nothing to see here...

finished third skein.  the whole thing is now 22 1/2" long and this skein was 6" long.  Nothing exciting, I just like to mark my progress. 

Progress... slowly...

Finished up the second skein of yarn on the back panel OMG IT GOES SO SLOWLY.  One skein made it about 5 3/4 inches.  math says that I will need about 6.9 more skeins of yarn to finish the back panel.  that means about 9 total for the back.  which, thinking about it, makes much more sense than 6, as I'd thought before.  the piece is 3x as wide as the front panel, not 2x.  so that means it should take 15 skeins for the whole thing, leaving 3 for the arm warmers, which will still be enough, but there won't be much left over for that fanart thing I was talking about.  I'm considering buying more for that, cuz if I just get different yarn I'd need new arm warmers to go with the shrug.  I kinda need to order stuff from knitpicks.com anyways cuz Amanda wants a River vest for Christmas, and I can't seem to find reasonably priced yarn locally.  ah well.

this is sooooo slow....

The Back Panel

Started the back panel, and I've finished the first skein of yarn.  for the record, here's what I did:

process was the same as the test run for the straps, with the two balls of yarn.  while working on it, realized I'd made a mistake.  While math-ing this, I was using my number of 10 rows per inch.  measured the finished front panel and got 9 rows per inch.  I figured if I just started my increases on the sides as soon as I had the straps joined that would make up for it.  once I had the straps joined I measured again and got 10 rows per inch, and realised I LEFT THE FRONT PANEL TO HANG.  you know, to test the stretch? so the 9 rows was after stretching.  which meant I needed to work in a few more rows to make sure this hit 10" long by the time it was 18" wide.  gah.  as a result, my increases seem a bit random  I also realised that 118 +20 is 138, not 128.  apparently I'm a moron.  which means I needed WAY less increases than I thought.  so much stress... add this to the fact that I'm consistently getting 6 sts to the inch, rather than 7, which is the number I based my math on, I was going insane.  I got it figured out though, and this is what I did.

one row after the join to solidify it.  piece was 4 1/2" long, about 11" across. I think. hard to measure ribbing.

inc one st on each side
plain row
plain row
increase
plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
increase            <---- It was here I realized the length problem.  piece was 5 1/2" long.
plain  <---- one inch

plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
plain
plain  <--- two inches (eleventh row is extra to make up the length) 6 7/8" long

increase
plain
plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
plain
increase
plain
plain  <--- three inches   just shy of 8" long

plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
plain
increase
plain
plain
plain  <--- four inches. no need for an extra row. 9 1/8" long

increase 1 st on each side (to make sure we have a complete bar of ribbing)
plain
increase 2 sts on each side
plain
increase 2
plain
increase 2
plain
increase 2  <--- 10" long and 128 sts across.  my math said it should be 126 for gauge.  after carefully stretching across two needles, I believe I have it correct.

so you can see the increases were not evenly spaced because of my mistakes.  if I make this up into a pattern I'll refigure it just for neatness' sake.  the piece looks fine.  I'm just OCD.  now I'm to the point where I just knit straight down for forever.  and with this being 128 sts across, I do mean FOREVER.

A Different Project- River Tam's Vest

So, I watch Firefly.  I adore Firefly.  I cry into my pillow every night that there isn't MORE Firefly.  if you haven't seen Firefly, quit reading this and go watch RIGHT NOW.  It's on Netflix streaming.

This is River Tam.

I love River Tam.  Smart, crazy, ass kicking little goddess.  And she wears this outfit in two episodes of the show.  Very cute.  and then I found this.

http://dragoncrafter.livejournal.com/20094.html

this, my friends, is a step by step crochet pattern for that gorgeous vest River is wearing.  now, when I found this, I didn't know how to crochet.  but I'd always thought I should learn, since I love knitting, and love learning new things.  At first glance at the pattern, I despaired of ever understanding it, and considered asking my mother in law to make it for me.  but I perservered.  My job is utter bullshit, and I literally do NOTHING. (Not exaggerating.  I love my job.) So I got a hook and some yarn and hit up Youtube.  successfully taught myself to crochet.  It wasa bit difficult without someone there to show me and for me to ask questions, but I got it.  I got more comfortable by getting in to making amigurumis, which are super cute and super fun, I may make some posts about the adorable things I've made.  Basically that helped me understand how to read a pattern, and really make sure I knew what I was doing.  I'm gonna go ahead and put my process in here now.


