Cold Feet (aka Various Knitting Anxieties)

See, I do have them done. And I have the body done. And the hood done. And I'm probaby not doing the kangaroo pocket at the last minute like I had planned on. (And yes, they were posing on my unmade bed with the shirt I am wearing on Sunday when AF guy comes. Can't wait!)But...er...I'm suddenly terrified of sewing them in. So many questions are popping into my head. Should I seam the sleeves first, then sew them in? Should I sew them in and then seam them? How exactly does one sew in sleeves? I mean, I know how to gather and pin and baste and sew sleeves into sewn doll clothes. But I've never done it with knit fabric before. Such anxiety! I will finish this, soon! I've asked the lovely knitters of the KR Forums for advice, and they've never failed me before. I promise, the cables show up much much better irl than they do in any of my photos. I'm just not a photographer. The sleeves actually blocked fairly well, as well as can be expected for a stockinette stitch, anyway. Of course the edges roll. I dunked them in Eucalan before blocking and I cannot believe how much the yarn has softened up! Not that it is terrible to begin with, but wow!


The other worry started this afternoon. I was happily trotting along with the first of the Jaywalkers and got to starting the gusset. I've never done a toe-up flap and gusset before. So I'm faithfully plodding along with the pattern's instructions (after a nudge from Amie, who kindly suggested that I learn to read. It does help, surprisingly!) I do the initial increases where I usually start heels. I place the markers one stitch in on either side of the sole needle, and faithfully begin the increasing every two rows. The problem? I've done seven increase rows, and have eight stitches on the outside of the markers. I'm supposed to keep going until there are 18sts on the outside of the markers. But you can see how close I am to the back of my foot already. I'm afraid if I do twenty more rows (ten more increases), the sock will be far too long. Am I crazy? Do I stop now and begin the heel extension? For the record, so far I haven't been crazy about the toe up flap and gusset thing. I was pondering this, and realized that I prefer knitting socks from the toe up, but heel flap and gussets from the cuff down. Someone figure out how to change the laws of physics so that I can use both techniques in the same sock, please? Thanks!

Oh, and I registered for Stitches West! I'm going to go Saturday (morning and afternoon) and Sunday (morning). My first choices are "Design Your Dream Sweater" with Leslye Solomon, "2 Hand Knitting: Basics" with Susie Hodges, and "Sweater Finishing", again with Leslye Solomon. (Wow, I hope I like her as a teacher the first time!) It came down to whether or not I wanted to go to Stitches or join the STR 2007 Sock Club. I'm already in a sock club that I really enjoy (um, hello, did you SEE the above sock picture?), I have more than enough sock yarn already (no comments from the peanut gallery about buying more LL the other day!), and I feel like the money is better spent learning more about what to do with the yarn I already have than buying more and continuing to have mediocre projects. Anyone need a roommate for Friday/Saturday night? =)

Seussical opens Saturday night. We previewed tonight, another one tomorrow night. I get to sit out in the house (on headset again tomorrow night) this weekend! So cool! I'm gonna sit in the booth with Chrissy starting next week and use the understudy rehearsals as my practice calling times. Hopefully by next weekend we'll have two people fully confident in calling the show, which will be so nice for both of us, as we're doing almost fifty performances! I was surrounded by Cub Scouts in the audience tonight, and they loved it. So exciting to do kids' shows sometimes! Their energy is a palpalble thing, and it's so fun to watch the kids (big and little) watch the show!