Bunches of knitting done in the past week -- about 10-12 rows each day that I was able to sit down and knit. I have knit up to the second row of the fourth pattern repeat (where the first set of decreases occur). Current length is 5 3/4" chart, 6" ribbing. So that makes 38 rows, about 4 3/4"/5" done in a week.
I ROCK.
Still no piccies, sorry... flew home today, no time/inclination to upload them in the past few days, and I left my charger/uploader at school. Mebbe next week.
Today on the plane home I dropped the LAST two stitches of the LAST of the three repetitions... caught it fast, and only had to tink one row, thank goodness.
It's good I made so much progress in the past week, because given that I'm at home this week I don't anticipate getting a lot done. We'll see. I'll certainly try to make time...
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Sunday, November 12, 2006
One down, (slightly less than) one to go!
I cast off the left armwarmer on Wednesday/Thursday. Cast on the right armwarmer yesterday (Saturday). Whee!
The completed one fits pretty well. It's been a struggle not to start wearing it before the other one is done! Final length is approx 16" in the chart section, 16 1/2" in the ribbing... umm. That's rather longer than it was supposed to be... Good thing, though, because I definitely like it as long as it is.
I thought that just finishing with one knit row and 7 rows of ribbing after the thumbhole would be plenty to make it long enough, but I ended up doing 9 rows of ribbing before binding off. If I'd known I probably would've knit three rows of chart before starting the ribbing. Oh well. It looks fine as is. I used the sewn bind-off, which was surprisingly easy and the results of which I quite liked. I think I'll definitely use that one in the future as well.
There are a couple of holes and some laddering loose stitches (mostly on the top/bottom ribbing), but all in all it looks pretty good. I'm proud. :)
Today I completed the last of the seven beginning rows of ribbing for the second gauntlet. It's currently an inch long.
Sorry no pictures at the moment; I took some but haven't had the chance to upload them... maybe next week.
The completed one fits pretty well. It's been a struggle not to start wearing it before the other one is done! Final length is approx 16" in the chart section, 16 1/2" in the ribbing... umm. That's rather longer than it was supposed to be... Good thing, though, because I definitely like it as long as it is.
I thought that just finishing with one knit row and 7 rows of ribbing after the thumbhole would be plenty to make it long enough, but I ended up doing 9 rows of ribbing before binding off. If I'd known I probably would've knit three rows of chart before starting the ribbing. Oh well. It looks fine as is. I used the sewn bind-off, which was surprisingly easy and the results of which I quite liked. I think I'll definitely use that one in the future as well.
There are a couple of holes and some laddering loose stitches (mostly on the top/bottom ribbing), but all in all it looks pretty good. I'm proud. :)
Today I completed the last of the seven beginning rows of ribbing for the second gauntlet. It's currently an inch long.
Sorry no pictures at the moment; I took some but haven't had the chance to upload them... maybe next week.
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Allllmmmmoooosttt there...
I am on row 5 of the eighth pattern repetition. This is the part with the thumbhole. I'm a little annoyed because I was finally getting my tension down and now with all of this purling back I think it's wonky again. But oh well...
I'm really really close. I hope to be done by the end of this week, if all goes well (knock on wood). It'll be a bit of a push, maybe... seven more rows of the eighth repeat, then three to six of a ninth chart repetition, then sevenish of ribbing... that makes about seventeen to twenty altogether. I can do six to eight rows in a lecture, of which I have two this week, so that makes twelve to sixteen... then I will get another four rows or so done at knitting group if it meets next Sunday. So probably I'll do sixteen to twenty rows this week. I might have to put in a little overtime to finish it, but barring something going massively wrong (again, knock on wood) I think I'll have one down, one to go by the next time I write. Wheee!
Current length: approx 13 1/2" in the chart section, 14 1/4 " in the ribbing. So progress from the last week is seventeen rows, 2 3/4"/3" in length.
I'm really really close. I hope to be done by the end of this week, if all goes well (knock on wood). It'll be a bit of a push, maybe... seven more rows of the eighth repeat, then three to six of a ninth chart repetition, then sevenish of ribbing... that makes about seventeen to twenty altogether. I can do six to eight rows in a lecture, of which I have two this week, so that makes twelve to sixteen... then I will get another four rows or so done at knitting group if it meets next Sunday. So probably I'll do sixteen to twenty rows this week. I might have to put in a little overtime to finish it, but barring something going massively wrong (again, knock on wood) I think I'll have one down, one to go by the next time I write. Wheee!
Current length: approx 13 1/2" in the chart section, 14 1/4 " in the ribbing. So progress from the last week is seventeen rows, 2 3/4"/3" in length.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Still going...
