My Knitting Woes

Lord have mercy, I've lost my knitting mojo...

It started this summer, and it continues.  Part of the problem is that gauge is a fickle bitch.  I do my version of swatching, and truth be told, I don't think it is any different than the "real" way of knitting a little square and washing it and making comparisons.  I've tried the "real" way, and my version of casting on a bunch of stitches, knitting a bunch of rows, then measuring to see what I got is just as informative.  More accurately, it is just as noninformative.

I have a top I made out of Berroco Suede back in May. Ms. Gauge had her way with this project in the beginning, but I sorted it out and managed to finish the top quickly.  However...I didn't like the instructions for the straps (I'm stubborn that way); so, I made them "my way." I hated the way "my way" looked; so, I ripped back, finished the top parts as written, and am now knitting the straps "their way."  I haven't gotten very far:

In August, I started knitting the back of a fabulous lacy, summer top out of some pretty fuschia cotton and silk yarn called Wach'i, by Mirasol.  I got a little sidetracked, because I had to finish some deadline knitting and put it aside.  Sometime after, I picked it up again and I moved merrily along until I got to the armholes, and I cannot for the life of me make the decreases work out with the pattern.  So, I threaded the stitches onto some waste yarn and started the front to get it to the armhole decreases.  At that point, I was planning to go to the LYS and get help...Here's what it looks like today:





 

Next up, I found some pretty cotton fabric to make a little skirt.  I thought I could find some yarn to coordinate and came up with Linie 163 Bingo in brown...not a color I typically wear, but it will go well with the fabric.  Yes, it is a simple stockinette top, but Ms. Gauge has presented problems, and this is my third start of the first piece...It is looking a little worse for the wear, and this isn't the best picture:

There was a Hill Country Yarn Crawl in October.  I was not able to participate, but on the last day, I happened to be in Austin and I visited Gauge.  (Should this name have tipped me off to the issues that followed?) It's a cute little shop with lots of yummy yarn, and there was some Malabrigo Rios with my name on it.  I started a Liesl, by Isolda Teague, because the color of the yarn was so pretty.  I was frustrated with my other tops, but I only guilty about starting another project for about a femptosecond. It was looking a little too loopy to me, and when I tried it on, it really didn't fit right.  I put the stitches on some waste yarn, and started again with smaller needles.  I think I may have to go up a size to get it to work, but I haven't had time lately to really fool with it.  Here it is, in all its glory:

Finally, I did finish two projects in October...a baby sweater, and a scarf.  The baby sweater came out quite well, and it's a story for a different post.  Remember that scarf I showed you a while back out of Buffalo Gold Premium Fibers Lux that was coming out too loose (Ms. Gauge again) and I went down a needle size or two?  I finished it, and had enough yarn and everything.  One day, when I set out to weave in the ends and to block it, I noticed some wonky stitches - right in the middle of the scarf.  It is reversible, and it doesn't show on the other side, but I am seriously considering frogging back to the mistake and fixing it and reknitting the second half of the scarf.  This yarn is pricey and beautiful.  It deserves nothing less than perfection.  It's hard to tell from this picture, but at least you can tell that I have finished it:

So, the last several months have been frustrating in the knitting department.  I've tried many ways to get my groove back.  I am trying not to buy any more yarn until DFW Fiber Fest 2010, but don't cry for me Argentina...I have more than enough yarn to last me for many, many years...

I leave you with a photo of freshly washed handknitted socks:

 

MK out.