FO Friday: Gex Sweater(s)

Happy Friday!

I'm finally getting around to posting about these little sweaters....finally finally finally.....

Pattern: Gex by A.E. Marx (Ultramariner)

Time Frame: started April 8, 2016; finished June 5, 2016

Yarn: Cascade 220 in Royal Blue and White (no idea how much...haven't weighed the balls)

Needles: US #6 (4 mm)

Size: Child 6-8 year

Modification(s): The original test knit pattern had a few things I changed. I did a slipped stitch on each end of the yoke when I would get to that point (the yoke is worked sideways using short rows) which made picking up stitches easier when I started working on the body. I also did a slipped stitch on each end as I started working back and forth on the body, again for ease of picking up for the button band. The pattern also called for a turned hem, which was just disagreeing with me so I wound up doing the stripes. I also had to make up the button holes as I went because I had a different number of stitches on the needles, due to a difference in row gauge (my nemesis!). Also, per Little Man's request, I left the buttons off this cardigan. I have the button holes in case he changes his mind but, for now, they're not there.

Thoughts: I really liked how it turned out, though there were a few things I would have changed if it hadn't been a test knit and I wasn't winging some things (like the button band, for example). I liked it so much that when I found out my brother and sister-in-law were incubating one of their own, due just after Halloween, I decided to make one for that baby.....

Pattern: (same as above)

Time Frame: started June 28, 2016; finished August 19, 2016

Yarn: Knit Picks Brava Worsted in Orange and Black ~ about 125 yds of orange and 298 yds of black

Needles: US #6 (4 mm) and US #4 (3.5 mm)

Size: Child 1-2 year

Modification(s): Some of the modifications I made on the first sweater were incorporated into the pattern and, thus, used in the second sweater, most notably the striped hem/button band. In addition to that, the designer made the striped hem/button band work around the sweater in such a way that I didn't wind up with a obvious change between the hem & button band. I also did the slipped stitch on the edges of the yoke and body for ease in picking up stitches. Also, a modification from the first one (that was specified in the finalized pattern) was the use of my US #4 needles for the stripes. And, again, different numbers of stitches picked up for the button band/hem because row gauge is my nemesis! It also means I had to figure out where to put my button holes and all that.

Thoughts: The only thing I would have changed, if I were to reknit this: the number of button holes. I think it depends on the size you're knitting but I have eight button holes and only the three buttons attached. They just looked too close together. I'm sending the remaining buttons along with the sweater and if my sister-in-law wants to attach them, she can. I also anchored the buttons, which may be part of the problem as the anchor buttons on the back were bigger, thus taking up more space along the button band.

I tried to get a proper modeled shot of this sweater but Stormageddon was less than cooperative. He's only just two years old so it's not surprising. Here were the two best shots (and "best" is a matter of opinion):

So, woohoo for the Gex sweaters. I may make a third because Stormageddon seems to think this one is his. I have enough of the yarn left that I could make one for him...or I could make one in different yarn or......

We'll see.

I hope you're having a lovely Friday :)

Y5: Self-Imposed Year of Projects - Update #32

Happy Sunday :)

It's been a big week around here and I feel like I'm crashing...but we'll talk about that in a moment. Right now, we're here to discuss my Self-Imposed Year of Projects. I'm still working on Year 5, while others are on Year 6 (update #6, if my math is correct)...but I joined the party late and, as a result, I'm exactly 6 months behind.

It works.