Got a bunch done this weekend because I sat through three hours of lectures on Saturday. I saw two other women knitting there and was highly amused.
Current status: Two rows left in the sixth pattern repetition, which includes the second set of repetitions. Chart section is about 10 3/4" long; ribbing is 11 1/4". That means that I knitted two and a half repeats this week -- much more than I calculated as my average last week! -- and added 4" in length to the chart, 4 1/4" to the ribbing. Hmm... I'm knitting the ribbing as tightly as I can... I must've started to knit the chart more tightly as well. I'll try to loosen up on that.
I wouldn't think that eight stitches is that much of a decrease, but the gauntlet visibly tapers. It fits quite nicely. I think I'd have liked it a little tighter at the initial ribbing, but I was messing with DPNs for the first time while knitting that so the relative looseness of it isn't surprising.
I'm getting a little nervous that the skein won't last me for the whole gauntlet. Good thing I bought three skeins rather than two. But we'll see.
Today nobody came to the knitting group. I was sad, but at least I got all of that knitting done on Saturday to make up for what I didn't get done today (I just did one row while waiting to see if anyone was going to show up).
Current status: Two rows left in the sixth pattern repetition, which includes the second set of repetitions. Chart section is about 10 3/4" long; ribbing is 11 1/4". That means that I knitted two and a half repeats this week -- much more than I calculated as my average last week! -- and added 4" in length to the chart, 4 1/4" to the ribbing. Hmm... I'm knitting the ribbing as tightly as I can... I must've started to knit the chart more tightly as well. I'll try to loosen up on that.
I wouldn't think that eight stitches is that much of a decrease, but the gauntlet visibly tapers. It fits quite nicely. I think I'd have liked it a little tighter at the initial ribbing, but I was messing with DPNs for the first time while knitting that so the relative looseness of it isn't surprising.
I'm getting a little nervous that the skein won't last me for the whole gauntlet. Good thing I bought three skeins rather than two. But we'll see.
Today nobody came to the knitting group. I was sad, but at least I got all of that knitting done on Saturday to make up for what I didn't get done today (I just did one row while waiting to see if anyone was going to show up).
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Still moving forward...
Progress picture!
You can't really see the pattern well there, but oh well.
I have started the FOURTH REPEAT (I am 4 rows in right now), aka where things get slightly more interesting because I start decreasing (just 4 stitches over 12 rows, nothing major). I tried to put a lifeline in after the end of the third repeat (which I finished in class on Wednesday), but didn't manage it. The stitches are tight enough on the needles that I had to slip them onto the yarn needle, and then back onto a knitting needle from the yarn needle, and in doing so I started dropping stitches (thank god for the lifeline that was then threaded through them!). They were a bitch to pick up again (one got pulled THROUGH the stich below it, the chart work is so tight), and a bitch to get the lifeline through in the first place, and so I gave up. I'll probably rue the day when I drop another stitch... but oh well.
The chart section is now 6 3/4", and the ribbing is 7", meaning that a) I have knitted another 2 1/2" on each section, and b) my strategy of making my row gauges on the chart vs. the ribbing more even by knitting the ribbing really tightly has worked. I've knitted about a repeat and a half in the last week. Four rows at knitting group today. If I keep doing about 4 rows/hour, I'll manage something slightly over a repeat each week (assuming 3 hours class time in which I'm partly knitting, partly taking notes, and 1 hour dedicated knitting with my knitting group), and should be done with this gauntlet in about a month. Looks like that scarf for Grandma won't be done in time for Christmas, but oh well, I can always give it to her another time.
You can't really see the pattern well there, but oh well.
I have started the FOURTH REPEAT (I am 4 rows in right now), aka where things get slightly more interesting because I start decreasing (just 4 stitches over 12 rows, nothing major). I tried to put a lifeline in after the end of the third repeat (which I finished in class on Wednesday), but didn't manage it. The stitches are tight enough on the needles that I had to slip them onto the yarn needle, and then back onto a knitting needle from the yarn needle, and in doing so I started dropping stitches (thank god for the lifeline that was then threaded through them!). They were a bitch to pick up again (one got pulled THROUGH the stich below it, the chart work is so tight), and a bitch to get the lifeline through in the first place, and so I gave up. I'll probably rue the day when I drop another stitch... but oh well.
