I wore my Cache Coeur to work yesterday, and got a bazillion compliments on it! Even the non-knitters asked about it. And since I've never loved the picture from just after I finished it (bad lighting + me looking kind of weird... great combo), I took some newer, hopefully better pictures of it while I have some good Cache Coeur mojo working.
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I'll be casting on soon for a blanket square for the Mosaic Yarn Shop drive. They're in Blacksburg, and they're collecting 8x8 squares to make blankets for the victims' families. Great idea, Mosaic folks! (more info on their blog)
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Look! Cables!
Guess what I did with Day One of my weekend...
Yep. That's a finished cabled knot! What a great first "real" cabling project -- all of the cablework on the back is done, and now I can work on the rest of the back without a great deal of concentration.
NOT working with that concentration led to me decrease a stitch somewhere in the middle of one of these knots. Of course it couldn't have happened in one of the the stockinette sections. I blame myself. I decided to knit while watching Children of Men. I am dumb like this from time to time. Excellent movie, but not knit-friendly.
On a different pattern, I'd just add a stitch somewhere and move on... but doing that in the middle of a symmetrical cable pattern looked weird -- yes, I tried. I was hoping in vain that I'd be able to fake it. No way. I ended up dropping the knot section back 4 rows, to a row that I knew was right, and knitted that section over. Of course, after I dropped it back and had those strands hanging there, I had that wonderful "I've made a huge mistake, I just made it worse, I'll have to frog the whole thing" moment. However, somewhere out there, the patron saint of knitting took pity on me. I'm still in awe that it actually worked. :)
Anyway: yay, cables! Especially when you pay attention to them!
Yep. That's a finished cabled knot! What a great first "real" cabling project -- all of the cablework on the back is done, and now I can work on the rest of the back without a great deal of concentration.
NOT working with that concentration led to me decrease a stitch somewhere in the middle of one of these knots. Of course it couldn't have happened in one of the the stockinette sections. I blame myself. I decided to knit while watching Children of Men. I am dumb like this from time to time. Excellent movie, but not knit-friendly.
On a different pattern, I'd just add a stitch somewhere and move on... but doing that in the middle of a symmetrical cable pattern looked weird -- yes, I tried. I was hoping in vain that I'd be able to fake it. No way. I ended up dropping the knot section back 4 rows, to a row that I knew was right, and knitted that section over. Of course, after I dropped it back and had those strands hanging there, I had that wonderful "I've made a huge mistake, I just made it worse, I'll have to frog the whole thing" moment. However, somewhere out there, the patron saint of knitting took pity on me. I'm still in awe that it actually worked. :)
Anyway: yay, cables! Especially when you pay attention to them!
Friday, April 20, 2007
When swatching is a good idea
So, I started Ljod on Sunday during the series premiere of Drive (knitting + a glass of wine + Nathan Fillion = happy me).
As you can see, I mini-swatched for this. Good thing I did, and didn't just wing it with the recommended needles like I usually do. Size 6 (the needles called for in the pattern) gave me a really lovely drapey fabric that had no structure to it at all. It's not evident in the picture there, but the fabric was fairly open-weave... NOT ideal for cablework, even minor cablework like this pattern has.
Size 5 it is, then. :)
Downside to this... my first two long sleeved sweaters took about 6 months apiece for me to finish. Both were done on size 7s. A sweater on size 5s? Let's say that I'm prepared to be joined to this project for a while. Also, I still have a second Go With The Flow sock to do, and while I know I want a little break (that's one very repetitive lace pattern there), I don't want to let too much time go by before starting the second one.
Anyway, I've got about 2" of the back done, which includes the start of the inset cable design. The cables actually look halfway decent! I've only ever done cables in yarn that completely hides them, so I'm really glad I'm not terrible at them.
As you can see, I mini-swatched for this. Good thing I did, and didn't just wing it with the recommended needles like I usually do. Size 6 (the needles called for in the pattern) gave me a really lovely drapey fabric that had no structure to it at all. It's not evident in the picture there, but the fabric was fairly open-weave... NOT ideal for cablework, even minor cablework like this pattern has.
Size 5 it is, then. :)
Downside to this... my first two long sleeved sweaters took about 6 months apiece for me to finish. Both were done on size 7s. A sweater on size 5s? Let's say that I'm prepared to be joined to this project for a while. Also, I still have a second Go With The Flow sock to do, and while I know I want a little break (that's one very repetitive lace pattern there), I don't want to let too much time go by before starting the second one.