IMPORTANT: this pattern was not written for a size small or medium.  KEEP THAT IN MIND.  YOU MAY NEED TO ADJUST FOR SIZE.

for the record, not to offend anyone who's done it this way, (do what works for you, this is just my opinion)  but I do not recommend changing the triple crochets to doubles and the quadruple crochets to triples.  it seems to take away from the open look of the vest and you end up with something thicker and heavier.  you just don't get the same look.  just change hook sizes to get what you need to fit you.  the 2.0 mm hook was perfect to me, and I'm generally between a small and a medium.  also, for accuracy, the fingering weight yarn is important.  www.knitpicks.com is a great site for yarn with fantastic prices. the smaller hook and the fingering weight yarn alllow you to include all the edging rows so your vest is as screen accurate as possible.

11/11/11 yarn purchased. I’m so excited!

11/20/11 All right, it’s official. I’m five rounds in to the first square. here we go.

11/23/11 So, halfway through the first square and I’ve come up with some upsetting math. on a C hook with fingering yarn, this square will likely turn out around 15 1/2” across. way too much for my little rib cage. So, after some experimenting and swatching, I’m going to undo everything I’ve done sob and restart on a 2.0 mm hook. Math says that should be 14.2” across, but this is not accounting for the smaller first three rounds, so probably more like 13”. which is only slightly bigger than my goal, which is 12”. probably an acceptable margin. we’ll see. sigh…
math says my current square should be 17”, but it’s an inch and a half smaller. so this should be right.

1/15/12 took a bit of a break for my Christmas projects, but I’m back in. almost done with the first square.

3/22/12 took another break to finish my husband’s socks- I don’t like making socks, so I made myself focus on only that project and nothing else, or I knew I’d never get done. back on track again. I finished the first square, it came in at about 12 and 1/4” across. which is absolutely perfect. I am pleased. the 2.0 hook was a good switch. also it’s nice that I got it right on my first try with a different hook. I thought it was going to come out an inch bigger, but I guess my gauge was smaller than I thought. I’m okay with this. On to the next square!

7/24/12 yay motivation is back! those tedious socks kinda killed me for a bit. but I’m back in the game now, started again yesterday and now on round 10 of the second square. just used up my first skein. hoorah!

7/26/12 the squares are done! now to make it actually look like a vest…
I messaged another member who made this vest to get some help on finishing, who was fantastic about it. http://www.roguebibliophile.com/2011/12/04/river-tam-vest-finishing-notes/  very much better.  the notes on the original pattern were way too vague for a brand new crocheter.

7/29/12 added some progress pictures. I have shoulder straps now! it seems to be going well, I am very happy with it. incidentally, definitely see biteyfish’s more detailed instructions for finishing the vest. very clear and very helpful.
this is for my own reference: someone who created this outfit and did a great job on the dress: http://jj9437.livejournal.com/80028.html



7/30/12 a few notes- out of sizing paranoia I left off one row on the back, between the squares. should not have done that. It still fits, I just think it would fit a bit better if I still had that row. It’ll still be okay though. also, I went back and added a few rows to the shoulder straps- I did 15 instead of 12, as biteyfish’s instructions said. I will also probably add some rows to the bottom panel of finshnet as well. Keep in mind, though, I’m 6’ tall with a freakishly long torso, so I need the length. I stuck with my 2.0 mm hook for the rest of the vest, but part of my is wondering what would have happened if I’d gone up a size to try to get a looser look. Too late now, but worth pondering if I ever redo it.

8/2/12 all done! I’m so happy with it! the fit is fine, despite my worries. I added a picot stitch in between the two tr in the last row of the edging along the bottom and down the front to make it more accurate, and the tie is just a double stranded chain laced in the spaces in the front. I used very nearly three skeins- like literally, I had a few feet left- of my yarn. the ivory color I got is perfect, I think. I love it, and I’m very happy. Gigantic thank yous to Ariel Barton for coming up with the pattern in the first place and biteyfish for helping me with the finishing.

and yes, I did go on an epic quest to all the nearby thrift stores to find a dress somewhat similar to River’s to go with the vest.

