Cute and Practical

My Solo Cropped Poncho, that is.
Although I like to think that is an accurate description of me as well.
I suppose talking about a project I completed back in December might make me look desperate for content...but then, maybe I am.
What I have been is lethargic and vaguely uninspired, which is why I haven't been around much.
Still, about my poncho.
Dudes, I've been using the heck out of this thing lately.
Now, I used it a lot when I first finished it because it was shiny and new. I would wear it under my winter coat instead of a scarf. And since it was a pretty wicked winter here, the extra layer was justified.
Then it fell out of favor for a while.
But now that early spring is here, with its changeable weather, the poncho is coming in so handy!
It's good for those cool days when I don't want a coat. And it has been good for days that start cool and get warm since it's much easier to carry around than one of my leather jackets (I haven't brought the jeans jackets down from the attic yet).
I suppose this would make it a good transition piece.

Isn't it nice when a project works out so well?
I mean, I wear my socks and fingerless mitts all the time, to the point where I hardly think about it. But for some reason it struck me the other day that my poncho is useful.
Which is a damn good thing, considering what a rough start I had with it.
What projects have you made that you use on a regular basis?

Done! New Year's Socks

Yipee! I finished them last night. Knitting frantically before bed time because I was so very close to being done.

Project Recap
These are out of Madelintosh Glazed Sock yarn. Oh my goodness, this yarn is so lovely. It is 100 wool but feels very silky soft, as opposed to some sock yarns that are a little, oh, stiff or something until you wash them the first time.
Needles US2
I did a cable cross every 9th row in honor of 2009 and to represent the curves life can throw at you, but I also did a princess sole for a little comfort in dealing with those curves.
For my itty, bitty feet, the socks used 60 grams of yarn and I have 55 grams left over. Which makes me think I could get another pair of vanilla socks out of this if I go toe-up and keep in mind they might be a twinge shorter than I usually make! (The ball band has yardage listed but not weight.)

Speaking of the Sole
It's called a "princess sole" as, I believe, a reference to the story of "The Princess and The Pea." The sole of the foot is basically worked inside out (ie purled). The idea being the purl bumps are too rough on our tender little feet so we work it so the smooth knit stitches are facing in.
I should have taken a picture of the socks off my foot because sole makes the socks curl up and look like little mutant things. It's amusing.
It was tricky remembering to purl those stitches when I came to them, I'm so used to just mindlessly knitting around. Actually, it was worse after I came to the end of the round, paused to advance my row counter, and started up again. So mid-sole I'd switch back.
I also got really bad "ladders" between the sole needles. That is the name for the loose column of stitches that sometimes develop between double pointed needles. If you look closely at the picture to the right, I'm talking about that line of wonky looking stitches in the middle of the picture. (This is the inside of the sole of the foot, you can see it from the public side as well, but it isn't as obvious in purl stitches.)
They aren't usually a problem for me, and I've noticed they usually relax away after washing. I didn't really get ladders on the instep (top of foot), so I think maybe the purling business had more to do with it than the softness of the yarn. In this case, at the moment, I can feel them under my foot and it's kind of creepy.
But other than the ladders, these socks are very comfy and springy, and the fit is lovely.

Speaking of Fit
My mom called last night and said she got the bed socks and they will suit her purpose nicely. She is amused they are two different sizes, but says it didn't matter when she put them on. Despite that, they fit fine. yeah!

Next Project
In the litany of WIPs yesterday, I forgot to mention the Peacock Socks. I pulled them out last night and the cuffs still need to be beaten into submission. I'm all about the mindless knitting at the moment, though, so I put them away again.
I showed Hubby the yarn for his mancho and he went all shy on me. He has decided he doesn't need a poncho after all. We discussed the idea of a dicky, a cuff for his neck with a flat scarf bit to cover his chest, but then he decided he didn't need that either.
I told him to think on it.
But this frees me for other projects! Like more socks!
In the Yarn Harlot's Jan 12 post she discussed how she is making socks in anticipation of the return of Battle Star Galactica on Friday. (yipee!) She invited people to join her.
Of course, she has fancy sock yarn in the "Eye of Jupiter" colorway (which is a reference to something in the show) and she followed a fancy free pattern.
Since I don't have that yarn, I'm going too use my Jitterbug in the Mardi Gras colorway. It is awfully similar and has been languishing in my stash for far too long. I had it out the other day to fiddle with just a little part of a pattern and I thought "Oh, this is such a lovely color, why haven't I used it yet."
And, since I'm all about the mindless knitting right now, I'm just going to follow my standard Jitterbug Sock recipe, which doesn't exist anywhere you can get to it.

