Barely Enough to Cover the Wrist

The last time Jeff and I went of town on a weekend trip, I took part of my sweater project with me.   I figured I would put a big dent in the project, that this cake would be whittled down to nothing...

What I ended up with was a humble start and the sleeve cuff beginning to form. 

The rest of the weekend was spent playing.

Supersized Green Screen

Jeff wanted a green screen last summer for making a music video for a local contest.  He even went to Joann's with me, found the hue he liked, and bought all that was in stock.  This was one and a half bolts, which cost about $40, but a savings when thinking about repapering the garage walls in green paper again.  Jeff even offered to make the green screen, having used a sewing machine to make a costume before.  Then I opened my mouth.  "I can make the green screen."

I put the fabric on the sofa next to the sewing machine to encourage me to work on it.  The green pile just sat on the sofa untouched for weeks, reminding me I hadn't worked on it another day.  Then, the band broke up.  No music video.  No green screen.  Then the green fabric was moved to the closet shelf and sat untouched. 

Until last month.  Jeff started getting spring fever about the upcoming music video contest, and the fabric came off the shelf.  I had better get a head start!  So I unrolled the green fabric, so it looked like the red carpet, only green.  Then I cut the fabric into six 9' long pieces that was measured 4' across.  Jeff wanted a casing at the top, so he could hang the curtain off of PVC piping or rope.  This was going to be a really big curtain.  I made a 4" casing.

There was so much fabric spilling over to the left...

This is just how big it really turned out.  Welcome to our new photo studio.

Sweater Swatch

Swatches are time consuming.  Why knit a square before a project when you can just start a project?  I have made a dozen projects without a swatch - scarves, hats, mittens, even socks... and they turned out ok.  One sock was slightly larger than the other... but that was attributed more to a first try than to faulty gauge...  However, more complicated patterns have changed my mind.  Why spend weeks and a good portion of the paycheck on a project that doesn't fit?  (or one that only someone else will fit?)

So there.  Is a swatch.  That measured exact on my first try.  This reaffirms that I never needed a swatch.  Although, they do make handy coasters at a moment's notice.  And a nice square to remember how a yarn looks and feels, like all those samples at the LYS.

I pinned the yarn label to the swatch as a reference to the dye lot and care instructions.  I can also use my swatch if I am in a pinch for yarn to mend a project at a later date.  I'm a swatch convert.