Plodding along

I'm at one of those stages where there's nothing new to post about. I'm still working on the "secret" project, but it's getting close to being done. Can't wait to post pictures in a few weeks (when it's safe)!

I started working on an amigurumi elephant last night. I needed a change of pace. This'll be quick and cute. I'll try to post a picture of my progress soon.

I'm eager to challenge myself. I want to try socks. Very scary prospect.

Felting attempt

I tried to felt the coffee sleeve, and maybe I just didn't do it long enough, but it didn't felt very well. Or, at least, it didn't shrink. It is nice and fuzzy, though! I used it for my water bottle today, and it worked well. I may put some puffy paint or something on the inside to keep it from sliding, though. The one thing I learned from this is that while Noro Kureyon is pretty scratchy when worked up, it has a really nice feel after being washed! I couldn't stop petting the sleeve today!

I'm looking forward to knitting at lunch tomorrow with my friend! I'm about halfway done with a project that I would like to finish within the next couple of weeks.

Coffee Mitt

Well, I finished the coffee mitt, but I'm not terribly pleased. Not bad for a first attempt, though.

Here it is on the needles just before binding off:



And here it is immediately after binding off:



And here is the finished project:



What did I learn? I shoulda done a gauge swatch, as this is too big for a standard coffee cup. It works for my 32 oz water bottle, though, which sweats terribly, so at least it's not a complete waste.

Also, my seam is terrible, but I didn't care too much. Need to work on that in the future.

I'm still working on my scarf and hope to have it finished within a couple of weeks, if not sooner. Depends on how much time I get to work on it this week. I can't wait to buy more Malabrigo to knit with. I think, however, that I will get solid colors in the future, as I'm not terribly fond of the variegated that I have (Peach Tree), even though I like the individual colors that are integrated.

Cast on

I cast on the One Row Handspun Scarf yesterday with my malabrigo worsted. I think maybe this yarn has finally found its project. I tried this scarf when I first got my Options in February, but just couldn't make it work and ended up in tears. Amazing what patience and a few months can do. I'm fairy certain I was using 5mm needles, which was what was recommended on the Yarn Harlot's page, but I for some reason chose 11mm needles last night. I think I must have seen these used in someone's Ravelry projects and thought I had gotten my needles mixed up. Huh. Now I don't know why I chose those and really hope I have enough of this yarn to finish the project without it being too short... I really like the loose gauge with the bigger needles, and the stitch couldn't be easier, now that I've gotten the hang of it. I can't post pictures yet, though, because this will be a gift (assuming I don't run out of yarn). I wonder how different two different dye lots of Malabrigo Worsted in Peach Tree would be...

Weekday knitting

I meet regularly with a few people from Ravelry during the week to stitch over lunch. Virginia and I meet when we can, and Rachel, Elizabeth, and I meet every Wednesday. This week I've gotten to do both, which is nice.

Today I learned to increase. But I also now have 53 stitches on the needle instead of the 52 I should have, and I don't know what went wrong or how to fix it. In this particular situation, I don't think it's going to be the end of the world, but it is rather annoying. I suspect it happened on my increase row, but I don't really want to tink the whole row I've done since then. It's just a coffee mitt and the mistake won't really show. I hope.

Sunday wrap-up

I made decent progress on the coffee sleeve today. I, ahem, knit through church off and on and then again later in the day and am 11 rows into the project. I don't remember how many rows the project it, but I'm thinking I'm probably about 1/4 done.

This evening I switched gears and started working on a crochet block for a CAL I'm doing on Ravelry. I've done 8 of 11 rounds on it. This is the first of 3 of this particular block I'll do.

All in all it's been a pretty good stitchin' weekend.

Progress

I thought I'd post proof that I actually can knit. Here's the progress I made on the coffee sleeve while at my daughter's band competition this afternoon.

Ribbit freakin ribbit

Frogged again. I could easily have fixed this if it weren't for that darn K1Sl1 at the beginning. Whenever I tink I just can't see where I'm supposed to place the needle in those stitches. I think I'm going to just slip at the beginning of the row instead of doing the whole K1Sl1 thing.

And what's a blog without pictures?

Feast your eyes upon the mess that is my frogged yarn. The first is Malabrigo Peach Tree. The second is Noro Kureyon (don't remember the colorway).

Sigh

I screwed up and can't figure out how to fix my mistake. This is why knitting frustrates me. I fix it if it were a normal stitch but there is a double knit border and I can't figure out how to insert a needle through those stitches so that I can just rip back to that point. I refuse to frog this damn thing again!

Comin' along

My knitting is steadily improving! I finally figured out what I was doing wrong on the project I'm working on and now have 12 rows completed. I had a friend tink out some of it for me at lunch yesterday, only to screw it up worse later on. So yes. I had to frog it again. It was a good thing, though, since that final restart got me going in the right direction - finally! I'm now at a long stretch of stockinette, so I don't foresee any problems. I want to post pictures so bad, but it's a gift, so it will have to wait until it's completed and been gifted!

I keep starting a coffee sleeve that I keep thinking is going right. Then I'll look at it and realize I was off. I'll post pictures of that one to show my progress. I'll try to do that tonight.

This whole knitting thing is seriously eating into my reading time.