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So I mentioned that I joined the International Knit a Sweater a Month Group on Ravelry and I’ve been thinking about what sweaters/cardis I should make for a long time.  Evidently I have a thing for lace sweaters

The First is Lattice Lace Pullover by Laura Grutzeck from Knit So Fine: Designs with Skinny Yarn. I swatched for this sweater last summer but didn’t go beyond that. I have a wonderful collection of KnitPicks Gloss for this. This color looks great on me if I do say so myself The second is a pattern I’ve wanted to knit for a long time–Apres Surf Hoodie by Connie Chang Chinchio from Interweave Knits, Summer 2008. I was originally going to use some KnitPicks Gloss but I am not a big fan of the color I dyed it with. Instead, for my birthday, I got a gift card from mom and Lindsey to the Loopy Ewe. With it, I got some Dream in Color Smooshy in the Plum Paisley colorway for this wonderful hoodie. The third sweater is Lace V-Neck Top by Pam Grushkin from Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2009. I have no idea what yarn I will knit this sweater with but I have to say–it would be nice if people on Ravelry would state the size they knit and how much yarn they used. grumble. lt; Finally the fourth cardigan is Sabbatical by Connie Chang Chinchio. For a birthday present Jermaine got me a KnitPicks gift card and I got some Telemark with it. I got some of this yarn in the Aubergine color. How pretty!

Why am I thinking about these particular sweaters so early in 2010? Well lace sweaters have a tendency to take forever. I mean shooooooot—I got gauge on the Lattice Lace Pullover with US size 1.5s! That’s going to take some time!

These next two patterns will take some time as well–Autumn Rose by Eunny Jang (kit bought from Knitpicks) and Blackberry Cabled Cardigan by Alexandra Charlotte Dafoe. I got this wonderful yarn, Stonehedge Fiber Mill Shepherd’s Wool, from Fibre Space in Alexandria, VA.

I don’t think the cabled cardi is going to take a looooooooong time perse but I’m still very excited to make it. The yarn is DELICIOUS!! I’ve already started swatching:

For the past few months, I’ve been considering countless sweaters.  These twelve, however, stick out the most:

TOP ROW: Blackberry Cabled Cardigan, Apres Surf Hoodie, Lattice Lace Pullover, Autumn Rose SECOND ROW: Sabbatical, Lace V-Neck Top , Kelmscott, Henley Perfected THIRD ROW : Notre Dame De Grace, Seneca, Fair Isle Cardigan (With different colors, of course!), February Fitted Pullover

Of course these can change. I won’t start any of these until I get this wonderful cardigan done for lil Abby. I’m test knitting the Starlight, Starbright pattern by Kirsten Jensen. Christmas knitting and some other personal events got in the way of my completing this so I’m bound and determined to get this done….as well as some Christmas socks…still!

I hope to have this completed really really soon.

Have a great night, everyone.

Happy New Year!!

I hope you had a great New Year celebration. J and I welcomed two friends to our apartment we haven’t seen in a while. It was a great new years.

In the idea of nostalgia, here is what I completed knitting-wise in 2009

So, in review:

1 Cowl
2 Baby Sweaters
3 Pairs of Gloves
9 Pairs of Socks
2 Shawls
1 Hat
2 Cardigans

There is a part of me that is a little disappointed. Last year, I made 29 items and this year, it was 22. That said, I made more sweaters and cardigans and I’ve learned a ton. See…lookie. This year I also:

Steeked:

Learned how to knit fair isle on two hands

Learned Double knitting for a future finished object for Jermaine

So yes, I wasn’t popping out finished objects as I used to in previous years but I’m still proud of myself and what I did in 2009.

As far as goals for 2010, I want to concentrate on sweaters, pullovers, cardigans. I seem to be in a huge sweater kick. I joined the IntSweMoDo2010 group on Ravelry. Sure, working on a wool sweater in July in DC won’t feel that fantastic but that’s where lace sweaters might come in

I have some sweaters in mind for this KAL but I’m still getting my thoughts together for it. But I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a KAL with very little rules as that is up to the individual knitter, which is nice, seeing as how I have work deadlines, not knitting ones

Happy new year, everyone! Stay warm and happy knitting.

is complete:

Pattern: Cherished Pullover by Renee Sparkes
My Ravelry Project Page
Yarn(s): KnitPicks Pallette
Colorway(s):
Mist – 1.42 skeins, 328 yards
Marine – .26 skeins, 60 yards
Cornmeal – .08 skeins, 18.5 yards
Garnet Heather – .22 skeins, 51 yards
Pool – .12 skeins, 28 yards
Rainforest – .24 skeins, 55.5 yards
Liptstick – .34 skeins, 78.5 yards
Needle(s): US 1½ / 2.5 mm
US 3 / 3.25 mm
Casted On: July 18, 2009
Casted Off: November 8, 2009
Modifications: None–I followed the pattern to a tee because I don’t really know how to modify a stranded sweater. The only thing I changed was that I didn’t do the K2P2 ribbing at the neck because I was nervous the neck hole would be too small.

