Sweater 911

Posted on June 8, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I was sooo happy to finish my Shalom Cardigan (Stashbustin #18) that I snapped a few quick photos with my iPhone….

I was so happy and excited! It fit great and I had the perfect button for it….and then I found them! Did anyone notice the two glaring mistakes in my sweater above? Here is one of them….

I totally messed up the sweater edge/ribbing. I know exactly what I did, I was on a purl row and purled row all the way across…sigh. This happened in two obvious places. I didn’t even notice until I was ALL the way done and bound off and washed/blocked.

After much brainstorming (drinking a little wine) and consulting of the online tutorials and blogs, I have settled on a solution. I have lots of yarn left over. So I am going to cut a small length and with a tapestry needle sew over the stockinette stitch to create an artificial garter ridge. So that is my mission today is to fix these oops.

Wish me luck! I hope to have a success story to share with you later….fingers crossed!!

A Little Cuteness For Your Friday

Posted on June 7, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I don’t have a FO this Friday because I got all the way done with my Shalom Sweater and found two glaring errors I need to fix. That is for another post…..

So I’m hoping to distract you with a little cuteness….

Here are some action shots of my Snug…

Many thanks to Baby B for being a good sport about taking pictures in a sweater in June, lol!!

I’m off to work and then to work out how to fix my sweater problem, TGIF.

Happy Knitting!!

WIP Wednesday: Shalom Cardigan

Posted on June 5, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Stashbustin’ #18 update!

Here is a shot from the front…

And the back….

I’m almost done with my Shalom Cardigan! This was an extremely quick knit (once I started knitting monogamously on it). I’m at the end of the pattern (sans garter border) as it’s written. It’s still a bit short on me and I have yarn enough to keep going. So I think I am going to add at least one more increase pattern repeat if not two to get the length past my hips. Then it’s just the garter border, a good wash, block, and dry then viola! I’m done! This might even make FO Friday….fingers crossed!

What’s on your WIP list this week? Anything exciting?

Happy Knitting!

Odds and Ends Update

Posted on June 3, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I must have some very picky birds in my neighborhood….

My contribution for local bird nests is going largely ignored. The only yarn that has disappeared is the 100% wool that was at the bottom. All the cotton, acrylic, and wool/acrylic blends are untouched.

I put this under my apple tree and I think I’m going to move it to the patio. Maybe my placement is bad, or maybe I have horrible taste in yarn according to birds, lol? It has been TERRIBLY stormy here in the Midwest and it could be weather related as well. Or maybe it has already passed prime best building time for chicks and chickadees? I’m not even close to a bird expert by any means!

Only time will tell! I’ll post another update in a couple weeks. Happy Monday!

FO Friday: Snug

Posted on May 31, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Tah Dah!

Stashbustin’ #16 finally has buttons!

I was walking through Joann’s this week and these puppy buttons caught my eye. They are super cute and matched my chocolate yarn. And it made me think of that commercial on TV where the little girl talks about her puppy brother, lol. So of course I had to buy them.

I was hoping to snag some pics of this on a real baby this week but my friend’s sweet Baby B has an ear infection. So we snuggled instead of having a photo session.

I’m off to work and to get ready for my parents to visit this weekend! TGIF!!

WIP Wednesday: Its Blanket Fever

Posted on May 29, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I’ve made fairly good progress on my Billow Blanket or Stashbustin’ #15. The yarn is a DREAM to work worth. It’s silky soft cottony goodness is just so luscious under my fingers. And the thick to thin texture is displayed nicely in the stockinette stitch.

I’m on my second color stripe (of six) and realizing this is going to be ONE BIG BLANKET. I’m not going to fuss over that right now. I’m just enjoying the pattern and the yarn and will see where the knitting leads me. This has been my go-to knitting on the couch at night while I watch TV or help the husband with college algebra.

Here is even better progress on Aunt Martha’s Prayer Blanket (I need to assign this a Stashbustin’ number as I’m using Carron Simply Soft from my stash). This easy pattern is a dream to memorize and I can seamlessly move between the two blankets as it doesn’t matter what row or stitch count I’m on. This blanket is smaller yarn and needles and knitting at a finer gauge. I’m finding the neat even stitches to be very soothing. This project lives in my travel bag I take to work for lunches and breaks. The one jarring note is the color change…

This is a horrible iPhone photo I took last night. But it give you the idea. I started with a dusty pink color and transitioned to a bright pink. In skein form the colors looked much better in this order but now that they are in knit form they look very different. I simply cannot decide if it bothers me. On one hand it’s very kooky just like Aunt Martha. On the other hand it’s NOTHING like me and I’m the one stuck staring at it as I knit. I still have a light baby pink that I’m planning to finish the outside with. Maybe that will make it better?

I’m very far along and would hate to frog it. And I know sometimes my OCD gets the better of me at times like this. Decisions….decisions

Happy Knitting

A Tip on Tuesday

Posted on May 28, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I am a big fan of the latest craze of ruffle yarn. I’ve tried everything from Red heart, Starbella, Berroco, and all kinds of other brands. I found them each to have their strengths and weaknesses. But they all had one thing in common….a twist as you pulled the yarn from the center or unraveled from the outside.