Psst, there are some gratuitous pictures of Samson and Baru in my Flickr photostream lounging around on our unmade bed this morning. Just in case you were worried that they aren't still spoiled.

Not Much

Not Much going on here.
Deadlines are going to be the death of me, but it's the industry I chose. And I'm happy to have deadlines to worry about.

New Year's Sock
Is moving along. It is taking me a shockingly long time to finish these. According to my Ravelry project page, I started these on Dec. 30. So it's been over two week. However, I can't remember if that was the date I cast on for attempt number one. Keep in mind I knit practically a whole sock then pulled it all out and started from scratch. That will extend a project's time line!
I have to work about 20 more rounds, basically the toe shaping, then I'm done.
Still, this long incubation makes me wonder if I've been getting less knitting time in the evening than I thought. It's not like these are complicated socks that they should take a long time to knit.

Next Up
Oooh, I can't decide.
I should go back to Nell for a bit. That sweater is sooo close now that I've decided to just sew it shut. It's a matter of getting some quite time to work on it. We've been catching up on our TV shows and I want to pay attention them, so auto-pilot knitting rules the day. Hmm, I guess that means I'm excited for baseball season to start up again.
Of course, Sundae has been neglected as well. But, come on, it's a lace camisole. Not practical for this time of year; it was 18 degrees F when I got to the office this morning. (If I heard someone say that I'd tell them summer comes every year. I can't be expected to listen to my own advice, can I?) Yeah, yeah, finishing it will not only get it off my plate, but put me in a position for the first rays of summer sun. Yawn.
I think, though, that while the weather is still cold, and despite the fact that winter comes every year, I should jump ahead and start working on Hubby's mancho. I haven't even shown him the yarn, which really could be a big hurdle. I'm not sure how long it will take me, but it will never get done if I don't start it.

Hatching Plans
But then again, I had an interesting idea for a project on the drive to work this morning. I kind of want to swatch that. There is one tricky part to it. I would work the tricky part and worry about the easy parts later. It's a simple thing, but with some kick to it, so I want to show the idea to Cynthia to see if she would want it for the store. Which will influence what yarn I use, which would influence stitch count, gauge, etc. Which is why I would just work up the tricky part first to get the general idea to show her.

Tartan Sock notes
I wore the Arrgyle Socks to class Saturday.
Now I've worn them both before and after washing. The fit still seems good, with little signs of slouching. However, I spent most of the day sitting crosslegged on a couch, so it wasn't a legitimate test.
Despite this, I think I still want to increase the stitch count of the leg with the hopes of improving the chart.

Ok, time to get back to work. I'm still eating lunch, but I'm eating slowly today. I'm actually really considering shutting down my computer so I'll be forced to concentrate on work and not play online!

Mmm, Soft

Holy Smokes! I'm finally using the Glazed Sock yarn from Madelintosh that I bought back in like February.
It is so soft and yummy!
Which is a good lesson in being quicker off the mark when it comes to using new yarn because I'm pretty sure we (i.e., KC) are out of this yarn and I don't know when we'll be getting more in. (On the other hand we just put out this interesting looking sock yarn called Happy Feet that needs further investigation. Damn you, Yarn Diet! The problem with sock yarn is it seems so attainable, "Oh, $20 for one skein? And I get an entire pair of socks? That won't effect the budget at all." But it's a slippery slope and I'm being strong.)
Actually, I'm not even actually making anything with the Glazed Sock; I'm just kind of swatching with it.
Remember my Cat's Pajamas Socks? Well, I wrote up the pattern and P is test knitting it for me, but it turns out the heel flap set-up is such gibberish that even I can't figure out what my goal was! So I'm knitting that section in an attempt to remember and clarify.

