uh-oh

i got a little bit ahead of myself last night while watching so you think you can dance (guilt summer pleasure). see, i already knit our girls each a pinwheel blanket - using koigu, no less - and so around and around i went, thinking nothing of it. until i noticed anny's pictures with a garter stitch detail. uh-oh is right. so i read the pattern and here's what happened:

Question Regarding the Sleeves Please

Hello everyone. Ok... now I have a question and after reading the last post which was so very beautiful and I can not wait to see the end result. Wow great job everyone I am so inspired by you all to finish this one.

I think I had better ask a question before I get into a pickle. Since all the sleeves I have ever done have been on a Raglan Increase. I have no clue on how the sleeve is to be done even after reading the instruction. I am a little confused. I know how to do a provissional cast on but the pattern refers to the instructions but I can't find the instruction; Am I Blind? How many balls of yarn do you have to have since it tells you to change to a new ball? Any help? I am so lost and I am so close to the armholes?

And one more question: Ok... so what if we are a little plump in the arms how do we make adjustment for that? I am so confused....

Can someone please help me.

Time out!

It was all going so well. The colours were coming together as I had hoped. It was fun and quick to knit. My "knit the sleeve stitches on a scrap piece of yarn, pop them back on the right needle and knit them again with the working yarn" technique worked fantastically well for the sleeves so that I didn't have to find a stitch holder nor fuss with a provisional cast-on.



Even the 17 million i-cords for the loopy edging came together mostly painlessly. I was able to unpick the scrap yarn for my sleeve stitches quickly and easily and even found the right DPNs to start knitting the sleeves. Then about 2 thirds of the way up the first sleeve, I noticed it...



...the sleeve shaping is on the wrong side! You see the intended giftee is 3 years old so will only be wearing it on the "big girl" side and the way I have the sleeve shaping worked out, the ecreases are lined up across the top of the sleeve - and they’re not so neat! I have no idea what to do about it. Should I just keep going and hope that blocking will neaten it up and make it acceptable? Or should I let her rip? I decided to put her away for now while I compose myself and plan my exit strategy ;0)

So the whole thing is going to the naughty pile for a while.

Mommy needs a time-out ;0)

Knitapalooza's Pinwheel and Yarn

Hey everyone, Thanks for letting me join your knitalong. Here is the beginning of my Pinwheel! Oh how I would like to say I just started... but no. I have started this 6x Reasons: don't try to knit while being sick with the flu. You end up leaving out minor parts of the pattern. I am making an adult size with some wonderful yarns. GGH Mystik (Double Stranded - Black & Lavendar), Terra (Red Onion), Araucania Quellon (Hand dyed Lavendar, Burgandy & Black), and Noro Cash Iroha (Black & Burgandy). I am using Black as my main color but using a great hand dyed lavender, burgandy & black.

I had a rough beginning but I think I have the hang of it. The start was not big deal. I can do it.... but keeping it all the same was a the first trick. Then the second mistake after restarting it several time.... I ended up knitting in one color all the way to way too many rounds after I was to change the colors. I was going to go with it but the center color was just way to ... let's say BIG. I was not wanting to have that much lavendar. So I once again frogged it and started over.

This time I am being very careful. I made a great check off sheet so I know where I am... as If count could not tell me... but I think right now I need to use it. I also am using stitch markers to make sure that my counts and increases are in the exact spots as they are suppost to be. I am finially do my Hand Dye section which I hope to have that section done today.

Cross your fingers. Well, I had better get off the computer and go back to knitting. Keep your fingers crossed. LOL Stay tuned for more of my knitting adventures with this pinwheel.

Poor Pinwheel'er

Well, I figured I'd post. Seeing everyone's lovely Pinwheels, I love the updates! I did knit on mine some this weekend. It's still a good traveling project as I haven't started the sleeves and am still going around and around and around...however...

I want a tank, so I took the needles that I was using for the Pinwheel and am doing the tank right now. I know bad girl, but...

I still plan on going back to the Pinwheel, especially now that I've seen Collette's (and I checked out your blog, thank you for all the pictures!!!) it looks good on someone who's not a toothpick! I'm so not a toothpick and was worried at how it would look. It looks wonderful on you Collette!!! I'm kind of bummed that mine is a variegated as I love the 2 color loops! :D

So, my pinwheel is on hold at 41sts in each round. But only until my needles get here, which I'm hoping will be later this week.

sunshine & happiness

seeing as just about everyone posts a progress picture around the third or fourth ring, i wanted to jump on in. i'm using plymouth galway in a four-color-pallette (galway has 200+ yds/ball so only 4 were in order). it took some sketches before i decided the best way to use the four colors in this 7 color pattern - ultimately i decided on pink edges and green sleeves. girly eh? i'm pleased with the outcome so far. it says "happy" to me, and will be so great on our toddlers this fall.

i'm at the point where it's slower and slower to complete each round, but such is a pinwheel. and they are so much fun when done!

and yes, i totally love anny's suggestion for using scrap yarn for the sleeve insert - great tip!!!

