Transition Mitts

Finished! Now if we could just transition into spring that would be great!
Project Stats: Transition Mitts
Pattern: Transition Gloves by Kerin Dimeler from ShibuiKnits. Raveled here.

Yarn: ShibuiKnits Sock in Pagoda and Ivory, one skein each with some to spare. Yarn purchased from Knit Purl (Portland) at the Madrona Fiber Festival.

Needles: Size 1 (2.25mm) and 2.5 (3mm) DPNs.

Time to knit: February 13 - March 28, 2009.

Modifications: None, aside from using slightly smaller needles for the colorwork section because they were seeming a bit big.
Impressions: OMG! These are great - I love them! I had a really tough time choosing colors, and it was actually good that I bought the yarn at a festival and they didn't have the full range of options - otherwise I'd have been completely stymied. Originally I wanted brown and turquoise, like these by TelmahQ, which I faved on Ravelry for inspiration months ago. And then I saw some turquoise and ivory ones, which I also loved. But in the end the orange won me over (and to be frank I have a lot of teal and turquoise already). As per usual any time I do colorwork, I was reminded how much I enjoy it. It's just so satisfying to see the pattern unfolding so rapidly - good motivation.

All that said, I'm not sure how useful these will be. As you can see, they're quite long, almost to the elbow, and even though it's thin yarn it would still be tough to get them under most of my sweater sleeves. Plus, you really only see the orange bit unless a 3/4-sleeve shirt is involved, and I don't have that many of those. I do have a 3/4-sleeve grey jacket that they work well with, so at least I have something to wear with them. I had considered this problem before making them, but I really wanted to make them so I pushed it aside and figured it would work itself out, so I'm sure it will! Thanks to Katrina for taking the photos!

It's not all FOs around here - I have a new project as well! This isn't actually new, I've been working on it for a few weeks now, but it's my work project so I haven't taken any photos of it. This is another Clapotis:

I'm hoping I'll actually get some use out of this one - my other one is really too bulky to wear comfortably, so I haven't worn it much. This one is knit with sockweight yarn, and it's very drapey, so I think it'll be more useful. Don't expect it to be finished very quickly - I'm only knitting it at lunch and I get a little less than one repeat done per day, so it'll be awhile...Here's a close-up of the yarn - it's Araucania Ranco Multi:

Lovely, yes? So many colors :)

A vest for David

Thank you all for the comments on the evil cast-on for the Petal Halter. As you can see here, I've finished the first petal, and I must admit that, despite being one of the worst knitting experiences I can remember, the cast-on works pretty well. It's a bit looser than the rest of the knitting though, so I'm thinking about using smaller needles on the next one to tighten it up a bit. The shaping on this is really cool, and the pieces go pretty quickly once you get past the beginning. We'll see how long it takes me to summon the courage/energy/alcohol to start the second (of six) piece... In other news, I have a secret project that can now be revealed! This is the vest I knit for Jennifer's baby, David, who was born on February 13th. It was just gifted this past weekend, so it can finally be shown off on the blog.
Project Stats: Vest for Jennifer's David
Pattern: Design F (seriously): Pullover Sweater and Vest/Tank Top by Sirdar. Raveled here.
Yarn: Knit Picks Cotlin, Kolhrabi - less than 2 skeins.
Needles: Size 3 (ribbing) and 5 (everything else) Clover Bamboo.
Time to knit: March 4-15, 2009.
Modifications: I don't think I made any - if I did I've already forgotten them...
Impressions: This is a cute little item! The v-neck ended up being a little smaller than I was going for, and I'm not sure if that's something I did or the pattern, as the project photo in the book makes it difficult to tell how deep it should be. I love Cotlin - it's great to knit with, blocks nicely, and I assume wears well, although I haven't kept anything I've knit with it. This is the same yarn as the Petal Halter, so I'll find out about the wear soon enough. The color is more accurate in the second photo, but the flash obliterated the texture. Hard to get both texture and color these days, since the sun doesn't shine...I used much less yarn than I expected - the pattern had me ordering three skeins and I used about 1.5 to make the 6-12 month size. I think that was a good size choice, since this is a cotton/linen blend and will be good for summer. I met little David this weekend and there's no way this will be fitting him for awhile! So, congratulations to Jennifer and Aaron, and I hope David likes (or at least tolerates) his vest!

Oh, and I have a story. Yesterday I wore a new shirt to work, and then after work I went to the gym to go swimming. I'd already changed into my bathing suit, and I didn't want my new shirt to get sweaty, so I just wore my bathing suit under my jacket while biking to the gym. When I was finished swimming, it occured to me that I couldn't really ride home in the damp suit under my jacket, but I still didn't want to wear the new shirt, so I just wore my bra under my jacket. And I thought, "Self, this isn't the best plan. What if you crash? Or run into someone you know and they want to have coffee? Or crash?" I ignored all this and proceeded, and I did not crash. I got home, and I waited for the elevator with a nice couple just coming back from the airport, who were thankfully quite involved with each other when I decided I was warm and unzipped my jacket in the elevator. I realized my error quite quickly, and thankfully I have a messenger bag so my jacket stayed mostly closed, but it was entertaining. At least to me - I really don't think they noticed. And to Dave, who almost fell off the couch laughing when I told him about my new career as a flasher...

