After I finished my modified-Monkey, I thought I’d cast on right away for its twin. But that Elizabeth Zimmermann Baby Surprise Jacket (from here on to be referred to as the BSJ – I can’t keep typing all of those words) kept waving at me and whispering, Make me next, you know you want to. So here I go.
I’m using my monster skein of Sugar’n Cream cotton in Robin Egg. It was my Michael’s $5.00 bargain – 14 oz. and 710 yards. Now that’s a big ball of string! I cast on the 160 stitches, knit along happily, using stitch markers, but still counting stitches because I never trust myself. I found a helpful set of notes about this pattern and they really helped me to make sense of EZ’s brilliant, but confusing-to-me, pattern. And after 17 rows, I knew I was in trouble. I had too many stitches, so I’d messed up somehow on my decreases. Tried to figure it out. Couldn’t. Darn it. I was afraid to rip it out the bad rows and try to get it back on the needles, so I tried to insert a smaller needle into a earlier row where I was pretty sure I was okay. I went to visit my old friend on KnittingHelp.com and watched the video explaining how to insert a needle into a destination row, before ripping. Her video was really helpful, but I wasn’t successful. I think I missed some stitches – okay, I know I missed 3 stitches and just got frustrated and sweaty and had to call it off. I ripped out the whole freakin’ thing and started over. It was not a happy night. M. had to point out that I had “worked on that all day!” Thanks, buddy. I knew that. That was several hours of my life that I’ll never get back.
I cast on 160 stitches – again. I’m being careful. I’m pretty sure I know what I was doing wrong. To decrease, I’m supposed to slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over. Decrease 2 stitches each time. I think I was either forgetting to pass the stitch over or forgetting to k2tog before I passed the stitch over. (I know you’re thinking, do I really need to know this? Yes, you do. It helps me to talk about it. Very therapeutic.)
Here’s my BSJ after 13 rows. Lovely.
August 14, 2007 at 10:15 pm |
Very purty, lady! I have plans for my monster skeins of Sugar’n Cream cotton purchased that night at Michael’s. I’ll be making myself a One-Button Cardigan (pattern from Lion Brand website). We must have gotten the same color that night. It’s a great shade of blue.
Knit on!
August 15, 2007 at 1:43 pm |
Aww. Yor kitty is so cute! Mine loves to get into things too. SHe’s weird like that.
August 16, 2007 at 9:51 pm |
Sorry to hear about the BSJ frustrations. I’m glad to see you made it behave itself. 🙂 Also, what is it about cats and bags? Sitting in one doesn’t sound like much fun to me, but they love it.
August 17, 2007 at 4:03 am |
Hey! Love your sock, love the BSJ…but we MISSED you tonight! Come back soon! Can’t wait to see more of the BSJ.
August 17, 2007 at 4:46 am |
I tried making the BSJ, in the same color you have used, and failed three times. So, I do have those balls of yarn resting and waiting for whatever. Then today, I went to my LYS and bought more yarn to what? Make the BSJ. This time I chose a varigated yarn. Keep us informed as you progress. I do have the video. Feel free to ask. BTW, Emma is really something in that bag.
August 17, 2007 at 6:38 pm |
Yes, we missed you at S&B last night! Hope to see you next time.
Anne