The chart section is now 6 3/4", and the ribbing is 7", meaning that a) I have knitted another 2 1/2" on each section, and b) my strategy of making my row gauges on the chart vs. the ribbing more even by knitting the ribbing really tightly has worked. I've knitted about a repeat and a half in the last week. Four rows at knitting group today. If I keep doing about 4 rows/hour, I'll manage something slightly over a repeat each week (assuming 3 hours class time in which I'm partly knitting, partly taking notes, and 1 hour dedicated knitting with my knitting group), and should be done with this gauntlet in about a month. Looks like that scarf for Grandma won't be done in time for Christmas, but oh well, I can always give it to her another time.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Phew.
I had to undo 12 rows (that's a whole repeat!), but I fixed the dropped-stitch mess and started knitting forward again. Currently I'm almost done with the second of three initial pattern repeats. The chart section is about 4 1/4" long; the ribbing is 4 1/2".
The knitting (well, fiber arts) group I organized met today for the first time. Of the four interested people, one only showed up briefly and then had to leave, one forgot about it, and the third person (other than me) came because he doesn't know how to knit and wants to learn. So I taught him to cast on and knit today, using leftover acrylic and the crappy plastic size 8 needles from my scarf. While he worked on things, I played with other leftover acrylic and my new(ish) Clover size 9 bamboo straights. They're okay -- kind of short, and the points are blunter than I like -- but hey, I got them for like $2, so I can't really complain. They feel great in my hands, certainly.
The knitting (well, fiber arts) group I organized met today for the first time. Of the four interested people, one only showed up briefly and then had to leave, one forgot about it, and the third person (other than me) came because he doesn't know how to knit and wants to learn. So I taught him to cast on and knit today, using leftover acrylic and the crappy plastic size 8 needles from my scarf. While he worked on things, I played with other leftover acrylic and my new(ish) Clover size 9 bamboo straights. They're okay -- kind of short, and the points are blunter than I like -- but hey, I got them for like $2, so I can't really complain. They feel great in my hands, certainly.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
Progress undone. :(
Dropped a stitch. In trying to rip back to fix it (I don't have a crochet hook and anyway wouldn't know how to handle a dropped stitch in a patterned knit), dropped a few more. Am now slooooowly ripping back until all stitches are back on the needle correctly. I've undone like 5 rows already. Sigh.
Due to that disaster, I haven't been feeling good about knitting, so I haven't worked much to fix it or anything. I figure I'll just keep plugging away at it in class.
On the bright side, I organized a knitting group in my dorm! :) It looks like there'll only be 3-4 of us, but it should still be fun.
Due to that disaster, I haven't been feeling good about knitting, so I haven't worked much to fix it or anything. I figure I'll just keep plugging away at it in class.
On the bright side, I organized a knitting group in my dorm! :) It looks like there'll only be 3-4 of us, but it should still be fun.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Progress!
Here's what my knitting looked like a week ago:
Here's what it looks like as of today:
Yay for progress!
Lucky me, I have a lecture class this quarter in which I can sit and knit. It's about 2-3 hours/week, so I have time to get stuff done! I'm also going to start looking into getting a knitting group together in my dorm.
The chart section of the left gauntlet is about 4" long, and the ribbing is about 4 3/4" (yikes; here's hoping they don't start to pucker because I really don't want to mess with short rows. I'm currently 5/6 of the way through the second of three pattern repeats. The knitting on chart rows is sometimes tough. I've come to hate M1B (M1R). I can do M1F (M1L) fairly easily most of the time now, though, and the decreases were never really a problem, so hey, at least it's a start. I'm getting a little laddering, but mostly at the very beginning of the gauntlet. And there's a weird little hole partway up the middle of the chart section, where I think I messed up. But otherwise, things look fine. I am a little paranoid about what may happen later if I have to do short rows, so I think I'll stick a lifeline in the last row of the third repeat. But who knows if I'll really need it.
...
*knocks on wood*
Here's what it looks like as of today:
Yay for progress!
Lucky me, I have a lecture class this quarter in which I can sit and knit. It's about 2-3 hours/week, so I have time to get stuff done! I'm also going to start looking into getting a knitting group together in my dorm.
The chart section of the left gauntlet is about 4" long, and the ribbing is about 4 3/4" (yikes; here's hoping they don't start to pucker because I really don't want to mess with short rows. I'm currently 5/6 of the way through the second of three pattern repeats. The knitting on chart rows is sometimes tough. I've come to hate M1B (M1R). I can do M1F (M1L) fairly easily most of the time now, though, and the decreases were never really a problem, so hey, at least it's a start. I'm getting a little laddering, but mostly at the very beginning of the gauntlet. And there's a weird little hole partway up the middle of the chart section, where I think I messed up. But otherwise, things look fine. I am a little paranoid about what may happen later if I have to do short rows, so I think I'll stick a lifeline in the last row of the third repeat. But who knows if I'll really need it.
...
*knocks on wood*
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