The collar didn't work

Stitched down the collar last night and made a sad realization. Knitting a collar straight around without decreasing makes for a stand-straight-up collar. Yeah. Back to the drawing board. I know I have to decrease, but how much? 10%? 25%? 30%? 50%? Any suggestions?

So it's been awhile...

According to Ravelry - the only site I can keep semi-up-to-date it seems - I've finished three WIPs, started two more and finished one of those since last we spoke. I also know I've made good progress on my Wings sweater. I just haven't had time to let you all know that. A busy work schedule in March combined with almost 2 weeks with practically no computer killed my blogging mojo. The upside was I had more knitting time.

I had planned on waiting until the collar was finished on this to show my progress - you know how progress photos are instantly obsolete - but with the weather we've had this week and the fact that I haven't actually finished it yet and that my camera crapped out and, and, and...here's a month old progress shot.



This is right after I finished the widest (tallest?) stripe where I will dup. stitch DETROIT across the chest. I've since finished knitting the body and only need to stitch the collar down. I hope to complete that tonight. After that I only need to reknit the sleeves and stitch the 'crest' on. Hopefully I can finish before the playoffs are over.

Random updates

I'm subbing lots of links for the lack of photos. Sorry about that.

1. My Cobblestone sweater is near completion. I ran out of yarn two rounds + bind off away from finishing the neck. So, last night I undid the garter cuff on one sleeve and began reknitting after decreasing 10%. I plan to see how much yarn that gets me, and if it's half enough, do the second sleeve the same way. If it's not enough - and I just did a quick calc in my head and it's probably not going to be - then I'll have to frog the sleeves further and decrease more rapidly.

2. I have two blog posts on my Red Wings hat that are almost ready to go. I just want one more photo to accompany the FO post and I need to get the logo tutorial out of my head and into a post. I want to get the FO post up first, but with the weather we're expecting over the next few days, that may have to wait until the weekend. 

3. For a quick instant gratification project, I'm knitting a pair of bed socks for my future sister-in-law. Why is it that everything I've knit for the women I know is hot pink? They're also really tiny (compared to my socks) and I'm using Cascade 220, so they're going really quickly. Or at least they should. My sock mojo is not what it used to be.

4. After the success of the January Hat Trick with the Puck This! group on Ravelry, we've started another knit-a-long, The Great Hockey Sweater KAL. After I finish the socks mentioned above, I plan to pick up my Vintage Red Wings sweater again. The red yarn has been rinsed of extra dye and should be good to go now. All the same, I think I'll block it by spritzing rather than soaking.

5. I miss spinning. I was never into it hardcore, but I'm still excited to see what kind of yarn I can produce. It just seems I can't find the time or energy. That's kind of a different subject though. My other issue is that I really, really, really want to finish my Cobblestone. And then I know I'm going to feel the same way about my Wings sweater. I can't justify taking time to spin when I could be knitting. Right now spinning seems like more of a chore than knitting because I'm a long way off from a finished product.

6. Aside from the fact that it will allow me to wear my sweater when I finish it, I'm done with winter. I'm sick of the grey skies and cold temps. I'm sick of walking outside and thinking, "ugh, why am I alive," when the cold hits rather than, "I feel so alive!, " when the bright sun and warm temps hit you. I need a vacation.

7. And so as not to leave us all on a downer, I will say that I'm excited about the possibilities that my new stash enhancement presents. I want an all-purpose hoody/sweater/jacket, so I'm thinking of knitting a Adult Tomten. Although after reading Jared's detailed post about it, I'm feeling anxious. I've never knit a garment with that much construction. Maybe a child's version is in order first. I'm also thinking some cables are in order, which reminds me, I have a Christmas gift I never blogged. You might be interested in that :)

New Feed & Old Knitting

I recently burned the feed to my blog using FeedBurner. I did the same for a couple other blogs I manage and the results are pretty nice. Now I can more easily keep track of all you out there who read about my knitting adventures! If you've subscribed previously, can I ask you to update your subscriptions with the new link?

Old Knitting
It seems I've been rather stale with blog posts of late and there's a reason for that. I've been rather stale in my knitting as well. The vintage Red Wings sweater is dead in the water, quite literally in fact. I knew better, but started the sleeves anyway without testing the color fastness of the dye in the red yarn. I knitted a red and white striped swatch after I'd finished both sleeves only to end up with pink and red stripes instead. Blast. So, now I'm faced with either coming up with a way to either rinse or set the red dye in the sleeves OR ripping it all out and washing the yarn to remove the excess dye. You can understand my reluctance. This was supposed to be my Stanley Cup Playoffs project and I was on pace to be finished when the Wings win the cup. To rip it all now...I shudder to even think of it. I really hoped that I could wear it when I get my picture with the Stanley Cup.

I added a few older FOs to Ravelry which brings the grand total of unblogged finished knits to six. Six! You can expect a string of FO posts in the coming days. I should have enough with good photos to start while I compile photos of the others :-) Which will only lead to one of the best things about knitting...casting on for new projects!

One Down

Where to Red Wings keep their armies? In their sleevies! *groan*



Well, well, well, this went quickly. I'm not sure if it's the amount of hockey that's been on lately or that the stress of watching a Wings playoff game makes me knit faster, but the Wings have one round done and I have one sleeve done. And I must say, I'm pleased as punch with myself. My stitch, row, increase and decrease calculations all hit their marks, and the type of increase I used looks practically invisible (or at the very least like a machine knit sweater). I also remembered - just in the nick of time - to not knit the top-of-the-sleeve decreases in the round :-). All that remains is to bind off the top, only because I didn't want to do a rush job during the last 20 minutes of my lunch.

My only concern at this point is that the red yarn may bleed when I block it. Curses for not swatching both colors!

Sweater Progress

After last night's Wings game and two lunch sessions, here's where I stand. How's the red look?

And a little fun over on Ravelry...

One more way to win a prize for RavelRaiser '08. What's that you say? Only the greatest fund-raising effort to help Jess and Casey (and Bob!) made possible because knitters are so awesome. If you're on Ravelry (and seriously, who isn't these days?) you can enter to win tons of fabulous yarny prizes just by donating $10 to Ravelry. Each $10 donation gets you one entry in the raffle. Read all about RavelRaiser here, see more lolRavs here, and view the rest of my lolRav entries here. Now go donate!