Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Knitting Frenzy

My B-Side is still going well. I'm done with the body, and only have the sleeves left to do, and then the big collar thingy, and I'm all done! I'm Magic Looping the sleeves (is that a verb?) so I only have to stick them into the armholes at the end. I would just pick up sleeves around the armhole and knit them down, but I don't really know how to do all the fancy sleeve-top shaping to get that to work, and it's actually easier this way without having to deal with an entire sweater body flopping around. :)

I did end up making the sleeve holes larger than the pattern called for, however (using measurements from some other sweaters of mine), so I'll have to deal with that when I get to it. Because my gauge seems to be different in the round than when I knit flat, I finished up half a sleeve before I decided that it was just too tight (what is it with me and sleeves that are too tight???), so I frogged the whole thing and started over with sleeves that are a couple sizes larger. I have only gotten through the cuff of the first one so far, so I hope it works.

In more exciting news, I got the books I ordered from the Interweave hurt book sale! They came much faster than I was anticipating, and they're all in good shape, too! (Certainly no worse for wear than books that have been pawed over at a bookstore.) I'm super excited about No Sheep For You, because I could stand to learn more about non-animal fibers and how to work with them, and it has some cute patterns, too. Knitting Little Luxuries is a book I have browsed through before, but never liked enough to pay full price for. Knit So Fine and Wrap Style are both books that piqued my curiosity, but which I am sure I would never have purchased otherwise. But now I have 4 new books to add to my shelves and I'm very happy about that! :)

I'm also super excited about this new addition to our living room: a new armchair! The Brain and I have been married for over a year and a half now, and since we were both in our late 20s when we got married, we each already had an apartment full of furniture of our own. This is our first official furniture purchase together, and we both love it! It's SUPER soft, with just the right combination of squooshy and firm. It is wide enough to curl up on and read a book and just be super comfy. We both like it so much that last night we had to compromise over who got to sit in it!

In other news, there is a relatively new knitting group down here that is meeting up tonight. I'm going to try to head out and check it out, even though I'm not normally a group knitter, and my previous experience with a knitting group didn't go so well. Does anyone else have good/bad experiences with knitting groups? I've never really been a joiner, and one side of my brain keeps trying to talk me into going while the other side keeps giving me reasons not to. There is also some track racing going on at the velodrome that The Brain is going to, and I like watching those, too, so I'm up in the air about this. If I end up making it, I'll give a full report next time. ;-)

6 comments:

Yarndude said...

Your B-Side looks awesome, you're almost done! I wish I could have sat in that chair when I was visiting as well. It looks super comfortable. On another note, what is it about knit nights being on Tuesdays? Today I actually had to decide which one I wanted to go to. Also, how long ago did you order those books? I ordered some at the tail end of the sale and I don't know how long I should wait to get them.

Jane said...

Looking forward to seeing the sleeves in, this has knitted up well.

Jacey said...

I covet that chair, just so you know.
Your B-side is really coming together!

Team Knit said...

Your B-Side cardi is so lovey! Can't wait to see it all finished, it's going to be great.

- Julie

Mrs. Homesteader said...

oooh, love the armchair! Do share your thoughts on Knit So Fine is...I'm very curious!

Dana said...

Ooh, do post reviews of those books! Wrap Style has been intriguing me.

As for knitting nights...I think in theory that I'd like it. My LYS, which I love, hosts a Thursday night group, but I've been too chicken to go by myself. I don't have any RL knitting friends, even though I know people who knit--I've just never done it at the same time as them. I get a little bit of that new-kid-in-junior-high feeling when i think about going.