~ YO YO Stripes ~

Finally, actual knitting content!

Pattern: YO YO Stripes (click for free download)
Yarn:: stashed mohair
Needles:: US 7
Ravelry Link

Despite the lack of fiber-related content on this blog, I have actually been doing a lot of knitting. And speaking of my original patterns, tomorrow I hope to share a pattern that has been through test knitting and tech editing... and survived. The test knitting and tech editing processes I found rewarding in the sense that they exercised my ability to problem solve, organize data (both qualitative and quantitative), negotiate differences, and continually strive for writing clarity. I also found them to be humbling, and opportunities for my introverted self to "really put herself out there."

I would not say that the experience was stressful, but as the previous sentence suggests, it was a little intimidating. As a result, this week I decided to knit something easy and that required no mental expenditure.

The yarns that I used for this shawl were the remnants from two different mohairs that I acquired almost five years ago to make some scarves. These remants have sat at the back of my stash for almost five years (gathering metaphorical dust). A few days ago, I decided to use them together to make a modified version of the YO YO stripes pattern, as a stashdown project.

Because I did not have sufficient yarn to make a full version of the shawl, I modified it have a more gradual edge (thereby making it longer and shallower), as follows:
- worked in pattern until shawl measured 8” deep
- after that, on every WS row I would knit to 3 sts before marker, k2tog, k1, slip marker, k1, ssk, and knit to end

I used up every last scrap of yarn for this project, barely having enough with which to bind off. As a stashdown project, this was particularly satisfying. It was also satisfying making stripes that are not at all symmetrical.

Posted by jennifer at 4:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

~ Open Range ~

Pattern: Open Range (my own)
Yarn: Knit Picks Telemark (11 skeins)
Needles: US 3
Ravlink

I finally finished up my Open Range pullover last week. This was a project I completed almost a year ago but was never completely satisfied with it. A few months ago, I ripped out the body and reworked it.

This is a top-down pullover with cables coming down from the yoke, and picot edges.

The complicating factor is the placement of the cables along the yoke. In my grand vision, there would be two sets of cables coming down the front and the back, as well as down the sleeves, and then a cable between each set, evenly spaced and well-aligned with each other. I have come to realize that I went wrong by employing circular yoke increases, which would never have allowed me to realize my grand plan for the cable placement. Rather, raglan shaping would have been the ticket.

But what a bore life would be if we did not experience moments in which we learned from our mistakes and had insights into how to be better.

Now that I have blogged about it, I have realized closure with this project and I intend to frog the entire sweater and use the yarn for something else. This project has a lot of good qualities to it: it fits well, it is comfortable to wear, it is warm, and I really like the picot hems. My dissatisfaction with the cables, their placement and alignment, is sufficient to make me want a do-over. A clean slate, if you will.

That's one of the awesome things about knitting - - if what you knat sucks, frog the yarn and knit something else. Most aspects of life do not provide such an easy undo function.

Posted by jennifer at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

~ Foliage ~

Pattern: Foliage
Source: Knitty, Fall 2007
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend
Needles: US7

I finished up my foliage today. What a joyful project this was! The construction of the hat, from top to bottom and a fun (but not complicated) lace pattern, was both interesting and delightful. The yarn... drool... is possibly the most beautiful yarn I have ever knit with. The colors are glorious and the softness is unbelievably snuggly.

I cannot vouch for this hat being particularly warm, what with the lace pattern and the somewhat loose gauge. The intent of all hats, however, is not necessarily maximum warmth. All winter, I have been wearing my very warm and durable stranded wool hat and it has served me well. As spring approaches, however, I have wanted a warmer-weather hat knit from softer yarn. Even my Serious Hat that I recently completed is too warm for the spring weather. By contrast, Foliage seems to be a perfect springtime hat.

My only modification was to change the brim. I have a small head, so before beginning the brim, I decreased from 96 stitches to 76 stitches and then worked the brim in seed stitch rather than ribbing. I used about 3/4 of a skein - - and I'm not sure what I'll do with the 1/4 left. I'm trying to collect ideas of how to use partial skeins, and have an ample drawer-full of leftover yarn. Drop me a line if you know of any good stashbusting projects!