FOs (Finished Objects)
1. Fire Socks: started April 15, 2015; finished January 6, 2016
2. Nottingham for Stormageddon: started January 12, 2016; finished January 14, 2016
3. Design proposal for Fire Socks: started January 13, 2016; finished January 18, 2016
4. Purple merino/silk spinning (singles): started toward the end of Tour de Fleece (July 4-26, 2015); finished January 29, 2016
5. Nottingham for Little Man: started January 17, 2016; finished February 1, 2016
6. Swirl Hat: started December 16, 2015; finished February 4, 2016
7. Swatch for Marly Bird class at Stitches West: started January 8, 2016; finished February 7, 2016 (no project page)
8. Fire Socks design (the actual pattern writing & photography part): started February 6, 2016; finished February 12, 2016 (link to the preview; pattern went live on Saturday, April 2nd)
9. Mountains Beanie: started February 9, 2016; finished February 17, 2016
10. Rathmore: started February 25, 2016; finished March 4, 2016
11. Dragon's Egg Socks: started September 2, 2013; finished March 9, 2016
12. Creeper for Little Man: started March 4, 2016; finished March 10, 2016
13. Mother Bear Project #1: started February 22, 2016; finished March 12, 2016
14. Asshole Corriedale (spinning project): started March 23, 2016; finished March 24, 2016
15. Pacific Waves: started March 9, 2016; finished March 25, 2016
16. Freeport Vest Frogging: started March 29, 2016; finished March 29, 2016
17. Pacific Waves: started March 31, 2106; finished April 2, 2016
18. Vanilla Latte Socks: started November 19, 2015; finished April 6, 2016
19. Snape's Stockings: started August 20, 2014; finished April 11, 2016
20. Pacific Waves: started April 3, 2016; finished April 15, 2016
21. Creeper Hat: started April 28, 2016; finished May 4, 2016
22: Finn & Suffolk blend (spinning): started April 1, 2016; singles finished May 27, 2016; plied May 31, 2016
23. Gex for Little Man: started April 8, 2016; finished June 5, 2016
24. Bridal Shower Lace Cloth: started June 20, 2016; finished June 27, 2016
25. TdF 1: 25%/25%/50% purple merino/silk & white merino (~ 540 yds; ~ 8 oz; DK/lt. worsted): started during TdF last year and finished the purple singles January 29, 2016; started the white last weekend, plied them on July 4, 2016
26. TdF 2: 25%/25%/50% leftover purple merino/silk & leftover kelly green merino (~ 20 yds; unknown weight; DK/lt. worsted): leftover bits that were plied on July 4, 2016
27. TdF 3: 100% merino, 50% hot pink, 50% grey (~ 50 yds; ~ 1 oz; DK/lt. worsted): started & finished on July 5, 2016
28: TdF 4: 100% merino, 50% rose pink, 50% navy blue (~ 50 yds; ~ 1 oz; DK/lt. worsted): started & finished on July 5, 2016
29. TdF 5: 25%/25%/50% leftover purple merino/silk & leftover hot pink merino (~ 10 yds; unknown weight; DK/lt. worsted): the purple was started during TdF last year and finished January 29, 2016; the hot pink was spun on July 5, 2016; they were plied on July 5, 2016
30. TdF 6: 100% merino, 50% leftover hot pink, 50% leftover navy blue (~ 10 yds; unknown weight; DK/lt. worsted): started & finished on July 5, 2016
31. TdF 7: 100% merino, rainbow gradient (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, black, and white) (~ 220 yds; ~ 4 oz; worsted): started July 5, 2016; finished July 6, 2016
32: TdF 8: 50/50 merino/tencel, Fat Cat Fibers in Razzmatazz (three different skeins: two skeins are three-ply, one is around 245 yds of worsted and the other is around 120 yds, also worsted; one skein is chain plied, probably also a worsted weight, about 25 yds): started July 8, 2016; finished July 12, 2016
33. TdF 9: 100% white merino (~ 446 yds two-ply, probably sport weight; ~ 15 yds Andean Ply, also around a sport weight): started July 15, 2016; finished July 18, 2016
34. TdF 10: Superwash Merino/Bamboo/Nylon from Happy Hands Hand Dyed (~ 166 yds two-ply, probably Aran weight; ~ 14 yds Andean Plied, also Aran weight): started July 15, 2016; finished July 19, 2016
35. TdF 11: 60% BFL/40% Bombyx (Mulberry Silk) from Corgi Hill (~ 298 yds two-ply, probably DK/lt. worsted; ~ 25 yds Andean Plied, also DK/lt. worsted): started July 18, 2016; finished July 20, 2016
36: TdF 12: Unknown BFL, possibly from Yarn Hollow (~ 144 yds two-ply, probably Aran weight): started July 21, 2016; finished July 23, 2016

37. Rainbow Gradient Cowl: started August 5, 2016; finished August 6, 2016

Why yes, I finished a project in 24 hours. No joke. I cast on during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies (which I did not watch), knit for a few hours, went to bed, and knit some more yesterday. Woo. There's more information about it below :) And more photos.

