Finished: Creature Comforts

I  finished my Creature Comforts Cardigan after a 10-day stockinette stitch marathon! 

I should admit that I had serious reservations about this pattern.  I consulted the Fit to Flatter group on Rav, I looked at every project page, I researched every possible lead I could on whether the final result would work for me.  The construction is very simple but quite like that of a shrug and I worried that the shape would not look "right" on my body type.  I eventually came to the sorta logical argument that I just had to make it. Screw whether I liked the finished piece, I wanted it. 

(It's a good thing I came to that feeling...) When I finished it, I liked it. I was surprised at how small it was, but I thought I could wear it... should my laundry be undone and maybe if I were without  other garments at my disposal.  So I decided I would block the piece despite hearing some haunting things about the color bleeding... I never had any issue with color bleeding, but I did find  that this yarn seriously lost its shape somewhere in the process. I have decided I will try to reverse the horror I inflicted upon my new sweater by maybe washing in warm water with a quick run in the dryer; I can only hope it will go back to the sorta liked piece of yesterday. 

Finished: The Stash Busting Edition.

Finished a pair of legwarmers this week made with Berroco Vintage in a fantastic brown colorway, Chana Dal. I have made leg warmers before and find that I hardly ever wear them. I tend to think they are practical, but with my lack of fall/winter boots (hint to my husband) I find that I wear them a lot less than I would like to. Anyhow, what a better way to welcome the cooler weather than with a pair of these?! (And a mega cute--though unamused--cat.)

Yesterday I finished up a Star Crossed Beret with left over Malabrigo Worsted in the Frank Orche colorway... this was the yarn I bought before our vacation in June. I only had one skein and had a rough time trying to figure out what to use it for. I searched through my Ravelry queue and decided it was finally time to make the (maybe?) internet's most popular cabled hat. I won't lie, there were many bumps along the way.... You can anticipate many foiled rows and stitches when speed knitting but overall the result is pretty comfy and now I will have another yellow hat... can't really have too many. Unfortunately I found photographing this color to be an epic defeat. The color is more on the mustard end of the spectrum but many of the photos make the shade look like a yellow crayon. (Alex is still very interested.)

So, two projects in one week and not a single dime spent on yarn... I suppose that is the nice part of collecting: knowing that when you are dieting there will always be something to tempt you? I can see my dear Phillip's eyes rolling as I type this. In full disclosure my yarn diet was due to the fact that my LYS had a huge sale yesterday and somehow I have found some way to cram 13 more balls of yarn into my tiny storage space. I suppose I used 2 skeins, and needed to adopt a few more to take its place?

(Purchased yesterday were 10 balls of Louisa Harding Albero in black for my Creature Comforts Cardi, and 3 balls of Rowan Felted Tweed for my Guernsey Wrap, which was one of the selected "make me" projects from my poll a few months ago.)

I am on a serious knitting streak as my KAL with Vanessa is starting this Monday and I have taken it upon myself to begin my Beekeepers Quilt. ((There are about a zillion things I could say about this quilt pattern! Tiny Owl Knits (who also produced the pattern for the above legwarmers) has always been on the top of my list for wonderful, and creative pieces, but this blanket is going to be amazing! With each puff taking me somewhere around 30-60 minutes I anticipate I will have a 5x7 blanket in about a year. (Too much excitement, so I am restraining myself from !!!'s) My puffs are currently at the depressing count of two, but I am thinking it will be a wonderful project for those down times when maybe my inspiration is lacking.))

Also in September I will be working on another KAL for the drop dead gorgeous/kill me now/that is beautiful Haruni Shawl. This pattern has been haunting me for at least two years. I have been going back and forth about whether or not I actually had the skill to complete it.. I discussed it with some Rav friends and they have assured me that with their help, it will be a breeze (I guess we'll see?). I haven't decided on yarn for that just yet but I am very seriously considering Madelinetosh Merino Light... Now I just have to convince Phillip that I need to make one. For me, it feels like a culmination of many years of staying up late, pouring over books and youtube videos, ripping out projects, crying, cursing, and the realization that I am finally a very "serious" Knitter.

My latest knitting queue looks a little like this:

Edie Shawl (KAL)

Haruni (KAL)

Beekeepers Quilt (ongoing)

Creature Comforts Cardi

Guernsey Wrap

Marian Cowl

Lida Shawl

Georgia Vest

Orchids and Fairy Lights

Happy knitting!

