ZOMG Warm Mittens

These new mittens of mine are my new favourite thing ever. It's been minus a billion degrees around here this week with icy arctic winds. These mittens were a necessary addition to the wardrobe. I really wanted to try out thrumming as a way to keep these mittens extra toasty. I really loved doing it - it's like a whole new kind of colourwork. I particularly enjoy that these aren't just the standard lice pattern like all the other thrummed mittens I've seen - they have personality! And zigzags.

Jura

A new finished object to show off. I finally got around to fixing the little issue I was having with the collar. A one hour fix gave me a new sweater! And progress is being made on the pattern - should be up by the end of the week. I can't stop wearing this, it's soo cuddly.

Unfortunately, not all my one hour fixes were so successful. I tried to fix an issue on Alex's Christmas sweater - the sleeve cap was a little pointy and making him look a little like Dr Seuss cast a football player in his next book. So I though that I would sew the sleeve in differently. But then, as I tried to undo my stitching this happened:

 

It's a little tricky to see because of the colour but I've ripped out the knitting to the chest, instead of just the seam. Ack!

Over all that raglan business

I am definitely over my desire to knit a top down raglan. Class me solidly in the raglan-haters category. It's not that I can't follow direction as far as knitting them goes, nor am I incapable of modifying them, as I have found over the course of the weekend. It's that I get about ten or twenty rows in, realise that I hate the fit and immediately rip it all out again.

I'm pretty sure that I am in the minority as far as my dislike of top-down raglan sweaters goes - many of the top hits on Ravelry for sweaters are raglans, many are top down. And, like I said, I do like them in theory. But I learned to sew long before I learned to knit and I am more familiar with the kinds of garment construction that appear in sewing rather than knitting.

Raglan construction doesn't often appear in sewn garments for adults. It's generally relegated to pyjamas and sweatshirts. It also occasionally pops up in sportswear. There are reasons for this. Raglan construction doesn't fit as close to the body as a set in sleeve, particularly when working with woven rather than knit fabrics. The fit of a raglan can't be altered in the way, or with the ease that a set in sleeve can be. In short, set in sleeves are the way to go when sewing.

After my dismal attempt to get anywhere on a top down raglan, I decided that perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to tackle the mountain of projects I already have on the go. I looked through the naughty box and found a few abandoned gems.

Apparently, a while back I decided to make a little tailcoat-esque sweater. From the bottom up in garter stitch with set in sleeves. Apparently, a while back I was a GENIUS. I picked this thing back up and I was off to the races. The recognisable shapes, the logical shaping, the tailored look and the soothing, soothing garter stitch were like a balm to my raglan traumatised mind. I'm considering submitting the pattern somewhere so I'm keeping this picture free, but imagine the level of awesome. Sounds great doesn't it?

Predictably I'm not just knitting the little jacket. I've got a simple cabled pullover on the go. It's not too exciting in terms of pattern but it's going to be cute with a little bit of a retro feel. I'm happy about it.

And for your viewing pleesure:
Couch seeks home. Barely mouse infested. Housebroken.

The Definition of Insanity

I have this thing about top down raglan sweaters. I want them to be something that I can do. They have so much going for them - you can try them on as you go and adjust fit and then just wear them once you've finished them without too much post-knitting work. In theory they are great. But it's a miracle when it actually works out.

Other knitters swear by them I know. But I cannot make them work. I think it's because I'm so tempted by the idea that I can fit as I go that I don't devote enough time to measuring my gauge swatch carefully so inevitably a couple of rows in (or 20 or 30) I find that I am totally messed up. Ack.

Which is exactly what happened to me yesterday. And given my penchant for thinner yarns, I was about 40 rows in before I discovered that it was both too narrow and too long for where it ought to be. I was so frustrated that the piece took an immediate dip in the frog pond.

Sigh, I guess it's back to set in sleeves for me.

Holidays are Over

The holidays are now over. The Christmas sweater for the mister was completed in plenty of time to give for Christmas, but I had a little bit of a sewing up incident on one of the shoulders - makes him look a little lopsided! So I've got to fix that up before doing a photo shoot.

Santa was very kind to me this year and I got exactly what I wished for.

Yes, those are dyes. I've really been wanting to try my hand at dyeing yarn for some time now. I'd love to be able to be able to sell some one day but first I think that I had better get some practice in. I've done some dyeing before with Easter egg dyes and I thought the resulting yarn was gorgeous but this is a bit of a step up in terms of equipment. I had wanted to try it out today but I woke up to this:

It's very pretty and I love snow but in order to mix the dyes properly to work with, I need to be in a well ventilated but not windy place. So the on again/off again snow squall weather we've been having this morning hasn't exactly been ideal. I'm hoping that the weather will improve this afternoon. At least enough to allow me half an hour of non-windy mix time.

Lies!

Remember yesterday when I said that I was finding all the stockinette I was knitting soothing... lies! I am sick of it and the horse it rode in on. Yes, I am making progress but the progress is so dull I couldn't even take a picture of it. Since it has a deadline, my motivation cannot be allowed to flag. But I am finding little things to do that are not working on this. But hey, I think that writing up the pattern counts as working on it. Right? Right?

It's grey and horrible outside so there's not even the prospect of a long walk as distraction. Better buckle down.

But first, some lunch:

Yummy nut bread from the bakery, red pesto, tomato and mozzarella. Nom nom.

Back to the Grind

Somehow in the fuzzy after holiday glow (honey and I recently came back from a little trip to Morocco), I got caught up in doing all sorts of other things and neglected the blog. Mostly those things have been errands that needed doing or other little things I've been putting off but there has also been some frantic knitting. After coming back from the little holiday I realised that there were only ten days left before we leave for Germany for Christmas. So that Christmas sweater that I started for Alex a while back and then promptly neglected thinking that I had plenty of time to finish it... yeah, um, not so much.

So, last week, I returned to the sweater. Somehow, I had deluded myself into believing that I had made great progress and it would only take a day or two to finish it. I was completely wrong. I had finished the cabled band to go around the chest and part of the first sleeve. I was in trouble. There was so much to do. There still is but I think I'm out of the woods now, if I didn't just jinx the whole thing. I am very happy that I had at least had the good sense to choose a wool that was thicker than the stuff I usually work with. Cascade 220 is definitely a favourite of mine. It's a great workhorse yarn and I really like how it feel. I also had the good sense to design something that was mostly stockinette in the round. Now, I know what you are thinking, stockinette is dull and anathema to knitterly motivation but I am already motivated. I have a fire lit under my bottom - only 9 days to the 24th. So in this case stockinette in the round is great because it is so quick to work so I'm actually getting somewhere with this project.

Now I have the first sleeve done and more than half of the second as well as most of the body to the armpits. I have two more inches before I start the ribbing so I'm doing well.

I had a brief moment of panic when I thought that I wouldn't have enough yarn (see my still unresolved brown sweater dilemma). But that passed when the skein I was using to work the body just kept on trekking well past the point I needed it to for the sake of my sanity. This increased my opinion of Cascade 220 considerably. Although it does refuse to be photographed accurately. It's not really day-glo purple. It's more of a plum.

Since this is my only Christmas knitting, I have great hopes that it will be finished. I'm even enjoying the stockinette. It's very soothing.

And now, here are some gratuitous holiday pictures.

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