On the Needles

During the Easter holidays I had been planning to finally finish all of my sock WIPs, some of which have been WIPs for over a year. (I now realise that this might have been a tad ambitious for two weeks, but one can dream, right?) Then the idiot that is me forgot her knitting notebook with all the pattern modifications in Aberdeen and I only finished the Mata Hari socks. No photo of the finished project, because I suck that way, but... I have planned some changes to this blog layout (and have actually been futzing around with it already, learning some basic CSS in the process) and that includes a better way to keep track of my stash and a finished projects page.

So I will have photos then. Let me just tell you, they are gorgeous. Simple as it is, I'm absolutely in love with this pattern, especially since it works so well with varigated yarns and is much more interesting to knit than pure stockinette. It also goes incredible fast and I think my next Lorna's Laces Socks (in Amethyst Stripe) will be done with the same pattern. I also started to plan a pattern with a similar premise but more random lines of yarn overs. Unfortunately I'm a bit out of sock yarn for testing (and can't justify buying more and having it delivered here since my suitcase will already be bursting at the seams and I have less thn four weeks left here), so it'll have to wait until I get back to my parents.

Anyway, back to Aberdeen after Easter, I started with some presents for my parents. They are both turning 60 this year and especially my father is incredibly hard to buy or knit for, but I finally settled on a sleeveless sweater in a dark gray, knit from sock yarn (yes, I am officially nuts). I saw a pullover made out of it at my LYS and really liked that, so I modified the pattern a bit, based it on a sleeveless sweater my dad already has and am currently a bit less than half-way through.

(Klick images for larger pictures)

I would be much further along, but I only took 3 skeins of yarn back with me and left the rest at my parents because I figured it would take me a while to knit up those 3. And then it didn't. If I had those skeins with me, I think I would be as good as finished already. The knitting just flies even though it's fingering weight yarn at 165 sts per row and it's not even pure stockinette, but a small pattern of vertical stripes made by slip stitches and garter stitch. I'm so looking forward to finally getting back home and finishing this.

Then there is the present for my mother (which needs to be finished much sooner, but isn't nearly as entertaining). It's the Lead or Follow Lace Scarf from Heart String Fibre Arts in Rowan's Scottish Tweed 4-Ply in Sea Green.

(Klick images for larger pictures)

Very pretty yarn, a bit rough to work with, but I'm at that point where the scarf just doesn't get any longer and I still have 3 balls of yarn to go, so I work a few rows here and there and instead I had an itch for socks that needed to be scratched. Badly.

I still had some Koigu with me here that used to be the Elfine Socks (PDF). Again the pattern was very pretty even with this very varigated yarn (I have colourway P609), but it's only knit over 65 sts and despite the lace that was too small around the heel for me. If I understood the pattern right (I decided this a few months after I had last worked on the sock, so don't quote me on it), I can only increase by increments of 13 sts to keep the pattern right and 78 is a bit much, even for me. So that sock went to the frog pond.

Since then the Koigu has been sitting there, teasing me. From time to time I would try out a new pattern (pure stockinette and one with little daisies), but both just didn't look right. And then while paging through my sock books I had en epiphany: Entrelac. I love entrelac, the way it's knit and the way it looks and I tried it out with different numbers of stitches on the needles and for the squares (let's not talk about the Giant Sock of Doom at 72 sts / 9 sts per square) and finally settled on 56 sts and 4 sts per square, which is pretty close to the pattern in Socks, Socks, Socks. The pattern was the inspiration for me, but I couldn't make head or tails of it, so I simply made a short row toe, started with entrelac triangles (according to the directions on this site) and frogged a few rounds later.

Giant Sock of Doom (72 sts round, 9 sts per square)

56 sts round, 4 sts per square

(Klich images for larger pictures)

It was still too large, the fabric was very stff because the sqaures were so small and I noticed the pattern ate up yarn like nothing (and Koigu is only 160m per 50g), so instead I started one with 48 sts round and 8 sts per square. That worked quite well and I even finished the heel and started on the leg, when I decided to frog again.

