Learning Opportunity

Progress on 'The Accidental' sweater is stalled.  I was happily knitting away at this last night and even had a chance to try it on!  Good new is that it is going to fit, bad news is that I messed up on the pattern,  I skipped a whole section of the lace portion of the pattern. 

After thinking for a few minutes. 

I knew I had three options:

1. Leave it alone, as the mistake actually happens on the whole body of the sweater and repeat the same 'mistake' on the sleeves.

2. Rip back all that nights knitting.

3. Carefully drop the stitches in the cable/lace section and re-knit the stitches in the correct pattern.

I knew that if I didn't fix the mistake I would not be happy with it and ripping back a whole evenings work without at least attempting the 3rd option seemed like a learning opportunity missed!

The pictures are not very clear, but you can see here how I had cabled a section that should actually have been more of the lace.

 I knit to each section and literally dropped the 13 stitches involved in the pattern back to the rows I had missed.  Using a double pointed needles just one size smaller than the rest of the knitting made re-knitting the stitches easier,  blocking will easily take care of any wonky stitches.

Here are the stitches re-knit in pattern.

They are not mistakes, they are learning opportunities.  I just wish I didn't have so many of them!

Progress?

The Accidental sweater is progressing well! I have just put the sleeves onto extra circular needles and started working on the body!  I am pleased with everything about this project!  

 However the other projects are not?
 The Lace wrap, only inches done!

 The Ribbed Beanie needs a lot of attention,

The there is the new skill I am learning?

It is my goal to finish the sweater in time to wear in for Valentine's Day, only because it is a lovely bright red!
The other projects will just have to be patient and wait!  

This is a Knitt'n Night week, Wednesday: 6 pm - 8 pm!

See you Soon.

An Accidental Sweater?

 It all started on Wednesday when I was closing for the day.  I shut down the computer when it told me not to turn it off because it was downloading 7 important updates.  (I like to turn off everything electrical in the shop overnight, except the front lights, the fridge and security system)  So I waited and waited.

Well, leaving me alone in the shop for any length of time is not a good thing.  I couldn't do anything on the computer, (obviously) I could continue to count stock, but I would just start something and then the downloads would finish, I certainly wasn't going to mop the floor.  I decided to take the Christmas trees out of the windows and re-arranged the display a bit. and still the computer was 'working'.   So I waited some more!

Then I remembered the book 'November Knits' and the lovely sweater pattern I had admired.  Then I remembered that extra bundle of Manos yarn I had ordered in hopes of making a sample for the shop.  (A sample that fit me!)  Would it work? I knew it would as I had done a test swatch with a bit of the same yarn at home earlier.  I just had to find the bundle. If the downloads hadn't made it near the end I was going to look.  I found the bundle in the bottom of the box.  I was tempted to wind a couple of skeins as the computer was still churning away.

The whole process took 40 minutes.  I was late for supper!

The pattern is lovely, top down with enough details to be interesting and easy to pickup and work on when I have a few minutes.  The yarn is lovely.  Manos del Uruguay is one of the few yarns that are truly 'fair trade'.

It is my goal this year to be more mindful about where my money ultimately ends up,  purchasing more Fair Trade items, more local products, maybe not all the time but even just one item a week.  It will make a difference in someones life.  

Also this year, more fresh flowers in the house!  These tulips were a gift and I am enjoying the colour and the smell of spring.

See you Soon.
It's a Knitt'n Night week, Wednesday January 16th.

Mom, can you knit me a hat?

Early in December 'The Girl' calls home to tell me about her week and in that conversation she describes a hat.
 " Well, there's a little girl in the backseat of a car in a commercial and she is wearing a yellow hat.  I want a hat just like that!"

The internet can be a wonderful source of information. I 'google" the name of the car and the company and find the scene with the yellow hat!  It's bright yellow, mustard really and it looks like an adult hat plopped onto a child's head so it's huge!

I think for a bit, and decide I could replicate the hat but I know what will happen if I make it in a mustard colour.  'The Girl' will put it on, and with her pale skin and blonde hair it will look terrible.  I phone and ask if she is sure about the Yellow.

  "Well you could make it another colour, I just really like the big pom pom and it has to have a wide brim and be really slouchy!"

I finished it, but left the weaving in the ends until I was sure it was okay, she put it on Christmas day and wore it pretty much everyday.

The Yarn is Mission Falls 1824, it took 3 balls and well the pattern is my own design!  (Don't ask me how I did it, I don't really remember all the details!)

(When she came into the shop not only was she wearing the hat, but a sweater I made for her before I opened the shop and her 'Nana' mitts! She was a walking model of knitted garments!)

I am slowly working my way through some UFO's and trying to decide my next big project! 

Happy New Year!

How I spent my Winter Holiday!

Thank-you for letting me take a few days off!  The shop was closed for 8 days!

During those days we had 3 Christmas Dinners, spent 2 nights away from home and moved 'The Boy" from one house to another 1 hour away!

We enjoy having both 'The Girl" and 'The Boy" home for a few days, they even were home at the same time!

At one point it looked like they were not going to be together on Christmas morning.  The one at home said:  "Who will I have to compare my stocking with?"  But it all came together and it was lovely!

Turkey soup anyone!