Thank you very much, Ms. Marigold

Voila!

Here she is.

Started: December 12, 2006

Finished: January 14, 2007

Pattern: Ms. Marigold from Zephyr

Yarn: Knitpicks Elegance in Lilac - I originally ordered 4 but needed to order a 5th. I used almost 75% of the 5th

Tools: Size 5 29" circular, size 3 32" circular and a size G crochet hook

Modifications: I knitted for size small, but after getting fairly far along, I tried it on and was concerned with it being a bit too tight. I followed the two modifications - I started the increasing directions to get a little more give in the waist and I also knitted it a bit longer. This definitely resulted in needing more yarn

Other: well, when I was done with the sweater it was still a bit snug, but after blocking, which I thought would do the trick, I'm in trouble. It really stretched out along the neckline, which you can see a bit from the picture. I guess my only option is to try blocking it again. Also, I bought the size 3 circular from Knitpicks with my yarn order, and well, I sort of fell in love. They are stupidly cheap and while I assumed the worse, they are amazing. Super easy to use and the purple cable between the needles is the most flexible thing ever. I only wish they had sizes bigger than 3.

Next up, the disaster that came from my Norweigen Mittens. Stay tuned.

Field Trip

I'm happy to report that I am almost done with Ms. Marigold. Since we last spoke, I picked up stitches (successfully), did the border for the neckline and did my first crocheting ever, thanks to the many websites with close up pictures and step by step instructions. I'm almost finished with weaving the ends, will hopefully lay it out to block today and have some final pictures to share in the next couple of days.

Saturday Field Trip: Yesterday we had a wonderful little field trip to Tarrytown, New York. It all started about 2 months ago when our friends Kelly and Jared suggested going to Blue Water Grill. It was November, the leaves were turning and apparently BWG is beautifully decorated in fall colors. It was crisp and cool and definitely cider weather but we already had plans and it didn't work out. After Hart and I had dined at Blue Hill in NYC a couple of years ago, we've been eager to check out the Blue Hill restaurant at Stone Barn Farm in Westchester and, yes, the first available reservation was 2 months later, at 5:30 pm mind you.

We made a day of it - we left at 2pm and stopped at the Lyndhurst Castle, a really beautiful and historic gothic castle - with a boatload of history. It is gorgeous and we went on the tour, which was great.

We then headed over to Stone Barn and as it was already 4:30 and a little rainy out, we walked around the grounds a tiny bit and settled in to big club chairs in front of the fire for cocktails. The background is really interesting and exciting - the restaurant opened only a couple of years ago, and is located on the Stone Barn farm, a working farm that is also the SB Center for Food and Agriculture. They have lots of educational program, and Blue Hill uses all its ingredients from the farm.

We began dinner at 5:30 and left the restaurant at 9pm. This was the best dinner and dining experience I have had in a long time. We splurged on the tasting menu (5 courses + 2 desserts) and chose local wine which was amazing. The staff was incredible - and the service amazing. Usually I'm the tough diner - as I'm vegetarian but in our party we had 1 person (Hart of course) who could and would eat anything, one no-red meat eater and the best - one who wanted no vegetables. I kid you not.

I can't say enough about this place. It was luxurious, delicious and just a wonderful experience. The day was an adventure and a perfect excuse to get away from the city and be surrounded by nature.

In other knitting news, I am making progress on Hourglass but I have to say, this is going to take a long time and will require endless rows of stockinette. A new thing for me is this turning round thing - knitting a bunch of rows and then purling one. I wasn't sure what the purpose was but a couple of days ago I was watching Knitty Gritty and they explained it. They also showed a very simple way to seam it up as you're working but as I was too far past that point, I guess I just need to deal with it at the end. Not so much looking forward to that as well, we know I hate the whole finishing thing.

Future Projectos: I am getting really excited about the Central Park Hoodie from Knitscene, and if I can just get my act in gear, I'm going to run to either Purl or The Point this afternoon and grab the magazine and either buy yarn on the spot or ponder it for awhile. I'm loving all the pictures on the KAL and eager to start a little bit more complicated project.

The End Justifies the Means

I just got home and have been thinking about finishing Ms Marigold all day. I had to put her down on Christmas because I ran out of yarn, but did have enough to pick up the stitches for the border and knit a couple of rows. I got my extra ball of Knit Picks a week ago and swore not to touch it until I was done with my scarf and today is that day.

So I hate picking up stitches for a border - I dreaded it, I suck at it and now I know why. Since I stopped almost 2 weeks ago I have had this little buzz in my ear telling me that I didn't pick up enough stitches and the result would be a crunched neckline. When I bought my Malabrigo at Downtown Yarns the day before I flew home for the holidays I brought Ms. Marigold in and asked the lovely women working there what to do. I know how to pick up stitches (er, kind of) but how many, or how frequently do I do it? She told me what I didn't want to hear, something to the effect of "You just try and see how it goes. I usually pick up border, knit it, and pull it out a few times before it's right". The lesson is one similar to the gauge issue - not wanting to do one, skipping it and finding out your sweater is 2 sizes too small/big.

Not enough picked up stitches (go ahead, click to enlarge it, see for yourself)

Look (above) at how close I am!

The amount of discipline and restraint that I will be pulling off this evening is massive. I WILL be ripping this out and starting over. I am going to hate it and just to make it worse, I will be watching the National Championship game - and watching the team I hate, Ohio State, play Florida, the team that should not be playing. Michigan should be playing.

Thank goodness Hart's Mom got me the Vogue Knitting book- it has a great chapter on picking up a border and I need all the visual aids possible.

This post is dedicated to myself - I am documenting this restraint so that I look back and remember my strength. I really should have pulled out the stitches before I posted shouldn't I have?

ps: should you look at this picture and think that, nah, I didn't need to pull it out, I would have been fine, please bite your tongue. For real.