Weekend Wrap-Up

Let's see - what's been going on this week?

In the knitting world, I've been in design mode for a few days with mixed results. One of the fingerless gloves turned out very pretty but the lacy patterning on the front made it a looser gauge and now it doesn't fit as snugly as I would like. I was taking a stitch design written for back-and-forth knitting and modifying it to circular, also. Trial and error, but I did get it to work after forgetting to reverse both the type of stitch and the positioning. One without the other just doesn't get it - close, but no cigar. So, back to the drawing board on that one. I also have a possibility of supplying a friend with some items for her online store so I'm working on prototypes on that front.

Last night, I began work on a slouch hat for Mary from a pattern I bought from Ysolda. It has a tubular cast-on, something I've never done before. So, thank godness, Ysolda also has a great instructional video right on her website with directions. Now, normally, that would be enough for me as I'm much better with visuals than trying to make heads or tails out of written directions. The problem, however, was the fact that I was learning something new whilst working with black yarn. Yes, let's make it difficult to see what's going on by choosing the darkest possible yarn and starting at about...oh...two or three in the morning. I think I ripped it out about three times before I finally got it right. Looks great now but geez. I'm just sayin'.

I bought four patterns from Ysolda this week and might actually end up with something for myself from that lot. She has gorgeous items - check them out. The ones I chose, in addition to the Gretel hat, were Leisl, Coraline, and Snow White. There are lots of pictures up on Ravelry for the Snow White and this sweater seems to look nice on every body style so I thought I should give it a try.

Also, I had a 40% off coupon at Borders so I got Custom Knits by Wendy Barnard because top-down sweaters are my favourites and there are lots of designing ideas that I know will come in handy. Another book that just jumped into my hands was Luxury Yarn One-Skein Wonders by Judith Durant. Books like this are great "jumping-off points" for days when my design brain is in full gear.

I've been alternating my podcast-listening with episodes of Firefly this week as my "something to do while I'm knitting" activity. Because doing just one thing at a time is just not enough. Then there are the times that I am listening, reading knitting blogs, and knitting. Although I can do it all at the same time, it really does slow down my knitting a little bit. And definitely don't try that if you're also attempting a lace pattern. No way.

I'll be taking a knitting break here and return later for parte due.