her E) wasn't feeling well.  It turns out she might have pneumonia.  Poor thing.

Elizabeth said that the SF Giants have a night when they encourage knitters to attend and even give them knitting tote bags.  How cool is that?!

Okay, this is way off topic and I'm not going to bore you with how my mind jumped here, but I've been wondering... How hard would it be to have something good reported on the news?  It seems that all I read on the Internet headlines are negative things.  I'd like to read some positive headlines and I'm wondering if knit bloggers can do something big enough to get noticed and make the news good for once.  What if we had a huge knitalong and donated knit items for one charity like Project Linus or Warm Up America or something?  Do you think it would work and some positive news would be reported?  Hopefully things like this are in the news already and I'm just missing them.  Okay, enough rambling...

Frogging some Wobbly Circles

                                          

That's a picture of what was side 2 of my Wobbly Circles Tote sitting beside side 1.  (The oversized green hat at the top of the photo is the body of my Garden Party Noni bag.)

Gauge is strange.  When I cast on and knit some of side 2 of my Wobbly Circles Tote, the gauge didn't seem right and side 2 was smaller.  I figured my stitches were tighter since I knew what I was doing on side 2.  I frogged and changed to a size 11 needle.  That seemed to work and I checked the gauge (versus side 1) several times.  Yesterday, with less than 40 rows to go, I checked the size again.  Oh, it's way bigger than side 1.  Out it goes again.  I'm back to 10.5 needles again and it's pretty close.  Now I'm wondering what I was looking at before.  It must have been right.  I should have taken it off the needles to check it before I ripped it all out the first time.

You know, I normally would have just kept knitting.  But I'm reading Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Knitting Rules!.  I'm enjoying this book quite a bit and the section on gauge prompted me  to start checking gauge more often.  So that's why I checked side 2 in the first place.  But, I didn't knit a gauge swatch or take the project off the needles to check gauge and I should have.  At least I'm learning this on a tote and not something wearable! 

I made myself cast on (again) right away so that I wouldn't be tempted to shelve this thing.  Fortunately, it's knitting up quickly.  If we don't end up going to the baseball game tonight, I should be able to finish it.  (My daughter is not feeling her best and we may not go.)

Speaking of MLB, is there some kind of knitting etiquette concerning games?  Is it okay to knit while waiting for the game to start?  And are needles allowed in?  I checked the Turner Field web site and didn't see anything prohibiting the use of knitting needles at a game.  If they're allowed on airplanes again, they should be allowed at ballparks, right?  But I don't want to chance having to hand over my Addi Turbos because they are stiff and pointy.