Collar Issues

Well it’s the last week of classes and I have nothing to do. Ok, well that’s not completely true, I have at least four finals next week, but that’s next week. Anyway, I finally pick up my blue sweater again, the one that I made last spring, my “lace waves pullover”. It’s been bugging me for a while, because the cuffs and the collar weren’t quite what I wanted, it just didn’t seem to fit. So I’ve redone the cuffs, and they look much better. I’ve also redone the collar, twice. They were both just stockinette, and the first one was too few stitches, and I thought I’d fix it with more, but no. Not quite sure what I’m going to do. I don’t think I want to do anything other than stockinette, because nothing else would fit with the rest of the sweater, that’s why I’m re-working it in the first place. Perhaps just an inch or two of stockinette, let it curl and that will be the collar? Oh well, I’ll put it away for now, maybe I’ll think of something tomorrow.
I also started a project that I only thought of recently. I was watching the last episode of season two of Doctor Who, and as Rose was saying goodbye, and yes I was crying, but I also noticed her gorgeous fingerless mitts. It was a nice purple, though the purple I have is a bit brighter. It has some really nice cables though.
And I also finished a hat, just a simple two-color stockinette and reverse stockinette striped hat. The colors in it seem a bit strong, so I’m hoping to fade the hat a bit. I was looking around online, and apart from seeing the same advice over and over again about never using bleach on wool, it apparently dissolves it. So the only other option that I saw was hydrogen peroxide. I think my plan of action will be to make some swatches and test soaking them in diluted hydrogen peroxide for different amounts of time. Hopefully this will fade the hat evenly and to the right colors. But it might just destroy it, or do nothing, which is why I’ll do the swatches first.
I’ve been pretty good about finishing things recently, instead of just letting them sit. I hate having projects sit around, it just seems like such a waste. There’s so much I want to start right now though, even with the yarn I have in my stash, which is good because as of right now I still have no summer job. I have a feeling that I tend to randomly get inspired at the end of each semester. Probably something to do with procrastination….

Finally!!

So there have been a few finally’s recently, including the completion of my sweater, the arrival of spring, and a picture of me and Ty.

I finished my sweater late last Wednesday night, and, despite the fact that it was very warm out, I wore it on Thursday. Because I’ve been working on it in almost all of my classes, I got quite a few comments from friends, and a lot of them didn’t realize that it was the sweater I had been making until the end of class! I won’t have many chances to wear it for a while, but there’s still one more thing that I want to do to it. The waist isn’t quite as tight as I had originally hoped, so once I can get myself to a craft shop I’ll by some elastc and sew it on to fit it better.

Yesterday was in the low 80s, and Ty’s friend from high school came down for the day from Johns Hopkins. We took a bus up to the National Cathedral to see the beautiful stained glass, architecture and gardens. I’ve never been up that far, and the area around the Cathedral seems surprisingly suburban. The Cathedral was recently made in the gothic style. Unfortunately most of the inside pictures didn’t come out so well because I couldn’t use the flash. But even still, it would be hard to take a picture that could do justice to the amazing stained glass windows.

I’m not really sure what this is, but there’s just something about it that caught my eye. The architecture of the building was amazing, and reminded me so much of the cathedral from The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett. If you haven’t read it I would definitely suggest it. It combines historical fiction, romance, tragedy and architecture all in one book (and so much more). I’ve reread this book so many times, and everytime the construction of the cathedral is so fascinating, and made even more impressive by their lack of big cranes and electric tools.

The gardens were very pretty, although they had a sprinkler on some of it so we decided not to see that part . Because Ty’s friend was there, we finally ended up getting a picture of the two of us together, which, despite having been together for a while now, we hadn’t done yet.

It’s not an awesome picture or anything, but we finally have proof that we exist.

Today it’s soooo hot out, and we’ve been so social recently we decide to just stay in and enjoy the semi-working air conditioner. The only thing is that we don’t really have any food, and I don’t know what to knit now! I’ve been thinking of doing a nice summer tank top or dress or something, but that would require yarn that I do not yet have… Oh well, maybe I’ll do a hat, despite it being the wrong season.

Cherry Blossoms

This past Tuesday was absolutely beautiful, so after our last class, Ty and I decided to go for a walk around the tidal basin and look at the gorgeous blossoms. There were tons of other people, mostly tourists, from other states and beyond. It was relaxing to just take a walk and try not to worry about all the work we had to do. Unfortunately I was silly enough to change into flip-flops for the first time since summer, and with the nearly three hours of our leisurely walk I ended up with huge blisters.