After a 50 or so scarves and really cool recent test knit I can’t tell you about yet I think I’ve found a process to deal with it.

Start with center wound ball.

Unwind using center pull end while opening and flattening the yarn to take out the twist. Once flat begin to wind into a ball.

This tape style winding takes most of the twist out of the yarn and your are left with smooth ball with flat yarn.

I find that I have to “fix” or untwist the yarn A LOT less while actually knitting. It does take some extra time at the beginning but is much less tedious during the knitting process.

Hope this tidbit helps! Happy Tuesday!!

Dealing With Tragedy

Posted on May 27, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I have been thinking about writing this post for several days. By now everyone has seen the awful destruction in Moore, OK. I have a very dear 78 year old great aunt that lived smack dab in the middle of Moore.

I got the phone call last Monday while I was at the gym from my father that her house had been hit but we didn’t know where she was or how she was. I flew home and switched on the news. At that point I couldn’t even imagine how she could survive that destruction. So I started knitting. I pulled three skeins of Carron Simply Soft in shades of pink and cast on another Constant Baby Blanket. I had the pattern memorized from my Stashbustin’ #15 project.

And so I knit and worried. After five long hours we learned that her neighbors had pulled her and her yorkie from the rubble of her home. Her home was literally at ground zero and was hit by the middle of the funnel. Her home is flat and she had no less than five cars on or in her house. She was taken to a hospital and treated for lacerations and shock.

But she was going to be ok. Thanks to the amazing 15 minute warning she had time to take cover in a closet. (Fifteen minutes is amazing in tornado time for those who don’t live in the Midwest). There is absolutely no reason other than the grace of God that she is still with us.

I’m terribly afraid of tornados. I have been far to close to far too many. And I struggled to reconcile my fear, grief for the loss of life, and joy that Aunt Martha and Hallie (the yorkie) were ok. So I’m just going to keep praying and knitting. This blanket has moved to the front of my projects and I have named it Aunt Martha’s Prayer Blanket. I hope to finish it and send to her in her new home, wherever that turns out to be. She lost so many keepsakes and antiques. My relatives helped her salvage what they could and managed to save her a few truckloads of items.

Stitch by stitch I will knit all the love and prayer I can into this blanket for her. It calms my fears and hopefully will give her some comfort. She has survived so much in her life that I hope I have her strength one day.

The darkest pink is in the middle and will fade to a light pink. It may seem dark in the beginning but with love and support it will get better.

Sorry for the sappy post but I needed to write it down to help me process it. I now return you to regularly scheduled knitting posts!!!

Happy Knitting!

Breaking the Yarn Diet

Posted on May 26, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I broke my stashbusting trend a bit. I had to swing over to the Yarn Barn, my LYS, and get more Soak. And I browsed while I was there….

I have been watching other knitters post about Neon by Joji Locatelli. So I bought the pattern online and picked the lovely yarn above…

It’s 12 hanks of Berroco Pure Pima cotton in green. It’s a new yarn from Berroco. (I think I’m quickly becoming a Berroco kind of girl) It’s very spring like to me and just called my name. It’s a very soft cotton and I can’t wait to try it!

I have so many other WIPs it will have to wait a bit. For now I’m just going to mark up the directions for my size and read the pattern through a few times. It’s by far one of the most complicated sweaters I will attempt. It uses the contiguous construction method, which looks amazing.

For now it sits in cakes on my craft desk and I fondle it every time I walk by, lol! The hubs and I are off to a BBQ for lunch with friends and some relaxation!!

I hope you have an awesome Sunday!!

P.S. I did remember to buy Soak as well. That justifies my trip right?

Stashbustin’ #18: Shalom Cardigan

Posted on May 25, 2013 by atangledyarn84

When I was organizing my craft space vi found five hanks of some Berroco Vintage Chunky in purple. I made my last two sweaters, Mud Season #1 and Mud Season #2, from this yarn. I love this yarn! It’s wool blend that’s soft but yet easy care. It knits up beautifully and who doesn’t love chunky projects?

I have settled on my next stash buster: Shalom Cardigan by Meghan McFarlane!

(Photo from Meghan’s Ravelry page)

I’m terribly excited! And thanks to the tips on the pattern page I’m going to alter this a bit to fit my bust size by simply making the garter border a few stitches bigger. I’ve also been a good girl and swatches for gauge.

I had to go down to 10 1/2 US needles to get gauge on my unblocked swatch. I’m probably not going to wash or block this swatch as I didn’t get any difference in my last two Vintage Chunky swatches. And I’m out of Soak and need a trip to a yarn store, lol.

It’s a three day weekend for me thanks to Memorial Day. I’m hoping to give this sweater some attention this weekend. But I have several other WIPs and a test knit for a new pattern by a fellow blogger. I’m also excited about this test knit, it’s completely adorable!!! And the hubs and I have several projects in our new house. Not to mention I might need to make a trip to the yarn store…hehehe. I’m sure I can get it all done right?