Trinket Scarf, from Amber - A Winter Gathering by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Swish, just over 2 balls
Needles: US2 and US6
Mods: Shorter length, and no beads

I love this scarf so much that I had to make it again. This time the frill factor is at 100%.

I snagged a rabbit too, convinced him to come out from early modeling retirement. Maybe it was a bad idea. It's hard to say who exhibited more patience during this shoot, me or the rabbit. There were plenty of blurry shots, cat treats, high-pitched baby talk, scratches behind the ear, breaks, more cat treats, and still more disdainful glares from those piercing green eyes.

Forgive me Bunny! But I'm knitting a sweater and socks next, so you're off the hook for awhile.

Pattern: Trinket scarf by Kim Hargreaves, from the book Amber
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Hurricane, 2 balls
Needles: US2 and US6

This scarf has been on my radar ever since it first appeared on KH's site as a kit (single pattern and yarn sold together) - ruching I love you!! - but I never went for it because it was so expensive. It has now been published as part of her winter collection in the book Amber. I started immediately as soon as I had the book and the yarn in my little hands.

It's been a long while since I've worked with KSH and I was shocked at how much the price had increased. The pattern calls for 3 skeins and I dunno, maybe I was in a budget-y mood that day in the yarn store, but I really was not about to drop $45 for mohair materials, no matter how badly I loved the scarf. So I bought 2 balls instead, which worked out fine because I didn't want my scarf so long anyways.

It also didn't work out fine because as the sloppiest knitter in the world, I didn't leave enough yardage to complete the frills. They are not at maximum ruffled capacity.

Still looks good though. Thanks Veebs!

Pattern: Gail aka Nightsongs. No idea why it has two names
Ravelry pattern | Web site
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Silk in Granite Falls. Used maybe half the skein
Needles: US6

This is my first shawl, destined to be my mother-in-law's Christmas gift. I saw Saccade's beautiful version of it in the same yarn, and knew it had to be done.

It was quite the mental challenge. I could not for the life of me get a mental hold of the chart and how it would translate to a shawl. The first attempt at the chart repeat, I knew leaves were not lining up and stitches were in places where they should not be. So very puzzling. I started over, this time using stitch markers and bam! I had bitten into the forbidden apple and suddenly I knew things. Everything.

The biggest revelation was that shawls are knitted top down. WOW!

I placed stitch markers each time at the beginning of each new leaf, plus one in the center, and so as the shawl grew I was able to clearly see when I was knitting a new leaf vs a filler leaf. It helped this first-time shawl knitter immensely. Now I get it, but would probably stick with using stitch markers regardless.

I messed up on the chart reading for the edging though. There is an extra repeat between the two final leaves, right in the middle.

But I get it now. Shawls from here on out will be a breeze. I just have to convince my hands and shoulders that they want to knit another one. My mind says More! but my phalanges, they say F*&#$ you.

So I've already posted some details of the shawl on Ravelry, and to post the photos on Rav I had to also post them on Flickr, and now I'm posting them here..maybe this is why I don't blog so often because all this business of posting is getting really repetitive, you know?

I feel like I spend most of my time uploading and cross-uploading and by the time I'm finally ready to write something down, my energy has waned and you see posts like, Hello. Here's a photo. My cat is wearing a scarf. OK. Bye.

I have to think about my strategem on this blogging business some more, particularly when it comes to knit-blogging. It's a good thing I don't talk about knitting on F@cebook. It would be out of control.

Pattern: Wedge scarf by NorahGaughn
Yarn: Sundara Sock Yarn in Roasted Persimmon over Green Papaya
Needles: US2
Mods:I changed all p2tog's to k2tog's

Started this scarf in Beijing and finished it while somewhere over the North Pole (direct flights from the Far East to the East Coast are awesome). It's for Duck and the color looks fab on him.

It also looks fabulous on Bunny, as all scarves - and ribbons - are wont to look. So, it is with much shock and sadness that I announce Bunny's early retirement from scarf modeling. He has decided to become a full-time Liaison to the Squirrels. We wish him all the best.

Little stinker.

Coraline by Ysolda
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Manos Silk Blend, 5 skeins. Inadvertently made the body shorter than intended, so I came in way under with 2 whole skeins leftover.
Needle: US 5

I started Coraline sometime in June, July? Can't remember. Anyway I've been working on it off and on for the last several months. I lerve it. My first time with i-cords (GENIUS) and smocking (PRETTY). I made the body too short but I think it works pretty well regardless. It's actually not entirely finished as I have not added buttons for the front. But I decided I'd give it to my mom for her birthday which is coming up in a couple of weeks - yes the idea of gifting Coraline was a total afterthought, but the afterthought still counts right? - and she'll add the buttons herself.

Here is my mom modeling from high atop her apartment overlooking Beijing. I'm totally into shooting straight into the sun these days, though my eyes aren't too happy about it. But I love lens flare! Anyway I've been here in Beijing for almost a week now, visiting my parents who moved here from Atl. in May. The city is quite...something. Not sure what that something is. I know how I feel about the air quality though. It's quite shitty. At the risk of TMI, my snot is black. I wiped my runny nose yesterday and the result was like wiping running mascara crud off your eyes. UGH.

It rained though last night, and this morning for the first time I saw sky! Adjacent buildings! Even mountains in the distance!

The view on a normal, lung-choking day.

The view on an abnormal, clear-sky day, after the evening's rain.

I can hear my own lungs singing, just looking at that.

Dottie is lucky she has no lungs. Here she is on site at one of the tombs for the Ming Dynasty emperors.

Yesterday we hit the Great Wall. We should have gone today because yesterday was one of those days where visibility was completely nil, not just with the smog, but with a drizzly fog as well. I'll have to go back again for a better view. Though the misty one below is kind of romantic...

More to come!

I recently finished up my Red Socks, just in time to wear during the post-season.

I used the always scrumptious Sundara Sock Yarn in colorway called Claret over Scarlet. Love.

I made up the pattern as I went along. I cast some stitches with the red yarn, did a corrugated rib with the white yarn, and then did some form of ribbing with the red yarn, and then I when I came to the heel I used the white yarn, but then red for the foot, and then last but not least, went back to white with the toes. Et voila, Red Socks! How's that for a description?

They are slightly too large. I am wearing them now and even as I sit here in front of the computer, unmoving for the last 10 hours straight, they are sliding down and bunching around the ankles. I should have used a purl gutter rather than a garter so that the fabric pulls in more. Other than that, these socks kick ass.

Bunny wears the scarf I made using Sundara Yarn Fingering Silky Merino in Winter Skies.

For the first time in known history, he was not a very cooperativemodel. The photoshoot disintegrated very quickly.

Bunny is so mad that even from this blurry shot you can tell that green fire is shooting out of his eyes.

I'll get you next time, you wascally wabbit!

Pattern: Rambling Rose Cardigan by Laura Zukaite, from Interweave Knits Winter 2006
Started: January 2008
Yarn: 2 skeins Socks That Rock heavyweight each in Haida and Pond Scum (with plenty yardage leftover)
Needles: US 5 circulars

I wore RR out in public last night! And I got a million compliments! OK all of them came from Duck. In response to my repeated questioning. It's been ages since I've worn a handknit out in public - so sad - so I was feeling a little self-conscious, or something. That and the fact that Pond Scum is so very grellow, which I was totally into. I mean I still am. But when I stepped outside it became all RAR I'M GRELLOW RAR! and I got a little scared brandishing the grellowness about out in public so blatantly. It is very grellow right? That's sort of a hard color to wear.

But don't listen to me, because at the end of the day I love my RR and am thrilled with the way it turned out. It fits me to a T. I went down a needle size which I always do. The biggest modification was to make it longer, and to omit the intarsia scallop ribs from the body and the sleeves. I found the scallops to be a little much. Also, I was too lazy to knit them.

Of course there is that huge mistake of knitting a leaf motif repeat extra on the left front that on the right front, and seaming it all up before I realized what happened. I cried for about ten minutes and then I didn't care. Because unless you're looking for it, you won't notice anything's amiss. I did remove the 3rd button from the bottom, so that when I button up the entire cardigan, I could just sort of tuck the extra fabric underneath the button band, and there would be no extra buttons dangling by itself. There are some other mistakes I made here and there when knitting the intarsia but again, it's not there if you don't see it. (But from the photos below you probably will!)

Knitting the yoke in intarsia I will say was a pain in the freaking ass. I wouldn't do it again. Knitting in the yoke as written avoids having to seam, sure fine. But this is a cardigan, so you'd only have to seams the sleeves onto the body anyways. And having to seam raglan sleeves (which is what they are), the easiest of all sleeves to seam, is 10000% easier than having to manage 9 separate bobbins of yarn while you knit 200+ stitches back and forth. Then when you finally make it out alive, there are all the ends to weave in. I did not enjoy that process one bit, and if was done all to avoid seaming, then the yoking wasn't worth it for me. Otherwise, as first-time intarsia knitter, knitting intarsia was easy and a lot of fun.

So that's it! My first finished sweater of the year - better late than never! So thanks for sticking around to hear the end of the long and bumpy tale of the Rambling Rose...

THE END

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Sock in Limited Edition Peacock and Purple
Needles: US1 dpns

I modified a pattern found in my trusty Japanese stitch dictionary. It's basically a pattern of a pair of leaves, mirror-imaged at the "stems." I changed it to be mirror-imaged at the leaves (petals are back to back) (does that make any sense) and suddenly the stitch pattern looked like feathers to me, like a great plume you might see on a Vegas showgirl's headpiece.

The leaf/feather pair were then separated at the heel, with one half continuing down the foot. Threw in a stockinette runner so the beautiful colorway of the yarn wouldn't be completely obscured with complicated patterns, and some gutters in garter-stitch instead of the usual purl-stitch.

I won't lie: I mirrored the pattern after the Loksins knit for me last year by my Sockapalooza pal. I. Love. Those. Socks. Perfect color. Perfect fit. Perfect combination of yarn and pattern. I went through that stitch dictionary like a madman hoping to duplicate such a successful pairing for the Peacock and Purple colorway. Not sure if the stitch I came up with is totally successful...I'm thinking Pomatomus would have worked better...but then Pomatomus always works, Pomatomus looks great in all weather conditions, even humid ones, and besides I've filled my knitting quota on those. Very happy with these nonetheless. And you really can't go wrong with anything knit in Sundara Yarn, am I right? Right.

