Yarn Crawl

Tea Rose Halter FO - Modeled

I've had the Tea Rose Halter done for awhile but it's been cold here, so I wasn't going to wear it with just a cami. Last night Jim and I did our usual Wednesday night "date night" at Blu Coral and I decided to wear it layered over a long sleeve T shirt.

First, the specifics:

Pattern: Tea Rose Halter by Wenlan Chia (of Twinkle fame)

Yarn: About 2 1/3 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, in "Columbine Blossom"; the yarn is held double, so I used two skeins held together for most of it, then knit from the inside and the outside of the last skein after I ran out of the first two

Size: second from the smallest, and I could have made the smallest easily, because the back is pretty gappy

Needles: size 11 addi turbos

Here I am, posing in front of some of our new artwork:

I would definitely knit this again, as it's a great way to use just about 2 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece and takes about 3 hours to knit. I would make it in the smallest size even though it sounds impossibly small, as this lace really opens up.

Sunday Morning Potpourri

It's been an eventful weekend; I'm a little exhausted and need "me" time, although it's been a lot of fun.

So Friday afternoon my Zen came from Elann for ribbon shawl gifts throughout the year:

My co-worker that I gave the beads to a few months ago (who gave me the Elann gift certificate) fixed some jewelry for me, and so we decided to barter instead of me paying her. I offered to make her one of the ribbon triangles shawls and she picked out the pink yarn at the bottom of the previous picture. I started this on Saturday morning, as I was feeling lazy and up for mindless knitting and I just finished it now.

This is my "go-to" three hour gift knitting project - this one is a little bigger than the ones I've made with two skeins of Tartelette and I don't like the Zen quite as much. They're both cotton/nylon blends, with a railroad type of matte/shiny ribbon, but the Zen has a little lower of a cotton content compared to the Tartelette, and the Tartelette includes 10% of a different type of nylon (Tactel nylon).

Overall, the Zen is fine, and it's not scratchy or anything like some other ribbon yarns I've tried, but not quite as silky smooth or shiny as the Tartelette. I'll use up these other colorways but I will stick to Tartelette from now on. I'm debating whether I should make another black/silver one out of some Tartelette I have in stash and letting her pick which one she wants. I can always use the pink/purple one as something to throw over more casual summer dresses.

This is what the Tartelette shawl/scarf looks like (it also has lower yardage so it comes out smaller than the Zen version; also this picture shows it folded in half):

So yesterday we had originally just planned to go to the birthday party from 3-6 and not go back to the birthday boy's house, but we did end up going back there, and didn't get home until around 10 pm. The day was kind of shot as far as getting anything done (other than the shawl progress) as I started getting ready to go around 1:30 and then was gone from then until 10 but we did have a fun time. It was nice to reconnect with them, as we hadn't seen them in a long time.

I also got my new Interweave issue and I love some of the designs. Here are my favorites:

The Wakame Lace Tunic is at the very top of the list - beautiful design, the new tunic length that I've been into lately, seamless construction. Wow. I might even splurge for the Tilli Tomas Fil de la Mer, as I want it to turn out EXACTLY like this. Has anyone tried this yarn? Any insights would be appreciated.

Delft Tiles Tee - I've been wanting to try slip stitch colorwork, and this seems to be a great way to do it.

Although because it's slip stitch and not fair isle, as I originally thought it was when I saw the preview online, it won't be as hot as I thought it might be, but I really don't like the thickness of the Blue Sky Cotton. I made Tomato with it and found it to be really kind of hot to wear. On this one I might try to swatch Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece or some other yarn sub.

The other thing I don't like is that there is no size between 31.5" and 35", as 35" is a little roomy for me for a summer top, especially when they say they modeled it with 1/2" of negative ease, so any yarn substitution would probably also incorporate a sizing change to make this somewhere in the neighborhood of 33"-34".

Oh, and one other thing - I also don't like that it's knit flat. Is there any issue with converting slip stitch patterns to be knit in the round? I know there is with intarsia, but I would think slip stitch should be ok. Not sure though.

Next up, the Drawstring Raglan. I like the shape and construction on this one, so I would probably make it:

The Eyelet Surplice Dress really caught my eye too. I've never made a knit dress or skirt, so I am a little leery about it, but I think this is really cute. I am kind of between sizes on this one too, between the smallest and the second size - If I decided to go with the more fitted option, I think I'd make the smallest size, as I'm right on at the bust with that one even though the bottom for that size is a little bit small (like by an inch.) If I went with the second size, I would be modeling it with positive ease, like it's shown, but I don't know if it might look dumpy. Ease is usually NOT my friend in knitwear and I look better in fitted garments.