I have another full skein of this yarn in a solid grey colorway and intend to cast of for Laurel.

Posted by jennifer at 10:25 AM | Permalink

~ knitting knews ~

The past few weeks have been glorious. The weather is warming up, the days are now longer, and I am sleeping again. I have been riding my bike and have been going to yoga regularly. There's a mountain bike race scheduled about a month away that I'm thinking about entering.

In other knews, here is a little update on my knitting activities and projects completed.

Pattern: Autumn Rose Pullover
Source: Simply Shetland 4
Yarn: Jamieson's Shetland DoubleKnitting

This is the status of my Autumn Rose. I have been taking my sweet time with this project. I am, however, totally in love with my Autumn Rose. It took a while to get the fit right (if you recall, I procured the incorrect weight yarn and have had to rework the pattern accordingly), but I am finally very happy and satisfied with how it's coming along. Also, the colors make me swoon!

Pattern: Daisy Stitch Scarf
Source: Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting Book 1
Yarn: Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca

I love scarves. In addition to their being an integral component to my wardrobe, scarves are a nice way to balance the knitting of an eight-color fair isle sweater. I cast on for this scarf the other week ago and it was a joy to knit. The yarn, DROPS Alpaca, is gloriously soft and snuggly. And the resulting scarf is nommy beyond belief.

Project: Serious Hat Means Serious Business
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: US 7

This hat is hilarious. Last week, I randomly decided that I wanted to knit a hat. In consulting my stash with regards to patterns I wanted to knit, I realized that this pattern (a free download!) would be ideal for a stashbusting project. In particular, I located several leftover and partial skeins of Cascade 220 that had the potential of remaining unknit for a LONG time, and decided to cast on.

As I was knitting this hat, it occurred to me that my color choices were questionable. Once I finished it and pulled it over my head, I realized they were brilliant. The hat itself, I have noted, is somewhat silly. So silly that it makes me smile. So silly that I decided to name the hat an ironic and silly name; this is Serious Hat Means Serious Business. In fact, it is such a serious hat, that one might find oneself doing the following with it at the bar...

Pattern: Foliage
Source: Knitty
Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend

I must be on a hat kick. This evening, I cast on for Foliage, a free Knitty download. Foliage is knit from the top down, which I thought was sufficiently interesting to warrant a cast on. I went bananas doing yoga this weekend and have spent most of today with awful back pain, so I will bring some joy and relaxation to my evening by watching a movie, drinking tea, and working on my Foliage. Not only is the pattern fun to knit, but the yarn is delightful.

My other main bit of knitting knews is that I am excited to be an official test knitter for an awesome sweater pattern. Whee! The sweater design is an amazing fitted sweater with an elaborate cable motif that the designer created herself, inspired by the Lord of the Rings. The cables are really out of this world! Despite my abundant stash, I did not have any appropriate yarn, and I ordered some online. I must wait until the yarn arrives before I can cast on.

Posted by jennifer at 5:42 PM | Permalink

~ Silk Diamonds Scarf ~

Pattern: Silk Diamonds Scarf
Source: Simply Shetland 4
Yarn: Simply Sheltand Silk and Lambswool (2 skeins each color)
Needles: US 7

Over the weekend, I completed my Silk Diamonds Scarf. I started this scarf sometime in November and the fact that it took almost four months for me to complete is a testament to how knitting countless mitered squares is not the funnest activity on the planet. When I first began work on the scarf, I definitely found it enjoyable, but over time it became somewhat dull and tedious. I made a big push over the past few weeks to finish it because otherwise I feared that it would fall into the basket of hibernation, forever a work-in-progress.

This yarn comes from two scarves that I knit previously, that have gone unworn for some time. This scarf is an effort to bring new life to the yarn.

As you can see from the detail, I used a three-needle bind off to connect the two halves of the scarf. I like the seam created with the three-needle bind off, particularly here.

Of course, one of the exciting aspects of finishing a project is the opportunity to cast on for another.

