Tessa is coming along

I am dying to wear this vest.  It's been a pleasure to knit - the yarn is fabulous (Tupa silk and wool) and the color is so spring time. The fronts are done, and I've worked about an inch or so up the back.  I have 6 more rows with a single stitch bind off and then it's just straight stockinette on 62 stitches for 6 inches or so. The ruffled lapel stitches continue around the back of the sweater and meet in the center, rather like Chris Bylsma's Solo.  It's a beautifully smooth back neckline treatment. 

Blocking is definitely in order as the edge of this thing rolls like crazy--

Rather than using the steamer on it, though, I think I'll do a cold water block.  Takes more time, but it's just safer.  Can't start my Wickle-West until Tessa's done, so I need to get a move on.  This Wednesday is my goal. 

Eastscarf

I finished my Eastscarf last week.  The pattern called for you to work the lovely leafy lace section over the first 100 or so rows at the beginning and then work the remainder of the scarf in simple repeat on the 16 center stitches.  I worked the 100 rows of the pattern (which took almost exactly one skein of gorgeous Inca Gold), and several repeats of the boring part when I realized that the boring part was not going to be in my future.  

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy mindless knitting as much as the next guy, but this boring part was just different enough to require that I carry the pattern with me (yes, I know, lots of you can keep a 30-row lace repeat in your head, but my brain is already too full of other details on kid schedules and such to remember).  So I decided to cast on again with a new skein and worked the 100 row pattern over again.  My thought was to have a symmetrical scarf with an attractive leaf motif at each end.  I was going to graft the two halves together in the center.  Here's how it looks.  I like it. 

Here is a close-up of the center join.  You will notice that the scarf is NOT grafted.  That is not to say that I didn't try to graft it.  If you'd been in La Plata last Thursday, you would have seen my valiant attempt at grafting 2x2 ribbing, reverse stockinette and yarn-overs to one another.  After about an hour, I decided that the return on investment for a grafted join was way too low, so I bound off both ends and seamed them.  Not bad, and that part took less than 15 minutes. 

Petra complete

Really do like this garment. Petra is perfect in Noro because it's knit all in one piece so the stripes on the body match up perfectly. The shaping in the front biases the fabric so you get diagonal rather than horizontal striping. I had hoped it would look as good as the ones I'd seen on Ravelry, and I'm genuinely pleased with the results.

Outer space, rockets, and UFOs

Yesterday we took Colton up to DC to see the National Air and Space Museum. He is really into the planets, and he and Bill spend quite a bit of time looking at the NASA's astronomy picture of the day. For Christmas Colton's Uncle Ralph and Aunt Karen sent him a model of the solar system, a puzzle of the planets, and a very cool book on space. We've been having a great time with it, so this seemed like a perfect outing....apparently a few hundred dozen other families and several small countries thought so too.

The museum was a mob scene, but we we managed to score tickets to the Imax 3D movie on the international space station narrated by Tom Cruise. It was really amazing to see how it all worked, and quite inspiring to see how different nations collaborated to build this enormous orbiting ship.

The scale of these things is just amazing.



It was a long and full day, so my usually chatty boy was very quiet on the way home.


Since this is a knitting blog, you're probably wondering about the UFO I mentioned in the title of this post. Perhaps some of you remember Petra, the beautiful jacket from CocoKnits that's worked in one piece. I started mine about a year ago, and then got distracted by other projects (yes, it happens to the best of us). So yesterday morning, I pulled it out and knit on it while Bill drove up to the museum. Size 11 needles, it goes really fast. I only had a few inches done, but by the time it got dark I had done this much. It doesn't look like much in the photo, but as I mentioned, it's worked all in one piece, so this is the length on the back and the fronts.

Last night I bound off for the armhole, and today I started the sleeve. I hope to have it done by the time I re-open the shop Tuesday.

French Press Felted Slippers

I thought these little slippers were just about the cutest thing ever, and I ordered the pattern through Ravelry. This is the first pattern I've bought this way, and I must say that I really like it. They use Paypal, and you can use your credit card even if you don't have a Paypal account. Ravelry stores the pattern PDF in your Ravelry library for you to access wherever you are!

