And She Knits Too!

Colourful Finishing

I've been on a bit of a finishing frenzy the last few weeks. 

Colour Affection is done!

It's a beautiful shawl.  The colours are soft and subtle and the yarn is amazing!  After a nice bath in some Soak, everything softened and bloomed and it's all stretchy garter stitch goodness.

I've only worn it once because we're in the middle of a heat wave but know Colour Affection will be in heavy rotation once the weather cools.

Kimuro Handspun Woven Scarf is done!

I started the spinning Easter weekend and finished the scarf in June.  That's not too shabby. It's really pretty and soft, but I'm still not happy with my edges.   I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong, but in some ways I don't care since the bumpy yarn compliments the bumpy edges (and may in fact be contributing to the bumpiness). 

The scarf is a gift for Xander's super awesome teacher.  She's an appreciator of art and craft and I know she'll be pleased with it.

Pioneer is Done!

I haven't blogged much about this top.  I started it last summer, worked on it here and there and finally got around to finishing it last weekend.  I'm a bit meh about it.  The Artfibres Golden Chai silk yarn is AMAZING, but I'm not sure if I like the look of the top on me.  I haven't got any finished shots or modelled shots yet--here's a link to my out of date Ravelry page--(and it's too hot to try today).  I find the deep vee neck is complicated to wear and it grew a bit in length when I washed it. 

If I don't wear it, Emma will (she takes many of my knit cast-offs) and I'm happy to have it complete.

What's next?  Socks.  I started a pair of toe-up socks using my handspun from a few years ago.  They're turning out well and sometimes it's nice to have some unchallenging socks on the needles.  

Once it's a bit cooler out I'll plot my next big project.

 

Finishing Frenzy

Knitting-wise this has been a rather productive week.

I had some meetings where I could knit which allowed me to finish my monkey socks:

They're a bit fraternal (one definitely has more brown) but I don't care.  They fit perfectly and they were fun to knit and the Oak Grove sock yarn (from Rhinebeck 2005) was fantastic to knit with.

I departed from my usual toe-up, short row heel formula and worked the pattern as written, except I did my first eye of partridge heel.  The look and fit is perfect and it's making me rethink my preference for short row heels (which I still suck at--my short rows are never quite right).

I also had fun with my this-year Rhinebeck purchase.  I made myself Matador from last Fall's Knitscene.  It was so easy I had the whole thing done in 4 days.  And I rather like it.

It could be a smidge bigger and I may go back and rip and redo since I have almost a full skein left (but, realistically, probably not).  I think it looks fine no?

The yarn is Beth Ann from Briar Rose fibers and has the niftiest little flecks of blue in it.  It's also lovely to work with.  I can see myself using it again. 

Tonight I'm vacillating between finishing the first piece of Roam or starting my Earth Stripe Wrap now that all the colours are in.  Maybe I'll do a bit of both.

Finishing Frenzy

Knitting-wise this has been a rather productive week.

I had some meetings where I could knit which allowed me to finish my monkey socks:

They're a bit fraternal (one definitely has more brown) but I don't care.  They fit perfectly and they were fun to knit and the Oak Grove sock yarn (from Rhinebeck 2005) was fantastic to knit with.

I departed from my usual toe-up, short row heel formula and worked the pattern as written, except I did my first eye of partridge heel.  The look and fit is perfect and it's making me rethink my preference for short row heels (which I still suck at--my short rows are never quite right).

I also had fun with my this-year Rhinebeck purchase.  I made myself Matador from last Fall's Knitscene.  It was so easy I had the whole thing done in 4 days.  And I rather like it.

It could be a smidge bigger and I may go back and rip and redo since I have almost a full skein left (but, realistically, probably not).  I think it looks fine no?

The yarn is Beth Ann from Briar Rose fibers and has the niftiest little flecks of blue in it.  It's also lovely to work with.  I can see myself using it again. 

