Wednesday, June 30, 2010

More Anise

I seamed the second side tonight, and fitted one sleeve. I used the mattress stitch to do the seaming.











It's coming together very nicely, but the front will not overlap as shown in the pattern picture. Another closure option must be considered...

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Warrior Forge 2010

Our son, Roger, leaves for Washington state soon. He's attending LDAC, (Leader Development and Assessment Course), also known as Operation Warrior Forge, which is the capstone exercise on the way to becoming a U.S. Army lieutenant.

This will be very much like the month he spent in Fort Knox last summer, only more extreme, the challenges more intense. This link explains a bit about how their month will go.

Dad and I are very proud of you, Roger. We love you - Hooah!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Piecing together

No pictures right this minute, but I'll try to get some tonight. Last night I unpinned Anise and began piecing together. The shoulder seams were first, and the collar was picked up next. That went pretty fast in double moss stitch, and I was ready to seam the sides before I knew it.

The side edges still had a slight curl to them, even after I had moved the bits around while drying, so a jolly stern iron steaming was due. After that I mattress stitched one side together, and wow, it was a thing of beauty. I laid it out on the dining room table to do this, which is something I hadn't ever done before. Usually seaming gets done while on the couch watching tv. And of course, I'm never quite happy with the results. Not this time. I did it correctly, and I'm thrilled with the results. There's a lesson in this, I'm sure.

One more side seam to do, and then setting in and seaming the sleeves. I haven't purchased the buttons yet, or the press studs to go behind them. This weekend, I won't let myself go past this weekend to accomplish the buttons.

Sunday, June 27, 2010

Nah, scrap that



I decided to fold the front pieces flat over the back again. I began to wonder how well the side seams would lie if some of the edges were a tad bit curled. So, back to flatness.

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Anise blocked

After a nice long soak in a soapy sink, Anise is now taking up the entire dining room table, pinned out to spec and beginning to dry.

I tried something a little different this time in blocking. I pinned out the sweater back, and then laid the two fronts on top of it. That way I was able to make sure they would have the same dimensions as the back. The fronts were then laid back, but still pinned to the shoulders and sides. (That's why only one sleeve is really visible, the other is hiding under the right front.)

Anyhoo, it will take a while for them to dry sufficiently for seaming. The collar gets knitted next, still have to find the buttons I want to use.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Alrighty then

Sleeves done, and exactly the same length, with exactly the same increases/decreases. I lurve this. Indeed I do. :)

Must block all the pieces now before seaming together and beginning the collar. But not tonight. It's too late to start that. That will be a job for another time.

*sigh* It feels good to be this close to being done. Ditto this: :)

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Two-fer

Knitting two sleeves at the same time is going amazingly well. The increases are almost done, and then it's a straight shot to the cap.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

One more piece down...

I finished the right front section of Anise. That makes only the sleeves left to do - yay! Think I'll cast on for them now, in a dual setup so they get knitted at the same time.

Getting ready to watch the World Cup match between England / USA. I really don't care which team wins, since we have representatives from both countries in our household; I just want a game worth watching, one that keeps us on the edge of our seats. Go Teams!!!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Sock deaths

I'm not sure what's going on here, but in the last month and a half I've had four pairs of sock heels blow out on me. It's like they're all dying at once. Time to pull out the darning egg -- again.