ShihKnits » shrug

Shrug Gone Wrong

winnie — Thu, 01 Sep 2005 05:52:00 +0000

I had every intention of presenting a beautiful I DO shrug. Really, every intention. The thing is, after I finished knitting it.. like 3 weeks ago.. I had the feeling in my stomach that it is too big. I even got gauge. Heck, merino streeeetches… But, I hoped blocking would help. I procrastinated until last night.. and finally blocked the damned thing.
Yup, I even put on a strapless dress for you all to see. Sad to say, this little thingamajig will have to be ripped. Good thing the wedding reception won’t be until the end of the year. Hallelujah. All is not lost though, because the mailman dropped this off today….*snicker* I think the gods are telling me that the shrug needs to be ripped too. Why else would I receive the yarn winder today?
Update on Clapo2: I ended up ordering that ONE skein of yarn to finish it off. It will take a month for it to get here. Keep your eyes peeled… *tap tap tap*
Update: okay that was fun…. let’s not do that again for this shrug. Thank you for the yarn winder, honey!.

Everyone loves Pink

winnie — Thu, 18 Aug 2005 04:38:00 +0000

It’s been a week since I’ve posted the webpoll, and of the 82 votes so far, 35.37% of you have selected Peppermint, with 23.17% voting for Sunset. I googled knitbloggers who have used Peppermint, and their photos (albeit amazing) have confirmed my suspicion – the pink ain’t dark enough. And I quote Cartman from SouthPark: “Sheiza!”
There has been knitting this week, in some very pale pale pink merino yarn (well whaddaya know? The color resembles Peppermint so much so that it’s almost freaky). As of right now, it will be temporarily known as… The Pink Blob.. No, I jest. It’s actually I do from Knitty. And it’s not for me. There’s a little story behind this:
Friend: “Winnie!!! I’m getting married!”
Me: “Yay!! Congratulations! When is it?”
Friend: “It’s the end of the year, and I have a light pink/white strapless dress. I need a wrap to go over it. Can you knit I DO for me?”
Me: “Bitch! You know I can’t say no to that!….”
Friend: “Heh heh… I know..”
There’s a KAL for this, and although I’m not in it, I have been stalking their progress on the shrug ever since I committed myself to making this lacy thingamajig. There’s a pattern error on Round 60, and I found this link to be uber useful. I’ve got one piece down, and the other piece shouldn’t take much longer. After that, I just gotta Kitchener stitch and block like a mofo.
Feeling a little “ah..what the hell”… I purchased the Diamond Fantasy Shawl pattern and splurged on Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Green Mountain Madness. I’ve made a conscious decision to stay away from pink for this one and damn it, it’s going to look awesome. I visited A Mano Yarn in Venice and just sat on the floor with all their colorways spread out before me. It took me all of 40 minutes to decide on this one. Yea, once you decide you’re gonna throw some cash into it, you had better make sure you won’t regret it. And so, blues and greens it is.

I brain-farted

winnie — Tue, 28 Jun 2005 04:06:00 +0000

So gentle readers, I’m plugging away slowly but surely on my Phildar Stripey, and I’ve finally reached the shoulder/neck shaping instructions:

Keeping pattern correct, cast off at beg of next and every foll alt row 7 sts 4 times and 0 sts 0 times AT THE SAME TIME cast off at beg of foll every alt row 12 sts once and 11 sts once.

Okay, so the blue part of the instructions I get, but what the hell is the red part trying to tell me? My brain just about farted right there and decided that it would not decipher any French-glish. WTF? Oh for those who possess higher intelligence, please help a girl out. I’ve already knitted 185 rows at 127 sts/row..which comes out to 23495 sts total.. but who’s counting?
And for helping me decipher the above French-glish, I hereby present to you, OSW #3 in GGH Samoa in delicious light red. Yes, light red, not pink..says the closet pink-lover.

wave Hi

winnie — Wed, 22 Jun 2005 02:26:00 +0000

This is OSW#2. And as luck would have it, I ran out of freakin’ yarn again. I only had the 1″ edging to knit, so I used some velour type yarn (cheapo) and it looks nasty — as in no stitch definition. Will frog that and use a proper cotton yarn. The purplish main body is knitted up with Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, and it deserves better than the cheapo acrylic blah yarn.

Next up is my progress shot of the Phildar Stripey Top. Phildar calls it “Pull Manches Courtes”..um yea, whatever that is. It is being knit up on Sz 1 and 4 needles, and since my mom is here, knitting progress is s~l~o~w~~… this sweater will be growing very very minimally over the next few weeks. But I have one more picture to show you all, and…..

TADA!!!…. The no-sew knitted hem. Hee hee…that’s my biggest accomplishment with this sweater yet. So, I have a question for y’all. Is it just me or does Summer knitting progress slower than winter knitting? Maybe it’s just me.

Choo~Choo~..hop

winnie — Thu, 09 Jun 2005 21:00:00 +0000

So I hopped on the bandwagon for this one. The infamous One Skein Wonder by Glampyre. Like Diana and Andrea mentioned, this was a quick knit. I had two balls of Rowan Wool/Cotton lying around (123 yds/50g) and I was determined to stash-bust. I knew that with the 17 sts/4″ gauge (double-stranding) that I had, this was not going to fit me even if I were to use up every last yard of the yarn. Nevertheless, it’s instant gratification, and it will make a wonderful gift for my friend (yes Naily, that’s you. Stop giggling.)
Carolyn and Tara made bee-you-tiful Tivoli-tees.. Go check them out. I am tempted by their fabulous knits, both custom-designed by Grumperina. That gal’s relentless pursuits with The Maths amaze me.
So not much else has been going on. I finally received my cheapo knitting needles for the Phildar Stripey. Haven’t been motivated to knit much these days, this could be my first official slump. But that’s ok.. nothing wrong with taking a short break..since everything else in life is totally kicking my ass now. Adieu for now~

Creamy Hot Lava

winnie — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 06:01:00 +0000

Pattern: Hot Lava (size Small) by Jenifer Paulousky
Materials: SWA Laine Chunky yarn (less than 600 yds), US 10.5 circular needles
Techniques: Magic loop all the way baby
Notes: Yarn started thinning at the last stage, so collar region appears more transparent than the rest. Oh well. Made my sleeves 1″ longer since I have long-ass arms. Since the last ball of yarn was thinner, made 10 rows for collar instead of the 6 called for in pattern.