Parade of Christmas FOs - Part Three

And, finally, I knit my grandmother a lace stole: This was the last of the Christmas knitting to be completed - there was definitely some stress there as I was finishing the second half and grafting it the day before I flew home. The grafting? Major hassle and I can definitely see the line. While I like the concept of identical ends, I don't know if I can be bothered with that in the future. Someone remind me I said that as soon as I cast on something that will require it...

Project Stats: Waves of Grain Stole

Pattern: Waves of Grain, by Rosemary Hill, from Knitty Fall 2008. Raveled here.

Yarn: Zephyr Wool-silk, colorway Curry, purchased at Acorn Street.

Needles: Knit Picks Harmony bamboo straights, size 4.

Time to knit: October 15 - December 20, 2008.

Modifications: Aside from making it shorter (only 52"), I also added extra beads on the first row because I misread the chart and thought that the "b" meant bead when it actually meant knit through the back loop. So, I repeated that error on the second half, and I think it's nice actually. I would do it again - it adds extra weight to the end of the stole and it's shiny.

Impressions: This was fun! I really enjoy knitting lace even though (or perhaps because) I do it fairly infrequently and generally complain about it when I'm not physically working on it. I decided that I wanted to knit my grandmother something nice this year, and I had this yarn laying around from the Swallowtail Shawl I made my aunt (her daughter) last year, and it was a match made in heaven. The Knit Picks Harmony needles are great for lace - nice sharp tips, not too slippery. The only problem, and this is likely just me, is that they're 10" and I prefer 9" because I knit with my needles propped on my stomach and 10" is a tad too long. But, I got used to it. You can get a lot of lace out of a skein/ball of Zephyr. I believe I started with 4 oz, knit this and the Swallowtail, and still have a ton left. Probably enough for another thing of similar size, which makes Zephyr an absolutely great deal. I think I paid $17 for the ball and that's a lot of bang for the buck!

My only real issue with this was that I had a tough time with the grafting. It was completely nerve-racking the entire time (almost 2 hours) because I was SO worried about screwing it up/dropping a stitch/not lining it up/etc. Part of that was because I was finishing this close to Christmas and I knew there wasn't really any room for error, but I think it would have been stressful regardless. And I thought grafting was supposed to be invisible, and although my line of stitches matches really well and looks like perfect stockinette, there is definitely a shadow there that I wish wasn't. But, it's certainly not something that detracts from the piece and maybe it's just an inherent problem with grafting in thin, light-colored yarn? Feel free to reassure me on this, or contradict it - if I need to figure out a better way to graft I'd like to know now before I screw it up again!

My grandmother loved the stole, and was totally impressed with it. I'm glad that she liked it - I'm always really happy when people like and appreciate the things I knit for them. I knit this for her because I knew she would both appreciate it and use it, so I'm quite satisfied.

Oh, and these photos, with the actual snow, were also taken when I was in PA, when it snowed again just before I came back to Seattle. The weather was really all over the place...

So ends the parade of Christmas knits - now onto the more current projects, although there will still be gift knitting involved!

Parade of Christmas FOs - Part Two

Okay! The second large Christmas gift that I knit this year was a vest for my dad, which I had been meaning to knit for a couple of years. I wanted to knit it last year but ended up making socks instead because I hadn't found a good vest pattern. The year before I made felted clogs. You'd think finding a simple men's vest pattern would be easy, but apparently not. I apologize to my dad for these photos, which I took candidly while he was showing Dave around his workplace, Organ Supply Industries. So you know, they make pipe organs and parts, not livers and kidneys. It's a really cool place and I always like visiting. Big pipes, sheets of metal for making pipes, fancy woodworking, etc.

Project Stats: Dad's Vest

Pattern: Based on the Argyle Vest from Knitting Classic Style, obviously without the argyles and with a different bottom edging. Raveled here.

Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed, in Cedar, about 6 skeins. Yarn purchased at Acorn Street in 2005(!) - note use of stash...

Needles: Clover bamboo circulars, size 5 (ribbing) and 6 (body).

Time to knit: September 27-December 16, 2008. There was a delay there while I hunted down appropriate needles for the armhole ribbing and mustered up the courage to pick up all those stitches.

Modifications: Oh, lord, where to begin. Obviously, no argyling. I did think about that, and I have this yarn in a different color as well, but I wasn't really sure about my dad's feelings on argyle. I also knit ribbing at the bottom instead of doing a sewn-under hem. More on that later. And, I converted this to the round until I had to split for the armholes/v-neck, which made the whole thing go much faster. As I've mentioned, I don't like seaming. I did do a faux seam with a line of purl stitches up the sides. I'm hopeful that this yarn has enough structure that it's not going to stretch ridiculously without seams. Oh, and I did shortrows and a three-needle bindoff for the shoulder shaping/seaming instead of doing stepped bind-offs. Why patterns don't use shortrows for this I really don't understand. SO easy, SO neat, and SO much easier to seam. Do they think shortrows are too hard? They're really not.