Only this far up the leg and I was almost out of yarn; also very, very short toe

Stretched too tightly over the heel

(Klick images for larger pictures)
The captions say it all, really. I have a plan, though. I wrote down the pattern so I won't forget and when I get back home I can buy a skein of contrasting yarn (already have some in mind, I just hope my LYS still has it), knit longer toes with it, make a longer short row heel with it, so I a) won't use as much of the Koigu for those parts and maybe the pattern in between, and b) have bigger and better fitting sock. I also still have to figure out how to do the cuff, because I want to keep the lines made by the interlocking entrelac squares, so I'll have to see what to come up with for that. Perhaps something similar as I'm planning for the neck and armhole bands for my dad's sleeveless sweater.

But despite the very frustrating frogging, I did really enjoy this experience and learned something very neat. In order to not go insane with the constant turning, I remembered a Knitty article on backwards knitting, which I dug out and once I finally focused on it, managed to learn pretty quickly. And I mean really, really quickly. Perhaps 5 minutes to understand and work the first few sts and then an hour or so of working on my sock and I knit backwards almost as fast as forwards. I can only recommend that technique. Very neat.

And then, of course, my newest obsession has helped with the knitting time (and the fact that classes are over for the year and I only have some studying left to do – about which I'm not thinking yet): Podcasts. At first I was a bit iffy about the whole idea, because one of the things I love most about knitting blogs are the pictures. And obviously podcast = no pictures. That was until I was bored and started listening to the first episode of Lime'n'Violet. Let's just say I've now (4 days later) listened to all 35 of them and leave it at that. And I'm already sure I will be branching out into other Podcasts. I have a very addictive personality, so I know I'm doomed, the same way I'm doomed with all the new links to to yarn shops I'd never heard of (I might have ordered some Toefutsies and Cherry Tree Hill in an absolutely gorgeous and incredible colourway (Earth 2), but more about that when they arrive - once more at my parent's place).

And I started one other project, but I'm not that far yet and I think it deserves it's own post, so more about that later.

Socks and Picot Edges

This hat? Makes Sabrina unhappy. The ribbing is folding in on itself, the Noro is scratchy against my forehead, it feels very insubstantial and it's not warm enough around the ears.

Now, this hat? Makes Sabrina happy.

Making the changes was fiddly, but in my opinion well worth it. First I tried to rip it from the bottom, but Noro Kureyon made that impossible. The yarn is simply too uneven and easily pulled apart. Then I cut it right over the ribbing and fiddled with it until I detached the ribbing. Getting the whole thing apart was still difficult enough, because the Noro sticks to itself like velcro, but I managed. And then I simply knit a few reounds, added the picot à la Claudia (although I changed the instructions to work for a bind-off instead of cast-on) and

knit the inside with the left-over Debbie Bliss Merino Aran. Much softer than the Noro. Bound of with backstitch and attacked it with chain stitch to the back of the hat. The chain stitch is a bit uneven, but a) nobody is going to see it, b) the Noro is difficult to crochet with because of it's unevenness and c) I'm a knitter not crocheter, so I don't care. :)

Et voilà, the hat makes me happy with it's non-scratchy inside, snugness and warmth around the ears and non-folding edge.

Then we have an actual FO:

Simple stockinette socks in Regia Cotton, with a fold-over ribbed cuff. Took me exactly two skeins of yarn as I wanted to see how far two skeins would get me. Short-row toe and heel, 76 stitches all around. I'm a bit confused by the spiraling pooling, since it's completely even on the left sock, but on the right, the spirals slowly get wider before the heel.

But since I was on a roll with varigated yarn, I started another pair in Lorna's Laces Sock in Flames, the Mata Hari socks.

Do excuse my stubbly legs, I've been pretty busy in the last few days.

Anyway, those socks are also knit toe-up with 72 stitches, again with short-row toe and heel. But my current obsession with picot edges can also be seen here.

I'm not a big fan of ribbing, especially not in a pattern like this, where it's not used anywhere else and the picot edge is very comfortable. If (When) I use this edge again, I'll probably make it a bit longer, though. In this sock it's 7 rows and I think 10 or 12 might look even better.