This pattern was so fun to make! The pattern was written so so well (Thank you Renee!) and the color combination just pops.

There was one area where I think I could use some help/practice and that would be in the sleeve area. Perhaps all I need are 12 inch circulars but I did notice some bulkiness. Hopefully that will go away when I block it? This sweater is quite dense so I don’t have a huge ton of confidence in the blocking process as I would if it were lace. But oh well. This is still a great sweater and I learned a lot.

I called this “Laura’s Experiment” on Ravelry because even if it doesn’t fit Abbey, which, I hope, is doubtful, I’ve learned a lot about steeking and more advanced fair isle techniques. So much so, I’m test knitting this wonderful cardigan from Kirsten for lil Abbey too. She’s going to be spoiled Christmas afternoon!

I have compared steeking to going on a roller coster for me. First time I did it, I was very nervous and scared. Afterwards, I was like “That was so awesome!”

Well steeking is the same. The sweater and me before the cut:

Was I nervous? OF COURSE but I did a ton of research on Eunny’s blog and Mary Ann Stephen’s blog. I decided to do two sew lines on each side of the steek cut area. I did that because I was that paranoid and I can’t say I was doing a great job of sewing.

This was the end result. Everyone was right. It really wasn’t that bad.

I was nervous that things would start unraveling but it didn’t, lo and behold. Everything was fine.

As of now, I almost have the first sleeve done. This will be finished soon. I can not wait for Christmas to give it to Abby. I can’t wait to see her in it as well as show it to Rose.

I’ll be posting some FO’s soon in addition to this. I’ve also started some Christmas gifts with new yarns that I’d like to share as well.  Many of my Christmas presents will be knit. I seem to be on track with everything so that I don’t feel like I’m in Santa’s Sweatshop December 24.

Friday before last, I got this cell phone pic from Jermaine who had the day off. He was at home and there was a slight draft because it was one of DC’s chilly days. He put on his BFF socks I made him and sent me a pic of him wearing them. That was so extremely sweet.

Then I went home and casted on a pair for myself. Yes, it was partly sentimental but I also remember making them for Jermaine and going “I wanna a pair.”

So I finished mine this past Friday

Pattern: BFF Socks by Cookie A. from her blog
My Ravelry Project Page
Yarn(s): Socks that Rock, Heavyweight
Colorway(s): Tanzanite
Needle(s): US 3 / 3.25 mm
Casted On: September 30, 2009
Casted Off: October 9, 2009
Modifications: I did this pair of socks toe up and used a short-row heel.

I tried very hard to use all the yarn and I pulled out the scale and made two even yarn cakes. Guess that didn’t work because one of the socks is about an inch taller. Oh well.

I love these socks. They’re so warm and I know my feet will really appreciate them when it starts to get cold.Our apartment is very drafty.

This past weekend was a very low key weekend. I made some nice progress in Abby’s Christmas present. I’m about to cast on the steek stitches. This is Laura=

Next weekend is Rhinebeck. I still don’t know what sweater I will wear but it will either be Stilwell or Climbing Vines. Looks like the latter one in my poll though. Hmmmmm

Well it’s done!

Pattern: Climbing Vines Pullover by Joëlle Meier Rioux from Interweave Knits, Winter 2008
Ravelry Page
Yarn(s): Dream in Color Classy, 4 skeins
Colorway(s): Don’t Be Blue
Needle(s): US 6 / 4.0 mm Ribbing on the front and back
US 8 / 5.0 mm Everything but the ribbing
US 7 / 4.5 mm Ribbing on the sleeves
Casted On: June 21, 2009
Casted Off: July 6, 2009
Modifications: Sleeve Mods – I did increases every six rows (as opposed to four) and then every ten rows so that the sleeves would be longer. Body mods- I made it longer.

The sleeves are a bit tight but I have a feeling they’ll stretch a little because that is what Classy is known to do.

