Not a Total Betty But a Vast Improvement

Update:  Cream Zippy Cardigan is seamed, ends are all woven in, and it's in the washing machine.  Did I tell you I used a Lion Brand Pound of Love (100% Acrylic) for this one?  For my sister's sanity I chose a yarn that is machine-washable and is, in fact, also machine dry-able as well.  I'm testing the washing instructions out before I sew in the zipper.


I have also completed the first pair of baby leg warmers!


So close to two more FOs for the year ... I feel guilty counting the baby leg warmers, but hey, who said all masterpieces had to be colossal?  I've seen the Mona Lisa, and she, my friends, is no bigger than an 8'' x 10''.


Mrs. Pi 

Perseverance

I'd like to put on record that if I thought weaving in ends was the most tedious of all knit-related tasks, I was wrong.  So very wrong.


It took me through the last quarter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and the entire length of the movie Coraline (on ABC Family) last night to seam up just one side and arm of the Cream Zippy Cardigan.  I will admit that I am a perfectionist and had to back-track a few times to make it look just right,

(see how thick the seam looks?  I suspect I may have accidentally seamed a full stitch in instead of a half-stitch) 

and it was particularly tricky around the cabled section, 

The cables had to meet in the armpit, didn't they?

and there were times when the pieces didn't seem to fit together just right - but come on.  Three hours for one side?  Tedium to beat all tediums.  


This morning, I've made it up the other side seam and nearly to the end of the other sleeve, during most of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the beginning of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (again, ABC Family.  God bless them for their HP marathons).

Seaming is the most excruciating exercise I've endured in my life.  Akin to scratching "I must not tell lies" in the back of my hand with a quill.


What's worse: I had a moment of extreme temptation.  Last night it took all my willpower not to abandon my task.


I was frustrated with my plastic yarn needle.
  

At some point one of the cats decided to chew off the sharpish tip of it, so the "new" tip is more blunt (blunter?) and squared-offish.
  

See?  There are even kitty chew marks.


It tends to split the yarn and is more difficult to use.  I got annoyed enough with it that I ran upstairs to try to sift through my supplies and find the other one (they come in packs of two).  


I didn't find the other needle, but what I did find was a renewed love of my stash yarn.  "Oh! This! I forgot about this! I love this! This is soooo lovely! And this one - ohhhh I saw a pattern on Ravelry that this would be just perfect for ..."  Etc. etc. etc.


But my sister's voice rang clear in my ears, and I promised myself I would finish the Cream Zippy Cardigan this weekend.  Those other projects will have to wait and serve as a reward for my perseverance.


What's your experience with seaming?  Any tips?  Words of encouragement?  Does it get easier?


Mrs. Pi

Progress = Success

Eighteen days left in March, and I'm well on my way to KOing three more SOs:


1.  This is the "Cream Baby Sweater" I so creatively mentioned in the 2012 FO Post:

You might have guessed that's not the real name of it.  I'm following a pattern from the book Teach Yourself To Knit by Evie Rosen and Leisure Arts.  It'll be a zip-up hooded baby jacket, although I beg to differ with the "jacket" part of that description.  It's still sweater-weight.  Perhaps they define "jacket" by having a zipper and a hood.  Zippy cardigan, I say!

(There's no way you could know this, but I just spent a good twenty minutes searching twenty some-odd pages of knitting books on Joann.com to find that link.  It would have taken five seconds to run upstairs to the craft room to fetch it.)

I'm knitting size 4, so it's not truly a baby sweater.  We'll see if it fits my 2-year old niece ... I have no concept of sizing for children.  Will it be too small?  Will it be too big?  Will it fit just right?  Will it fit, but need a little bit of rolling at the cuffs?  This last scenario is ideal, because that means she could probably wear it this Spring and also this upcoming fall.  Then, if she's not messy, she can pass it on to her little sister (turning one in November)!

I still need to finish the collar and hood, and seam this baby up.  Oh, and sew in a zipper.

The zipper's going to be the most challenging part for me.  I've never sewn into one of my knit items before.  I remember reading (and apparently NOT starring) a helpful blog article on this very topic:

http://splityarn.com/2011/03/27/easiest-knitted-zipper-install-ever.html 


You don't know this, but it took me quite some time to search my Google Reader feed for that.  I'm just not on my game today.  Article starred, mental note to order some blocking wires.  Riddle me this: Why don't the big-box craft stores sell the most essential knitting tools?


I don't know the answer.  I'm rather like The Mad Hatter in that way.


2.  Baby legwarmers:

I know, they weren't on the list.  In fact, take a lap in my craft room and you'll see there were lots of SOs that weren't on that list.  I have my work cut out for me!

My sister, M, requested knitted legwarmers for both her girls.  Again, I have no concept of baby sizing, so we'll see if this pair fits - oldest or youngest, I'm not picky.  I figure they've got to fit one of the girls.  I'll bring the rest of the skein with me and whip up a pair for the other.  

Oh, did I mention I'm taking a weekend trip to Virginia to visit my nieces (and sister and brother-in-law) in a few weeks?  These sort of trips always inspire a frenzy of knitting activity for me.  It's a productive way to handle the excitement!

Last time I was there, I cranked out these babies:

Nope, not literal human babies.  Although, here's one, modeling the smaller of the two hats:

The shirt truly says it all :)  Sweet girl!


3.  Hedgerow Socks

This picture does the color so much better justice than the first time I mentioned my Hedgerow Socks.

I know it doesn't look like I've progressed too far from the last time I updated you on this SO, but what you can't see is that I was originally planning on revising this pattern to make these knee-high socks.  I started with a few staggered increases for my calves, got a fair bit done, then decided I didn't like my adjustment and had to rip out quite a bit of the progress, back to before I started increasing.

From there, I continued down the ankle, and have gotten so far as to start the heel flap.  So they'll be more like trouser socks.

There you have it!  I've made progress on three of my SOs since last we met!  Yay!


In other news:

No, we're not trying (euphemism for having unprotected sex), but one day we will be trying (having unprotected sex) and I want my body to be a healthy place to grow a baby!    Mr. Pi, sweet, sensitive, thoughtful man that he is, brought these home from the grocery store for me :)  Did I mention I struck gold in the husband department?  I mean platinum.


As a final PSA, don't forget, tomorrow's Pi Day 3/14.  Hug a math nerd, or enjoy a slice :)


Mrs. Pi


P.S. To cite my reference in the title of this post, the start page of my Google Chrome browser shows a thumbnail of facebook, but the caption was "Progress = Success".  So weird.  But relevant to my blog, so I'll bogart it.