Kimmish Knitting
Knitting... Kimmish Knitting... Is there really any more to say?

Saturday, May 20, 2006

You Know Knitting Complicated When..

You have to break out the spread sheets.

You know.. I knew when I signed on to knit the Travelling Cables Cardigan that it would be a bit of a stretch for me knit-wise.. (As oppose to purl-wise.. har har!) But I didn't think I'd have to make a spreadsheet for myself to keep my mind around the pattern.

I'm working on the left front.. and finnally this pattern is getting really.. complicated.

Just so you guys know.. I absolutely hate the phrase "AT THE SAME TIME" and this pattern says it twice in one paragraph. Then the lovely instructions for the Right Front are basically "Do it again, but the other way".. lol.

Two phrases I hate in knitting patterns:

"AT THE SAME TIME"
and
"REVERSE ALL SHAPING"

My spreadsheet is keeping track of four different things at once for me.. I know I wouldn't be able to do it on my own.. but thankfully I have set it up to tell me when to twist my cables, what row of the pattern it is, when to move the marker in for the collar, and when to increase for the collar. I'm pretty sure there is something I've forgotten but I'm willing to take that chance.

I'm seriously contemplating writing out the real instructions for the Right Front.. because "REVERSE ALL SHAPING" isn't exactly good enough for me. I like having it all spelled out so I can check off the rows once I've done them.

I'm needing more and more tools as this goes on. So far I have used, a copy of the pattern and a pen, a highlighter, seperate scratch paper, my super-duper-row-counter and a calculator. Now we add in the spreadsheet and I'm afraid of what the rest of the pattern holds in store for me.. lol.

There is another line in the pattern that scares me because I don't quite understand what it's saying:

"Work in short rows as follows: on RS row work 9, wrap next st and turn."

Now don't get me wrong, I totally get short rows but I've never done wrapping.. and I even watched a video about wrapping stitches.. but in the video she wrapped the stitch *after* she turned, not before.. so I don't understand..

But I knew going in that it would be a challenge for me...

Here's a pretty picture before it gets all scary:



You know.. it just might be time for a life line.. Here's hoping Mr. Spreadsheet and I can make it through alive! (With a pretty sweater at the end too.)
-Kim-   11:02 PM
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Thursday, May 18, 2006

Don't Worry..

I'm still alive : )

And I have to admit I'm feeling about 80% better about things.. I have completed yet another semester of college, and am holding strong onto my 4.0. (Yay another A!) I got a 100% on my final exam.. and I'm still happy about that.. lol.

I haven't been knitting much though.. I find that when I get home from work I'm just so tired.. and then in the mornings before work.. I'm just so tired.. Lol.. It's tough.

But I do knit some.. just not enought to post pictures of progress just yet. I think over the weekend I should be able to get some serious knitting time in. You know.. in between housework <: /

But ya know.. whatever.. I'm getting things done.. and our apartment is looking quite a bit better since my mom came to rescue me from the box maze. Her and Brad put up a bunch of the stuff I couldn't.. and it looks so much better. Really. It's so nice. It's not "Lets have company" nice.. but it's nice.. lol.

I still haven't tried out my new swift yet.. I should buy some yarn in hank form just so I can try it out.. Everyone is knitting lace now days.. Should I conform to the peer pressure? (I'm starting to think so.)

On mother's day we spoke with Brad's mum (She is mum, my mom is mom.. confusing? Not as much as two moms!) and she is knitting a knee length coat for herself in an aran pattern.. I told her that she needs to show me as soon as it's finished, because it sounds really exciting. I wish we lived closer to her so that I could borrow it >: )

But anyway.. I just wanted you guys to know that I'm still around and alive and I should get back to this whole blogging thing soon enough!
-Kim-   10:07 PM
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Thursday, May 04, 2006

Swift Like the Bunny..

I don't know if I ever mentioned it before now.. I honestly don't remember.. but my family friend who built my yarn box has struck again.. and he has built me a swift!

Yes.. my lonely yarn winder has a new friend..



But unfortunately he's still nakie.. I'm battling myself once again with staining vs. painting.. but for this I would tape really well and spraypaint for sure.. Brushing would just make a mess of it.. but staining could be really nice too.. I really don't know.

I haven't tried winding any yarn yet.. I only have one hank that could be wound and I heard that if you wind yarn into balls too soon it can hurt the yarn.. and I'm not ready to start on dad's socks yet.. so.. erm... I dunno.. Is it really that big of a deal to wind ahead of time? Or could I wind it into a ball and then straight back into a hank? Does anybody know?!

..I don't.. lol.

If you look into the picture of the swift and see past the swift a little.. you'll get a feel for what my life is like right now.. I know we moved over a month ago.. but I am still drowning in boxes and other assorted clutter.. it is awful.. all kinds of awful.. and I've just felt dreadful because of it.. (This is why I haven't been blogging much.) I have been knitting.. don't think that I haven't.. I just haven't wanted to do much of anything that requires time besides that.. I guess I'm tired of keeping up a "everything is allright" facade. I guess I feel like I have to do that all day at work and when I get home I just want to sit and knit and watch tv and not worry about what other people are thinking or anything like that..

Boy that sounds bad.

Anyway.. I'm sure it'll get better soon.. my final exam is this weekend so after that I won't have to worry about doing school anymore.. so I'll have more time to do things like clean and put things away (hopefully.) and then get back into blogging and chatting on the forum. I think being done with school will help me feel a lot better actually.. even though it has nothing to do with clutter.. I guess I'm just drowning under stress? Yes.. that sounds like it. The clutter just makes it 1000 times worse it seems.. I just can't ever relax.

It's agravating..

But I sure do have a nice new swift : )
-Kim-   12:56 AM
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