WIPs (Works-In-Progress) - carried over year-to-year
1. Wink: started January 5, 2015
2. Caffe Macchiato Socks: started May 7, 2016
3. Gex for Niece: started June 28, 2016
4. Corgi Hill Polwarth/Tussah blend (spinning): started July 21, 2016


If you're unaware (or uninitiated), Ravellenics started on Friday upon the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics in Rio. If you click on the linky above, you can find all the information you need (and more). You can join teams, and there are a zillion different "events" you can compete in. One is, of course, designed to handle your WIPs (called WIP Wrestling), while others are for things like making hats, shawls, sweaters, spinning yarn and then making something from the yarn (meaning you have to do both during Ravellenics), and there's even an event for frogging items. Each event has a set of rules for what qualifies and you can post in the event threads and your group threads and it's crazy. I'm working for Team BBMF (which is the LSG group's team and it stands for Bok Bok MotherFu**er). So far, I've only got two projects planned: the Gex sweater (in WIP Wrestling) and I started a new project, my rainbow gradient cowl (for Cowl Jump), during the Opening Ceremonies on Friday.

This was my CO: 200 sts on US #10 needles (Knit Picks Interchangeables aren't labeled so you need to have a needle gauge around or guess - I checked and it was US #10s ), using my rainbow gradient yarn I spun during TdF (#31 on the FO list above). By the time I went to bed on Friday night (around 1am), I had finished this much:

Yeah. Do you see that? I worked for maybe 4-5 hours total by this point and I was already to the purple section of my yarn, with only the rest of the purple, the black, and the white left. At this point, it's finished, the ends are woven in, it's had a bath, and it's currently hanging out in the bathroom, attempting to dry. I'm kind of impressed with myself, actually. I don't know what was going on because I don't think of myself as a fast knitter...but apparently when fake internet medals are on the line, I can knit fast. Kind of like when fake internet medals are on the line for spinning...and I spin ALL THE THINGS!

I also worked on Gex this week. I've not actually photographed it yet because it's a gift for my brother and sister-in-law for my incubating niece and I'd probably be stupid and post it to Instagram and link it to Facebook and Twitter and then get it onto my project page and my SIL is on Facebook....and maybe Ravelry (not sure). I don't want her to see it. I'm going to have to photograph it eventually and I will because it's a WIP. I've almost reached the bottom hem and then I'll have to pick up for the button band and such. Oh, and sleeves. I'm a lot closer to finished than I thought I was....but those little sleeves still take forever. Oh well.


In my "WTFCRAZYLADYOMGLSGBBQ" lists:

Children's Items
1. George's Vest (for Stormageddon - probably the largest size; YOTH Little Brother from Stitches)
2. House Hat (one each for Stormageddon and Little Man - worsted, two contrasting colors)
3. Arthur the Alien (for Little Man - worsted; any colors)
4. Holiday Countdown Stockings (for the family - Aran/worsted; four colors)
5. Mirkwood (for Little Man - worsted or bulky; any colors)

Items for ME (selfish knitting, FTW!!)
1. Vanillaish Socks (using one of my Harry Potter Yarns)
2. Paradiddle Socks (using a solid or semi-solid sock yarn)
3. Hermione Hearts Ron (sport weight; solid or semi-solid - Plucky Primo in Petunia?)
4. Hermione Hearts Ron Fingerless Mitts (sport weight; solid or semi-solid - Plucky Primo in Petunia?)
5. Classic Silk Mayfaire Camisole (Miss Babs from Stitches Midwest)
6. Stormont (worsted; solid or semi-solid)
7. Sockhead Hat (sock; any colors)
8. Moab Shawl (sock; any colors)
9. Prowl (DK; solid or semi-solid) *need pattern*

Secret Sock Club Bags - Pick a bag at random; do pattern with yarn
1. Scotch & Soda Scarf (using Briar Rose Fibers Wistful, leftover from my Icarus Shawl)
2. Jabberwonky (using KP Felici in Abracadabra)
3. If You Know Where To Go (using KP Felici in Green Veggies)
4. Gardener's Socks (using Malabrigo Sock in Indiacita)

Stranded Knitting
1. University of Wisconsin Ski Hat
2. University of Wisconsin Christmas Stocking
3. University of Wisconsin Button Beanie
4. Xanadu Snowflake Cowl

Christmas/Charity Bin
1. 198 yds. of Heaven (worsted; any colors)
2. Phillip and Mr. Grum (sock yarn; any colors)
3. Comfort Food (Aran; solid)
4. Fine Fella (worsted; solid or semi-solid)
5. November Leaves (Shelter from stash) *need pattern*
6. Skinner Hat (sock; solid or semi-solid) *need pattern*
7. The Shoemaker's Hat (bulky; solid or semi-solid) *need pattern*
8. Roll Out The Barrels (cotton; any colors)
9. Sweeny Todd Scarf (worsted; any colors)
10. The Snowmen Cometh (worsted; any colors)
11. Sunburst Dishcloth (cotton; any colors)
12. Starfish Cloth (cotton; any colors)
13. Seamless Circular Cloth (cotton; any colors)
14. Tombreck (Aran/worsted; solid or semi-solid)
15. Premie Spiral Hat (for hospital donations - sport or DK; any colors)

