WIP Wednesday

I think I may be done with the Nerd Wars. I really love the idea of doing it, but I'm not really one for creating on someone else's schedule. I don't mind being given deadlines for things I want to make, but being told what to make really kind of blows.

That said, if you have a ginormous queue that you want to make, you could probably find ways to make it work. Moreover, if you're doing an afghan or a hexipuff quilt, this would be great for that. You could do one square/hexipuff for each challenge, get points for your team, and progress on you WIP.

Yesterday, I decided to cast on a new project, instead of finishing something already on the needles. What I currently have going on isn't really inspiring me to work on it right now. I do have a few balls of yarn that I need to soak and then let dry to give them their shape again, so I may do that. That partly involves working on one of my WIsP. I knit a hat way back when I was first learning, and it didn't fit because I didn't change needles for the brim. Years later I've taken it apart, and I need to soak it so the yarn can relax.

The new project that I cast on is the Indigo top by Mishellee Zaharis Poulin. I'm having some gauge issues with it, because I want to make it in a cotton/bamboo blend, and this schtuff grows like crazy! My swatch doubled in width, but remained the same in height. I may decide to save the pattern, but choose something else that was meant to be used with cotton and already should have the growth taken into consideration.

Just to prove to you, because it is WIP Wednesday, that I am indeed working on the Meringue skirt, I have a photo of my nearly finished muslin! I can tell already that there's going to be some fit issues. I've lost some weight since I took my initial sizing measurements, and found that the mark on my sewing machine plate that I'd had marked for the seam allowance, is 1/4" too small. It might all work out, but when holding the muslin up to my waist, it feels like it's going to be too big.

Meringue Skirt muslin. My house is not this messy, just my crafting area.:)

All that I have left to do, is stitch the part that's hanging down below the scallops, adjust for fit, and then make the real thing! I feel like making the muslin took me forever, but I know that I put it down for about a week for a couple more instantly gratifying projects. It makes me wonder why I procrastinate on things that will make me happy... like new skirts!

I'm looking forward to this skirt so much, that I even took the time to pull out the fabric, scan it in, and then resize and crop it down to something easier to look at.

 Isn't it adorable?

Wednesday Already?

I had a really crazy busy day yesterday, and I'm having a difficult time coming to terms with Wednesday. This is not helped at all by the fact that I was up until 10:30 last night working on a WIP that has been driving me crazy. No matter what I do, or how carefully I count my stitches and make sure that everything is good, my stitch counts were not coming out right.

Last week, I enlisted the help of a friend from Google+ hangouts, and he was having the same problem. So I felt like (then) that maybe it wasn't me. Maybe it was something with the pattern, or something with the way we were doing increases. So last night, I was working on it again, and everything was great. I had all the stitches I needed just as the pattern said, and then I got to the eyelet increase row where you are making a new stitch every third stitch. I came up 4 stitches short.

The way this pattern works is that you have 3 stitches in the center that you use to keep the shawl centered, and on each side of those 3 stitches, you have a mirrored design. So when I came up short 4 stitches, I thought well, maybe I just missed a few yarn overs (making new stitches) - so I double checked. Everything is as it should be. So I counted again - maybe I'd just miscounted. Nope. Still 4 short. The weirdest thing about it though, is that I was 3 short on one side and only 1 short on the other side. Then I vented my frustration to a different friend through Google+ hangouts, and she took a look at the pattern.

-------If you don't want to read the math, skip down-----

The math works in mathematics, but it does not work in practice. Here's an example. Before you start row 42, you have 139 stitches. Subtract 3 for your center stitches: 136. Divide by two and you have 68 stitches on either side of the markers. Then you knit 2 for the side border: 66. Add in a yarn over. (Don't count it because you are putting in a stitch where there was none.) Knit 2 again: 64. Make another stitch, again, not counting it: 64. Every third stitch is making another stitch, so you have 64 divide by 2: 32 sets of stitches with an increase between each set. 32 stitches added on one side. Then you knit your 3 center stitches, and do it again, but in reverse. Instead of knit 2 add a stitch, you're adding a stitch and then knitting 2. So another 32 stitches added on one side, which gives us the two stitches left for the border, so go ahead and add another stitch, and knit those last two. For a total of 64 stitches plus the 2 added just after/before the border: 66 added.

Your row total of 139 stitches from before you knit this row and then add your 66 new stitches: 205 -- but the pattern says I should have 207 (a difference of 2 stitches) in the size that I am making (large, because large is fluffy and comfy!). Double check the other sizes, just to see if something there gives  me a clue about these two missing stitches and it is 171; and 177 - no where close to where I need to be

And I really don't trust my math, because it is not my strong suit - because even with working it out right here on the blog, I am not getting what I actually got, which is off by 4 stitches... and I do distinctly remember (because it was just last night) having no issues working from one side to the 3 center stitches - I knit 2 and added a stitch with no problems, I ended with adding a stitch just before the 3 center stitches marker. But when I came down the other side, putting my added stitch first, and then knitting 2, I had THREE stitches left where I should have only had those 2 border stitches. My math says I should have added 66 stitches, the pattern says 68.

