Keld Coat frogging.. and more moving

This weekend in the big moving weekend… We signed the papers (all the 40 papers or so) and in the next few days, the owners of the house will be signing the same amount of papers- and at some point Saturday, the house will be ours.  On Sunday, all our things from all parts of the USA are going to converge in our new house, and we’ll probably have just enough time to think about cleaning before the movers arrive with our stuff.  To me that means I better get some knitting in QUICK!!!  I will barely be able to find my stash and knitting, much less find time to knit something.

I’ve been busily working away of the Keld Coat, which I love so far… I’ve loved it so much I’ve just been knitting away not realising that I’d made a very fundamental mistake.  I have made the left side shorter than the back- about 10 rows too short- since I’d miscounted as well on the neck line, I thought I might as well frog the whole left side and do it again- do it proper…. I hate having to frog… HATE HATE HATE… but I hate more knowing I’m wearing something that I knit wrong.  I though I might actually get most of the coat done before we move (Peace Fleece is so quick to knit and addictive), but no chance now.  I’ve been pretty monogamous to Keld, which is rare for me.  I usually have several projects on the go at once, but the same happened with the CHP- I couldn’t stop.  I have knitted a few rows of the Thwaite in the yarn it was meant to be in - the British Breeds Sheep Collection Wool- and it is also somewhat addictive.  I’ve come to realise that knitting with wool is what I prefer (at least this year).

I got to wear my CHP yesterday when the weather turned from gorgeous sunny to drab and cold.  I wore it while it rained and I didn’t feel a drop!  I love my CHP!

In the company of knitters…

I rushed down from Ensenada this Thrusday- braved a new path to the border since for some strange reason, the police had closed off the normal route- and then gulped down a cup of tea (of course), so I could make it to the first Ravelry event in San Diego… the Bobmas Eve celebration. It was being held at my local yarn shop, The Grove at Juniper and 30th (yes, the address is also it’s name). It had to be very hot in San Diego, so Natasha couldn’t wear her cute hoodie or 3/4 sleeve jacket- and I couldn’t wear my pride and joy, The CHP. Still, I took it with me… it might get nippy in the evening!

I’m very glad I went. I got to meet lots of other knitters from all ages and interests. We chatted, enjoyed yummy cupcakes provided by one of the knitters, and of course, coveted all sorts of yarns and projects. The perfect closing to the evening was the yarn swap. We had been asked to bring a ball of yarn and swap for another one- all were supposed to be wrapped up with only the yarn contents in a tag. Some of the wrappings were so beautiful it really spoke of the time people took to choose the right yarn and to make it look as desirable as possible. I picked the one that looked like an adorable Christmas pillow. Inside was a yarn that I’ve never seen or heard of before - Marr Haven - made in Michigan. mule spun… the most wonderful mix of tweedy grey and a bit of brown- It looks rugged but feels soft. i can’t wait to knit something with this lovely gift!

Throughout the evening I kept trying to work on the spring clapotis or start on an entrelac scarf, but I finally just put them both aside and helped a new friend to crochet.

CHP’s first outing!

Finally the CHP is done. It took a while and I nearly lost heart doing the ribbing.. it seemed to take forever. The weaving in of the loose ends took even longer. When I put it on it fit perfect. It looks lovely but it is a bit itchy. I thought this would be a problem but when I wore it today, I hardly noticed it. What I did feel was how warm it is. I love this yarn!! Wore it on a windy day out and it was very comfortable, soft and warm.  It stopped the chilling wind dead.  The only problem was that I chose to NOT put buttons on it.  I like the way it looks open, but unfortunately I kept having to hold it closed when the wind got too much.  I might have to rethink the button issue (without having to redo the ribbing!!) or actually even think about a zipper!!

The 6s and the CHP

Only a 24″ US6 addi turbo is standing in between me and finishing the knitting part of the CHP. I must have left them in Mexico because they’re not here in San Diego… I hope they’re there or else I won’t be finishing it any time soon!

I knit the hood yesterday and shortened it by two rows since I was running out of yarn and didn’t see the point of starting a new ball and leaving a little knot right at the front of the hood for the sake of two more rows. It shouldn’t make too much of a difference!

I hate sleeves!!!

