Yesterday, I was going to finish the sweater (the capital letters are gone.  I am ready to finish this crazy thing!)  All I lacked, all I still lack, is the zipper.  Plan A was to use the technique recently published by Interweave.  There is a great video in which Eunny Jang very clearly demonstrates how to convert the zipper to a “knittable object”.  This technique really appealed to me because it meant no sewing.  You use a knit picker and make holes along the zipper and pull the yarn through making loops that you can pick up with your knitting needle.

So yesterday afternoon, I made my way into the winter weather (the roads, I found, were clear.) and bought a knit picker.  It’s a small latch hook that you use to fix snags.  I’d never heard of one in my life.  It looks like this:

Well, it looked like that I should say.  I broke the first one.  I knew it was just a matter of time.  My yarn is too bulky to have much success with this technique without a lot of pain, anguish and broken knit pickers.  I think it would work great with a sweater made with worsted or dk.  It should work with some bulky yarns too, according to Eunny Jang, but my yarn is kinda of mohairy and really chunky.

So – plan B.  This involves more sewing.  I am going to try a combination of this and this.  I will baste the front closed, then sew and pin and pin and sew and I don’t know.  ugh.

That’s for tomorrow though.  I have had a case of the clumsies tonight, and I am not risking working with pins or tricky zippers.  Since I got home this afternoon, I turned into a klutz.  I spilled 3 pounds (really – no exaggeration) of sugar onto the carpet.  That was a mess.  I didn’t know where to start.

I called David.  “David, what do you think?”

David said, “Put the attachment on the vacuum and vacuum it up.”

Me:  “I don’t know how to put the attachment on.” (I am hopelessly Dyson vacuum cleaner inept except for the basic function.)

David:  “Ask Davey.  He will show you.”

I wasn’t convinced that Davey could walk me through it, although I shouldn’t be surprised that he would be able to.  Instead, I scooped up as much as I could, and David took over with the vacuum when he got home shortly thereafter.

Next I spilled diet coke all over the place including all over poor Timber’s white snout.  He was freckled for abit.

I did a couple of other minor droppy things, so I am calling it a night.   It’s getting late anyway.  Maybe I’ll knit a little.  That should be safe.  Hopefully.

We are in for another round of snow tonight.  (Us and about 80% of the country it seems like.)  Yesterday, Davey and David had a good time building a snow fort/wall.  I got a picture of them from through the window. (I was inside plotting the zipper insertion.)  I like this kinda far away shot.

Davey is showing me his “karate moves”.  He is going to start a karate class probably this fall at The Little Gym. (He needs to be closer to 4 years old before he starts.)  He’s very excited, but he has explained to me that, “Mommy, I already know quite abit about karate.  Daddy has been teaching me.”

We were also watching Mickey Mouse this morning.  There were a bunch of cows stranded on a small island in the middle of  lake.  I asked Davey how he thought they got out there.  “Well Mommy.  Cows can jump very far you know.” (This knowledge comes from the cow who jumped over the moon.)

We actually don’t have any big adventure planned for today.  The temperature is supposed to start falling this afternoon, and we have a pretty good chance for snow, so I think we are going to stay close to home.

We do have one small adventure planned.  We are headed to Costco with David.  Davey wants to show him the big playhouse/play equipment set and a kid’s car, and any other toys that might be there.  He loves checking them out.  He’s not that interested in buying them yet.   Although he did tell me that we were going to need a lot of “cash”!  David just wants to eat lunch there.

I’m watching the clouds move in.

I’m doing some knitting as well. I finished a cashmere fingerless glove last night.  (project for my friend in Tennessee.) One to go.

I’ve been knitting a little on my self-striping sock.  It’s been so much fun.

Ok.  Now back to The Sweater.  I finished weaving ends, and I steam blocked the front and sleeve yesterday.  I have a zipper.  Hopefully, I will make a lot of progress today.  David says he wants to wear it tomorrow.  That is not likely to happen as I still have no idea how I am going to knit the collar.

Happy Saturday!

Ok.  Made my way to the yarn shop after school today.  They had my Lamb’s Pride in Creme.  The dye lot is different, but I think we are ok.

As my Oma says, “Now We’re Cooking With Gas!”

Time to finish knitting what David now refers to as The Steven Seagal Sweater.   This is not necessarily a bad thing. He thinks Steven Seagal is pretty cool.

I think.

(Don’t worry, he does like the sweater.)