Posted by jennifer at 8:50 AM | Permalink

~ Alpaka Tunic ~

Pattern: Alpaka Tunic
Source: Interweave Knits Fall 2009
Yarn: Noro Cash Iroha
Ravlink

Over the weekend, I finished up my Alpaka Tunic from last fall's Interweave Knits. I used not-alpaca for my version, specifically the Noro Cash Iroha, which is a a silk, wool, cashmere, nylon blend. This yarn has excellent drape, perfect for a tunic, and it is so unbelievably soft - - I salivate at how soft and wonderful it feels next to my skin.

This pattern is sized very large; the smallest bust size is at 43 inches. After fanagling with the pattern for a while, I omitted several of the lace panels, thereby taking out 11 inches of ease. I also modified the tunic to be seamless. Below are the specific details of what I did. The yoke was improvised starting as a raglan, and then a hybrid saddle sleeve and circular yoke decrease. I did not take notes on the yoke part and winged it based on trying the tunic on and then decreasing accordingly.

BODY

SLEEVES

YOKE

Posted by jennifer at 5:18 PM | Permalink

~ Ella ~

Pattern: Ella
Yarn: Drops Alpaca (2 skeins)
Needles: US 3
Ravlink

Here is my Ella shawl, a free pattern from Knitty. This pattern has been on my list to knit for years and I finally cast on a few weeks ago with the Drops Alpaca yarn. What drew me to the pattern was the hybrid shawl/scarf construction - - by which one has the neat corner of a shawl and the long ends of a scarf. What also drew me to this pattern was the stitch design, with its nifty scale or armor appearance.

The yarn is lovely; so soft and warm. And I love the color. You'll be seeing a lot of this yarn come off my needles in the future, as I procured a ridiculous amount of it at 60% off during the LYS "GOOBS" sale.

Posted by jennifer at 11:51 AM | Permalink

~ Bianca's Pullover ~

Pattern: Bianca's Jacket
Yarn: Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed (approx. 6 skeins)
Needles: US 7
Ravlink

This was a 14 - day sweater, possibly my fastest sweater of all time. I cast on the first stitches on November 13th and bound off on November 27th. Fourteen days for a sweater is fast, and particularly impressive considering that I was doing plenty of other knitting.

This is my Bianca's Pullover, a modified version of Bianca's Jacket. My initial cast on was 120 stitches. From there, I worked two repeats of the stitch pattern and then 11 inches of stockinette. For the sleeves, I cast on 44 stitches and worked in the stitch pattern for about 13 inches. Connected the sleeves and body and worked the pattern with circular yoke style decreases until it was about 13 inches circumference, at which point I worked two repeats for the turtleneck.

You may recognized this yarn from my Tweedy Waistcoat. The existing tension issues of that project were exacerbated after the yarn sagged and drooped over time with wear and washing. When I decided to unravel that project, I couldn't remember the last time I had had any desire to wear it; it had become so unattractive. I figured that it wasn't the yarn's fault that it had succumbed to some bad knitting, and decided to give it a new life.

I have wanted to knit Bianca's Jacket for some time and around about November 13th I decided that it would be a good project for the Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed. Because I've been customizing many of my cardigans lately to be pullovers, I gave into the inevitable and cast on for a pullover. I anticipate that if and when the yarn begins to droop, that it will form a nice drape in this pullover.

Posted by jennifer at 11:03 AM | Permalink

~ Honeybee Pullover ~

Pattern: Honebee Cardigan
Yarn: Koigu Premium Merino, Neptune 1040 (5.5 skeins)
Needles: US 3
Ravlink

I finished my Honeybee over the weekend and am very happy with how it turned out. The pattern was very well written and it had a unique layout that I found particularly easy to follow. This was my first experience working seamless set-in sleeves, and I was delighted by how simple they were to knit. I always admire how nicely a good set-in sleeve looks, yet I hate knitting them. As such, the seamless version is a fantastic alternative.

Modifications: It may shock you to learn that my modifications were minimal. Along the borders, I used seed stitch rather than ribbing. For the sleeves, I initially cast on fewer stitches and did a dramatic increase to have a wee bit of a poof. Specifically, I cast on 54 stitches, worked in seed stitch for 1 3/4 inch, place stitch markers every 11/10 stitches and increased one stitch on either side of marker until 72 stitches, at which point I continued all the way up in stockinette. The final modification was to seam up the center to make it a pullover rather than a cardigan. I've been doing this a lot lately to my cardigans; I'm not sure why, I love cardigans. Hmph!