I made Chevron Scarf - in the same fashion as the first one - for a friend's birthday, using the remainders of Sundara Yarn's Bartlett Pear (made entrelac socks with it), and a skein of this Koigu in a colorway that is both beautiful and craptastic, depending how far you stand. I really am not sure whether my friend is going to like the color combo. Us knitting insiders know that for the Chevron Scarf, the more the colors clash, the better (er right? I think?)...but will she feel the same way?

Lookit all the pretty colors.

I asked Bunny, always the most willing and photogenic fashion rabbit, to model it for me.

I think it'll do. As soon as I remove all the cat hairs.

Pattern: Pomatomus
Yarn: Sundara Yarn, Ltd Edition Aqua Over Lilac
Needles: US1 dpns

I decreased the shell pattern to a 10-stitch repeat, giving a total of 60 stitches overall.
* Also, you omit rows 10, 11, 12, and 13 of both charts. The pattern is now a 10-stitch by 18-row repeat.

Aside from a pair of socks, it's been a really unproductive week. I mean really. un. productive. I've had this stupid itchy dry cough that peaks between midnight and 5am, despite the barrage of syrups and pills. I'm all bloodshot, drugged up and still coughing. I don't understand the reflex of coughing when you have nothing to cough up. By the way, have scientist figured out why we yawn? And isn't it weird that cats do it too? Yawn, that is. But they don't cough. Now why is that. If you've ever seen a coughing cat please let me know.

PS Rambing Rose cardigan remains in a heap in the corner, waiting for me to just take the 30 minutes already to finish the button bands. I'm still not in the mood for it. I'm visiting my parents this week in ATL, so I might pawn the job off to my mother.

I finished something! And oh my god they're not socks!

What: Tunic sweater avec turtleneck, pattern is my own
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in Azul Profundo #150, less than 3.5 skeins
Needles: US8 and 7 circulars and dpn's

There's this sweater I got for cheaps at H&M that I have been wearing to the ground. It's black, made of soft squishy acrylic, the length of which hits just past the hips. It's body-hugging and has a large cowl-neck that could be stretched and draped over both shoulders, revealing the collarbone, or slouched just to one side, revealing just a tantalizing snippet of a neck. It is a totally simple sweater but when I wear it, I feel like if I opened my mouth to speak my voice would be husky, I might even purr, and everything I said would be witty and charming because it would also be in French.

My version of that sweater is a little less Euro and a lot more...BLUE. I cannot tell you how intense the blue really is. I used just over 3 skeins of Malabrigo and it turns out they were all pretty much consistent in color, except for that one lone skein which of course appears smack dab in the middle of the sweater. Whatever. I'm fine with it.

Because I didn't follow a pattern and I wanted it to fit a certain way, I actually swatched before starting this sweater. This is a first. I never swatch. I get lazy. Most of the time it works out, sometimes it doesn't. But in true me fashion, I've misplaced all my algebraic scribbling and notes so I can't tell you the gauge I came up with. It wasn't rocket science anyways. Basically I wanted a sweater that was about 30 inches around, using US8 needles. I also put in waist shaping in the form of darts: instead of decreasing/increasing at the end of each side, I did it about 2 inches in from each side.

I yoked the upper body part: when reaching the armpits, I bound of maybe 10 stitches for the armpits on each side, set the body aside and started knitting the sleeves separately, in the round on US7 dpns. When I was satisfied with the length (up to armpit), I bound off for the armpit and joined the sleeves with the body, and continued in the round. Standard yoke stuff. Decreased every other row for raglan sleeves, and then continued in the round for the turtleneck. This was supposed to be a cowlneck but I had decreased too much, so a turtleneck it was.

Added some cables at the raglan decreases for fun.

Soft like a bunny against my neck! I love you Malabrigo. I love you.

And that's all! Easy as pie. My first sweater since March 2006, yikes. I'll have to do this more often.

Pattern: Entrelac Socks by Eunny Jang, from Interweave Knits Spring 2007
Yarn: 1 skein Koigu in brilliant blue (lost the band so don't have the exact info) & half skein Sundara Yarn in Bartlett Pear  

These are brilliant. Entrelac in the round is so easy to do, and the colors! The colors! I am so in love with both these colors, especially together. If I had another skein of the Koigu I would have had the brilliant blue as the main color - I really love how that sock turned out - but I thought I'd play it safe do one in the blue and one in the pear. The results are very jolly and court jestery.

I kept these at average leg length, and also didn't go for the tassles. Although maybe I should have attached little bells.

After knitting the first sock (Bartlett Pear main color) in size 1 dpn's, I switched to 0's because the 1's were running kind of big. The 0's run a little small, but I'd rather them snug than otherwise. When I make these again I'll probably go back to size 1 needles, but knit 5-stitch blocks instead of 6, giving a total of 60 sts in the round. That's a good number for me.

Update: To answer some people's questions about whether the bumps on the inside of the sock are uncomfortable during wear, the answer is no! Not for me anyway. The bumps are soft, and in fact I really like the texture and the way the bumps squish against the skin.

Make sure you follow Eunny's suggestion of weaving the old color as you're picking up stitches in the new color at the beginning of every new round of blocks. (That barely made sense. Read her instructions.) I would imagine having to cut and to weave in yarn at every round would be a pain, and those bumps would not be comfortable to wear.

OK so now I am on a mission to redecorate our bedroom in these colors. I've been keeping an eye out for bedding, preferrably duvet covers, in exactly that shade of blue but haven't had any luck so far. Once I have that as the anchor, I'll really begin decorating in earnest.

Love these socks!

I finished the Marina Piccola socks some weeks ago.

Not particularly happy with these as they are probably THE sloppiest socks I've ever made. I don't know what happened but my gauge for the second sock was so off that the leg is more than an inch longer than the first, the heel and foot is loose, and as a result I ran out of yarn just as I was getting to the toe.

Yuck. Bleh. I wasn't even going to post about them but then last night Duck took this shot as I was lounging on the couch watching baseball and since it contains all the ingredients for a crowd-pleaser - some new handknits, some older handknits, some handknits in progress, plus bonus! a fat cat - I thought I'd share.

Don't we all look comfy, with our animals and our yarns? I am wearing the aubergine bolero - celebrating it's 2nd birthday! - and knitting the entrelac socks. Try to disregard the fact that the soles of my socks look like the underside of a Swiffer cloth.

Veebs is not usually a lap cat but lately he's been feelin' the love. Meanwhile, as he spreads out luxuriously along the length of my legs and purrs that gentle, bumblebee purr of his, my little kneecaps are slowly being turned inside out.

Pattern: My own! I have christened thee SwarmDrunken Bees.
Yarn: Socks That Rock lightweight in Midsummer's Night
Needles: US1 dpns

I finished them!

And then I sat for hours and hours more trying to think of a good name for them.

Everything that I came up with was bee-themed, because I think the zigzag pattern looks drunk yet curiously deliberate, bzzzz like a bee in flight bzzzz, and the mini-cables on the side resemble honeycombs.

So I came up with
1. Bumblebee (too cutesy)
2. Honeybee (way too cutesy)
3. Worker Bee (too slavish)
4. Royal Jelly (too weird)
5. Beehive (maybe)
6. Swarm (hmm)

Yessss, swarm...I see a swarm of stitches swirling in and around each other.

It's not the prettiest sounding word though, unfortunately. But a quick run through the thesaurus in my head came up with lovely words that conjured up such lovely pictures, such as locusts, plague,infestation...So back to Swarm it was.

Now I name you Drunken Bees! Back from a long day's work, intoxicated with nectar, buzzing and teetering and bouncing off each other just outside your honeycombed nest!

Close-up of heel: Slip stitch at the center, flanked by honeycombs which continue down from the leg, and purl gutter, and bordered by more slip stitches. Finished with a square heel.

At some point I will write up a pattern for these, probably after we move (3 more weeks!). When I do it will most likely be a pseudo-pattern: more of a general overview rather than stitch-by-stitch instructions. Really all you need to know is the stitch pattern, and if you know how to knit a sock, you can do the rest without explicit instruction, and use your favorite methods of constructing the heel, the toe, up or down...I just hate telling people what to do, especially when there's no right way or wrong way about it!

Bzzzzz!

Pattern: Vestee, hoodie version| Knitty Spring 07 | smallest size
Yarn: Koigu Kersti, 4 skeins (maybe?)
Needles: US5 (I think?)
Modifications: I knit garter rib for the cuffs only, and the rest of the body in stockinette.

Dude. I completely forgot that I hadn't finished this.

It's been awhile since I've done any seaming, and it wasn't much. Upper part of the body was knit in the round, and it's peanut-sized. But. I think I really hate seaming.

I'll be mailing it out ASAP to its intended recipient who luckily is still very much a baby. Charlie will be going too. The poor thing has been has been folded in a fetal position for months now. Oops.

PS I loved working with the Kersti yarn. Soft like a bunny!

Pattern: Twisted Flower Socks by Ms. Cookie A. As if I had to remind anyone.
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Burgundy, one skein
Needles: US1
For: My Sockapalooza pal xoxoxo
Modifications: I have a favorite toe thanks to knitting Meida's Socks by Nancy Bush - decrease at each side of the foot every other row until you have a total of 32 stitches (or 8 sts on 4 needles), then decrease every row until there are a total of 8 stitches (or 2 sts on 4 needles), then cut the yarn, take a tapestry needle, thread the yarn through and tighten the hole. I find this makes for a very natural fit that curves nicely over the toes, much better than the straight edge produced when grafting.

So after posting about these last week I immediately ripped the first sock up past the heel so they would match what I did with the second sock, which was to follow the lovely heel pattern as written and extend the foot by another leaf pattern repeat.

We match now.

If you were to take a peek at this pattern, at the heel and foot chart, every single row of them meticulously laid out from bottom to top, all those twisted cables, traveling in a precise direction, where the tiniest of missteps would derail the whole effect, you'd probably want to rip your eyes out before having to start over again.

