A Deconstructed Cold

  I went to Otakon for the first time in a few years.  Overall it was pretty fun.  I had forgotten that it has grown so big that unless you want to wait in line for two hours, there is a good chance that you will not make it into all the panels you want to.  Otakon had become more of a dress up and see everyone else's costumes kind of convention.  That being said, Krissy and I got into a few of the panels we were hoping to.  We learned about 3D printing(Spoolishness), traditional kanzashi making(Atelier Kanawa), and silicone mold making(BlakAnubis Cosplay).  I've linked to their various websites.  I feel smarter and now have a bunch of ideas for how to make things for future costumes.
  I also brought home some con-crud with me.  If you don't know what that is, it is the germs that people share with you while you wonder around a crowded convention center.  This cold has been the weirdest I have ever had though.  On Wed morning I had a scratchy throat.  I did everything I could to keep it at bay.  I felt like I should also have a stuffed up nose, but didn't have that.  For a few days I felt like I was on the edge of getting something, but wasn't quite getting the full force of it.  Sunday evening was when my throat had been fine for most of a day and then my nose got congested.
  I figured this happened so I could fully experience each part of a cold.  There were no other symptoms to distract me.  I was fully immersed in the sore throat or the inability to breath through my nose.  At least that is the fancy way I have been thinking about it.  Either way, it is weird.

  I also realized that even though I did my math for the raglan sweater twice, I still didn't totally do it correctly.  When I figured out the numbers for the half-way points for the increases and added them to the starting numbers, I somehow forgot that each section gets an increase on both sides.  I only accounted for one of them.  So instead of increasing to the halfway point, I only increased to the quarter point.  This meant that I got to take out about 20 rows of knitting.  It gave me something to do to take my mind off how I missed being surrounded by anime fans.


Donated:
Poly-fil: 4 24oz bags
Yarn: 60 166 172 174 183 193 skeins

Discarded:
Poly-fil: a few handfuls
Yarn: 7 skeins

A Leafy Set

  I finished the leafy dress!  The bottom flares more than I had planned on, but I still like it.  I don't know if it is too long or not, but I was having so much fun making it that I just kept going.  I made the increased the size of the leaves on every third repeat, that way it wasn't going to grow too quickly, or on the same side.  It looks like it is a gradient in the picture, but it is a solid color in real life.

  I had planned on trying to find a cute leaf button, but since the dress itself is already so busy, I decided to stick with a plain button.  I think it goes nicely.

  Since I already had a new idea on how I wanted to do the last row of leaves, I decided to make a cowl.  This time I cast on too few and it became the hat on the left.  I tried the decrease and felt like I liked it a lot better, but it didn't help me decide what to do at the bottom after the leaves so it wouldn't flare out as much.
  I had enough to make a short cowl.  I decided to try and do the decreases again with some ribbing on the bottom.  I don't like the decreases as much while it wasn't on the top of a hat.  I might have to keep working on it.

  This was a fun knit.  Shear by Emily Greene(Ravelry link) and it was a huge hit when I finished it on Wednesday.  The second it was off the needles everyone at the table wanted to see it and were asking about the pattern.  I'm pretty sure I got her four sales right there and I'm waiting for my commission to come in the mail.

  I have always both liked and disliked raglan style sweaters.  I like the diagonal lines, but I don't like how there usually ends up being a bunch of fabric bunched at your armpit area.  I know that happens because of the way the increases are made, but I was wondering if there was a way to "fix it."
  I had such a hard time with this before I even cast on.  All I wanted to find was a raglan style sweater with a smaller neck opening to begin with.  I wanted the numbers telling me how many stitches to start with and how many to end with.  First I had issues finding a sweater with the right neck shape that wasn't for a child or baby.  Then I had problems finding both sets of numbers.  The ones I checked told you your beginning numbers and then to work in the pattern until it was X" in length.  Then in the next step they would just tell you to work until you hit various stitch markers.  I finally used the gauge to reverse-math how many rows that would be and then how many increases I would be doing.  I finally got some numbers to work with!


Donated:
Poly-fil: 4 24oz bags
Yarn: 60 166 172 174 183 skeins

Discarded:
Poly-fil: a few handfuls
Yarn: 7 skeins