Thursday, May 28, 2009

Shoes... Ahem.. Yarn Under

I decided to take on the task of doing some spring cleaning. Of course, this meant organizing all of the yarn first. My past purchases from WEBS and The Fiber Fix were still in the bag that they came in, hidden in the closet somewhere. This was getting ridiculous. I needed to do something, and I needed to do it fast.
So, my mom was clearing out old things from her closet as well, and she bought something called "Shoes Under". So then I thought hmmmmm...I could put my yarn in that. Lo and behold, it worked.

BEFORE

AFTER - Holding 42 skeins of yarn, with room to spare


Here is a secret..... they are selling this thing at Duane Reade and CVS for 9.99. I am sure other major Drug Store chains have it as well. Just check the As Seen on TV section.

My friend Raphael came to my house during by ball-winding shenanigans. He is an architect, and was impressed with the design of the swift. He was even more impressed when he saw it in action, and thought it was an ingenious idea. He said that I was part of an "Underground Knitting Club". Kind of like a fight club, but just for knitting. LOL!!! Call it what you want, but he had to try his hands at ballwinding. Do I see a smile on his face?

So, after balling up that pretty blue MadelineTosh Worsted, I had to swatch and cast on for Stephanie Japel's Textured Circle Shrug. Lion Brand is doing a KAL and although I am a few weeks behind, I am sure that I will catch up without a problem.

Here are the details so far.....

My swatch gave me 5.5 sts/inch instead of the 4.5 stitches the pattern called for. Based on how the fabric looked, I liked my size 6 swatch better than the size 7, which gave me 5 sts/inch. (Whoa Nelly..... I actually did a swatch!!! Yes, It's true) Above the gauge counter is my size 6 fabric, and below it is my size 7. You can't really tell a difference in the picture, but trust me the size 6 fabric feels a lot nicer than the 7. The 7 looks a little "holey" to me.

So, I casted on for the Large size, even though I am a Small. The raglan construction of this pattern makes that very easy. For the S,M,and L sizes, you cast-on the same amount of stitches and just do the raglan increases to fit the specific size. Ever since I made Wicked, I have loved Raglan sweaters, so I think this will be a good one. Also, I am very happy that this pattern goes up to a 2X size. I have a lot of friends and family who are not as small as me, and I think this pattern is gorgeous, and I am happy that the designer didn't forget about them too. Every woman needs gorgeous clothes, regardles of their size.

I am also alternating skeins every 2 rows. I think this is working out very lovely for me. I am just a little worried about what I will do when I get to the sleeves. Any ideas??? I will kindly take any advice.
As for the Spring Cleaning..... I have managed to try on every pair of pants that I have and I realize that 17 don't fit. I put those in a "just in case I lose 10 lbs" bin. I haven't gotten to the shirts yet, because I got sidetracked making shrugs. LOL!!! Wish me luck!

7 comments:

R said...

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY ME!!!! I spin the yarn!

craftivore said...

I want cute boys winding my yarn too!

Kim said...

Raphael is hawt! A fight club for knitters, hmmmm. The first rule of knit club is there is no knit club.
My friend Seon is knitting the that shrug. Yours will be gorgeous.
Isn't organization great!

Two Cables and a Frapp said...

I love this pattern you've chosen. It's going to look wonderful in that yarn. I'm looking forward to seeing what you pair in between the teal shoes and your shrug. Oh and don't think I didn't notice that your pal Raphael is a HUNK !!!

Nashe' said...

thanks girl ! for the compliment on my remake fit... I'm trying ! love your recent works...
take care sweets ..

Sharon said...

I think the 'every two rows' will work for the sleeves as well.

But don't take my word for it because whenever I try to do my own thing to a pattern, I always have to just eyeball the thing.

Good luck with it, though.

Anonymous said...

I read this post before but didn't pay close attention. I love this. I hope I can still find it.
Thanks for the idea.