Shoot I wanted to leave a longer post but my dad just called and said “Leave now!” which means he’s already in his car on his way to work, and I’d better get moving too.

Sorry no post the last few nights, Wed night went on a “date” with Yannick and even though I did some knitting before, only got home late and too tired to post.

Last night stayed up knitting until around midnight, then talked to Yannick a bit about an Ultimate Sweater Machine we might be buying. I’ll get more into that tonight, for now here’s a pic of where I’m at with the Duffle Coat. I’ve already started binding off for the shoulder shapings, and have only a few more rows to go to finish the back. I’m also in the middle of the second skein. The thing is over 17″ long so far.

Today started well. My dad was running a bit late so I got to sleep in. This hasn’t happened much lately so I covet the few times it happens!

Work seemed to fly by, probably because I knew I had a fun event tonight.

Tonight was the March meeting of the Montreal Knitting Guild. I always enjoy the meetings, but was really looking forwards to tonight in particular because 2 of my friends from my knitting class at the LYS were coming to see how they liked it. It was their first meeting, and I hope they liked it enough to join.

I got asked to take on a few things at the meeting, so I might end up handling the website in the future. The person doing it now wants to stop after this year, so I might do it in the future. I was also asked to help with the computer aspect of advertising for an upcoming exposition that we’ll be having.

I did a little bit of knitting while there, now the Duffle Coat looks like this:

I had my knitting class at the LYS this morning. Well- I thought I did, until I got there and it turned out only Suzanne and I were there. I knew Kim was no longer in the class, but Jacqueline and Mia should have been there I think.

Oh, if you’re reading this, hi Suzanne!

I’m very happy, Suzanne and Kim are coming to the Montreal Knitting Guild meeting tomorrow. My evil plan is to slowly but surely bring in tons of new young knitters. Then we’ll take over the world! (Think Pinky & the Brain style mayhem).

I discussed my gauge problems with Nicole, my knitting teacher. She gave me some ideas on how to make it work, so when I got home I called the pet accessories store and let them know I’d be able to get the yarn on Thursday. This gives me both a possible solution and some time to work on the Duffle Coat in the meantime.

Speaking of which….

It’s not that easy to knit when you don’t like what you’re making. I know this was something I risked when letting myself be a KFH (knitter for hire). And there’s nothing really wrong with the pattern, it’s from Sirdar but I’ve already figured out their unique way of writing things out, plus I always go through the patterns when I enter them in my Palm so that was fine. It’s just the yarn…which is nice and soft and thick…but doesn’t quite work with the pattern. The coat is thick, probably not something I’d ever make by choice but just ‘cus it seems too bulky for my taste. I think my problem with it is that the coat has panels of stockinette and cables, but the yarn is a thick blue and white twist, which, once knitted up, becomes too busy for the pattern.

Here’s a pic so far (although I’ll still be knitting through CSI: Miami tonight so I’ll have more finished by bedtime):

I know the pic is busy, but I left the bag in the shot so you can see the yarn in the skein. You can see how you can barely see the panels through the marled color. I think that’s what’s bugging me most. It might as well be all stockinette for all the detail that shows.

Here’s a closeup, for as much as its worth:

Even with the closeup, you still almost need to be told there is a cable there to see it.

Well, it really doesn’t matter if I like it. All that matters is that the granddaughter of the woman I’m knitting it for likes it. She’s who I need to please. I’m just glad it’s an easy 4 row repeat.

I did a bit of work this afternoon on Spoilt Rotten, after completely giving up on the CCA. I didn’t do much, just about 3″. I need to get to 3.75″ on the ribbing before I continue.

That’s all I have though ‘cus we went to my parents’ house for dinner. Now I’m back home and ready for bed after checking over 100 emails. Man the knitting groups are prolific!

Oh, and the addi turbo I’m using to knit the above is currently on the floor under a few phone books after sitting in boiling water (not the joins) ‘cus the curl was driving me nuts! It kept flipping into me or twisting around my hands. It’s the only addi I have that does this. If the curl doesn’t come out after being “blocked” over night, I’m bringing it with me to my LYS tomorrow to see if I can exchange it.