Going All Stream of Consciousness On You
I really need to get some focus in my knitting life. Focus might help in my professional life, too. We're at the end of an issue cycle at work. This time is always crazy, but things seem extra crazy the last two weeks for some reason. Actually, I have an interview at 1 pm for an article I'm writing for the March issue, so if this post cuts out abruptly, you'll know why.
Anyway.
Knitting projects. Right. I have so many going on, I'm getting a little scattered and breathless.

Doily
So I'm working on a doily for my mother-in-law's friend. Aunt L, who is not a relation but has been a close friend for so long she gets the title, is a former knitter and crocheter herself (apparently she's the one who taught my MIL to crochet!), but can't anymore because of hand problems.
Back over the summer she was at the in-laws when we were. She asked me to make her doilies, but she didn't want anything frilly and she didn't want pineapples (gasp).
I was after a knit pattern, since we've already established with my Peacock Socks that extended crochet hurts my wrist. I found one on Ravelry, but it has taken me this long to get around to it. (Yeah, I should be putting in links, but if you are on Ravelry, you can find it through my projects.)
The doily has a spiral design and is only 33 rounds of knitting with 2 rows of crochet to finish. So, although I'm using crochet cotton and US1 dpns, it's whipping up in a flash.

Peacock Socks
My original plan was to submit the Peacock Socks to that Think Outside the Sox contest from XRX. But I rechecked the info yesterday and the deadline is Jan. 1, so that totally isn't going to happen.
Everyone at the store was excited when we first heard about the contest, until I read the entry info and annouced we all had to enter in the "professional" category because we are "paid to sell yarn." Sigh.
I figured my chances were slim considering all the good designers out there and going up aginst professionals just narrowed my chances more. Add to that getting annoyed with the pattern and putting them aside for months, and it all fell apart. Still, I'll finish them eventually because I think they'll be adorable.

Joy of Charlene Socks.
My new brilliant idea is to write up the pattern for my Joy of Charlene socks and submit it to Knitty. Then I'll be famous (if they accept it).
But writing up a pattern takes time too.

Socks for Mom
My mom has requested a pair of bed socks. She's down with worsted weight, so they shouldn't take long to make, and really I have until Christmas, but it's a matter of sitting down and doing it. Especially with this long list of other projects already in progress.

Mancho
But the best one is, and you didn't hear this from me, Hubby is jealous of my new poncho! How adorable is that? He is always looking for ways to keep his neck and chest warm without overheating the rest of himself and he has identified my poncho as a way to do that.
Mine is waaay to small for him (I had him try it on) and he would only wear it in the house.
The trick is reconsiling the yarn diet with the urge to make something for Hubby. I do have some yellow and black Wool Ease in stash that would probably be enough. Since he won't be out in public with it, color doesn't matter much.

As you can see, I have a lot on my plate! So I must find a way to prioritize.
Actually, I must go launch a new word document so I'm ready to take notes when these people call at 1.
byeee.

Poncho Power!

The Solo Cropped Poncho is finished!
I wove in the end of the tail around 8 am yesterday.

Stats Recap
The pattern is 04 Cropped Poncho from Rebecca magazine #32.
Needles: US 7 & 8
Yarn: one skein of Solo yarn from Brooks Farm in TX. I had about 3 feet left over.
Modifications: I shortened the collar to 7 cm and the total finished length is about 34 cm (compared to the 20 cm collar and 50 cm length called for in the pattern).
I figured I would work until I ran out of yarn, realizing I would probably have to tink at least one row to have enough to bind off. I ended up have to pick out a row and a half. When it looked like I was almost out of yarn I started to bind off, but it was a mess with the YO. So I tried to work a row of K1, P1 rib to make things pretty, but at the half way mark (I had a marker in place) I realized I was going to be short, so I took out that ribbing and then a row of Fisherman's Rib. Then reknit straight K1,P1 rib and finally bound off using the Russian Bind-Off as explained by WendyKnits here. phew.