So assume the pattern is wrong (which is total blasphemy because pattern designers are always right, and aren't human, so they don't make mistakes). That explains why I was 1 stitch short on the first side...and then also 1 more stitch short on the other; but what about those other 2 that I was actually missing?

I promise you and I will swear it on everything that I triple checked my work and everything was done exactly according to the instruction and I did not drop a stitch anywhere.

------End math-----

She came to the same conclusion that I did: the pattern is wrong. So we researched. Other people bold, and brave enough to speak out against a wrong pattern stated they had issues. Other people assuming they did something wrong, and like me, couldn't figure it out, frogged their projects and moved on. It's not unusual to have done something wrong while knitting a pattern, so assuming the problem is you and not the pattern is pretty typical. Most people fudge it and keep going (ie, add a missing stitch or two where needed): no one ever notices. They're design features, not mistakes.

Then we thought, maybe there's a newer version? There was. However... reducing the row number in order to fix a problem without adjusting stitch counts (how many have been added/how many you should have total) does not fix a problem. If your count is off early on in the pattern, and you start increasing stitches, it's going to be off the entire way through.

I will probably never knit another pattern from this designer again. If I can't trust her math, I cannot assume that her other patterns are mistake free just because she's a designer. That said, friend #2 is going through the pattern and fixing the math for me, God bless her!

In the mean time, I'm going to work on my Nerd Wars project.

Whippoorwill: pattern by Carina Spencer. Yarn: Malabrigo sock

Nerd Wars project: Four Winds. Pattern by Alasdair Post-Quinn. Yarn: Silver: Cascade 220 Superwash. Purple:  Anzula Cricket

Glow in the dark sheep stitch marker by me. Isn't he cute?!

Work in Progress Wednesday

Yesterday, my internet was down all day. It really sucked. Like, really, really sucked. I never realized how bored I get when I don't have the internet. There's NOTHING on TV during the day, I can't access my design files because I store them in the cloud, most of my patterns are stored on Dropbox and the ones that aren't I printed out right after I learned how to knit and purl, so they don't even interest or challenge me, the house is as clean as it can get with 3 cats, a dog, and wood floors, and so on.

So, the day that started out as a Work in Progress Wednesday...

...quickly turned into Finished Object Wednesday, even though I'd intended for it to be done on Friday because Alliteration.

Now that that's done, I'm back to working on Whippoorwill.

I will beat this project!! I WILL!

I've only started, ripped out, and restarted three times now. I'm actually, currently un-knitting a few rows. I don't know what the heck I'm doing, but my stitch counts are always off. If it was like one or two, fine I'll throw a couple make ones in there and keep going. But we're talking like 50-90 stitches off.

I'm employing lifelines. I shouldn't have to employ lifelines.  The majority of the pattern is:

k2, yo, k1tbl, k to last 2 sts, yo, k2
k2, yo, p to last 2 sts, yob, k2

WHAT IS SO HARD ABOUT THAT SEQUENCE THAT IS ALWAYS LEAVING MY STITCH COUNTS OFF?!

Sigh.

Part of me feels like I should be doing something for Nerd Wars, but since this is my first tourney, I have NO clue what I'm doing, so I'm going to wing it!

Edit to add: The finished object is Squish and is a free project on Ravelry. This is the second time that I made this pattern, and I did modify it some.

Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War!

Once Upon a Time: Welcome to Storybrooke

I'm kind of a Once Upon a Time Junkie. (If you haven't seen it yet, the first two seasons are on Netflix, and the third should be making an appearance just before the fourth season airs.) Kind of might be an understatement. The spin-off wasn't really as good, in my opinion, but hey, if you want a bit of Wonderland, I'm not going to stop you.

So last night there was an impromptu hangout and I got to talk Nerdom with a couple friends, and then I remembered that over on Ravelry, Nerd Wars is currently picking teams and there is a Once Upon a Time (OUAT) team, so of course I was thrilled, and I mentioned it to the hangout and well... it's so much fun watching the nerd come out of people. I'm pretty sure I've got another OUAT teammate, and our super sciencey friend is planning on a thesis for doing a double knit scarf  (I think...could be doing a blanket too) of organized glass molecules for a thesis project (a project that will justifiably take three months to knit).

So this is my I'm super excited because I've found something to keep me occupied during the season break post. I have no idea what I'm going to do, but I know that I'm going to have tons of fun making projects that are more than just something pretty to look at. Adding sentimental value to a project tends to make it more special, and of course, makes me less willing to part with it...and to date, I've given away 95% of all of the projects I've ever made. Including my first 15-20 projects which were all dish cloths in order to get practice mechanics, and give me a sense of accomplishment.

I don't know for sure when the first project challenges will be issued, but I'm super excited to get started. Until then, I'm plugging away on an improvised cowl. I need something to help keep me warm in the mornings and evenings (wind from the ocean, sheesh!) and to get the feel of a yarn I bought a while ago, but haven't used yet.

Expect a LOT of OUAT in the future...maybe I'll even dye up some more yarn to go in the Faerie Tale Fibers series.