My Honeybee is ideal for late spring or early fall weather. The cold of weather is not its optimal season, what with merino sock yarn in an openwork lace pattern not being the most insulating fabric. I like how the Honeybee has potential to be dressed up for either fancy or casual situations - - I can imagine it with a pair of nice jeans or with my Grandmother's pearls.

As for the yarn, I'm curious to see how the Koigu holds up as a sweater. In my limited experience with this yarn, I've learned that it fuzzes easily. I hope to treat this sweater particularly careful to avoid fuzzing. I used about 5.5 skeins of the Koigu. Ironically, I was very worried that I was going to run out of yarn, which is why I made the length semi-cropped. I used about half a skein each for the sleeves, about four skeins for the lower body, and half a skein for the yoke and sleeve caps.

Finally, I apologize for these weird photos.

Posted by jennifer at 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

~ Otis ~

Pattern Basis: Drops 109-3 Jacket
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Navy, 8 skeins
Needles: US 7
Ravlink

This is Otis, a "grandpa"-style cabled comfort sweater. I used the Drops pattern as the foundation, and knit with a mind tuned to feeling bundled and cozy as the cold weather approaches. This is the sort of comfort sweater that I can wrap around myself, feeling soothed by its wooly warmth.

Mods: I worked a number of modifications into this project, to include using stockinette and seed stitch rather than reverse stockinette, working the main cable motif up the full jacket, and incorporating a braided cable. Instead of raglan shoulder shaping, I used circular yoke style decreases and eventually worked just the front cables, bringing them together to have this cozy collar instead of the hood.

Some specifics: I cast on 190 stitches for the body, executed some waist shaping until there were 170 stitches. For the arms, I cast on 40 stitches and gradually increased to 50 stitches. I connected the body and arms, cast on 2 stitches on either side of each armhole, and evenly decreased 8 stitches along the stockinette and seed stitch portions on every RS row, for the next 48 rows, ending with 86 stitches. I then marked the halfway point along the yoke and continued working just the first cable motif, while at the same time knitting it together with the remaining stiches of the yoke. At the halfway point, I grafted the two cable motifs together.

The yarn is soft enough for next-to-skin contact, yet has a nice wooly feel. The dye bled a lot during the knitting process - - turning my needles and my fingers blue. I've read that this yarn pills excessively, a prospect that makes me sad. I intend to take extra special care of this to avoid such pilling. I'd also like to point out that I blocked the sweater extra wide, as my guage swatch was a little off.

Posted by jennifer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

~ Cheesehands ~

Pattern: Cheesehands
Yarn: Koigu Premium Merino
Needles: US1

The weather took a turn for the crappy this weekend, and I opted to stay indoors, knit my Cheesehands, and watch programs on my computer. This explains possibly the fastest completed project in my knitting history. That, or perhaps I was totally excited and couldn't wait to get them done. Either way, behold my Cheesehands - - doubleknit fingerless mittens.

In knitting parlance, the term "startitis" refers to when a knitter continues to cast on for projects despite having (possibly a lot of) unfinished projects. While I consider this term a misnomer - - particularly in my case, the problem rests on an inability to finish projects - - I have definitely come down with this. Since my last knitting post I haven't knit a stitch on the projects that I wrote about, and instead cast on for these fingerless mittens, somehow finishing them in about a week.

I have intended to try out doubleknitting for a while, feeling intrigued by the lack of tension issues that stranded knitting has, as well as for the doublefaced fabric. A search for doubleknitting patterns yielded slim results, but from that search I located the Cheesehands pattern. That the description for the pattern indicated it contains "detailed instructions on how to cast on and work in the doubleknitting technique" persuaded me to work this particular pattern, and I am pleased with my selection. The pattern's instructions for doubleknitting are very clear and understandable (they even contain a tutorial - - complete with pictures and other visual aids - - on doubleknitting) and I found it to be an excellent pattern for a first-time doubleknitting project.

