So Smart!

So, Jason got me this pattern, right? It's beautiful. Ilga Leja's Sea Urchin.

I swatched for it. Really swatched! Washed it, blocked it, everything! And I got gauge! So .. the now daunting process of knitting the thing is all I have left. And I was all ready to begin .. when I read the pattern. Increase every second row, fourth row and sixth row .. huh? What is this, German?

*sigh*

I was determined though, and after casting on and knitting up to the point where I needed to actually figure out the increases, I knew I couldn't just stop. So I took out a lovely little journal I found on my bookshelf, and began to write the pattern out. Once I got to those pesky increases, I wrote out every row. All 39 of them. And started trying to plot the increases. Including how many stitches they would leave me with.

Three revisions of said writing later .. thank goodness for pencils and erasers .. I'm pretty sure I've got it written out correctly. At least now my written out destructions mesh with the pattern and the errata to the pattern that I found. I end on the correct row, and with the correct number of rows knitted after the final increase. I'm trying to decide now if I want to make the sleeve just a little longer.

I feel so smart!

PS: If you're interested, I posted in my boring blog a very very long, photo-gluttonous post about my flowerbeds.

Not Exactly Knitting but ..

.. I'm getting a new computer! Two, actually! I posted about it in my boring blog.

I really need to get started on my Sea Urchin top. But yesterday was busy busy, what with errands and such. I'm hoping that I'll be able to cast on today, and at least get through one pattern repeat. I've yet to see how the increasing for this thing is going to be handled. For the sleeves, at least. I can kinda guess how they work it for the top front and back.

Jason has used the 'no more yarn' words. I think because he's the one that buys most of it for me, but he has seen how big The Stash is getting. Even something that used to be small, such as The Sock Stash, is growing. And we have even more yarn coming, probably today if it's not already in the mailbox.

Success!

Look! I swatched something! And to make it even more astounding, I swatched it right!

This is the gauge swtach for my next big project. I'm going to make Ilga Leja's Sea Urchin, a very open top with 3/4 length sleeves and a Sea Foam Wave pattern that moves in two directions. It looks rediculously easy to knit .. which probably means it won't be, but hey. Can't blame a girl for dreaming, right? I'm making it out of some of the Peruvian Baby Silk from Elann, which is an alpaca/silk blend.



I finished the bag at last. It's a lovely little thing, too. It'll definitely get plenty of use, especially since it's stretchy. And it has renewed my desire to knit bags out of grocery bags, too. Talk about the perfectreusable grocery bag!

I have gotten many compliments on my Peacock Bag though. Granted, most of them were from family members .. but they count too! I know they wouldn't tell me if something looked like crap. But still .. it's nice to hear something really looks good.

Ravelry Details - Peacock Bag
Ravelry Details - Sea Urchin Top

Saturday Jason took me to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens. It was a lovely time. If I hadn't managed to drain my camera battery for the third time by leaving the camera attached to the computer, I could show you some of my favorite pictures. But since the battery is dead again ... I have to charge it. Again. I have to be able to take pictures of the flowerbeds in the front yard anyway, now that those are completely planted.