Friday, September 30, 2005

taking a break from the LSAT to do some ribby

here's my first few inches of ribby on a rather appropriate backdrop (i blame that test for my lack of progress!)


at this rate, i'll zip right through it after i'm done filling in bubbles for (hopefully) the last time ever!

Thursday, September 29, 2005

Taking a little off the bottom....

I'm pretty positive this is possible in theory but I need a little more info before I attempt it in practice.

My second ribby, though my favorite of my two ribbys, is about 1.5 inches too long. I wouldn't care except that it bunches up or kind of rolls under at the bottom edge and looks really, really bad. I wish I had a picture but I'm sure you can all imagine this little sweater roll around my hips... not a good place for a sweater roll.

So how hard would it be to find the ends (beginnings??), pull out the stitches upwards to the length I want and then bind it off again? It wasn't knit in the round and I know this makes it more complicated but man, if I can do this, I think this will jump the ranks to being my favorite sweater ever.

Thanks for your knowledge!

Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Zipper 101

I'm no wear NEAR needing this but thought I'd share. I just found this tutorial on putting a zipper in a sweater. zipper 101 I searched this blog but if this was posted before, I apologize. Take care all!

I'm moving right along on my ribby and still hoping like crazy it's going to fit. Here are a few pictures of what I had so far on Monday (very very unblocked, I might add). I'm a little bit further on the sleeve now and almost ready to start decreasing. Yesterday I was just too busy to work on it much.

I'm thinking for the second one (for my daughter) I'm going to try and do the body in one piece and the sleeves in the round. I thought about doing that with this one but since it's my first sweater, I really thought I'd better follow the directions as they are written and then I'll have my feet wet enough to maybe try and modify it some. Hers will also be the smallest size instead of the largest size so I imagine it will knit up much quicker than mine.

I'm really liking the way the colors are working up. I'm using knitpicks.com Carrot and Coal. I'm even thinking of going up to the sporting goods shop in town that does all the school uniforms and embroidery if they have a patch with our school logo or if they could make one. Would be really cool to add that to my daughter's.

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Thanks! and progress notes

Well, I bit the bullet and started my Ribby. Liesel, thanks for the suggestion! I did the long-tail cast on and the purl row before starting the ribbing and it turned out beautifully. Josephine, thanks for the link to the videos! That will come in so handy! And Kim, how awesome is the magic loop method!? I splurged on a set of interchangeable needles so I think I can manage that just fine. (Finally, I'm free of dpns!)

I finished the three inches of ribbing, and started my flat panels. But my gauge swatch lied to me! Instead of what it told me, just barely under 4" for 19 stitches, I'm getting the whole thing laid flat and somewhat stretched out at 30"! Oh no! So in the privacy of my own apartment, I pulled the thing around my chest and, thankfully, it still will work. It'll be a snug fit, but at least I don't have to frog the whole thing. And the flat panels seem to be making it a bit bigger, so there's hope. Next time I'll either buy thicker yarn (even though I'm loving the wool/acrylic blend), or go up a size or two.

Sunday, September 25, 2005

Anti Spam Settings

Howdie : )

I just wanted to post and make sure that everyone knows that I set our comments to "word varification".. I've been having to delete quite a few spam comments lately and I thought we might try this to see if it cuts down on them.

It'll take a little more time to leave a comment.. but I think it's worth it in the end : )

Zipper Length?

We'll, I'm in the process of seaming the pieces together. I guess it's time to take the next step and.....(gulp!) order the zipper. I'm making the smallest size so the fronts are 19.5 in. in length. Should I order a custom length or go for a standard 18 in? Also, what works best: the 2-way zipper or the closed zipper? Should the closed zipper be "customized" to fit the length of the garment?

(Sigh!) So many questions for a Sunday morning....

Thanks.

-Josephine-

Thursday, September 22, 2005

Starting my Ribby

Hi everyone, I'm so excited to start my ribby! I bought some yarn a while ago that I want to use for it-- it's Plymouth Encore Colorspun DK in Butterscotch Tweed. (I want to get some plain brown for the sleeves, but I can start on the body while I wait.) I get a tiny bit smaller than gauge using #6 needles, but I'm smaller than the small size anyway, so I think it'll be ok.

