yeah; finished..... right.

----I lied..... or overestimated myself.....----
Late blog; sorry. : <
Alright; two weeks ago (last blog) I reported the terrible fate of the Garns bolero; is has then been re-christened 'The Unmentionable Bolero' in my head. I kinda said I'd have it within spitting distance of being finished by this blog..... well that also depends on how far one could spit...... OK I can't get outta this. Let me explain myself:
After getting the unmentionable bolero back on the needles and knitting 1 row to turn the stitches round the right way..... I put in on my knitting tray..... and didn't look at it (or as I refer to it as not talking to it) for a week and a bit. So really there's only about 5 days of knitting sporadically on the bolero; because Uni's over and my other half's far more important to pay attention to than a godforsaken bolero, which is why with the unfinshed-ness.

I do have good news though; I have 1 sleeve done. Don't break open the champagne (or Hardys pink wine if you're like me) yet though; because I am very confused with the next piece (the body).... I've done the math before I started; to avoid the project being banashed to the tray for another week.... and I'm getting it wrong somewhere; I'm sure of it.

129 sts(from sleeve) + 5st each side of 7 rows = 13 st
129 +(5x2x7)+13..... it should equal 225(according to the pattern.... but I'm getting 212.....I'm 13 sts out....... unless the pattern means 13 on each side........ It probably does; but at least If I go wrong this is where I'll go wrong.....

Now that that's sorted and I am not worrying anymore I want to start a random new project: remember the 2 balls of ahatithink yarn? I said I wanted to make socks? well I found the socks I want to knit with them; they're not knee high; as I found out that it would need about ooooo; 4 balls.... and I don't wanna buy more yarn yet....

They are from Lionbrand pattern finder (I love this website; shame I cant get the yarn over here; in the UK though) and they look like this (<===)

THey're called Sweet home socks and apparently have lace at the top... but theres a couple of problems....

1. I don't have the needles (size 5 (3.75mm)DNPS; I have 2mm, 5mm and 6.5mm) but that's easily solved.... with £2 from the yarn fund and a trip into town

2. the size for these gorgeous socks are Women's Medium.... and 1 size... I have big legs.... so that dosent work well..... I'm gonna need to make the pattern to a bigger size; which means a lot of math and stiches..... I've only done this once before (bunny hat) and that was sorta easy because of the pattern; all I had to do was repeat it. this will be harder; probably.
Well I'm just back from town and I got myself new needles (3.75 DPNs) so all I need to do is find out if the yarn I have is good enough for the socks; then knit them.

-----World Cup knitting -----
Following the Harlot's idea (yarnharlot; type to google; best.knitting.blog.ever.) of Oylimpic knitting I have decided to tweek it a little and make it World Cup knitting; as the football will be going on at least 5 matches in a week throughout the Month of June and into early July (a match is even on my Birthday :-/) I have decided to set myself a challenge. Cast on the socks at the beginning of the World Cup (I'm taking this as June 11th cus thats when the first Game is) and be casting off or finished by the Final Match (July 11th).
This means I wold need to have one sock done by the mid-point (say June 26th) which gives me 15 days to do each Sock. I'm going to do all the calculations today; so wish me luck!
World cup knitting will also mean that I can't work on the unmeantionable bolero after June 11th; so I'm trying to get half-way across the back; so I can at least shove it in a bag; half way done for a month. so all you'll be seeing here will be socks...... or bits of them; for that I'm sorry (already)

----- Happy Birthdays -----
OK; its a little Late; but Happy Birthday to Nicole; Lauren and Charlotte; who were all 1 year older This month. I'll try to make this a regular thing in my blog :)

----- Until June 11th -----
yes I know thats a little bit more than 2 weeks; but it'll be a special; long- socky blog; along with news from the front line of the World Cup; with my Better half probably trying to teach me what's going on... and who He thinks'll win....or lose; whichever. I'll say at this point I don't really care who wins; as long as its not England.......(cus by then I'd be deaf) hehehehehehe.
Toodles xxx

Happy Sunshiny blog

----- Deal ------
I have the hat finished. the bunny Hat. the one that when I wear it keeps my head abnormally warm. yeah that hat. My other, better, half lost a little bet with me.