Impressions: First off, I love this yarn. I bought it quite awhile ago and have enough for a sweater for myself in another color and probably a vest for myself left in this color. So, it's good that I like it. I'm a big fan of tweeds, which is clear looking through my stash but maybe not so obvious when looking at my projects because I'm keeping it for myself and most of what I seem to finish are gifts. I had a good time knitting this, I'm a big fan of large things knit in the round, no purling, just round and round. That said, I think this came out a bit big for my dad. I measured one of his vests the last time I was at home so I'd have something to go off of, and this is actually not that different in size, but somehow it seems really baggy. Part of it is the ribbing at the bottom, which doesn't pull in like I was expecting/hoping. That's what my dad is used to, so this is a bit more casual than what he usually wears to work. It's also a bit big in the back - definitely a comfort vest as opposed to a form-fitting dressy one. But, I'm hoping he'll get some use out of it!

While I'm on a roll with this, I also made Anne-Marie a scarf:

Project Stats: Juliet Scarf for Anne-Marie

Pattern: Juliet, from Knitting Little Luxuries. Raveled here.

Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Angora, cherry red, about 3.5 skeins.

Needles: Size 9 Clover bamboo.

Time to knit: October 7-November 23, 2008.

Modifications: None aside from using bigger yarn and bigger needles than the pattern suggested.

Impressions: This was a nice knit, although it's impossible to photograph. That's not its fault of course, it's my fault for using red fuzzy yarn. My camera doesn't do well with either, so this is a double-whammy of photographic misery. Neither of the photos is really an accurate representation of the color. I used bigger yarn because Anne-Marie moved back to the great white north this fall, and it's cold there, and I figured something warm would be more appropriate than something dainty. I'd been meaning to use this yarn for her for some time, so I was glad to find a pattern that suited it. As for the pattern itself, I absolutely couldn't remember it, even by the end, which was frustrating. Not that it was hard, the lace panel on the left just wasn't intuitive for me.

Next, up, the Waves of Grain stole!

Scarf of Procrastination, and Amber Waves of Grain

So, I finished the scarf of procrastination, which I gave to Daisy in honor of her successful thesis defense last Wednesday. Congratulations Dr. Daisy, although I'm sad that this means you will no longer be obliged to come visit Seattle to finsih your thesis! Here is the scarf: I also took a photo on a dark background because I couldn't really tell which one showed the colors most accurately. Really neither of them are that great, but such is the lighting in my apartment, especially at night.

Project Stats: Noro Striped Scarf for Daisy
Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf, made popular by Brooklyn Tweed. Raveled here.
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, colorways 205 (2 skeins), 245, and 249. Yarn purchased at Weaving Works last fall.
Needles: Size 8 Clover bamboo, 37 stitches.
Time on Needles: 12.1.08-12.12.08.
Impressions: I love this! Thankfully Daisy also loved it :) It was really fun to knit, and I've already got the yarn to make another one while I'm home at Christmas. I'm going to use this yarn: It's also Silk Garden.

I know I've been slacking, and I have no excuse. I've been a bit busy preparing for the holidays and, once I was finished procrastinating, finishing up the Christmas knitting. Here is my finished Waves of Grain stole, which is for the grandmother who appreciates my knitting: The photo is of it blocking this afternoon (I fly out tomorrow, weather-permitting). I hope to get some good modeled shots after it's gifted. Be assured there will be a project wrap-up when I have more photos. The other things I knit are still absolute secrets but will be revealed in good time...
I really hope I can get out of Seattle tomorrow but I'm not confident. We're having the worst winter weather in a decade, and it's actually winter weather, not just Seattle fearmongering. A lot of flights were canceled today and although things are supposed to taper off tomorrow I'm concerned about getting to the airport. Plus, I'm flying through Chicago, which is also having severe weather, and into Cleveland, where the bad weather that snarled Chicago today should be arriving just in time to greet me. Lovely. I fly every year at Christmas and I've been really lucky for the most part, so fingers-crossed and send good travel vibes if you can spare them!

I made mittens!