There you are.  The whole thing.  I completed the project I learned to crochet for.

Running out of ways to say "Here's more about the duster!"

 front panel done!  it is 56 1/2" long, just above the ankle, and then I left it hanging up overnight and it stretched out to 57".  My original measurements and guesses were about 58" long, so this is good.  I am worried about stretching, that's why I hung it up, and I'm hoping it won't be too bad.  I've decided to do the back panel next, rather than the second front, based on the fact that the back panel is almost three times as wide and is going to knit much much slower.  I figure this way I'll have a smaller piece after this to give me something that I'll feel like I'm making more progress on.  This piece is probably going to drag.  looking at the dates, it took about two weeks to do the front panel, so I'm guessing at least a month for the back panel.  sigh.

more increasing thoughts

inc
p
p
p
inc
p
p
p
inc
p

one

p
p
inc
p
p
p
inc
p
p
p

two

inc
p
p
p
inc
p
p
p
inc
p
p

three

p
inc
p
p
p
inc
p
p
p
inc

four

p
p
p
inc
p
p
p
inc
p
p

five

p
inc
p
p
p

five and a half

go to
inc2
p
inc2
p
inc2
p
inc2
p
inc2
p

this means starting the increases at 31/2 inches, so just after finishing the straps.  no, this is a bad plan.  stick to the other, only two plain rows inbetween inc.

More.

So, did a quick test run for making the back panel of my Rinoa jacket.  Here's what I did:

CO 16 sts each from two different balls of yarn.  to start with it's gonna be two seperate pieces, doing it like this makes sure they're the same length.

k2, p2 across for about three inches.  so you'll have two completely independent pieces just hanging off the same needle.

kfb/pfb depending on what's needed on the last two sts of the first piece on the needle and the first two sts of the second piece.  so towards the inside, increasing the pieces towards eachother.  keep doing this every row until the pieces together measure about 11"-12" across.  that's about the comfortable length to go across my shoulders.
                                      with the thicker yarn I was using to practice, I increased from 16 to 42 sts.  If you think about it, that makes sense, since my front panel increased from 16 to 44.

to join the pieces, do one more row of increases, except after knitting across the first piece, instead of using the working yarn from the second piece to knit it, carry the yarn over from the first piece.  pull it tight so there's no gap.  after knitting once more just straight across the two joined pieces just to solidify that join, they were about 4 3/4" long, about 11 ish" wide.  width was harder to measure because of the ribbing, and my needles are only so long to allow stretching.  I forsee that becoming a problem as I increase to full width.

now, I'm not gonna lie, the yarn I was using SUCKED. made my hands itch and was stiff and unfriendly, didn't like to slide over the needles or anything.  so I stopped at this point when I really ought to have gone on to make sure of the rate of increases to get it to full size.  I did not.  I could not knit with that yarn anymore.  I threw it all out when I was done.  uhg.  that crap is garbage.  it was just some random stuff my mom had. Anyways, here's what I know. 

Measuring myself across my back from sideseam to side seam is about 18".  and I know from my current front panel that I need to be done increasing by 10" long for them to match up.  I made nearly 5" of length with the back straps and neckline.  I believe at this point I want to start a real gradual increase.  now, normally I increase two stitches at a time, maybe I ought to think about just one at a time?  I don't know what that would do to the ribbing.  it'd probably be fine.  I don't want it to increase as rapidly as I did on the front, the back is shaped a little different.

I believe, based on gauge math, I'm going to need to get from about 80 sts to about 126 in 5 inches.  it's 10 rows to an inch, so that gives me 50 rows to increase 46 sts.  and I'll be doing them two to a row, since I have to increase both sides.  SO, if I just increase one sts, and alternate each row with a row without increases, and maybe throw in three or four rows without increasing to begin with, that ought to get me there perfectly.

the problem with this is this is all very specific math.  so it's all subject to recalculation as I go along.  but now that I've math-ed this a bit, it should be easy enough to plug in new numbers when I get there.  but it ought to be right, since I'm basing these numbers off my gauge of my actual yarn.  the only thing I'm taking from the practice yarn is the length before I start.  and that'll be the same regardless.  probably.