I have to say that I’m rather proud of the progress I have made with sweaters in general. Mom gave me this book for Christmas and when it comes to sew things up, I refer to it A LOT. Yes, there is some puckering at the shoulder seam but I can see progress from the previous sweater and I will continue to make more progress.Example- with my Rogue you could see the sewing yarn used to sew the seams and that’s supposed to be hidden. Here, I did a good job at hiding that but, as mentioned, there is some puckering, so next sweater, I’ll try to work on that.

This is the first U shaped sweater I’ve knit or even owned. It’s unique…not exactly a trait I’d need in every color but not so unique, it turns me off (otherwise I wouldn’t have made it ) This was also made with little positive ease. I wanted it to be fit and close to me and I think that came out very well. (or too well in the case of the sleeves) I feel I needed a sweater success after the CPH fail and this certainly proved to be it. It was a quick and very delightful knit. It was great seeing the subtle changes come about with the Classy and the vine pattern was awesome to knit and watch it become more embossed. Plus I just love the BLUE in this colorway as well.

Is it fall yet?

One WIP complete. Three more to go!

I’m going to do it….this year I’m going to do steeks. Luckily, I found a great pattern for a kid so I can almost practice before I do a much bigger adult sweater. I received the Cherished Pullover pattern as well as the yarn for it

I had to do some stash diving and I also received some of these skeins in the mail today.I want to make this sweater for lil Abby. I know Rose will take great care of it and the sweater would just look darling on Abby. I will need some heavy drink/xanex when the sissors came out for the steeks!

In addition came the Knit Picks City Tweed

As I venture out into making more sweaters, I notice that I fall hard for tweeds so when I found out KnitPicks was coming out with a tweed yarn I wanted to get some for an audition. I love the feel of the yarn. I’m sure it’ll make a nice hat. You think there’s enough for a fair isle hat? hmmmm

…back to the Aeolian shawl….

I got my Knit Picks order today so now the sweater endeavor can now commence.

Here is some yarn I’ve acquired to make some great tops. Top Left: Brooks Farm Mas-Acero, worsted weight. 1200 yards. I found this pattern on Ravelry today and it just looks so perfect for the yarn. I don’t typically wear shawl collars but this looks like I can make the exception. Top Right: Brooks Farm Solo Silk, 1200 yards, DK-Sport. Likely to be either this jacket from Drops or Henley Perfected. Middle Left: 1760 yards of Cascade 220. Middle Right: 1750 yards of Dream in Color Classy. The three patterns in contention for these two yarn selections are Bonnie, Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke or the Weekend Pullover. Haven’t quite made my decision yet. Both Bottom pictures: Knit Picks Gloss. Left: 2200 yards which will be Apres Surf Hoodie. Right: 2640 yards of gloss for Lattice Lace Pullover which I’ll be casting on right after I hit “publish.”

I recently learned something wonderful  that has changed the way I look at knitting.

I used to dread cuffs and the moss stitch because of all the changes of knitting and purling. I understand and appreciate cuffs on socks and I really like the look of moss stitch, for example. In this respect the process knitter in me comes out because I just hate the switching between knitting and purling. I told my buddy Zyd about it and she mentioned Norwegian purling and ladies and gents, if you knit continentally, then you should really check this out: (no idea if “continentally” is a word but I just made it up. Knitters know what I mean )

It’s a little weird at first. Nooooooooootgonnnnnalie. However it makes cuffs more fun.

Another bonus? Many fair isle patterns start with a cuff like this K2 in MC P2 in CC and this makes it so much easier. So much so I started these last night (strong emphasis on the word start)

Yes I know you have to squint and I apologize for that but they’re the beginning of some mittens for my swap buddy. This process makes things so much easier! Thank you Zyd, so so so much. (I put the youtube link on here with the hopes of “paying it forward” haha)

And speaking of moss stitch, I picked up my dad’s cardigan because it has some form of it in the garment and I’m afraid I have to frog it and start over. As I’ve mentioned, I got a book on finishing techniques and it has given me great advice to avoid the HANDMADE look on sweaters. When I picked the cardigan up again, I was just really displeased. The selvages looked sloppy and I really think I used to big a needle. Fortunately it’s not like I got too too far in it. But please bow your heads for a moment of silence for the ripped cardigan

So I’ll rip and it will be sad but dad will get a better sweater as a result so yay!

Lil’ Side Note

check out my recent spinning update  : (I’m planning on spinning enough of this to make a shawl for the incredibly kind woman who loaned me her wheel.)