Public Reaction
It has been well received. I put it on and Hubby was all like "Hey there, pretty girl."
I wouldn't have thought a poncho was such a flattering garment it would get me extra kisses. (It probably didn't hurt that I had just washed my hair, so I was all shiny and fluffy along with my pretty red poncho.)
Of course, I had to wear it to the store so other crafters could admire it.
Cynthia said it was gorgeous, so I pointed out it was the yarn she gave me.
And other people during the day thought it was adorable.

The Right Pattern Makes a Difference
I had always figured I wouldn't knit a poncho, even during the height of the craze—what two years ago?— because I didn't want all that material all over me making me look like a piece of furniture.
Hubby had suggested once before that I make a poncho. We were out somewhere and another young couple walked by, she was wearing a woven poncho that looked good. But she was slim (like me) and the material was thin, so it wasn't all over whelming.
This poncho, however, being cropped and from a DK weight yarn, isn't overwhelming in size, weight, or warmth.

Have I Been Unfair?
I spent so much time complaining about the Fisherman's Rib when I started this poncho, that I wonder if I will scare other people away from the pattern.
I am only one of three people on Ravelry who have made it, and the other two didn't blog about it (or didn't link their blog posts to their project), so the only thing people have to go on is my early struggles.
Oops.
The stitch wasn't too bad, once I finally got the hang of it.
And I think the finished poncho will be quite usable. Since I'm off the train I'm back to my 45 minute plus commute by car. In the winter I run into the difficulty of wanting to be all bundled up against the cold, but then once the car warms up, my coat is all hot and restrictive (and I have a long coat to boot.) Yesterday when I left for the store I took my coat off, but I was still warm enough with the poncho on.
But at the same time, on the way home I had to stop at the grocery store. I had the poncho on under my coat, but I didn't get to hot.
So really, it's going to be rather useful in this weather, as well as in the office when the HVAC isn't to my liking.

In Other News
My poor, neglected little Christmas Cactus is blooming!
Really, you don't understand the adverse conditions this poor thing has to contend with. Unlike the dogs, my plants can't tell me when they need attention.
If your Christmas Cactus isn't blooming, you might want to evaluate the lighting situation. When I was at the paper in New Hampshire I used to do regular seasonal interviews with the owner of a green house in one of my towns (who also happened to be one of the selectmen). He told me that Christmas Cacti actually rely on the changing light conditions to know when to bloom. So if it is only exposed to artificial light its cycles can get messed up.

Bleh

Back at work today, and my head is not happy about the situation.
Migraines, and the day after, do not play well with the fluorescent lights and staring at a computer screen.
But I shall persevere! I have a conference call from 2 to 3:30 that I have to stick around for.
Ok, enough of being whiny about my head.

I'll be whiny about my poncho instead
144 stitches on the needles. It caps out at 168 sts, so three more increases to go.
I'm not sure how soon after that it will be done. The pattern says to work until it measures 50 cm, but that includes the 20 cm collar, which of course I chopped down to 7 cm.
Looks like my piece measures about 25 cm at the moment. It's a little tricky to measure because the long cable is distorting it a bit.
I'm beginning to wonder how much a difference 27 yards is actually going to make. I have about a baseball sized ball of yarn to use yet.
Boy howdy am I going to annoyed if the poncho ends up dorky short because my chosen yarn is 27 yards light.

I Should Stick With Socks

The poncho is creeping along.
The more rows I work, the more increases occur, the more stitches I have on the needles.
I'm at 57 rows and 136 stitches.
I have the 20" cord stacked with the 16" cord from my Denise set, which is, I think, the longest cord I've built since I've had it.

Increasing in Fisherman's Rib
In an attempt to be one of those useful knitting blogs were you actually learn something that you can apply to your own knitting, I will now overwhelm (and underwhelm) you with pictures (that will probably be too small to see since I made them thumbnail size. Clicking one should take you to my Flikr photostream where the decent sizes resign.