incidentally, I've decided this back panel is going to be the hardest part, since it's more than twice as wide as the front panels. (almost three times... but the front panels are allowing for a gap in the front) it's gonna go a lot more slowly.  so I think I will start on that as soon as I'm done with this front panel, because that'll leave another front panel for last, to give me something a little quicker to work on at the end when I'm surely going to be getting tired.  oh, and the armwarmers, of course, but after these big tedious pieces, the armwarmers are gonna feel like nothing.

just thinking...

might need to save some increases for there at the end of the increasing section, you know, the part that goes under my arm.  it can't really be a straight line, it needs to curve.  gah.


LATER THAT NIGHT...
I'm thinking about this, and it helps if I type as I think, then I can organize my thoughts and go back.  so.  we need the increases to pick it up sharply at the bottom without getting too wide.  so, lets say we still start increasing at 5", but do two plain rows instead of one between increasing.  for like... four inches.

so math.

inc
plain
plain
inc
plain
plain
inc
plain
plain
inc

one inch

plain
plain
inc
plain
plain
inc
plain
plain
inc
plain

two inch

plain
inc
plain
plain
inc
plain
plain
inc
plain
plain

three inch

inc
plain
plain
inc
plain
plain
inc
plain
plain
inc

four inches

14 increase rows: 28 sts increased. still neet to inc 18 sts. which means 9 rows of increases.  only have 10 left. too abrupt.  but what if I do two sts for the last inch?  which means 4 sts on each inc row.  and just alternate one row.  so,

plain
inc
plain
inc
plain
inc
plain
inc
plain
inc

that increases 20 sts.  but that might be okay.  it's only two more.

break for food!

Welp, there goes my self esteem and confidence in this project.

Look what I found:

 

http://eyes-0n-me.deviantart.com/gallery/27087381

And of course she says it's hand knitted.  god fucking damn.  she's so pretty.  it's incredibly unfair.  She's pretty, she looks just like Rinoa and even has the hand knitted duster and armwarmers.  In my opinion the colors just a touch dark, but that's a very small thing to nitpick overall. 

However, in looking for help on the Ravelry forums for the trim around the edges of the jacket, several people did agree that the duster doesn't look handmade, so maybe it's not.  maybe she lied.  that makes me feel a bit better.  but on the other hand, I kind of want to believe she made it, because I want to believe it can turn out that good.  Regardless, I will be using her pictures as reference, because whether or not this is hand made, this is how I want mine to look. 

I have a couple of different options for the trim based on advice from the Ravelry forums.

http://www.ravelry.com/discuss/techniques/2252105/1-25#15 

that's the post, in case I need it.

this is one person's advice, quoted from the post:

I doubt it was hand knit. But, you can match it because stockinette rolls to the sides, towards the WS. It’s not bias, it’s straight (bias is diagonal). Pick up sts all along the armhole. Cast on about 7 sts, maybe 8. Work stockinette, back and forth on tose 87 sts, working k2togs or ssks, so that the edging eats up one picked up stitch on every or row. You may have to work a few rows without decs, or with k3 togs, to keep all flat.
(on the left side, starting at arm pit, on the RS, pick up sts all around. Then cast on 7 onto the left needle, knitted on or backward loop, pulling the first tight, to join the circle. Then knit 6, ssk, turn, purl 7 (or slip 1 purl 6). Work the other side the same, but you will work the back, first.)

but that seems rather fiddly and like you might need to be a bit more experienced than I am... maybe? I dunno.  I might try it.  But I also had several people agree that it looked like a rather wide i-cord squished flat.  I don't know how to do i-cord, but someone posted some links for me: 
If you google icord you should find a host of sites on the technique. A few to start
http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall06/FEATfall06TT.html
http://www.wikihow.com/Knit-an-I-Cord
http://knitting.about.com/od/knittingskills/qt/icord.htm
also Elizabeth Zimmerman’s ‘Knitting Workshop’.

and I'm always up for learning something new.  I also had someone message me and suggest 1x1 ribbing, because that would cause it to fold neatly where I wanted it too, but I'm nnot sure if that would have the look that I want.

basically, what I've learned from all this is that I'm going to have some experimenting to do.

hmm.  I think leradny knit bias tape, but I'm not sure.  I'm gonna go look and see if I can figure it out.

