Secret Pal Contest: All your WIPS

Secret Pal is keeping me honest and making sure that I update (somewhat) regularly. I didn't mean to disappear. Work got hectic and life got tough and all sorts of other things like that. However, the brilliant thing about a knitting blog is that it is the one place where I do not moan about my life. No troubles shall darken the door (page) of this blog! Only the knitting matters!

Now, if only I had more knitting to show. The latest secret pal contest asks us to show all our WIPs. At the moment, I have three:
You know, I really don't like earth tones quite as much as this picture would suggest. It must be time to invest in some intense red or purple yarn.

This is My Very First Sweater. It was never quite completed.
I began this one way back in December, in the first month I learned to knit. I managed to a) twist all my purl stitches due to misreading instructions and b) ran out of yarn for the hood. I'm sure it could still be saved -- it's basically just a big, shapeless hoodie -- but I'm almost scared to seam it up and discover that my first jumper is a mess. Right now, it's Shroedinger's Jumper. It could be a masterpiece, or a disaster. I like to live with the delusion that my first jumper was, in fact, a masterpiece. Or, at least, it would be if it was ever completed.

Up next is Lauren. Oh, Lauren. You have turned out to be something of a bitch.
Once again, I managed to drop some key stitches and was left with something of a mess. This wrap is proving to be my emotional litmus test. If I am in a positive mood, the knitting flies by. If I have anything else on my mind, disaster strikes. I am currently living in denial with this one. I don't want to go back and try to fix it until I am willing to accept that the whole damn thing may need to be frogged again. Right now, Lauren is in a serious time out.

Finally, there is some actual progress. I'm shocked, too. After thinking about working on Soleil for ages, I finally realised that, despite having the yarn on hand, I really wasn't that enthused about the pattern. Fortunately, Interweave Knits swept in and saved the day with the Summertime Tunic. It's a very straightforward knit, perfect mindless knitting in the round.
I'm not thrilled with the ribbing, which seems to be one of my knitting weaknesses. It never looks even, no matter how careful I think I am with the tension. However, I'm back to straight stockinette now, and I'm hoping that a bit of blocking will sort it out.

I'm already starting to look around with increasing desperation for my next pattern. I need a break from all this simple knitting with tough cotton! I think I'm about to start a shrug made with some handpainted alpaca, so hopefully there will soon be an addition to my WIP list.

Secret Pal Contest #5: My fave knitting spot

Secret Pal 10 asks the question: What is my favourite knitting spot?

Well, I don't really have a fave spot, in the sense that I have created a specific environment that nurtures my knitting and best allows me to relax and enjoy the craft. I don't seem to have a house set up for such an ideal spot, Instead, I do my knitting where I do most of my activities: in bed. I wish my life were as dirty as that sentence makes it sound.

There are several factors that contribute to this. Firstly, I am deeply, inherently lazy, and I do enjoy a proper lie-in. Also, I live in a large and very drafty house, and the downstairs rooms tend to be freezing all winter long. In an effort to keep my heating bill down and my feet warm, I am likely to be found wrapped in my duvet from October through April. Plus, I am no good at simply sitting in chairs. I have to fidget, change positions, stretch out. The bed just allows more room for my natural restlessness. Yes, I am both lazy and restless, often at the same time. It's an odd state to be in, I assure you.

I have created an entire office around my bed. I mark my papers there. I watch television. I work on my computer. Occasionally, I even sleep. And, yes, I knit. Sometimes I sit up in bed, often with a cat on my lap. Sometimes I hunch over, in a variation of yoga's child's pose, often with a cat on my shoulders. When I am being properly lazy, I even lie on my stomach, propped up on two elbows, often with a cat on my back. It's not always comfortable, but it gets the job done. This also explains why everything I make contains copious amounts of cat hair.

Someday, I will create my fantasy knitting environment. It contains a separate study, with bookshelves lined with baskets of yarn on every shelf (and a few books, of course). I will have a chaise longue, the perfect cross between a chair and a bed, where I can stretch out and still have back support. It's a red chair, by the way. I'm pretty sure of that. There, I will knit in peace and comfort. Except for the cats climbing on me at all times, of course. Some things will never change.

FO: Sahara

At long last, she is done!