Anyway, I've got about 2" of the back done, which includes the start of the inset cable design. The cables actually look halfway decent! I've only ever done cables in yarn that completely hides them, so I'm really glad I'm not terrible at them.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Scary day
My heart goes out to everyone affected by the events at VA Tech. I'm a grad of another school in Virginia, and this hit kind of close to home. I met Tech students at every intercollegiate activity I did, and knowing that a tragedy like this has affected everyone there, and all of their families... so senseless.
Like many others, I'm waiting for a way to be able to help.
Like many others, I'm waiting for a way to be able to help.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Completed GWTF sock
So, the Masters golf tournament was on this past weekend, and I was at my parents' house. This meant that I got to sit through over 9 hours of golf coverage with "limited commercial interruptions"...
I got almost the entire foot of my Go With The Flow sock completed, and just had a few toe decreases left for Knit Night last night:
This golf was, at least, a bit more interesting than normal because there were a lot of lead changes. Plus, there was my family mocking the "A tradition unlike any other" tagline that they use for the Masters. Still... it was a LOT of golf. I was on the gusset decreases when I got there on Saturday.
The weekend was good, though. My parents and I went to see The Hoax Saturday night (my brother wasn't interested, so he stayed home). I liked it--I didn't LOVE it, but it was decent. Sunday, we all went to brunch with my grandmother, who is a hoot. She doesn't believe in keeping opinions to one's self, and apparently spent a lot of time at the last brunch making sure that everyone knew that the beef was dry. The Easter brunch beef met with approval, however. :)
I got almost the entire foot of my Go With The Flow sock completed, and just had a few toe decreases left for Knit Night last night:
This golf was, at least, a bit more interesting than normal because there were a lot of lead changes. Plus, there was my family mocking the "A tradition unlike any other" tagline that they use for the Masters. Still... it was a LOT of golf. I was on the gusset decreases when I got there on Saturday.
The weekend was good, though. My parents and I went to see The Hoax Saturday night (my brother wasn't interested, so he stayed home). I liked it--I didn't LOVE it, but it was decent. Sunday, we all went to brunch with my grandmother, who is a hoot. She doesn't believe in keeping opinions to one's self, and apparently spent a lot of time at the last brunch making sure that everyone knew that the beef was dry. The Easter brunch beef met with approval, however. :)
Friday, April 06, 2007
Ljod it is
We have a winner! All the comments here were for Ljod, and the ladies at Knit Night on Monday liked it as well... and I was slightly leaning towards it anyway. Done. :)
Heading up to NJ on Saturday to spend some time with the fam, including Easter brunch with my grandmother. I'll be back on Sunday, perhaps with the beginnings of Ljod in tow.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Heading up to NJ on Saturday to spend some time with the fam, including Easter brunch with my grandmother. I'll be back on Sunday, perhaps with the beginnings of Ljod in tow.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Turned heel
Nifty trick learned from this pattern: knit all of the picked-up stitches on the gusset through the back loop and they won't stretch out as much. I think I'm doing that on all socks from now on. :)
Sunday, April 01, 2007
April's here!
For those of us doing Project Spectrum, the arrival of April means we get to focus on happy springy colors: yellow, green, and pink. I can't wait to see the projects that everyone's working on!
As far as pink goes, I generally like it to look something like this:
I've had this Silky Wool in the stash for a while, and it's begging to be made into something. I'm finding myself torn between two sweaters out of Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Knits.
Ljod:
Tordis:
I already know that whichever sweater I don't make now will be made eventually in another color. I love both of them. Ljod has gorgeous shaping, and I'm really taken with the little knot cables on the bottom. I haven't knit a cardigan yet, and if I'm going to do one, it'll be this. And then I look at Tordis, which makes the Doctor Who fan in me chuckle... Right off the bat, I can tell you that if I go with this one, I would change the neckline to something other than a mock turtleneck. However, I love the cables, I love that it's a more relaxed shape than either of the sweaters I've made before... I can't decide.
I think I'm putting it to a vote. :)
As far as pink goes, I generally like it to look something like this:
I've had this Silky Wool in the stash for a while, and it's begging to be made into something. I'm finding myself torn between two sweaters out of Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Knits.
Ljod:
Tordis:
I already know that whichever sweater I don't make now will be made eventually in another color. I love both of them. Ljod has gorgeous shaping, and I'm really taken with the little knot cables on the bottom. I haven't knit a cardigan yet, and if I'm going to do one, it'll be this. And then I look at Tordis, which makes the Doctor Who fan in me chuckle... Right off the bat, I can tell you that if I go with this one, I would change the neckline to something other than a mock turtleneck. However, I love the cables, I love that it's a more relaxed shape than either of the sweaters I've made before... I can't decide.
I think I'm putting it to a vote. :)
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