But it really didn't pain me to do this. I was so zen. It had to be done. I hardly demand perfection for myself; in fact I practically revel in my own knitting disheveledness. But for Sock Pal, for someone whom I will probably not meet in person? My socks will be my proxy. They will be my Goodwill Ambassadors. And like Angelina J0lie they will have to be perfect.

(Maybe I will name my socks Angelina J0lies. They are beautiful, they are complicated, and Br@dPitt would want a piece if he met them.)

And in any case, I just really enjoyed knitting these socks. No second sock syndrome in the slightest. They went by so quickly, despite all the slow-downs of cabling and having to refer to the chart. I'm not normally this patient, but I think having that entire chart for the foot written out that you could tick off, row by row as you finished, kept me focused and paced so that I wasn't constantly badgering myself with Are we there yet? How much longer? Can we go now?

I'm really glad I picked to do these socks. Sock Pal definitely made things easy for me by specifying semisolid to solid colored yarns. Picking the right yarn out of a whole universe of lovely yarns would overload my processes, but when you can disregard the variegateds (ie the hardest ones to resist), the patterns to choose from for strictly solids become obvious. Twisted Flower was obvious. And not only did I have a great time knitting, I was able to do it in confidence, without worrying whether or not my Sock Pal will like them.

Unless of course she thinks Angelina J0lie is ugly.

The only problem I have is to not mail these off right now. I hope I don't misplace them in the moving shuffle!

Pattern: Meida's Socks from IK's Favorite Socks. Pattern by Nancy Bush.
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Poppy, just under one skein
Needles: US size 1

Phew. I got a pair of socks with barely a skein of Poppy at my disposal. I actually decreased the stitch count by 2 for each pattern repeat, resulting in a pair of very small socks. They're too small for me (you can't see in this photo, but when I wear these the heel of the sock is practically at the soles of my feet), but just right for a certain diminutive mother whose feet are the size of a pixie's. I sent these off in the beginning of the week, and she's already received them, just in time for Mother's Day.

E-mail from her this morning: You are something, the gift is so marvelous, can't believe you have so much patient!

Heh heh. So much patient.

And so much pink! Socks and spring are marvelous!

Dutch tulips from the garden

Flowering apple trees, Boston Public Garden

Pink blossom overload, Boston Public Garden

Meida's Socks, for Mom

In between a little bit of this and a little bit of that, I finished up another pair socks.

Pattern: Child's First Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Curious Yarns in Ocean, one skein. It came with Dottie. Thank you Hazel!
Needles: US1 dpns

These were originally intended for my BFF but halfway through the first sock I changed my mind, and now I'm giving these to my SIL. Baby blue is her favorite color (I think). These came out really tight but since the yarn has a 25% nylon component to it, I'm not too worried about it.

Just love this pattern. It knits up so quickly.

Lately I've been thinking that I really need to change the url for this knitblog. When I first set it up I wasn't exactly thinking long-term, so I simply created a subdirectory under this existing domain, which I have used as an online photo album since 2001, and named it Clog.

I rather regret that choice.

It's supposed to stand for "Cat log." Weblog by Cat. When I see that clog in the url, or type it in, that's what I say in my head, and it's what a picture. Me, Cat, writing a log. Mew mew mew! Type type type!

But unfortunately that's just me and I alone have access to my brain, so for you, when you see the word clog, your mind's eye is probably conjuring something less savory.

A very unhappy toilet, perhaps? A drainage system gone awry? Arteries?

Dutch windmills?

Or maybe I'm overthinking this.

I do want to set up a dedicated knitblog domain though, if only to keep my original photo album site completely separated from this knitting one. A handful of personal friends and family have found this blog when they were googling for the other and hi if you are one of those people for the love of God please don't tell me that you're reading this. A good friend recently told me while we were socializing pleasantly at another friend's wedding that he had found this blog on G00gle, and suddenly it got real hot and my dress ripped off and there I was sipping my cocktail in the nude.

I have no problems being read (judged) by total strangers but in no way can I handle being read (judged) by people I know. (Unless of course you also knit. Then it's totally OK.) I feel completely open and vulnerable. The way I portray myself in this virtual universe is in many many ways completely antithetical to the way I am in real life, so having them collude out in the open is just all kinds of wrong. It would be like seeing Jerrica and Jem in the same room! Clark Kent and Superman hanging out! It just can't happen!

I know this makes little sense if any, but that is how I must live my blogging life in order to function properly in this universe.

Anyway. I'm thinking of possible domain names, and the obvious one is of course domesticat.com. Unfortunately it's already taken (and worse, it's not even being used) .net is also taken, and I don't want .org.

What name to choose, what name to use...I'll have to think about it more.

The squirrels and the Chevron Scarves have come out to play.

Pattern: None really. Used a chevron stitch pattern, details here.
Yarn: 1 skein Sundara Yarn in Troubador and 1 skein Gems Pearl in Willow
Needles: US3

This is a fresh and skinny scarf, perfect for spring. It measures about 5 1/2 feet long. I could have kept going but decided it was long enough. I'll use the remaining yarn I have for sock toes and cuffs.

Both squirrel and scarf are courtesy of cynicthelamb, who just might have produced an award-winning praying mantis. Love him! I might need one of those too!

Dottie cozying up to her new friend.

Pattern: None, just a 54-stitch stockinette sock with gusset heel and wedge toe
Yarn: Yarntini self-striping in Pure Fall
Needles: US2 for the top half of the leg, US1 for the rest

I just rediscovered these shoes while cleaning out the closet. Oh my god do I have a lot of shoes. Anyway I bought these four years ago in a San Francisco boutique for 75% off. Ah the thrill of a good sale! But strangely I have not worn these as much as I should have. I mean how does one just forget that she owns awesome tomato-red pointy-toed shoes with cylinder heels like these?!

Especially ones that go so good with new stripey socks, no?

Pattern: Monkey socks
Yarn: Fleece Artist merino sock yarn in Autumn, one skein
Needles: Size 2 dpns

It is damn near impossible to decently photograph so much red, and in such dismal, rain-drizzled lighting it's that much trickier. I tried every setting on my camera but each time the reds came out super-saturated, so much that it obscured the pattten. At the same time the poor lighting muted the surrounding colors. Wacky combination! I ended up desaturating in Photoshop to subdue the reds.

This was a very fast knit, despite the fact that I haven't been knitting much in the last couple of weeks. I'll be honest, at first glance I wasn't really excited about this pattern, but it is very flattering knitted up and looks much prettier in person.

That Cookie. That mad genius of a Cookie. It is almost unholy the things she comes up with.

Some mods:
1) 2-stitch garter stitch gutter on either side of the heels.
I think I might start doing that with all my heels. It's pretty.

2) Very long toes.
Not intentional, until I decided to leave it the way it is. I tried a more rounded toe instead of the usual wedge toe by decreasing every 4th row for a couple of rows, then decreasing every 3rd row for a couple of rows, then every other row until there were 16 stitches total left. The result of that was a very long toe. The sock still fits just fine - it just looks a little goofy with the toe starting so early. But since my BFF is even less of a perfectionist than I am (right?), I'm OK with leaving the them the way they are. No sleep lost over that!

3) Cat-hair infused yarn.
Creates a lovely, soft halo around the socks.

A quick Soak and a dry, and off to NYC they go!

My last sock for this week, anyway.

Pattern: Child's First Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in poppy; just over 1 skein.
Needles: US1 dpns

I cannot believe how quickly these finished. 5 days of off-and-on knitting! I speak in the passive tense only because I hestitate to say that *I* finished these quickly. I mean did I? Or should credit be given to the Unseen Voodoo Sock Fairy living under my seat?

Do you see? Do you see the mirror-imaged shells? For the second sock I read the pattern chart from left to right, instead of right to left, and changed all left-leaning decreases to right-leaning decreases.

But what charts, you ask? Because there were no charts in the instructions. WHY that is I will never understand. I drew out the chart myself because trying to read them as text made my eyes go numb. I will never ever understand why people insist on writing out patterns in text when a simple chart is so much clearer and more efficient, and less prone to mistakes.

Like, why write out sl1, k1, psso - which at first glance appears to be 3 whole stitches to work - only to have a time lag as your brain realizes, Oh wait that's a decrease, when you can just have one lowly symbol to represent it? All that's needed to comprehend is a quick glance. No mental translation necessary!

ANYway, the socks are not for me. It turns out I wasn't done with my Christmas knitting afterall, even though I kind of sort of gloated that I had. I know! Christmas is now way over! But because I was traveling over Xmas with my family, I didn't get a chance to give out the presents to the inlaws, and I also ended up shuffling the original line-up by giving some stuff to my immediate family that was intended for the inlaws.

At the end of the day I had the Pomatomus anklets to give to my SIL...but the more I looked at them the more I disliked them. I knit these things back in the summer when anklets seemed like a good idea. But who wants to wear anklets in the middle of winter? What's the point? One of the best parts about wearing handknit socks is pulling them up over your legs. Mmmm...scrumptious, warm socks all over. I thought it was a waste of a good pattern and good yarn, and that it wasn't good enough to be gifted.

So I tossed those silly anklets out, and with a few weeks extra buffer I was able to start something new. I definitely feel good about gifting these.

OK no more knitting socks for awhile. I mean it.

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Koigu, 1 skein. I've lost the band so I don't know what colorway it is, but if I were to give it a name, I'd call it Mardi Gras.
Needles: Size1 dpns

These gloves were a quick and satisfying knit, taking up just a mere skein of yarn, with a couple of yards leftover. I did make these super small, casting on 52 stitches which yielded about 3.25 inches across the knuckles (when measured unworn). It fits great, and I'm going to put it to good use around the house when it really starts getting chilly inside.

So I kind of made these up as I went along, but the pattern is pretty vanilla and are the simplest things ever. First I knit 3.5 inches of 2x2 ribbing for the wrist (including a little cuff in a dash of leftover yarn from these socks), then began increasing stitches at the start of the round for the thumb gusset, knitting that and the rest of the hand in simple stockinette stitch.

Then I knit the fingers like so...

Left: After completing the thumb gusset, I place its stitches on scrap yarn, cast on a couple more stitches, then join the round for the rest of the hand, thereby closing the circle for the thumb. I continue knitting the hand until it reaches the base of my index finger.

