TKGA Master Knitter - more swatches

I really do need to learn some things about taking decent photos. These stink, but I was so excited to get a few more swatches done - I took them in low light (evening) and the color stinks. These are actually a bright yellow - not that you can tell from these shots. I did work on getting more close up shots thinking it might help.

These first three are the swatches for Decreases:

For me, the most challenging was the SSK - I do the modified version in my regular knitting which isn't acceptable for the TKGA program. I think I did a fairly good job keeping it somewhat similar in sizing to the K2Tog (as it has a tendency to look bigger than the other)... but we'll wait for the Guild to give feedback for sure.

This next one is swatch #10 which includes basic Yarnovers with no decreases.

All of these still need to get blocked, but all in all, I'm pretty pleased with what I'm getting.

Until I did swatch #11.

I had to redo it a couple of times because I can't count... sigh. Thought I had it finished; but then I noticed my SSK was enormous compared to the other stitches. Since I know that it tends to get bigger because it's pulling some of the slack from the other stitches... I went in with my knitting needle to see if I could remove some of the slack from the SSK and allocated it across the other stitches. Which seemed to work - until I looked at the back. I was creating after-thought gutters in the back of my stitches - LOL! NOT going to be acceptable. Seriously?

So, we will be redoing Swatch #11 again and paying extra special attention to the SSKs while I'm doing it. I've got some references and suggestions for improvement if the extra attention isn't enough.

Bamboo Silk - Yarn yardage concerns.

Sorry I don't have any pics of this just yet. But I put my head down and focused on making some SERIOUS progress on it this last weekend.

I finished the body; have picked up the stitches from the waste yarn and am working the sleeves 2-at-a-time... and I have about 120 yards of yarn left. Since they are short sleeves I'm thinking I'm going to be in great shape for this after all!

So, then I got to thinking about my other top made with Bamboo Silk. The striped T has been in a project bag along with it's yarn for about 14 months. The bag has been toppled and picked up, yarn has been scattered and brought back. It's been frogged a couple of times. I realized today that I started off this final attempt with  2 1/2 balls of beige, 1 ball of peachy/pink, 1 ball of white, and 2 balls of medium blue. So about 650 yards. Um... the pattern calls for about 900 yards in my size. LOL. Ummm... might be an issue. I was SO SURE I had the right amount of yarn when I started it ages ago... but who knows what I might have been thinking/looking at... or if the yarn got 'used' for something else when I wasn't paying attention.

The good news is that I have finished the bottom-up to the top part of the body to the place where you set it aside and start working the sleeves 2-at-a-time; then you join all three pieces together and start the decreasing to the yoke all the way to the neck. Which means that the rows are going to get shorter pretty darn quick. The bad news is that I have NO idea where/when I bought this yarn and/or if I will ever find it again easily if I run short.

So, just when I thought I had it figured out and was going to be ok on yardage for one top - the other one started making me nervous. I'm about two days out from starting my vacation... so my plan is to set this aside until I get home. Then dig around under my bed (where my dog frequently hides things she wants) and see if there are a couple more balls of yarn that she had 'buried' for herself. If that doesn't turn up anything - I'll keep knitting away and wait and see. Maybe I'll get lucky and this pattern and the yardage I have will work out in the end. Though, you can bet I might just keep an eye out for it on my vacation and if I spy any (with or without the right dyelot) I will definitely be snagging it!

June Mid-Month Progress

Finished:
Brioche scarf

Done with Cascade Eco Alpaca yarn - 1 full skein - just did 18 Brioche stitches until I ran out of yarn. Ended up squishy and cosy and really, really soft. I'm sure it will be extremely warm this winter. I had started this in May but just didn't focus on it much and it was my 'when I have a minute knitting'. I ended up frogging it a couple of times... but got it finished on the first of June.

One charity Hat Of the 3-4 in my goal:

Done with Wool-Ease on size 19 Addi Turbo Circular needles using Brioche. Looks just like many other hats I make. It's fast, it's quick, it's satisfying and it adds nicely to the pile of hats I will be donating to charity in the coming fall.

Double-Knit Hot Pad:
SIDE 1 -

 SIDE 2

Made with Peaches & Creme Cotton - just love how nice and soft this is... how thick it came out. It came out a bit bigger than I expected. But it's going to make a WONDERFUL hot pad for putting pans down. I didn't really have any big ones and now I do.

