Willow is addictive

 

I've made good progress on Willow.  Even though I'm really focused on finishing my wrap sweater, the little lace pattern on Willow is makes it substantially more interesting to knit.  I will probably make the body 12-14 inches long and increase the armhole depth as well.  Nothing worse than a too short sweater, except perhaps a too tight armhole...

Love working with this yarn.  Great hand and wonderful stitch definition. 

Finally Fringed

I've had the Lady Eleanor finished for three years now, but for some reason I'd never done the fringe.  I originally put on all the fringes, but never tied them because I thought it was too much fringe.  I took out half the fringe and thought I'd put beads on the remaining strands and resurrect my 70s macrame fetish. Then I read that someone had gone the macrame route and that the square knots were unstable (oh yeah, forgot about that part).  So on Earth Day I sat in the shop and tied the stupid overhand knots.  I only did half as many as the pattern called for, but I think more would have been too many. I'm really happy with it now.  Maybe I need a cotton Lady Eleanor for the summer...

Neck down to the waist

 
Been working on the April KAL top-down wrap sweater.  It's very mindless to knit, but the yarn is lovely - aqua seems to be my new favorite color.  I'm finally at the point where you make a tiny opening in the side for the wrap tie and you stop increasing for the neckline and begin the garter stitch edge.  I'm toying with doing a 5-stitch seed stitch edging instead of the garter.  Tomorrow I will take it into the Leonardtown shop and ask the oracle (Ginni and the Friday morning coffee group) for an opinion.

Willow and Fleurie

Swatched this Friday so that I could knit it Monday when I knew I had some time to kill.  The ball band said 16 stitches to 4 inches on a 10.  I figured it was pretty unlikely that I'd get 4 stitches to the inch on a 10, so I started with a size 9.  After working a fairly large swatch, I was getting 14 stitches, so I decided to try an 8.  Perfect!  I will say that the yarn still looked good at 3.5 stitches per inch, and I would totally use it in a project that called for that gauge - like maybe this Sharon Stone sweater by Sally Melville.  I've wanted to knit this for years. 

But back to Willow - Willow is a beautiful design by Louisa Harding in her new book Chinoiserie. 

 

It's going to be our next Fit and Finish class, so I wanted to knit it up and see if there were any problems with the garment or the pattern.  The yarn is really nice to work with, and boy does it knit up quick.  I did this in less than an hour

Here's a close-up of the lace portion - not hard, but not boring either.  

 

Coco Vee all wrapped up

I don't know what it was about this project that compelled me.  I just had to get it done.  Mitered squares have this addictive quality to them the same way entrelac does.  Interesting but still easy.  I guess the fabulous Silk Garden colors are also exciting to watch as they emerge. 

I plan to wear it to Colton's lacrosse game today because the weather is sunny, but it's going to be windy and cool.  I like it wrapped up this way so the points hang at a diagonal, but it's also a great ruana-looking style worn straight.

Tessa is finished

and it's actually even better than I expected.  I've worn it three times already. 

Here it is on the blocking board.  It really does need to block so that bottom border doesn't flip up.

There was quite a bit of re-knitting on Tessa Wednesday because when I tried it on, I decided that I would really like to be able to wear it alone as a summer top, so the armholes needed to be shortened about an inch and a half..  I love the way the shoulders cut in.

It's a really flattering kinda' sexy halter look.  I could be persuaded to knit another one.  Maybe in white.  Lynne had a fabulous idea to do one with sequined yarn along the ruffle.  Wouldn't that be just fabulous!

Last day of spring break

It was a really wonderful spring break.  I love having the kids home so we can go and do lots of great things.  It's especially nice to know that my phenomenal team keeps all things moving along in the shop equally well whether I am here or not.

Yesterday was the last day of spring break for the kids, and we'd made a reservation for Katie to visit UMD College Park.  It was a quick and uneventful trip up there as we were a good distance behind the commuting traffic.  The presentation by the admissions officer was informative - get that application in early!  Fortunately Katie is just a sophomore, and she tends to be on top of things she wants.  After the 90 minute walking tour around campus she has decided that she really wants this.  Good for her.

The trip home was somewhat more stressful.  I was exhausted; it was hot, and we were in the thick of the commuting traffic.  We got home around 6, and had leftover Honeybaked Ham sandwiches for dinner.  I could eat those every day for the rest of my life and never get tired of them.