I picked up a skein of Shepherd's Wool in hot pink for my Katie and one in navy for my Elizabeth. The pattern is really easy and goes very quickly, as you might imagine, on size 15 needles. I happened to have a set of size 15 dpns in my bag (no idea why), and since you never have more than 15 or so stitches on your needle at a time, I decided they'd be perfect. You could, of course, use longer needles and work two sets at the same time if you wanted.

The Yarn Harlot says that it took her 90 minutes to knit a pair. While I didn't time myself on the complete set, I did find that I knit one of the sides in 20 minutes while I waited for Johnny at physical therapy. So, even if you consider yourself a slow knitter, it's fair to say that you could probably whip out the pieces for one slipper in about 90 minutes.

Here's a picture of Katie's right after they came out of the washer before I sewed on the strap.

Here I've pinned the strap and button in place. When I sewed the strap on, I placed it a little further down, over the vamp a bit as shown in the first picture of this post. I like it better this way.

Here's are Elizabeth's in navy with red buttons.

I made the pink one in the second size (7/8) and the navy in the largest size (9/10). Not a huge difference. You can control the size by stretching the slippers while they are still wet from the felting. I had each of the girls try on the slippers and let them stretch to fit their feet.


Each pair took less than a whole skein of Shepherd's wool, even though the pattern calls for 33o yards of yarn. I checked my gauge before felting, and it was correct, but even so, perhaps I knit a bit tighter than the designer. A very loose gauge is tricky to measure. Anyway, both girls are happy with their slippers. Now I need to knit a pair for myself - maybe rhinestone buttons are in order...

Bleaklow Vest

I love this vest, but I wondered how it might look with a rounded neck - here's my modified version. I think it's going to be more flattering for me.

Top-down and in the round cardigan

Is done. Honestly, this is the quickest thing I've ever made. Got my next one picked out already!

How about a quickie?

No, not like that...even better. I cast on for this little gem Friday night after dinner. I didn't have much chance to knit on it during the day Saturday because I had the Tweed Waistcoat class in the morning, and we were busy with customers and trick-or-treaters in the afternoon. After dinner Saturday, I did the rest. Honest. This represents maybe four full hours of knitting. The pattern says to work 5 rows of ribbing around then sleeves and then bind off, but I think I'd like a three-quarter sleeve on this. I've got another one planned in a finer yarn with a smart front edging. This is the project we'll be doing on November 4th in La Plata and 7th in Leonardtown. Call the shop to join us.

Tweed Waistcoat is done

I've worn this several times already and just love it. It looks great with a turtleneck, a blouse, or even just a camisole. Such a great quick knit. Maybe now I need one in the black tweed...

The Interview

We took Elizabeth to Pittsburgh last week for her interview at CMU. I snapped this photo of her dressed and ready to go leaning over the laptop checking some last minute detail.

Reminds me of this other picture of her when she and C-boy were cooking something together. I thought it was interesting how similar this old picture from 4 years ago is to the one just last week.

Waistcoat Progress

I've been working on the Tweed Waistcoat and the Fusion jacket simultaneously--see the bit of Fusion on the left waiting for the last sleeve to be complete? The back and fronts of the waistcoat are done, and I'm 5 rows away from completing the ribbing (all 200+ stitches worth) around the front and neck.

Here's a close-up of how the ribbing looks around that curved edge. This is such a flattering shape. I can't wait to wear it- it just feels like fall.

My Fusion is coming along

As you can see, the back is done and the right front is almost done. It should be further along, but I've been a bit busy with the kids going back to school and the move. All things are settling down, and I have time to knit again.

I pinned my back to the blocking board to be sure that the back and front were the same size. Lo and behold I had just gone a little crazy with the front, and it was clear that I had knit 2 inches beyond where the armhole should have started, so I ripped it back. This is why I LOVE this blocking board so much. I'm always saying that you should ensure that your width is correct before you measure your length. The board makes it so much easier to do that.

Clivia

Okay, I know this isn't a knitting picture, but I did get the plant from my friend, MaryJo, who works at the Leonardtown shop. Isn't it beautiful - and it seems to thrive on my benign neglect. I took MaryJo's advice and poured whatever was left of whatever I was drinking in the pot. This particular Clivia has a fairly steady diet of iced tea, iced coffe, and the ocaisional sugar-free soda. Seems to like whatever it gets, because it rewards me with a regular clump of amazing orange blossoms that last for weeks and weeks. It's a beautiful plant even when it's not in bloom.