On the Needles:

• Top #1 Striped Bamboo T- about 45% done -
• Top #2 Bamboo Silk T - about 20% done -
• Masters - 9 swatches out of 16 + hat - about 45% done - separate post to follow with some details; planning; emphasis on what I still need to improve.

Still waiting to be cast-on:

• More charity hats
• X-rated Bridal Garter
• Felted Bag

 

 

 

Bamboo silk T

I set this aside earlier this month because I am nervous about running out of yarn. I bought the yarn at a shop about 150 miles away and know that I can't find it locally... and odds are they don't have this color anymore, let alone the dye lot as the shelf wasn't full to start with and I bought all that I could find. But, maybe.

Wouldn't you know it, I made the trip to that town twice last weekend and did NOT manage to make it to the shop?

I decided to pick it up again and do the best I can with what I have. Worst case I run out and hit the store next month... if that doesn't work I will shop thru folk's stashes on Ravelry... maybe I can get away with extra short sleeves?

This is a top-down raglan sleeve T with a scoop neck. I have about three to four more inches to go before I switch from stockinette to lace.

The photo isn't very true to the color, its really a deep plum color.

Mid-month Progress Post on Striped-T

I have 13 1/2 inches done on the body with all of the ends woven in. The pattern suggests joining the sleeves here, but I know full well that it would end up far too short if I don't add more inches first.

The question is though ... how many more?

If this yarn didn't grow... I would add four more inches. But it does grow quite a bit. So I am currently planning on adding two more inches and give myself a rest from it and see if I end up wanting three.

June planning

Original plan was to make a second version of the Oceana Shell (picture is of the one I made last year)...

I have a shrug I made with a Caron Simply Soft Paints (still don't have a great shot of it) and I was thinking that a dark brown top half with dark brown & this paints striping in the bottom half would look great paired with the shrug. I already had enough left over after making the shrug. So all I had to do was pick up some brown to compliment it. Picked up the brown and left it in it's bag until this weekend.

Put the two together and - um - no - this is a BIG NO. It's actually a really light brown and paired next to the deep dark brown/bright reds/rich hues? NOT a good match. Duh. Suppose I ought to have held the two colors near each other BEFORE I cast on and started knitting. I took a picture to blog this - but camera is acting up and it fell off my sim card. I'll try to snag another pic tonight & try updating . . . but let's just say that is NOT the top I'll be making in June after all. I don't have anything in stash remotely close to substitute for the brown and just spent a ton on yarn as it was - so it's going to sit in the queue a little longer.


Instead - I'm going to make a Pima Silk Cotton Lace T-Shirt top - Ravelry link in Bamboo Silk in a deep, rich, vibrant Purple.

Other projects:


Finish Brioche scarf
3-4 charity hats
Double-knit hot pad
X-rated Bridal Garter
Felted Bag

Continue working on Striped T and Masters program submission.

May month end progress

FINISHED:

- Crocheted Pullover (previously featured)
- Charity Hats - ended up only finishing three total last month
- Adult sized socks:

Used KnitPicks Comfy - ended up a bit too big. Changed to K2P2 ribbing to try to see if that would help them fit better (it didn't help enough - should have customized stitch count).

- Double-knit mini-socks:

Used Sport-weight Hobby Lobby, I Love this yarn.

Didn't love these and the afterthought heel in double-knitting? Hard, hard enough that I'm going back to the drawing board on the design plan for XMas stockings. Which was the point of doing these tiny... to give me some trial and error ideas.

- Last minute add-on:

Quick Crochet Baby Blanket - son's teacher ended up having a baby shower thrown by the kids in her class on the last day of school. I technically gave her a blanket I had made for charity previously - so I ended up putting this one on the Charity pile to replace the other.

(sorry for the poor pic quality - cell phone has a great camera; but it's having some issues lately)
80 stitches - all DC all the way - about 8 stitches / 4 rows = 4" x 4" so super fast.

ON THE NEEDLES:
- Brioche scarf (this got sidelined OFTEN during the month)
- Striped T in Silk Bamboo
- Masters Level 1 knitting