Lace Hates Me

Notice I didn't say that I Hate Lace. I love lace. I wanted to make my mom a lovely, delicate, airy lace scarf out of my one precious ball of Filatura di Crosa Superior (70% cashmere/30% silk!!!). Was that so much to ask? The lace gods have smote me. Not just once but 3 or maybe 4 times. It must just be my brain this week. I first got this lovely pattern:

(Jade Sapphire's Plum Lotus Scarf)

It just wasn't working and I wanted to cry and since knitting's supposed to be "fun", I decided to look for a different pattern.

I thought this one would fit the bill nicely. But for some reason I messed that one up real good too...3 times.

(To Knit is Divine's Travelling Roses Scarf)

Okay, I think I've finally gotten it now. I'm going to [try to] stick with Knitty's Juno Regina, albeit a smaller version with less diamond pattern repeats.



I can get my lace fix plus have a good deal of mindlessness in the middle so that I don't shoot myself trying to finish all these Christmas presents.

FO: Aamu

For the few people who actually read this blog, I want to say that I've become obsessed with Ravelry and therefore do not blog very often anymore. Maybe that will change when I get a new camera since these webcam photos are just not cutting it.

Anyhoo, I just finished up my Aamu sweater. This one's from the irresistible Norah Gaugan vol. 1 put out by Berroco. It was sort of by chance that this was the first project I made from the book. My Ultra Alpaca Light was on order at A Tangled Skein and I had a serious case of startitis. Then as I was digging through my stash, I found some forgotten Araucania Magallanes and thought that this would be the perfect project for it. A couple weeks and 2.5 skeins later, here she is.




Pattern: Aamu by Norah Gaughan
Yarn: Araucania Magallanes (100% Wool), color 316, 2.5 skeins
Needles: Addi Turbo 24" #6, #8
Recipient: Me
Mods: shortened the cowl neck an inch or so

I liked this pattern. It was easy but interesting and I think it's really different.

All of my other projects are chugging along. The other garment that I'm working on is a crocheted cropped cardigan that I found on Ravelry. I did the upper portion as per the pattern but I've decided to try a different and more lacy pattern for the bottom portion. We'll see how it goes. I'm using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Berry which is beautiful although, again, shitty webcam doesn't do the color justice.

I like FOs

This week I made the Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet that I found on Ravelry. It took me only 2 days to knit and I can tell this is going to be a wardrobe staple. I used up every inch of my Knit Picks Panache which, sadly, is now discontinued. I really am peeved that they discontinued this stuff: lusciously soft alpaca, cashmere, and silk for $4??? Why, Knit Picks, why? But at least I get to wear this little shrug close to my skin whenever I want. This pattern was GREAT. I will definitely be making more of these. So clear and had great instructions for making it fit perfectly.



Pattern: Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet by Julia Allen
Yarn: Knit Picks Panache, color Cloud, 3 balls
Needles: 9 (5.5mm) for body, 8 (5mm) DPNs for sleeve ribbing
Mods: Changed stitch number to fit my gauge, knit sleeves in the round, added ribbon tie

Also wear it without the ribbon...



And ANOTHER FO in record time. Literally took me half an hour from start to finish.



Pattern: Flying Gloves from Twinkle's Big City Knits
Yarns: Lion Brand Landscapes, color Spring Desert, fraction of 1 ball
Knit Picks Palette, color Red, fraction of 1 ball
Knit Picks Palette, color Blush, fraction of 1 ball
Needles: Susan Bates circ #19

Wore them today, one of our first truly chilly days. A splash of color in the midst of all the gray.

Facing Facts

A few weeks ago I read an inspiring post by Jared (b r o o k l y n t w e e d) on his blog. In it he talked about being realistic about your knitting, taking stock of your current UFOs, and frogging where necessary. I don't really have any UFOs that I don't want to finish someday but there are some things I finished that, I've decided, I could use the lovely yarn for something else since I hardly ever wear them.