Middle: After the hand is complete, I place the stitches on scrap yarn to make it easier to work with. Knitting fingers with dpns is fiddly enough without having other needles on the hand poking at you. I place stitches for the index finger on two needles, about equal numbers (I did 7) from the front and back part of the hand, and knit to desired length. (For each finger I rearrange the stitches and knit with 3 needles for more flexibility). As I'm knitting the first round, I cast on 2 stitches in the "crotch" of this finger and the next (in this case, the yet-to-be-made middle finger).

Right: After finishing the finger, I cast off loosely and cut the yarn, leaving a few inches to weave in with later. I begin the next (middle finger here) by picking up the two stitches I had cast on for the index finger, and then picking up from the scrap yarn 7 stitches for the front, and doing the same for the back. As I'm knitting the first round, I cast 2 stitches again in the crotch as I did for the index finger. These stitches will be picked up when knitting the ring finger. You won't be casting on these crotch stitches for the pinky, as it's the last finger. Picking up stitches this way closes up the holes between fingers quite nicely.

When I go back to finish knitting the thumb, I also pick up the couple stitches I had casted on when I finished the thumb gusset. All fingers are knit to desired length; just keep trying them on as you go along!

After receiving emails asking which pattern I used, I poked around the web for a concrete example to offer and I found these Cigar gloves on Knitty.com. Construction-wise I knitted these gloves - and the Mermaid Gloves - very similarly.

Oh Bunny, why do you always come out looking so possessed in photographs?

Dude. I love Koigu. Which is why it hurts me so bad to see that their website looks nothing like their yarns. Hurts my eyes, hurts my teeth, and hurts whatever marketing sensibilities I have. I'm no branding guru, but everyone can see that they can do better. Oh that splash page! That craggly 3D logo! How my heart bleeds! I have half a mind to cold call them and ask if they would consider having their website redesigned. And offer my services for free yarn. Just a few skeins of KPM is all I need. But cripes, it's so in dire need of an overhaul that I'd be just as willing to pay them to do it!

Behold. My Christmas knitting, actually completely and totally finished before Christmas! It's a Christmas miracle!

From top: Pomatomus anklets in Koigu
Jaywalkers in Yarntini
Red Sox in Baby Cashmerino
Cable Twist Socks in Socks That Rock

Since the Cable Twist Socks have not been given their official debut, here they are.

Then there's this, Ms. Clapotis, finished months ago...

No idea how to wear this, so hopefully my mother-in-law can figure it out! And wear it!

And I'm gifting the Mermaid Gloves as well.

Along with some other non-knitterly items, I am on time, on schedule, and 100% done with Christmas shopping. And I didn't step foot in a mall once! Let's dance! Or take more pictures!

Cleeeck!

From this post forward (actually from yesterday's post forward), all photos on this site shall be courtesy of my very advanced, rather heavy but TOTALLY AWESOME new camera and lens. Thanks - or no thanks! I'm broke! - to Kathy for getting this ball rolling. And many many thanks to brooklyn tweed for answering all my incessant emails with great info and advise. I've wanted a dSLR forever and ever but not too long ago they were for people who were either very rich or who were actual photographers. I wasn't any of those things, I'm still neither of those things. However technology keeps getting cheaper - and better - by the minute. And one of the funny side effects of knit blogging is the desire to not only become a better knitter, or even a better writer, but a better photographer as well. I don't know what's in store for 2007, perhaps not better knitting or better writing, but by Jove there will be better photos!

There will be!

Pattern: My own, inspired by Steph's Mermaid Gloves which were inspiried by Cookie'sPomatomus stitch pattern. For one of the gloves I flipped Chart A in order to get mirror-imaged scallops.
Yarn: Koigu KPM, 2 skein, and Sundara Yarn in Plum over Slate for the cuff.
Needles: US1 dpns

Couldn't be more pleased with these gloves. Well, maybe if they were in a different color, like the lovely bluish variety that Steph used. Those Koigu semi-solids are hard to come by. But no matter, I'm so glad I attempted them because they are just divine. And so easy to make! Really!

Pattern: "Zephyr" socks, my own pattern HEE HEE!
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill supersock in Emerald City, one skein. Love love LOVE this yarn.
Needles: US2 dpns

I started these right before we hit the road, wound the yarn myself into an apple-shaped center-pull ball. The colors in this yarn are so gorgeous I could bite into it.

And then I had 2,500 miles to knit and complete a pair of socks.

I love the stitch pattern, it swirls and sways, churns one way and then the other like a wave, a breeze. I found the stitch pattern in one of my Japanese stitch dictionaries, but modified it a little bit. It's fast, fun and easy to remember, a great and productive way to pass the endless hours in a car.

There are some modifications to be made I think, one to the toe (don't decrease down so much), and one to the length, and maybe gauge. This stitch pulls both in horizontally and vertically, which annoys me a little because I don't want to be pulling up my socks so much. I can either go down a needle size, but I think increasing the length of the leg will do the trick, so it will hug the calf. Or maybe an elastic band would help.

The pattern fits perfectly around the feet though.

Pattern to come when I have enough time to write up something properly. If anyone's interested that is. I'm just so pleased to have constructed my very own pair of socks, hee.

Update: Thank you for all of your A++ comments! shuffle shuffle blush blush. I'm super swamped with work at the moment, so hopefully I'll have a pattern written up by next week. Or as soon as I can find my notes.

Last night:

A bottomless glass of wine, MI-5 and Matthew Macfayden on the tele, and good progress on your second plummy Ripple Weave sock. That's what is called a Perfect Evening. Although, it is a bit of a mental challenge to keep up with the complicated plot, the complicated pattern, while just barely maintaining sobriety. So if you try this at home, proceed with caution!

I wish I had a British accent. I wish I were a spy.

This morning:

Pattern: Ripple Weave Socks from Vogue Knitting Fall 2006
Yarn: Sundara Somewhat Solid sock yarn in "Plum Over Slate", one 350 yd skein with yardage leftover
Needles: US1 dpns

Love the socks, love the yarn. I am all over this twisted ribbing stuff. Are there any more out there, aside from Pomatomus? Maybe I'll sit down one of these days and come up with a twisted rib pattern of my own. Maybe. Til then, I have to think very hard if I will give these away and to whom. Sigh. No one is worthy. No one.

Mods: I did 2.5 chart repeats for the leg. It turns out 350 yds is plenty to have done 3 full repeats. (I have enough leftover which I'll use for cuffs and heels on variegated socks in the future.) I reduced the length of the heel a little bit and therefore picked up fewer - 15 - stitches for the gusset. It was kind of loose on the first RW sock I made. This pair now fits perfectly. On me. So I guess I'll have to keep it.

Pattern: Boston Red Socks aka Madder Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks
Yarn: Cashmerino Baby in red; brandless merino yarn in cream
Needles: US2 dpns

If I had waited to resume these socks once the Red Sox went on a winning streak, they would never have been completed. Despite the fact the team has fallen apart, we still have a winner in the Red Socks! I modified the pattern by casting on 48 instead of 60 stitches. The fit is perfect, the toes are pointy, and the horseshoe heel is cushiony.

***

SO. Thank you all for participating in the contest! I enjoyed discovering new blogs, and seeing what cities you had to guess. Some of them I definitely considered, particularly Santa Barbara, CA, as well as Savannah and Charleston. We've been to both Savannah and Charleston on short visits, so perhaps someday we can make it a little longer.

I decided to have a grand prize winner and 2nd, 3rd, 4th place winners and send off all the yarn. Why be stingy? The sun is out, the air is clean, and tomorrow we're headed off to...(drum rooooolllllll)....

SANTA FE!

Capital of the state of New Mexico, and second oldest city in the United States (who knew! I didn't). Sunny 300 days out of the year, hot in summer, snow in winter, 7000 feet above sea level, for a capital city it has only a municipal airport, cluttered with lots of art galleries and best of all, GREAT FOOD. How many different ways can you have green or red chili? I'm about to find out!

I'm sorry if this contest was too United States-centric, but I did receive a few entries from out of town, like ESTONIA, who were able to guess correctly. I mean up here in what, the "liberal", "Ivy-League educated"Northeast we had friends and family who had no idea where Santa Fe was.

California? Texas? Mexico?

My favorite response was from a certain someone who said: "Oh wow Santa Fe, that sounds great! So you aren't worried about the hurricanes?"

Um. No?

This was how I picked the winners. Names of those who commented or emailed with the correct city was written on a small piece of paper. There were lots of paper, you guys are so smart. With Bunny Bunnitons presiding, all pieces were gathered in a small box, shaken, and then thrown into the air. Whichever Bunny swiped at first would be considered "picked."

The only flaw in this method was the assumption that the cat would give a shit about flying pieces of paper enough to participate. Alas he was not quite so hands-on as I hoped he would be.

Whatever, looking instead of swiping was good enough. I have the four winners!

I'll let you know who they are once I get a response from them. (Most of them happen to be blogless!)

We're just about packed and ready to go. One last thing to do will be to take the boys to their favorite aunt's house in the next town over. I will miss them, but there's no way we could take them. The ten minute drive to Auntie's house is just short enough not to kill them. They're going to be in good good hands.

Thanks again for participating, and see ya'll in Santa Fe!

Pattern: Duh
Yarn: "Three Rivers" by Yarntini, sport weight
Needles: US3 dpns

These socks are for wife of brother-in-law, who made it a point to tell me the last time I saw her that she is a "big fan of socks" and that she "always wears socks, even in summer." Well, maybe she didn't make it a point to tell me, but I flattered myself into thinking so, so that I would have a good excuse to buy more sock yarn to knit another pair.

I modified the pattern so there were 13 stitches on each of the 4 needles = 52 sts total. I probably could have done 15 stitches per needles as these socks fit me pretty well, but they're destined for feet much bigger than mine...I'm counting on them to stretch to fit.

After knitting many pairs of socks toe-up/short row heel, I finally thought I'd give the ole cuffdown/heel flap number a revisit. And you know, knitting the heel flaps/short row/gusset takes three times as long, and three times more yarn, as it does to just do a short row heel, but guess what, I think I DO like the construction of heel flaps better.

