Novella

What was I so worried about? The Novella socks are a joy to work up. As of now, I'm almost done with the third repeat of the cable pattern. I think I'll only do seven repeats instead of eight since I'm so small. Here's a couple of pics. The color of the yarn is not accurate. Sadly, the color of the legs is. I need sun.

Boo to Martine

What was I thinking when I decided to start the Martine top? It's just Stockinette on little needles. It's boring and would take forever. So forget that...I'll find something more interesting.

Picked up the Novella Socks again and have finished ruffle and one Lattice cable pattern repeat on the first sock. I don't know what I was so worried about, it's fun. I think I can do the entire thing on circulars until the heel.

I'm up at 4 am because I have a cold and can't sleep. So I think about knitting. Wish my books from Amazon would come.

Crumbled

I gave in to the inner nag and bought the black Silkience to start the Martine top today. After a quick swatch, I had to go down to size 4 needles instead of 6 since the Pure Silk is finer. It's a simple simple pattern...just Stockinette really. And I know that I want a black top, but knitting with black on this gorgeous sunny day seemed a little unethical.

So once I'm done with this I'll be ready to go back to patterns that make me want to cry like the Novella socks. They're not HARD, per se...I don't know why I'm having so much trouble.

Oh and I think I'm getting carpal tunnel syndrome or something... My right wrist and arm have started hurting more and more lately. Knit less you say? Never!!

Grumble

So, I've started, ripped out, and restarted the Novella Socks 5 times. Why? Because for some FREAKIN' REASON, I keep twisting the stitches when I join in the round. I feel like an idiot. I've decided to at least start them on circulars instead of DPNs because I hate casting onto DPNs and I have to cast on 150 sts. I think I'm going to put this project down for a while.

What I REALLY want to do is this top from the new Debbie Bliss Summer Essentials book:




I want it in black, since I don't have a summer-weight dressy cardigan-type thing. I can't afford Pure Silk ($15.40/skein?) so I'm going to try to do it in the Silkience. My new favorite yarn.

I got my KnitPicks stuff yesterday. The chunky alpaca/cashmere/silk/merino (Panache) is loverly and that will become a hat and something else. The hat will definitely be the Asymmetrical Cable hat from One Skein. I don't really know why I got 3 skeins of this stuff. I guess there are always uses for chunky off white yarn.

The lace weight merino is lovely as well but it won't be right for the Lingerie Dress. Alas, I will have to buy the Douceur et Soie after all. Maybe I will try my hand at dyeing with this merino lace weight and do a huge shawl (that I will finish when I'm 50).

Tank finished

I faced my frogging with fearless ferocity and finished it with finesse. It was annoying getting ALL of those stitches back on, untwisted but it worked out and finally my project was back on track. After that, the project took off and was a joy to do. I finished it yesterday and wore it to work where I was showered with compliments which was really nice! I like how it turned out.

Pattern: Ribs and Lace Tank from Spring 07 Interweave Knits

Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Ty-Dy, color Blueberry Fields, 3 balls

Needles: Size 10 and 4 circulars

Recipient: ME!

My frogging success inspired me to pick up those projects I've been neglecting since they had some problem or another. I fixed my Branching Out scarf and finished it! Here's a picture of it being blocked. Also got nice compliments on this at work.

Pattern: Branching Out from Knitty.com

Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Douceur et Soie, color Ivory, 1 skein

Needles: Size 8

Recipient: Store model

Don't tell my bosses, but I bought some yarn off of KnitPicks.com the other day. I just couldn't resist...I got 100 grams/800+ yards of lace weight alpaca for 5 bucks! And some chunky alpaca/cashmere/silk blend for 5 bucks too. Can't beat that....

Also bought Lace Style which is a gorgeous book and I want to make EVERYTHING in it. I bought it for the Lingerie Dress which is this feather light ballerina-like thing that I think would be so fun to wear. It calls for Rowan Silk Haze but I think Douceur et Soie would would just as well. I originally bought that lace weight alpaca from KnitPicks thinking I could use that but I think the texture of the mohair is essential. That will be a pricey project, though. Maybe that can be my birthday yarn from Adam or my parents...but can I really wait until June?

I've started the Novella Socks from Knit 2 Together. I'm very concerned about this project. I hate, HATE, HATE working on DPNs...I know that maybe if I practice I'll get more comfortable but I just hate it. Plus this has cables and is just a generally tricky pattern from the looks of it so if I can get through this I will feel so very good. I bought the Silkience to do it with :-D.

"B" is for Bolero...Flowers...The "F" word (Frogging)

Made some progress on Mom's Short 'n' Sweet Bolero. I'm done with the left and right front pieces. Now I just have to do the rest of the back and front and the sleeves. Here's a picture of Adam modeling my progress so far.



And here's a projection of how the finished project will look on my mom, also modeled by Adam.