Today's Rinoa Update

le sigh. the bump from the braided join is making me insane. It won’t be visible, it really won’t, but I keep running my fingers over it and it’s making me batty. I’m not gonna undo it, I’ve got like three inches of work past it and I’m just not redoing that. however, I think I have decided that from now on I’m going to end each ball of yarn at the edge and just leave ends that I can work into the seaming. because none of these “invisible” joins are invisible enough for me. I’m just that crazy.


Also, here's a quick image dump of the rest of the pieces of my Rinoa outfit that are just desperately waiting for the duster and the armwarmers:




An official replica of Rinoa's necklace that Marissa bought me for Christmas





Me, in all the pieces together



The third attempt at the shorts- yes, I had to do this three times.
I was learning to install zippers on them.  Finally got it figures out.  and yes, the zippers do really function.

The skirt.  I bought the fabric as what looked like denim tie-dyed with bleache and then dyed the living hell out of it
to get this color.

Crazy Projects

So, I've recently started knitting Rinoa Heartilly's long blue duster from Final fantasy VIII.

Looks like this -->

I have a Ravelry.com account which is a site for knitting and crochet projects, but I've been treating it like a progress blog with frequent updates.  then it occured to me, I have a blog.  I ought to do it there.  So I'm now going to make a large post bringing you up to date and we'll go from there. 

11-11-11 bought the yarn. here goes nothing. I’ve made a few test runs for the shape, and taught my friend Marissa how to rib knit so she can help me with the long expanses of tedious tiny knitting. can’t wait.

12/1/11 well, after many debates I’ve changed the color of the yarn. the aqua was just too dark. the sky is maybe a bit light, but it’s more accurate. however, I have several christmas projects I’m working on at the moment, so it’s gonna be a bit before I actually get this cast on.

For reference, here's the color debate image I was using:


I posted this on a dozen forums, and my facebook just to get opinions.  My family said French Blue, and the foruns said Aquamarine.  Don't like the aquamarine.  it's really pretty, if I have a spare $50 I'd just keep it and use it for something else, but I don't.








1/2/12 SO CLOSE to casting on. Lolz. I have a scarf I’m making for my brother, and as soon as I finish that I’m starting this. On the bright side, due to various Christmas gifts, I have the rest of Rinoa’s outfit almost completely done. I’m just redoing the shorts entirely (for the third time) and the color of the denim for her skirt may finally be right after this current round of dye. I have the boots, and Marissa bought me a replica of her necklace for Christmas. I used our Christmas tradition of new Christmas jammies every year as an excuse to get a black v neck tank.
soon. very soon…..

1/24/12 actually doing it now! I swatched a teeny tiny bit to get gauge and to throw it in the wash to monitor it’s behavior. everything seems fine. I am currently doing something in the nature of a test run for shaping based on the notes for the previous test run I did on random bits of yarn. this is knitting from the top of the shoulder strap down.

co 16 sts, k2 p2 across the row, back and forth for about 6”. after that I start increases for the body. gonna mess with that a bit and then I’ll put up what I did. depending on how this turns out it may be my actual piece, or I may restart. once I get it to it’s final width that it will be for the rest of the length, I’m gonna get it wet and hang it up to see how bad the stretching is. I need to know how to accommodate that. in an ankle length duster I can’t have it stretching to the ground. not okay.

incidentally, when I’m done I will clean it up and try to create an actual pattern here.

3/1/12 well, progress ground to a halt. I am having a heck of a time trying to finish my husband’s socks, and I won’t work on anything else until they’re done, or they’ll never get done. so this is waiting. in the meantime, I thought I’d put up my notes and plans.

this is the information I have so far. first of all, I was inspired by leradny’s Rinoa:
http://www.cosplay.com/costume/92695/

and I’ve based a lot of my information on her posts in various threads in the forums here: http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=129189
http://www.cosplay.com/showthread.php?t=112133
also her ravelry.com post:
http://www.ravelry.com/projects/leradny/rinoa-heartilly-d...

She has great info for both sewing and knitting, and that was the basis for my plans. she also has a fantastic pattern for the shape of the duster if you were able to just buy fabric and you’re not knitting it yourself.