The pattern instructions call for working the increases by working K,P,K all in the first stitch after the marker. (Or at least that is how I'm interpreting it. And, since I'm being consistent, all my increases look the same.)
On the row after the increase row the three increased stitches are on the left side of the first marker. But I want to maintain 7 sts between my markers, so some fiddling has to take place.

Remove the marker and work the next two stitches in pattern (stubbornly ignoring the fact that you are knitting a stitch without a yarn over. I tried to stick a yarn over in on one of my first increase rows, it made things too tight) then replace the marker.

Work the next stitch (the third increased stitch) in pattern and then continue working in pattern to 3 sts before next marker.



The next 3 increased stitches are before the marker. But, again, I need that marker to be at the end of my center 7 sts. So I slip them all without working them, remove the marker, then slip the sts back.


Then I work one stitch in pattern, replace the marker, and resume working in pattern. I'm now back to 7 sts between my markers.



In this picture, if it wasn't microscopic, you can see the ribbing branching out from the previous increases, while maintaining straight ribbing down the center. Just like in the pattern picture. yippee! This wasn't happening on my, uh, second attempt. On my second attempt I was not fiddling with the markers, so the increases were growing on the outer edge of the previous increase. (huh? never mind.)

Here you see the pesky edge stitch that I keep complaining about. I have a red marker on one side and my row counter on the other to lock it in place. The problem with the edge stitch is that on every other row it can almost be worked in pattern. The pattern is K1 w/YO, S1 making YO. When I come back around to it this time the last stitch of the row will be a K1 which makes it easy to slip the edge stitch. However the next stitch after it (the first of the new round) is also to be slipped. So instead I end up working K1 w/ Yo, K1, S1. Then on the next row I'll work S1, K1, K1 w/YO.
I think you can see how the darn thing ended up taking a walk on me before.

Why am I torturing you with all this?
Well, first, I'm home with a migraine, which always makes me a little incoherent (I'm going back to bed as soon as I publish this. I had an interview at 9 am and I have another at 3 pm, so I must rest).
Second, I saw in my traffic report that some poor soul ended up here because they had searched for "increase fisherman's rib" and I realized I've complained about having to do it, but never explained what was going on once I figured it out. Hopefully I've remedied that oversight.

Slow on the Uptake

The poncho is progressing nicely.
I know I supposedly said that on Thursday when things were actually falling to pieces, but we've already established that I was bluffing on Thursday.
Today it really is progressing nicely.
I'm on row 43, which is the furthest I've gotten in any of my attempts. I think I've finally got the hang of the Fisherman's Rib, which is probably helping a great deal.
Of course, now vacation time is over. And, since I'm no longer on the train, my knitting time is a bit curtailed.

De-Trained
With gas prices returning to a reasonable range, Hubby and I reassessed my commute. We determined I'm only saving $20 a month now. So unless I ride the train faithfully every single day, which I don't manage to do, we won't save any money at all.
Remember all that feel good, pro-environment, less-stress stuff I was spouting when I started riding the train?
Forget about it.
Being back on the road is a bit of an adjustment, but considering on many mornings I had to repeat the mantra "Life is better on the train" just to get myself out the door on time, it's an adjustment I'm willing to make.
I told Boss Man about the change and he asked, "What about wear-and-tear on your car?"
And I replied, "Dude, we don't think that far ahead."

Overly Efficient
My missing tea is still missing.
FedEx, there I said it, is so fraking efficient that they delivered my package to a house that doesn't exist.
I was laying low last week because of the holiday, but I called again today and they still have nothing to tell me.
I asked the lady if there is an explanation for this situation. She said it was either delivered or stolen. I again pointed out that it was apparently delivered to a house that doesn't exist. I asked why they knew it was an incorrect address on the Friday, but after I called with the correct address they still delivered it to the incorrect, non-existent address on Saturday.
She didn't have an answer...beyond the driver had three days to follow up and now a claim should be filed.
I'm not sure what I wanted to her to say. I'm not sure how you can explain driving down a street, not seeing the street number, and leaving the package somewhere anyway. But I want some kind of explanation.
Anyway, the good news is when this all blew up last week the shop said they would resend my shipment. Although it hasn't been stated explicitly, and maybe I should ask them to, I imagine I'm not going to be charged for this replacement.
In theory, depending on what kind of mood FedEx is in, I should have my tea by this weekend.
Then I will be able to drink tea I was annoyed about while I work on a poncho that was annoying me.