Finished: Imogen

Ten days ago I embarked on my Imogen cowl with some left over stash Madelinetosh Pashmina. It was a long road with some bumps along the way, but I am happy to say I am finally finished and the end result is to die for. The pattern is really well written, but the stitch pattern repeats are on both the right and wrong side which makes the project a little less mindless than I usually prefer. Somewhere at the beginning, I thought it looked "off" (bad words if you ask me), so I went down a needle size and restarted. This is something I almost never do. I always trust in the pattern and my knitting skill but I am really glad I did. Something about the lace being a little tighter helps all those ssk's be a little more visible than my first version. I won't lie, somewhere before my skein was over, I started dreading it, getting bored, restless, just dying for something new, but I am in love with the end result.

As for my knit-along, Vanessa and I have decided to work the Edie Shawl, another pattern by Quince & Co. I am dying to get started and spent the better part of a day fawning over and winding my Quince Chickadee yarn. Just can't wait to get my hands on it.

Happy knitting!

Progress & Planning

Since I finished Pogona, I have been working on putting together my queue for next-up projects. With a knit-along that is scheduled to begin with a Ravelry friend in the coming weeks, I have been having a hard time deciding what comes first and what can wait until we aren't all boiling with this summer weather. I am one of the few knitters I know who doesn't like having too many works in progress going at once.

I recently cast on Imogen Cowl by Carrie Bostick Hoge. The lace pattern matched with superb Quince and Co. styling made this jump up in my queue. I began working with some Madelinetosh Pashmina but after a few repeats, I am not so sure the combination really works. I never thought I would ever say I didn't want to work with Madtosh but for whatever reason the two aren't matching up with my ideas. I think I will likely seek out some Ella Rae Lace Merino and start over, but for now the remnants are sitting idly in my drawer waiting their fate along with not only my Stripe Study Shawl in Rowan Felted Tweed but my Different Lines which I started with Bergere Alpaga. For whatever reason my mind can't process the w&t concept and they look "all wrong". I know it is a hurdle I will pass soon enough but I just can't wait for the day when both are done and I can say I have jumped on the Veera Välimäki band wagon.

For our KAL, we have decided to knit Snow Drops and Snap Peas. The circular shawl has been in my favorites for some time and I am really excited to get moving with some support along the way. I am not sure of my yarn choice just yet, but I imagine it will likely be Malabrigo Sock as I loved the drape of Pogona and can find it in such a variety of stunning colors. At this point, I am betting to be browsing all the yarn websites until late in the night before making my final selection. Nothing is better than the anticipation of such a difficult and productive project!

As for my late summer/early fall prospective projects, I am currently swooning over:

Marian Cowl

Some Cloudy Day

Golden Wheat Cardigan

Steamside

Alaria

and because I have a bird loving husband who supports my yarn habit, a Birdwing just for him.

Happy Knits!

Finished: Pogona

Because I am on a serious Stephen West streak, I decided to knit up Pogona a few days ago. I had always admired how the fabric draped and had some really lovely Malabrigo sock just for it.

I have a massive amount of notes on my project page on Rav so I will keep this short (visit me there if you need more information). I really do love the finished product but unfortunately my knitting ADD got to me. I finished a few inches before the pattern said to (oh well, I am short..?!) and because eventually each row was taking me somewhere around 15 minutes, I forced myself to sit down, watch endless episodes of Mad Men, and just finish. The result is really lovely, the drape is divine, the color perfect, but overall this was a serious snooze fest.

Finished: Dolinar

I recently decided to get over my "hatred" of cables... I know it sounds harsh, but for some reason I always found them really uncomfortable in pattern. I love the idea and the look of them but hardly ever wanted to muck up my knitting with a third needle and a fussy pattern. Anyway, earlier this week I decided to get over my avoidance and work on Dolinar, a pattern by Stephen West. I used 1.3 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in Polar Morn colorway. I should warn that the yarn had a lot of pink tones, which sort of shocked me, but since it's for me, I am thrilled.

Within 24 hours I was finished and had a comfy, cabled cowl for the anticipated fall and winter. Somehow I was able to work with 100% wool in this terrible heat, so I have a good feeling about this one.

Next up is the Stripe Study Shawl, in Rowan Felted Tweed and Pogona in Malabrigo Sock.. Yum!

