Tuesday, February 05, 2013

And just a short two years later...a knitted thing.

Hey! Remember how I used to knit? Yeah, me too. I think I've started every knitting post in the last handful of years this way.

Oh how I've gone astray. 

Until such time as there's a road trip, however. And you know we just went on a road trip

Evidence of a true road trip: Combos in every tragic flavor. I like the cheddar cheese pretzel ones because I, at the same time, sort of hate myself.

Also, we saw this Biggest Machine Ever digging a hole to China. I can only assume.
And that is basically the sum total of the photos I took from the road because I was alternating between rampant illness management (Bubba and I both got the plague before we left. Hey THANKS CES for infecting us all.) and knitting the forever-taking #3 Sweater.

Why #3?

Well, because first there was this one

Sweater #1 from the Leaf Tshirt pattern that no longer exists on Ravelry. Rude.

Then there was this one.

Sweater #2 from the Leaf Tshirt pattern in which I ditched the leaf and gave it sleeves.


Why, hello October 2011, fancy meeting you here IN 2013 GEEZ WHERE HAS MY LIFE GONE?

Which, in the end, looks nothing like the first one at all.

Sweater #3. Everything different except the raglan shaping.

In the sense that it has short sleeves instead of cap sleeves, 1x1 ribbed cuffs instead of rolled cuffs, shaping at the hips and no leaf pattern at all.

Because, apparently, I became all I Don't Know About This Rolled Cuff Thing as I was getting to the bottom of the sweater and decided that I didn't want that dumb cuff rolling up on me like so much roller shade. 

As you can see in Sweater #2, that rolled cuff is no joke. It wants to roll like friggen crazy. Hate that. 

But - that brings me to the Important Knitting Thing That I Learned during the knitting of this, my #3 Sweater from this pattern - you can totally take out a cast-off row for a do-over

So, like, for example only, you *think* that you've knit the thing long enough, so you happily and full of relief and joy cast the thing off only to find that, once trying it on, it's actually about half a foot too short - you can cast that final row back ON and resume knitting until such time as you've deluded yourself into thinking, once again, that it's "totally long enough, I'm so DONE with this sunuvabitching project" and you cast off again.

Repeat as necessary until such time as it *is* actually long enough or you've worn the yarn into dust and can no longer knit it lest it disintegrate fully in your fingers.

For example only.

The danger of me now knowing that I can totally undo and redo a cast-off row is that Sweater #2 back there is in jeopardy of being reworked. 

Because I hate that muther effing rolled bottom cuff and I think it needs redoing otherwise I'll never wear it because the thing turns into a tube top in five seconds when I'm wearing it which is not the look I'm going for in winter when I'm putting on a sweater. Or in the hottest summer months when I'm sweating just wrestling on the Boston Marathon Strangler.

I don't wear tube tops is what I'm saying.

Also, I think I may have knit this sweater a bit too long. It either needs to be about six inches longer so that I can wear it with leggings or about six inches shorter so that it can rest at the top of my jeans and not get all HEY I'M A FATTY around the middle. 

Perhaps I should stop taking sweater photos during PMS time. Yes, perhaps.

Anyway, I finished this #3 Sweater for the time being and since classes resume next week, I don't imagine that I'll have fuck all for time to go undoing it and redoing it and then messing with the other sweater even though I'd like to be wearing them both RIGHT NOW because it has suddenly gotten cooler again.

And here I thought it was going to be spring now.

First daffodil right there. And the "Circle of Friends" that I recently exhumed from the future hop yard.

Yeah - hop yard. We'll get to that soon enough.

6 comments:

  1. You are already cooler than I am. I've only made one sweater for myself and that was before we moved to California. I have no need for that sweater out here. None. I can wear it if/when we go back to Wisconsin but it's not for out here. Way too heavy.

    With that said, I do have a couple sweaters on my Year of Projects list and we'll see if I get that far...

    Also, you don't look like a fatty. I, personally, think it's the perfect length. Any shorter and you put a line in the midst of the hourglass shape which renders it useless...and any longer and you get to say phrases like, "hey, look at my ass!" which you may or may not want to do. Just a thought :)

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  2. I must admit that my mind totally wandered during all the knitty talk--since that's totally Not My Thing--but I did notice that in the first two photos, taken during your time in corporate world, you're wearing skirts and awesome fancy boots (LOVE THOSE BOOTS). And now? Now it's jeans. And maybe shiny red muck boots on your feet? I wouldn't be surprised.

    Why yes, Finny, I think you might just be well on your way to being a farmer.

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  3. That little roller shade comment cracked me up. Great knitting! I think it's the perfect length. But then, I'm an old lady.

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  4. Purty! Remember when you tried to teach me how to crochet? Epic fail! (mine) I'm totally in agreement with Thimbleanna, the roller shade comment was classic Finny. Beautiful knitted things. Looking forward to sweater 4 in 2015.

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  5. Ooooh, I love sweater #3 and you should definitely go back to sweater #2 and put an end cuff on it.

    I do wear crop tops and tube tops. If I'm not leaving the house on a day in summer, I wear spandex shorts and a spandex crop tube top that's essentially a bandeau. But that's because I hate to have anything touch my skin (remember, I fully agree with you on the "shoes are for other people" thing). And long sleeves plus rolled-up hem would make me insaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaane.

    I might be there anyway.

    But yesyesyes, go make #2 sweater soemthing you'll wear, because you should wear that, it is lovely otherwise.

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  6. I learned all about that "rolling up" thing with my first pair of fingerless mitts. Now I get this bulky bit where the finger-end of the mitts rolls into the palm of my hand.

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[2013 update: You can't comment as an anonymous person anymore. Too many douchebags were leaving bullshit SPAM comments and my inbox was getting flooded, but if you're here to comment in a real way like a real person, go to it.]

Look at you commenting, that's fun.

So, here's the thing with commenting, unless you have an email address associated with your own profile, your comment will still post, but I won't have an email address with which to reply to you personally.

Sucks, right?

Anyway, to remedy this, I usually come back to my posts and post replies in the comment field with you.

But, if you ever want to email me directly to talk about pumpkins or shoes or what it's like to spend a good part of your day Swiffering - shoot me an email to finnyknitsATgmailDOTcom.

Cheers.