Fiddly Stuff

Not much exciting stuff going on the needles. I'm stalled on my wobbly tote. It's too hot and big to knit it on my lap. Standing at my bed and knitting works better but I get tired of standing. We have one of those high profile mattresses, so my bed is counter height. Also, the 8 or 9 yarn bundles are driving me batty. It's just too fiddly. I'm going to take some time to de-bat before I pick it up again.

I started swatching for Picovoli and stalled out there. It's Grumperina's t-shirt that's knitted in the round, so I'm swatching in the round. I'm using my Artful Yarns Fable that I got at our SnB's first yarn crawl. It's a beautiful pima cotton and silk combination in reds and pinks (colorway 93). (It's on closeout right now at WEBS at $5.79 a skein. Such a deal!) Beautiful to look at and to touch. I first swatched a 3" length on my Denise 5's and measured: 10 stitches in 2 inches. I need 11 stitches in 2 inches. Darn! So, I was spacing and got out my Addi Turbo 16"size 6's, swatched a few more inches and measured: 9 stitches in 2 inches. Doh! I was supposed to go down in needle size. I think I was jinxed by the Yarn Harlot; I just read about it in her new book, Knitting Rules, and thought... of course, you go down in size when you want more stitches per inch. (Okay, maybe I shouldn't blame the Harlot because I get so much enjoyment from reading her blog and books.) The Denise set doesn't have size 4's, so I dug out my Addi Turbo's. They're 32" long and I just don't feel like casting on and swatching however many stitches I need in order to join and knit in the round. And after I'm done swatching, I have to wash it and block it. So lazy, I am. I'll wait until I get past my impatience and buy a shorter length in the size 4's.

Then, I realized I needed to make two pairs of wristwarmers from the Koigu KPPM I got last week. They're gifts for a Mommy/Stepdaughter who share the same birthday and the party is next weekend. I had to first wind the hank into a yarn cake, then wind yarn from that cake into a second cake and weigh them both, so I'd have 2 equal balls. I'm doing both wristwarmers on 2 circs. So I started the first pair on 2 Addi Turbo size 2's. Even though the gauge isn't set in stone, it felt too loose, so I frogged them. I started again on 2 Addi Turbo size 1's and it's feeling better. It's in a 3x3 rib, and I have about 3/4" done so far. Slow and fiddly. (I just got the wristwarmers out to snap a picture of them. I had to stop a moment, fondle the yarn, and really enjoy it. This stuff is amazingly soft and squishy. I really love working with this yarn. I think I can hang with this project for a while.) I had a picture but Blogger's not letting me post. I'll try again later.

Well, school's out and the Sweeties are officially on summer vacation. Happy Father's Day to my Sweetie Husband who is the best Daddy-o around and to anybody else who is a Daddy, has a Daddy or knows a Daddy.