As for my color choice, I have no idea what possessed me to use magenta and army green. The pattern motif is somewhat silly, reinforced by the designer's colors (rust orange and blue), and perhaps all this silliness compelled me to follow suit. Silliness and all, I am totally happy and satisfied with my Cheesehands.

Posted by jennifer at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

~ Fishtail Mitts ~

Pattern: Fishtail Wristwarmers
Yarn: Araucania Ranco Solid in sky blue
Needles: US 1

I was inspired to knit a pair of fingerless mitts after spending many mornings at the office with freezing hands. My hands have always been prone to being cold and clammy even when the temperature is otherwise agreeable, and yet only now do I discover the fingerless mittens solution. Working at the computer is more pleasant with my hands swaddled in wool.

The pattern was simple and straightforward. I made only a few modifications, to include knitting the fishtail stitch pattern all around the mitts (rather than working broken ribbing on the 'underside') as well as working on US 1 in a tigher gauge.

The stitch pattern is from one of the Barbara Walker Treasuries and I noticed that there is another free pattern for fingerless mittens which are virtually identical to these. The only difference I can detect is the garter edging and ribbing.

The yarn is a wool/nylon blend. The label claims that it is sport weight, but it seemed more fingering to me. My gauge was 36 sts = 4" and I used about half a skein. The texture is nice and wooly but not too scratchy, and the semi-solid colors add interest. More emphatically, I totally adore the semi-solid coloring. Because I knit in a tighter gauge, the lace pattern doesn't display quite as much, but the semi-solid coloring makes the mittens pop.

These mitts have served to revitalize my love of mitten knitting - - Now that fall is upon us, I find myself considering mitten patters with greater excitement. Sadly, one of the few local yarn stores remaining in my area has announced that it is set to close and is having a big sale to get rid of its inventory. I took a long lunch break last week to splurge on yarn for mittens - - and I acquired a hefty supply of Koigu and Collinette Jitterbug with the specific intent to make more mittens, both of the fingered and fingerless variety.

At the sale, I also purchased a copy of Japanese Inspired Knits (click for a good review), a book that I have admired from afar for some time. At first glance, the patterns in this book may be underwhelming and strange, but I gained a solid appreciation for them upon consideration of the varied construction techniques. More and more, I find myself drawn to stitch dictionaries and patterns that explore different construction methods. Later this week, I intend to cast on for the carp, which is constructed with diagnol rows of mittered sqares and employs shadow knitting.

.

Posted by jennifer at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

~ Lavandae ~

Pattern: Drops Cardigan in Alpaca
Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Treasure, 8.5 skeins
Needles: US3
Hook: 2.25mm
Mods: twisted stitch ribbing, waist shaping, faux side seams, cropped sleeves

On a happiness scale, this finished project rests confidently at the upper echelons of "very very happy." Just look at it! Doesn't it make you happy?!? It fits well, it's soft and comfy, and is happy-making.

This project goes down in my history as being the least modified project from a pattern. The pattern itself has this knit up seamlessly from the bottom. I worked twisted stitch ribbing to be more decorative than standard ribbing (and to compliment some of the decorative crochet work along the yoke), waist shaping, and faux side seams to help counteract any sag-effect of the alpaca.

I haven't used any Drops patterns before and it took me a while to figure out where to find the English translation for the chart. But the yoke is fun to work and was my favorite part of this project. I also was able to spruce up my crochet skillz with the decorative edging around the yoke. When I got to this part, I felt a bit intimidated by the crochet-factor and thought about leaving it out (on Ravelry, there's many projects that have omitted the crochet edging and the cardigan looks nice) but I decided that I wanted that little frill on my cardigan, so I held my breath and took the plunge. It came out rather nice, eh?

The buttons I picked up at an antique store. Green and purple go pretty well together, right??? I had been planning on using some mother of pearl buttons, but I couldn't find any as small as I envisioned - - I didn't think that big buttons on a dainty cardigan would be appropriate so I rummaged through my button stash and located these greenies.

The yarn is lovely. It is incredibly soft to knit with and feels nice and wooly when worn. Also, very warm and snuggly.