Okay, I know I promised a post about the Estes Vest weeks ago, but then I didn't write it, and I have more to say about it than I feel like dealing with today, so instead of just not blogging about anything until I want to blog about that, I'm going to tell you about something else!
Since the last time we talked I've finished three (!) Christmas gifts, only one of which I can show you, the mittens I knit for my cousin Andie.
Project Stats: Andie's Selbuvotter Mittens
Pattern: Annemor #2 from Selbuvotter Mittens by Terri Shea (raveled here).
Yarn: Jamieson's Shetland Spindrift, Peony (dark) and Sand (light), less than one skein of each. Yarn purchased at Weaving Works.
Needles: Size 2 Brittany DPNs.
Time to knit: 9.20.08-10.25.08. I actually don't remember when I finished these, but I think it was around then.
Modifications: None that I remember. I don't even think I made any mistakes (fingers crossed).
Impressions: These are super cute! My cousin is 9, so I think these should fit, although I don't really have a good sense of how big her hands are. I made a girl's medium, and they're are too small for me so I'm hopeful. Her entire life has been a pink phase, which is why I picked these colors. They were supposed to be a gift last year, but obviously I didn't get them started in time for last Christmas, and then my mother told me that Andie is now in a green phase. Well, I wasn't buying new yarn. And anyway, pink and green look good together. And probably she still likes pink - you don't let go that quickly after being obsessed with something for 9 years. Right? Anyway, about the mittens. They were fun to knit - Terri's patterns are really clear and the Shetland Spindrift is nice to knit with, if a bit scratchy. It gets much softer upon blocking and from my limited experience seems to wear well. Every time I knit fair isle I'm reminded of how much I like it and how I wish I did more of it...
What else? I have three gifts left to finish, and five weeks in which to finish them. I'm hopeful that I can do it. One is probably 65% complete, one is only swatched and is of my own design (eek), and the other I can talk about as soon as I get around to taking a photo of it. It's the one that is most likely to not get finished because it's lace. We all know how it goes with lace...

And yes, I am going to see Twilight at midnight tomorrow. Did you really think I could resist? I thought I could, but then I realized I was mistaken and acquired tickets for myself and some of my newborns. We are excited beyond all reason...

More cables!

Remember how I said I really wanted to knit some Evangeline Mitts? Well, knit them I did! I started these last Wednesday after digging around in the bottomless pit of stash (where I found multiple treasures that I was unaware of possessing - for someone with a good memory it's amazing how much yarn and how many purses I stumble upon that I've forgotten), and finished them on Saturday morning. This post is a bit delayed because I was out of town Monday and Tuesday and then didn't take photos until yesterday (thank you Shibani!). But, without further ado, here are the Evangeline Mitts:Project Stats: Evangeline Mitts

Pattern: Evangeline, by Michelle Szeghalmi

Yarn: Reynolds Andean Alpaca, purchased on Dave and I's trip to Bend in 2006.

Needles: Size 7 Crystal Palace bamboo. These happen to be the first DPNs I purchased (not for this project, obviously).

Time to knit: September 10-14, 2008.

Modifications: I made several to compensate for my small skein of yarn (in the end I had plenty, but probably not enough for another repeat) and to suit my preferences. First, I cast on 36 stitches instead of 40 because I have small hands and I figured these would be stretchy, and that the cables would be shown to their best advantage stretched out a bit. I also only did six rows of ribbing at the cuff instead of 10, and left out the ribbing at the ends because I decided I'd rather have more cabling and less ribbing (frankly I'm not fond of ribbing). I did seven cable repeats total, and these turned out just the length I was going for. See random musing below.

Impressions: They're great! These were quick and fun to knit, and were exactly what I was hoping for. It's not just the photos - the cabling is subtle, and I blame the fuzzy yarn and its slight marl. That's okay - I wasn't really trying for bold here. My only issue is that the yarn is a tad scratchier than I expected from how soft the skein was, and I'm noticing that to be a trend with alpaca. I'm knitting something else with 100% alpaca and it's heavenly in the skein but also a little bit scratchy once knit up. Not enough to be an issue because I don't have sensitive skin, but maybe something to consider if you do.

A random musing: Have any of you made actual elbow length mitts? They seem like they'd be annoying - my thought is that if it's cold enough for mitts one is likely to be wearing a long-sleeved shirt/sweater/etc, and how does one deal with elbow length sleeves with that? Unless you're wearing a t-shirt, but none of mine have sleeves that come down to the elbow, so I would be left with a patch of upper arm showing, which just seems silly. Then again, I did queue some elbow-length mitts from the new Knitty, so apparently I'm at least game to try...

And, what is this?

I've finished the vest pieces and seamed the shoulders - now for the crazy amount of finishing. In the photo the vest looks quite large because I haven't done the side seams. In reality it's going to be quite fitted I think. Annoyingly it's still quite short even though I added 1.5" before the armhole shaping. I haven't done the i-cord along the bottom yet but still. I'm short and if it's this short on me I think there might be some issuese there for the taller set. The vest is blocking now and I hope that it will be dry by tomorrow so I can attack it this weekend...

The Second Cute Baby Item

In addition to the lovely blanket that I blogged about last week, I also made a little sweater for Kristen's baby: This thing was WAY more of an undertaking than I really intended because I neglected to check for errata before getting started. But, the end result is quite cute, and once I had the errata in hand it was really a simple project.