The yarn is great, soft and perfectly stripey. I've never finished a pair of socks so quickly - thank you sport-weight yarn!

...But now instead of feeling satisfied and fulfilled from the instant gratification, I feel empty and lost. What do I knit next, yet another pair of socks? I squint and look into the knitting horizon and see...nothing. Nothing! I need a break from socks, but I don't want to finish Rose of England, I don't want to restart my mom's sweater, I don't want to finish Cate (remember her? No? Me neither), don't want to do nothin.

I'll feel better if these socks are grumperina's 400th finished Jaywalkers, heh.

I feel a sudden attack of the Knitting Slumps.

I just want to go swimming.

Pattern: Pomatomus, modified for anklets
Yarn: Koigu KPM, Dye code P823, one skein, plus just a tiny few yards of a second. So close to keeping it at just one!
Needles: US2 dpns

Shake your love. I just can't shake your love. Shake your love. I just can't shake. Your love.

I tried several times to knit something other than Pomatomus. Started various sock patterns, experimented with different stitches, only to rip them out and return to Poma. Why mess around when you've got something that works? Poma's beautiful shells flatter any yarn, and pair that with perfect levels of ribbiness and you've got socks the whole family can enjoy.

But WHO in the family will be receiving this? That is to be determined... 

Again I knit this toe-up with the Sherman short row method. Same approach as for this pair, except this time I knit on US2 instead of 1. 

I didn't like how the holes looked at the edge of the instep, so this time I replaced all the beginning YO's in Chart B with a ktfb (for the first YO on the first row I did a M1).

After working the toe, I did two repeats of Chart B, knit the heel, then did half a repeat of Chart A (rows 1-12 only), then knit 3 rows of 1x1 ribbing, then did the knit1-purl1 cast off with a tapestry needle.

So fast, so satisfying! I've knit Pomatomus so many times now that I can finally spell it correctly the first time around without having to look it up!

Thanks so much for the advice on how to neatly join a round. I will try this out later when I cast on for Jaywalkers. YAY!

Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me.

Pattern: Pomatomus
Yarn: Koigu semi-solid in colorway I don't know, 2 skeins
Needles: Size 1

Maybe you are sick of seeing another pair of Pomatomii. I dong care. I love Pomatomus. It makes such lovely scallops.

Also, I am drunk.

Why am I drunk? Because I am sad. I am compensating. I am supposed to be drunk in a lakehouse next to GOOSE POND in New Hampshire right now with my bestest friend from high school, before she leaves for Mozambique for years and years. But the stars were aligned against me today. I got up early this morning to finish up work, got a backpack ready, cut a bouquet-full of mint from the backyard for mojitos by the lake, got the car packed up, made sure I plugged the satellite radio correctly to all the orifices so I could listen to Howard on the way, blah blah blah, ready to go at 3pm. And then realized, Where is my wallet? Where is it? I can't find it. Wallet where are you?

I turn the house inside out all the while knowing I most likely left it on the train yesterday on my way back from jury duty. I hate you jury duty, civic privilege be damned. Let me tell you, I have actually been selected as a juror once and your right to a fair trial was totally dismantled by one that was SO uninteresting, with the lawyers SO bumbling and ineloquent, none of us had ANY idea what was going on. We never made it to deliberations (defendant ended up plea-bargaining, as he had incriminated himself during examination. Not that any of us had noticed), but if we had, oh god. Does a fair trial involve vacant blinking and blank stares and silence? I don't think so.

Luckily yesterday we were all dismissed, after hours and hours and hours of waiting around to die.

Pomatomus against Japanese paper.
Maybe that's why I like this pattern so much.
It reminds me these stylized clouds.

On the other hand I got to finish Pomatomus. Jury duty is good for knitting at least, if not for a fair trial. This chick sitting next to me, though, did not have knitting, nor a book, nor nary a hangnail to pick at. She just stared straight ahead the whole time, and let me tell you it drove. me. crazy. I don't know how many times I took a quick peek to my left see if she was doing anything to keep herself occupied, but her glassy eyes stared straight ahread. For five. Miserable. Hours. Shoot me!

After I ransacked the house for my wallet and called all credit card companies to make sure there were no funky charges in the last 24 hours, I finally went to North Station's lost and found to see if they had my wallet. And they did! YAY!

But it was locked up and the guy who had the only key was gone for the week. SUCK! No one else has the key? No one?

The guy behind the counter was very nice but totally unhelpful. "I don't agree with the policy, if it were up to me I'd give you your wallet right now, but he's a union man....a union man...a union man..."

He must have said this 5 times as if I would nod in sympathetic agreement, but I have no idea what signifance a union guy would have over being able to turn a key or not. I want my wallet now damnit! My license is in there! I have to make it to New Hampshire!

I walked out of the train station empty handed, and stopped at the usual liquor store for some rum, for my sad, uncelebratory mojito. I was frazzled and in need of a tall minty drink. But of course it was not to be! Of course this was the one day of all days I get carded!

I walked out of the liquor store empty handed. Had to get Duck to pilfer some alcohol for me, like some common tenth-grader.

Stars. And planets. All misaligned.

So Goose Pond in NH was a bust. I was/am sooo disappointed. There were to be loons (i love loons) and owls (i love owls) and grilling and drinking and a lake and stars. And my BFF.

I dig the tubular bind-off.
But not the nasty chicken skin legs.

But I have another pair of Pomatomus. I love these puppies. I knit them toeup.

Here are the details:
1) I provisionally casted on 30 stitches for the toe.
2) I short-rowed down to 10 stitches, then back up to 30.
3) After picking up the stitches from the provisional cast-on, I have 30 stitches for the sole, and 30 stitches for the instep.
4) I start knitting in the round, increasing one stitch at each end for the sole until I have 32 stitches, and one stitch at each end for the instep, every other row, until I have 36 stitches. So sole = 32 sts, instep = 36 sts.
5) I start Chart B on the instep for 2 full chart repeats.
6) Then I start the short-row heel on the sole, going down to 12 stitches, and then back up to 32. (2 chart repeats plus short row worked nice and snug for my size 6 US feet)
7) As I'm working the last row of the heel, I pick up 4 more stitches on the sole to get 36 stitches, and rearrange the stitches so to get 24 stitches on 3 needles. Then I start Chart A and work that for 3 pattern repeats.
8) I do 20 rows of ribbing for the cuff, and do a tubular (knit one, purl one) bind-off.

I'm wearing these now. They are comfy and snug and covered with cat hair already.

Pattern: Pomatomus sock from knitty.com
Yarn: Merino wool I bought on ebay
Needles: Size 0 dpns

I consider this pair a practice pair. After declaring I would never knit socks again due to bad first sock experience, I couldn't help myself and thought I'd try these. The first sock I knit per instructions - top-down, gusset heel, wedge toe, grafted toes. 

The second sock I did toe-up, with a short row toe, short row heel, and tubular bindoff. Except for the scallop pattern, they're really two entirely different socks. But it's all good - I have mirrored scallops!

Different heels, same fit

I love this pattern. I have one more pair to complete, done toe-up, and this one will definitely be matching. After this I'm thinking I might go back to the top-down, gusset heel flap method. Fitwise I can feel no differences between a gusset and short row heel. They're both comfortable. I was only sold on the short row for awhile there because it's just so easy. But the gusset is pretty...and it's nice to change things up a bit.

Pretty tubular

One method I'm definitely sold on is the tubular bind-off (Vogue Knitting as reference). Nice and elastic and really neat-looking too, especially with the 1x1 ribbing. I'll have to learn how to do the tubular cast-on next.

Folds in half lengthwise, then in thirds widthwise.
Four 4-inch wide pockets, and four 2-inch wide pockets.
100% cotton fabrics and ribbons on sale at Hancock.
Total price: $3, maybe? Awesome.

Behind the Scenes: Mom prototyping on a piece of newspaper. Everyone wants to help.

Spring Anklets
Yarn: Sundara Yarn in Fern, one hank at 185yds with several yards left over.
Size/Needles: 30 stitches instep, 26 stitches sole = 56 stitches on US2

Here before you are my own Spring Anklets, using Sherman Heel and a leaf pattern from my Japanese pattern book. Leaf pattern is obscured by the variegated color which I knew would happen but decided to do it anyway. I had started off using a mini-cable pattern that looks like the stitch from My So-Called Scarf I've seen floating around the internet. It was really flattering with the variegated yarn. The way one stitch stretches and crosses over another made the individual colors pop, but it was a total pain to execute. I think I'm going to try it again though on my next pair, because I'm still rather 'eh' about the way variegated yarns knit up straight.

The yarn was scrumptious though. Colors were shiny and intense and the wool so soft.

I will also take care to really decrease for the ankle area. It's a bit roomy, even though I went down a needles size and did a 2x2 rib. If I decreased the number of stitches as much as 20% it would be nice and tight.

Check out the pretty Sherman toe and heel. No holes!

There was more than enough yarn in the one skein to make a pair of anklets. The colors of the greens in the yarn are the same shade of those of the spring blooms popping up, hence the name. Fresh, vibrant and new.

Today is my and Duck's happy 4th anniversary! As usual we have nothing planned. So romantic!

Pattern: Natasha Cabled Pullover from Adrienne Vittadini Fall 2003, size xs
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa 501, 7 balls
Needles: US5 in rib, US6 rest of body, approx 26 st/4in in cable, stretched

I finished the Toad last week. The photo of this sweater in the book misleads. The collar doesn't flap wide open, nearly off the shoulders like mine does. Dirty, rotten photo. I see why they have the sleeves pushed up. It shifts the weight upward so that minimizes any pull downward on the neck. I am constantly adjusting the sleeves, tugging the bottom down, pulling at the collar to get this thing to stay on right.

The wide-collared shirt makes yet another appearance underneath this sweater to keep skin exposure at a minimum. The distibution of weight on this sweater is all wrong. The problem I think has to do with the construction of the raglan sleeves. The stitches that make up the neck is distributed rather lopsidedly. Or, too little raglan decreases on the body, and too much raglan decreases on the sleeves. There were only 4 stitches on each sleeve that contributed to the final collar. As a result, the neck is more boatneck, but with that v-neck opening, the ends of the v-neck is pulled open by its own weight and folds over like a lapel. Does that make any sense?