I absolutely adore the colours and the pooling is very even (and seems to be the same in the second sock, which I just started and which I'm making spiral in the other direction), and I've realised that I absolutely adore the yarn (one of the reasons for ordering more for two other pairs of socks).

And here the inside even turned out better than in the Noro hat.

Purty, eh?

YarnPron

Even though I haven't been blogging about it, there has been quite a bit of knitting going on here. Not to mention the acquisition of yarns and other paraphernalia.

Let's start with the money-spending part.

This is Scarf Style, which I started coveting when I saw Midwest Moonlight for the first time. Now, after thumbing through it several times, there are at least 10 patterns I'd like to knit and possibly about half of these that I'd actually wear. But since the scarf season is soon going to end, I put that on the backburner for now.

Well, not all scarves really. The two skeins of yarn in the picture are Rowan's Scottish Tweed 4-Ply (which I simply couldn't resist, with me being in Scotland and all), in a great turquoise colour. At first I though this would be just right for me, but now I'm more thinking my mother. I can't quite get over my fixation with all kinds of red yet.

Of course, I only have 2 skeins, so that won't be enough for anything proper and the shop where I bought it doesn't have any more of that colour. That didn't stop me from starting a project in that yarn.

The Lead or Follow Lace Scarf, the pattern for which I bought at www.knittingzone.com. I'm quite happy with how it's turning out and I'm planning to buy more of that yarn when I'm in London at the end of the month. Even if it's not the same dyelot, I doubt it'll be a big problem if I use the two skeins I have at the moment as the first and last skein.

Then I couldn't keep my hands off of some other Rowan yarn: Tapestry. The colour changes are absolutely stunning and I started working the same pattern as above in it.

It does look good once it's blocked, but the yarn itself is bothersome to work with. Very, very splitty and doesn't withstand frogging very well. It's a 70% wool/30% soybean protein fibre and just incredibly soft and a bit shiny, but I'm not sure I'll buy more to finish the scarf. (Only bought one because I wanted to try it out first and see if the colour changes were too distractng for the patterns. Since they're pretty long, I don't think they are, btw.)

Okay, one more money-spending part, and then I think I'll wait with the rest for the next post (hopefully before London). I've been trying to find a lace-weight yarn for ages, because the lace bug has bitten me and I just want to finally knit a proper lace shawl. As I'm not the shawl type, my mum's 60^th birthday this year seems like the perfect opportunity for one.

This is a 100% merino wool yarn from Lane Borgosesia and it's just so soft, it's incredible. A 100g hank of 1350m that I can't wait to try out. But that'll have to wait until I get to my parents for Easter since my swift and ballwinder are there and I certainly don't want to risk tangling this hank. The colour is a bit darker than I expected, but after looking at it for a bit. I really fell in love with the berry quality of this.

And in this pic you can even see a bit of the plying with a darker colour. Very subtle and very pretty.

And more yarn is on the way. Along with the yarn above, I also ordered a skein of Fiddlesticks Zephyr in ebony (yeah, I know. Knitting in black laceweight is nuts), two skeins each of Lorna's Laces Sock in Black Purl and Cranberry, one skein of Schaefer Anne Nr 166, and two skeins of sockyarn from Wollmeise, one in Poison Nr. 5 and one in Wilder Mohn (Wild Poppy). I'm going to be very poor and very happy soon.

Okay, that's it for today. Next time: Socks and picot edges.

Wavy Scarves

It's bloody freezing here in Aberdeen, so I'm busy knitting scarves. In fact I'm knitting the same pattern for the second time now. Not that you could see it when you compare the two.



The darker, (almost finished one), is Knitty's Wavy in Debbis Bliss' Cashmerino Aran, in a lovely dark magenta/pink/purple that is incredibly hard to photograph in the cold light I have here at the moment.