Posted by jennifer at 9:30 AM | Permalink

~ training and experience ~

I finished this sweater the morning before catching the plane to San Francisco. It's a seamless garter stitch kimono-style sweater with the climbing vines motif from the Interweave winter 2008 pattern. The vines were interesting and fun to knit. It was a surprise for me to learn that the vines are achieved by increases and decreases rather than cables.

I knit the body in one piece up to the arms, at which point I cast on stitches for the length of the arms and continued working it in one piece. I also worked short rows along the outer edge of the arms so that they could fold over nicely. I worked the front 'longer' than the back and folded the fronts of the arms over to the back and finished it off with a three needle bind off.

The yarn is a cotton/wool blend from a recycled thrift store sweater. I thought that the cotton in the yarn would yield a summer-appropriate garment. The sweater is a bit more cropped than I normally would go for, a result of not having enough yarn to make it longer (always a challenge when recycling thrift store sweaters), but it works as a summer warmer. I was also impressed to find in my button stash a red butten to match the yarn - - if memory serves, I found the button somewhere along the sidewalk and I picked it up because I thought I might one day have a use for a big red button. One person's road-side trash is another's treasure, eh.

Posted by jennifer at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ Johnny Appleseed ~

I am absolutely thrilled to be able to show off this project. It was on the needles for a number of months and before that it was in my imagination for some time. This was a "flying by the seat of my pants" project that underwent a number of revisions once on the needles.

The backstory to this project is that many months ago, I dreamed of having a bohus shrug with poofy sleeves. Clearly, what you see here is not a bohus shrug, not by any stretch of the imagination. The original "plan" was to work the "Wild Apple" bohus yoke pattern from Wendy Keele's Poems of Color, but somewhere along the way that changed. If memory serves, it had something to do with not wanting to manage so many colors (the pattern calls for, something like, 16 different colors). As this was going to be a stashbusting project, finding so many complementary colors of comparable weights from my yarn stash was unrealistic.

Ulimately, I decided on using the colorwork pattern from Neiman, which outlines those wonderful wonky circles. The yarn that I employed is fingering weight, lighter than whatever yarn Neiman calls for, and so I recharted the circles to be doubly-thick. I knit the yoke in the round with a steek, which I cut up the middle and hemmed to the inside. This was my first steek and I was surprised how easy it was.

As I worked through various sketches, translating my dream shrug with poofy sleeves into something a little more tangible, I eventually concluded that I wanted something with a flowy drape around my torso, which kicked out the idea of a shrug. A swing cardigan it became.

The poofy sleeves worked out perfectly from the beginning and underwent no modifications as I knit them up. Seriously, I am lovin' them poofy sleeves!

The blue yarn is Koigu's Painters Pallet and the other two yarns were harvested from thrift store sweaters. Harvesting yarn from thrift store sweaters, unfortunately, can yield an insufficient amount of yarn for one's knitting needs. For the particular sweaters that I harvested here, there was a good deal of yarn that was unsalvagable. In addition, the yarn was so incredibly thin that I had to knit it double, which meant that the possibility of running out of yarn was very real. Combining the two yarns worked out nicely, though. The more grey yarn is a silk wool blend, and the more brown-yellowy one is pure wool. Colorwise, I think they compliment each other well (though, I'm not the most matchey), and in the photos, you can see where I blended the two yarns before the full color transition.

It was the finishing work that really made this cardigan turn out. I worked folded knitted hems along the bottom and the neckband. The neckband took a lot of thought and I tried several different approaches to get it to look good. I cast on for the yoke without a plan for the neckband (bad idea), which left me wondering the past few days what in the world I was going to do about the neck area. It was a good opportunity to stretch my creative muscles. I also worked a crochet chain for the buttons and gave it a good steam block.

I'm looking forward to knitting mostly according to a pattern for a while. "Knitting by the seat of one's pants" is hard work!

