Progress Report

(I'm taking the lazy expeditious way out and copying my last post to the Fitted Knits KAL.)

It's been a crazy last day or two, as I cast on for the Alexandra Ballerina Top on Wednesday night and...couldn't stop.  :P  I'm usually not one for bulky yarns, but it sure makes projects come together quickly! I've used up 3 balls of my RYC Soft Tweed so far to get to this point:

My cables seem somewhat wonky, but I'm hoping that a little blocking and tweaking later on will help that.  I was quite pleased with how my swatch reacted to a wash -- the stitches smoothed out and took on a very pretty luster.  I was glad, too, that I re-did my swatch to make it in the round -- it made a definite difference.  Looks like I'll definitely be able to finish this before the end of the month!

I've also picked up my other Fitted Knits project again, the languishing U-Neck Vest. I'd been worrying that the vest would make me look too much like a busty barmaid, but once I actually seamed the shoulders together, it didn't look that bad. I've just got to do the shoulder and neck edgings now:

**

Also, have you donated to Claudia's MS Ride yet? It's for a wonderful cause, and there's some gorgeous loot to be won here and here.

You Know You're a Knitter When...

...your first response to a cold, rainy day in June is, "Sweet! I get to wear a sweater today!" Poor Wicked thought it was going to be put away for the summer, but it's now had a stay of hibernation. :)

And even though it really is summer, I do so love the colors of autumn:



This is KnitPicks Memories sock yarn, in the Redwood Forest colorway. I'd wanted this forever, but it was the "Clearance Colors" tag that spurred me into action. I wonder what that's that all about? Are new colorways in store? It's a nice, squishy yarn for the price, IMO. I haven't used it for socks yet, but I made a pair of Fingerless Mitts in the Fly Fishing colorway last year. They pilled TERRIBLY on the first wearing, but once I took a sweater shaver to them, they never pilled again.

Also in the KnitPicks package were DPNs to finish the Back-to-School U-Neck Vest, and Options tips to begin the Alexandra Ballerina Top, also from Fitted Knits:



I'd already ordered the yarn for this baby -- RYC Soft Tweed from WEBS, in Kingfisher. I'm trying to branch out from my reds, greens, and browns. :) I can't believe how light and, well, soft the Soft Tweed is -- thank the content (56% Wool/20% Viscose/14% Polyamide/10% Silk) for that.

My personal mandate it to now drop the Petunia Tote and Vine Lace Scarf, to see if I can finish these two garments by the end of June. I want to be able to enter the prize drawing in the Fitted Knits KAL. Eeep!

Cotton-Ease Aims to Please

My television-watching project of the moment is the Petunia Tote, from the Spring 2007 Interweave Knits. It's gone smoothly so far, and I've managed to keep my places in the pattern and Battlestar Galactica at the same time. :P I like the "obviously homemade, but cool" look it has to it:



This is my first time using Cotton-Ease (scored on Knit Swap), and I can see how the stuff has earned its cult following! It's soft, lightweight, and honestly, I have never seen my stitches look this even (in the portion in the round). It must be something in the ply. I'll take this any day over Sugar 'n Cream.

Also on the needles is a lace project -- a converted Convertible. Few repeats and no buttonholes, basically. The star of this project is the yarn, Fearless Fibers Superwash Merino Sock Yarn in Inner Sanctum. SO PRETTY. The hues range from rosy blush to rust to tomato red to deep terracotta...*sighs* Lace takes me ages, but I've been chipping away at this one, a few rows at a time:



There have been a few (incredibly boring) FOs around these parts lately, too...



A 1x1 ribbed scarf with a slip-stitched edge, done in KnitPicks Decadence (100% alpaca). Normally, 1x1 rib would drive me batty, but the bulky yarn eased the tedium and most importantly, the scarf doesn't curl. The Decadence is wonderfully soft and squishy stuff, but it just...doesn't want to do anything, pattern-wise. So, even though there's nothing terribly eventful going on this scarf, I'm going to pretend that it was supposed to be simply elegant and streamlined, like in a Michael Kors sort of way. :P (This was given as an end-of-the-year gift to my daughter's teacher, whose favorite color is purple.)



Yes, another felted bag. I think I've had my fill of them lately, although Amanda's Squatty Sidekick certainly is cute. This bag was for my daughter in response to her frequent whining polite query as to why I was making bags for everyone but her. The yarn was found in the bargain bin of a LYS -- I suspect it is hand-dyed Lamb's Pride.

My last, long-suffering WIP is the Back-to-School U-Neck Vest, but I'm waiting on needles to finish that baby off.

Enjoy your weekend, everyone!

It's All in the Presentation...

I shared this already in the Knitting community on LiveJournal, but I thought I'd post here, and wave my pom-poms about my recent experience with WoolGirl.com.