This just arrived in my inbox “Knitting in Canada” yahoo groups email folder. It was sent by Lorraine Armstrong of Fort Smith.

Enjoy! 🙂

—————

There was once a man and woman who had been married for more than 60years.

They had shared everything. They had talked about everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoebox in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box; but one day the little old woman got very sick, and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoebox and took it to his wife’s bedside. She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box.

When he opened it, he found two crocheted doilies and a stack of money totalling $25,000.He asked her about the contents.

“When we were to be married,” she said, “my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was never to argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doily.”

The little old man was so moved, he had to fight back tears. Only two precious doilies were in the box. She had only been angry with him two times in all those years of living and loving. He almost burst with happiness.

“Honey,” he said, “that explains the doilies, but what about all of this money? Where did it come from?”

“Oh,” she said, “that’s the money I made from selling doilies.”

The brief note that I posted shows up as Saturday, but I actually posted late Friday night (after midnight) before bed. Classic Cabled Aran in Paton’s Decor was not working.

Saturday I went for dinner with Debbie, Yannick, Julie and Richard, and another friend, Steve. We had a nice Italian meal at Spaggio’s and I’m very happy I managed to eat sensibly, even surrounded by all that pasta-glorious temptation! I have Yannick’s cousin’s wedding this summer, my cousin’s wedding in September, plus I assume I’ll be getting married at some point within the next two years. 😉 (Good thing Yannick never reads my blog, eh?) So I’m trying to lose the extra pounds I put on when I quit smoking over 2.5 years ago. (Little secret: the pic of me up in the corner there is about 6 years old. Shhhh!)

After dinner we headed over to Laurentian Lanes and bowled. Well, mostly everyone bowled. Debbie didn’t ‘cus she’s not a big fan, plus she’s so tiny and was afraid they wouldn’t have any 6 lb balls. :] Just kidding, I love to tease my little midget. Ok, so legally she’s 1″ beyond being labeled a midget. Technicalities.

I didn’t bowl ‘cus baby, I got deadlines! I spent the entire time working on the CCA. I like the pattern, it’s quick and easy, but MAN am I aggrivated at having to repeat it now for the 4th time, just to see if it’s working! My plan was to work up to 24 rows, 1 full repeat, and see if I hit 4″ high and 17″ wide. If yes, I continue. If no, I accept that I just can’t get this one to work, and I move on.

To Jenifer from the comments a few days ago: Thanks for the encouragement. I’m really not liking doing this, but, like you said, I know it’s the right thing to do. BTW that’s the first time I’ve seen our name with 1 n. It’s kinda cute. I like things that are asymetrical. 🙂

To Keri from the comments a few days ago: *sigh* I’m not brave. If this was for anything else but for sale I’d have just fudged it to make it fit. And the “next try” turned into 3 more! LOL I’m going to dream about this pattern!

By the time bowling ended I’d made it to 21 rows, so I packed it up.

This morning I started again. Can I just say how much of a hard time I had actually taking the knitting out of my bag? I just couldn’t bear to look at it! Nevertheless I pushed myself, and soon enough was at 24 rows. Then I went to 26 to make it easier to measure. I measured. I had 17″. Yay! I measured the height. I had 3.75″.

That just of wind you all just felt ruffling your hair as you faced your computer screens? That was me letting out a huge sigh of relief.

No, I still didn’t have gauge. But after a full week of attempt after attempt, I feel fully justified in saying: I tried. It ain’t working. Therefore, I’m not doing it.

Now, much calmer, I’m going to park myself in front of The Food Network until Yannick gets home from Costco, and work on the other requested dog sweater. This one is called Spoilt Rotten, from a Leisure Arts booklet my parents picked up while in Florida. It’s simple, in stockinette and ribbing, and has instructions like “work even until 5 inches” or “rib for 3 inches”.

Piece of cake.

