Mostly of Knitting

Sunday evening, yeah.

I did some knitting this weekend, as well as faced some problems therein. The socks are going fine: the bike sock is about to go to the toe (on the second sock), and the purse sock is around the heel to the gusset (also of the second sock). So at least something is going well! But then there are other projects.

One is the sweater I'm making for myself, of which the knitting was going along very nicely until I came to the realization last week that ... it's too big.

If I put it next to an existing sweater, it doesn't look so bad, right?

However, the red one is at its full width that way, while the blue knitting-in-progress is not. Ribbing is funny in how much it pulls in. See what a little stretching does?

To put it another way, I tried it on. The photos are pretty crappy, but I think you can tell that while it goes on, and "fits" in a sense:

There is a problem:

I make it about this much too big:

So, yeah, that won't work. I cast on today for Take Two. The good news is that I like how the fabric is coming out, so I don't have to mess about with changing needle sizes. Allons-y!

The other problem project is the blanket I'm making for my friend who's getting married. I started having second and then third thoughts about it, both the pattern (really, why did I chose a pattern with seed stitch?) and the yarn (nice yarn, but impractical color). Long story short, I went out on Thursday to Michaels, which was having a big yarn sale, and scored more than enough of a decent yarn, in a more practical color, at a really great price (55% off).

I think I have the pattern settled on, but something has me holding back from casting on, and the wise knitter listens to these feelings. Soon is time enough.

Another project I tackled this weekend was the couch in the living room, which was overrun with mostly clothes (mostly clean, even) and a few knitting projects, all tangled up together. I have two loveseats, so I don't need to be able to sit on both at all times, but the other one was beyond out of control. I'm not ashamed to show you.

No, there's a couch under there, promise. A lot of it was a bag of shorts and summer tops that I pulled out to go through before leaving for Florida, so those packed away again to await better weather. Some of it was clean and just needed to be put away. A few things are in the donate pile, a bag of which I did put back on the couch, after I took this follow-up picture.

There are a few pairs of jeans piled on the side, which I don't have a problem with, and I also put back the shorts and shirt I have there for riding on the exercise bike. I don't mind using the couch for things like that, but it has to be controlled. I was losing knitting in the piles.

Now those are where they belong, too. A little bit of order ... and speaking of such things, the dishwasher is done running, and the bike is waiting for me. Let's make it a good week, shall we? In spite of the weather forecast.