I am using sport weight yarn, Sky color, ordered online from knitpicks.com, and size 2 (2.75 mm) needles. The fabric for Rinoa is a 2x2 rib knit, so I’m doing knit 2 purl 2 pattern. It’s being done in two front panels and one back panel and I will seam them together when done.

 Based on close studying of her pictures and my own measurements, I figure the straps should be about 4-5 ribs wide, about 2” wide. While knitting, my plan is to purl front and back the last two stitches at the end of a row (or knit front and back, if the row ends on a knit stitch), do next row without increases, then same increases next row, and so on, alternating, making sure increases are always on the same site of the piece. that creates a curving increase on one side while leaving the other side straight. the straight side is what goes down the front. I figured you would knit the straps about 6” before starting the increases for the body. I did do a test run with larger needles and yarn to practice, but I don’t know if it will work the same with the smaller needles and yarn. I worked the increases for about 6 1/2” on the practice run.

the back panel appears to be about 27 ribs wide at the widest part, decreasing to about 15 or so at the top for shaping. I haven’t worked out exactly how I’m doing that yet.

IMPORTANT: ALL THESE NUMBERS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE BASED ON MEASUREMENTS AS I GO ALONG. I HAVE NOT DONE THIS WITH MY ACTUAL YARN AND NEEDLES. THESE ARE ONLY PLANS. I will post official numbers once I’m done.

The armwarmers I’m just planning to knit a tube on double pointed needles, same 2x2 rib knit. basically for that I’m just going to measure my arms and figure out the number of stitches based on my gauge. Make sure to make it a little smaller than measurements to make sure of a snug fit, and to hopefully avoid issues with slipping. I did buy some thin elastic in case I need to tighten the ends to keep them from slipping. Gauge with the sport yarn and size 2 needles in stockinette is 7 sts per inch, 10 rows per inch.

leradny bought 13 skeins of yarn, with 138 yards per skein. I bought 18 at 110 yards per skein. I probably way overkilled, as leradny said on her ravelry.com account that she only used 10.5 skeins of yarn for hers. but I’m much taller than her, and paranoid about running out, especially since I had to order this online.

and those are all my notes. I’m perfectly willing to help anyone out if you need it, feel free to message me or comment. I will update as I actually put these plans into action.

so far:

co 16 sts, k2 p2 across the row, back and forth for about 6”. after that I start increases for the body. gonna mess with that a bit and then I’ll put up what I did. depending on how this turns out it may be my actual piece, or I may restart. once I get it to it’s final width that it will be for the rest of the length, I’m gonna get it wet and hang it up to see how bad the stretching is. I need to know how to accommodate that. in an ankle length duster I can’t have it stretching to the ground. not okay.

incidentally, when I’m done I will clean it up and try to create an actual pattern here.

7/17/12 (FIRST UPDATE IN AGES) Well, kinda took a vacation from all yarn crafts. Unfortunately, I’ve seen this happen with me before. I go in stages. And when something like Caleb’s socks comes up where I’m forcing myself to do it, it burns me out for a bit. But I’m finally coming back. started working on this again. I’ve finished the shaping of the first front panel, and now I’m to the tedious bit of knitting straight down until it reaches my feet.

8/7/12 used up my first skein yesterday. looking at it, I’m guessing that means it’ll take about three or three and a half skeins for each front panel. maybe double that for the back. I’m gonna guess 14 total for the thing. that’s being generous I think. plenty for the armwarmers. I’m hoping to have enough left for a little shrug I want to make based on some fanart of Rinoa, a new take on her oufit I really like, but I don’t know if I’ll have enough. ah well. I can always get more if I need it.

Did a Russian join for this first skein to try to avoid millions of ends to tuck in, but it made a bit of a bump. it’s not terrible, and it’s on the edge of what will be the side seam so it won’t show, but there’s no guarantee that’ll be the case for all of them. so I’m gonna try a braided join next. that seems smoother.

8/11/12 finished the second skein on Friday, and the piece is about knee length. so it’s actually gonna be less than three skeins for this, because a full third skein would hit the floor. just a bit too long. but I’m making good progress now. did a braided join this time and it’s much smoother. I can still feel the bump, but you can’t really see it.