Emma, She Ees Done!!

I finished Emma! I gave her a nice soak last night, rolled her in a towel and squished out as much water as I could, and now she's taking a rest in the hammock that is my sweater dryer. I hope she dries soon, 'cause it got cold her again this week, and I'd really like to wear her just ONCE before the weather gets warm again.

Overall, I'm happy with how Emma turned out. It's my body that I'm not pleased with. There's too much around the middle. Hopefully, I can get re-motivated to ... uh ... do some decreases.

For the past couple of months I've been in a sort of knitting drought, but, as the cliche goes, when it rains, it pours. I have now lined up enough projects to last me into the New Year. I'm now working on a gift for a friend, I have yarn to start a baby outfit for my nephew's baby -- due in July, I have yarn for two tank tops I want to make, and I am working on a crocheted string bag.

Of course, I sill haven't finished the felted clogs that I started months ago, I have to add a border to another tank that I made LAST summer, and I have an entrelac scarf that I never finished. Oh yes, and did I mention the socks I want to make? Those would be the RPM socks, and I also bought the More Sensational Knitted Socks book.

Oh yeah ... and there would be two sweaters that I knit that need to be ripped out and re-knit into something I'll actually wear/use in public.

I'm also trying to revvvv up the kids' learning. They've grown weary of the Sonlight curriculum, I'm sorry to say. Well, sort of sorry, anyway. It's too much like "school at home" for us. So, while we really like the books they provide us, we don't especially like the *schedule.* So, we're stirring things up a bit and trying to adjust our mindsets. We'll still read the books, and I DO like the Science schedule. We'll continue with our Singapore Math and Easy Grammar, and I've been scouting around in the iTunes store for good podcasts to listen to during breakfast and lunch.

The most significant change we're making is a shift towards Unit Studies. Both children have selected a topic of interest, and I've gotten them a unit study from the Homeschool eStore -- *love* that place!! DD is studying penguins and DS has taken flight with a unit on Amelia Earhart.

So, until next time faithful reader ... hello? Is anyone there?! :tap tap tap:

The Chronicles of Emma, Chapter 4

I have steeked.

Yes, I took the plunge and steeked Emma. Slit her right up the middle, I did. It was exhilerating!

Except day before yesterday I discovered that one of the stitches I had secured was coming unraveled. I'm not quite sure what happened except that I was examining the steeked edge after starting the lapels, and, well, I think I mighta just pulled on the wrong thing. Oops.

The stoopidity of my actions resulted in my un-knitting of the 4 or 5 inches of lapel I had completed, un-knitting up (knitting down?) the stitches I had picked up all around the edge, repairing the unraveling stitch & it's neighbors, re-knitting up the un-knitted up stitches, and starting all over again with the lapels.

So, now I am just about back where I was when I lost my mind.

The lapel is going to look nice. It's done in moss stitch, and while it's such a simple thing, it seems to always come out looking nice. I'm really enjoying the subtle variations in the Apple Spice Mmmmmalabrigo, and even though a couple of skeins are somewhat lighter and have less green than a couple of the other skeins, I think it's all going to work out in the end.

I've yet to slip Emma on to see if she's even close to fitting. I'm afraid. What if she doesn't? There's no going back now ... I steeked.

Hmmm? What did you say? Oh!! You want to hear about the steeking!!! Of course!

Well, I used the crochet method -- you can read a great article about it on See Eunny Knit, right here. As a matter of fact, if I hadn't been IN the car and terribly impatient, I would've read through this article before I started, and my steeks would probably have looked much nicer and NOT unraveled. ( argh ) But ... Live and Learn ... Patience is a Virtue ... Don't put he horse before the cart ... yadda yadda ... go ahead, hit me with your best words of widsom. I can take it.

I think I ended up re-starting the crochet part of the steeks something like three times. I finally got it right, for the most part, and in total the whole crocheting part probably took less than 30 minutes. Then, the snipping part took about 10 minutes or less, and I was taking my time. I can't tell you how liberating it is to cut your own knitting! :insert skeery face here: I did *not* use a contrasting yarn, however, and I'm wishing I had. I didn't know whether or not the steeks would show when I got done. So, I was afraid of using the only contrasting yarn I had in my bag at the time -- dark brown. Now, I realize that it would have been a GREAT idea to use contrasting yarn, because I could have repaired that unraveled part much more easily had I been able to actually distinguish what happened.

OK ... enough about unraveling.

Now came the time to pick up stitches all along the cut edge, down around the bottom back and back up the other cut edge. Again, if you've done much knitting, I'm sure this will not be a big deal, it's just a lot of stitches to pick up. Use the longest cable you have.

After picking up all those stitches and casting on the required # for the lapels, I discovered that, yes indeed, those steeked stitches would be hidden underneath the lapel, and it didn't matter whether or not I used a contrasting yarn. It would have been nice to see mention of this in the pattern.

Don't be afraid of steeks. If you're wiser than I am, knit up a tube, use Eunny's tutorial, and have at it!! You will be amazed. I'm already trying to think of other things I can steek!! First, I must finish Emma, though. I'm discovering how rewarding "monogamous" knitting is. No more of this 5 things on the needles for me!

The Chronicles of Emma, Chapter 3

Dear Emma has grown considerably since we last talked. She sprouted two sleeves, and those sleeves are now attached to her body!!

The sleeves were uneventful, as sleeves should be. They have a considerable amount of ribbing at the wrist-end, and that is folded into a cuff. Also, I found the method of increases recommended by the pattern to be odd. You basically use a Single Cast-on (a.k.a. Backwards Loops Cast-on), and when you come to that new stitch on the next round, you knit into the back of it. It makes a surprisingly nice increase! It's nearly invisible, and I would have never expected that. But, I believe I'll be using this method again in the future.

Last night I completed sleeve #2, thus it was time to attach the sleeves to Emma's body, which has been waiting patiently in my knitting bag for more than a week now. The method is not unlike other sweaters I've made -- I simply put 12 stitches for each sleeve on hold @ the underarm, and then started knitting on the body of the sweater. When I got to the held stitches on the body, I picked up a sleeve & started knitting across the live sleeve stitches, marking each end. I worked my way across the back & did the same w/ the next sleeve, and voila! I have sleeves.

After knitting the prescribed inch of stockinette, I once again glanced at my pattern to see what came next. And now the confusion begins. I'm wondering if I have exceptionally broad shoulders because the instructions now tell me to decrease the back stitches down to the measurement I took for my shoulder-to-shoulder measurement.

Well, after having placed 12 stitches on hold for the sleeves, I'm already there, and then some!!! Can you see me scratchin' my haid? So, I'm wondering now: If I don't do those decreases, am I going to look like my arms are growing out of my neck when I put this sweater on?

I'm off to consult with Angelia the Wise (a.k.a. The Poky Purler) again. Hopefully, she'll be able to lead me out of the forest.