Check-In Post January 26th 2023

[badly_knitted]

Hello to all members, passers-by, curious onlookers, and shy lurkers, and welcome to our regular daily check-in post. Just leave a comment below to let us know how your current projects are progressing, or even if they're not.

Checking in is NOT compulsory, check in as often or as seldom as you want, this community isn't about pressure it's about encouragement, motivation, and support. Crafting is meant to be fun, and what's more fun than sharing achievements and seeing the wonderful things everyone else is creating?

There may also occasionally be questions, but again you don't have to answer them, they're just a way of getting to know each other a bit better.


Today's Question: No question today.


If anyone has any questions of their own about the community, or suggestions for tags, questions to be asked on the check-in posts, or if anyone is interested in playing check-in host for a week here on the community, which would entail putting up the daily check-in posts and responding to comments, go to the Questions & Suggestions post and leave a comment.

I now declare this Check-In OPEN!

Comments

[badly_knitted]

So far today I've knitted another 18 rows on the sweater back, completing my third pattern repeat. The first 10 rows today used up the rest of my first ball of yarn, so that went a lot further than I was expecting.


The back is now 17.5 inches. Length to shoulder shaping is supposed to be 25 inches, so I have another 7.5 inches to go. It's drop-shoulder, so no armhole shaping. I can do armholes, no problem, but for a pattern like this one the lack of them is definitely preferable. I have cables right near the sides so it's good that I won't have to mess about with them. Going to do some more knitting in a bit while I watch TV.

[wiseheart]

Sometimes I wonder what all this would mean in centimetres. *g*

You are making excellent progress, though.

[yarnofariadne]

Sounds like a lot of good progress!

[darkcedars]

That's really great, you'll be done with the back before you know it.

[sister_raphael]

Another 18 rows is good progress!

[spiralicious]

You're making great progress

[wiseheart]

The original plan was to take a crafting break today. Instead, I started on the baby book of my friend Elise's 5th grandchild. It's gonna be a boy, supposed to enter the world in April, so I chose some funny, neutral patterns for the cover (no baby blues). Of course, I managed to mess up the measuring process, so this will be a somewhat smaller journal, roughly 12cm by 14cm, instead of the 13x17 that I usually make. So I'll have to make it extra cute as a consolation, right?

All basic parts of the cover are cut out and aligned, but I was too lazy to do more. Tomorrow is another day

[badly_knitted]

They say small is beautiful so I'm sure the end result will be lovely!

[yarnofariadne]

I'm sure it'll be adorable!

[darkcedars]

Do you have a theme for this one?

[sister_raphael]

Little books are extra cute!
And easy for little hands!

[spiralicious]

Cute covers most sins, especially with crafting. It's not small, it's precious and intimate. I'm sure the end result will be lovely.

[yarnofariadne]

Hectic and exciting day over here but I managed enough time to get 4 rows done on the first slipper!

[wiseheart]

I hope it was a good kind of exciting.

[darkcedars]

4 rows is good when things are crazy!

[badly_knitted]

Wooo! Slipper progress!

[sister_raphael]

oooo slippers!

[spiralicious]

Woot!

[darkcedars]

I finished the 8th row of blue on the first half of the cardigan and decided to do the shoulder seam with stitch markers and try it on - and that's big enough.

Starting the blue rounds on the second half. I wanted to be done by Groundhog Day (Feb 2) so it's working out!

[badly_knitted]

Woohoo! One half done and the other on its way! Hope you make it by your deadline!

[sister_raphael]

Blues are my favourite! I look forward to photos!

[sister_raphael]

I've been sewing on the Polish kontusz jacket again and am trying to finish that this week ahead of other things. I'll share a photo of the gold braid bars across the chest later tonight if I'm not too tired after work. It's looking great, I think. Still stressing about getting the lines to line up properly.

I'm preparing for an online talk about the bathhouse display on Saturday USA time and being doing a lot of thinking about publisher things. If you're on my f-list, I'd value your thoughts and encouragement on the locked post. Not enough hours in the day and I may see if I can take a week off work to really get the next two books at the point where I can get the samples to the publisher because they're interested and I'm still under contract.

[badly_knitted]

Fingers crossed that the jacket comes together and everything lines up the way it should! Looking forward to seeing the picture.

Good luck with the talk and with getting the books ready.

[althea_valara]

Well. I sat down to work on the hoodie today. Yesterday I had completed row 6 of the upper body, but had done decreases along the row because my stitch count was way off. Today, it finally clicked: I had been misreading the pattern! ARGH!

The pattern is written out in long, detailed rows with stitch counts instead of using more shortcuts like, "work to marker, increase, work to end". I had been reading the stitch counts correctly, BUT misread the increases. On some rows, all the raglans increased twice; on other rows, only the front raglans increased twice, the back ones increased ONCE. I was increasing twice on them all.

So I have ripped back to row 2 (the last correct row) and reworked it. I'm on row 5 now, I think? Didn't get too much done today because I had a rough night sleep so I had to nap this afternoon. At least now I know what the problem was.

[darkcedars]

I've done something similar before. Sometimes I start scribbling the shortcut text so I don't keep doing it.

[spiralicious]

I'm not feeling well today. I made it through the weekly food shopping and making a frittata for Mom for breakfast alright, but the rest of the day, I was just kind of off and couldn't do much.

Tonight, I got 8 more rows done on the scarf while watching the new Munsters movie.

I think I'm calling it a night early.

[yarnofariadne]

I hope you feel better tomorrow.

I really liked the new Munsters movie!

[annofowlshire]

I decided to frog the hoodie vest. With all the issues I'd already found with the pattern, I decided it wasn't worth constantly trying to fix it. I know some people love that problem-solving experience, but it's a bit more high maintenance than I want right now. I just want to be able to pick up and knit.

Instead I'm probably going to knit another one of these, with some mods on the cuff and hems (moss stitch, perhaps) and a bit lighter yarn than I've done in the past. I love the shape of this jumper, it reminds me of some of my favorite store-bought ones when I was in university and I think it'll look cute both with jeans and under my pinafores.

[badly_knitted]

That's too bad, but sometimes it's best to go with what you know works for you. Fiddling can be annoying if you're not in the mood, especially when you know there are mistakes in the pattern.

I've fiddled with practically every pattern I've ever knitted, but that's because I always think I can do it so it looks better *grins* It's in my nature to fiddle, patterns are just a starting point.