Foiled Again

Posted on October 10, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I’m been on a HUGE sweater kick as the weather is slowly turning to fall. And I have had The Nutmeg Sweater in my Rav queue for a while. I’m pretty close to finishing my Brick sweater do I thought, what the heck and cast on! After all it’s a bulky sweater and will go crazy fast right?

Oh, the knitting hubris. Remember when I had all the trouble with my increases in the body of Brick? I’ve been foiled again!

The pattern didn’t specify what kind of increases to use in the raglan portion of the yoke. And I was in too much of a hurry to check Ravelry notes, so I just clicked along using the backwards loop cast on method. Don’t know why…just did.

After a whole evenings knitting and tv watching I looked down and what did I see but holes at the increases! Now this is black yarn and I’m very pale. Therefore with any stretch these holes will become readily apparent with my skin underneath. Sigh.

To the frog pond I went and ripped back the whole thing. On the next go round I’m going to use the make one left, make one right increases as explained by Twist Collective.

I really should learn faster. This is probably one of those “fool me once and so on” moments. Good thing it’s bulky yarn and I had some chilled wine in the fridge!

This will be Stashbustin’ #37 and I’m using Knit Picks Brava Bulky in black for those who are interested.

All Increases Are Not The Same

Posted on October 5, 2013 by atangledyarn84

I have been working my Brick sweater. And things were clicking away, until this….

I had originally opted for a straight waist with no shaping. But I have what I like to call Scandinavian hips, so I opted to throw in a few increases at the bottom of the sweater before I started the 1×1 ribbing. The pattern called for K1fb or knit one front and back. This left ugly holes in the fabric. Not sure if I was doing them incorrectly but I hated them none the less. So I frogged and inch and a half of work….

And this go round I used “lifted” right and left leaning increases. I had to google how to do those because I only vaguely remembered them from another project. These increases make a much prettier fabric and leave no holes. I am much happier with this stitch.

So being happy, I managed to move on and complete the stockinette portion and all 30 rows of 1×1 (painful) ribbing. I popped the sweater on and discovered two things:

1. I didn’t take into account that the beginning of the round was NOT at the side of the sweater. And therefore my increases were in front and back of the sweater instead of along the sides

2. The increases weren’t even necessary, the sweater will fit without them!!!!

So after a glass (or three) of wine, I frogged six inches of sweater. And I am going to re-knit. I want a sweater to be proud of and doesn’t have mistakes I can stare at. It’s just going to take some deep breathing….

Balaclava Frustration

Posted on September 9, 2013 by atangledyarn84

This project is beginning to vex me…..

I have completed the neck ribbing and both sides of my balaclava. This is Stashbustin’ #26 for those of you keeping score. But to get this point I have to frog a fair share of my work TWICE!!

The side panels are worked one at a time and therefore it’s hard to line up the garter ridges when you do them separately. Had to frog the first attempt at the second side panel. But I did manage to get it right on the second try.

I’m now on the section that creates the brim of that. I attempted to do this late at night in poor lighting. It was a recipe for disaster…. I literally connected the brim at the back of the hat instead of the front. So I wasted 2 hours of my life. I have now frogged that hot mess.

This project is currently sitting in my project bag waiting for me to return. It’s not the pattern’s fault..I just made silly mistakes and didn’t pay attention to the directions. Every knitter has these kinds of projects from time to time right? I know I can conquer this WIP, it just needs to sit in timeout for awhile.

I still have a few weeks before winter right?

WIP Wednesday: Stashbustin’ #22

Posted on July 24, 2013 by atangledyarn84

Here is the progress on my Florelei shawl or Stashbustin’#22…..

Doesn’t look much different from last time you say? Oh well that’s because I HATE CHART B!! I am however Queen of Chart A! I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. I know how to do all the stitches in Chart B, they are actually easy. But no matter how careful I am I seed to end up with stitch markers in the wrong places or the wrong number of total stitches at the end of the row after a couple of rows. The yarn overs seem to be giving me the hardest time.

What am I doing wrong? Lace can’t be this hard!!!

I love the photos of other people’s finished projects and the Cascade Sunseeker yarn is beyond yummy and gorgeous. Not to mention the yarn stands up well to frogging. I am not giving up on this project. I’m going to cull the collective wisdom of the blog world. Then I’m going to have a glass of wine (or twelve). Then this project is going to hibernate for a couple of weeks (I go into tech week for my play next week and won’t have time to knit anyway). Then…then I say I shall attack renewed!!

Any advice for a lace newbie?

Lessons In Patience

Posted on November 4, 2012 by atangledyarn84

It doesn’t matter how long you have been knitting or how great or lousy you are at it, knitting will always remind you to be patient. I was watching Castle on DVD and not paying enough attention to my work.

I had some wonderful Berroco Vintage DK leftover from my sweater so I decided to knit a quick hat and I chose the Lacy Cap by Carissa Knits.

Everything was going along swimmingly and I was all the way to the crown decreases when I realized I had been reading the pattern incorrectly! Sigh…..

See the obvious line in the middle and WAAAY to many decrease rows because I wasn’t doing it right. So a frogging I went! Here are the results:

I lost several hours of work but I didn’t have to go all the way back to the beginning at least. I was mad at myself for awhile, but then I realized it was just another lesson in patience. I could choose to be mad or choose to make a beautiful hat.

I choose the hat!

Happy Knitting!!!

Knitting Disaster

Posted on September 18, 2012 by atangledyarn84

I am always knitting something and to be brutally honest I am usually knitting many projects at once. Lately I have been churning and burning items for my booths at a fall and winter craft sales coming in November and December. It’s been daunting lately and I felt a strong pull to make something special, just for myself.
I made a quick swing through the yarn store and picked up some luxurious (and expensive) yarn. I studied patterns and picked a super sweet shrug design that would be perfect for fall. And with that I was off to the races!
I had just grafted my second hank of yarn on the first and had about 10 inches complete……then disaster struck! I had purchased Denise Interchangeables early this year and I had used the crap of the larger needles. This was my first project with the US 5 size. I went to push the work down off the needle onto the cord so i could turn to start the next row and SNAP! The needle broke right above where it attached to the cord!

I gasp do loudly that my husband came to see what was wrong from the room. I had dropped about 25 sts across and 2 rows down. This was 15 minutes before I had to walk out the door for a performance at the local theatre. I wanted to cry and scream at the same time! I knew I didn’t have any other 5s on hand do I grabbed a set of US 6s and carefully picked up the loose stitches so I didn’t lose any more work and then ran out the door.

The next day I swung by Joann’s and picked up some Boye’s metal US 6 29 inch circs. I very carefully frogged my piece back off the broken 5s and temporary 6s onto the new 5s. Took me over an hour, but by golly I got it fixed. A quick count told me I still had all 216 sts! I am now halfway done 🙂

I know knitting disasters happen to knitters of all levels and I am better for it. I didn’t panic and frog the whole thing and I’m calling that a win! This will be a sweater to remember!

I am also contacting Denise about a replacement needle. I know the needles are low end plastic…but they structurally failed on the first project! All the larger sizes have performed beautifully and I had been very happy with my set. Time will tell…

Happy Knitting to all!

My Tangled Yarn Knitting Adventures

Ramblings from an obsessed knitter

Tag Archives: frogging