The accidental lapels don't look TOO bad actually. At first I was like UGH! WTF! but then I thought, OK I can live with this. It looks a little interesting when the collar folds over slightly. I just hate having to readjust. If I don't tug at the sleeves the "lapels" will just keep opening up, until the thing is nearly off the shoulders.

Naughty, naughty toad.

The color isn't usually my style but I like it. And the cables are yummy. I went down 2 needle sizes, from 8 to 6, on the body and sleeves. It worked nicely for the body, but the sleeves were really tight. Maybe that's not such a horrible thing as it really shows off the cables.

I guess I'm happy with this. Not absolutely positively can't-sleep-at-nights THRILLED, but happy enough to wear it.

A wiggly cabled toad and a wiggly orange cat

Pardon the weak lighting. We're expecting a snowstorm any minute.

Pattern: Electra from Rowan #38, in xsmall
Yarns: Gold - Kathmandu DK; Maroon - Grignasco Tango; Cream - Kathmandu DK and Kidsilk Haze held together; Purple - Debbie Bliss Merino DK
Needle: US 5 for the bottom ribbing, US 6 for the body, US 3 for neck and armhole ribbing

First FO of 2006, ow! It is a little upsetting that I open the new year with an homage to Ronald McDonald, but, snakes on a plane.* The color combination looked more palatable in the yarn store, and now I can't help but think I look like a Chinese member of the Partridge family, or a big tub of nachos, when I wear this.

And yet, I still kind of like it. It works better with a crisp shirt underneath, one that has slightly exaggerated cuffs and collar.

The collar is key. Do not try this at home with a white collarless, long sleeved shirt for example, innocent as a white collarless shirt may be. I happened to be wearing such a shirt when I weaved in the last strand of Electra. I immediately tossed on the vest and showed it off to Duck without first consulting a mirror. It took him exactly half a second too long to answer my "What do you think?" before he said, "It's nice!" And even then there was a slight pause between the "it's" and the "nice."

Trust me, I've asked the poor guy enough What do you think's to know when he really means it's nice or not. In this case, he and not the vest was being nice.

A quick change to a crisp white collared shirt saved the day. If I were to do this again - and I just might! Fairisle is FUN! - I'd go with my initial color choices of foresty greens, blues, and browns, and throw in a dash of pink.

No significant project notes. Just the usual of going down a needle size for a smaller fit. I did not do this in the round. I tried to carry the yarn up the sides whenever I could. This was my first fairisle project, done to break up the same ole knitting monotony, and fairisle definitely kept things interesting.

I love vests. I need to make more.

Thank you everyone who commented in the last post. It's fun to see who's reading, and to find new blogs. More more more!

*Another way of saying "c'est la vie." According to this post anyway.

I hope everyone had a fine holiday or is continuing to have a fine holiday. The catch phrase this season seems to be Happy Chriskwanzukah, which would kind of cute if it didn't give those who keep saying it so much trouble saying it. They're like, "Happy Chris -- wait. Happy Kwanzachris -- wait that's not right. Happy Chrishanuk-- "

I'm on a Shining Star hat hiatus. Five total were made, including a pretty ok that bi-colored version. I gave it to my sister-in-law. There's a weird nub at the top, but I found it was like that in all of my hats more or less, just more pronounced in this one.

Unlike last time I didn't doublestrand, and I made the star blue and the rest of it white. I ended up doing fairisle but twisted the different colored yarns around each other when I had to carry a color more than 3 stitches. It looks cool but damn it was a pain.

The Ugg booties were for my nephew. He's still too small to wear it and who knows if these things are even wearable in the first place. They're cute to look at though, and super fast to make.

Ah I'm happy to be done with the Christmas knitting. Or, I'm happy to be knitting for me and me alone. Me always appreciates what me makes.

We made a stop at WEBS after Christmas day so I could redeem my gift certificate, and it was a raving mad house. I immediately wanted to leave, yarn sale or not. They were having their blowout sale, and there were 3 lines snaking to the back of the store of people and their huge bins of yarn.

I only got a couple of things. I'll do a show and tell later.

Til then I reset my attentions back to Electra - she's nearly finished. Then I'll have to decide whether I want to continue with Kooch or move onto Something Else. Right now a whole lot of Something Elses are calling to me...

Pattern: Shining Star hat by Kate Gilbert, size Baby (looks a little big?)
Yarn: Cashmerino Aran
Needles: US7 dpn's

The accent trim was not intentional. I ran out of the blue, but being that this is a stash busting exercise as much as it is a Christmas gifting one, I used some leftover cashmerino in cream for the remainder. I'm so cheap! And why are the colors between those two photos so different, grrr?

Next up is to bust the stash from the Bolero Aubergine.

Ooo la, wiggly Starfish Aubergine!

One down, 492858 to go!

Pattern: Aimee from Rowan Vintage Style, smallest size
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Liquer, 4 skeins. ALL of it.
Needles: US size 5 and size 6

I like, I like. By the way, that photo on the right, where I look like I've just slipped a disk, is actually me doing The ParisHiltonShouldersBackChestOut pose, aka The PHSBCO. Do the PHSBCO and increase your perceived confidence by 150%.

I wore this yesterday to Nephew B's christening out in western Mass., and despite the lace - and the unexpected snow -  it kept me nice and warm in the drafty church we were in. 

I didn't make too many changes to the pattern except to go down a needle size.  It seems to have affected row gauge enough that I have two full extra stripe/lace patterns than the photo in the magazine. My Aimee is very stripey.  Also, there is that hem and opening at the front for a ribbon to thread through, but alas, no ribbon. I just may leave it that way.

I used backstitch for the first time to attach the shoulder seams. I should have ignored the call for sloped shoulder shaping, and then left the shoulder stitches live to do a 3-needle bind off. It would have been so much easier to deal with. Also, though I followed the pattern, the sleeve cap shaping wasn't exactly great. There was too much extra material from the top to the first stripe that you would have had puffy princessy sleeve cap, so I removed several rows from the top. I could have removed even more, but luckily we're dealing with extra fine KSH so the bunchiness isn't too noticeable.

You know what else isn't noticeable? That SNAG I made a couple days ago on the front. I can't find it, so it's not there. Woooooo.

I used every single last bit of the four skeins of KSH. All that's left after weaving in are the scraps cut from the loose ends. That was close.

Pattern: Bolero from Simply Soft by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Cashmerino Aran, 7 skeins + another couple yards
Gauge: 18 sts/4in on US8/5mm

Well, it's done, and it's...aight. I think I obsessed over this pattern for too long before buying it, like it was The Knit of the Century, and of course it's just a little bolero. I like it, I do. Just not head over heels for it, like I thought I'd be.

The Cashmerino, such a soft, beautiful yarn, seems sort of a waste on something like this. I know it's a bolero so it's not supposed to cover you completely, but when I was wearing this I kept pulling the front together to get more cozy cashmerino goodness around me, and I thought, why didn't I just make something with more cashmerino coverage? Something like a cabled cardigan or turtleneck, something snug and squishy, something like the toddler seed stitch and cable jacket, but longer?

Blah blah blah. Blah. Blah. I'm just down on Debbie Bliss patterns. As you are aware by now I'm sure. It's No More Bliss After Thiss!

I think it looks better "buttoned" at the front. See? Too bad it will never be buttoned. I do have a single eye and hook fastener I might try. Or I just might try to be happy with it as is and leave it alone.

Only thing of note on this project: I used Aran instead of Chunky weight yarn. I did no adjusting of the pattern to account for this, except to add a couple extra rows in the armhole shaping. This sizing still came out fine. And I used JUST over 7 skeins. The original pattern called for 11 of chunky. Look at me, I'm so economically sized.

The color is nice though, no? I call it aubergine. That's fancy talk for "eggplant" by the way. In fact the paint color of our dining room wall is aubergine profonde. That's fancy talk for "super PROFOUND eggplant."

Thank you Duck for all those super profound angle shots.

Pattern: Butterfly from Rowan 37, using 1 1/2 (or even less?) skeins of Kidsilk Haze in Pearl
Gauge: approx 18 sts = 4in on US6 needles

I have learned a few things from knitting this piece. First, Kidsilk Haze kicks ass. Second, Kidsilk Haze quickly annihilates your posture and the majority of your remaining eyesight. I worked this really slowly to avoid mistakes and having to frog. As we all know, there is just no frogging KSH. I would rather eat my own face than have to frog KSH. While working slowly and evenly, every muscle in my neck and shoulder region concentrated to keep my arms stable and not at all loose, so now I pretty much feel like I spent a 3 weeks lifting weights with my head instead of sitting on my butt. Thanks for the workout, KSH.

Actually, after I got through the first hem successfully and into the body, it was very quick and suprisingly easy. I had no problems with the instructions as a whole, and the pattern was easy to memorize. Usually when I work with lace patterns I inevitably make mistakes: a missed yarn-over here, a forgotten ssk there, that I would have to frog several rows to correct. Not this time though, for whatever reason. Butterfly just fluttered happily along. And THANK GOD. It was just very lucky, like we were meant to be Best Friends Forever.

Some notes:

• I went down from US8 to US6 needle size. Size 8 was just too big. The yarn-overs made hoops large enough for my cat to jump through, and the needles were just too thick for me to handle. I couldn't get it underneath any stitch.
  
• US7 was still too gaping and clumsy for me, so I went down to 6.
  
• I knitted the smallest size. Using size 6 in the smallest turned out to be a good decision. KSH stretches and stretches. The resulting bust size using US6 needles was still 32", with room to grow.
  
• The number of motif repeats for each hem was 11.
  
• I knitted Butterfly flat. In order to make seaming easier, I knitted two edge stitches on either side. This means if the row started with a YO on the first or second stitch, or ended with a YO on the last and second-to-last stitch, I ignored it and just knitted it regularly.
  
• At the same time, I made sure that I didn't start the pattern unless I was able to partner a YO with its corresponding decrease, and vice-versa. I kept knitting until I was able to start the pattern again "in full" - an increase with its decrease, a double increase with its double decrease, etc. This keeps the stitch count consistent, and I don't have to worry about compensating for an extra stitch on the next row.
  
