June 03, 2006

Here's the Nutty Novice in me

Okay, maybe I'm slightly boring (ie: knitting the same pattern again so soon after finishing it the first time) or maybe its the almost perfectionist in me, but I've cast on to make D2 another placket sweater. Well, really here comes the NOVICE part of my knitting. So I washed and blocked the first sweater which had fit her absolutely perfectly before washing. And well, I couldn't even get the sucker over her head! Somehow, my bound off neckline shrunk in the wash (is this just something I should have known would happen?). I couldn't force it over her giant head even with the buttons undone and really trying. (Poor kid!) And well, I'm not one to figure out how to unbind it and redo it. And I feel like it just fit her now when we're entering summer and she'll wear it probably twice when its freakishly cold. SO, to make a short story long, I started over. I'm going to make it slightly bigger so hopefully it will fit her this fall and I'll bind off more loosely this time. I'm using the Bernat Cotton Tots yarn in Strawberry (almost the same color as the pink Crayon). We'll see how it goes this time. But I'm also excited about improving upon my first one. I love the frog buttons but they are slightly big and didn't fit through the knit stitches very well. But thanks to me learning about the YO in the eyelet round of the hat I just finished I think I might throw a couple little eyelet holes into the neckline (look at me go!) so that I can button the sweater easier and it won't just look like a stretched out knit stitch when its unbuttoned.

To ramble on further because I know you're riveted by my post so far. I have noticed that in the other knitting blogs I've glanced at, no one uses um, how shall I put this, "Michael's" type yarn. You are all very selective about your yarn choices (and they are quite beautiful colors and textures, I must add!). I feel very cheap/inexperienced using the yarn I can get at Michael's in my projects. But I also 1) have no knowledge of yarns or how they might knit up, 2) pretty much mostly have knitted baby things so far and therefore would like them to be washable yarns, and 3) have absolutely no budget to go buying wonderfully expensive yarns! I so wish I could and maybe some day after I grow tired of the stuff from Michael's. But I do love seeing the pictures of all the beautiful yarn you guys buy! I aspire to be you someday!

1 comment:

allisonmariecat said...

I'm trying to type something nice and supportive, and maybe even informative, but I'm still cracking up over D2's "giant head." Ha!

Okay, I'm back. Eh, sometimes things like that happen. It's hard to tell sometimes what'll happen until you wash it. I tend to bind off too tightly in general (picture me trying to yank a sweater over Matt's poor ears), so I bind off with a larger needle, or two needles held together, if I'm concerned. Maybe that partcular yarn shrinks a tad, so you need to bind off extra loosely? I like the eyelet idea, though.

I'm a little bit of a yarn snob, I admit. I like knitting with nice yarns and trying new yarns. I'm not much of an acrylic fan. But that's why I like Knitpicks...nice yarns for low prices, so not much of a risk to try a new one. Lots of washable stuff. You know...I should put together a package for you with leftover yarn from projects. I never know what to do with them, and I have a bag full. Then you could try some of my favorite stuff without having to buy and catch things you like on sale (like at yarn.com). (Ooh, project! Fun!)