Just keep truckin'...

Neckline is dropped. Sweater is joined in the round and the first repeat of the lace pattern is finished. Tomorrow, I'll take this off needles to try and and see how close I am to putting the sleeves on waste yarn. My arm hurts from patting myself on the back: the stitches I picked up for the collar are seamless with what was already knit. That has never happened to me before. My pick up work isn't terrible, but you can usually tell I picked the stitches up. Today? The just melted beautifully into the existing work. I'll have to remember what I did for the future.

Finally joining in the round!

After 5 1/2" of flat knitting, I was able to join my Rusted Root for knitting in the round. (After adding back in the 38 stitches I left out in the beginning of course. I waited until after my son was in bed to be sure I wouldn't be distracted and make a stupid mistake.) I only did the join round to get things established and the lace pattern placed. Starting tomorrow, this knit should go a lot faster and I will get a better idea of how it looks. I hope I dropped the neckline low enough; when I go to add the ribbing on, it will take it back up about 1/2".

My son having been mentioned, he had a vendetta against my knitting today so I got very little done. Everytime I picked up my work to try and squeeze in a row while the baby napped, he'd come up to me and say, "Needles away?" and then ask to snuggle. *Sigh* It's hard to be a mommy sometimes, but how could I resist that? In the end, the extra day or two it takes to finish my sweater will have been worth it.

Soon, my back/leg/nerve issue should be cleared up and I'll have less time to knit anyway. I have a lot of housework to catch up on, including a very daunting pile of laundry. I do alright, but our kitchen and utility room floor cause me pain when I'm on them. Carpeting is fine, tile is not.

A good start

So far, so good on the first Rusted Root. This early on, everything seems to be going fine. Not sure about my decision to go ahead with the puffed sleeves, but they're looking like they won't be too puffy and hopefully not a huge problem. I can't remember if I saw this on Ravelry or on one of the LJ knitting communities I watch, but puffed sleeves are not a chesty girl's best friend. They can end up looking something like this:

puffPUFFpuff

It makes me giggle, anyway.

So hopefully, I will not be regretting the choice to leave the sleeve puffs in. I should have a better idea of how they'll look in a few inches when I start feeling out where I want the arm holes to end and where exactly I'm going to drop the neckline to. That has to be my one complaint about the Gals patterns; they love these high necklines that are not flattering on me in the least. Following the lead of aruzin and good karma, I plan to drop the neckline a good 5"-6" before starting the lace panel. This should be more flattering on me. Aruzin went one step farther to quickly increase the bust when she joined in the round after taking the sleeves off and I plan to do the same. I'm thinking of adding just over 2" in stitches to the front of the sweater at that point. (In order to avoid the sleeves being way too big later on, when I pick up the stitches to knit, I'll likely k2tog through them.) Unlike the other two, I plan to be even more ambitious and add a horizontal bust dart as well. Sadly, if I don't, I'll have another incident like the Green Gable and be unable to lift my arms without showing my entire belly. I've started doing the math thanks to Big Girl Knits and it looks like I'll need 3.5" of HBD in order to make sure that doesn't happen again. I don't think it will be *too* complicated if I do not psych myself out about it first. I know some have avoided adding them to this pattern thanks to the lace panel, but I've done a lot of reading that says you can add them to any sort of a pattern without it being noticed. So I'll be daring and give it a try.

I'm enjoying Cotton Fleece much more this time around. For some reason, this color is a lot softer then the Rue and nice to the touch. The fabric it's producing is much more skin friendly. I'm not sure which of these two is what CF is supposed to feel like. If this batch is, I could see myself using it more in the future and often. I live in a hot climate and they have a ton of colors to choose from. I can see myself with skirts and spring/summer cardigans in it. If it's supposed to be more stiff and scratchy like my other batch, I'd never work with it again.

I'm starting to give thought to the other RR I'll work on down the road. I'm not sure if I'll leave the lace panel in, change in a different panel, or maybe substitute in a cable to it. If I like the shape, I'll likely use it to make a cardigan down the line.

I'm always looking into the future when it comes to projects. If I can ever knit them all, I'll start to have a "respectable" wardrobe.

Finally.

First FO of 2009 is complete. I finished my brother's hat earlier this evening and felt much satisfaction in knowing I had a project that went as well as it could have. I'm a bit nervous that it will be too small for him, but I'm hoping it turns out alright and it fits. (I need to see if there's errata for that pattern because the writer claimed that one skein each of the MC and CC would make a hat or the mittens, for the largest hat size, that is definitely not true.)

Now, I've cast-one for my first of 2 or 3 Rusted Roots with some serious modifications. Will post more about that later.

Still moving...

I'll be done with this hat tomorrow at the latest and then it's time to think of what I'll work on next. It's nice to have yarn for so many projects, but also overwhelming when it comes time to pick something else and you have a dozen different ways you can go. I think I'll avoid socks for now, though one of my resolutions for the year was to drive down the sock yarn hoarde in my tote. Honestly, I never planned to be a sock knitter, and I still wouldn't consider myself one despite having knit so many pairs. I think to be an actual Sock Knitter, one has to enjoy doing them. And they are not my favorite thing to do, that's for sure. I'd rather knit sweaters in that fingering weight yarn.

Changing Direction

Couldn't bring myself to keep working on the socks. There isn't anything *wrong* with them. They're turning out lovely, but I'm just not feeling them. So, since I'm stuck being unable to do much besides lay down and I lack a laptop, I decided to change directions and work on a new project for now to stave off the boredom while my toddler gets to watch every movie his little heart desires.

I'm working on my brother's hat, and my knitting mojo seems to be refound. Guess I was bored? At the rate I'm going, it will be done in three days at the most and then it's back to the socks.

Darn.

There's a little voice in my head whispering to me. "Frog them and sell the yarn at a loss. Work on something you love. Knitting is not an obligatory thing." The voice isn't wrong, just I don't know if I want to frog and have to sell that yarn at a loss to me. On the other hand, it will get it out of my way and I won't feel this nagging guilt that I don't want to work on them. I have a few days to think it over while still being entertained with colorwork.

Not an FO...

But I thought it was time for a 2009 post. Currently working on Jaywalker socks in Cupcake from Yarn Pirate. I'm almost done with the first sock, I just finished up the gusset. Have to admit, I'm not super stoked about this knit, but I rarely am when it comes to socks. Since having to refrog my last sweater, I've been a bit "eh" about knitting right now...probably because they're all obligatory knits at the moment. I'll probably get my enthusiasm back after the next couple of projects are finished and I can get back to sweaters. Being sick likely isn't helping either.