Posted by jennifer at 2:18 PM | Permalink

~ Lassobelle ~

Project: Lassobelle
Yarn: Sublime Cashmere Merino DK (10 skeins)
Needles: US3
Pattern: improvised, top-down, seamless raglan with cables

I am excited to finally be able to show this project off! It has been on my needles since February, going through various revisions. I began by working saddle shoulders, then decided that saddle shoulders don't flatter my person and reworked it as a raglan. I may one day decide to type out my pattern notes into some comprehensible directions, but odds are that I won't.

Anyhoot, this is a top-down seamless raglan. A honeycomb stitch provides detail for the upper portion while some cabling runs down the side. The ribbing is my new favorite, twisted stitch ribbing. There are short rows along the back, though I think one too many. And I worked a slight poof to the bottom of the sleeve.

I finished it a few days ago and have had the opportunity to wear it around a bit, and I am very pleased. It is flattering and comfortable. The yarn is super soft and provides excellent stitch detail. After blocking, the yarn grew a very small amount, which I had anticipated (because I actually washed and blocked my gauge swatch), but has been otherwise predictable. This sweater was intended to be simple and well-fitting.

Here's a closeup of the cables. Lord, cables are sexy!

Now that this project is done, I'm knitting up something that has occupied my imagination for several months. It will be a swingy cardigan with a stranded yoke and cropped poofy sleeves. It will also provide me an opportunity to learn a new skill, one which has taken me a long time to try... steeks! Like everyone who tries steeks for the first time says, I'm nervous of taking scissors to my knitting. I did knit up a sample stranded swatch with steek stitches, cut the steek, and the swatch is holding up perfectly, so I hypothesize that all will be well. I'm almost done with the yoke, so perhaps I'll blog about the cutting of the steek over the weekend -- stay tuned for that thrilling post!

Posted by jennifer at 10:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ re-Vivianed ~

I stayed up last night making some revisions to my Vivian which I finished earlier this year. If you recall, I left the front open both for ventilation (as the llama wool is incredibly warm) and because I ran out of yarn. All in all, I wear my Vivian frequently and I have been mostly satisfied and have mostly loved it... except the open front. The open front has, quite honestly, been annoying me for various reasons. I've been thinking about fixing it for several months now, but laziness got the better of me. Then last night, while I was wearing my Vivian and hanging around the apartment, I began to imagine a world in which I absolutely loved my Vivian and realized that I possessed the power to control that aspect of my life. Gee! And so, four months to the day of finishing it, I finally got around to fixing it.

I unravelled several rows of the floppy collar and used that yarn to seam up the front before re-binding off the collar. As I anticipated, unravelling this yarn proved to be a HUGE pain. But well worth it. I debated for a time about whether to just add more buttons, to seam up the whole front, or just to seam up to the snazzy button - - and I feel good about having decided on the latter option. Having closed it up this way, I feel that the cables pop more and that one may better appreciate how well it fits.

Just to add a bit of a yarn review... I have been pleasantly surprised by the Cascade Pastaza - - it's not nearly as itchy as I had feared, has softened up, and has proven to be quite durable. After four months of regular use, there is NO pilling, which I find really amazing. I also really really love the color (which obviously is not displayed correctly in the photos).

I also have to laugh at these photos, as it is clear that I took a lot of care and attention to get high quality shots of my knitting. /sarcasm.

Posted by jennifer at 12:23 PM | Permalink

~ Rush Hour ~

Finally! The wait is over, another knitting project to share with the world.

Rush Hour: a longways reversible cabled scarf
Yarn: Sublime Yarns Cashmere Merino Silk DK (4 skeins)

This is the snot-green yarn I purchased on sale without having any good reason. As a stash-down project, I knit up this scarf using all four skeins of the yarn. The scarf makes use of the yarn's merino (75% of the content) stretch-properties and stitch-definition. It is fully reversible, with cables and twisted stitches.

The color is totally atrocious. I'm thinking of dying it, but so far laziness has gotten the better of me. I've also thought about writing out my pattern notes, but laziness has gotten the better of me. If anyone is particularly interested in them, let me know and that could compel me to type them out.