Tonight I'm vacillating between finishing the first piece of Roam or starting my Earth Stripe Wrap now that all the colours are in.  Maybe I'll do a bit of both.

After

That was almost as much fun as felting!  It fits perfectly and I'm really pleased with it. 

The demin-i-ness of the yarn is very nifty and it really does shrink up a tonne with washing (scroll down for the before shot).  Now all it needs are buttons.   And a close-up of the nifty stitch pattern down the sides of the cardigan (very Jaywalkeresque):

I am so glad the 19 month odessey created a nice sweater. 

Before

It's all sewn up, and surprisingly, I like it.  I didn't buy buttons because I wasn't expecting it to look good.  I figured there must have been a reason why it sat in the WIP pile for so long. 

Now it's a hot wash to shrink up the length.  I would like the whole thing about 3 inches shorter, but that might be too much to ask.  Fingers crossed.

Bits and Pieces

19 months later I have all the pieces and I'm knitting the collar. 

No artistic poses for this sweater, since today was not a day to sit and finish this thing, but hopefully I should have it finished later this week.  It seems so big--too big.  It is made with one of those denim yarns (Elann's version) so it needs a good hot washing and drying, but I'm worried it won't shrink enough.  This sweater is like a box of chocolates--I'm not sure what the hell I'm going to get.  Or whether it'll be one of those gooey fake cherry cream things--yuck.

Spring Cleaning

This project is so old, I'm surprised there isn't dust on it (like everything else around here). 

Today I put my foot down and vowed to finish this sweater.  I stashed it away with only the right front panel to complete and it's been bugging me all winter.  I *try* to keep to a 3-projects-plus-socks work basket but it doesn't always work (see my Now Playing gallery and you'll get the idea).  With warmer weather on the way, I'll need a cotton cardigan, and really I have about a week or two left to do on this sweater and it'll be out of the basket and on my back, so it's time to boss my knitting around.

Now let's hope I still like it and it fits...

Sleeves

Somehow, I ended up working on two sleeves at the same time.  Not two sleeves of the same sweater, but one sleeve of a new sweater I want to finish even though I won't be able to wear it for months, and one sleeve of an abandoned project I want to finish to get it out of the work basket.

The second Eris sleeve is moving along nicely and could be finished by the weekend.  The first Sophie sleeve is now done and is languishing in the morning sun.

Remember Sophie?

I started her last August, got halfway up the back and then got distracted by other things.  I picked her up in the spring for a bit and then cast her aside once again.  I'm not sure why I can't get this one done.  It's a perfectly nice cardigan.  It is in cotton and a bit boring, but that's never stopped me before.  But now, I want her out of the basket so I can follow where yarn temptation leads me.  I have this loose rule that I don't want more than 3 WIPs plus socks in the basket at one time.  Right now I have 4 and I really really want to start something else.  So Sophie it is for now.

Panic setting in

We get the house tomorrow.  I haven't heard from the super yet about getting the keys, but I'll take care of that in the morning.  The movers don't come until next Saturday, but all the sudden it seems like there's a whole lot to do.  And while I'm feeling a bit better, being sick is not helping things.

Me thinks there won't be much knitting done in the next week or so either.  Yesterday I did make some good progress on Sophie--I finished the back and started the sleeve.  And my jungle stripe sock is progressing--the back of Sophie makes a nice background.

And yes Sophie is long.  The yarn is Elann Denim and like Twilleys Denim (the called for yarn), it is meant to be washed and shrunk, so the pattern is knit longer to account for the change in row gauge from 6.75 rows to the inch to 8 rows to the inch.  I also remember why this project got abandoned last summer--the cotton is hard on the hands.  I'm going to try alternating knit-nights with this and something nice and woollen and elastic, though I think all I'll be holding this month is a hammer and a paint brush. 

That's when I get excited instead of panicky--this new place is going to be great.  And just like birth, I'll probably forget the worst of the move once it's all over.