Just a quick note ‘cus I work tomorrow. I started over on the Classic Cabled Aran with a 5.5mm. Yes, I know I’d said I’d start with the 6mm. Sue me. In any case, I measured the width after about 6 rows, and had at least 18.5″ (it was hard to measure on the needle). WAY over my req’d 17″. I frogged AGAIN and started back over with the 5mm. I know it didn’t work yesterday, but that was after doing 24 rows on the 4.5mm. I’m hoping that working with the 5mm right from the cast on will make a difference. If not, I give up on this sweater.

RRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Ok. Calm down. Breathe. Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooosh.

Tonight, after another hour of knitting on the Classic Cabled Aran, I turned this:

into this:

“But why?” you ask, “It looks great! The cables all twist the way they should -except that first one on the bottom right, but no one will ever notice. Besides, you’ve already started over once before.”

I know. But still, even after going up from a 4mm (req’d needle) to a 4.5mm (the first 24 row repeat) then to a 5mm (the next 24 rows) I STILL DON’T GET THE %f@!#$ GAUGE!

Yes, I’d wanted to finish the sweater by Sunday so I can start the child sweater Monday with only 1 more dog sweater outstanding.

Yes, I’ve worked on this sweater now Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights in a row.

Yes, I know it’s just for a dog and I could *fudge* it a bit by adding more ribbing, etc…

But I’ve already frogged.

The stupid thing should have been 8″ high after 2 repeats- I have 7″. The first repeat with the 4.5mm gives me 3.25″. The 5mm only gives me 3.75mm.

The width should be 17″. The first repeat with the 4.5mm gives me about 13.5-14″. The 5mm gives me 15″.

I have no choice. I can’t keep going and keep a clear conscience. I had to start over.

I’m resentful, but I feel better. Tomorrow -not tonight, I feel better but I’m still resentful- I will start over yet again, this time jumping straight to a 6mm. I know there is a 5.5mm in between I could try. Save it. I’m a tight knitter. I acknowledge that. I embrace that. Tonight I’m going to go to sleep and try to forget all the wasted hours this week. Tomorrow I knit. Give me a 6mm addi turbo circ and get out of my way.

There wasn’t much on TV tonight that I watch, so I got to catch up on some tapes while knitting away, until 10:00 when I watched Law & Order because I was already taping CSI:NY. I got some good knitting time in…BUT for that $%&$ gauge.

If anyone read yesterday’s post you’ll remember that I didn’t get gauge with the recommended 4mm needle. So I frogged and started over with a 4.5mm. Well I measured again at 24 rows and was still a half-inch short. I decided not to rip again. If this were for a person, or even made to measure, I’d frog. But this is for stock, and just an approximation of the size. If the medium calls for a 12″ length and I fall a bit short, I can always make the ribbing longer. I’m not worried about the width as my stitch gauge is spot-on.

So I’m continuing but now with a 5mm. So I have 24 rows at 4.5mm, I’ll do 24 rows with 5mm. According to my patt, 48 rows should be 8″. I’ll see when I get to that point. If it works then I’ll do my ribbing at the end with the 4mm or 4.5mm to keep it constant, instead of the 3.5mm called for.

Here’s where I am so far:

Because I will have the sweater to do for my LYS as of Monday, my plan until then is to work like mad on this. The other dog sweater is in stockinette and won’t take too long, but I need to follow a chart for this one, so I’m trying to finish it first. The plan is to do nothing but knit tomorrow after work, Friday before Julie & Rich come over, Saturday night after supper (I work Sat) and Sunday all day.

Here’s another 2 pics, just ‘cus I think they’re cute:

I got a great phone call at work today! Nicole (my knitting teacher at my LYS) called to see if I would be interested in knitting up a sweater for a woman who’d planned on making 2 but had to stop after the first. Of course I would! The pay isn’t much, but hopefully next time it will be a bit more. I think it’s supposed to be something like the cost of the yarn…? I’m not sure. Anyways, I agreed for this one, and I’ll see how long it takes, etc… It’s a child’s sweater in a bulky yarn so I’m not worried it will take forever.

Now I just need to hurry up and get moving on these latest two dog sweaters! I hope by the time I stop tonight I’ll at least be up to where I had to rip last night, about 4″ (1 full pattern repeat).

*fingers crossed*