• I replaced all "ktbl" with "ssk". Trying to force the dull needle point through two back loops was nearly impossible for me. ssk gets the job done.
  
• The instructions tell you to bind off at the neck edges completely, and then pick up 3 stitches for the straps. In lieu of binding off completely, I left 3 stitches live after shaping the neck on either side, and just knitted the straps from there. I made them qiute short. When satisfied with the length, I grafted it (shudder) to the live stitches on the other side.
  
• Speaking of grafting, let's not speak of it. Let's never speak of it. Well, we might have to. I seamed the sides using mattress stitch. Not a terrible process, considering the yarn. Backstitch might have been more appropriate but that would have required me to learn a new technique and there's no room in this old brain for that right now. So I seamed from the armhole down until I got to the hem...and that's when the grafting came in.
  
• To anyone who has knit Butterfly, can you tell me what those 4 rows of Stockinette stitch on either side of the hem, in the waste yarn, was all about? Like was there a good reason why you couldn't just knit one row in waste yarn? Or why you couldn't just forget about the waste yarn altogether and cast on with KSH directly? And then mattress stitch the two hems instead of grafting them? Shudder.
  
• For the picot edging around the neck and arms, I crocheted them rather than knit them. Because again, I didn't want to learn how to knit picot, especially when rounding 3rd base on the way to home plate. I'm nearly done and you want me to learn a new technique now? No thanks.
  
• I forgot about the beads. Didn't even occur to me, I was hung up on just surviving knitting with KSH. AND I HAVE!! So next time, beads all around.
  
• I think I might have 75% of the second skein left over!!

Updated: Oops! Just as I was dismounting from my high horse, saying that I hadn't made a mistake while knitting Butterfly, I just realized I had omitted the several rows of garter stitch along the neckline. You're supposed to work 3 rows before the picot. Does my version look less finished without the rows? Hmm...

I still have to find a better camisole to wear underneath this thing, but all in all, I am VERY HAPPY with Butterfly. Not only is it a fun knit, it is a fun and sexy ROWAN knit that cost under $20 to make. Rowan? Sexy and credit card-friendly? Can it be? 

Hee hee.

Pattern: Cable and Seed Stitch Jacket from The Baby Knits Book by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (how I love this yarn), 6 skeins for size 12-18 months
Gauge: 18 sts/10cm on US8

This jacket took a lot longer than I had anticipated, mostly due to finishing details like the collar, sewing in the pockets, finding the perfect buttons, sewing the buttons on. The end result though is a super adorable, super cozy, and super plush little jacket that I hope his mommy will like. Damnit, let me be frank here: I better see the kid wear this jacket every Thanksgiving and Christmas for the next 2 years.

I know pockets might go unappreciated by a toddler, but I think the jacket wouldn't be quite right without them. They are so cute. I'm hoping Baby will fill his little pockets with pebbles, or sticks, or whatever interesting knick-knacks he finds. Frogs included.

This was the first time I made pockets, and a collar, and the first time I knit sleeves from the top down. Since there's no armhole shaping nor sleeve cap shaping, I figured it would be easy to just pick up stitches for the sleeves at the arms, and work down. I just reversed the directions for the sleeves, and it saved me tons of time in the seaming that I didn't have to do.

Shut up.

Well isn't this sad. I couldn't resist trying it on myself. Imagine the delight/horror to find that this jacket for a 12 month-old kind of fits across the back and front of a scrawny 29 year-old (baby things are ROOMY, aight??), and doesn't look all that strange cropped. Hello bolero with uh...one-third sleeves! If Baby doesn't like this jacket, shit give it back to me and I'll wear it.

Ce-ce-Celia!

Pattern: Diagonal Stitch Top from Adrienne Vittadini Spring 2005
Yarn: Rowan Linen Drape, 4 balls
Gauge: approx 20 sts = 4in on US5 needles

I wore this to work today paired with white capri pants and ballet flats, feeling a little like Audrey Hepburn if Audrey Hepburn would be the type of gal to ever be caught with unbelievable shine (or grease, however you choose to put it), or a hairdo that's impersonating a dog playing dead. It was that hot today. You walk out and it feels like you someone slapped your face with a warm wet towel, and then tried to muzzle you with it. Am I back home in Atlanta? Did someone set fire to it again?

But really I'm not complaining. Ever since winter squashed spring into a no-show, I've been loving the heat. BRING IT ON.

I'd like to thank Carolyn again for the generous gift of Linen Drape. I think it made a fabulous yarn substitition for Celia which orginally calls for silk. I made other modifications too, sizing being one. Also because I cast on less stitches than the smallest size, I sort of just willy nilly decided how many decreases/increases I wanted for waist shaping. I did only one set for the waist. For the neck shaping, I followed the pattern but left out just a few decreases so that the overall circumference of the neckhole would be consistent with the smallest size. I'm small everywhere EXCEPT my head, which is the size of a dirigible, so no sizing modifications can be made there.

I must lament on one thing though: I SUCK AT NECKSHAPING. I don't know what happened but the front neck is just, yuck. A little more Jaggedy Cliffs and a lot less Gentle Green Slope. I've always suspected from past pieces that my neck shaping was yuck. Now I know beyond a reasonable doubt it is yuck. Binding off in a middle of a row = yuck. I haven't been able to learn from past yucks. Even with a row of single crochet finishing didn't hide the fact that it is so yuck. Yuck.

I usually like my PORTRAITS taken in natural light, because flash is so yuck, but the flash really made the eyelets pop, so I went with it.

What else, what else. That's it. I really like this piece and would definitely do it again. But not anytime soon because I am putting a stopper on projects for me. From now one, it's baby all the time, all the way.

Change of topic: You know what really made me smile today? The commute into work. Why? Were the trains actually on time, air conditioned, and not at all crowded? No. Was every other commuter carrying and reading the latest Harry Potter book? Yes. Dude, it was SO CUTE to see men, full-grown adult men, balding men, men in suits, men with a Blackberry clipped to their belts, sitting on the train with their briefcases on their laps and their noses buried in that book. It totally made my day.

Pattern: Ballet Top from Loop-d-Loop
Yarn: Blue Sky Organic Cotton in sand, 3 skeins (used less than half of the 3rd)
Gauge: 10 sts = 4 in on US15/10mm needles (owww)

I wore this to work yesterday. After an entire day dealing with the forces of gravity, weight, and general movement, the back scoop of the ballet top had crept like, halfway down my back. This thing stretches like mad, however I'm thinking it's doing it mostly under its own weight. That cotton double stranded is rather heavy. Hopefully a throw in the wash will normalize it, but I'm wondering what a wash will to do this here Blue Sky cotton. It's so soft and really cottony, fibrous cottony like a cotton ball (duh), will a spin in the wash turn it into a mangled fluff? It was pilling before my eyes while I was wearing it.

Onto the technicalities. Knitting with size 15 needles is murder, but then you get a finished piece in a day, wow! So I didn't do this in the round, next time though I will try. It'll go by even more quickly. Let's see, I also only increased after the waist twice instead of 5 times because as you know I fear loose garments like the plague. It still came out slightly bigger than I would prefer but what'reyougonnado.

I also crocheted a flower for this but when I pinned it on, suddenly I was all, "Hi I'm ten, let's play with My Little Pony!" So flower was quickly nixed. That's it. I consider this an easy one-off. Maybe I'll do it again.

I. Love. This. Piece.

Pattern: Orangina by Stefanie J.
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa "Mirto" in white, cotton/linen/rayon blend; just over 3 balls (like 3 balls plus 1 yard of the 4th, grrr)
Gauge: approx 26 sts = 4in on US3/3.25 mm needles

After the sides were all seamed in, the loose ends woven in and I tried Orangina on for the first time, I thought to myself in a very giddy voice, I am so so so so so so so so so (ad nauseum) glad I learned how to knit. Dude this is my favorite pattern of all time. It is beautiful in its simplicity. Zero waist shaping, zero arm shaping, zero neck shaping. If you want to make it smaller just remove 9 stitches from the pattern. Vice-versa to make it larger. The border for the pattern scallops naturally, so is used as the neckline...man it's so brilliant I wish I came up with it. It's no wonder that the entire planet has knitted or wants to knit this piece. So easy, but looks anything but.

Happy 4th!

FdiC Mirto was a very nice choice of yarn. It's oh so clean and crisp and nice for summer picnics, but if I had spilled ketchup on the front I would have murdered the person sitting closest to me. You've never seen someone eat so carefully as if she were having high tea and finger sandwiches at the Ritz instead of beer and Italian sausages at a 4th of July barbeque.

The lace pattern was really easy to remember, even though I found myself routinely meandering out of pattern. Do not watch Alias dvds while knitting Orangina. Or, count while you do it. I found that counting while knitting really helped: 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9, 1..2...3...OK I think you all know how to count to 9. You get the drift.

Orangina did turn out pretty snug. Like I've mentioned, I went 27 sts less than the smallest size indicated the pattern. This means the width for each piece is about 12 inches. This means the total bust size is 24 inches. :/  This means I am sans chest. But to my credit, it is 24 inches UNBLOCKED and UNSTRETCHED. I just re-measured now after having worn it for a day and it's now 30 inches around. That's right. I'm still bigger than either of the Olsen twins combined times 4, alright? I could have gone down 18 sts and been ok. However, a lot of people who posted in this craftster forum have mentioned that it knits up loose with a lot of ease. I didn't want another version of flappy gappy Dianne, so to play it safe I sized it way way down. The side seams at the underarms I noticed were stretched to the max, like all eeeee! and quivering to keep it together.

And instead of seaming 2 inches for the shoulders, I seamed one scallop'd width, which was just over 1 inch.

I just love love love this piece.

P.S. While we were out in western Mass this weekend we stopped at Colourful Stitches, my favorite yarn store ever. They have everything, stocked in a beautiful, lofty space. Anyway I bought nothing, but I spotted a woman there who I know works at Wild & Wooly in Lexington. I had seen her before shopping in other yarn stores around Boston, I thought maybe to do competitive research for W&W, except that each time at these different stores she was known by name. Traitor! And it was so odd that I would keep running into her at all these yarn shops. Then to see her all the way out in western Mass, again shopping for yarn and knowing the owner by name...what's the deal?