Feedback Buttons Update
I made some changes to the buttons. I changed the lead in from "How'd I do?" to "Thoughts?".
I changed "entertaining" to "fun," which sort of conveys the same idea (and, sadly, wiped out any "entertaining" clicks I had picked up). I had to shorten it to fit a fourth button.
I added "hug" for those days you feel sorry for me for being so pathetic that I'm getting abused by either my knitting or my dogs. (Happily, we don't have to worry about me being abused by my Hubby—not to make light of a serious situation in some people's lives—because I chose a good one. Samson, however, smacks me in the face on a regular basis. Sometimes we wonder if he is trying to pet us back.)
Hopefully they all show up on your screen. They did at home, but didn't here at the office. I tweaked and they do now. If you aren't seeing all four, let me know and I'll go back to three.
Cheers!

Petulant Poncho

Forget everything I might have told you about the poncho on Thursday or Friday.
It was all lies, anyway.
I wasn't even here.
I wrote those posts Wednesday morning before we left for my in-laws' place in upstate New York.
Obviously I was being a bit optimistic about the whole thing.

On The Road, Again
It's a four hour drive. I packed my knitting in the back, which left me twiddling my thumbs for the trip. But I was home from work early Tuesday and spent many hours that night and Wednesday morning working on the evil poncho, so I figured my wrists could use a break.
(Samson—above—likes being in the car. He much prefers to ride with his head out the window, but it was too cold and he isn't allowed to on the highway anyway. Baru—left—hates being in the car, as you might suspect. Stresses the poor thing out terribly. Thank goodness he out grew getting sick.)

Leave Well Enough Alone
Wednesday night I'm sitting there knitting with my mother-in-law, and I keep finding knit stitches that aren't paired with a YO. As I mentioned on Wednesday, when I encountered these I just worked them in pattern. Well, for some reason I take a closer look.
And I realize that stupid "edge stitch" has been going for a walk.
It's working its way around the poncho and leaving a groove behind it, which is screwing up the pattern.
Of course, things went wrong about 15 rows back (I was on row 38 or so when I noticed) because heaven forbid the mistake be reachable. After all Fisherman's Rib is wicked tricky to rip back because of all that yarn over nonsense.
So I spend an hour picking a few rows out stitch by stitch.
Then I realize that is taking too long. It crosses my mind to leave well enough alone and just keep going, but no. I have to keep trying to "fix" it.
My next attempt was to get a smaller needle tip and cord (I'm using my Denise set at this point) and thread it through the row where things went wrong, much like you would thread a lifeline.
Of course this doesn't work out very well at all, because of all that yarn over nonsense. When I removed the size 8 needles and unraveled the rows I had a mess on my hands composed of loose strands from missed yarn overs.
I spent some more time picking out a few rows stitch by stitch until I finally decided it was a lost cause and just pulled all the way back to the K1,P1 rib.

Maybe Cables are an Option
On Thursday I said "screw it."
This was supposed to be a simple pattern I could work on while we were visiting the family. I decided to just work the entire poncho in K1,P1 rib.
That lasted about 8 rows. It occurred to me K1,P1 rib might pull in too much. Who wants a form fitting poncho?
So I switched to reverse stockinette, threw in four six-stitch cables, and maintained the center rib.
Worked about 25 rows when I decided the rev st st didn't do the colors of the yarn justice.
Put the poncho away in disgust and worked on my stealth sock instead.

Back to Square One
We drove home today (Saturday).
My knitting ended up packed within reach in the car.
After sleeping on the situation, I decided to give the Fisherman's Rib one more chance. I'm not letting some stupid pattern get the best of me!
During the four hour trip home I pulled back to the 7 cm point of the K1,P1 rib, marked my center stitches for the increases, and locked down the stupid edge stitch with a marker on one side and my row counter on the other.
I think that has helped quite a bit for keeping track of what is going on.
I'm also remembering to reset the markers for the increases on the next row, so the increases are lining up more attractively.
Every so often I still seem to encounter a random knit stitch lacking a yarn over, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern to it, and I'm making an effort to create a YO, which should prevent any groove from forming. (Why these YOs are missing to begin with is beyond me.)
At press time, I'm on row 25 and things seem to be progressing nicely.
But mark my words, if anything else goes wrong, I'm totally switching to a shawl.

