Needlework Tuesday - Achoo!

Needlework Tuesday is an occasional post detailing my needlework and/or crafting projects.

Before I get into the work I did this week, I have a few questions regarding a past project. Two years ago, I knit myself a sweater. At the time it was a little big, but still wearable. I've lost some weight since then and now it's huge on me. Way too big to wear. The sweater (seen here) took me a long time to make and turned out quite nice. It's such a waste to let it sit in my closet and I'd love to salvage it somehow. I've only worn it a couple of times and I don't think I washed it yet. No blocking either from what I could remember. So, do you think I could rip it out and knit it again in a smaller size? Have you done this? Did you encounter any problems? What do I need to be mindful of? Can I just rip out the stitches and re-knit? Or are there some steps to take before the ripping or knitting (or re-knitting) can take place? I guess I could Google this, but I never know if the advice I get on the internet is sound or not. I figured I'd ask here first. Thanks for any information you can provide.

So, this week I worked on two projects. After I complained last week that the thumbs on my fingerless mitts were short or better yet, non-existent, Kate from Arts and Socks suggested that I could add to them by using the white parts of the yarn. Great suggestion! That's exactly what I did.

They turned out a little wonky because I wasn't paying close enough attention when I was knitting and made some really stupid mistakes. Rather than rip back, I tried to perform some surgery on the fly. Some of it was successful, some of it not so much. Oh, well. They are just for me and no one else will likely get that close to them to notice. Thanks for the suggestion, Kate.

The other project I worked on was some dishcloths made out of Mary Maxim's Scrub It Yarn. I tried a pattern that I found online, but I wasn't happy with it. I don't like spending time doing lace work or cables when it's not really going to be seen that well. Because this yarn was recovered from another project that I didn't like, I had lots of short lengths of yarn to deal with. Something easier was in order. I figured the texture of the yarn could take centre stage and decided to do some straight knitting. Cast on 40 stitches. Knit 60 rows (or so). Cast off. Done.

Here's another thing I did this week.  When I'm knitting I've forever looking for my supplies, like stitch markers, darning needles, etc. I had most of them in my knitting bag, but they were always falling to the bottom or getting lost in a side pocket. I decided to make use of one of the plastic, zippered bags that come with many of the projects from the Mary Maxim's Knit Club of the Month and put many of them in one place.

Some of my stuff is still MIA. Anyone know where my measuring tape ended up? How do you organize your items?

As far as future projects go, my allergies were really acting up this past week, so I put away the alpaca poncho I was working on. I thought that the yarn might be the culprit. Turned out it wasn't. At least, I don't think it was. I'll pull it out again this week and see if my symptoms return.  Spring is just around the corner and I'd love to have it done in time to wear it.  

Needlework Tuesday is hosted by Heather over at Books and Quilts.    If you'd done any crafting this week that you'd like to share with others, please head over to Heather's blog and use the Mr. Linky to link up your post, so others can enjoy your creations.