Woo woo woo, cheesy pose

Pattern: #6 Shaped Top from Adrienne Vittadini Spring 2005
Yarn: Adrienne Vittadini Dianne, cotton/microfiber blend
Gauge: 17 sts=4" on US6/4.25 mm needles

OK I don't know how I feel about this piece. The part that gave me the most trouble was of course the lace pattern around the bust, and thus had the potential to look the wonkiest. But I ignored the chart in the book, drew my own (BIG help), and despite a row boo-boo which I now can't even see, the lace turned out pretty decent. No complaints. The picot finishing around the neck and armhole edges look really nice too.

It's everything else that looks off, from the bottom front to the waist shaping to the entire back piece, knitted in plain ole stockinette stitch. It's too big. I used the yarn specified (for the first time ever, ironically), went down a needle size to get a smaller gauge, and still it came out all billowy. Not at all a fan of the drape. I could shave a whole 3 inches off from the width next time. If there is a next time. Most likely there won't be.

Taking a break next to a cemetery in the Boston Commons.

Despite this, Dianne's grand day out included getting passport photos taken, dinner at Parish Cafe downtown, and a movie afterwards (Star Wars Ep. III. Horrible).  I figured if I wore the top around for an entire day in public, Dianne would grow on me. That isn't even a choice really. I am determined that she WILL grow on me, I WILL like her. Because you can't just not wear what you've slaved hours and hours and hours on.

I did very much enjoy seaming Dianne. Left side, right side, done!

Finally there is sun!

Pattern: Apricot Jacket from Rebecca 27, duh
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece (80% cotton/20% merino wool) in teal, 3 1/4 skeins.
Gauge: itty bitty on 6/4.25mm needles

Everyone's seen it, everyone's made it. Judging from photos on various sites (it's amazing how different the same sweater can look on different people), and from the magazine itself, the sweater looked like it was running a little big, or had the potential to. I mean look at the photo in the mag: it's probably knit in the smallest size and the model is wearing a frilly, poufy blouse underneath the sweater and it still looks a bit roomy. Dare I even say...ill-fitting? There I said it. Also very very long in the arms. All Rebecca patterns end in very long arms, so this time I took care to revise that.

Notes on knitting AJ:

• Update: I didn't mention the pattern error because my English copy included a correction insert in the magazine. The correction is still on the rebecca site, despite reports that it no longer exists. You just have to search through their news archives. Find it here.
  
  The error is on the back pattern. It should say "10 sts. pattern A, 34 sts. (instead of 40 sts.) as they appear..."  That's it.
  
  
• Substituted yarn, again. Cotton Fleece was nice. Great yardage. A little splitty but I guess all cotton is like that to some extent.
  
  

• Went down two needle sizes for a better fit on my person. I'm practically collapsible so any bit of roominess and suddenly I'm wearing a deflated balloon.
  
  
• Stitch markers are powerful allies. Place a stitch marker before starting row 1 of chart, and if you follow the chart up to row 7, an extra stitch will appear after each row before or after the marker (depending on whether you're working left or right side). Once row 8 is completed, move the marker in front of the yarn-over made in row 7, and repeat chart from row 1.  

  a

• Wow was that above bullet confusing or what. Sorry. I wrote that because the textual instructions in the magazine had me spinning. It was trying to explain the chart but just made it more muddled instead. I would have fared better without having read the text. Just use stitch markers my friends, repeating 1-8, and keeping the yarn-overs in diagonal pattern, until pattern A and B are separated by 2 purls, and then continue repeating rows 9-10. At the point the yarn-overs will be stacked on top of each other.
  
  
• Used the back piece as my visual guide for knitting the fronts, as the front left is the same as the left half of the back, and vice-versa. Again the textual instructions confused me a lot.
  
  
• Reduced the length of the body ribbing by about 5 cm. Same for the sleeves.
  
  
• The front bands, that go in the back. Ah yes. Those things. It was a very ad hoc process. First of all, I disregarded their call to join another ball of yarn to cast on one single stitch. That seemed silly, so I just made an increase. 
  
  After knitting the prescribed amount of cm's I kept the stitches live on both sides in case. Just, in case. As I was getting ready to sew them to the back piece, I ended up knitting an extra several cm's more to the bands. They seemed too short that the back neck area would likely bunch up when seamed. So I would seam a little, working from outside in, then knit more length to the bands, a little on one side, then on the other, seamed a little here, and little there, until they met right in the center. Then I grafted the bands together.
  
  
• Seaming: the pattern has purl selvedges for the sleeves and body ribbing, which means come seam time you'll be mattress stitching reverse stockinette. In the sleeves it leaves a very visible seam, almost like a ditch running underneath your arm, which can either be interpreted as decorative or ugly. I thought it looked fine, but technically I found it more difficult to seam reverse stockinette. If I were to do this again, I'd knit, rather than purl, the selvedges.
  
  
• Did a slip-stitch crochet edging along the fronts and neck, making button holes on the front right. Pain in the butt. I find slip-stitching to be difficult because I always have trouble pulling that yarn through the loop, it naturally wants to tighten as I'm drawing the yarn through.
  
  
• Sewed 6 buttons on the front left, going from top to bottom instead of bottom to top. I actually crocheted enough loops for 8, but decided I'd never close the two bottom buttons and it looked funny to have them just dangling.
  
  Very careful consideration (aka preening in front of the mirror) went into deciding where to put the first button, and how far apart. I wanted a deep V-neck, so I started the first button at the point where the ribs stopped, and sewed on about every 3 cm's. It took many many many hours to sew on these few measley buttons, just a clunky, yicky process that I did not like it at all. But now I've learned and the next time it won't be nearly half as bad. 

I really like how AJ turned out. Fits well, color is nice, perfect for spring (IF IT EVER ARRIVES). I am suddenly in awe of just how labor-intensive knitting is, especially with a piece like this. Next time I'm going to start the clock everytime I pick up a project. Forget about materials, using labor alone something like AJ would cost about a gaBILLION dollars.

AJ mows too!

I love it when I don't have to figure out what to wear to work the next day.

It's going to be in the mid-60's this week, just in time for the Eyelet Cardi/Bunny Wrap to make its debut.

Bask in all its pink glory

Pattern: No.39 Wrap Sweater with Eyelets from Rebecca 29
Yarn: Classic Elite Lush (angora/wool blend) in pink, 4.5 skeins
Gauge: 18sts on 7/4.5mm needles

So I substituted GGH Soft Kid with Lush because SK and I were just not getting along. At all. I couldn't get rid of it fast enough and traded them in for the very aptly named Luuusssshh. Though it made the sweater a real 'knit' piece rather than a fluffy, light-as-air one, Lush was nevertheless a great substitute. Until you got to the sash, then it became seriously inappropriate. I redid it a couple of times, decreasing the number of stitches from 21 to 9 to make it more ribbon-like and less rope-like. Better, but not great. Still can't double tie it. It also curls like mad despite attempts to block and steam the bloody life out of it.

Alas, to no avail.

What I should have done was to knit in garter stitch...or double crochet it...I had also thought about using my one leftover SK skein in HOT FUSCHIA to use for the sash. Could have been a nice accent against the pink. But I couldn't bear to redo it yet again so I'm going to live with it and be happy with the results. And I am. It's very very VERY soft, warm but light, and pink! I don't usually do pink, but every now and then it must be incorporated into wardrobe to remind self and others that despite the boy-like figure, I am actually a girly girl.

I also enjoy the occasional lace

Other notes:

• Substituted yarn, yadda yadda.
• Next time (if there is a next time) garter stitch the sash to prevent unruly curling. Notice I did not say "try using Soft Kid as suggested."
• Did not crochet slip-stitches around the arm cuffs or body.
• Picked up about 140 stitches around the V-neck and back neck, purled one row and bound off the next knit-wise, per instructions. I was afraid I had picked up too little and it would pull in, but it didn't and the end result looked really nice.
• It got a little hairy at times knitting the front pieces, as there were so many things going on simultaneously: eyelet pattern, increase shaping on one side, sloped bind-off on the other, armhole shaping, do this every other row but do this once every 8th row, etc. etc. etc. Groups of tick marks everywhere.
• Mattress stitch as usual for seaming. For the cap sleeves I did the usual combo of grafting/mattress stitch to attach top to body (I think Vogue Knitting calls it "invisible vertical to horizontal" seaming), and then mattress down the sides. I posted to a news group asking about preferred method of attaching sleeve, since my books reference backstitch as the "right" way to attach cap sleeves. But the vote was unanimous: mattress. Less bulky, more flexible, and easy. Awesome. I don't want to do backstitch.

Next up: The famous Apricot Jacket. Finally. Already started it using Cotton Fleece in teal. The instructions are totally confusing, but I got around it, I got around it.

Savanna is finished with her brand-new super skinny arms!

Pattern: Sweater with Cable Patterns #18 from Rebecca 28.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Merino Chunky, 15 skeins
Gauge: 14 sts and 19 rows to 10 cm, size 10/6mm needles

Gone are the loose and flappy wings. I'm really glad I stuck this out and reconstructed the sleeves because I wouldn't have worn this sweater otherwise. But I wasn't about to let all that yarn and time go to waste. I worked out the math and ended up reducing the number of stitches by 8 (about 2 inches), increased one stitch on each side 10 times instead of 11, bound off the same amount, and ended with 10 stitches for the cap instead of 14. This did not prove to be huge difference when attaching the sleeve to the body, a task WHICH by the way, no longer makes me cry. Even though re-doing the sleeves set me back a week, I now actually understand the whole sleeve shaping voodoo magic. Woot. 

Other changes I made: didn't knit the cable pattern for the back; knit only 5 rows of ribbing for the sleeves; did SSK in place of s1, k1, psso as ssk looks more symmetrical with k2tog; knit shorter turtleneck as original pattern would have turtleneck up to eyelids.

So this is the last sweater of the season. In all I completed 3 sweaters in the last 3 months. Not bad, considering I just graduated from scarves in January. I love knitting.

Bring on the Bunny Wrap!!
(yet another name for the Eyelet Cardi)