a mistake

I made a mistake in my new cabled sweater.  I was cruising along and 12 rows later noticed my mistake.  Oops.  I decided to fix it by only reknitting the part that I had messed up.  That happened to be the 24 stitch cable on both fronts.  I took some pictures to show what I did.

To start, I knit to the problem area.  I then picked up stitches with a double pointed needle the row before my mistake.

I then dropped the 24 stitches of the cable pattern off the working needle and pulled out all the rows down to my double point.

Each row knit will have a long piece of yarn left dangling behind the knitting.

You then take the bottom piece of yarn and using a second double point rework the cable pattern row by row.  (I have done this before using only the needles the knitting was already on and found it to be much more challenging.)

I knit the whole thing facing me so the purl rows had to be reversed, if you prefer you could turn your work at each row.  I found a crochet hook helps if you accidentally drop a stitch or need help making the last couple stitches in each row as you run out of yarn for that row.

The only problem I found was that the first row I knit was a little tight so I had some extra yarn at the end that made the last stitches a little big.  I pulled on them some and hope that washing and blocking will even it out in the end.  It really isn’t too bad in my opinion.

It took me a little over an hour to fix the first cable and a little under an hour to fix the second.  To reknit the whole piece would have taken 3.5-4hrs not counting the time to rip out and rewind the yarn.  If I had been working the fronts separate from the back I would have ripped out the whole thing back to the messed up row and redone it.  I did not want to reknit the whole back piece in addition to both fronts to fix this so I am happy with my solution.

new sweater

I have picked a date for the sweater that never ends’ party.  It will be Dec. 3rd at 7pm.  Let me know if you want to come.  Hopefully I will be wearing the sweater at the party.  I don’t have pictures of the sweater because it isn’t done.  I still have one long seam to go.  As soon as I was done with the knitting I cast on immediately for this new sweater and have not put it down for long enough to finish the seam.  I have a deadline now so it should be done soon.

The new sweater will be for myself, yay!  I am way excited about this project.  The pattern is free one too, it can be found here. (ravelry link)

I am using Harrisville’s Shetland wool.  It is 100% wool and is sold on cones as a spinning yarn at my LYS so it is a bit rough but it softens and blooms with washing.

It doesn’t really look like it but that is the entire bottom of the cardigan.

A close up of the cable.

The second photo is basically the right color.  Before I purchased this yarn I had been looking and looking for the right red yarn to make myself a sweater for a long time.  I found this about 2 yrs ago at the year end sale at the Yarn Barn and Elinor made me buy it (that is my story and I am sticking to it.)  I am excited to finally be knitting with it.

Almost, but not quite

I am almost done with the sweater that never ends.  Almost done enough that I am going to start planning the sweater’s party.

An executive neck line decision was made to allow this project to be done before the world ends in 2012.  There is a still a very long seam to be sewn, but the knitting is finished!  Pictures will come after the seam is finished.

Progress

I have made some decent progress on the sweater that never ends.  The end may actually be in sight!

You may notice a slight problem with the fit on dress form me.

I still have to seam the second side and I need to knit the neck part, but it actually seems like I may finish this before the year is out.

I know that I want a big cowly neck but I may just pick a sweater party day and see how far I get between now and then.  YAY!  Now I can seriously dream about the next sweater, although I think I pretty much set on what I will knit next.

Potpourri

I have just purchased a new computer and have not had time to move my pictures not that I have taken pictures of my knitting progress.  What I have done now looks like much.  I am almost done with the sleeves for my never-ending sweater.  YAY!

It was suggested to me by Steph that I should throw the sweater a party when I am finished, and that is exactly what I am planning.  My question is when I should set a date for this party.  I want people to have time to add it to their schedule, but I don’t want to force myself into a deadline that I can’t meet.  I think that when all of the knitting is finished I will pick a date.  Hopefully that will be by the end of the week.

Now to address the post title with a few random things that have been on my mind lately.

Why is that every time I try to purchase a replacement for something that has worn out (ie undergarments, shoes, shampoo, deodorant, etc.) I find the old, perfectly functional, items discontinued and no longer available.  Is the product turn over every 15 days or what?  Am I the only person with this problem?

Also, I seem to spend money in big chunks and this week has topped all the others this year.  I tend to be a HUGE cheapskate but whenever I start spending I buy a few large items all at once.  I don’t know why I do this, but I think I feel guilty for a much shorter amount of time even if there is a lot more guilt all at once.  I bought a new computer, new sheets, and new running/walking shoes this weekend.  YIKES!

I hate day light savings, really, really hate it.  First, I think we should pick a time and stick with it.  The week after we change our clocks sucks for me, I am tired at the wrong time and feel like I am waking up at the wrong time too.  Second, it gets dark at 5PM, and that sucks.  Soon I will start driving home in the dark.  Arizona, here I come.

I thought I was getting really old because a lot of the drivers I see seem sooooo young. The I found out that in KS you can drive at 14!  In WI you can’t start driving until 15 1/2, no wonder these kids look young, they are!

It has been a beautiful weekend here in KS, we were in the 70s for highs.  I am not looking forward to winter at all, except that it seems to be “knitting season.”

I am going to try and get some sweater-that-never-ends progress pics to show everyone soon.  There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel of this really long project.   We’ll see if it gets finished soon.