Sunday, February 19, 2006

Whew!

I'm having gauge problems lately. For years I've made things that fit the recipient to a tee. (Hayden's orange sweater is an exception. Way too big when I made it, but I like to look on the bright side: he's going to be able to wear it for several years!) However, I had the Jaywalker mishap right before the Knitting Olympics started, and then tonight I nearly pulled a Michelle Kwan and dropped out of contention because I realized my row gauge on the vest is off. I was terrified that it was going to end up this tight little argyle vest mini-dress. After dinner I decided to put it on a scrap piece of yarn and try it on to see exactly how long it is:

Not bad after all! I'm going to adjust the decreases a little the rest of the way up to the shoulders so that there are less rows (only by 6 or so) and I don't have armholes that are too long, but I think it's going to work out allright. Looks pretty cute with my weekend workout pants, huh? We're all breathing sighs of relief in the Honeycutt household. DH actually said, "I'm probably more glad than you are that this is going to fit after all. Things aren't good when you're not happy." Was he being sweet, or was he trying to tell me that I can be difficult when I don't get my way??? I choose to think it was the former.

Obviously, the vest is not at the point of steeking yet, which was one of my goals for the week. Because my row gauge is off, I need more yarn. Fortunately, I realized that last week and ordered 2 more balls of lilac from Woodland Woolworks last Wednesday (yes, I made sure the dye lots are the same!). They should be here Tuesday (I almost typed "tomorrow" but then remembered that mail won't come tomorrow due to it being President's Day), so I feel pretty good about this vest being done in time for me to get my medal. (Boy, I hope that I haven't just jinxed myself!)

And speaking of goals, here are mine for this week:

1. Finish the vest.
2. Do all of my workouts on my training schedule. I was short this week by 45 minutes because I had a total brain fart on Friday and forgot I was supposed to ride. Oops.
3. Do abwork 3 times. My abwork goal from last week was too vague (and didn't get met, heh heh) so I'm making it more specific in hopes that that'll make me stick to it better.
4. Eat better than last week. Last week DH was out of town, and I was trying to be friendly with the people at my new job, so I ate bad stuff. And it showed up on the scale - yuck.
5. Buy the book, A Gathering of Lace. Eunny is hosting a KAL for the sampler stole out of the book, and I'd like to join it. She's being nice and not starting this until March 1st so that all of us knitletes can recover from Olympic competition.

One last picture to leave you with - my mother's Mrs. Beetons, her birthday present:

They look a little like blue fuzzy artichokes, don't you think? They're supposed to have beads on them, but I skipped that part. Didn't want to mess with them, and thought they'd look fine without them. I think I made a good call. I really wanted to get a picture of me modeling them, but that's when Hayden broke our first camera, and by the time we got a new one, they had already been shipped to her. I've asked her to get my dad to take a picture of her modeling them, but that hasn't happened yet. And I wouldn't hold my breath over it, if I were you.

6 comments:

Michelle said...

Stephanie, the vest looks GREAT! I can't believe how fast you've knitted and how beautiful it's going to look!

Jen said...

Wow, I didn't think it would be possible to get the vest on pre-steeking. Glad it looks like your gauge is going to work. I guess even if it was a teensy bit off, you could probably block it to size, right?

I was actually thinking the MRs. Beetons' were a bit more like broccoli...

Barbara said...

Wow- your vest looks awesome!! I adore that color combo- it's so nice and subdued as compared to mine (I'm starting to wonder when I'll ever wear a black and magenta vest...)

good work! Let me know how the steeking goes- I'm almost there.

karrie said...

Your vest looks fantastic!

Anonymous said...

The vest looks fab, I'm loving the colour combo.

Anonymous said...

the colors on the vest are really nice - it's a shame about the bubbling, though...