Winging It (Seriously, No Planning)

 I have now completed a whole left front panel. Yay! Do the happy dance!

Check out this awesomeness!

Mine is a bit more angular than the storebought one but I'm not trying to recreate it perfectly or I would go mad

 Now this may not seem like that big of an accomplishment but I had the most anxiety about the decreases around the sleeves so now that it's done I'm not freaking out as much. Also, because the pattern is entirely reversible I can just make the second panel exactly like the first without worrying about trying to flip it to a mirror image. I think picking up the stitches for the sleeves is probably gonna be the worst part but I'm working on not flipping the fragle rock out about it before I even get there so...

Size 3 needles are probably too small for such projects, and I was having some wrist issues so I was trying to avoid marathon knitting but I have spent over 4 hours in various DMVs in the last week (with more time to come on Monday) and it's been prime knitting time. Sidenote: People looked at me really weirdly for pulling out of my normal-sized handbag: a plethora of pens/markers to doodle with, my sweater project plus a sock knitting project, and a rather thick Percy Jackson book but I'm not dead bored like they are so the joke's on them. Maybe part of the problem was that I stripped my sweater off at the DMV and put it out flat on the floor to measure my knitting against. Is that normal behavior? I'm thinking no, but what would I know about that?

Aside from the panels, the sleeves and of course the back, I have to pick up and knit an edging around the front, neckline and hem. I'm thinking for that I'll do an i-cord, because you add the stitches as you go rather than picking then all up at once, but again, I'll figure it out when I get there.


I've worked exactly one cable crossing on those red socks since I last talked about them so there is progress being made. It's just at a glacial pace. For posterity, here's a picture with my hand modeling because it's easier to photograph:

 Sorry about the weird lighting on all of the photographs. One day I'll get myself a nice camera, but for now you get truly craptastic cell phone photos.

Whatever, Whatever, I Do What I Want

So just disregard everything I said about what I'm working on. I'm just gonna shove everything aside to do this next project, which is an attempt to recreate a storebought O'Neill cardigan (what is O'Neill, is that a brand or a company or what?) I got this particular sweater at Plato's Closet and I have fallen in love with it. I only have 2 problems with it. One, it's a light purple that matches almost nothing I own, and two, it stretches after a few hours of wear, especially the sleeves. I don't think my recreation will really solve either of those problems because I'm using light green yarn that probably doesn't match anything I own, and because it's acrylic yarn, so it will probably stretch too. Mostly, I was looking for a sweater project and I really liked this design. 

Pictures:

The original and my just started left front

A close up of the stitches. My gauge is tighter cause I'm using thicker yarn

 More skilled knitters would cringe at the way I'm attempting this endeavor, which is basically the 'knit and hope' method. I'm going to knit all of the pieces in the shapes that I see and hope that I can sew them together effectively. Basically, I'm winging it. Good luck to me! 

I probably will work a little on those red socks though, because they're a more portable project so they might show up in a post soon?

Also, I borrowed the new Percy Jackson book from my library and I just started it. I got a picture text from someone who saw it in the store and thought it was neat that it had my name on it. They were a bit surprised when my response was, "No! Don't ruin it, I haven't read it yet! Spoilers!" 

Mistakes

I actually have an FO to show off today. Check it:

This is a lovely headband I made for NS for her (now very late) birthday. I like it so much, I think I'll make one for myself with the leftover yarn. It's in Yarn Bee Soft Secret, which is a pretty good Caron Simply Soft approximation, aside from needing to be doubled up because it's like a DK weight. 

I'm also about 55% done with my Red String of Fate socks, and I'll have lots of time to work on them at game night tonight (my friends and I meet up and play board games for a few hours every Friday, or whenever we can make it- I usually can't because it's an hour and a half away). Check out how great the first sock turned out:

It's not a written pattern, but I wouldn't say I designed it myself. I just did some 8 row, 4 stitch cables on the cuff and top of the foot. Super simple, but really beautiful. The color's a lot brighter than that, but what can you do about camera phone pictures?

I've also been sort of working on a Tardis Blue afghan in the same pattern as DM's lace afghan, but I've run into a few problems. First, the yarn isn't as soft, which won't be a problem once washed but it hurts my hands. Second, I messed up and did the first cable crossing too early all along the row and apparently decided it wouldn't really be a problem:

The third crossing is right but I can't figure out what I did wrong for the first and second ones to be so close together.

And, nestled in one of those cables, is a glaring mistake which makes me insanely mad. A purl bump in my cable! See:

Above the bottom crossing

I'm only 1 and 1/2 pattern repeats in. I might pick up the stitches at the moss stitch border and frog til that point. Start over and pay more attention next time, I guess. I can't seem to settle on a project though. I really want to knit myself a lacy cardigan but I can't find the right pattern and I need to come up with an afghan to knit DM for her birthday in June because if I don't start soon, it might not be done in time. She doesn't like anything I knit except for the afghans and she refuses to wear the socks because she thinks they'll end up in the wash and be destroyed, despite the countless times I've told her they're machine washable. 

I also finally decided to weave in the ends of my Paprika Lace Socks:

Anyway, look out for a post soon about those red socks! And maybe something else, I really don't know.