"Consistency Is All We Ask...

Give us this day our daily task."—Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tom Stoppard.
I'm cruising along on the poncho. It's actually a little hypnotic and hard to put down.
It's about 15 cm long at this point and I've performed, uh, 3 increases.
There is the distinct possibility I'm doing my increases in the wrong place. It would appear they are supposed to be in line, in fact the pattern states to perform them in the same place.
I, however, did the second set on the outside edge of the first set—i.e., after completing the first set I didn't reset the stitch markers to the interior of the section, I left them were they ended up. Instead of my poncho growing on the outside of my stitch markers, it is growing on the inside.
In the pattern pictures there is a consistent rib down the center of the poncho and you can kind of see the increases take place on the outer edge.
Oops.
Well, by the second set, by the time I realized what was happening, it was too late to turn back. So I'm just going with it. I often figure as long as you are consistent you are ok.
This might mean I don't get the nice little points on mine that I can see in the picture. But, oh well.

The colors are pulling up nicely, in my opinion. Really the pattern has a bit of a slip stitch effect, so that might be influencing thing.
Another good thing is the colors seem to be blending in with the puppy fur rather well. Which will make it all the warmer.

Those Previous Errors
After I pulled back, I took another look at the edge stitch. I've decided it is the very first stitch of the round and I've just been knitting the sucker. Consistency is all we ask.
Previously I was trying to incorporate it in the pattern, and that is what was hosing me up.
Now my only problem is my dangling row counter keeps crawling to the right, so I have to remember to move it. I suspect if I put it on the other side of that solo knit stitch it will be more stable, but that would make my life easy.
It is possible I've missed a few yarn overs, again, but the increase are adding to the confusion because on the row after the increase there are stitches that don't have a yarn over. When I encounter one of these potentially yarn overless stitches, I look at the stitches around it and just work it in pattern.
Really, who is going to notice?

Teach a Knitter Fisherman's Rib...

And she'll poke you with her needles.
You see before you the collar for my poncho out of Solo yarn.
It's fine, aside from the massive ladder at the needle change which I'm hoping will relax later.
I'm on DPNs rather than a circ because when I cast on using the shortest length in my Denise set the stitches wouldn't reach all the way around. pout. I figure after a few increases I should be able to switch over, which will eliminate the ladder issue. The softness of the yarn might be exaserbating the situation.
I did stop working the K1,P1 rib after 7 cm, instead of continuing for the prescribed 20 cm.
I think it is supposed to be a turtle neck, but the pictures don't show it folded over all the way. Maybe they were being artsy, but only the top edge is kind of drooping over, which doesn't impress me. I think it would have been too much material around my neck. In theory this length will give me a mock turtle neck, which will be fine. I tried it on last night, just yanked it on over my head (only dropped one stitch) and it felt like a good length. (I couldn't be bothered getting off the couch to check a mirror, besides we were watching 24: Redemption, and I probably had a puppy on me.)
However I'm having other issues with the pattern.

1. Although the pattern calls for working in the round, it also refers to an "edge stitch." I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with this edge stitch. It is either the very first stitch or the very last stitch, either way I think it's fouling up my pattern.
   
2. I know I didn't make at least one YO. At the time I pretended not to notice and just kept knitting. Watching 24 was probably a contributing factor to this lapse.
   
3. I can't figure out which stitches to mark for my center front and back increases. The stitch markers don't seem to be lining up. I think I should have marked the spots when I was working normal ribbing.
   

Because of all that, and since I'm only four rows into the body/fisherman's rib section, I'm going to pull back to the bottom of the ribbing, mark my center stitches and see if I can figure out what to do with this dang "edge stitch."

