What a Life!

Announcing…the worst knitting disaster ever. At least in my knitting life.

I mean, I’ve accidentally felted things ever so slightly enough for them to no longer to fit. But that was my fault. This wasn’t.

For the record, I used the yarn specified in the pattern. The garment looked fitted in the magazine, so I made adjustments likewise to make it fit my figure. I knit it at a slightly smaller gauge than the pattern specified. And I tried it on before I blocked it. As in, I pinned it together and put it on, like anyone with a sewing background knows how to do.

Before I wet it to block it, it was so snug I could barely get it to meet in the center. I blocked it anyway.

After blocking and seaming, I had one big saggy mess.

As in, my shoulder-to-shoulder measurement is 15″ and I knit the garment exactly to those specifications based on the gauge I expected to get after blocking based on the swatch I knit, washed and dried before I began knitting the garment. Based on how it looks in the picture, I would say that the shoulder-to-shoulder measurement has to be at least 20″ since the sleeves are at least a couple inches off my shoulders. And those gussets at the bottom are supposed to start at my waist, not my high hip. The hem should rest just past my high hip, not just past my low hip.

Oh, it looked pretty on the table.

But the yarn. The yarn had a problem. Namely, it stretches. And stretches. And stretches. Take a closer look - really dig around - and you’ll find reviews where people tell tales of knitting hats with the stuff. Hats that fit perfectly at the beginning of winter and covers not just your eyes but your nose and mouth by the end of winter.

The yarn may be pretty. It may show off stitch patterns fabulously. And I totally love the color.

But it was not meant to be.

And may I just say that the designer should have never used this yarn for this pattern? Yarn that stretches…and stretches….and stretches…should not be used for fitted garments. Straight, boxy garments where growing doesn’t mean that it no longer fits are fine. But highly tailored, fitted garments? Nope. This yarn was not a good choice. Sorry.

What makes it even worse was that I spent at least three times as much money on the yarn for this project than I normally spend on yarn for a sweater. As in, I spent enough on one project to qualify for the 25% discount at Webs. Yup. [It was birthday money, okay? I don’t normally spend money like that.]

My theory was that I would knit fewer projects out of nicer yarn and I would have nicer things. Clearly, spending more money on yarn does not mean you will get better results. Just saying…

For those of you who are not knitters (if you’re still reading), this is what something looks like when it’s been frogged. [Again, frogging comes from rip-it, rip-it as you pull out all the stitches.]

R.I.P. Nantucket Jacket

If you took piano lessons for any amount of time, and got, maybe, to the intermediate level, then you learned how to play The Wild Horseman, which is the song that keeps running through my head every time I see Joey with the broomstick horse.

I had some Christmas money leftover from Steve’s brother Schon, and when we were at the grocery store last week (of all places!), they had these broomstick horsies. They had them last fall, and I intended to go back and get one, but I forgot, and the next week they weren’t there. This time when I saw them, I stopped and got one. I let Ben pick out which one. I like the dark brown one with the star on his forehead, but Ben chose this one.

When I was a kid, our neighbors had one of these, and I loved riding it. This one has the same type of stick, but instead of having that rounded top at the end of the stick like a broom, it has one of those rubber deals that goes on the end of a cane. Probably a good idea since we have wood floors.

Both boys have played with it a lot, but Joey’s ways of playing with it are just too funny, too original.

Apparently the horse is top-heavy so Joey carries it around upside-down,

…drags it like a broom,

…and uses it as a leaning post while he ponders what to do next.

The cuteness of it all.

Brrrrmmmmm!

[You know what song I’m thinkin’ of…]

We’ve discovered Joey’s favorite food.

When I rented the lens and flash, they filled out a paper credit card ticket as collateral. Next to the flash, they wrote $300. Next to the 16-35mm lens, they wrote $1200. And those were used prices. I think the flash - a 550 - would have sold for around $500 when it was new. Someday I may own a flash like that, but as for the lens, renting it for a day works just fine.

The flash actually had bounce capabilities, which is what I had thought I would use. But I ended up using it pointed directly ahead because I needed its full power in order to fill in the room and make it look bright and pretty.

Considering what I could have gotten with the equipment I own, I think these photos are quite nice. Compared to the kind of photos you find here where photographers charge $300 to go shoot pictures of million dollar homes that are being placed on the market, my pictures are nothing. Those pictures were great inspiration, though.

For real estate pictures of homes in our price range, there are few as nice as mine. In fact, I saw one photo with a listing where not only was their truck parked in the driveway, the garbage can was out by the curb; and not only was the garbage can out by the curb, there was trash piled up around it. And that was the only photo included with the listing. I laughed out loud!

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen events, we will not be placing our house on the market at this time. I will treasure my pictures, though. I remember my mom taking pictures of our house up in Michigan and how fun it is to look at them. Oh, the memories they bring back! My pictures may be a bit more staged than hers were, but they, too, will be filled with many memories.

In all, I took about 120 photos during three main shooting sessions. The first was in mid-afternoon so I could get the most light possible in each room. That worked especially well in the basement. Then I took some more in the evening during the hour before sundown. My final shoot was during the morning in the hour after sunrise. We had some hazy clouds over the sun during that final shoot which gave the light a softer quality - so nice for the exterior photos. You can see the highlights - including some I wouldn’t have used in the listing but which tell you about how things really are - here. Enjoy!

So these are my new kitchen curtains. The ones they replaced were hand knit by me to a tune of about 40 hours per valence, if I remember correctly.

Since we’re putting the house on the market and the window coverings are typically sold with the house, I wanted to make something else to put up since I had no intentions of leaving my hand knit valences with the house.

I was talking with a friend of mine from southern California and telling her about how we’re selling the house and some of the projects I have going along with that. When I mentioned making new valences for the kitchen so I wouldn’t have to sell my hand knit ones with the house, she filled in the blank and said, “Yeah, they’re good enough for you, but not good enough for somebody else.”

What really I wanted to say was, “Yeah, they’re good enough for us, but they’re too good for someone else like you who would have no appreciation for them whatsoever.” But I refrained. Some people just don’t get it.

I really like the new curtains, though. They’re bright and cheery and they go very well with the kitchen. The two windows are two different sizes so I customized the length for each window. You can’t necessarily do that with store-bought curtains. I think they look very nice.

But again, no one is obligated to agree with me. If you like store-bought curtains, by all means, buy them and hang them in your house. I’ll be happy because you’re happy. Just don’t expect me to get why store-bought is so wonderful.

Cheers!