dream in color

Posted by ann

Cara has spoiled me! She sent me my absolute favorite colorway of Dream in Color yarn. Cara had heard me mention that I had fallen in love with this yarn when Kathleen had shown it to me and as luck would have it Knitty came out with the perfect pattern – Jeanie! thank you Cara – you’re the best!

Kris (and Dana!) at Sonny and Shear have a great online shop and do a lovely job of packing and shipping. It arrived promptly and was wrapped with bows and some fancy tea thrown in as well! what could be better?!

On the personal knitting front I am making good headway on the secret Cara’s baby project. I attempted to torture her a bit with the sound of my row counter – when we were on the phone I told her I was knitting a surprise for the bambino and held the ka-kching up to the phone. “You’re COUNTING ROWS??!!” she screamed. I am a row counter but don’t usually count them as I go, I count them once I get to a certain point.

In other news, D#1 called this weekend to inform me and Boar that she had her nose pierced. Don’t you just love these kids? I actually don’t object, I would get my own pierced if I thought I had a good nose for it (I think they need to be pointier than mine). Anyway that did provide a bit of excitement since Boar does not share my opinion. oh well, times they are a changin’!

this just in ……

2 parts stubborn 1 part lazy

Posted by ann

I promised you some close ups of why I do not recommend this yarn. Here’s the thing — this yarn is hard to photograph! It has a sheen to it that prevents the full effect of the cabling as well as the flaws to be picked up by the camera, especially when you are a point and shoot gal like me who can’t stop the flash from going off. Anyway, I did manage to get some of them and fortunately they show up more on the wrong side of the work which for some reasons photographs better anyway.

The yarn is RYC Rowan Cashsoft DK. Each skein had numerous areas where it seemed to be underspun and undyed. They look like little fuzzies that could simply be picked off, but they are a part of the yarn’s structure and cannot be eliminated. I have heard from other knitters that there is an acceptable industry standard for flaws/knots etc. and I would not be surprised if this falls within their ranges.

I happen to be a lethal combination of both stubborn and lazy. These spots showed up from the word go and I should have simply put the project on hold and returned the yarn. But I really wanted to get this vest knitted and certainly didn’t feel like hassling with packing the skeins back up, and making a trip to the post office to send them back. So I knit on, hoping that they would mostly work out to be on the wrong side of the vest. I see now that this was a poor strategy.

I counted them up and there are eight such spots on the wrong side and nine on the right side!

at last, blocking!

Posted by ann

I will have to keep this in mind the next time I chose a project calling for DK weight. I suppose it wouldn’t feel so slow if I had realized going into this that it would take a few weeks. Without sleeves, I honestly thought I had a shot at finishing this for Christmas or maybe right around New Year’s. Here it is three weeks later and I still have the neck and arm bands to do!

It’s like the car trip that you know is going to take five hours. If you know it before you begin, you can mentally brace yourself for it. If however you think it will be three hours and it takes five, well that’s where the road rage sets in. I guess I was verging on vest rage.

Which of course is yet another convoluted way that Ann re-learns the importance of gauge. This could be some kind of beginner/childrens’ book series. See Ann Knit. Knit Ann Knit! Oh No Ann! It’s Our Friend Mathematics!

It took me years to accept the connection between my lack of swatching and sweaters that didn’t fit. And we can all agree that I have a lingering level of denial where that’s concerned. How many do you suppose before I understand that things with a tighter gauge take longer to knit?

btw: I HATE this yarn. Rowan RYC Cashsoft DK. Do Not Buy It.

I will take some closeups and show you why – stay tuned.

Posted by ann

Progress has been made on Boar’s Wall Street vest! I have passed the v-shaped neck edge and am nearing the shoulder shaping. I was beginning to think that this project would never be finished. Without the bother of sleeves, I expected the knitting to fly off the needles. I did not take into account that a DK weight of the yarn combined with cabling makes for much slower progress. I expect to have some blocking shots up this week.

In the meantime here is a look at my newest pleasures. I was in the grocery store last night and discovered that the gumball machines by the exit were loaded with far more than candy! check out my cool monsters! and monkey!

I am going back with more quarters.