As always, today I’m going to post about what I’m knitting and reading. If you like knitting and reading, you will probably enjoy the master list or as I prefer “party” over at Ginny’s Blog. Thank you, Ginny, once again, for hosting this party. I hope you didn’t clean for us.
So, I know all of you with impeccable memories are thinking “wasn’t the body of that sweater done last week?” Yes, yes it was. The body was finished and the sleeves were not working out correctly as many times as I tried. I had followed my notes and calculations from the last “Dirk” sweater I made, and they should be correct. I checked my math over and over again. I was beginning to think I was losing my mind. I finally decided to measure the armholes one more time, and sure enough, I looked at my notes and they were correct. The sweater was wrong. I had measured the size of the armholes from the beginning of the orange yarn, and not from the top of the armhole (the navy part) like I was supposed to. The armhole was inches too big due to user error, not math-notes error. No wonder the sleeve wasn’t fitting.
So what choice did I have but to unravel the whole sweater back up to the armholes and unravel the added inches. It was painful. Really. Painful.
The sweater is on the road to healing, though, and for that I’m grateful.
On a very happy note involving this sweater, my submission for the “Dirk Sweater” to be distributed with KnitPicks has been accepted, and so as soon as I’m finished with the details of the written pattern, they’re going to send me some more yarn to make them a sample of it. They do want the sample to be different colors than the one David chose. For some reason the orange and blue doesn’t tickle them like it does my 5 year old. 😉
So I need to pick a new color combination. Any advice for those who are familiar with their swish dk yarn? Knut thinks it should be a solid color like Lemongrass heather, but I told him the idea was for a 2 toned sweater. I’m thinking maybe camo colors like Lemongrass or moss for the shoulders and sleeves, and them doe or squirrel heather for the body. Or blues, or greens…what would you do?
I’m also making another Clara Cowl, though this one for a customer. 😉 It’s a nice occasional break from re-doing the sweater.
I just got the book “Artisan Bread in Just 5 Minutes a Day” because my old cheerleading coach/current friend recommended it highly on her blog. Yes, I was a cheerleader. That fact still surprises me sometimes.
I’ve been annoyed with my bread maker lately. No particular reason other than it’s become boring. I wasn’t in search of any particular solution, just inspiration. Paging through this book, I wish that it had more pictures, but I really like their method of making bread. It’s the most inspiring reason I’ve had in weeks to clean out my fridge.
Mom says
September 21, 2011 at 4:28 amYou could always do dark blue, light blue (notice i love blue!), or the same concept with any color.
Kelly says
September 21, 2011 at 4:56 amCongrats on getting your pattern accepted! I just had my third pattern accepted by Knit Picks, and it’s been a lot of fun.
I’ve been wanting to try the Lemongrass color and Squirrel, although right now I’m about to cast on Jackrabbit (all three are heathers). I think Lemongrass and Squirrel would look great together, and think you’d do best with two heathered colors or two solids. (Doe is nice, but it’s hard to pair with another color; I like how it looks with their dark brown, I forget the color name just now.) Look forward to seeing the final product!
Kelly @ Creating a Family Home
little macaroon. says
September 21, 2011 at 5:40 amOuch! I hate making big ol’ crashing mistakes (and usually try to fudge them, which makes it even worse!!!). The colours of your yarns sound fabulous but I’m hopeless with colour so not much help here. But I always think my little one looks cute in soft blues matched with taupy brown colours; kind of old fashioned but very sweet.
pinkundine says
September 21, 2011 at 9:43 amOh, sorry to hear that there was a lot of frogging 🙁 That is always a wrench to even read about, let alone have to do!
As for colours, I love grey and yellow together (it is quite a fashionable combination at the moment I believe – not sure if that’s a good or bad thing though!) Actually, I love grey with most colours, citrussy ones especially.
*kate says
September 21, 2011 at 11:25 amCongratulations! I usually go for two shades in the same color, not necessarily at either end of the shades. But I can be kind simple like that 🙂
Swanski says
September 21, 2011 at 12:15 pmCongrats on the pattern acceptance! I hope you can gain progress in the orange sweater soon.
Paula says
September 21, 2011 at 1:44 pmIsn’t it terrible to frog a big part of your knitting?! I just had to take out most of the last sleeve for my husband’s sweater (29 inch sleeves!!) because I forgot the second part of the increasing. It’s going much slower the second time around.
Sheila says
September 21, 2011 at 2:05 pmPerfect day for baking bread….and once you make it you will be amazed at how much of a time saver it actually is. I always use half of the dough at a time and make a bigger loaf (I think it says it makes 4 loaves)….because the bread is just really, really good.
If I were picking colors for a boy’s sweater, I am afraid I would be rather dull…I would use brown and black. 🙂
Jen says
September 21, 2011 at 3:57 pmGlad everything is back on track.
Orange and Blue are actually complementary colors on the color wheel. You son has a good eye for color. 🙂
I’ve been wanting to try that book. I’ll be curious to see how you like it.
Kathy says
September 21, 2011 at 4:35 pmI love that book — I checked it out of our library and we’ve made several recipes from it. I knit up some baby sweaters in the DK version of Knitpicks Swish and used combos of cornmeal, amethyst heather, and the lighter purple (forgetting the name…) and another of a forest heather, deep brown, and golden color.
Stacy says
September 21, 2011 at 5:42 pmPainful. Painful, ripping out the body! Oh, I’m so sorry. I think the camo colors you mentioned would make a great two-tone sweater!
Ellen says
September 21, 2011 at 7:49 pmOh a pattern accepted! That is exciting. I would try perhaps a new colorway they’re offering – always a good marketing tool. Turmeric with Cobblestone Heather or Rainforest Heather with Dove Heather…
Lori ann says
September 22, 2011 at 1:33 amoh how exciting! congratulations! your knitting looks lovely in that sunny window. 🙂
suddenexpression says
September 22, 2011 at 8:15 amI think you should either combine Carnation with Marble Heather, or do two different tones of the blue. Can’t wait to see what you chose and to see it listed on KnitPicks!
Candis Berge says
September 22, 2011 at 11:10 pmThis old cheerleading coach of yours, now a faithful blog follower, still LOVES making this artisan bread. I make 3 loaves out of the basic recipe; the grandsons always ask as soon as they walk in “do you have any crusty bread, grandma?” And if I don’t, I pull it out of the refrigerator and have some soon! Warm and crusty! And gobbled right up! I hope you love doing it!
Whitney says
September 23, 2011 at 6:36 amCongrats on the pattern acceptance- so cool! I love blues so I’d go with a twilight/dusk combo or maybe dove heather with big sky if you didn’t want so much color. Then again I love big pops of color so that’s just me!