Here she is in repose:


And in action:


Yarn used: Louisa Harding Kashmir Aran in 008 (Forest), 11 balls
Needles: 4mm for the body and 3.25mm for the ribbing.
Time to complete: Well, I started it at the end of March, but I took many weeks off for various reasons. This was probably 1.5 weeks of serious knitting.
Size: L, though my gauge was a bit off and it's likely somewhere between an L and XL. I know you're supposed to get exact gauge, but I'm a rebel that way.
Pattern adjustments: I added a few increases at the hip, which proved unnecessary in the end, as it is now a bit loose in the hips, though not badly so. I also lengthened it a bit between the neckline and the hip increases. I probably should have taken it in more at the waist. Right now, it has a loose, comfortable fit, and it's meant to be more body conscious.
First time: knitting in the round, doing k3tog tbl (and that's one to avoid if at all possible), knitting backwards (learned in order to avoid k3tog tbl), using a provisional cast-on

Overall, I'm very pleased with it. The neckline ended up a bit off -- it's supposed to be straight, and mine is doing an inverted V, despite my best blocking efforts. I don't think it's an obvious error, though, unless you know the pattern (of course, considering how many people are knitting Sahara these days, most knitters could spot that in a second). I suspect I needed to compensate for my longer form a bit more by making the top longer from the shoulders through the neckline. I would definitely consider knitting this again, either as a summer top in a lighter yarn or with sparkly contrasting yarn for the hem, sleeves and neckline. Not for a little while, though. I need a new challenge.

Still, my first wearable garment is completed! Hurrah!

Mail call

My first secret pal package arrived today! I have been informed that this was the non-knitting package, and it was filled with wonderful surprises: what looks like a very fun book from an author I have not read before; a coffee scented extravaganza of candles and incense; a Dorothy Perkins gift card (apparently, they have lots of great tall clothes); and a cute cat magnet. Yay, unexpected gifts!

Thank you very much, Secret Pal! I appreciate all the time that was spent putting this package together, and I'm sure I will enjoy all the items.

At last, blocking!

Is there a better feeling as a knitter than the absolute satisfaction of waiting for a piece to finish blocking? Sahara is downstairs right this minute, resting atop a towel and a piece of cardboard, carefully pinned into shape and awaiting her unveiling to the world. I feel strangely virtuous, having conquered my knitting ADD and seen a project through to its completion. Photos will follow, I'm sure, though I'm not quite sure how I'll manage to photograph myself wearing it. I live in a house nearly bereft of mirrors, and I'm not quite ready to trust Loki with the camera.

Of course, that virtuous feeling is only enhanced by the knowledge that I can move on to other projects, completely guilt-free! I started on Lauren two weeks ago, made it about a quarter of the way through, and then tried to knit while my boyfriend was in the room. I don't know what it is, but the man seems to be krytonite to my knitting. Maybe it's because we don't see each other very often (he lives an hour and a half away), and I feel secretly guilty wasting any of our limited time together knitting. Maybe it's because he's a rather chatty fellow, and I get distracted easily. Maybe he just sends out powerful dropped stitch mojo. Whatever the case, I did end up dropping a stitch, had trouble finding it in the lace pattern, ended up dropping a few more, and decided to take a break. And by take a break I mean pitch a tantrum and rip the whole thing apart.

After calming down a bit, a started again this morning and am back to about a quarter of the way through. It's a fairly quick knit on 10mm, which is still quite a step down from the 15mm called for in the pattern. The end result will, naturally, be a much closer weave than the original pattern, but I think it will still work.

Here is a close-up of the lace pattern. Someday I will figure out how to take these closeups without the shadow, but today is not that day. This was taken after carefully stretching out the yarn and holding it in place through the power of mind bullets. I'm a bit worried about how well it will block to shape. The man I bought it from said it was silk, but seeing how it didn't come with a label, I'm taking a lot on trust here. It definitely has the sheen of silk, so I'll have faith for a bit longer. Of course, if I were a practical person, I would have carefully blocked out my swatch, but that seemed far too logical for me.

When it's not stretched out, it rather resembles a shapeless green lump. Loki is not impressed, and completely fails to understand why I am paying attention to a bit of string when he is far more interesting.

You know, I did not intend to be the sort of person who always posted cat photos in their knitting blog. However, I did not anticipate what gigantic camera whores my cats would turn out to be.