Hey, Look!

It's me again.  At least I'm starting off on the right foot.  Don't know how long his will last!  In looking over my previous posts, I realized that I left a few things hanging, so here's some catching up.

I left you with my son's cardigan lying in pieces.  It's since been finished, declared acceptable and worn on a regular basis.  Here's my handsome son:

Now I have to get busy repairing his other sweater.  He tore a hole in the elbow, which you may recall I repaired once, but it has since come open again.  I finally decided that in the time it took me to repair it again, I could knit a whole new sleeve.  Here's the rub - all the comments on Ravelry indicated that the sleeve as written was too full.  So I input some data in Sweater Wizard and calculated a new sleeve.  Did I save it?  Duh, NO!  And I can't remember what figures I used, so I'm going to have to do some counting on the present sleeve and see if I can figure it out.

I also left you all hanging right in the middle of our bathroom remodel.  That, too, has been finished and we couldn't be happier.  I must admit hanging the striped wallpaper was a little challenging when we realized that the walls are not completely plumb and the corners of the room are actually curved a little.  Here's before and after:

It's a little hard to get a good picture of such a small room, but the remodel really did make a big difference - it's so clean and updated now.

I have been knitting like mad on Cape Cod and have finished the first sleeve.  I tried it on for the first time and am really, really happy with the fit.  

I am not, however, happy with the underarm gusset.  

It appears that the gusset is totally unnecessary and just adds a lot of bulk to the underam area.  Those of us ladies of a certain age certainly don't need anything resembling wings!  I'm debating what to do.  It's not just a simple matter of ripping back the sleeve, although I certainly would consider that if it was.  I'd also have to rip out the fronts and backs down to the armholes, and I am not willing to do that!  Since it's not really obvious unless I hold out my arms and since that is a stance I seldom take, I'm pretty sure I'll just leave it be.  Any and all suggestions are welcomed.

 In other knitting news I started some fingerless mitts for my sister.  I stuck some sock yarn in her Christmas stocking with the promise of a new pair of socks, but by mutual agreements we decided instead on mitts.  These are Hedgerow Mitts.

I had made a decision several weeks ago to sell my spinning wheel.  I even went as far as to put an ad on the local website for the spinning guild.  I admit that I was motivated a little bit by my inability to spin the yarn I really wanted and I know, as Kathryn has so wisely pointed out that I probably need to give it some more time.  But I was also moved by consideration of time.  It seems that I have so many interests that compete for my time - knitting, spinning, quilting and digital scrapbooking (to say nothing of the time it takes to train for the half marathon).  Sometimes I look at people who are a little more "concentrated" on one craft and envy them a little.  I feel so torn with my time.  On the positive side, I am almost never bored!  Thankfully I have had no bites on my ad and I think I will have it taken down.  

And, speaking of quilting, I finished the top on a project that several of my friends and I have been working on.  We all did the same pattern, but in our own individual fabrics.  I chose a palette of Asian fabrics and was a little apprehensive that the "country" feel of the pattern would not be a good match, but I am pleased with the results.

One of my goals this year is to work on my machine quilting skills.  I have a stack of tops that will never be finished in my lifetime if I don't learn to machine quilt and finish them!

Comments

[marjorie]

Your son's sweater looks great.

I've been thinking about AS's non-stranded sweaters or coming up with my own Gansey-style sweater, but that is down the road a bit. I think yours looks lovely. I'm not sure what you can do with the sleeve to adjust the knitting, but you might make it look a bit smoother if you steam block the underarm area on a sleeve board using an iron and pressing cloth. What yarn are you using?

I'm with you on the "no new hobbies," but I am flirting with the notion of using some of my smaller yardages of cotton fabric to make some quilted objects.

[Jan]

Love the quilt top! I'm learning to machine quilt this year for the same reason. I love to piece but a box full of finished tops does little to keep us warm and they certainly don't display well.

So far, so good. I enjoy machine quilting but am not really happy being so stationary. Love the portability of hand piecing and knitting.

Can't have it all, can we?

Jan

[Judy]

Enjoyed your recap, Dorothy. Your son's sweater looks great; awesome job on the zipper! Tried the sock link, but it didn't work; love that yarn! What half marathon are you going to run?

[Lorette]

Your son is dashing in his new sweater! I think I'd probably leave the gussets on your sweater too, and not rip that much, but then I'm lazy.

I know what you mean about too many hobbies. I almost got sucked into getting a small loom last year, then came to my senses. Spinning and knitting are plenty for me.

[Margaret Wagner]

Dorothy, I certainly enjoy your blogs. Seems I got busy for a while, and I have not been on the computer as much. Love your projects, and seeing the pictures of your family. I've been reading a lot and have not picked up knitting needles for a LONG time. A friend and I were just talking about starting back. Seeing your projects encourages me, even if mine will be much more elementary in nature. Best wishes from Dallas!