Thank you Robin :-)

I did get this sorted out thanks to Robin. The funny thing was, before I saw her comment I had just been knitting away and continuing with the decreases then realized I would indeed end up with 60 stitches, I just still couldn't figure out how I could!

Thankfully it was just me not counting right, and not me making a huge mistake which is what I feared. I did not want to frog this at all. All that said, I am indeed finished Summer's End :-) I have to block her today and hopefully take pictures soon.

HELP! Can someone help me with the math?!

I was doing so well with Summer's End but I've got to the point of decreasing after joining the sleeves. Everything was going good until I decided to calculate how many stitches I'd have left after I'd finished my decreases!

The pattern says I should have 238 stitches once I've joined the sleeves. This was correct. I am decreasing 4 stitches every RS row at the armholes. It says to do this 20 times. That would mean 80 stitches decreased - right? I also have to decrease at the neck edge every other RS row, a total of nine times. I decrease 2 stitches on these rows, (one at either end) so a total of 9 times would mean a further 18 stitches decreased. That brings the total to 92 stitches decreased. Take 92 from 238 and you're left with 146 - but the pattern says at this point I should only have 60 stitches left??? It totally doesn't make sense to me?

I've looked for any errata on the pattern, looked at other finished projects on Ravelry, but there is no mention of an error here.

Can someone help. Am I missing something obvious? If anyone can look at the pattern and see if I am mis-reading it at all, I would SO appreciate it. For now I'm rather stuck?

Full speed ahead...

I'm making great progress on my Summer's End Cardi. I know if I don't keep at it I'll get sick of it before long and think I'm never going to finish it. When that starts to happen.... well there's no telling how long the poor 'wip' will stay on the needles... in a basket... forgotten for a while (just like Spook and Woodland!)

But that's not going to happen this time..... no it's not! Here's my progress so far. I have about 3 inches to knit in st st on the body, then I put it aside to start the sleeves on dpn's!

It's hard trying to get a good picture of this because the yarn is quite dark.... so this is the best I could do for now.

It's here...

Not only do I feel like 'Summer's End is actually here (we had a lovely big storm here in TX last night, and lots of much needed rain) but my new yarn arrived a few days ago so I could start knitting 'Summer's End . . . . I LOVE it! New Tweed by Tahki Yarns is a mixture of wool, silk, cotton and rayon, although it's said that newer skeins (silver label) have this fiber composition: 60% Wool, 26% Viscose (rayon) and14% Silk.

The color I chose (for Fall) was brown/chocolate but it has lovely little flecks of red and cream (like oatmeal) in it. I think it will be perfect for the cooler weather , that we hopefully will be getting soon. I like the softness of this yarn too. Usually if yarn has too much wool content in it I find it 'scratchy' on my skin. The mixture of rayon and silk keeps this from feeling so 'rough' for me. It's a perfect combination.


I cast on the same day I got my yarn, I've already started on ball #2. The pattern calls for 8 balls, which is all I bought. Now I'm thinking I should have bought more! For one, I would like to make the sleeves full length and not 3/4, but I don't think I can do that without buying more yarn. And I think it's always wise to get a ball or two extra just incase - I just don't know why I didn't!

I'm hoping to knit this up fast so I will be able to tell, at least half way through if I need more yarn, and hopefully I can order from the same company and get the same dye lot without a problem? I'll take pics of my progress this weekend and post again soon.

Just For Me!

Since I last posted I've been knitting up a few 'small' things for Christmas gifts. And I've started on a little 'shower' gift for a friend. I've been thinking a lot about my knitting lately, and can I be honest with you (even though I know this is going to sound really awful) it's not really much fun when I'm knitting for someone else! I have a few 'wips' on the needles that are for me, but I never seem to get around to finishing them because I'm always coming up with ideas to knit things for others as gifts.

The socks I just knit for instance. OK, I HAD to knit the socks because I promised my friend I would make her a pair, but the other 'gifts' that I've started knitting (for Christmas) are already becoming a chore and once again puts stuff on the needles for me 'on the back burner' so to speak. I recently decided that after Christmas I was going to make 2010 the year for ME. Well I've changed my mind. 'For Me' starts RIGHT NOW! I sound selfish, but honesty there really isn't much fun in knitting right now when all I do is worry whether the recipient will really appreciate my efforts or not.

So today, I ordered some yarn on line and I've decided to start afresh (yes, the wip's can wait) and knit myself a cardi for Fall, (despite the fact that it's still 100 degrees here every day, I can dream of cooler weather).

I've chosen this...
and what a perfect name. It's 'Summer's End' and it's a free download HERE on Ravelry. I ordered the Tahki New Tweed online today in the color 'Chocolate'. I thought brown would be great for Fall. I can't wait to get it. I got an email to say it had already been shipped today too, so I'm hoping it comes pretty fast.

Of course, it doesn't mean I won't knit any more gifts. In fact I may still be able to do some while I'm knitting the cardigan. But I just want to feel like I'm doing something for me, and reap the rewards of the many hours I knit when I'm finished . . . . . at least for a little while.

A Knitted Gift

I'm back! Despite the fact that we are still in the throws of a very hot summer here in Texas, I have picked up my needles once again to get started on some gifts. Yes, I'm talking about Christmas gifts, and it's only July! I figure if I start now I might just have some things to send home this year.

But before I show you the Christmas gifts I've started on, I thought I would show you what I just finished working on this week.... yesterday was my neighbor's birthday and I decided to make her a pair of socks. Not something she needs in this heat, but she had hinted at getting some quite a few months ago, and well, that was about the time I started 'losing my knitting mojo'!

I picked up the needles a few weeks ago and started on these. . . .

And I finished them just in time on Thursday!

Specs: Curly Cuff Bedsocks, from Knitted Sock Sensations.
Yarn: Sublime Angora Merino (2 balls)
Needle size: US6 Clover dpns
Modifications: The pattern says knit on 2 needles and
sew up the back seam. Instead, I knit the cuff on 2 needles,
but then changed to dpn's and joined in the round
to finish off the socks.

where am I?

Knitting has taken a back seat since my last post, hence the reason there's been no new posts from me! There's no doubt about it, I've lost my knitting mojo and I'm not sure when I'll get it back. I know the cause of it too - two things really... 1) the weather has been lovely here in Austin, spring has definitely sprung and I've been outside a bit starting to plant flowers in the beds and lay down new mulch... 2) I picked up the book 'Twilight' that I borrowed from my neighbor! and yes, like most others who have read it, I can't put it down. Well actually I can put this one down because I've already finished it. I started book 2 earlier this week! As well as reading that book I'm reading 'Three Cups of Tea' for our April bookclub meeting.

So, lots of reading and lots of outdoor time has squelched the urge to pick up the needles. I am so close to finishing my Woodland cardigan too, but I just don't get the time to pick it up. I have a couple of baby knits to do this month so I might try to get them started and hopefully they won't take long to finish either as they're so small.

Until I have something to show you then, I will just continue to visit your blogs and see what you're knitting ;-)