Project Stats: Placket Neck Pullover
Pattern: Child's Placket Neck Pullover from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, size 6-12 months.
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish DK, superwash wool, in asparagus. I used less than two skeins. I ordered four, so there was clearly a math error somewhere...
Needles: Size 8 bamboo circulars and DPNs.
Time to knit: 6.30.08-7.10.08.
Modifications: My row gauge was really off, 6 rows/inch instead of 8 rows/inch, so I had to compensate for that in the raglan shaping. I did this by doing one fewer decrease round and also doing some scattered decreases in the back and arms to get rid of the stitches. And my yoke is a tad longer than it was meant to be, but in the end it's not obvious. I also decided not to put buttons on the placket - I figured it would be easier for Kristen this way - just pull it on and be down with it, without having to secure anything. Plus, no buttons means fewer things for the baby to potentially decide to chew on/swallow/etc!
Impressions: Lord. I was charging along on this, but I was in quite a hurry because we moved Kristen's baby shower up a week or two from when I thought it would be. Regardless, I was doing well until I got to the part where you divide for the placket and start knitting back and forth, which is where you'll really want to check the errata. I knit four rows and thought, wow, this looks really crooked and off-center. Which it was. So, I had to unknit all that, muttering obscenities all the way. I didn't want to just rip it out because the yarn is relatively floppy and I wasn't convinced I'd be able to find all the stitches. Once I had the errata in hand it was smooth sailing, aside from my apprehension about the row gauge issue. Row gauge is my nemesis. I never ever get row gauge spot-on. Thankfully, it's usually pretty easy to compensate for, although I'm going to keep in mind that it's not necessarily that easy to deal with in raglan shaping. Kristen liked the sweater, but I think it'll be awhile before I can show you any "on the baby" photos, since it's fairly large (the sweater, not the still-yet-to-be-born baby). The yarn was nice to work with, although I didn't wash and dry it so I'm not sure how well it will hold up, having not tested it myself.

The Best Baby Gift Ever

Well, I don't know if that's really true, and it might be a bit conceited to claim that something I had a part in is the best ever of anything, but, well, I think maybe it is. My friend Kristen, one of the lunchtime fiberphiles, is pregnant, and due in mid-August. She's the first of us to have a baby, and thus we have been inordinately excited. Almost as soon as we found out she was expecting the wheels began to turn, and everyone was thinking of what to knit for this, the first fiberphile baby. I wanted to make a blanket and someone else did as well, and then I thought that, instead of making this poor summer baby loads of warm wool blankets we could all make one together, from all of us, which would be truly special and unique. So that's what we did. We all (there were 6 of us, now 7)consulted on the pattern, and Rachel and I picked out the yarn and distributed it to the out-of-towners, those who have left us for bigger and better things in Portland and Lake Tahoe. We each knit 5 squares, and then Katrina, who was new to the group when we started but is now firmly entrenched, did the border and a fair chunk of the seaming (along with Rachel). Here we are at the quasi shower we held for Kristen at Remedy Teas on Saturday (have you been there? You should go.) . I'm sure Pam (in Portland) and Daisy (in Lake Tahoe) were with us in spirit. From the left, we have Shibani, Jennifer, Kristen, me, Katrina, and Rachel. None of us but Katrina had seen the finished blanket when we gifted it, but we were all completely thrilled at how well it turned out! Kristen loved it, and wouldn't even let go of it to put it back in its gift bag when we left. I love that we all came together to make something this special for Kristen, who truly deserves it. Here's hoping that it becomes her baby boy's favorite!
I'm going to skip the usual project write-up for this because I only knit a bit of it and we all did different squares and used different needles sizes and etc. The pattern is the Textured Blocks Throw from Vogue Knitting on the Go: Baby Blankets Two, and we used Cascade 220 Superwash, purchased at the Fiber Gallery in Seattle.

The Montego Bay Scarf

I'm thinking that maybe I'll start labeling everything starting with "the" like the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog. Just for kicks. Not to worry, I doubt it'll last long. I mentioned in my last post that I had in fact been knitting, if not writing about it, and here is some of the evidence, the Montego Bay Scarf, which was a gift for my cousin Danielle:

Project Stats: Montego Bay Scarf
Pattern: Montego Bay, by Amy Singer, from Interweave Knits Summer 2007.
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Ambrosia, colorway Blue Lime, 3 skeins. Yarn purchased at Weaving Works.
Needles: Size 7 Clover bamboo straights.
Modifications: None, although my scarf is shorter than the pattern version.
Time on the needles: May 11-June 11, 2008.
Impressions: This was a fun, quick knit. The pattern is deceptive - it's really simple, almost too simple, which is the trouble. The whole thing is k2tog, yo, repeat, with different numbers of plain stitches on the ends, which is all you have to keep track of (I did not want to end this sentence with of, but I couldn't figure out a better way that wasn't really clunky. This is not English class.). There in lies the problem, trying to recall which right side row you're on. I solved this by always knitting in groups of four rows, so that whenever I picked the scarf up I was starting row one. It was a good strategy. The yarn was great - it's baby alpaca, silk, and cashmere, and it feels about as good as it sounds. It's not quite as drapey as the recommended yarn, but I think it worked okay, especially after a good blocking. I was intending to use a more "summery" yarn, but I loved the colors of this and thought it would be perfect for Danielle, so I went with it. It was a bit success, she absolutely loved it and the colors were perfect for her. I have some yarn lined up to make one of these for myself, but we'll see when I actually get around to that!