The Leaf Kimono top is cute, and I would probably knit it in hemp (Elann Canapone) instead of linen.

I do like the lace pattern on the Apres Surf Hoodie, and the delicate look of the yarn, but 1.) I don't really wear hoodies and 2.) I'm not such a fan of 4-ply weight yarn. So, I probably won't knit this, but I think it's really cute.

Today I have a free day to myself (big sigh of relief) and I'm not sure yet what to do with it. Part of me wants to finish up some unfinished sewing projects (putting hems on stuff, doing odds and ends), another part wants to pick out some fabric from stash and/or buy some new fabric to make that high waisted skirt (Vogue Fabrics is kind of calling my name) and another part feels like working on my new online class on "copying your favorite pants" over at Patternreview. It officially started on Thursday, and I have all the pdfs for it downloaded with pictures and instructions on how to do it, but haven't done anything yet. The class only lasts like two weeks, so I really need to work through it if I want to get help on it. Part of me says why bother with the fire drill, just save the pdfs for when I'm motivated to do it. We'll see what happens. So since I guess I didn't mention any knitting as a burning desire, I probably won't do that today (unless I decide to make that black/silver Tartelette scarf/shawl.)

However, on the knitting front, Swing Top and Tea Rose Halter are almost done drying as we speak.

(this next one of TR Halter was taken when it was still really wet, but it shows the design nicely even though it's way darker than it really is)

The utility tub is fully functional now and I used it for their "bath" on Friday.

The only thing we need to finish off the utility room is shelving for laundry detergent, etc. We decided not to do a pull down or over the door ironing board as they were super expensive and/or too small.

Knitting FO #6: Cherie Amour!

At long last, presenting Cherie Amour:

Pattern: Cherie Amour from Knitty
Yarn: Tahki Bunny Print from stash
Size: XS
Modifications: Did not follow the instructions for the sleeves. Picked up 32 stitches from the armhole and knit the sleeves top down, changing needles from size 13, then 11, then 10 to accomplish the shaping. Made sleeves 3/4 length.

I started this sweater at the end of last year sometime and it hibernated in a bag for a while, waiting patiently for sleeves. Originally, I was unsure which size to pick and was torn between the XS and S, primarily because I was worried that the hips might be too small on the XS b/c it's a long tunic length sweater. After seeing some other people's FOs and reading what they had to say and looking at the shoulder measurement for the XS vs. the S, I went with the XS. I think it fits well in the hips and waist but it is a little "open" on top, though I didn't really block it, just washed it. I notice when I stretch the lace over my chest a little, it stays there and is more covered up, like the way it's shown in the pattern picture. I will block it next time I wear it.

As far as styling, I tried it on with a long sleeve brown T-shirt to do more of a layering look, but it looked too covered up and was too warm. A brown cami would be great under it on a weekend night out, but for today at work, I found a short sleeve brown T-shirt was the best way to go.

Overall "verdict" - I like it, but it's not one of my favorite things I've knit. I do like the tunic look though, and I plan on doing some other things this length with a lacy look - either in knit or (shocker) crochet! I definitely will wear it though - probably more on weekends than to work. Next up, the Sweetheart Vest and Buenos Aires!

Wicked FO and Itinerary Info

So, I decided to wear Wicked to work today as it is a perfect top for layering and it snowed last night, so I wanted to wear something warm.

Here it is:

I made between the XS and S, doing the same thing as I did with 28Thirty (following the XS instructions for the front, then continuing to do the increases for the S on the arms and back.) I like how it came out. I made it longer than I would make most tops and I like how the length worked out. The yarn is the Tess Cultivated Silk & Wool that I bought at Stitches Midwest last year. I used about 500 yards, so I still have a skein and a half (about 300 yards.) Ideas? I will probably destash it, actually, because I'm so not about the small projects.

Now, on to my itinerary for today through the next two weeks:

2/29 –flight from Chicago O’Hare to Miami at 5:50 p.m.; flight from Miami to Santiago, Chile at 11:25 p.m.
3/1 – arrive in Chile at 9:40 a.m.; set sail from Valparaiso, Chile at 9 p.m.
3/2 – La Serena (Coquimbo), Chile: Tamaya Winery and Santa Cristina Country House
3/3 – At Sea
3/4 – Puerto Montt, Chile: Petrohue Falls and The Chilean Lake District
3/5 – At Sea - Cruising the Chilean Fjords
3/6 – At Sea - Cruising the Strait of Magellan
3/7 – Punta Arenas, Chile: Magdalena Island Natural Penguin Reserve
3/8 – Ushuaia, Argentina: Beagle Channel Navigation & National Park
3/9 – At Sea - Cruising around Cape Horn, Chile
3/10 – At Sea
3/11 – Punta Loma, Paleontological Museum & Welsh Tea
3/12 – At Sea
3/13 – Punta del Este, Uruguay: Punta Del Este, Ralli Museum and Casapueblo
3/14 – Montevideo, Uruguay: Juanico Winery
3/15 – return flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina at 11:40 p.m.
3/16 – arrive in Miami at 6:20 a.m., depart Miami for O’Hare at 11:20 a.m., arrive at O’Hare at 1:35 p.m.