The second one is Wavy as well, but in Rowan Kidsilk Spray, colour 576, a mix of lighter and darker pinks. In this pic, you can actually see that it is Wavy:



The scarf is knit over 30 stitches, on 5mm needles and it's so fluffy, I just keep petting it all the time instead of knitting. Makes progress a bit slower than the Cashmerino one. :)



This was knit accoring to pattern, over 42 stitches, no mods at all, except that I added 10 rows at the end, because I still had some yarn left over.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, in colour 330013, lot 44, 4 50g skeins
Needles: 4.5mm straights
Started: January 26, 2007
Finished (kinda): Fabruary 3, 2007 (just need to weave in the ends, but my tapestry needle disappeared, so I'm buying a new one today)

I'm not sure yet, what will come after these scarves. Probably some simple toe-up, stockinette stitch socks. I also have my eyes on Knitty's Lucie, but am not sure about a substitute yarn yet. The original is definitely out of the question, but I have my eyes on Regia Silk in maroon. Still have to actually find a ball of that yarn and do a swatch with it (there are apparently no yarn shops in Aberdeen, very disappointing, the only place to find yarn is John Lewis). But especially the neck has me totally in love with the pattern.

Long Time, No See

Knitting time has been very sparse lately. Since I moved to Scotland I actually have started to work for university and (against expectations) acquired a social life, so knitting has been very sporadic.

I did start a sock during the first days I was here, but am still stuck after the heel.

The pattern are the Elfine Socks (sorry, no link), in Koigu P609, a wonderfully coloured yarn. Problem is that the heel part is a bit too tight and I'm going to have to rip it. This has taken all steam out of my desire to knit them as I'm not sure how to go about it exactly yet without having to rip the whole sock (or rather, it seems like too much work). Backburner.

On a more successful not, I did finish the Noro Hat from this month's MagKnits issue.

Started: Nov 7, 2006
Finished: Nov 17, 2006
Note: This hat would've taken me only a day or two if I hadn't knit it about 3 times in total.
Yarn: Noro Kureyon in #124 (1 skein) and Debbie Bliss Merino Aran in black (1 skein)
Needles: 4mm Addi Turbo 40cm circulars, 5 4mm DPNs
Comments: The pattern is lovely and my apparent inability to get it right has absolutely nothing to do with it. I consider it a very quick knit and the resulting pattern is great.

I also really enjoyed knitting with both yarns. The Debbie Bliss is very similar to my favourite yarn from my LYS at home and even though the Kureyon is a bit scratchy to knit with, I'm thinking it will soften once I actually wash the hat (no time for blocking, because I wore it the day I finished it). The yarn is perfect for spit splicing which was helpful when I had already cut the end, but then needed more yarn after I had ripped back. It also is a lot more sturdy than it looks and held up wonderfully to the repeated ripping. And not to forget the great colour changes that just kept me glued to the hat while working on it and make me put it on my head ever so often, just to look at it in the mirror.

Mods: I started this hat without a gauge swatch, as for once I'm actually using the yarn recommended in the pattern and, of course, fell flat on my face with it. :)

In the end I increased to 120 stitches for the first stranded part and did 10 pattern repeats. I also added an additional 10 rows after the first stranded part and then decided to leave out the second stranded pattern altogether as I though the striping from the additional length *and* the pattern would look too restless.

I'm also thinking about adding a fold-over cuff from by picking up the cast-on stitches and folding it in to the inside, because even though the yarns are wool, it is still a bit chilly around the ears where the pattern isn't stranded.

Eek.

I don't have much time to read or knit or blog at the moment, because I'm leaving for Scotland tomorrow. For 9 months. I'm allowed to take 20kg of luggage. This means for me I restricted myself to 300g of yarn for three pairs of socks. And some needles. My heart is bleeding that I can't take my new wool winder or swift.

And then when I was packing today, I discovered a small animal in my knitting basket. Which stands in my knitting shelf. A little larva-like animal. My first thought was 'moth'! At first watched with clinical detachment, I slowly comprehended the possible ramifications. And annexed one of the drawers from my mum's freezer. Not all of my yarn fits in there, but most of it; the rest is expendable. (If my dad finds this he's already going to call me nuts. No reason to give him even more ammunition.) My parents are going on holiday on Sunday, so I have a week to find out what else to do and send my mum some instructions.

