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!" 

Red String of Fate...

That's what I'm calling this little project:

I've also got a headband I'm working on for a NS's birthday (that I missed cause I'm a horrible friend), and an afghan just like DM's but in Tardis blue for me. I've got a few other projects started and abandoned. I can't settle.

Things in my personal life have been seriously crappy lately, especially today, but I've set aside this day to be self-indulgent and drink tea and watch Avengers so everything should be good.