I came across this vendor while checking out the stockists for my friend Axelle's gorgeous cashmere. I'll pause now, to allow you to pick your jaws up off the ground. :D Anyhow, I was surprised at the selection of hand-dyed yarns, mostly sock, that WoolGirl offered -- many from dyers that I'd never heard of. I was click click clicking along, when...I found it. The *perfect* yarn for my Clapotis. My knitting rite of passage. :P

Now, I'd come across several yarns earlier that had tempted me for this project (Lorna's Laces in Gold Hill and Patons SWS in Natural Earth were contenders), but nothing had fully "clicked". Sock yarns offered the greater variety of colors, but a Clapotis in sock yarn would take me forever to knit. So, imagine my delight when I saw this ENORMOUS, 560 yd. skein of pure worsted loveliness:



This is Miss Babs 100% Superwash Merino in Bronzed Plum. There was only skein left, and so I pounced. The colors are much deeper and muted than they appear in the picture -- just fabulous.

The icing on the cake, however, was all the thoughtful attention that WoolGirl put into the packaging:



Wrapped in tissue, complete with ribbon, shiny sticker, Soak sample, and handwritten note. Not only that, but I ordered the yarn on a Friday, and it arrived on the following MONDAY.

WOW. They've won me over. I'll be back. :)

It's Not You, It's Me...

I'd wanted to make a Saturday Market Bag ever since the pattern was released. I'd even bought the requisite needles and a bunch of Sugar 'n Cream with this intent. But try as I might, I just never felt at ease knitting it. The big needles and dropped stitches made me as jittery as I would be after a 64 oz. Diet Coke. :P So, after about a year of trying, I've finally called it quits. It's still a cute and awesomely functional design, but we're just not meant to be, not quite yet. And that is why, a week before Mother's Day, I used my skein of Mauve Cotton Fleece to cast on a Lacy Yoga Bag instead.

And doesn't the yarn look happier?



NOTE: The lace patterns for the bags are interchangeable, but there is a one stitch difference. So, cast on accordingly, and when you get to the upper hem/eyelet portion, be sure to follow the directions for YOUR stitch pattern, which may not necessarily be the ones for your bag size. I choose to use the Pierced Diamonds pattern, but in the water bottle version.

Of course, the bag and I did have a few of those early-relationship misunderstandings along the way. For starters, it seemed like I would have scads of yarn left, and so I added an inch or two to the body portion. Oops. As I got to the upper hem portion, I realized my folly. But because of time constraints, I didn't want to rip back, and so I made the upper portion with eyelets only and no picot facing. The top rolls a bit, but it's a nice, casual look.

Then, try as I might for the bottom of the bag, I just could NOT manage to start knitting and increasing in the round with only eight stitches. If I'd had the time, I would have jaunted over to the LYS for help, but again, because of time constraints, I improvised. I'm normally not one for the maths, but I managed to knit a sort of octagon/circle piece with a 20 inch circumference, just what I'd need to fit the bottom. When pseudo-mattress stitched, it fit perfectly (not that you can necessarily tell that from the angle, but it did fit):



And finally...the cord. As my yarn shortage was becoming increasingly apparent, I decided to forgo the long strap for a simple drawstring closure. Really in crunch-time now, I cut several long lengths of Cotton Fleece and began braiding. I thought it might look tacky, but really, the final result was a cute "design element" (as I'm calling it). I just didn't realize how much yarn a braid would eat up, so it turned out rather short. Luckily, my mom is also short, so this was the perfect length for her to sling over her shoulder.

So, while we didn't experience clear sailing in the making, I *was* pleased to gift the final result, and I'd like to make a proper, by-the-book one for myself at a later date:

Retail Therapy

Wow, you really *can* buy happiness! And for only $5.75!



Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr laceweight, from Sarah's Yarns
Color: Cinnabar
Destiny: Sarcelle, someday

Tagged!

Kasia has declared that I am it! So without further ado, the Seven Random Things About Me meme:

1. Antiques and vintage clothing give me the heebie-jeebies. I like retro and vintage styling, just not the actual objects.

2. Also, street clothes on my sheets = heebie-jeebies. Jammies only on the sheets, thank you.

3. I used to write Harry Potter and Firefly fanfiction. My kids now sap too much of my brainpower to write anymore, which I don't mind, as I'd rather be knitting anyway. :P

4. I speak Russian.

5. I don't like to take naps, 95% of the time.

6. I don't consider myself high-maintenance (in the "When Harry Met Sally..." sense of the term), but one thing that I'm really particular about is my soda. I like *just* the right amount of ice, *just* the right spike of lemonade to my Diet Coke, etc.

7. I've yet to make my first pair of socks, and yet I have what you might call a "sock yarn problem". I'm just a sucker for color.

And for good measure,

8. Once in college, a random guy visiting the apartment mocked me for being "domestic" (my sewing machine was out on the kitchen table). I got mad and threw a box of cake mix at him. :P


I really don't know many knitbloggers yet, so if you'd like to take this and run with it, go right ahead! :)