Knitting photos when I get some internet time again. :)

Dive In

Don't you just want to dive straight into that pile?



No time to post more at the moment, but that picture is too delicious not to share. :D More soon.

Now, when I finally feel like taking pictures again, I have lent my camera to a friend of mine for the weekend. *sigh* So, some progress pics from last week. Haven't had a lot of time to knit, so they aren't too outdated.

I have turned the heel on my Mamluke socks.


At first I tried the heel that is pictured in the book, basically a short row heel that is directly attached to the lower part of the leg. It didn't fit me at all. There are no extra stitches for the heel and it just didn't work, especially with the dense fabric of the stranded knitting.

So I made a rounder heel and then decreased to 78 stitches again. It doesn't look as neat as in Folk Socks, but then what good would socks be that look great, but don't fit? Pictures of the decreases next time.

And because I was getting so bored with Convertible and this (and because the yarn was 1€/ball) I made some socks from a worsted weight yarn.


40sts, stocking stitch, 4mm needles. Very quick knit and done by now. The yarn is a cotton/acrylic blend and very soft.

Some yarn I recently got:


Koigu KPPPM - Knitting Zone
100% merino wool
100g/320m
colour: P609
dye lot: 76
bought: June 28, 2006
price: US$10.95/50g


Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Sock - Knitting Zone
80% wool, 20% nylon
100g/430 yds.
colour: 503 Amethyst Stripe
dye lot: 8709
bought: June 28, 2006
price: US$9.95/50g


Sockotta - Knitting Zone
45% cotton, 40% wool, 15% nylon
100g/414 yds.
colour: 14
dye lot: 20
bought: June 28, 2006
price: US$8.95/100g

I haven't had time to knit with either of these yet and it's killing me! The colours are simply incredible and I can't wait to choose a pattern for this and finally get knitting.

Next post: more new yarn and the finished Convertible!

Slugging Through

My real knitting progress his been minor in the last few weeks. Too much studingy, procrastinating from studying and before that a heat wave.

I'm slugging through Convertible, only three more 36-rows repeats, and just hope I'll be finished soon. The pattern looks nice, but it's boring me to tears. And as I'm on a deadline for it, with having to have finished it on August 23rd, there is not a lot I can do but plough on. Well, I've made good progress in the last two days. :D

Pics when I'm done, I'm not in a picture taking mood. Which is also why I don't have any pics of my Mamluke or the new yarn I got. Koigu, Lorna's Laves, Cherry Tree Hill and Sockotta. Also got Knitting on the Road and already have my eyes on a few patterns.

I'm trying to decide which patterns and yarn to take to Scotland with me. I'm leaving on September 16th, so I still have some time to figure it out, but I also realize that I can't take too much. On the other hand, yarn in Britain is much more expensive than here, so I need to take some that'll keep me a while. I'll probably take a collection of sock yarn. ;)

Addiction

There should be a warning label on stranded knitting patterns: HIGHLY ADDICTIVE!!

This morning I was this far with my sock:


Now I'm only 10 rows away from the heel,

even though I'm a slow knitter and I still haven't really got the hang of knitting English style. And even though I was supposed to study today. And I really have to force myself now to just not just continue.

But it's always, oh, one more row, repeat, part of the pattern... now I'm almost up to the heel, might as well do the rest... And I'm already looking forward to casting on for the second sock.

Boredom

Why is it that I always end up picking patterns that bore me to death after a few repeats? Point in case: Liesel (PDF), which I knit for myself last winter and the Dayflower Lace Scarf (PDF) I knit for my grandma last Christmas. And now the same with Convertible. *sigh* It just doesn't seem to get any longer.

I've done just over 4 of the 13 pattern repeats. Well, 7 rows a day and I will get it finished in time for my mum's birthday and that sounds doable, right?

The Mamluke socks are slowly coming along. And it's fun knitting them. :D Not the same over and over again.