Last night I finished an adorable baby project that I can blog about after it's gifted tomorrow. I love the baby knits - they go fast and they're cute because they're tiny!

The Sleeveless Tuxedo Shirt (finally!)

I love it! It's great! It's blue! It fits! I am out of short exclamatory sentences! Seriously though, I'm really happy with the way this tank top came out. It started out fraught with difficulties (twisted cast-on, bad needle/yarn combo, etc) but ended well. Granted, it took awhile, but there was an intervening fall and winter not being tank top weather situation, so overall it wasn't too bad. I started in August sometime and finished in late April, but I don't think I worked on it all from late-September until probably February, when I took it to work to be my lunch project. But, what you really want to see are the photos, right?


Project Stats: Sleeveless Tuxedo Shirt
Pattern: Sleeveless Tuxedo Shirt (which I've also been called the Ruffled Tuxedo Top), by Theresa Schabes, from the Summer 2007 Interweave Knits. I made the 36" size.
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy, navy blue (color 011). About 4.3 skeins. I bought 7, so clearly a math error or a gauge error was made at some point here. Yarn purchased at Acorn Street.
Needles: Size 3 Clover bamboo circulars.
Time on the needles: August 2007-April 2008.
Modifications: Many. First off, I didn't see a good reason for this to be knit in pieces, so I knit it in the round until I had to separate. And even when I had to bind off the center front for the lace panel I knit the rest in one piece flat until the armpits. Second, I didn't see the point of most of the crochet, so the only place I crocheted was around the bottom of the armholes, which looked messy due to the stepped bind-off. My upper armholes looked crocheted already because I had been slipping the first stitch of every row, and the other places that were supposed to be crocheted (straps, front edges, bottom) had nice garter stitch edges already. Aside from the bottom of course, but I didn't think one round of single crochet would keep it from rolling and anyway I like the little roll it has. Then, since I was jettisoning so much crochet, I decided to heck with the scallop crochet around the front lace inserts, which look fine as is. AND, why button it? I like it open, thus open it shall be!

Impressions: I love it, as I might have mentioned earlier. I really like the Hempathy (good thing, as I have a lot of it in the stash from the Webs extravaganza of '08). It was nice to knit with and it feels nice to wear, although I think if one had sensitive skin it might be a bit scratchy for something close to the skin. I'll always be wearing something under this so it's fine. The color in the second photo is more accurate - the first one has some flash issues. The fit on this is perfect - I was a bit worried because I was between sizes and decided on the larger of the two, since this is supposed to be loose-fitting. It worked out as well I could have hoped. Honestly, I didn't measure it when I was finished, so I'm not sure if my gauge was right in the end (I did swatch), or if I'm bigger than I think I am, but either way it fits.

So, I'm really happy with this, and if Anais turns out half as well I'll be thrilled! I'm on a roll garment-wise and I hope it lasts! By the way, the necklace I'm wearing is one of my favorite pieces of jewelry. I got it from my parents for my birthday a couple of years ago and it's a simple silver clasp-type charm that holds a marble. It's interchangeable and fits any small marble, so there are infinite possibilities. I love it, and wear it quite often.

I finally got around to mailing my Yarn Snob Swap package today. I haven't gotten mine yet but the mailing deadline isn't until this Saturday. I'm hoping my package arrives on Saturday as a one-day-early birthday present!

The Elegance of the Swallowtail

I have to preface these photos by reiterating that this shawl isn't for me, although I kind of wish it was because I really like it! I didn't think I'd be able to pull off a triangular shawl (and honestly I'm still not sure it's something I would actually wear) but it's pretty in the photos. Dave took a ton of photos, most of which got thrown out due to my arms looking more akin to those of a linebacker or the sudden appearance of a double chin, but some were good enough to display on the blog: I think this is how I would be most likely to wear something like this, and it certainly adds a degree of elegance and sophistication to an otherwise very plain black dress. Here's a good "from the back" photo. Please ignore my apparently gigantic arms. I think some of that is the light. Hopefully.
And then a "demure" pose, although I was probably glaring at the wall or sticking my tongue out or some such silliness that is thankfully well-hidden.
And finally, a close-up of the nupps which I went on and on about in so many posts. You can see that they really do add quite a nice texture to the lace and thus were well worth the effort.
Project Stats: Swallowtail Shawl
Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl, by Evelyn Clark, from Interweave Knits Fall 2006.
Yarn: Zephyr Wool-silk, colorway curry, about 475 yards. Yarn purchased at Acorn Street in Seattle.
Needles: Size 4 Knit Picks Harmony bamboo. These needles are great - I can't say enough good things about them. You should get some.
Time to knit: Mid-January to March 24, 2008, with about a month of laziness mixed in. It went pretty quickly considering it was my first real lace project, but there was a deadline involved which provided motivation not to slack.
Modifications: The shawl as the pattern directs is pretty small, so I made mine larger by adding five repeats of the budding lace pattern (the main section), for 19 total repeats. I followed the instructions provided in this post by Pepperknit, and had no problems with the math working out correctly. I did the nupps as instructed in the pattern, and although they were tedious it wasn't so awful once I got used to them. I think the super sharp needles helped a lot in that regard. My shawl ended up being 60 inches across the top by about 27 inches long, which I think is a good size. It's perfect for me. The recipient is a bit broader in the shoulders, but hopefully it will be okay for her as well. I will be gifting it this weekend so I'll update about that soon!
Impressions: I love it! While it's not the first laceweight project I've started, it is the first I've completed, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. I made my only mistake early on and got it over with (bet you can't see it! I can't and I know where it is), and although I had to tink back a few stitches a couple of times, I really didn't have any issues. This is a very simple pattern because it's so repetitive, and I'd recommend to any new lace knitter. I put in lifelines but thankfully I didn't have to use them. I was a bit concerned about the color but I really like it in the end - the photos are fairly accurate, especially the close-up of the nupps. I was going for gold and this was the closest color I could find. I have a ton of yarn left, and gold is not my color, so I need to come with another gold shawl giftee! I'm all inspired to knit more lace, although I'm still not really sure it fits into my dressing style. I'm thinking rectangular stoles like the Hanami will be more wearable for me, but I jumped at the chance to make a triangular shawl when I thought of a recipient I knew would appreciate it.

