Finished Project, Old Project, New Project

I did the finishing on the Central Park Hoodie this weekend and finished it last night. I was going to get modeled photos today, but the weather was not so good for an outdoor photo shoot. So here’s a photo of the buttons and buttonband for now.

I also worked on the Babette Blanket this weekend.

The four-round and six-round squares are finished. I’ve just got about four eight-round squares to do and I’ll start seaming the squares together. I’m really looking forward to finishing this project!

And here’s my newest project which has escaped blog attention since it was started last Saturday.

This is the bottom ribbing of Woolen Cashmere Twinset Cardigan (that’s a mouthful!) from Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery in Rowan 4-Ply Soft. The back and fronts of the cardigan are knitted in one piece up to the armhole, and then you divide the knitting for the fronts and back. The ribbing is going slowly – at 342 stitches on size US 2 needles a row takes a little bit of time to complete. But I’m enjoying it so far, and the yarn is very soft and pleasant to work with.

Also, the Chevron Scarf is finished and blocking. I can’t wait for it to dry – I think it’s the prettiest scarf I’ve made yet!

More Knitting in the Snow Photos

I like taking photos of my knitting in the snow so much.  The lighting is just about always great, and the pretty white background of snowflakes really compliments the knitting.  So, here’s more photos of my knitting in the snow.

My chevron scarf, which sat neglected for over a month, is now nearly finished – just about 7″ more, and I’ll be able to bind off. I’m so glad I didn’t frog the scarf and try it with different colors like I had intended to – this color combination is so pretty.

The Back, Fronts and Sleeves of the Central Park Hoodie are blocked and ready for finishing to begin. I’m hoping to have it done quickly, because this just came in the mail:

Five skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fine in Peridot intended for this:

Eunny Jang’s Katharine Vest. I can’t wait to start it!

And, here’s some more photos of the newest Babette Blanket Squares.

Only four more four-round squares to go for the blanket.

I hope you all have a great Friday and weekend!

Blankets and a Swatch

I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I knitted quite a bit on a project that has been neglected for over a month. 

Yes, I finally picked up my Mitered Square Afghan again. I forgot how much fun this blanket is to knit.

Unlike other patterns I’ve seen for mitered square blankets, these squares are not knit individually. Stitches for the next square are picked up along the sides of the squares already made. I’m sure the afghan will get to be quite a large piece of knitting in my lap by the time it’s done, but at least I won’t have any seaming to do. I guess I’d better finish this one soon – I won’t want a large piece of wool in my lap in a couple of months!

I couldn’t let the weekend go without knitting at least two Babette Blanket squares.

Below is a 10-round square, the only one in my version of the blanket.

The two fronts of the Central Park Hoodie are finished and will be blocking tonight, I hope. So, this weekend I swatched for the Dollar-and-a-Half Cardigan.

The Reynolds Soft Linen is very nice to work with and the finished fabric is soft with a nice sheen. I’m really looking forward to making this cardigan.

I’ve been looking for a substitute for the Fiesta La Luz used in the Printed Silk Cardigan, and last week I ordered some silk yarn from Colourmart. I ordered this yarn in Lilac Steel. It was $60.00 including shipping for the 38″ size. Great, huh? But I just read this post, and I’m getting quite nervous. I’m a naturally tight knitter, so I hope I can get gauge with this yarn. If I can’t, I’m not sure what I’ll do with it. I really hope I can make it work! If it doesn’t I can go back to my original choice for a yarn sub, Frog Tree Pima Silk. Lolly is making a Printed Silk Cardigan in this yarn, and it looks like it’s working well for her so far.

Also, Bonnie Marie Burns, the designer of the Aleita Shell has posted a modeled photo of the shell here, and Jennifer Tallapaneni, designer of the Mirabella Cardigan has posted a modeled photo here (scroll down to the bottom of both posts for the photos). I’m so glad designers with their own blogs do this so much of the time, now!

And last but not least, my sister Priscilla, who maintains our family blog, made this Layered Mocha Cheesecake over the weekend. It was sooooo delicious! I don’t think many other cheesecakes can beat this one, especially if you like coffee and chocolate!

FO: Phyllo Yoked Pullover

The last few days we’ve had beautiful sunny weather – perfect for taking pictures of the Phyllo Yoked Pullover. Sorry about my squinting expressions – it really has been sunny!

I love this sweater! It fits well and the yarn is nice and soft. My favorite things about the sweater are the belled sleeves and the yoke. The sweater was a lot of fun to knit, and it really went pretty quickly.

The sleeves, front and back of the sweater are knit seperately, and then joined on a circular needle to knit the yoke. The yoke is a lot of fun to knit, and the rounds go faster as you decrease stitches.

I made two modifications to the sweater.

First, I added waist shaping to the body (seen in the photo above). I do this with pretty much every pullover I make because boxy, straight down sweaters don’t fit me well. I usually add waist shaping by starting my decreases after I have about two or three inches of the body done. I decrease with two border stitches around the edges (k2, ssk at the beginning of the row or round; k2tog, k2 at the end of the row or round). I decrease every 5 or 6 rows or rounds about five times, knit 5 or 6 rows or rounds even, then start increasing back out for the bust in the same way with M1 increases.