I am so excited!! In my absence, my friend Lisa (partner in crime for the 2006 Stitches East "Yarn Crawl", formerly referred to as "Blog-free Lisa") has volunteered to take over my blog as a "guest blogger" for the two weeks. She will be showing you her projects, finished objects and talk about knitting/upcoming projects she has planned. She has been knitting since college (or before that, maybe?) and likes epic projects. She is a fan of "knitting gymnastics" and likes a good challenge served up with her knitting projects. I was looking for a picture of her to show you, from Stitches East in '06, but I can't seem to find one right now.

I went back and forth about which projects to bring with me, but now I think I finally decided. I am going to go with the Mirepoix sleeves, Cable Down Raglan and Lacy Little Top. (ETA: my Mirepoix pattern is hiding from me right now, so I am taking the plunge with only two projects - I may finish both!) I considered Forecast, but that's a lot of wool to cart around!! I also have audiobooks on my iPod, the Bose noise cancelling headphones, and some logic puzzles to keep me occupied. Jim has his own iPod, his own set of headphones (extremely key), puzzle books, the Lord of the Rings book and a few little bottles of Jack Daniels to keep him occupied. LOL!

Talk to you on St. Paddy's Day!

28Thirty - Done!

I finished 28Thirty yesterday and am wearing it to work today - I love it!

Here's my "glamour shot" of it:

and a normal shot - bonus, in front of the yarn closet from where it came (knitted from stash):

The only straight on shot came out a little blurry:

and goofy Jim also had to take a picture of me wearing it while I was putting my makeup on - blogstalking opportunity for everyone to see my messy bathroom and millions of "products":

Now for the specs - I got gauge on the recommended needles, used Noro Kureyon I had in stash (I think it was about 6.5 skeins) and made between an XS and a S. Because I am narrow across the chest and wider in the back and have muscular arms in proportion to my bust size, I followed the XS instructions for the increases for all, then when I got to the part where the XS size is directed to separate the sleeves, I kept knitting but only did the increases for the back and sleeves. I probably didn't need to do this on the sleeves, as they are roomier than most sleeves I knit, but that's OK as it's comfy and easy to slip over a shirt. I knew it was going to be a layering piece, so I wanted to make sure it wouldn't be too tight across the back or sleeves. Mission accomplished, without being too large.

On the sleeves, I didn't do the garter ridge pattern after separating the sleeves as I didn't want to add bulk. I just knit them in the round in stockinette but did the 2 decreases every 6th row until I got to about the elbow, then knit without decreases for about three inches, then started the four inches of seed (moss?) stitch. I did keep that part as directed by the pattern.

I made the sleeves a little short because I wanted whatever layering top underneath to show, also because I was worried about the sleeves growing in length too much and being over my knuckles, as this happens sometimes with my projects after I wash them. They're a little short, but I like the look with long sleeve Ts, which is probably the way I'd always wear this. I didn't put the top button at the very top of the collar as I didn't like how it would look. I also don't ever button anything up, so that looked funny to me when I tried it on, although it fit fine.

I really like this pattern the way I made it, but I also like the others that people have made that are longer (check Ravelry - Cattywampus made a great looking one.)

In other happy news, I was looking at myself in the mirror this morning and decided to measure my hips to see if anything changed, as they looked a little narrower to me. Well, yay! I am one inch off from my goal of 36" hips. I haven't seen that in awhile. I'll never be the "ideal hourglass figure" as I am too rectangular/athletically shaped for that - my waist will never be 10" smaller than my bust as that would mean it'd be 24", a waist size I haven't seen since I've been measuring it, even not at 16 and 90 pounds (which is disgustingly thin on me, involves eating only iceberg lettuce and is a 26" waist for me - my bones are just too big for that.) Right now I am 34-29-37 and I'd like to be 34-28-36.

So Yay! My workouts are working!