After tuesday it went right back to dreary DC. But it gave me lots of indoor time to work on my sweater. I’m actually almost done, which is a relief. It’s taken waaay too long compared to how long it should have taken. I think one of my biggest hold ups is my lack of decision making. I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do after I realized that the lace would not work for the sleeves. And I couldn’t actually commit to a cowl neck until I mentioned it to someone who actually agreed that it would look nice.

I think it will actually turn out very well. And with this lack of nice weather I’ll actually be able to wear it right after I finish it! I’ve been working on it in most of my classes, and have had several people ask me what I’m making, including one of my professors. It will be nice to wear it to class and have those people see the final product (and give me lots of compliments). 

I’ve been soooo busy recently. Last week I worked on The Who’s ‘Tommy’ and this week I’ve had tons of work. Somehow I’ve managed to get myself exhausted and sick (again). Although thanks to good old Sir Alexander Fleming, and his lovely penicillin, I’m feeling much better.

It’s actually nice again today, so maybe we’ll go take another walk, not sure where though. As nice as the tourist spots are, it means dealing with silly tourists. Ty and I have been trying to get a picture of the two of us together, but have failed so far. Maybe if one of us can gather the courage to ask a tourist to take our picture as we’re doing touristy things we will actually get one. Lots of work to do, but it’s only Saturday, so it will probably be have fun today, work tomorrow, as always.

Break

So I’m almost halfway through my spring break and needing a bit more to do. Unfortunately I only brought with me two pairs of needles and I need more to do my sweater. I’ve finished the lace part of the body, but I’d like to flare the sleeves, and with the lace pattern I’m using it would be easiest with different size needles. So I’ve been trying a few smaller projects, and with the needles I brought and the yarn I have here they have been contained to scarves. I’m never quite sure what I want to do when I start, but I’ve been looking for something a bit different, and so far I’ve been unable to find it. When I get back to school I’m looking forward to continuing my sweater and using the new needles that I just ordered online

Other than that my break’s been pretty good. Lots of sleep, eating and tv watching. Unfortunately none of my friends are here. Some of them will be showing up later this week so at least I’ll have something to do. Ty’s in Prague, so the only comunication is through email I know it’s only a week, and hasn’t even been that long yet, but I miss him.

Hope your knitting endeavors are going better than mine

Weekend in bed

So allll weekend if been very, very sick, and still am. I spent the entire time in bed, doing basically nothing – except everything to do with knitting . I put up two of my patterns and knit a little of my newly started sweater. Oh! and I finished the hat earlier this week. I put a nice dark green ribbing around the bottom and now it looks perfect.

I made Ty model his scarf and hat for me as I took pictures of him. I think he looks very model-esque, and snazzy in the hat. He loves it so much he’s been damning the warm weather, and wearing it anyway.

(Here again, without color tampering…)

I also made some hobo gloves for Ty because he was telling me how cold his hands were, and how badass he’d look in them (riiiiight…). He calls me his little sweatshop. Endearing, right? Well, I’m done with knitting stuff for him for a little while, on to me!

I finally found a nice lace pattern to use with my James C. Brett Marble that I bought over christmas break. I’d been looking for a while, but couldn’t find anything that went with the yarn and the vague pattern I have in my head. I know I’m going to do the lace for the body up to the bottom of the bust to cinch it, and for the sleeves. The bust will be something solid, don’t know what yet. I’ll have to look at a few other baby-doll sweaters and see what I like. I did a nice swatch of the lace pattern, to measure how many pattern repeats I would need to go around me, and it all would have work out fine if something hadn’t gone wrong in my head. Somehow I managed to subtract an inch from my swatch measurement, completely screwing up my calculations. So now it’s fixed, and I have about eight inches of the body!

Unfortunately for my sweater I’ve been rather distracted lately. I found a pattern for a moebius scarf, and as I am very interested in the mathematical side of knitting, I just had to start it. It’s pretty intimidating at first, but once you realize that you’re knitting from the middle of it to the edges, it makes a bit more sense. The first row is super tight, because you’re knitting into the stitch below the cast on stitch, with out letting it drop off the needle, so you end up with twice the number of stitches, and your needle wraped up on itself. It’s a bit hard to knit like that, but as it get’s longer it’s easier.

 

I have about four inches in basket weave stitch and it looks pretty cool so far. I’m not sure how long it will be. I cast on 150 stitches, which is what the pattern says (and with the doubling of stitches is about as much as my needle can take). I think I’ve found my new favorite pattern!

 

I’ve decided that with all this coughing I’m doing that I will have abs of steel by the time I get well again! 

Oh! and I’m now officially a designer on Ravelry, yay! I put up the two patterns that are on here, and will (hopefully) soon be adding more. We get a week long break in a few days, and I’ll be home with little to do, so they’ll probably be up quickly.