Phase II

The first attempt went well with using the medium sized shallow bowl, but it still wasn't quite big enough, so the next step was a dinner plate.  Had to really sweet talk it to get it over the plate and the whole while i was saying, "Thank God I didn't drop any stitches' LOL ... if i had, I would've seen them then LOL ...
I put this on the dinner plate last nite, re-sprayed it with my spray bottle - this am it was damp on the underside that was resting on the towel, so its been flipped and just waiting for it to dry out totally before i try it again :)  I think its gonna be okay :D  woot woot woot .. now to decide on the scarf .. course you know i've changed my mind on it LOL

Blocked Salvage Attempt

I've decided to try n salvage my poor beanie beret ... blocking should hopefully fix this.  Granted it IS acrylic yarn, but should be able to be shaped regardless.   I used a shallow bowl that we use for pasta or chicken caesar salads, force-fed it onto the bowl and wet the edges, and dampened the rest.  I know i should prolly apply heat, but will battle that later.  Let's see if this happens to work at all this way.  Keep ur fingers crossed for me please <3

umm .. blech n yuck :(

Nope, do NOT like how this turned out at all!  Doesn't look like the pattern pic at all ... and of course i think to look at the project pictures that other members posted AFTER i finished. Seems that im not the only one that ended up with this funky shape :S   This isn't a pattern that naturally shapes into a beret like the one i wrote does, but has to be blocked over a plate .. if this was done in a wool blend, then that would be an awesome idea .. but its 100% pure acrylic ..
So off to ravelry i go again to find an actual beret, i've enough of this yarn kicking round that i should be able to make up another one as this one used maybe ½ the skein. And worse comes to worse, i can ditch one of the scarf patterns i had picked. Maybe I won't need to do two scarves, if i manage to find another beret pattern i like that uses worsted / aran weight yarn.
im just so disappointed that this turned out this way.  I know i followed the pattern exactly and i knit to gauge, so not an issue at my end .. // kicks desk and sulks a bit :'(

I'm going to block this and see how it turns out .. can't be any worse than it is now, right??  Off to find a bowl / plate i can use for this .. ahhh i know ...the shallow bowls we use for pasta should be perfect me thinks :D

Decreases Started

Cables Started

Finally making some progress!! And im enjoying getting back to knitting too! I'm not as fond of this pattern as i thought i would be - i tend to like more detailed and textured patterns, but this isn't to bad ... most of my friends think im crazy because i like working cables :D Im thinking im going to have to do 3 repeats of the base pattern instead of 2, because of the amount of hair i have. Figure one cable set is 3" roughly and it twice it might be to snug of a fit ... just have to see when i get that far .. maybe later on today???

Fingers Twitching

Forgive me blog, for i have sinned. It’s been 1 ¹/₂ years since my last post :| Hard to believe its been that long, but it has .. oi vay! Where has the time gone! It seems so much longer since my last post, but according to my blog - last post was june 8, 2010 - but before that it was Feb 1, 2010, so almost 2 years really .. now that feels right!
But i’m back .. bought some more yarn (I srsly need a scarf n hat) I saw my hat n scarf not that long ago, but of course when i go to use them ... they aren’t there :| So - I bought more yarn and have picked my patterns for a beret hat and a really nice lacy type scarf.
I've had both of these in my queue forever tho on ravelry. Beckett Beret Pattern and since i couldn’t decide on what scarf, im making both of these - Double Day Flower Scarf and Agave Scarf.  I wished that the designer of the hat or scarf had made a pattern for its mate .. but course not, so i got to pick ones that were close enough to the other.

The yarn i got is soooo soft and of course its purple ;) i bought 3 100g skeins and each should take up 1 skein each :D  i've a few other patterns in my queue that i would rather do, but they aren't the right weight (i swear i'm cursed LOL)  but im thinking these are close enough in pattern that they should compliment each other nicely!  I've pulled out my needles for the hat.  I prefer to use circulars and to make sure i'm not pulling it to tight, i use 2 circs :)  I could use DPNs, but meh ... i prefer the circs - just easier all around to use.  I was hoping to start this tonite - i prolly still could, but would be up all night knitting if i did that .. heh ..not that I've never done THAT before!  Im thinking with the YOs and the cabling it shouldn't take me more than a day or two to get the beret done once i get back into the groove of knitting again .. and the scarf shouldn't take much longer than that.  i was gonna do mittens, but not sure bout the casting off at the fingers as i like the combination glove / mitten kind ... i find that extra bit tends to keep your fingers that wee bit warmer :) and i can have finger mobility when needed .. i'm telling you i suffered a bit last winter with having to take my gloves off while txting ...bloody touch screens LOL  really dont want to have to live thru that again .. so gloves might take me a wee bit longer .. I think im gonna need another skein .. or i give up on one of the scarves .. hmmm .. naw .. another skein works for me 

updated 12.29.11 -  I've grabbed another skein and lucky me it was the same dye lot!  Last one mind you, but i've got it at least .. so i'm hoping to make the beret, scarf (at least one) and a pair of mittens ;)

Time and my game plan has passed ...

No matter what kind of notes you make for yourself, if you don't touch a project for 4 months, you essentially have to start from the beginning to figure out where exactly you are .. and even then you might not figure it out :| // sigh

Just after the New Year, life got busy for myself and my friends; one bought a house and moved, another was involved in a belly dancing show and i had my own personal health issues that were taking over aspects of my life. So the fun stuff gets put away for a while.

fast forward 4 months ...

Knatter is back!!!! W00t w00t w00t .. I'm just beyond tickled, seems like forever since i've seen my friends (and i work with one) Needless to say, the first knatter all we did was graze and talk all nite - i think i pulled my knitting out the bag, but can't say for sure ..

The following week, I pulled out my knitting, took a look at where i was, and started to scratch my head .. i knew where i was, but what was i supposed to do now?? Figured it out, did a row or two yes it took me almost all nite to figure it out .. , then had the same issue the following week, and the one after that .. so pfft .. i give up .. start again ..

If you remember this pattern has been having me scratch my head from day one! They say this pattern is written in american english, but not sure what america they are talking about .. some of the terminology ...

so a painful decision was reached .. frog the side and start again .. this time i'll be doing both sides together so I can do the same thing immediately on each side .. I normally do that, but I was afraid I would start going backwards or the wrong way with the cabling pattern. Boy did that get me far LOL

Anywho .. this is now frogged, and at tonite's knatter, I'll be casting on again - but with two sides!