The other modification was to the sleeves. When I started them, the pattern had you cast on 59 stitches for each sleeve. When I held it up on my arm, the bell on the sleeve was huge. I like belled sleeves, just not that big! So I started the sleeves again with 49 stitches instead. The bell is perfect now. I should have increased back up to 59 stitches when I was doing the sleeve shaping, but I didn’t. So when I came to the yoke, I had to increase stitches on the sleeves to have the correct stitch count. Instead of increasing my stitches gradually over the four rows of plain stockinette stitch at the beginning of the yoke, I decided it would be easier to increase all ten stitches over one round. Because of that, the sleeves puff slightly just befor the shoulder (you can see it in the first two photos I posted of the sweater and ini the photo below). It’s not very noticeable, but I’d increase the stitches differently if I made this again.

And, because it’s so pretty and it was a little obscured in my modeled photos, here’s a picture of the yoke.

Pattern: Phyllo Yoked Pullover from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan
Size Knitted: 40″
Yarn: Rowan Calmer, 8 balls in color 477
Needles: US 7 (4.5 mm)

Thanks to my sister Priscilla for going out with me to take the photos in the cold!

FO: Yarrow Ribbed Socks

The Yarrow Ribbed Socks were finished by February 14th!

Project Specs
Pattern: Yarrow Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Plymouth Yarns Sockotta, 1 skein, color 5616
Needles: US 1 (2.5 mm), set of 5 double points
Mods: None

These socks have a German Heel and French Toe. If I was to make these socks again, I’d change the toe. This toe does not fit me well, and because of the unusual way the decreases are made does not feel especially good, either.

The toe is worked on three needles, one for each side of the foot and one for the instep stitches. With the French Toe, you decrease at the beginning and end of each needle. This means that you have decreases up the middle of the bottom side of the toe (I hope that made sense), which I’ve shown in the photo below.

The heel, however, fits beautifully. When I did the heel for the first time, I thought there must have been a mistake in the pattern. You work over 39 stitches for the heel, and after I turned it, it looked huge and baggy. When I tried the sock on, though, it fit perfectly. I’d definitely make this heel again.

And, because it’s always good to have a sock on the needles, I cast on for a new pair.

These are the Oak Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks in Trekking XXL.

Knitting Daily posted the first of their galleries for the Spring 2008 issue of Interweave Knits. The sweater I wanted to knit immediately after viewing the galleries was the Printed Silk Cardigan – it looks so good on the women modeling it with negative ease!

Now to just find a good substitute for the Fiesta La Luz used in the pattern!

My Spring Interweave Knits Came in the Mail!

And suprisingly, the sweater I wanted to knit right away was Eunny Jang’s Katharine Vest.

When I first saw the vest in the previews I thought “Only a very thin girl could wear that.” But, I think with some modifications anyone could wear it. I’m planning on making a size larger than the size I would usually make, and instead of overlapping the fronts only 2″, overlapping them by maybe about 6″ so the vest is not so open. As a plus, the yarn is a great price – about $26.00 for the largest size!

Connie Chang Chinchio has posted a modeled photo of the Printed Silk Cardigan and some notes about yarn substitues on her blog, PhysicsKnits. I found them very helpful. The only modification I can think of adding to the pattern (aside from a yarn sub) is to put the ribbing that ends under the bustline at my waist instead. The babydoll style doesn’t look good on me, plus, I’d have more of the pretty diamond pattern on the sweater!

I also just came across Erin’s finished Gathered Pullover. I think it’s the prettiest one I’ve seen yet – I’ve added it to my ‘Must Knits’ for next Fall/Winter!

After receiving that Spring Interweave it was hard not to drop everything I was knitting and cast on for some things that say spring instead of winter (I think I’ve got a little bit of Spring Fever . But, I couldn’t start a new spring knit without feeling guilty about all those WIP’s I’ve got going, so I’m holding off from starting anything new right now.

And, here’s my progress on my WIP’s.

(Photo taken in basement – color is a bit off!)
The back of the Central Park Hoodie is finished and blocking, and the fronts are in progress.

Yes, that photo was taken on the snow. We’ve had lots of snow. Over a foot. Yes, I know, some places get that much in a day. But it’s lots of snow for eastern Iowa!

The second Yarrow Ribbed sock grew…

…and is now finished. FO post to come soon.

And, I made some more Babette Blanket Squares.

Because the pattern was written for sport weight yarn and I’m using worsted weight, I’m planning on making half the amount of squares called for in the pattern. The pattern calls for 49 two-round squares and I now have 26, so those are done.

I also need about 26 four-round squares. With the three I made over the weekend, I think I now have about 12.

I’ll have one 12 round square instead of the two the pattern calls for.

Those last few round really ate up lots of yarn! My leftover yarn stash is getting smaller and smaller and I’m so glad!

WIP Wednesday

I hope everyone’s having a great week.  It’s been snowing since yesterday afternoon, we have about 10″ of snow and it’s still snowing.  We havent’ had this much snow for about eight years.

 But this post is supposed to be about knitting, specifically my WIP’s. 

 Here’s the first, my Yarrow Ribbed Sock.  I should be able to do the toe tonight and finish sock number one.  I hope I don’t get second sock syndrome with the next one!

And here’s the back of the Central Park Hoodie.  It’s just about 2″ away from being done. 

I didn’t think I’d ever like crocheting again, but the Babette Blanket has changed my mind.  This project is a lot of fun – working with the different colors, and using up all that leftover yarn I didn’t know what to do with!

The colors in this square are left over from my Wobbly Circles Tote (Interweave Knits Spring 2006).

This is one of my favorite squares.

These squares come together so quickly and it’s so much fun to put the colors together (I said that already, didn’t I .

Pretty stack of squares with ends needing to be woven in.

And , I baked a pie last night. 

This is Cherry Cream Crumble Pie from Taste of Home. I substituted two 15 oz. cans of dark sweet cherries instead of tart ones, and it was delicious.