Fusion mid-fuse

I've since finished the back of my Fusion, but here it is half way. The sparkly bits in the Berroco Sox Metallic don't show up very well in this photo, but it's a fun bit of glitz in real life.

I've started the right front, and was at the point today where I needed to decide whether or not to add the pockets. Linda's pocket looked so nice, I went for it. Must make note to self to not actually put anything in said pockets, though. They're just for looks.

Adult Surprise Jacket - as worn

Here it is on an actual body. I'm long-waisted, so it looks very cropped. Ty, who's about 5'2, was in yesterday and tried it on, and it hit her right at the waist.

Nikola - it's a 10

This is a GREAT little top. Didn't work steadily on it, but in terms of straight knitting time, it took less than 10 hours. Worked on size 10 needles in the lovely chunky cotton Chacabuco, it was quick to knit, and is lovely soft to wear. I'd wound 4 hanks, but it ended up taking only two. Wow! I'm already planning another one with the lace detail at the bottom.

Adult Surprise Jacket --surprisingly cute!

As you know from the newsletter, I've admired Erica Raspberry's version of this jacket for some time, so I had hoped that mine would come out as nicely. Since I had chosen Taiyo, a delicious Noro blend of cotton and silk, I wanted a cropped style that I could wear all summer.

After the decreases were complete, I knit only enough increases to get me back to my starting number. Then I did the neckline and continued for about an inch. Then I picked up all around and worked for another inch. Finally, I picked up around the collar, worked one round, and bound off all the stitches. I'm very pleased with the way it came out. It hangs off the hanger in this photo, so I'll try to post a photo that shows how it looks on an actual body.

Movie night

My husband and I are huge fans of Clint Eastwood, and we've been introducing his old movies to the kids. Okay, so they're not exactly high intellect, but they're fun and they're part of our family culture. We started with some really old ones: Every Which Way but Loose and Any Which Way You Can. These are the ones where really young Clint plays a street fighter who owns a gorilla named Clyde. The kids think they're hilarious. For me, they're a fun way to spend a few hours with everyone together enjoying themselves - and I get to knit.

We've seen Heartbreak Ridge, Grand Torino, Dirty Harry, and tonight we watched about an hours worth of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. I finished my Adult Surprise Jacket, and even wove in the ends. I LOVE the way it turned out. I had admired the cropped version Erica did, and I'm pleased that mine came out the same size. I wanted something really colorful for summer, that I could just throw on over a cami and go. Noro Taiyo, is just the perfect fiber - a terrific blend of cotton and silk. I'll try to get photos tomorrow.

Adult Surprise Jacket - ASJ

Maybe it's the fabulous colors in this yarn that jazz me so much. Maybe it's the simple garter stitch over long rows, but for whatever reason, I feel like this project is going pretty quickly. I didn't work on it at all the first week after we started, but tons last week. The double decreases are done, and I've started the double increases, so that's probably a third of the way finished.

The yarn is Taiyo, but we just call it cotton Kureyon. I love, love, love this yarn. The colors are spectacular, and it has a nice smooth, soft hand. Seems the perfect yarn for the ASJ because mitered decreases really show off the colors, and no matter how the colors go in the yarn, it's perfectly symmetrical. And did I mention the colors? This color way has fabulous, clear jewel tones. It's so exciting to see them come along. Cathy chose a beautiful caramel, beige, and pink colorway that is beautiful as well. Mary, who was the first of the Leonardtown group to finish chose the gorgeous pink, black, and white colorway.

Can't wait to wear this fun colorful jacket!

My Blossom

Blossom is a spectacular design by Elsebeth Lavold. Love this pattern, but for some reason it's going very slowly for me. I have just a few rows to work before the armhole bind off, but just can't seem to get energized. The fabric is stunning, though. Louisa Harding's Mulberry Silk is the nicest silk yarn I have ever seen or knit (no kidding), and the pattern is easy but not boring, so it should be going faster. Maybe after I get the armholes bound off and do the decreases it will get me going. Everyone else is just zipping along with theirs - Lynn, Susan, and Ginni are nearly done altogether, and Evelyn, Sandy, and Marilou are going great guns. Maybe what I need is a movie night where I can just knit all evening.