My first question is about casting on. I'm a relatively new knitter (with one super-easy chunky-yarn knit-in-the-round sweater under my belt) but the only cast-on I'm comfortable with is the double/long-tail one, which doesn't seem conducive to ribbing. My single/e-wrap cast on has never yet been even. What do you think is the best way to cast on for the ribby? (Should I try the "cable cast-on" pictured here: http://www.wonderful-things.com/newknit1.htm ?)

I'm also planning to do the fronts and back in one piece, because I hate seaming and I worry that my pieces won't be even, and I'm trying to decide whether I want to mess with dpns to do the sleeves in the round.

Friday, September 16, 2005

I Have Yarn Picked Out

Hi All,

I was glad to see there are a few people who've just started. Even though I signed up awhile ago and have the yarn (Plymouth Galway in Lavendar) I haven't started yet. A few things have been on my "knitting" plate, but I can't wait to get to this. Hopefully before this knit a long is done ;-). Take care all, I love hearing about the progress, it inspires me to get to a place where I can work on mine!

It's finally done!!



Well, still needs a zipper, but still. So I've left this poor thing sitting in my knitting bag or on my couch at home, almost done save for a quarter of a front panel, languishing on a stitch holder since mid-July. Finally, the day before Labor Day, it was time. I grabbed the piece, grabbed the needles, frogged as necessary, remembered how to interpet my pattern notes, and finished that damn panel. I sewed, even though I didn't think I'd be able to put on the sleeves without trauma, assistance, and holy mother of GOD, I had my first sweater. I picked up the stitches for the collar and brought the darn thing to my Russian culture class to work on before the class started and mostly for attention. I skipped throughout the halls smiling and telling people "I have a sweater!" Many compliments and squealing and people being proud of me has ensued. More importantly, I'm proud of myself and knitted a garment I actually want to wear (see: halter top of doom and indecency in my blog). Life is awesome.

Click to enlarge.

Wednesday, September 14, 2005

Ok, maybe this is a stupid question, but... For some reason the top of my sleeves came out considerably longer than the armholes [see how they are in the picture] and I'm wondering if this happened to anyone else?

What ever mistake I made I made it consistantly since it's like that for both sleeves. I've already blocked the pieces so I really don't want to rip it out. I may just try to make it fit when I attach the arms. Did anyone else have this problem?

That being said, I love this pattern and I can't wait to finish this Ribbi off so I can start a new one in Cotton Fleece! A two color one I think...

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

Can't wait!

Hello there. I just bought the pattern a couple days ago and ordered the yarn for two Ribby Cardi's yesterday and hoping they get here soon. My daughter is a jr. high cheerleader and wanted one in school colors...black and orange! So I figured I would make myself one just the same to wear to football games since I also have two football players. Hopefully I will get it done in time for Halloween as well.

I do have a question to anyone who has made the largest size...could I ask you ladies who have made the largest size what size you normally wear for a top? I'm a big girl and I really hope that this will be a big enough size for me because I am not an experienced enough knitter to tweak the size myself.

Thanks a bunch!

Saturday, September 03, 2005

Finishing the Left Front

Well, I've finally gotten back to my Ribby after a brief hiatus and am in the process of finishing up the Left Front. I am running into a little bit of difficulty so I'm hoping that all of you experienced Ribby Cardi knitters can offer some advice.

Okay, so I've just completed the 18 decreases and am ready to start the neck shaping. I am working my way to the end of the RS row. Is it correct to assume that I bind off the 5 stitches at the beginning of the WS row?

Since I'm working the pattern for the smallest sized Ribby it looks like there will be a total of 24 decreases for the armhole shaping, decreasing 1 stitch at neck edge every RS row. Do I follow the K2, SSK, work stitches as they appear pattern to the last two stitches and then K2tog for the decrease at the neck edge, or do something else altogether? Also, how do I proceed with the shaping on both sides when I'm down to only a handful of stitches?

Thanks in advance!

-Josephine-