Yes, I’m blocking my Ribby sweater pieces before I seam them together. I didn’t necessarily HAVE to, but it seemed the right thing to do. (Yes, I know, that gets me into trouble with myself, doesn’t it?)

That’s okay, though, I do want the sweater to look good, after all, and it’s not really that much trouble to wait another day before sewing these three pieces together.

The sleeves, of course, aren’t done yet, but why wait? I’ve got the zipper, and I bought ribbon for the inside. I’ve come to really like putting ribbon inside my cardigan edges. It makes it look so nicely finished, even if it does stiffen the knitted fabric . . . but, well, the zipper tape does that anyway.

The ribbon I picked is perfect, too–brown with shades-of-blue dots, which will coordinate perfectly with the blue-and-brown sweater. (Although this one would have been equally perfect, especially with the vertical ribbing . . . why didn’t I see it? But, still, it’s refreshing to get it right on the first try for a change. Because you remember last time, right?) You can see it here (being pointed to by my assistant) along with the fabric I bought from J. Caroline Creative, and which came today. I thought I might try making a skirt one of these days. I’ve seen so many nice ones around the blog world, and the fabric was on sale, so . . . why not, right?

I’ve added an additional refinement to my Autumn Rose Yarn Organization campaign. I put a sticker on the top (well, technically the bottom) of each little ziploc bag, identifying which two yarns are in there. This will make it easier to tell which pair I need to use each time I change colors.

(And, well, I’m sorry, but I LIKE being organized. I’m one of those strange people who actually enjoys doing this kind of thing.)

It’s bugging me that I might not have enough yarn if I change the neckline and modify the waist shaping. Karen has been very helpful, but it’s still one big question mark. I’ll know better after I swatch . . . which I plan to do tonight . . . but I’m thinking maybe it wouldn’t hurt to buy an extra skein of the questionable colors ANYWAY. They’re returnable (within 60 days) if I don’t use them, and peace of mind is definitely worth a few extra dollars . . .

I’m optimistically swatching on size 2 needles because they’re the only ones I have in Ebony. If that turns out to be too big a gauge, I can always drop to the Addi Lace needles in size 1, right? (Remember, I’m the person who had to knit her Celtic Dreams–in Aran Weight yarn–on size 3 needles, and whose socks are routinely only 44 stitches around . . . for who knows what reason, I knit loosely. Really, I’m just kidding myself, starting with a 2 . . . but then, I’m getting good at all that number-crunching from adapting all these patterns all the time (grin).

Oh, speaking of the Autumn Rose. I found a knit-along. So, naturally I want to join. I mean, I’m making the sweater anyway, right? And I’ll try not to feel intimidated that there’s already a finished one. I also found a site with lots of helpful tips about Fair Isle. And, of course, there’s Eunny’s masterful explanation/tutorial on steeks. Isn’t it amazing the stuff you can find on the internet?

Now, you’re probably wondering about the title of my post. Do you see anything missing in this picture?

Yes, one of my Merrells.

And, why?

Well, at lunch, while Mom, Chappy and I were out for a walk, we stopped to chat with a neighbor, and as we stood there, admiring his new front door . . . I felt something  . . . warm. And wet. On my foot.

Yes, Chappy decided to mark ME. Or he completely forgot that I was standing there, because there he was, um, getting my shoe all wet. And, of course, since these are the Primo Breeze, whose upper is made of nice, cool mesh . . . it went straight through the top of the shoe and . . . pooled around my foot. Lovely, huh?

Naturally, I exclaimed, “Chappy! What are you DOING?” and he immediately stopped what he was doing and looked rather ashamed, but . . . well, first, the rest of the walk was particularly fun, what with the squishing with every other step, but then, of course, I had to completely bathe my foot and change my shoes before I could go back to work. In fact, the poor, wet-upon shoe is now even wetter because I literally ran it under water in the bathtub to try to get it clean . . . I figured, it couldn’t be MORE ruined, right? And it’s not like I was going to be able to wear it again the way it was (ick!).

I do keep telling you that Chappy, while wonderful in many, many ways, still isn’t actually perfect.

Funnily, though, after that, I didn’t really have any guilty feelings about making him get in the tub for his bath tonight . . . At least he’ll dry off faster than my shoe!

Tags: Chappy, General, Knitting/Spinning // 13 Comments »