Orangina

Orangina
Originally uploaded by samuraisqurl.

I’ve been furiously working on 3 projects: the Teen Top, Orangina and Kitty Pi. Okay, maybe not furiously but steadily for sure. Problem is, there hasn’t been too much progress on any one of them because I keep jumping around between them and swatching for this. The Teen Top front had to be ripped out after I realized I knitted too far on width and the left side was 4” instead of 7”. Hmmmm. That wasn’t too bad of a set-back considering the yarn is so fun to knit up and its so pretty. So I re-did it and I think it still came out off and I’m not too sure if I should re-rip it and try again. The beach party is this weekend so I’m unsure if I’ll have it done in time. Going back over the pattern, I would also have inserted some edge sts for seaming up. It’s gonna be really hard for me to get these edges to look neat when the piece is knitted diagonally. It also seems a bit short. Like showing your belly button short which is NOT what I wanted. The whole reason I chose these tops was because I thought it would cover my stomach. I’m sure I could knit an extra long border on the bottom…I’m tired of thinking about it.
Orangina has been coming along surprisingly well. I hated the yarn, did a sorry excuse for a gauge swatch and just cast on. I took the kids to the park and did a few rows there (mistake). I was sure I had screwed up the lace and shoved it down into my bag in disgust. When I got home and took it out, I realized I hadn’t screwed up at all. The yarn is still acrylic, and I’m wondering how well it will drape and wear but it’s looking okay so far. The 2” I have knitted are looking A-OK!! On the KAL site, I saw that one girl knit both front and back pieces simultaneously. I had briefly considered knitting the whole thing in the round (once again…..not liking the seaming) but ditched that idea because it required more brain power than I was willing to exert at the moment. Now however, I’m reconsidering. I’m only 2” in for crying out loud!!
Kitty Pi is coming along. I’m at the part where you knit your desired circumference. I am using Patons Classic Wool (I love it) and its gotten rave reviews for its feltability so here’s to hoping. I really hope that
1. The kitty likes it
2. My mom doesn’t think it’s too ugly to have in her house.

I’m holding 2 different color strands together. We’ll see. I’ve got a very strong itch to throw all this stuff down and begin something new!! But what? An old friend is expecting baby number 2 in July. Definite potential there. Meanwhile, gotta do about 12 home improvement projects and finish our homeschooling year. Only 2 more weeks, only 2 more weeks. I don’t know why I’m saying that. I plan on doing Five In a Row with BOTH of them through the summer including a lot of worksheets, readers, and science experiments. Sigh. I have to make sure she is at or ahead of what is expected for first grade public school. Aaron is so sweet. I was planning on doing pre-k here at home this fall with him, but if there is free pre-k I’m gonna have to really think about it. Anyway, That is my life lately. Hopefully there will be some fo’s for posting in the near future.