Saturday, August 25, 2007

Ready, Set....


Got my yarn....


Got my chart colorized in Excel....



Got my yarn organized into pairs in ziploc bags for organization's sake....



Got my swatch started....

....And, in fact, finished. It's washed and drying as we speak, and I'll measure it in the morning. I started with #2 Suzanne's Ebony needles, but quickly switched down to Addi Lace in US size #1 since my gauge is always notoriously loose. I think I might actually be close to the 30/4 inches required, though, which is something of a miracle. (When I knitted the Celtic Dreams aran last year, I ended up using size 3 needles with aran-weight yarn to get gauge.)

Now I'm just worrying about whether I've got enough yarn, since I plan on modifying the neckline to be not quite so low, and to make fewer decreases for the waistline since, well, my waistline isn't exactly as concave as it should be. (I really need to do more situps.)

But, basically, I'm ready to start! So, hello, everyone.

--Deb
www.chappysmom.com

12 comments:

jennsquared said...

Wow. That's some organization! This rechart thing looks good... Maybe you don't mind sharing :)

Knittings Nice! said...

Do you know what...I live about 400 miles away from Shetland Isles in the UK...and I cannot get my hands on this book at the moment for love or money....gggrrrrrrrr....so want to to this. But in the meantime console myself with noseying at all elses. Anyway love the colourway that you have chosen, will pop back from time to time to see how your doing.

--Deb said...

Yes, well, being organized is like a sickness for me . . . I'm not perfect, but I AM neat! (grin)

And, the excel sheet? I don't know--would sharing that be violating copyright in any way? (I certainly don't want to get into trouble!)

Addicted to Knitting said...

HOW ID U GET IT INTO THE EXCEL SHEET I HAVE TE PATTERN BOOK AND YARN HOW DID U DO THAT

Michelle said...

I don't think sharing would be a bad thing if you are sure that the person has the pattern. Maybe you can have them answer a specific question that you would only know by looking at the book. Just a thought...

I personally think that the excel file would be very helpful to many of us. Of course, I'm still waiting for my kit and book to arrive. Another idea would be to share how you got it into excel so people could do it themselves.

Triona said...

I'm waiting for my kit to arrive and I would love to know how you did the Excel sheet! A tutorial would be most appreciated if you have time.

--Deb said...

I basically copied it into Excel, one square at a time, using an X for each black square of the chart, and then copying/pasting to fill it out to the size I wanted it on the screen.

Then, using the find/replace feature, I changed the formatting for the blank squares and the X-squares on each row, to show whichever color I wanted.

I'm not sure if it matters or not, but I'm using Excel 2003 . . . I'm not sure if earlier versions have the replace formatting feature, but certainly, you could do that manually, but highlighting each box and then using the paintcan to fill in the color . . . although, that's certainly something you'd want to do before you copy and paste the squares elsewhere! (grin)

Hope that made sense. That said, I would be willing to share my Excel file with anyone who otherwise has a copy of the pattern. (Because, again, I wouldn't dream of messing with copyright restrictions!)

Rachel said...

I just got my copy of the pattern and *most* of my yarn...Two Swans has old gold on back order and doesn't anticipate delivery for 3 weeks! Arrgh! At least I can start swatching.

That excel sheet would be *extremely* helpful to me...the chart in the book is in black and white. It's readable, but the color chart would be awesome.

Addicted to Knitting said...

I got my kit From Nestucca BAY

Addicted to Knitting said...

Deb would love the excel pattern ,as i said I have the book and kit I can give u any info about pattern...

Anonymous said...

I am so ready to make my re-chart. But I am not satisfied with the colors in Excel. How did you get the nice colors? I can't seem to find a color mixer in Excel and the colors I have make the whole thing look not nice.

--Deb said...

I just used the standard colors that were there . . . I wasn't looking for anything exact, just something to make following the chart a little easier!

And--I'd be willing to email my Excel sheet to anyone who'd like it IF you can prove that you have the pattern.

Say . . . tell me the number of stitches you need to cast on for each of the sizes . . . that should do it!

Send me an email at chappysmom AT gmail DOT com

--Deb