I'm going to be teaching my first class at A Tangled Skein, doing my felted vase filled with knitted flowers project. So I'm working on making a second example by making a puke-yellow colored vase (my favorite color!) filled with pink cotton roses. I picked up a ball of good ol' Sugar 'n' Cream cotton for a whopping $1.79 at Jo-Ann's (shh!). But, really, who can beat that? It comes in tons of colors (though only about 6 were available at the ever-impressive Greenbelt Jo-Ann's), and it feels and looks just as nice as some other, much more expensive cottons that I've seen.






Finally, I was just flying along with my Ribs and Lace tank. Finished the Crest of the Wave pattern at the bottom, started the ladder lace section. But, somehow, something's off. Why does this keep happening to me?? So, I'm going to have to tear out about 10 rows. I HATE HATE HATE FROGGING. I at least can manage it without losing any stitches, but it just never seems to recover and look good. So I've put that project down for the night and I will have a go at it tomorrow.

Oh and here I am modeling my Tea Rose Halter, which I wore out with Jenny on Friday and then to work on Saturday where I got a lot of compliments which made me feel better about the whole ordeal.

Pattern: Tea Rose Halter from Spring 07 Interweave Knits

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk, color 10, 4 balls

Needles: Size 13 circulars

Recipient: me!

That went out the window...and knitting chores

I knew my little resolution to not start new projects wouldn't last long. First of all, I jinxed myself. The moment I posted that last entry, something decided to go wrong with the Clementine Shawlette and I must have added a stitch somewhere because the pattern is off. Same with the Branching Out scarf. So I had to put those down for a little while.

I picked up my mom's bolero again and made some good progress BUT....

I also bought some new yarn and started a new project :-) Last week we got in this new yarn called Ty-Dy from Knit One, Crochet Too. It's a beautiful cotton that comes in awesome variegated colors and is soft and cool to the touch. I usually don't like variegated yarn, but this combinations of blues, purples, and greens just screamed summer relaxation which is something I sorely need right now. So I started the Ribs and Lace tank top from the Spring IK, and so far it's looking nice. I'm still on the first lace pattern at the bottom. The yarn called for is Kirabella Zodiac which is 98yd/50grams and the Ty-Dy is 196yd/100grams, so hopefully it should be perfect. (I didn't swatch...shhh!!!!). Here's a pic of my small amount of progress thus far:





Now, here's the deal with the Tea Rose Halter. So, I actually finished it like two weeks ago. I even wrote a blog entry and saved it as a draft. But I have neglected to photograph it and, more importantly, wear it, because it's not done. The sizing is off. It's my fault. I thought I could compensate for the slightly lighter yarn by upping the needle size and the garment size but now the top portion of the halter is horribly baggy. I don't know if I should cinch the sides under the underarms or take it out and do it over. Plus I need to weave in the ends, block it, and reinforce the neck straps. I HATE FINISHING THINGS! I never learned the correct way, I guess, to weave in ends or sew seams or any of that so it always looks awful. I love knitting, but the end part is always a chore to me. I just put it off. This was one project that I really wanted to be gorgeous, and hopefully I'll be able to salvage it. Here's a picture of it now and I'm not modeling it because it doesn't fit right now!

No New PROJECTS!!!! (for the most part)

Made a resolution last week that I won't start any new projects until the ones I'm working on are done. Yeah right, right? Especially hard when one works in a yarn shop. But so far I've kept to it. Working diligently on the Clementine Shawlette.


Also, making nice progress on the Branching Out scarf (from Knitty) for the store. This is a one skein scarf that I get to use the lovely and delicate Douceur et Soie yarn for. I've never worked with lace weight yarn before and this stuff is airy and feather light, yet works up surprisingly fast. Pretty simple lace pattern, but the Douceur et Soie makes it a little more challenging. Fun.



I've picked up my Cathode sweater again (from Knitty). I've decided to extend the bottom ribbing to make that the dominate part of the sweater and make it really long...like over the butt length. I also may play with the sleeve length (I'm supposed to just add some ribbing but I might it extend it more). For this I used some pretty yarn I got in Ecuador and some of the Nature Spun sport weight.



To please Adam, I'm also working occasionally on his water bottle holder although it's not very exciting. I'm hoping that I got the size right so that it felts to fit.



Oh, and I did start the crocheted slippers from an old issue of KnitScene with some yarn from my stash. I've finished one and it only took me a couple hours. So cute.



I'm apprehensive to pick up my mom's bolero since I think I forgot which row I left off on and I'm not looking forward to figuring that all out.

I read a really great tip in my new favorite book, Knit 2 Together. It says that, ideally, you should work on two projects at any given time. One simple one for when you're with people or watching TV and one more complicated one for when you want to concentrate. So, once these are done, hopefully I'll do that.