Gray Sweater Closer to Being Done

Really close.  It just needs to be blocked and have a zipper put in.  I can't even order the zipper until I block it so that I know the correct length to order.  I have never made anything, short of lace, that needed to be blocked as badly as this sweater.  The hem rolls up, the collar sits funny, the pockets are bunchy.  I don't think it's anything that wet blocking and possibly a strategically placed steam iron can't fix but we'll see.
Meanwhile, I've resurrected the Two-Tie Striped Cardigan from Interweave Knits, Summer 2005.  I'm not sure if I'll have enough yarn to finish it or even if it will fit if I do finish it.  I'm seriously considering putting short sleeves on it if the yarn doesn't hold up.  Thus is the price of putting something down for five years.  I'll take some pictures soon. 

Collar Progress (during which there was swearing)

I've finally got the collar of the Farmer's Market Cardigan knitted.  Let me just say that I am now firmly opposed to collars that are knitted seperately and sewed on and if I never have do another one again, it will be too soon.

Here is the collar and pocket edging finished and pinned on.  I had gotten both sides of the collar knitted and grafted at the back of the neck during knitting group last night.  It was then that I discovered that the right side band was not long enough.  What's more, it was not long enough at the spot where it turns the corner from the pocket to the front of the sweater.  I was faced with unravelling and reknitting it (not going to happen) or sewing it on and hoping it didn't look lopsided.  I chose option 3 which was to cut a strand where I needed the extra length, put it on needles, knit the extra length then graft it back together.  I did this but it wasn't easy and there was a lot of swearing and growling during the process.  I didn't realize how much of this I was doing until the girl sitting next to me quietly slunk off to ask someone else to help her with her knitting rather than bother me.  I apologize to everyone in the group who were very nice and offered help at several points to which my reply was leave. me. alone.  They did and it got fixed.

Now, I get to sew the collar on (yay, my favorite, not).

Storing Woolens

People often ask me how I store my woolens for the summer to avoid the dreaded m*th.  After a lot of years of experimenting, I've come up with a system I like pretty well.
First, wash everything.  People always ask me why the m*th hole is always smack in the middle of the chest on their favorite sweater.  The answer is that they probably spilled something on the front of it and didn't wash it before putting it away for the summer.  Believe me, it doesn't take much.  M*ths love anything that is the least bit dirty.  So, I run all my socks through the wash and hand wash anything else.
Next, I take a box of m*th balls, open the top and put the whole open box in a quart ziplock bag.  This goes in a drawer with all my woolens.  By putting the m*th balls in the ziplock it cuts down the stinkiness while still making it stinky enough to keep away the m*ths.  Your garments will smell slightly of m*th balls for a day or so after you take them out in fall and then they will be fine.  I know a lot of people are against using m*th balls.  They are smelly and toxic but there are times when chemical warfare is called for.  Using the ziplock cuts way down on the stink and also makes a box of m*th balls last for years.  I think mine's been going five years now and isn't done yet.

She Likes Them!

Wren picked up her socks today.

And they even fit!

I never measured her feet, just took a good guess.

Found It!

Just found the leftover yarn from my sister's sweater while cleaning my bedroom.  Now I can finish the darn thing with the right dyelot!
Also, Wren, if you didn't get my phone message, your socks are done.
I may have started four more pairs of socks at group yesterday (I can quit anytime I want. No, really, I can.)

Sale's Over

Phew!  That was our best sale ever!  Thanks to everyone who stopped by.  Considering how much stuff we sold, I'm amazed at how much is still here.  I've been trying to expand the shop inventory over the years and I guess I succeeded.
The yarn business is very cyclical, this time of year being one of the slowest.  I like it, though.  I'm planning to use this time to catch up on paperwork, do a bunch of knitting and generally relax before all the new yarn starts showing up in mid-late July.  I can't even believe how much new stuff I ordered.  Holy cow!
But, meanwhile, we relax.  The shop will be closed for vacation for the first part of July.  I haven't decided exactly when, but I'll let everyone know as soon as I decide.