E: Almost finished my hat
C: no ur not; you still have to close it up
E: yeah; that'll only take 5 minutes, less actually
C: no it won't

E yeah it will

(E looks at TV; sees it is 2 mins til half time on the football and forms a deal)

E: bet I can get it done before the 2nd half

C: that's impossible

E: ok; If I win then u pose with the hat and if u win then I pose with the hat.

C:............. deal

Well he lost lol. so without further ado the next part of the blog.

---- 1 finished hat; 1 found....I think ----

I cleaned out my Stash the other day; and found this at the bottom.... I don't remember what it was meant to be but I think it was a hat.... before I started the bunny hat.

I can't find the pattern for it; nor do i know what row; or even what pattern to do. and I didn't even know I had 5mm DPNs.... weird. Good bye little unknown thing. we'd have a small funeral or case File.....if I knew what you were.

This was quickly froged back to its original state and since there is a little over 400g of this colour I think I feel my first pair of me sized socks when I touch that yarn. screw the little socks, I'm thinking nearly knee highs lol.

Is thinking about something a little bit special for a certain person... I just need a pattern and Yarn (and probably needles, cus a knitter can never have too many lol).

---- In other news ----

Lady was staring at something for qite a long time while I was knitting at Lunch. she doesn't usually just sit at the back door.... and if she had wanted out then she would have barked or came to just look at me (as if to say 'uh; hello? bathroom?') So I went to see what she was staring at.

It seems the pigeon Mafia has decended on our Garden. I swear they stayed in that 1 spot for like 15 minutes; I was knitting the unmeantionable shrug, so I could watch)

----Goodbyes ----

Yep; that's it from me; by the time I next blog to all you loverly people I will hopefully have finished or be within toasting distance of finishing the unmeantionable bolero.

Luv from Aki X

Disaster !

(It took a lot to not write that title in CAPS and without excessive !'s)
I'll be doing 2 whole blogs today; this is the first; rant-type blog then later I'll do the nice happy blog :)

----Disaster you say? ----

Yes I do say. I have realised that it would take a long time to save up enough money to start the big project; so I decided to do a relatively smaller project, A bolero for myself. I printed out the pattern; only looking at what Yarn I needed and the needles I needed. (as in; not the actual pattern)

I purchased all the yarn(5 balls of Rico cotton in colour 14(pomegranate) if anyone's interested) and 2.75mm circular needles(which are frigging tiny) and cast on... then I noticed the sleeves had frills (or flounces as they called them) and I don't suit frills..... so I had to calmly skim past a couple of lines to where they actually start the non-frilly knitting.

I cast on 89 stitches and worked the cuff; (more of the cuff than it said; but I don't like my elbows) and read the pattern after that... well I thought I had.

After 7 days, and a lot of yarn, I got to the shoulder and the pattern says I should have 129 stitches. I count them.... I got 100. I count them again pleading with my brain saying 'count right damn you'.... still 100.... I give them to my mum and she counts 100..... I pace the pattern seeing where I could have left out 29 stiches (which is about 2 inches worth of knittting alll the way up the sleeve) and I read the two little words I had missed....

I read

'Increase by 1 every 4 rows'

The pattern actually said

'Increase by 1 every 4 rows each side'

..... I was horrified. I had started increasing every 4 rows once..... instead of twice (as the pattern wanted).... the diagram makes my problem clear. it maens I would have to restart from where I started to increase..... row 27........ I was on row 98.... thats 70 rows of wrong knitting.... I've had to frog back before but never that much... I poured myself quite a sizeable glass of rose wine (Hardy's; it was lovely) and set to work. I laughed as my dad was on 'roll up the ball again' duty.

I sat on my bed last night wondering if I had enough energy in me to do an all nighter; a knitting all nighter.... I wrote up my mistakes in my notes and made notes to get me back to where I was before. I made it to row 30 before sleep got the better of me. writing this now I hope to be on row 40 by the end of the day.

More (happier) blog after Lunch. Thanks for reading this knitting rant as far as this :). you've made a happy woman very old.

Luv form Aki X