1. My Tea Rose Halter Top: 4 skeins of my favorite color of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk.


I loved this pattern the moment I saw it, and I loved this yarn the moment I touched it, but, alas, the two were not meant for each other. What, oh pray tell what, was I thinking making a HALTER TOP out of ALPACA? Plus, I never got around to fixing the abysmal fit in the upper portion so it's currently cinched by safety pins. This yarn could be put to much better use! (My Ravelry queue already contains some ideas).

2. My "Fun in the Sun Hat": 2 balls of my favorite color of Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton.


I put quotes around the name of the pattern because it turned out nothing like it and I don't like the way it did turn out. I do want this hat, however, so I might be frogging it and re-crocheting it. But there are 5 more balls of this yarn on the shelf, so there might just be enough for something truly fun.

3. My Chelsea Sweater (A UFO).


The sleeves are just NOT GOING TO WORK and it's time to devote my energies to other things. So this lovely garment is going to become a VEST! I've pondered these set in sleeves a million times and it just isn't working. And when Pat, the GURU at A Tangled Skein, confirmed my frustrations, I knew the sleeves were going bye-bye.

I also frogged a hat that I never even finished and I knew I would never wear made out of the lovely-but-now-discontinued Knit Picks Panache. Now I have enough to make a little bolero.


Happy Frogging!

Chunkalicious

I bought the yarn and cast on for my Twinkle Groovy Sweater Dress! I'm finished with the first sleeve and it only took me about 30 minutes. I'm very excited although it's going to be a very warm sweater and it doesn't get that cold around here. I'll keep y'all updated, hopefully with some pictures once we get a new camera!

Oh and I decided to rip out my Memories of Ukraine Sweater...I had made a mistake somewhere and couldn't figure out where so I'll just start over soon.

An FO and Other Goings On

Let me begin by saying that Ravelry is incredibly addictive. I've already wasted an obscene amount of time on it and I haven't even figured out all the features yet.

Second order of business, someone *coughAdamcough* broke the camera so until we get a new one, my blogging will either be sans-pictures or with shitty webcam pictures.

With many of my projects either (1) boring me at the moment or (2) annoying me at the moment, I needed an FO to boost my self esteem. So I knit up Cyn's Bamboozled headband last weekend and, as promised, it was quick and fun. I had first started this weeks ago with a different yarn trying to, you know, work from the stash, but it just wasn't cutting in. So I got the Royal Bamboo (drool) that Cyn had used. I wore it today and got many compliments on it (Yay, Cyn!) Oh and I loved the twisted cord ties. What a great new technique!




Pattern: Bamboozled by Cyn
Yarn: Royal Bamboo, color 60 Olive , 1 ball
Needles: Size 7 (4.5 mm)
Recipient: moi
Time to knit: about a day

Let's see...I'm well into my Memories of Ukraine sweater (oh yeah, by the way, I started it even though I "promised not to cast on for anything new").


It took me a few tries to establish the pattern...it's more difficult working with this yarn than I anticipated. And now, almost finished with my yoke increases, I'm afraid I screwed up somewhere but it's (1) really hard to tell if I screwed up with this yarn which is both a good and bad thing and (2) really hard to correct my mistake if I indeed made one. I break into a cold sweat when I think about having to rip out a few rows and then figure out what the hell to do next. So, needless to say, I've put that project down for a few days.

Instead, I cast on for my brother's Entrelac Scarf.


I'm using Noro Silk Garden which looks and feels nice except for the occasional weird abnormality that I encounter in the skein. For the pattern I just cast on 18 stitches and made 3 triangles and went from there. This is my first entrelac project and I'm totally addicted. I'm about 1/3 of the way done with this scarf then I want one for myself and for Adam and for my mailman and for...........

And finally, much to his glee, I've reacquainted myself with Adam's socks. I had been frustrated with it, not quite sure how to proceed with this whole Magic Loop thing but then Cici saved me at last week's Sit 'n' Knit and by George, I think I've got it.

Yay!

I finally got into Ravelry! I'm still figuring stuff out but I can tell it's going to be eating up a lot of my should-be-studying time. My name on Ravelry is Rivka. Fun!