I finished my Pinwheel Sweater! Here is the back view where you can see the colours the best. It was a fun knit and I love the way it fits. It is soooo cozy it feels like being wrapped up in a blanket with sleeves. LOL! Happy knitting....................Colette in MB

Just Joining In

Hi, I just joined the knit along. I brought home yarn last night and started right away. I am knitting mine is Cascade 220 in greens and blues. The picture looks a little more gray than green but it really is green and blues. I am going to need a more ample armhole opening though. If my calculations are right, the 60 stitch armhole will be about 13.3", so, since I need it to be a few inches bigger, I am going to just knit a few more increases before I put the stitches on a holder and hope for the best. I think it should be ok to do that. It is amazing how quick this is going, but I am sure that will change as I approach those 300 + stitch rounds .
Happy Pinwheeling!

I'm still here......

Yes, I am still knitting away on the ol' pinwheel. I was set back a bit by my "try on" several posts back. I ripped back and I now have a little less love for the sweater... No, I guess I do still love her, maybe we're having a spat.....I'm sure that I will shake it off and start knitting her again as soon as the weather gets a little cooler. I will post a new picture as soon as I convince my husband to help me out! I'm loving seeing everyone's progress and color choices. Spin, pinwheel, spin! I'm 29 today! WHOOOOOO!

Geesh it's hot

Still have the Pinwheel on hold- it is of the size now that it feels like I am knitting under a blanket. And man-is it HOT around these parts. I tentatively tried it on-am not sure I like the yarn in this pattern. We'll see when it cools down a bit and I knit more-

Found a button, found a button!

I got so many nice compliments on the Pinwheel sweater.
Thanks bunches to all who commented!

Here it is all blocked, dried, and with my button choice stitched on. I plan to take it to the little recipient this Saturday ...
I love this sweater!

And I can't wait to see it on Jayden!!


Can you see the purple wooden button? I just used one of the loops on the edge as the button hole. When Jayden gets bigger, I can just take the button off, repossession it on the other side with a smaller collar and whoala ... a sweater that still fits!

progress

Hi! My name is Lauri. I just joined the KAL last night.

I started the sweater yesterday afternoon, and I am amazed how quickly it is coming together! I am not usually a very fast knitter...but barely 24 hours in and I'm already at 25 stitches between yo's!

My pinwheel is being knit from Lamb's Pride Worsted Weight. The colors are: Mulberry, Victorian Pink, Creme, and Pistachio. I decided to go with just 4 colors and alternate them as I keep working. I know that I took a big risk, but I started without making a swatch for gauge...I guess I was lucky, as I managed to be right on (this never happens for me!!) 

It's on the Blocking board ...

Finally!! Here it is all layed out to dry. It'll be ready now in time for my trip up to NH next Saturday. Too hot for Jayden to wear right now, but she'll have it when it starts to turn cold again. {still working on an idea for a large button or a tie.}


Now I might get out the color wheel and plan for another ... One for me maybe? M-m-m-m, maybe.

But there's always my other grand daughters. They're older than 4 but I could make the adjustments according to their measurements. The youngest is 8 and not a large 8 either. I'll start with her if she likes the sweater. So I'll find out before Fall.

Happy knitting everyone! I can't wait to see more completed sweaters being modeled. I'll get one more picture up of Jayden actually wearing her sweater next weekend I hope.

Another Pinwheel!!

Elann has another pinwheel pattern up. It's a bulky pinwheel for children. Neato!!

http://secure.elann.com/ShowFreePattern.asp?Id=156024

yarn delivery - yay

rusty, our sweet ole countryside mailman, brought to my door a box full of goodies from kpixie yesterday. and when i opened the parcel, there it was gleaming up at me like the brightest spotlight - my galway for a pinwheel! swatching tomorrow and then i hope to catch up.
everything that's been posted so far is PERFECTION!

I did it! I did it!

I got my yarn last week and finally cast on last night and OMG, this thing is so fun to knit! Well, except that I've been missing a lot of YOs. Why? Why? Why do I always forget the darned things? Needless to say I've been doing alot of ripping. It hasn't even deterred me from this cool pattern. I cast on last night and am already at 17 stitches between YOs. I'm thinking I could finish this thing before the weekend is up!


Check out my blog for more photos and yarn details ;0)

Not yet ...

I haven't started my Pinwheel yet ... but now I know who I'm going to knit one for. My cousin has a baby girl (two months old) who I want to knit Pinwheel for for Christmas ... I hope I will have time. :)

Everyone's Pinwheels here are looking fantastic! It makes me ambitious to start mine.

Confessions and recovery.

