What to Knit, What to Knit....

It all started with the F-ING SWEATER
First there was the "F-ing Sweater." Which you can tell by the name is not a fun project. Michelle tried making the sweater, after swearing and ripping it out several times, shipped the materials home with me with a nice note that said, "Have fun Sweetie." It sounds like a nice note, but really she was saying "good luck because you are going to need it." I felt the love and took on the challenge. I thought how hard can it be? The pattern is relatively simple. The problem with the whole project is that it is cursed. I don't know who cursed it, someone at Bernat, who "gave" the pattern (and the curse) away free. Knitting pattern makers don't have to go postal to get out their frustration. Instead they make what appears to be easy patterns that are really meant to drive the knitters who attempt to make the patterns go crazy. The materials are Matrix and Boa. After you get over the whole, how the heck can a sweater be made with Matrix -which is basically a ladder open weave yarn (Hello - open weave does not a good sweater make unless you are into peep shows. Todd mentioned that it is definitely is a sweater that is mandatory to wear a bra with. Good advice for any sweater, I say :-), you have to actually work with the Matrix which is tricky because of all the openness you have to make sure you put your needles into the correct areas because it's easy to spear the middle of the yarn. The trim of the sweater is made with the boa - which also isn't the easiest to knit with due to all the fur which tends to hide the actual stitch. Now I've worked with both before and thought, no problem. I also tried to change it from working back and forth to work in a round. Who wouldn't? I love to knit, hate to sew. so there was a mere 186 stitches on the needle. Note these are painstakingly difficult to count 186 stitches. After you get the correct number with the boa, then you have to increase with the Matrix several places with smaller needles.

So here's what happened to me:
1st Attempt: My needles came apart. I have a set of interchangeable needles and they came unscrewed at I lost a bunch of stitches. Don't ask me how many because remember this stuff is hard to count!! I was upset - but hadn't gotten that far after all.

2nd Attempt: I didn't count right on the increases and when I went to go back and fix it, I lost a bunch of stitches. Damn Matrix - should be outlawed!!

3rd Attempt: I got it. I locked myself in my bedroom for 2 hours and I counted, and counted, and counted!! I thought that I had won. But no, I hadn't checked my gauge and instead of being a mere 53 inches at the bottom it was over 63"!!! What the F!!!!!!! So I wasn't going through all that again and was just going to decrease and the bottom would have just had a little flare in it - I thought it would be kind of pretty to have the bottom be loose around the bottom (Yah, I know it was a cop out, but after I'd been through with the sweater...)

Saving Grace: Michelle called and I told that she had lost weight and that wasn't the right size anymore and she wanted to give the sweater another try, if I didn't mind. If I didn't mind?!!! Hallelujah!! I'd been saved.

But on the other hand, it kind of left me without a project. Which if you've ever been in this position is kind of nerve racking. "What should I knit next" is a very difficult question when there are so many options out there. So I'm at a cross roads in my knitting, where I've finished the one project that I was doing and can't quite decide what I'm going to knit next. So I thought that I would share with you, what I'm thinking (which is the point of the blog, right? Right!). Here's the list that I have going on in my head and on my needles:

Canadian Toque

So I found this pattern at Three Kittens in the Twin Cities the last time I was there. I like the pattern - but thought that it would look cuter in Canadian Maple Leaf Red and cream. So I've started. It's going to be a difficult project because it's knit in a round, but is double layered so that you knit the outside and inside at the same time. Every other stitch on the needle is red, then cream, then red, (you get the idea). You make the pattern by twisting the yarn, so on the red side you put the cream or on the cream side you put the red. It's hard to explain - hopefully it would be as hard to knit. I had it up to the point where I was doing the pattern - but stopped when I figured out that I had twisted the yarn on needles and so I had to start over. I just restarted - but haven't gotten too far as you can see... Plus winter is so far away. I'm not excited about this project yet. I may have to stop due to nice weather.

Felted Slippers

I found the pattern in this book - that has been recommended by George, who just had to get into the picture. He's such a publicity cat (I would say hound, but George has a complex from telling him that he acts like a dog!) - as soon as he sees the camera, there he is. Who does he think he is, Vanna? Ha-ha. Anyway, I found some really nice wool to make them in (see a picture of the materials I'm going to use below) - but am going to try to put some fun furr too. Who doesn't like furry slippers? Plus I thought that it worked with the little purple purse - so should work for slippers too. I think this might be a fun, fast, and fabulous project.

Paulina Tank:


Now, I don't know who the heck Paulina is, or why she has a tank top named after her...but it is cute!! I found it on the internet and don't know if I'll make it or not, but it's cute. And I think the lines would be very good for slimming look. But it does say experienced. Hmmmm.... I just don't know. I'll think about this one for a while. The pattern is free at: http://www.berroco.com/182/182_paulina.html

More Socks?

I just don't know if I'm ready for socks again. I started them, but they've been like this for a while.

Bikini!!

By George, I think I've got it! I'll knit a bikini!!! That would be fun and new and different. Which are all things that I look for in something to knit. This pattern was on Knitty Gritty just last week - well sometime, I just watched it off my DVR the other day. The free pattern is on that site (use the link on the side of my blog and do a search for bikini and you should find it) - but if you want to check out others, go to www.knitwhits.com. The only problem is that the yarn is a cotton- elastic blend, which I haven't been able to find at the big box stores and I haven't had time to check the knitting shops near by so I will probably buy them on line and that means waiting for the yarn to get here.

What do you think about the bikini idea? They say you can use it in water, but I'm thinking that it may need to be lined (at least the top?). I have some cups from other suits that I've pretty much warn out - I thought maybe I'd steal parts and knit or sew them into place. I wonder how elastic the yarn is going to be. This could be a fun project.

Well, what do you think? Anybody have any good ideas of stuff to knit for summer?