Gel Nail Question

 

For a change of pace I’m going to ask a question about gel nail polishes that has been bugging me for months.  If anybody can answer this, I’ll really appreciate it.

 

A few months ago I bought the stuff to do my own gel nails at home (IBD stuff).  One of the things I bought was "gel nail polish."  After reading the documentation and experimenting, I simply cannot understand what makes gel nail POLISH something a person would want to use.  It applies just like a gel, but it has color.  So, OK, you get color and strength.  But it doesn’t come off like nail polish; it’s not a soak-off gel product.  So I don’t understand what happens when your nails start growing out, or if you want to change color.  How do you remove it?  Or, do you have to file off the top of your nail to get rid of the color?  Or, do you have to keep backfilling with the same color?

 

Seriously, I would like to know the answer.  IBD won’t answer me because I’m not a nail tech.  They tell me that my nail tech will be able to recommend the right products.  I already get 2 weeks of wear from my OPI combo (OPI Nail Envy as a base coat, OPI or China Glaze color, OPI top coat, OPI Drip Dry).  And it’s easy to remove and change my mind about color.  The ebay seller that I bought most of this from says, "Sorry, I’m not a nail tech, I have no idea."

??

Some Real Progress

 

This is definitely a case of "just one more row!"  Since there are only three rows of each color group, I find myself really wanting to work to the next color change.  Here is a picture of the project a bit further along.  I’ve completed 38 rows and am on my final row of three strands of 5 Red Purple.  At this rate I WILL get it done before the UK trip!

 

You can see a bit of white at the bottom; that’s still my provisional cast-on.  White hem?  Black hem?

 

Stand back a bit from your monitor and you’ll get a better idea of how the finished fabric will look.

 

Picture of the Progress So Far

 

Here is a photo of what I’ve got so far.  I haven’t done a hem yet, because I’m really waffling on that.  I’ve simply done a provisional cast-on in white (which you can’t see in the pic) and will decide about a hem later.  At the base of the picture it’s three strands of 5 Blue Purple, going on up through 10 Blue Purple, 5 Purple, and now I’m on 10 Purple.  (Right now I’m on one strand of 10 Purple and still two strands of 5 Purple).  It’s hard to see the color change that’s on the needle, but you can get an idea of how using multiple strands to swap out colors makes a gentler color gradation.

 

This basic pattern is so useful.  I’ve already got an idea to buy Lunatic Fringe’s "Grey Matter" kit and knit the same sweater with one strand of 5 Red and two strands of black at the hem, keeping the 5 Red throughout, and swapping out strands of the grey matter colors so that it shades from full black at the hem to white (with 5 Red) at the neckline.  Or many other options!  This is going to keep me going for a long time.

 

Lazy Knitters

 

Yes, I am a lazy knitter.  And there are a few real benefits in this type of project for us lazy knitters…

 

First of all, with the color changes happening so frequently, you don’t really have to worry about the color jogs at the beginning of a round.  Nobody’s going to notice, probably not even you!  Just knit around.

 

And secondly, since the yarns are so fine, you can avoid having ends to weave in by simply knitting the cut strand along with your work.  What I do is, at the beginning of a color change round, add in the new color but don’t remove the strand of the old color yet.  Work 4-7 stitches.  Then snip off the strand of old color to be removed (snip it near the back of the fabric).  Remove the strand from your bundle of working yarns and continue with the three proper strands for this row.  On your next row, pick up the loose end from the newly-started strand and work that in.  Voila, no loose ends!

 

So far I have finished all the 5 Blue Purple and 10 Blue Purple and I’m working on the 5 Purple.  I hope that by this evening I’ll be done with the 5 Purple – or at least have the 10 Purple added in – and I’ll post a pic to show how nicely the color progresses.

Progress

 

Well, my needle arrived today, and it’s a beaut. 

 

5 Blue Purple is really the best color to start with (at the hem) because it is not only sort of out of sequence color-wise (being very purple as I mentioned yesterday) but also being much lighter in tone than the others.  I debated not using 5 Blue Purple at all, but since it’s going to be down by the hem, I might as well keep it in there.

 

More later.