Mods and Math

So I swatched and swatched trying to get the yarn I have to be the sweater I wanted. Or really, any sweater I saw that didn't look halfway to horrible. But my yarn doesn't want to be any of those. It wants to be something different apparently.

I had a look at the schematic for the Julianna sweater, and it's really simple. So when the swatch of the pattern stitch turned out disgusting:

Seriously, it looks like an army of moths had their way with it

I had the thought that maybe I could do the same shape but switch out the pattern stitch.


Then I had a look through the Big Book of Knitting Stitch patterns that DM got me for Christmas last year. I looked through all of the patterns I'd bookmarked, especially the lace ones, but none of them were right. I wanted something that was moderately easy so that the project could be portable in most situations (as opposed to those projects you can't take anywhere because you get that concentration look on your face that makes you look like you're trying to lay an egg or something).

Then I realized that I could just harvest one of the lace patterns from DM's afghan, tulip lace. I adored it in the afghan, and it's pretty simple.

Today I've done the swatching and measuring, and the math:

Now I can cast on and hopefully get some progress done on this thing

In case you were wondering, DM's afghan is done. I need to finish weaving in ends and then it's taking a tumble in the washer (I'm horrible to my handknits, but that's what acrylic yarn is for anyway) and it'll be ready for the gift box. Pictures will follow, but for now I'm ignoring it because I hate weaving in ends with a burning passion (seriously, they make machines for knitting but not for weaving in ends?).

My stitch count for NaKnitMo is 13,616 so far, and since my daily goal has been 1,000, I'm well over my count. Maybe I should have given myself a more challenging goal cause I'm not having a super hard time with this one. I shouldn't jinx myself though. Maybe next year, unless I do NaNoWriMo instead.

Relieved

So today, I dealt with a personal problem that's been dogging me for almost a month now, and I'm very happy to see that worry put to rest. To celebrate, I'm gonna update the Blog (and watch Avengers, cause that's how lame of a life I have).

I started and finished (today!) another Christmas present since I last posted. Renee's Fingerless Gloves (for Renee of course), a super easy and fun project, and I seriously don't want to give them away. They'd definitely come in handy in my Astronomy lecture, where I swear if the ceiling were inclined to pour water, it would turn to snow and we'd all make snow angels, it's that cold. But, alas, they have another destination. Actually, that puts paid to the entire set heading to Virginia (Salt River Socks, A Manly Sunset, and Spicy Turmeric Bolero are also headed there, all to the same family).  Oh right, a picture would be nice:

Sorry about those pictures, but seriously, I defy you to get a good picture of your own arm while holding the camera in the other hand. And of course, I couldn't get a pic of both at the same time. Anyway, there's that.

Also today (well actually yesterday but I frogged that one) I started a new project. A Hufflepuff bag for my sister, using some truly craptastic stash yarn. It's going really quick actually, which makes me think that the finishing is going to take a lot longer than usual, because nothing just goes well for me. Anyway, pic for that:

So it's October now, and I have exactly 4 Christmas projects left to finish, including this one. A hat, a crochet bear, and half an afghan await me once this bag is finished, but I might have to concede to starting a pair of socks to knit at school since all of those are either too big or too complicated for that. Anyway, I do expect to finish on time, and maybe a lot earlier than originally slated. I should probably plan for that eventuality and have a project ready so I don't develop a case of Startitis. 

Anyway, Avengers awaits. I'll have an update when I'm done with this bag probably.

Moved...

Or so I thought.
So Tuesday was moving day. I had everything packed in the car from the previous day's moving fiasco, and I set up an appointment with the cable company for next Monday to set up the Internet, and I also set up an appointment at the Genius Bar to have them look at my iPod. Then I packed up my cat and off we went. (Side note: apparently my insanely huge station wagon cannot fit my bed in it. I had to pack an inflatable mattress instead).
His Highness complained the entire 3 1/2 hour journey. I learned that my car seriously does not enjoy highway driving. Then we took the exit and got off the interstate. The directions were seriously whacked out, but luckily I remembered how to get there on my own because I was moving back to a house that I'd lived in when I was twelve. I drove straight past it once I got on my street though. It just looked so different, so much smaller and sadder. I located the key and went to unlock the door, cat in tow. When I opened the door, a shower of German cockroaches fell onto my arm. Strike one, I thought. Then I walked in. Not only were there roaches on the door, but they were on the floor everywhere and scampering along the walls and windowsills. There must have been hundreds, not exaggerating. There was also a rotting stench like you wouldn't believe, and trash littered the yard. I left the cat there, put out a litter box for him and texted my mom. Not five minutes later, she called to ask how bad it was. I told her, and she sent me off to the nearest store for roach bates. She told me to return home after I'd set those out.
I went to the store for the roach bates and I had to stand in line with a whole basket of them, feeling like the most disgusting person in the world, even though I know I didn't cause the roaches, the tenants did. I have absolutely no idea how they were living like that.
 I returned, laid out the roach bates, grabbed the cat carrier and left. Jasper was so frightened after the drive and something in the house must have scared him as well because he didn't leave the box the entire time we were there. I set him in the seat next to me for the drive back and he slept most of it. I worried from time to time that maybe I'd forgotten him, he was so quiet.
So on the plus side, I didn't get lost. I managed to make it to the house with crappy directions and  I even managed to make it to the nearest dollar store and back without directions. On the downside, I spent 7 hours driving for almost no reason, and I detest driving. And my sister's pissed at me because she doesn't get a room to herself like she expected.
Monday the cable guy is coming, so I have to drive back then, plus I'm trying to find an exterminator who will come out the same day. In the mean time, my friend N recommended me for a job here. If they actually hire me, I might end up staying after all. N called yesterday to say there was a position open and that she'd been recommending me since her first day on the job, so I should apply. I talked to DM and she very crossly said I should apply, while grumbling about having gotten the utilities turned on for the house I should have been moving into. So that's today's adventure. I'm hoping I can get the job, because I definitely need it, but on the other hand, I do have to move sometime soon. This semester I can live anywhere because my classes are online, but next semester I have to take classes at university, which means living close to university.
So, for your viewing pleasure, I have a couple of pictures of a knitting project I started yesterday because my sweater was getting on my nerves:

This last picture was about 5 rows from the point where I discovered that I wouldn't have enough yarn to finish and I had to frog the whole thing. Luckily, I hadn't really spent much time working on it. Besides, I promised N that I would knit her an owl cable hat, and I've frogged that project twice since I made the promise. It's been like 3 months and I had to start over at the halfway point because it was too small. Then I cast on and had the owl cable brim finished before I realized I'd cast on the exact same number of stitches as the first time, so I had to start over again. The cast on stitches are sitting on my needles waiting to be counted and recounted so I can start this project for the third time,  and I'm really hoping I get it right this time. It's another N's (let's call her NB) birthday in a couple of days and I have to come up with a gift for her as well, which means a trip to the yarn store and some furious knitting in the works. I've had to put my socks and my shawl in hibernation for the time being so I can get all of that done.
On my sweater, I discovered that I would have to pick up and knit a neckline edging, and I was trying to come up with a pattern that would work for that but still match the rest of the sweater and the only thing I could come up with was to do another set of owl cables. The downside to that is that it's an 11 stitch repeat so I'd have to pick up a very exact number of stitches, plus the beads for the owl eyes will probably get caught in my hair. But if I did a simple ribbing it wouldn't match the rest of the sweater. I guess that's probably a question for one of my knitterly friends.