Hope for the Gray Sweater

I still haven't found the bag of leftover gray yarn but I did find a skein of the right gray on the shelf.  I'm almost certain it is not the right dye lot but definitely not complaining. I'm going to ravel back the collar a few rows and do the alternating row thing to smooth the transition. 
Also, I'm almost ready to turn the heels on Wren's socks.
Oh, just a note on comments.  I'm moderating all the comments because I've been having comment spam.  So, if you post a comment and it doesn't come right up, you didn't do anything wrong.  I just haven't gotten to my email yet.

What a Week and It's Only Thursday

Sorry I haven't posted for a couple of days but I've been have a crazy week.  First, the sale is going very well.  Thanks to everyone who's been in.  If you haven't made it over here, you have until 5pm Sunday.  There's still lots of wonderful yarn left, though the Malabrigo Lace Weight gave us our first empty shelf of the sale.  Don't worry, I order a ton of it for fall.
In other news, we've had truly ghastly plumbing issues yesterday and today.  I nearly asked the plumber to marry me when he told me everything was fixed.  Indoor plumbing is such a wonder and a joy when it is working correctly.  Also, clorox is my new best friend.  'Nuf said.

Sometimes You Aren't Knitting For The Person You Think You Are

So, I have these socks I'm knitting.  They are out of some yarn I got from Webs and dyed ages ago.  My idea was to try it out to see if I wanted to add it to my line of hand dyed.  It is a regular wool/nylon sock yarn and I had two skeins to try.  I dyed them both in greens and blues.  My friend Wren fell in love with the color but someone else got the extra skein and I kept this one to try knitting myself. 
First, I cast on the socks for myself.  I got the toes done and they languished.  I then unravelled them a bit and changed the size to be for my cousin's wife and they languished.  Sunday night I picked them up to finish them but they were fighting me.  I pulled off the toes I'd started and cast on again.  This time I got the toes done but slowly realized that these socks are not for my cousin's wife.  These socks are for Wren!  Since I realized this, they've been coming right along and should be done by next week. 
Hi Wren, I'll call you when your socks are ready.

One More Down, One To Go

I'm home taking an unplanned day off from biking today (yucky tummy all night but better now) and I just finished the third of the four unfinished pairs of socks I had on needles.  One more pair and I can start a new pair!  I am inordinately happy about this (see previous day's start-itis). 
I'm still working on the gray sweater.  I finished one side of the collar and have started the other.  Unfortunately, I'm going to run out of yarn and I can't seem to find the rest of it.  When I started and unravelled this sweater the first time, I saved the unravelled yarn and put it aside to wash before using it again.  The ball I'm using now is from that batch but I can't seem to find the rest.  This is a problem.  I see at whole bunch of tearing apart of my house in my near future.  Aaargh.

Start-itis

Suddenly this morning, I've been struck with a raging case of start-itis.  Everywhere I look, there's yarn I want to knit.  This is a problem when you live in a yarn store.
Must. Resist. Must. Finish. Gray. Sweater.

Blocking or Where the @%&! Are My T-Pins?

I know all the physicists say matter is conserved but I'm not convinced.  I swear matter enters and leaves the universe in the form of stitch markers, double pointed needles, and t-pins.  And I'm also pretty sure tape measures all go to conferences to for a week at a time and then suddenly come back.  I think scissors do the same thing.  How else can you explain it when one day I can't find a tape measure to save my own life knowing full well that I own at least ten and a week later, I find them everywhere.  Something has to be going on here. Anyway, I finished the Annie shawl out of the Noro Sekku.  I couldn't find my t-pins anywhere but I did have a bunch of common pins and they actually worked just fine.

Yes, I pinned in out a little crooked.  It doesn't bother me that much.  Once I took it off the blocking board, it was just fine.  I'm pleased with how it blocked out.  It got just enough bigger to be a nice wearable little shawl.  If I were going to use the Noro again, though, I'd use a pattern that started at the back of the neck and worked down.  That way the pattern and the striping would be going the same way.  It's still pretty this way though I hadn't realized how 70's those colors look together.  Eh, retro is in.

Next up, my sister's gray sweater.  It is the Farmer's Market Cardigan from Interweave Knits last fall. 

It was fun to knit the body but the finish work is getting on my nerves.  The collar is just hard enough that I'm having trouble working on it in the shop.  Unfortunately, that's the time I have to work on it so I'm just muddling though.

Speaking of the shop, the sale starts tomorrow at 10am and goes through June 13.  Be sure to come in and pick up some of your favorite yarn for 25% off.