I Learned a New Stitch

solo
Originally uploaded by TravelingAnn

I didn't mean to learn anything new. It just kind of happened.
I blame Cynthia.

Watch as I now skillfully "bury the lead"
My schedule at the store is such that I work either Saturday or Sunday of every weekend. Because of this, and the fact that I have a full-time job, if I swap with any one I end up working a full weekend—which can be tiring.
A few months ago Cynthia asked if I could swap Saturdays with her at the end of October. I believe her goal was to go to Rhinebeck. Shortly before the weekends in question, her husband surprised her with a trip out of town for her birthday. The easiest solution was to ask me to work my normal schedule and get a day in the future.
I agreed, throwing a pout out for good measure. but really it meant more money and I got to skip out on Nov 1, which was the weekend I got back from my trip to Fla.

A present? For me?
So to thank me for working both weekends, and because she is generous like that, she gave me this lovely skein of yarn that caused me to go questing for a new project. It is a skein of Solo from Brooks Farm Yarn in Lancaster, Texas.
She said they are one of her favorites, but she can't carry it at the store because they don't do wholesale. And she remembered that I like red.
I don't know if you can tell, but it has maroon, red, pink, and orange graduations.
It's 400 yards of "100% fine wool." To show you how bad I am at eyeballing yarn, I thought it looked sort of fingering weight, but when I tracked it down on Ravelry it was listed as DK. Sigh.

What to make, what to make
Of course I immediately had to abandon all other projects and figure out what to do with my spiffy new yarn. (I see my WIP list from Ravelry in my sidebar is getting intimidatingly long. I should really change some of them to hibernating status to get them out of there.)
First instinct was socks.
Then I thought fingerless gloves, but at 400 yards they didn't seem big enough.
A scarf would make sense, but scarves bore me and I have plenty already.
Then I thought a shawl. That would be useful and I could keep it at the office for variety.

The Skin Test
Hubby was laughing at me Sunday. It seemed every time he looked at me I was petting, smelling, or rubbing the yarn against my face. Really I was trying to determine whether it was going to make me itch, which would have dictated what I could make with it.
Happily it is very soft and so far itch and tingle free.
So I spent a while on Ravelry looking for one-skein projects and shawls. I understand there is wisdom out there that even if a shawl is written for lace weight you can use a thicker yarn with bigger needles. You just have to be aware the dimensions of your finished project will be different.
However, since I don't do lace or shawls on a regular basis, I'm not sure of this rule in action and didn't want to mess with it too much.

This Is Where I Learn Something
I also flipped through some of my books and magazines and seized on this Cropped Poncho from Rebecca magazine No 32.
The pattern calls for 427 yards. But what's 27 yards between friends? Since it is knit top down, and I'm petite, I figure I can just knit until I run out and I'll be fine.

(A public blog should not be as stream of consciousness as I can get sometimes. Are you surprised I'm a professional writer? Do I need to point out my blog is sans editor or copy editor?)
The pattern stitch is listed as Fisherman's Rib.
I've never worked Fisherman's Rib, but I had a vague understanding it involved a previous row and dropping stitches.
However, the directions were talking about working stitches with a YO and not telling me when to make the YO.
Ack.
An internet search eventually led me to what appears to be a German Blog with pictures and English text directly addressing Fisherman's Rib in the Rebecca magazines.
yippee!
Turns out the stitch is worked differently over there. So I sat with my knitting and worked a few rows.
I didn't like it at first, but it was growing on me.

Over Complicating Things
But I couldn't leave well enough alone.
The stitch is slow to work and I was after something simple for the holiday weekend.
What if I did it in stockinette stitch?
What if I did cables?
So I spent time flipping through stitch dictionaries and doing some preliminary mapping. Even swatched a cable to see how it would look.
Then I asked Hubby's opinion. He thought the rib looked fine.
So I thought, why mess with the poor poncho pattern? I've been wanting to just knit something without having to think too much.
I've decided to just follow the pattern as is.
Well, expect the collar is 20 cm tall, which seems like a lot for me, so I might cut it down to 10 or 15 cm, which should gain me length on the bottom.