Designs
1. Ice Somethingsomething (knit prototype and pattern for submission)
2. Susan's Hat (make proper - photos, pattern, etc.; knit new prototype from Babs K2 from Stitches)
3. Little Man's Baby Blanket (make proper - photos, pattern, etc.)
4. Paradiddle Socks (knit prototype - see "Items for ME")
5. Pacific Waves Hat (knit prototypes in various weights/sizes, pattern for submission? self-publish?) *I've started this*
6. Stormageddon's Baby Blanket (design process, knit prototype, etc.)

Spinning
1. Given that TdF happened and I SPUN ALL THE YARNS, I think I'm going to take a break from spinning for a bit...Viktor needs a tune-up anyway.

Other (for things that are fibery/crafty in nature but not specific to knitting or spinning)
1. Organize my handmade stitch markers
2. Make more stitch markers (to sell? donate? hoard?)
3. Organize my books/magazines/loose patterns. *started*

I think I'm going to need to make a choice on what to knit next because I am pretty sure that both my projects I have slated for Ravellenics will be finished (and one already is).....but what to knit, what to knit......maybe I should work on Wink. Hahahahaha. Not with Stormageddon around.



Now that we're not all dying from the summer cold and, in Stormageddon's case, the ear infection....things have been crazy this week. Husband basically catered his division's release party on Friday, meaning we smoked a lot of meat, froze a lot of meat, vacuum-packed a lot of meat, ordered a ton of random things that we'd need (grilling utensils, charcoal, chef's jackets, etc.), picked up more food the day before and the day of (eggplant, mushrooms, corn, melons, etc.) and it was just nuts. Our house has looked like various bombs went off for the last couple of weeks...and it continues to look that way because, now that the party is over, we have the clean-up to take care of (washing all those grilling utensils, buckets, dealing with food, putting things away, etc.). I expect we should be back to normal by the middle of this week. Then again, we'll see how things go.

That's not all we did this week, of course, but that's what it feels like. I went to Purlescence Yarns a couple of times over the last 10 days or so (Stash Enhancement posts can be found here and here), the boys and I have gone to the park & out for breakfast, we've run tons of random errands, and.....yeah, that's about it.

That was one of the coolers we filled with vacuum-packed smoked meat on Thursday afternoon. We had three coolers, total, all filled with smoked meat.

Another interesting thing we saw this past week happened while going to pick up supplies to make rootbeer. We were in Palo Alto or Mountain View...I think it was technically Mountain View. Anyway, we weren't that far away from the Google headquarters and they've been testing self-driving cars. So, that is a self-driving car. We actually saw another one (the Lexus SUV one that had "Google" all over it) but this one was moving.

We had another Target parking lot trunk-of-the-car picnic. The boys were just hungry, not crabby (thankfully) and I didn't feel like waiting until we got home. So, picnic in the trunk again.

Yeah, I have no idea either. He's goofy sometimes. And I see that we need to have another talk about how to wear his seatbelt. ::sigh:: It never ends with this kid. This was the same day we saw the self-driving car, I think.

I mentioned the park. I have to keep an eye on Stormageddon so I have photos of him and Little Man ran around free. There are also several PokeStops at this particular park so I didn't mind too much, since I was out of PokeBalls again.

Aside from that, we're doing a little bit of potty training....

Yes, he's fully clothed. Yes, he's eating a pop tart. No, he didn't sit there and eat the entire pop tart. He sat there for all of five seconds. I call it a win. Little Man wasn't fully potty-trained until he was almost 3.5 years old, and even then, if we took long trips (planes, for example), I'd put him in a pull-up, just in case. I'm not overly worried about Stormageddon's potty training schedule.

Other than that, not a whole lot went on this week. We're not exciting when big party type things happen because it's all prep work for that. Oh well.

I hope you're having a lovely weekend. I might be back this week, I might not...who knows how things will turn out. 

WIP Wednesday

Happy Wednesday :)

Last week, I talked about my Gex test knit...which is totally still happening.

This was taken last night, hence dark photo and my laptop (yes, I'm watching Archer). 

But I'm not here to talk about that one....that one is just in the midst of Stockinette Hell for awhile. I think I have another 6" to knit before it's the length I need. 

