Fitted Knits Along

FInished Shrug!

  FInished Shrug 
  Originally uploaded by Talula Marie.

And my two-tone shrug is finished! The picture isn't head-on because the shrug doesn't really fit. I made it for my sister, it's a size to small for me. She lives in southern California, so this is probably all the sweater she will ever need. Even so, I will have to wait a few months to send it to her, it's all Cascade 220 and even a little wool will be too much in the summer. This was such an easy knit that I may end up making one for myself eventually. Now I just need to figure out what to do with my needles next...

Advice on drop stitch lace tank

I could use some advice from those of you who are working on, or who have finished, the drop stitch lace tank.  I've been swatching with different sized needles and have thoroughly confused myself.  I'm worried I'm not counting stiches correctly when measuring gauge (or that I've just lost my mind... grin).

I started with US 7s as called for by the pattern, thought I was close to gauge in SS, but found when I cast on and knit 6 rows that, in pattern, it was way too loose and the garment was too wide (it clearly wouldn't have fit).  So I switched down to US 5s and my gauge in pattern is still off.  I get what I think is gauge using US 3s but this seems crazy to me. 

The US 7s are the bottom eyelet rows, the US 5s the middle eyelet rows, and the US 3s the top eyelet rows.

What was your experience with this?  Did you get pattern gauge?  How do your stitches compare to those in my swatch in terms of looseness/tightness?

I think that the top set of eyelets here looks fairly nice (it's definitely tight) but now I'm concerned that perhaps it's too tight and I should just go forward with the 5s.

Maybe I just need to take a nap and stop worrying about the small stuff!

First Prize Drawing

Hi everyone,

Way back, before a number of you joined, we talked about having prize drawings from time to time, using the funds that have accumulated in the Tip Jar.  Some of you have made donations toward the prizes a while back, and we have $42.97 currently in there (well, actually $36.97 in there plus I received $6 of Paypal deposits to my personal account.)

Here are my questions.

1. Is the original date of June 30 still good for a first prize drawing? 

2. I was thinking that we should get one entry for each FO we complete by that date.  Does that sound fair? I will not include my FOs in the drawing. 

3. Should we use the entire balance of the Tip Jar for the prize and collect more afterward as we have a lot of new members? Or should we just do a smaller prize and save some of the TIp Jar for later?

4. What should the prize be?  A gift certificate for Elann or Kpixie or Amazon, maybe? 

What do you all think? I'd like to get as much feedback as possible so we can reach the best consensus.  Maybe I should also set up a poll for this.

Two toned shrug

Well - I almost finished the feminine cardigan...and it's a bit large in the bust area...yeah yeah - tried it on and everything...just wishful thinking on my part - ha! So..i set it aside and started and finished the two toned shrug...with a skein of lornas laces I had in the stash for the MC and just a dark blue merino for the CC...turned out not too bad...the merino is a bit thicker than the LL so the sleeve cuffs are a little pouffy or something - but it still works - I think...good for tanks and jeans this spring! Love seeing everyone's progress! I think I'll start either the airy lace wrap around or the back to school u-neck...who knows though! Sorry for the crappy photos! I THOUGHT the mirror was clean :(

More Pics - Airy Wrap

Mary asked me to post some additional pictures of the Airy Wrap from the front and back, so here they are:

Because I shortened the body on mine, the cables don't have a lot of room to show because of the width of the wrap. If I were to do this again, somehow I would pick up less stitches and make the ties narrower (maybe one or two less repeats across on the lace pattern. I don't know if that would work for sure though.

progress... somewhat :)

So i jump off the wagon when it came time to knit the arms.   I'm easily distracted, and not a very good instruction follower!

I was reluctant to post this, because the picture is kinda crappy.

I can't decide what i should do.   I think i want to take the green accent off the hem of the piece.  It looks tacky to me, but i don't have the heart to ripped it apart yet! (if you look closely you can see i haven't weave the ends in yet.)

Maybe its time for a new project from the book, and come back to this one!

Drop-Stitch Lace Tank Progress Round 2

After ripping the entire front half of my tank, (without tears or alcohol I'd like to add), I decided to try my hand at converting the pattern to be knit in the round.  It's going pretty good, and here's my progress since Sunday night.

Yes, it's hard to get a good picture..the lighting is terrible in this room.  But, I think you can see the stitch detail.  I was a bit peeved up about having to start this over, but I quickly got over it, especially after I joined my second skein of yarn.  Everyone is doing such a great job.....the projects look great!

Tunic Troubles.

I'm on the 40th row of the Crisp Rectangle Tunic Top and though nothing looks glaringly wrong, I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm missing something.

Oh, wait--I just reread the pattern and I think I know the problem... but let me run it by you guys anyway. OK. In the pattern it says that for regular rows (rows without short-rows), I'm to "work back and forth over all sts." Does that mean that 1 row in the pattern equals both a right-side AND a wrong-side row? If so, I guess I have to rip out. The rows that do call for short-rows--is the short-row itself a row, or is it the short row and the regular row that follows it? Does that even make sense? My head is spinning a little. Every time I get to a short row, it's labeled either as a "hip row" or a "neckline row." but sometimes these are short rows at the bottom of the piece and sometimes they're at the top, and the neckline short-rows are not always at the top. I'm trying to follow the directions to the line, but I feel like I'm knitting short-rows in the wrong places.

Any suggestions, or have I given you all a headache?

Thanks,
Julia.

Finished shrug!

I finally finished my Ribbed Shrug (even though I made it one-tone instead of two.)

I used two skeins of Malabrigo in black for the smallest size. This shrug is SO SOFT. I want to make one in every color of Malabrigo I can find. This was my first time knitting with Malabrigo and I loved every minute of it. The yarn is like butter. I used two 24" circs, US 5 and US 8 (my gauge was spot-on) and used the Magic Loop method for the sleeves. I've also got enough yarn leftover for a hat! (Whether this hat will be for me or for my boyfriend remains to be seen.) :o)

I love the way the collar flips, and the sleeve length is perfect — just above the elbow. This will be the perfect thing to wear in my freezing office this summer!

Progress on my Cosy V-neck pullover has stalled in favor of other, more summery projects, but I haven't forgotten it! More pictures can be found at my blog: http://knitjoknit.blogspot.com

Another Fitted Knitser!

Hello hello! I am THRILLED to be amongst the Fitted Knits knit-along ranks! =D I received my copy of the fab book several weeks ago and have started knitting up the Two-Tone Shrug with much fervour and excitement! I have to say a big THANKS to you all already, as it was this blog (particularly Leah's Two Tone lovely malabrigo number!) that clinched it for me in my ponderance of whether to purchase the book RIGHT NOW or to wait - I'm glad I succumbed!! More later with pics and excited gushing! =D