howe girls do stuff

So while Maggie is working away on creating her knitting menagerie, I have run into a major slump. Not a slump of inactivity - a slump of bad results.

First, I participated in the gaiter exchange at our local spinning guild. Basically, you get 4 oz of fiber from another member and have to spin and knit into a gaiter/neckwarmer. Then you return the gaiter to the original owner of the fiber. All very secretive and fun!

Well...fun if it works out. I had a beautiful tensil/merino blend to work with in incredible airy colors of spring. I spun it into a lovely, soft yarn. Then I knit it into something that can only be described as chainmail.

See? And, although I had 5 months to complete this project, I was finishing it up the morning of the exchange! This left me with no time to rip out and whip up something more in sync with the yarn.

The recipient was very gracious, but I wanted to snatch it out of her hands and exclaim "I can do better!"

So from there I moved on to a task of joy - knitting a teeny little sweater for my soon-to-be-here grand-daughter. A first after three grandsons, I had been eagerly awaiting knitting something sweet and girlie. Mom-to-be requested pink, pink, pink!

So I picked up Debbie Bliss' "Simply Baby" book and settled on her Fair Isle Cardigan. I chose to knit it up with a combination of Bliss' Baby Cashmerino in pink with edging and fair isle done in handspun merino dyed with soft koolade colors. cute, right?

It was working up quickly (I really need to knit more size 6 months garments - instant gratification). the back was done, the two fronts, both sleeves...all I had to do was join up at the yoke, knit 18 rows of fair isle and finish it off!

But something was wrong - the little fair isle yoke didn't resemble the one in the picture. Rip back and re-start. Still didn't look right. rip back and re-start. What is going on?? I decided to check the finished projects on Ravelry to see if anyone else had problems with this little cardi. Lesson learned - always check on Ravelry to see if there are any issues with a pattern. Apparently, the color chart doesn't match with the picture of the finished sweater. Thanks Debbie Bliss book editor.

Resolution - make up my own damn fair isle pattern and knit it up. So far it looks lovely. But I could have knit an adult cardi by now.

Sorry no pictures of this precious little garment- the camera has died.

Next project - find something that will make me feel like an accomplished knitter again!

Marmie