A Sweater Story - Part Two - Conversion is a B*tch!

So my swatch of 4"x4" stockinette stitch measured 21 Rows and 17 Stitches.
The gauge for the pattern calls for 29 Rows and 22 Stitches per 4"x4".

OMG MATH!

What to do?  Search the web for someone who has an online calculator to determine your conversion factor - and voila - here it is:  The Knitting Fiend Conversion Page.

I popped the numbers in and now have my conversion factor - any # in the pattern for stitches is multiplied by .773 and any # in the pattern for rows is multiplied by .724.  I knit loose by a factor of about 25%.  (if this is wrong math geek friends, just let me know - I'll fix it)

Now I must go through the entire pattern and do math to it.  This is where excel is my friend...  Put that calculation into a worksheet and my speed typing should do the trick and I"ll have my converted pattern lickety split.  Well not lickety split, but maybe lickety.  Lickitung - remember that pokemon?  My favorite cause he ate sushi in that videogame.  Mmmm Sushi!

Okay back to Maths...

  So I put that calculation stuff into excel and started calculating the pattern and I discovered a really lucky break for me.  If I knit the pattern in the Large size with my loose ass knitting it will come out in my size - 3x!  Lucky Lucky Lickitung!

This is a crocheted Jigglypuff.

So- my dear friends, I am now ready to print that pattern out and start knitting like a (what pokemon knits?  I don't know  maybe Jigglypuff?)

The Dillema of Creating for My Self and a Sweater Tale Part 1

I have a deep problem.

I cannot seem to actually make something for myself!

I make stuff for my family, my friends, people I don't even know, their children - especially their children.  But when it comes to following through to making something for myself, I have good intentions.  I start - I buy the materials, the pattern and I think through the process.  But when it comes time to actually craft - to get to work - I procrastinate.  I stop doing for myself and go through a manic phase of making something for someone else.

Here is my most recent example.

The Beautiful Red Cardigan I'm Supposed to make for myself.

the super cute cardigan I AM going to make myself

The pattern is from Knitty.  If you are a knitter and paying for patterns, you need to check out Knitty.  It is a close fitting cardigan in red with little bobble flowers that go up the sleeves and one side of the cardigan.  Seriously cute, right?

I bought the yarn - Bamboo Ewe - 55% bamboo, 45% wool TOTALLY ON SALE at Michaels - $2.99 a skein - I bought all that yarn out of the bargain bin!

And then do you know what I did next?

I made an impossibly pink sparkly scarf for a friend and then two little baby hats (same yarn, I still had more) for someone at work who recently had twin girls.

REALLY Sandra?  You had all the stuff ready to go to make yourself a super cute cardigan and you started making impossibly pink scarves and baby hats?  Yes.  Yes, I did.  I confessed this to someone at work yesterday and she gave me the impetus to make this super cute sweater.  For you - and for her.  I am going to chronicle my process and put it on here so you can see what a big pain in the ass it is to knit a sweater!

A Sweater Tale - Part One

a skein of Bamboo Ewe - the color matches the sweater pattern!

The Yarn.  Bamboo Ewe - cute name, eh?  It is a mix of bamboo - who thought they'd make yarn out of bamboo?  But they do.  And Wool.  That's the stuff!  I have a very strong opinion that if you are going to spend literally dozens of hours knitting a sweater it had better be made of the very best materials you can get - because you want that SOB to last FOREVER!  I knit myself a sweater in the late 80's - a lopi cardigan.  The yarn cost a small fortune and my dad helped me pay for it.  I still have that sweater and I wear it when it gets cold.  More on that sweater very soon...

Knitting the Swatch

the swatch I finished this morning for the super cute sweater!

You must, Must, MUST knit a gauge swatch before you knit your sweater.  If you do not, you will suffer, as I did with my Lopi cardigan.  I did not knit a gauge swatch, I just grabbed that yarn and some needles and started knitting the pattern in my size.  What I did not know - being a neophyte knitter at that time - was that people knit differently.  The writer of the pattern I used was a tighter knitter than me.  I am a loose knitter.  Not only that, I am a combination knitter.  (more on that later - seriously the fodder for an entire blog post)  So my sweater turned out HUGE!  I had to buy more yarn because I ran out before I finished!  In retrospect, it was a good thing, because if it had fit, I wouldn't be able to wear it today with the weight I've gained since college!  LOL!  Also I wore it when I was 8 and 9 months pregnant in November and December 1990 and nothing else would fit - and it was frikkin cold!  SO - to reiterate - take the time to knit a swatch.

That is all I've done so far...

Here is what I'll be doing as soon as I publish this post:

Calculating the difference between the swatch I knitter and the gauge on the pattern.  This will involve measurement and mathematics.  So wish me luck!

Sweater for a Ghost

My dear sweet Spouse was watching me crochet something out of yarn that I had spun.  This yarn was teal with black and when it spun it kind of made a candy cane pattern in a distinctly gothic way.  This color combo apparently appealed to him because he said to me, "I would like for you to knit me a sweater out of that yarn. Oh wait, I can't ask you to knit me a sweater...(pause here for explanation)

The Sweater Curse - If you knit your boyfriend a sweater, he will break up with you.  This knitter myth is substantiated by numerous first hand accounts of sweater-related break-ups.  I have shared this myth with my spouse and so he was well aware of this curse.

...Maybe you could knit a sweater for the ghost that lives upstairs...(pause for explanation)

The Ghost that Lives Upstairs - my evil Spouse told me that there is a ghost that lives upstairs and he has seen this ghost sitting on our bed with my head in her lap and she was stroking my hair while I slept.  This revelation was given to me in the middle of the night.  Can you say CREEPY!?!?

So, my Spouse knows I knit two sweaters for my ex.  Maybe he is a little jealous of these labors of love, since I've been married to him now for 10 years and I've never knit him a sweater.  I've made him leather armour, necklaces, scarves, tunics, pants, big floofy ren faire shirts and all kinds of other stuff, but no sweaters.

SO I'm charged with spinning the wool for a sweater big enough for the ghost that lives upstairs to loan to my Spouse.  He wears an extra large sweater and I needed to determine how many pounds of wool roving are required to make a extra large sized pull-over.  After some internet-fu I come to the conclusion that 3 pounds should be sufficient.

Here is where I share with you the financial realities of spinning wool.  It is frikkin expensive!  First you buy the wool and that's about $15-20 a pound.  Then you spend hours on end spinning it.  Charge what you like per hour for your time.  For myself, I charge $20 an hour because I am not a sweatshop worker.  I spent the next month spinning wool in my spare time after spending $75 on wool (with shipping and handling).  SO about 12 hours of spinning at $20 an hour... Then I bought dye in black, blue and red.  That was about $20 for the dye.  So including the cost of my time, the sweater is costing over $300.  And I haven't dyed the wool nor knit the sweater yet!!!


That damn ghost!