I’ve been trying to concentrate on the CHP this week, and last night, after a big push I finally finished the sleeves.. after having to unravel about 1/3 of the cap and doing it over again.  Maybe there’s a mistake in the pattern, or maybe I just really hate sleeves so much that they hate me back.   They’re done- the sleeves are finished.  For some reason it took me longer to do the sleeves (done together by the way) than the front, and sides.  I wonder if there’s a mistake in the pattern when it comes to the sleeve cap because after the K2tog 5 times every 4th row… i was left with nearly 30 stiches instead of the 22… so I kept going until I had 22 stitches and that’s when the sleeve cap was long enough.

I cast on the hood and now I’m busy with that.  I really want to finish this and wear it if only once before Summer is here (in San Diego summer is already here, thought here they call it Spring.  It’s already warmer than any warm summer day in Manchester!).

Already I’m considering my next cast-on.  I recently go the Norah Gaughan Collection No.2 from Berroco and I’m very tempted by at least 3 patterns… the one that temps me the most is Loop a clever cardi/dress.  I’m digging into my stash for my next project so what I choose will be directly related to what yarn I have.

Green sleeves

Just cast on the sleeves for the CHP- meaning I’ve knitted the front and back (YAHHH!!! HuRRAY for me!).  I have to make note of a few mistakes I made though.

1. I made the CHP about 1″ longer than the instructions for a 40″ size stated.  I’m not sure how it happened since I was convinced I was going to do it about 1″ shorter since I’m pretty short myself.  At least I realised this mistake and made the fronts a bit longer too.
2. One the left side I started the neck opening at 6″ instead of 6 1/2″ per instructions… I imagine this will make the neck smaller, but that’s not a problem for me.  Hopefully it won’t mess up the patter for the hood too much.  I might go ahead and follow the instructions for a smaller size when it comes to the hood.
3. On the right side I started the first full cable about 2 rows earlier  (after 8 rows instead of 9 from the last cable).  This means that this side cables might look slightly lower.  I don’t think that will be too much of a problem, but we’ll see.

I dread the sleeves… almost as much as I dread sewing in the sleeves.  For some reason, this is when patterns start to go wrong for me.

Flying through the CHP

I decided to rip back the 4 or more inches and finished up the back and the left front!  Now I’ve cast on the right side and hoping to finish it by tomorrow- how exciting!

RIP

The Central Park Hoodie, because of other commitments and necesseties it’s taken me nearly two weeks to finish the back, and finished I am… until I spotted a mistake I made in the cabling… means ripping up about 4 ” or more.   I hate ripping up.  there’s nothing as disenchanting than having to rip up work that was hard to come by (to find the time to do it!!). I seriously considered just frogging the whole thing and doing something else!  I feel like I’ve lost momentum… part of that is due to the disheartening result of the Frock Cami…  I’m contemplating redoing the top of that one as well- though I could give it to my younger sister who would probably look fabulous in it!

Frock Cami front and plans for the weekend

I am nearly done with the front- all I have left to do is 11″ of strips.

My concern is that the front part is looking quite small. I hope it stretches! I’ve got more pictures of the Frock Camisole in the Knit Gallery

Unfortunately for this project (but fortunately for me) - we’re going away this weekend to Guerrero Negro in Baja California to look at the whales and baby whales in a lagoon the grey whales use for birthing. It’s a 10 hr car trip, and since I get car sick if I read even for a short while, I’m going to leave this one here and take with me either the Central Park Hoodie, or maybe even better - the Blanket Cardigan. At the moment though, I just realised my better half’s wooly hat is nowhere to be found- seeing as how we have a lagoon tour for 8 am- I’m making another one out of the beloved Peace Fleece using the pattern from Last Minute Knitted Gifts (very useful book!). I’m pretty sure I have more than enough for the CHP and the wooly hat (and hopefully some left over for some colour work in another project I’ve got in mind!).

The blanket… finished!! and another project started

Well- I finished Natasha’s blanket last night. I immidiatly put it to good use by giving it to Natasha as she slept and she promptly curled up with it- a good sign. Today she occasionally has carried it around. I hope she’s happy with it!

I couldn’t resist so I began a new project with some lovely yarn- Peace Fleece Worsted. It is stiff but not too much so. It’s defined, easy to knit, and makes the work go quickly. I’m already 1/2 done with the back of my new Central Park Hoodie from Knitscene Fall 2006 (find it here at interweave knits shop). I’ll be photographing both soon!