Regrets, I've had a few...

...but then again, too few to mention.  - Frank Sinatra

I make mistakes when I'm creating. Time-consuming, frustrating, and occasionally boneheaded mistakes. Sometimes I think that blogs like ours celebrate the finished objects and make the process seem so beautiful and seamless. But it never is. Sweaters get frogged and reknit, sewn seams get ripped back, and even designs are flawed. Trust me.

The 2 quilt block fails from last week.

I am addressing this because I hear a lot of very smart people tell me that they love my finished object, but don't think they could ever make it themselves. They think that I pick up needles and magically it's all done, without bumps in the road. And without that sort of wizardry, they have no chance of success. Of course, I quickly share with them the reality. The swearing, the disappointment, and even sometimes giving the project the silent treatment for a while.

The strips for my new block are supposed to be 6-1/2" long. Doh!

Then they ask me why I do it. Why subject myself to this self-inflicted torture? My answer is always the same. "Because I have to." If I didn't, I would go crazy. I don't have a choice. Making things keeps me balanced. And I'm guessing that if you are a regular reader of this blog, you probably know what I mean from personal experience.

Scenes from my lap yesterday afternoon:

Yea! Got a few inches knit on my Ishbel Shawl. Um...wait a minute...

10 minutes later...

So, you other makers of stuff out there, please don't think Alex and I are any different than you. Your mistakes and frustrations are ours. And, I am guessing that somewhere in New England, even Martha Stewart has balled up the gardener's apron she's been sewing and has thrown it in the corner of her tastefully appointed room. Because it's not always a good thing. The good thing is pressing on and mastering that project in the end.

–Cassandra

Curses! Foiled Again!

Mittens are my evil nemesis.

I'm sure that, to most of you, having mittens as an evil nemesis probably seems pretty lame. Kind of like having a baby kitten as an evil nemesis - how can something so fluffy and warm be evil? But they are evil. Evil and soul-sucking.

You may remember, from a previous Ooo! Shiny! post, that I knitted a dragon scarf and dragon hat for my friend's daughter. The scarf came from a pattern but the hat was created totally from scratch by me - no pattern whatsoever. I was pretty damn proud of myself for that. Now, the hat's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. It could have been longer to cover her ears better and the overall design could have been more elegant. But, it's for a five year old and it matches the scarf so, really, I'm not losing sleep over it.

For some reason, I thought it would be a good idea for her to have mittens to complete the set.With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, I realize I should have quit while I was ahead. "How hard could mittens be?", I naively asked? Pretty damn hard is the answer.

Never trust a mitten. Even a nice one.*

I went to my favorite source for free patterns - Ravelry - and started looking for the easiest instructions available. I specifically wanted to use either circular or double-pointed needles because I didn't want to have to piece the thing together. After slogging through a ga-jillion options, I settled on a pattern that looked relatively easy - and it was! I knitted up the cuff and thumb gusset (the bit where the thumb attaches to the mitten) with no problem. Then, about 1/2 way up the body of the mitten, it occurred to me that it looked kind of big. So I slipped my hand into it. And it fit.

After tearing the mitten apart, I started again - adjusting the pattern by about 1/4 in an attempt to make it smaller. So far so good. The cuff knitted up quickly. The gusset looked okay. And I managed to "guess" my way through the pattern adjustments to end up with a pretty decent looking, 5-year-old-sized mitten. Then I made the thumb.

Evil, evil, evil!!!

The thumb ended up with two giant gaps in the "v" where the thumb attaches to the body of the mitten. ARGH! The only solution I had at that point was to "sew" the gaps closed with yarn. Needless to say, it looks pretty crappy and is not worthy of being a gift.

[Note for those who knit: My mistake was as follows: I had to cast on two additional stitches to start the thumb. I did a M1 for both, which left me with big holes. Instead I should have K1FB on two stitches which would have given me two additional stitches but not left holes.]

So...yeah... I'm pretty much convinced that mittens have an nefarious plot to drive me mad and ensure that I never knit them again. I can't imagine why they wouldn't want to be brought into existence but who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of hand coverings, really?

- Alex

* For the free pattern of the basket weave mittens shown above click here.

The Comfort of the Familiar

 

This is a picture of my lap yesterday afternoon. As you can see, this is not the doll sweater I had been working on. For the health of our relationship, we are taking a break from each other. I need to rip back and do some neck hole shaping on the design and, this past weekend, I frankly didn't want to work that hard. I wanted to be spoon-fed a pattern so I could just enjoy the simple act of knitting.

Lucky for me, I have quite a queue of projects ahead of me that need to be completed before the holidays. These are the must-be-done:

1. The doll sweater, pants, and superhero cape to make for completed doll #1.

2. I ordered another kit to make doll #2, for son #2, last week. 

3. 2 little cabled sweaters for my boys.

I also have a "hope-to-be-done" list. But that is a post for another day. Let me focus on "must-be-done" item #3. The cabled sweaters. 

A few months ago I took some time and really scoured Ravelry for the perfect cabled sweater pattern for a little boy. Two patterns were on my short list - Sherwood and Master Charles (see photos.) 

Sherwood by Angela Hahn

Master Charles Sweater by Kate Oates

But in the end, the Provence Child's Cabled Pullover won my heart. 

Photo by Classic Elite Yarns

I love the all-over cable pattern and the cotton yarn. I even went so far as to order the exact yarn the pattern specified, rarely the case with me. Last year I knit wooly cabled sweater vests for my guys and they roasted every time they wore them, so I was hoping to go cotton for this holiday if possible.

My goodness, I love this pattern so far. I can't believe I found it for free. It's a very simple cable that knits up so knotty and fun. I have the back of one sweater done and about 75% of the front accomplished. I can't wait to show everyone the finished products! The pattern repeat may seem monotonous, but sometimes that's just what I need...

– Cassandra