(I think.)  🙂

Davey had a good day.  Davey is always good-natured, but – his volatility is directly related to the amount of sleep he gets.

Volatility = 0  when Sleep = 11 uninterrupted hours in his own bed.

Time to get him to bed and then it’s knitting and American Idol for me.

When I wrote my blog title,  it was to explain that the knitting of  The Sweater has come to a screeching halt.  But then I thought for just a minute and actually, our entire day today came to a very nice screeching halt due to some snow and some really really really cold weather.   We didn’t get that much snow, but it was 10 below this morning.  I think all the schools in the area are closed.  So we are enjoying a nice day at  home.

That blizzard has brought things to a halt too in several states.  I’ve been reading today about my family and friends in Oklahoma.  Highways are closed, there was little or no mail delivery, grocery stores are pretty empty – it’s crazy!

The sudden stop on The Sweater seems pretty minor in comparison.  I merely ran out of the creme colored yarn.  I’ve ordered some more, but they haven’t shipped it yet.  I could get it at a yarn store here in town, but I don’t think the roads are great, and it is just too darn cold to go out.  So it will have to wait for a day or two.

Stay warm!

We are living in the house of colds.  Davey is getting a little better, mine is settling in, and now it’s getting David.  So we are taking it easy.

I’ve been trying to learn how to finish The Sweater.  I am still knitting on the second sleeve, and I have the right front to do, but in the meantime, I am working on finishing the left side.

Yesterday, I did a bunch of weaving in ends.  A bunch.  It’s such squishy yarn though that I am saving it and hope to stuff the next little animal I make with it.  Davey has requested a zebra.

Now I am working on blocking.  I was going to wetblock the back, but then I read some more and thought that might be overkill and leave me with a back that would fit 2 Davids.  So I am going to steam block the rest of it I think.

I found a couple of great videos to help me with the assembling of the sweater.  Actually I got some great help from a few friends who helped me a ton by sending me a few videos.  Thank you very much Susan, Patti, and Susan.

I am going to attempt setting in the sleeve today.  I thought this was a really helpful video.  She makes it look so darn easy: Seaming in a Set-in Sleeve.  While I was watching that video, I saw a link from the same Berroco series for seaming a shoulder.   I also just found a tutorial on setting in a zipper.  I still need to read more on that.  I won’t be there yet for a little while.

Davey was watching a Christmas Team Umizoomi this morning.  I saved some Christmas episodes for him to watch every once in awhile.  They were at Santa’s house, and Davey was worried because Santa did not appear to have a computer.  “But Mommy, how will he check the weather?”

Supposed to be sunny and 64 today.  It’s going to feel like spring!

The Sweater.  I thought I would finish the first sleeve last night.  A sleeve is longer than one might think.  Or perhaps more accurately, it’s longer than I thought.  Then I ran into difficulties in figuring out how to do the decreases.  I have one pattern that I am following for the sleeve, neck and shoulder decreasing.  I couldn’t quite make heads or tails of it.  Why does a pattern say this? “dec 1 st at each end of next 9 rows, then on every foll alt row to 20 st.”  Decrease on each end sure – but then what?   Just decrease then on one side every alternate row?  I wasn’t sure.  So I conferred with my knitting friend, Susan.  She was very helpful.  I know I am a sweater newbie, but here is how I think the instructions should read:

“Christina, when you begin the row, decrease one stitch.  When you get to the end of the row, decrease another stitch.  Do this for NINE rows.  That is, decrease one stitch at the beginning of the row and at the end of the row for NINE rows.

Now, my dear, you are finished decreasing at the end of each row.  You will not be doing this anymore.  Instead, you are going to  decrease ONE stitch at the beginning of EVERY OTHER ROW AND EVERY OTHER ROW ONLY.”   (Apparently I respond well to yelling instructions.)

(midnight update so as to not confuse myself when I refer back to this one day.  As if I might knit this again, although I might write this pattern up.  There are 9 rows with decreases at each end.  Then decrease on Each End every alternate row to 20 (was actually 21 on mine).  Then decrease each end on 3 more rows.)

This is knitting pattern writing for dummies.  Christina dummies.

I am so curious to see what this thing is going to look like that I drape it on David or position it flat as often as I can.

Lots of weaving in left to do.

I haven’t posted a picture of Davey in at least 24 hours so I thought I’d take a couple of him:

Then he wanted to point to the sweater as I took a picture.  (ok this was my idea.)  I learned that he points with his thumb which I found very cute.