Some knitters may perceive these photos, depicting my newly completed knitting project perched on muddy bike tires something of an abomination, but for me it represents how I hope for biking to occupy more of my time than knitting in the near future. Last weekend, it was sunny and around 50 degrees, so I took myself on a road ride. I totally overdressed and was too warm, which felt pretty glorious for a February bike ride. I rode out to Hidden Springs and back, which features my favorite local hill climb/descent. I was slightly disappointed to find that my cyclecomputer needs a new battery, as I really enjoy monitoring my pace throughout a ride.

In other news, I recently spoiled Battlestar Gallactica for myself by reading character and plot summaries on wikipedia. (BTW, no spoilers here.) As I am always behind on everything (especially modern television programs), I am working through the series by renting the discs from Netflix. Currently, I am almost at the end of season 3. It's taken me quite a bit of time to get this far because I have a love/hate relationship with Battlestar Gallactica - - once in a while, an episode leaves me so emotionally traumatized that I can't bring myself to watch it for a long time, yet the story is so engrossing that I'm pretty much obsessed with it. Normally, I don't want to have any part of a plot spoiled for me and I make a concerted effort to avoid reading anything about it, but season 3 of BG has made me SO CURIOUS to find out certain things in the series that I finally decided to purposefully spoil the plot for myself and read detailed summaries of all the episodes I have yet to watch. I'm very interested to see how knowing certain things about the characters and the plot will impact my viewing of the rest of season 3 and then 4...knowing what I know, I actually think that I will enjoy it more.

Posted by jennifer at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ Vivian ~

First finished project of the year and I've been a knitting fool since the school semester ended a few weeks ago. Let it be known that I am delighted, absolutely delighted, with this project. Unfortunately, I ran out of yarn and was not able to knit the hood...sniff. The floppy collar, however, is a decent substitution. Today, the sun was out and Josh and I used the opportunity to hike Pole Cat Trail. It was around 30 degrees outside, I wore Vivian with a baselayer, and felt perfectly comfortable in the crisp air! This cardigan is so snuggly and comfy, perfect for that mild winter hike or cuddling up with some knitting and a cup of tea before bed (how I enjoyed Vivian last night).

Pattern: Vivian
Yarn: Cascade Pastaza

Besides the unfortunate omission of the hood, I made a few other alterations, including some ribbing, duplication of the cable motif on the underside of the sleeves, the button loop instead of zipper, and the changed the shaping. Oh, and the most glaring alteration is employing the Pastaza yarn, which yields a much different look (and feel and wear). I had planned on using Cascade Eco wool, but could not find any when I went out shopping - - and since I had to buy yarn that very day because I could not wait one second longer to cast on, I bought the Pastaza. Mainly because I liked the color....

Here's a shot of the back where you can see my shaping. This yarn was so thick and heavy that I was worried it would make me look like a quarterback if I followed the pattern, so I kept it narrow in the shoulders.

This yarn is also so thick that it has proven to be a very good move to omit the zipper in favor of a single i-cord button loop. The openness of the front provides much needed ventilation. At 30 degrees F, I was quite warm - - and I am normally someone who is always freezing, so this says a lot about this yarn's warmth. The yarn also has quite a lot of the llama guard hairs, which means that it should always be worn with a long sleeve shirt underneath. Otherwise, the yarn is quite poky (not scratchy, but poky).

The floppy collar is just the cable pattern from the body flipped to the wrong side and increasing 8 stitches every four rows in seed stitch. I'm rather amazed that I ran out of yarn. My row gauge must have been totally off - - I had even bought an 'extra' (calculating total yardage) hank of yarn, but I literally ran out of yarn on the collar bind off.

It was a glorious day today, hiking with Josh, wearing my new Vivian... The sunshine therapy was wonderful.

Posted by jennifer at 5:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

~ Neaty ~

Finished my Neaty and I love it. As I indicated previously, there was a bit of a snafu with the blocking, but I was able to correct that - - one of the glories of yarn, if you ask me. At any rate, I've worn my Neaty both yesterday and now today, apparently it's my new favorite garment, and I'm delighted with how cozy and comfy it is, the yarn is super soft. While I did not follow the pattern from Rowan hardly at all, I feel that the end product contains the 'spirit and intent' of Neaty, even though the process to arrive here was substantially different.

Posted by jennifer at 8:34 AM | Permalink