We'll have a March goal recap and April planning post later today or tomorrow!

Oops, I made a hat!

Yesterday afternoon I stumbled on a cute pattern on Ravelry, and despite really needing to get on with my shawl knitting, I decided, what the hell, it's MY knitting, and cast on. And then proceeded to knit the whole hat in under three hours, or two episodes of Jeopardy (sans commercials, thank you tivo) plus A Life Less Ordinary (which you should see if you have not). Without further ado, I present my new alpaca hat:

Just to be clear, I don't actually smirk very often, even though I'm always smirking on the blog. The reason for this is that I'm trying to avoid having a double-chin, so I avoid actually smiling for most of my blog photos. Just so you all don't think I'm a smirker...

Project Stats: Alpaca Hat

Pattern: Robin's Egg Blue Hat

Yarn: Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky, less than one skein, in ivory. Yarn purchased at Weaving Works, where I also got the button.

Needles: Size 10.5 bamboo straights and DPNs

Time to knit: March 14, 2008, about three hours

Impressions: Cute! Fun! Fast! Warm! This is a fun pattern, really simple and really quick to knit up. If I make another (Not unlikely - I have lots of potentially appropriate yarn in the stash. Many people might get one of these for Christmas next year.), I will make it a tad smaller, especially if it's for me. But it does fit, although I made it slightly too long. I have that problem with hats - either too short or too long, and always just a little bit either way so I don't bother to fix them. Alas, I like it anyway!

In other news, I have finished the first border chart of the shawl, and have mastered the nupps. I actually haven't had much difficulty negotiating the p5togs, but that's probably due to the spectacular Knit Picks needles with their lovely sharp tips. Now that I'm all into the lace and feeling confident that I might actually finish a lace project, I'm looking forward to what I want to knit next, and thinking that whatever it is I'll have to get more of these needle tips in whatever size I need, because they are great. I knit eight rows today and I think I have 25 left, although the last 15 don't have nupps and hopefully will go by quickly. I doubt I'll get much accomplished tomorrow because we're going skiing, but we'll see. If my eyes aren't tired when we get back I'll try.

Another "woven" scarf

Behold, another woven knit scarf! This is my third (here and here) one of these, and I think it's my favorite, but that might just be because I get to keep this one! Project Stats: Colinette Woven Scarf
Pattern: Woven Knit, from Knit Scarves! by Candi Jensen.
Yarn: Colinette Prism, colorway Toscana, 2 skeins. This is the recommended yarn and it's great. I bought it from an Ebay vendor in the UK in December 2006 for just this purpose.
Needles: Size 11 Clover bamboo straights.
Time on the needles: January-February 2008. Finished on 2/29 - thank goodness it was a leap year or I'd have been up very late on Thursday trying to finish in February!
Impressions: Love it! I'm honestly not sure why this pattern isn't more popular. It's dead simple and results in a cool fabric that lays completely flat. There are only 13 of these on Ravelry and three of them are mine! It can get a bit tedious but that's true of most scarves so I doubt that's the deterrent. The yarn is great - a bit pricey but I got a good deal on it and it was nice to, for once, be using the recommended yarn (even the same color!). I'm really excited to have finally knit this, since I acquired the yarn quite awhile ago and had been meaning to knit it up ever since, but it always got pushed out the way for gift projects and more exotic knits. Here's the obligatory texture close-up:The color is fairly accurate there as well. It's a nice mix of green and blues/reds, so it will go well with a lot of things. I suspect I'll be getting a lot of use out of this one!