Ok. My confession: I didn't do a gauge swatch. I know, I know. I always do a gauge swatch. I work at a yarn store and tell people daily to do a gauge swatch. I tend to have a teeny tiny bit less sympathy for those with big sweater problems who went without a gauge swatch. SO. It's all my fault. Scratch yesterdays sad, sad post. No sympathy for me. No gauge swatch, no sympathy.
Thank goodness for those measurements that Shelley emailed me. I was able to measure the back (now that some of my circular needles freed up part of my super big circle) and I ended up measuring 34'' instead of the 43/44'' that I'm supposed to come up with. How in the world did that happen, you might ask? Well, #1) No gauge swatch. #2) I'm a tight knitter - I knew this going into this. Somehow I thought that my "magic Addi Turbos" would loosen me up and fix everything...... Silly, silly me.
So. I'm ripping back. I plan to do a bit more in between yos and then do a bunch more for the garter edge. It's okay. I don't have any a other projects that need finishing and no other yarn that wants to be knitted (I'm kidding!).
Well, there's one good thing to come out of this.... I might not be quite as huge as I felt last night after trying on this sweater. I thought "God, I know the "girls" are big with milk and I still have "making baby" fat from the pregnancy, but....." Well when the sweater is 8-10'' smaller than it's supposed to be....
Moral of the story: Do a stinkin' gauge swatch....
PS: The cold beer helped wonders.

Now that the loopi border edge is done ...

I thought you might like to see how I did it.


I also want some sort of closer or tie for Jayden's sweater to help keep it closed, but since she's a baby I don't know what to use yet. Fitting isn't the same kind of problem that I might have for myself as Stripedocks is having either. [She found out what her problem is, so forget the call to arms I put out this morning. Good luck, Jessica!] Now to find the time to block my sweater by this weekend ...

Note to myself: Get my nails done before I take close up pictures of my hands again. Eeek!

Ugh.

I've been plugging along, had the armholes set up and continued to the garter stitch edge. I opted to repeat the garter stitch 4 times instead of 3 because I want to be able to pin it shut with a shawl pin of some kind. I guess that I kind of envisioned it as a jacket instead of a sweater..... Then I began to bind off the edge with a picot edging instead of the loopy edge. When I was about 1/2 way done with the picot bind off, I was able to try it on because the edge was no longer curled over the circular needle AND, it isn't big enough. I guess that it "fits" okay, but I don't love it and I really want to. It kind of hangs open in an odd way, and doesn't sit well on my chest. I am still breast feeding so the "girls" are a bit larger than usual, I just don't know!
SO. I am going to pull out the picot bind off. I can't, however, decide if I should pull out all of the garter stitch edging and continue to increase more stitches in between the yarn overs or if I should just pull back to the garter stitch and lengthen the garter stich edge. I'm afraid that if I lengthen the yarn over area that that part will ride up the neck too far and the garter stitch edged collar won't lay correctly. Anybody have any suggestions? I need to put it aside for a while or else I may lose it....
A cold beer sounds like it may be in order.

I really AM knitting...

I really am knitting- but it is sooooooo hot, and the wool is sooooooo warm. Ya know?

Almost done!

I still have the body on the circular kneedles while I do the border loops so I couldn't try it on Jayden yet, but layed it out next to her. I think it's going to look really cute on her. What do you think?

Okay, I know you're not going say it doesn't look nice, LOL ... because any color will look nice on such a sweet chubby cheek baby like this one, right?

But I haven't told you which colors I'm using for the border yet ...

[BTW, the next post after mine is a call for help]

Advice please!

How, oh how can I choose my colours? I'm at a loss. I've saved the colours I'm considering onto my computer (only 21 to choose from!) and I'm trying different combinations of seven in Word. The only thing is is that it really seems to affect the appearance of the colours. One friend suggested that I use all greens but I plan to use the recommended yarn and I'm not taken with the greens that are available. I would like to use all autumn colours...so maybe goldenrod going into oranges, into a burgandy edge, maybe with a green thrown in but the colours don't look as good in my Word file. Any suggestions?

Red White and Blue

So here is the toddler version.. I only did half sleeves I wanted them short that way long sleeves would be worn underneath. I would show you all what it looks like on.. but after knitting this child size up I realize it's going to take me awhile to find a kid that size to model it for me.. I have a young cousin that would be perfect only thing is the family is on vacation for the week in florida *lol* so it will have to wait. So now I am starting one for me..whoohoo.. now that I figured out the sleeves.. I am ready to knit on.

working away......

Okay- I think the sleeves are in the right position-at the 35 stitches between increases point. I just hope this sweater is flattering. I am bigger on the top than on the bottom, with big shoulders. And I am tall. Sooooooooooo. I have checked out the Sunrise Jacket (a freebie from Interweave if you subscribed to the Knits magazine). It has a similar shape-rounded fronts that overlap-but a straighter back. The sample was knit from a tweedy yarn. (see it here- http://www.interweave.com/knit/interweave_knits/pdf_files/SunriseCircleJacket.pdf) And the word is that jacket suits many sizes and shapes-just to be careful where the buttons go. As well, there is a "Sleeves in the Pi" jacket floating around somewhere. Anyone care to comment?