Attention Defici—oh look! Another project to work on! «

Okay, so I don’t have any form of ADD that I know of, but that’s how I’m feeling right now. I keep starting new projects and putting them down to start other new projects. It’s insane!

January’s MagKnits was promptly put up on January first, so I had to start Orno Abaci. It’s a cushy scarf knit in rib, on the bias, using a fibonacci sequence. Then I decided that I’d start a sweater because I found the four balls of cream wool I’d reclaimed from that sweater I talked about awhile ago. I’m not entirely sure I’ll have enough, but we’ll see. I’ve started and stopped a few crocheted shawls because I really want a new shawl, but I’m floundering. My friend Hammie showed me a blanket she crocheted for a friends new baby and it made my hook hand get all twitchy. I kind of miss crocheting and I need to do it more. I found an absolutely gorgeous pattern for an afghan that looks like a quilt and Hammie and I have decided to work on it together when I can afford to pick up new yarn. It’s called Prairie Star and I love it!

So, no finished projects (not even little ones!) and I don’t forsee any for a little while. It’s a little sad lol! I need to gather my thoughts and my patterns and get organized. I’m not doing so well on that at the moment.

elephantlady777 Says:

January 4, 2008 at 3:59 pm

The title of this post had me rolling!

I am diligently working on the sweater. I paniced a little last night. I did the “right side front” fairly easily, but then when it came to “left side front”, all it said was to reverse the pattern from the other side. OMG!!! I seriously had a meltdown. But after 30 minutes of staring at the book, I ventured on, and it came out okay. Then I had to do the back and it said “shape the armholes” to match fronts. Not sure how “shapely” they are, but I’m almost done with the back, and then it’s on to the sleeves. It’s a good thing I didn’t read through the whole pattern before I started. I never would have attempted it. And here I was thinking it would be as “easy” as they said. HA!

Okay, deep breath. Rant over. Have a wonderful weekend, my friend. Hopefully by monday I will be posting pictures of the finished product.

What does “block the pieces” mean?

Christine Says:

January 4, 2008 at 7:19 pm

Wow Jenn, you’re inspiring me left and right! I’m hoping to get a large chunk of my sweater done this weekend, but only time will tell lol.

Blocking a knit or crocheted item is simply washing the pieces and pinning them out in the dimensions that you want the sweater to be. Wool has memory which means that once you’ve blocked your pieces they’ll generally stay put in the shape you blocked them until the next time they’re washed.

You’re using acrylic for the sweater you’re working on, right? Technically, you can’t really block acrylic because it has no memory but you can still wash it and pin it out to dry. It will help even your stitches out and make sewing them together easier. If you’re going to sew your pieces together first then you’ll just do the washing and laying flat to dry after the fact. Have you learned what mattress stitch is yet? If not, I highly recommend getting over to knittinghelp.com (http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips Most of the way down the page, under Finishing) and watching the video! It’s the nicest way to sew up sleeves and sides and you should also check out the tutorial I posted awhile back for sewing the sleeves on. It’s here: http://www.chicknits.com/rambles/archives/2005_05_04.html

Hope that helps!

January 5, 2008 at 7:41 am

You rock, my friend! I will definitely be checking those video’s when the time comes.
What would I do without you?

January 5, 2008 at 1:44 pm

Awww