I am SO glad I went skiing yesterday instead of braving the crowds at the Hilltop Yarn fire sale! It sounds like it was utterly chaotic with people and that the good stuff went fast. People were lining up at 9:00am for an 11:00am opening! For YARN! I love yarn but that's insanity. So, I'm glad I didn't go - crowds and disorganization frustrate me to no end so it wouldn't have turned out well for me, plus the skiing was great. Dave, Anne-Marie, and I went to Crystal Mountain, where we found much good snow and Dave did a hike up/ski down race (Because he is crazy. Anne-Marie and I rode the lifts, because we are sensible). Fourth time skiing this year and I would like to go at least once more, maybe next weekend if it keeps snowing...

February accomplishments and March goals to come later today!

Final Christmas gift in the mail!

Finished! Finally...my poor grandmother, having to wait until late February for her Christmas gift!

They look funny because they're too big for me, hence the floppy toes. I made the first of these socks in time for Christmas but was worried about the size, so I only gifted one sock. It was, as feared, too big, so I made the second sock smaller with intentions of ripping out the toe and reknitting shorter. But, these are toe-up and with the eyelet pattern it was all getting too confusing for me and I knew I would procrastinate on it and therefore I decided to let the first sock be a bit big. I think she'll be happy with them anyway, she said at the time it was okay. Plus, I suspect these will be worn almost exclusively in the house, not with shoes, and that they will shrink a tad anyway. Fingers crossed that they fit and she likes them, and that she isn't lying when she says so!

Project Stats: Anastasia Socks

Pattern: Anastasia, by Pepperknit.

Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight, colorway Lucy (named after Wendy's cat). Yarn purchased at the Madrona Fiber Arts Festival in 2007.

Needles: Size 1 Clover bamboo DPNs

Time on the needles: November 2007-February 20, 2008. Eh. No excuse for this, really.

Impressions: Once again, I love the STR. This was a nice pattern but I had some issues on the legs. Once I was doing the pattern all the way around I got frameshifts, and I probably could have figured out a way to fix it but it only happened once on the first sock and then the second sock I was knitting on my way back from Boston on the plane and I was tired and not thinking hard enough about it. It's really not that obvious anyway, unless you're looking. Most of my socks thus far have been knit top-down, but I like toe-up for full yarn utilization. Not that I used all the yarn here since I correctly assumed my grandmother was not the tall socks type. These socks have brought me around to the merits of the short-row heel, which is easy and I suspect faster than the heel flap-gusset decrease heel I'm used to. Plus, most store-bought socks have short-row heels (You know you've looked too!), so there must be something to them...This is a good pattern for this yarn, and I'm really happy with the striping (no pooling!) that I got on both socks. Overall I'd say these are a success, but I do feel bad that they aren't the same size, and that they're soooo late!

Drops Swing Cardigan!!!

Voila, the Drops Swing Cardigan! I'm really happy with the way this came out. When I first tried it on I thought it was a bit big, but after seeing the photos I don't think it looks as tentlike as I feared.

Project Stats: Drops Swing Cardigan

Pattern: DROPS Jacket w/ A-line shape and 3/4 sleeves (103-1). I made the worsted weight version, not the bulky.

Yarn: Rowanspun Aran (sadly discontinued, but I have a lot in the stash), dusky blue (SH964). I used about four skeins (~800 meters). The yarn was purchased at Cucumberpatch UK (Ebay).

Size: Medium (36.4"). I was torn about this because I was between sizes, but I went with the larger size since this isn't really meant to be a fitted sweater. Plus my gauge was slightly off, so I think my finished sweater is a tad smaller than 36" and fits quite nicely.

Modifications: I didn't do as many sleeve increases as the pattern called for because the sleeves were already looking really wide. I was worried that would cause trouble when it came time to set in the sleeves, but it was fine. I should have made the sleeves shorter - I was going for the 3/4-length option but with them uncuffed they're to my wrists and just look like they're too short. But I like them better cuffed anyway, so it's fine.

Needles: Size 8 Clover bamboo.

Time on the Needles: September 11, 2007-January 18, 2008. I was actually pretty dedicated to this aside from when I had to deal with the Christmas knitting. There was probably a month in there where I didn't touch it at all, but when I was working on it, progress was fast.

Impressions: I'm really happy with this, my first completed sweater that wasn't made in one piece! I had to seam! I didn't screw it up! It doesn't look handmade in a bad way! I did a few things that aided a lot in my finishing of this project in a moderately timely fashion. First, I seamed the shoulders as soon as the back and both fronts were finished, to get it out of the way, and I joined them with the three-needle bind-off so they look perfect. Then, I knit both sleeves at the same time to avoid second-sleeve syndrome (sss). And, I didn't procrastinate on the seaming, I just leapt right into it as soon as the sleeves were finished. I had slipped the first stitch of every row on all the pieces, which made the seaming a piece of cake. I also think the slight slubbiness of the yarn aided in the sleeve-setting-in process because it hides some minor issues, but overall the seaming wasn't as bad as I feared. The blocking was easy, but I was stymied for a couple of days by a lack of buttons, and then by a lack of daylight, which is why this is just getting posted now even though I attached the buttons on Thursday.I call this one a great success!