The only problem I've had so far was self-inflicted. I started with DPNs, then decided that circulars would perhaps be better for stranded knitting and tried magic loop. Well, I still hate circulars, so I just switched back to DPNs. As I said, these socks are not a try to get it perfect, so I don't mind the slight differences.

And I'm waiting for yarn. Some of the stuff I've always heard about, but can't get my hands on here in Germany. And I can't wait to knit some Elfine's socks (PDF) with one of them. So, I'm waiting for:

• KPPPM Koigu in P609
• Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Sock in Amethyst Stripe
• Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn in Flames
• Sockotta 14
• Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Winterberry

And I might have been reading Sweet Georgia for the last three days. And I might have ordered a drop spindle from ebay. And I might be absolutely desperate for the postman to arrive and give me my spindle. *headdesk*

FO and New Yarn

The Basketcase Socks are done!

Yarn: Wolle Halle Strumpfgarn
Amount Used: ~110g
Needles: 3mm
Started: May 25, 2006
Finished: July 2, 2006
Modifications:

• Co 72 instead of 60 sts
• knit 17 cuff rds
• worked the pattern over all 36 instep sts instead of only 18
• did first 5 toe decreased alternated with knit rds, then 10 rds only decreases

Opinion: I liked the pattern. It was nice and relaxing while at the same time producing very comfortable socks, which I'm looking forward to wearing (sorry for the crappy shot, btw, but it's just too hot to put on wool socks, even if it's only for a photo shoot). The yarn is very soft, but at the same time also very difficult to knit with as the plies are untwisted and I always missed some of the incredibly thin plies. Fortunately, there weren't any k2togs or similar in the pattern.

And I already started a new pair of socks! Mamluke from Folk Socks. My first try at stranded knitting and I'm enjoying it very much so far, even though I'm no good at it yet. As you can see in that picture. :D

The socks are more of a training to finally teach myself stranded knitting (and knitting English style. Gosh, I feel like I need a workout programme for my right index finger; I just can't keep the tension of the yarn even with it) than any real project, so I'm not too worried if they don't come out as anything close to perfect. As long as they are wearable and warm, they'll be fine. And they'll be for wearing around the house only anyway, because I'm knitting them out of 100% merino yarn. I wouldn't dore wearing shoes over it, but the yarn is very elastic, which I thought might be a good characteristic for my first stranded knitting project.

I also finally taught myself the tubular cast-on and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

As the tubular cast-on always creates groups of two stitches, but starts with a slipknot and I cast on an even number of stitches, I think I should probably have started the ribbing with a p1,k1 instead of k1,p1 to keep the ribbing from becoming slightly diamond shaped (you can see it in the first picture at the lower left side), but all in all, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. And I think I have a new favourite cast-on for ribbing. :D

Okay, finally more about the yarn I'm using:

Wolle Rödel Siena - Wolle Rödel
100% merino wool
2x100g/270m
gauge: 3mm 36sts/4" in stranded knitting
colour: 9916 (hot pink)
9990 (black)
dye lot: 246 (hot pink)
852 (black)
bought: June 30, 2006
price: 3.10€/50g

Books

So, Convertible is still going strong, even though a bit slow, because the weekend was just crazy. No photo, because really, it looks the same, no matter if I have 6 or 8 pattern repeats.

But the mailman had something for me today!!

First of all The Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules!, which I had been dying to buy, but didn't have the money for until now. And what can I say? Got it about 2 hours ago, am on page 80, decided that eating wasn't as important as continue reading even though my stomach complained loudly and then finally found a few minutes to throw something in the oven. I wonder if writers feel flattered or disgusted when their books show little droplets of soup all over the pages, because you simply couldn't put the book down to eat like a civilzed human being? (Need I mention that I have it lying in front me right now, reading a paragraph and then typing a few lines?)

The second book is Big Girl Knits and even if I hadn't heard so much good about the book, I would have bought it for the cover pattern alone. I've never knit a sweater before and as I know that it can be tricky to use the bigger sizes on 'normal' patterns (and I don't want to turn myself off sweaters on my first try), I think this'll work just fine. Have only glanced through it so far, but I already have my eye on a few patterns and really like the writing style and explanations.