Fall 2011 Planning

The other day I had a conversation with a LYS worker about how my knitting often drops off in the spring/summer months. I have a hard time wanting to pick up wool or variations of it when the weather gets warmer and even though she went through the trouble to show me plenty of springy patterns (lots I loved from a Rowan book---big surprise), I just couldn't get into it. I usually will work on a project or two, but other than that, I am generally needle free for many months.

I knit for my husband often, but I don't Knit for him. He wants a scarf? Sure, no problem. He wants a hat or two? Again, no problem (though I am curious where the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino hat I have not seen for a year disappeared to...). Gloves? Okay, I can do that. For the most part my work for Phillip has been knitting, not Knitting. There is a distinct difference as when I am Knitting for myself I tend to not have issue with trying new patterns and being a little adventurous. So the seam is a little off, or the some stitches were never really recovered... Meh. It reminds me of the "don't knit a sweater for a guy" sentiment... I think Knitters never see this folklore as an issue. If he doesn't like it, oh well. There will be plenty more where that came from. knitters think "If he doesn't like it, I will never make another again!" That is not to say that proper gratitude for the hundreds of thousands of stitches a sweater takes should be blown off as if no issue. Lots of hard work and sweat go into the planning, the yarn choosing, the pattern selecting, the actual knitting and that is not even discussing the problems ("Hmm, I guess I made this second sleeve 20 inches longer than the first...? Wait, I attached the front on the wrong side...") but we never have those. Last night I started wondering whether I was having the wrong idea about this mid-year knitting curse. What if I extensively planned the next few months and crammed them with projects just waiting to be worn once the weather changes? Maybe then I will have more time to finish and I won't activate the evil powers that are causing my recent hand pain issues. And as an added bonus so many of the fall/winter yarns tend to go on sale around this time, which means making a project that would have cost me $120 can be made for as little as $40 or $50. (Or so I tell Phillip....I am joking!)

I couldn't sleep last night once I had settled on a sweater pattern for my dear. I chose the Cobblestone Pullover by Jared Flood and have looked at just about every one of the 3,000 projects I can find. Cascade 220, Malabrigo, Ecological Wool, Rowan Tweed Aran...surprisingly the list of used yarns was quite small. I decided picking a color first would be best but I knew it wouldn't be difficult as Phillip is pretty set on his color palette. I ended up choosing a heathered olive green color, which if you know my husband, makes perfect sense. I ordered the yarn and am really looking forward to casting on. I have already begun changing the pattern some--I will add 2x2 ribbing to the neck, sleeves and bottom to clean up the lines a little. I doubt I will do any major changes to the construction as it is seamless and is well written. I think once I am finished I can finally add men's Knitter to my growing list of Knitterly occupations.

In other news, I have cast on a Clapotis with the Madelinetosh Pashmina I recently purchased (see last post). The Damson is still high on my list but I am a little burned on triangular construction (though Clap is very similar with increase rows galore) and thought it would be nice to finally finish one up. I assume there has to be a reason it is likely the most popular pattern on Ravelry with something like 20,000 project pages. So far so good and the MadTosh is looking pretty wonderful. I am usually not a fan of kettle dyed, or hand dyed yarn, I like something very constant so this is a bit of a stretch for me. I am happy with how it is coming; I am somewhere near the 3rd increase section and after that I imagine a lot of mindless knitting to come to achieve my desired length. Either way, I am happy for the distraction, as I wait for the post man...

Is he here yet? I think I heard something...Wait, I just ordered that 20 minutes ago.

Other projected projects for Fall 2011:

(for my wearing)

Saffron Jacket

Goodale

Cables and Lace Vest

Tea Leaves Cardigan

Happy Knitting!

Poll Time!

I have been having trouble updating since I am a one project kind of gal. One project at a time has always been my operating system but usually my brain begins to wander about half way through on what my next project will be. I am certainly having an issue with making the decision as once the weather starts to clear and sunny up, I start wanting to leave my needles in the bag.

So, here I am asking your opinion! I'd love to know what you think I should knit next! I have narrowed down the choices to my current swoon-worthy picks and all you have to do is make a few clicks and in a few weeks I'll post the finished project!

The choices are:
Guernesey Wrap

Cedar Leaf Shawlette

Houndstooth Bandana

Baby Back Ribs Skirt

Happy Knitting!