I'm here to talk about a design I've been working on for far too long. To be honest, the (very loose) idea came into my head quite awhile ago. It was supposed to be the second half of my Fire & Ice Socks. The Fire Socks are done, published, and fabulous. So I started the design for the Ice Socks. Last fall. Seriously, I started doing some charting and doodles and such in August. I finally had something I thought would work around January. I started knitting because swatching is for weenies. 

Aaaaaaaand things just were not going very well. The idea was that the design would spiral down the leg of the sock and then the foot would be knit without the spiral. 

Yeah, it didn't do that. At all. Not even a little bit. Plus, the decreases and increases were pulling the design in weird directions. 

So, back to the charting.....fixed the issue and started again. 

Now the decreases and increases were still pulling the chart in weird directions.

Back to the chart.....fixed the issue and started AGAIN.

This photo was from this past Saturday afternoon from my table at a nearby Starbucks. 

I got through the first pattern repeat and got into the second......and, seriously, I'm so frustrated that I'm considering scrapping the idea entirely.

Now the increases and decreases are changing the length of the side panels. The main pattern panel is perfectly fine and I don't know that I need to change anything with respect to that. But the side panels are dragging downward and it just doesn't look right and is not my original vision. 

I'm frustrated. I don't want to rip this out again. But I'm not happy. This has been weighing on me for the past few days now.

And then I went and read Josiah's blog post for today (no, I'm not the Renee he's referring to). Something that stuck with me: Be willing to have something go wrong; it isn't a failure if you've learned something. It goes along with the idea that if a project fails or, in my case, isn't working out the way you envisioned, you can go back and have a "do over" of sorts. Now, this isn't always the case but with knitting and knitting design, you can go back and fix things that aren't working.

Oh, and then something else popped into my head from Big Hero 6: SHAKE THINGS UP!

What did this all make me realize? Maybe this pattern just doesn't want to be socks. Maybe it wants to be fingerless mitts or a cowl or an infinity scarf or........

In other words, I'm going to shake things up. I'm going to look into other options. I might even swatch.

So, thank you to Josiah for that post because it was just what I needed to hear this morning.

WIP Wednesday: Progression of a WIP

Happy Wednesday!

I'm going to be upfront and honest: while I have at least five WIPs going, today will only feature one of them.

This, friends, is my Gex sweater that I'm test knitting for Avril (link to Ravelry profile).

This photo was taken last night, hence why it's dark. I've also got 187 sts crammed onto a 24" circular, which also makes it difficult to see. I might drag out a longer circular to continue knitting...or not. I'm going to split for the sleeves soon enough, which will relieve some of the cramming.

I started this project on April 8, 2016 after noticing that the lovely designer was looking for testers.

So, let's talk about sweater...she's got sizes from 0-6 months to a 4XL (58" chest circumference). Seriously, there's sixteen sizes for this sweater. If you need something bigger, I'm pretty sure it's easy enough to suss out how to make it bigger (for, say, a 60" chest circumference). I'm working on the 6-8 year old size for Little Man. I know a few of the other test knitters. One is working on the 2-4 year old size, another is working on one of the adult sizes, blah blah blah.

The pattern is pretty straight-forward, though it needs some tweaking to make it more user-friendly. Yes, I've made the suggestion to the designer. This is one of her first patterns (and she picked a doozy! Seriously, I went with hats....she went with a freaking sweater!). I'm telling her things that no one told me. So, there's that.

Anyway, here's the first photo I took of the sweater in progress.

Hard to tell what's going on here, isn't it?

This is the first "wedge" of the yoke. So, you can see the triangles it forms...but it's hard to see what we're doing here. Let's look at another photo.

Getting the idea? The top part of the triangles make up the neckline and the bottom part is the bottom of the yoke where you pick up stitches and knit the body.

Further proof of what I'm talking about and because it's bigger, you can see the curve that will go around the neck.

But I'm beyond the yoke, now. I've picked up all the stitches along the bottom of the yoke and I've worked a couple rows, which is why it's all scrunched up in the top photo.

In case you've not figured it out, it's a top-down raglan cardigan. In a couple more rows, I'm going to put stitches on holders for the sleeves, thus relieving some of the cramping on the needles. Then I continue to knit my way down the body. Then I knit sleeves, add a button band, and Bob's your uncle :)

If you're interested, I think she's still looking for testers for some of the other sizes.


I hope you're having a lovely Wednesday :) I'll be back on Friday for an installment of FO Friday!

Edited to add: Linking up with Tammy today :)