FO #3 of 2008: Cabled Cardigan #24 (VK Winter 2007/8)

FO #3: Cabled Cardigan #24 from Vogue Knitting Winter 2007/8

Size: Medium

Yarn: Rowan Big Wool in 043 Forest, just under 10 skeins

Needles: size 11 Addi turbos

Modifications: Shortened back and both fronts by 4" to measure 22" from the armhole, shortened sleeves to measure about 17.5" from the armhole and adjusted rate of increases accordingly. Despite shortening the coat by this significant margin, it still grew a good 4-6 inches in the body and a couple inches on the sleeves. I like it this way (it goes down to just above my knees now instead of mid-thigh, which may be a better length anyway) but just know that it will grow substantially when determining length. It would have been down to my ankles if I knit it in accordance with the original pattern directions!!

I am super happy with this, especially in today's almost zero degree temps and snow!

FO #2 of 2008: Back to School Vest

Here's my second FO of the year: the Back to School Vest from Fitted Knits. I really love it!!

Size: 34
Yarn: Cascade 220 "The Heathers" in color 2438 (about 2 1/4 skeins)
Needles: Sizes 6 and 5 Clover Bamboo circulars
Modifications: shortened the body ribbing by an inch

I highly recommend this pattern! It was quick and easy, despite my procrastination on the neck and armhole pickups.

This is the fabric I was talking about yesterday for the skirt - I'm thinking it would be cute with this too.

It's a little darker than this - still figuring out the new camera. Jim took all the pics above with the old camera except the first one, as he has given up on the new one and it is officially "my" camera now, and the old one is "his". I like the pictures he takes with the old one, so we'll go with that. My new camera seems to take crisper pictures of "things" than people, though I still need to work out the color settings. There is a "portrait" setting that I might need to try.

I also want to make myself a white button down shirt from that pattern I worked on last semester as I think that would be a way to style this in a more "corporate" way. My office is pretty casual so I don't usually go in for the corporate looks much, but it would look nice for a change; also could be a way to wear some cool jewelry at the neck as I think that works well with button down shirts.

The Cabled Coat is almost dry today so that's tomorrow's FO! I am on track with last year on the knitting FOs, as that will get me to three this month (gotta beat last year's 35!)

First FO of 2008!

Here's the Jawbreaker Cardigan (boy do I need a SPRAY TAN - who knew I was this white? Or it could be too much flash from the camera....LOL)

Pattern: Jawbreaker Cardigan from Interweave Knits Fall 2006
Yarn: Colinette Prism in Cezanne (from STASH)
Size: S
Modifications: None!

This sweater worked up very quickly and I think seaming it and finding a button for it took longer than the actual knitting. It's comfortable without being too loose and I can see myself wearing it either with a skirt to work like today, or with jeans. I'm not sure I like the asymmetrical collar (they have you pick up a different number of stitches on each side of the neck and then do short rows for the longer section) especially as the shorter side has issues laying flat. I didn't wet block it though and I expect that may work better when I wash it.

I'll see if Jim can get more pictures when I go home for lunch.

2007 FO Recap: 35 This Year!!

Here they are, all 35 of them, in (mostly) chronological order - one for every year of my life, I just realized:

1. Jim's RYC Soft Tweed sweater
2. Charlotte
3. Wicked
4. Eiffel
5. Green Gable
6. Kochoran Skinny Rib Sweater
7. Ines
8. Rusted Root
9. Turtleneck Tube Vest
10. Ribs and Lace Tank
11. Textured Tunic
12. Airy Wrap
13. Carie Cropped Cardi
14. Tomato
15. Tube Top-Orini
16.Alexandra
17. Lace & Bobble Jacket
18. Fibertrends Lamb
19. Lace & Cable Sweater
20. Fifi
21 and 22) One Shoulder Tunic and Waterlily
23) Coquette Lace Tube Top
24) Juliet
25.)Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet
26.) Karolyn Vest
27.) Spicy Fitted Tee
28 and 29) Sushi Wallet and Tempting
30) Tree Jacket
31,32) Fetching and Felted Bucket Hat
33, 34, 35) Drive-Thru, Cabo Hoodie, Bounce

OK, now I'm exhausted. Off to work on potential FO #36, the Jawbreaker Cardigan (I doubt it...but maybe!)

Christmas Pics!

Without further ado, here's the modeled FO pics:

McKenna (my girl) wearing her Drive-Thru:

Noah in his Cabo Hoodie - it fit him perfectly!!

Mia, wearing her Bounce skirt as a layering piece:

All the kids with their dad, Walter:

With their mom, Tracy:

The whole gang (all looking different directions):

And Jim, taking it all in...