~ knitting update ~
I am happy to announce that the school semester is over. The past few weeks have been uniquely stressful in ways that I look forward to forgetting. The good news is that I have one semester until I graduate! This has been a rewarding program, but I am ready to be done. The semester was essentially over for me on Tuesday at 7:07 pm, when I submitted (what I thought was) my final paper (see above: uniquely stressful). At that point, I began considering what to do with my spare time during the next five weeks of school-free-dom. As you might expect, some of this involves new knitting projects - - and so, here is an update on that...
Pattern: Autumn Rose Pullover
Source: Simply Shetland 4.
Yarn: Jamieson's Shetland DoubleKnitting
This project has been on the needles for about a month. I have oogled the Autumn Rose pullover for YEARS and finally decided to go for it. For those who haven't considered this pattern, it is a FITTED fair isle RAGLAN. This is awesome because typical fair isle sweaters tend to be boxy and not at all figure-flattering. Inspiration for my colorways came from a Ravelry user and yarn availability at the LYS.
One significant yarn/gauge issue revolves around the fact that I somehow purchased the wrong yarn weight. I have been having some MAJOR BRAIN ISSUES lately, and for this project I purchased DK weight instead of fingering weight. Along with my other major brain issues, I don't have a clue how I managed to do this... It should also be noted that I purchased the yarn at 60% off (yay!) during a going-out-of-business sale at an LYS (boo!) and I cannot return the yarn. To compensate for the yarn weight, I recalculated stitch counts in the stranded pattern. I will keep my Ravelry page updated with my mods.
Pattern: Everybody Knows
Yarn: Noro Cash Iroha
Due to the aforementioned LYS "going-out-of-business sale" (heretofore referred to as GOOBS), I have procured A LOT of yarn over the past few months, most of which I bought without having a specific pattern in mind. This Noro would be a prime example. By the way, the color is difficult to photograph - - it's a dark blue/black, with a metalic sheen. You may be interested in the fiber content: 40% silk, 30% lambswool, 20% cashmere, and 10% nylon. Yum. It is soft, has a lovely hand, and a wonderful drape. In contemplating an appropriate pattern for this yarn, I noted that many knitters experienced significant growth lengthwise after blocking. Having learned my lession a few too many times about effective swatching, I knit up a sizable swatch, traced an outline of it, washed the swatch, and then traced a new outline of the dried swatch. The below photo shows the results of that - - namely, that the 36 row swatch grew an inch after blocking. That is a significant amount of growth.
I decided that the yarn might be best suited to a simple garment that would make use of the drape, and one that I could carefully monitor the growth of the yarn. I chose the pattern Everybody Knows (a free Knitty download) because I liked the punk-styled garter stitch. I anticipate that the metalic sheen of the blue/black yarn will add another punkish element. I love the collar on this sweater, however, I'm thinking about adding a Ninja Hood instead.
Pattern: Ella
Yarn: Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca
This alpaca is another GOOBS acquisition at 60% off with no plan for its use. I have two skeins of this particular color, which should work for a scarf. Ella is another free Knitty pattern that I've admired for a while. It reminds me of lizard scales. And one of the reasons that it appeals to me is that it is a triangular shawl divided in the center to produce a scarf-like construction. That is a little different from the typical lace shawl. Furthermore, that the lace of this shawl is simple also appealed to me, as I am a very novice lace knitter.
Pattern: Linnaeus, my own design
Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock and Colinette Jitterbug
Linnaeus is an asymmetrical stranded jacket... or, it will be eventually. I presented Linnaeus in another version several months ago, and afterwards decided that I didn't like it. This is a new version with a much simplified stranded motif (16 stitches by 18 rows) and I've inverted the yarns.
In stash news, the Type A nerd in me salivated excessively earlier this week upon realizing that one can export one's Ravelry stash information to an excel spreadsheet. During my GOOBS yarn acquisition, I decided that it was imperative for me to update my stash records so that I would know its exact contents. Since then, the challenge has been deciding what yarn to use with what project - - I find that having A LOT of choices makes the decision process very difficult, especially when it involves lots of nommy yarn. Anyway, I spent some time with my excel spreadsheet yarn inventory and added a column to identify appropriate pattern ideas. In thinking about my excel stash inventory, I DROOL.