The cover pattern. I'd most likely knit this in a dark red or dark hot pink. I love the small cables on the upper part. I love cables in general, but already knew before buying this book that the normal cabled sweaters would look way too bulky on me.


I fell in love with this pattern the moment I saw it because of the colour. But then I also realised that I like the pattern itself. I'm already looking for a substitute yarn, as the Rowan Calmer used is out of my price range and want to knit this in black and a similar pink. I already know that I'm going to change the waist a bit, though. In my opinion the pink part simply gets too small at the waist, creating not a nice hourglass look, but rather making it look like somebody got a bit adventurous with zigzag scissors.


Thsi is one pattern I'm least sure about. I've never worn a wrap style cardigan and I'm not sure it'll suit me, but I would still like to try.


And, of course, what would a new pattern book be without a pattern for socks? :D

Back on the Road

So, I'm back right on course with the Convertible. Lengthwise I'm back to where I was when I frogged it and I really do like this much better. And of course, 6 repeats per row are just so much quicker than 9.



I also have realised that I really am much better at knitting from a chart than from written instructions. Since I converted the instructions in the pattern to a littel chart, it's just so much easier to do the rows without constantly looking what comes next. And even though I can't memorize the whole chart (even though it's just 6 rows and 13 sts) because I'm terrible at memorizing and I would spend most of the time second-guessing myself, this is already a vast improvement.

Not much else going on knitting wise. I tried finding some merino wool for my hat/scarf/mitten combination I'm planning, but somehow wool isn't much in stock at the moment. Wonder why. ;) Aren't people already starting their winter knitting? And as I have a very specific idea what colour I want (a dark hot pink), I don't trust the internet to get this yarn. I'm now biting my own arse that I didn't buy the yarn I saw at the yarn shop near my mum's when I was there for easter, it would've been perfect colour-wise and softness-wise. The only things keeping me were the price and the fact that I'd have had to knit the scarf and hat with two strands because it was about 160m/50g. *sigh* I just hope that they still have that yarn when I can get back there in August. Small chance, but I also can't send my mum, because I just know she'd accidentially get the wrong one.

Convertible Troubles

The ruler is 12 inches. The wrap is supposed to be 16 inches. I'm sure you can see the problem.

A whooping 10 extra inches of fabric. And I just don't get why. This is Convertible with a stated gauge of 20x24 per 4 inches in st st. My gauge is 25x33, so I adjusted the pattern from 103 sts to 129 sts. Should be exactly the same. Should be, but obviously isn't.

Now I don't know if it's 1) an error in my thinking (smaller gauge --> more stitches) - unlikely, because really, this is a no-brainer.

2) If it's that I'm using a very different yarn (100% bamboo vs. a merino/acrylic/cashmere mix) with a very different yardage (435m/100g vs. 310m/100g) - though shouldn't gauge be the more important factor?

3) If the number of cast-on stitches in the pattern is wrong? - I mean, the finished width is supposed to be 16 inches, if I divide the cast-on stitches (103) by the gauge (5 sts/in), I get a width of 20.6 inches. Add to that that the gauge is in st st and the wrap is lacey, it's obvious to me that knit up it would get even bigger than 20.6 inches.

4) Or if the finished size in the pattern is wrong?

If I go by the size I'm getting now, I should only have to cast on 77 sts to get the required result of 16 inches. Beyond the fact that ripping all I already knit would be annoying, I'm still not sure if it's not 4) and I do in fact need a wrap that is this size. And somehow I can't even begin to guess the size going from the pictures in the article.


I really do like the way it looks, even though the pattern is obstructed by the yarn, but I think this doesn't really matter. The lace pattern is very simple, so otherwise it'd probably be even a bit boring. But I'm just not sure what to do about the sizing problem.

ETA: I just had another look at the pictures and did some measurements on my body and the width of 16 inches seems good. So no matter what reason there is, fact is that I need to rip everything out and start again with 77 sts. Better make that 90 stitches. 11,000 stitches gone... *sigh*