Jenny Check

resolutions for 2008

Hmmm.... These historically never work out for me, but here are some...

1. Continue the downward trend in yarn aquisition. I'm not saying I'm not buying, but hopefully I'm buying less and using it.
2. Finish the blanket out of Mainline sometime next year. If I don't resolve to finish it, it could hang around for years.
3. Try to start Christmas knitting early and to resist the temptation to give those gifts early.
4. Finish projects that were started in 2007- no UFO's older than 1 year!
5. Try to use my sweaters' worth of donegal tweed, eco wool, classic elite provence, and matchmaker merino. These yarns have been in my stash for TOO LONG.
6. Make a lace shawl. I've never done this.
7. Try toe up socks. Never done this either.

teddy

I made this a while back in November for my nephew's birthday. I used the Blue Sky Alpaca's Bobbi Brown Bear pattern. 1.5 skeins of classic elite lush, plus some leftover brown malabrigo for the face, size 7 needles. He turned out pretty cute! Now the rest of his brothers and sisters want one.

some knitting and felting

Here is Nicole, holding one of my pre-felted clogs. Isn't it huge? Plus: doesn't her tilted duster look awesome? She is redoing the collar, but I LOVE it.

post felting. 7 (plus a litle extra) skeins of knitpicks merino style: 5 in moss, 2.15 in dusk. Beverly Galeskas is a genius.

I also managed to finish some socks.

Seeded rib pattern with Mountain Colors Bearfoot. I cast on 68 stitches on size 2 needles. They are meant to fit a size 13 foot- I think I could have managed with 64-66 stitches. I LOVE bearfoot.

These socks will be in Harold's stocking for Christmas- Trekking Pro Natura, cast on 72 stitches on size 1 needles. H was complaining that his feet get too hot sometimes in all wool or wool/nylon blends. Hopefully the bamboo will help cool things down.

I have two more pairs of unfinished socks to go. Plus I just cast on Jaywalkers in some very pretty Jitterbug. I couldn't resist it.

I also started the vest from Knitting Classic Style by Veronik Avery.

So far it is slow going, since you knit the whole body at once. Patons merino on size 5 needles. This vest is going to be for me! I plan on adding pockets and wearing it at work. I also started a giant blanket out of my Knitpicks Mainline. I need to get that out of my stash. It has been many things in my mind and will end in becoming a garter stitch blanket. Oh well. At least it will be warm.

New Knits

I finally finished Harold's aran jacket! I used Elizabeth Zimmerman's Saddle Shoulder Sweater recipe from Knitting Without Tears. I knit with a cone of School Products cashmere merino and size 10 needles- I think the cone was about 1600 yards and I have about 100 grams left. I think it took about 1500 yards of bulky weight yarn. Fortunately, the EZ pattern and my cable and moss stitch panels worked out so that the rib demarcations turned into a perfect saddle seam with no adjustments from me. After it finished drying, I took it to a tailor to get a zipper put in. So pictures of Harold in the sweater are still to come.

I've been knitting other things, but nothing blogworthy- I made 5 hats out of malabrigo for my 5 preceptors at work which I never ended up getting pictures of. I made a scarf out of Artfibers Kyoto and Bitty Bunz. I made a pair of armwarmers out of Curious Creek Fibers' Serengeti in Autumn in New England. That colorway is totally gorgeous.

Now I'm trying to finish shedir, take control of my second sock problem- I have 3 singles without mates, and decide on the next sweater project. Oh yeah, and I wanted to make Kate the cat and the Woodland shawl by Nikol Lohr.

birthday socks!

Here is one pair of socks I managed to finish! For Harold's Dad's birthday- one skein of STR in Monsoon from the sock club, knit on size 2's. I think I cast on 64 stitches?  I made the cuffs shorter because I was afraid I would run out of yarn... I know i should be doing toe up socks for this kind of thing, but it's so comforting to do something familiar these days.

We celebrated with a steak dinner on the grill and a Mitchell's ice cream cake. What could be better?

Long Hiatus

Sorry it's been so long since I posted! I started a new job and suddenly things became very busy... So earlier in the summer I finished Gloria. I finished it in July, and I love it! It's based on Jane Ellison's sweater from Noro Knits. I changed many things in the pattern- I cast on 160 stitches, did the garter stripe for 14 rows, increased 25 stitches around, switched to stockinette, decreased at sides every 6 rows 8 times, increased 2 times, switched to garter stripe, decreased 22 stitches to account for the change in gauge from stockinette to garter. I started knitting the fronts and back back and forth after splitting for the armholes. The set in sleeve I did from the top down per Barbara Walker. All in all, it turned out pretty well! I'm happy with the sleeve length. The only fly in the ointment is that cashmerino does not wear very well- the sides have already started looking pilly and raggedy after a few wears. But I love the color and the fit and it was very easy to knit, once I figured out the top down sleeves.

So after I finished Gloria, I decided to start on a sweater for Harold:

This is School Products merino/cashmere blend on a giant cone. I think I cast on 200 stitches for a bottom-up sweater and then added a stitch for each cable panel. The fronts have a 1X1 ribbed edging and I just alternated moss stitch panels with a six stitch cable panel. I think I am going to make a saddle shoulder bottom up sweater, so I have to make the sleeves and then join it all together soon. This project was put on hold after I started working and had little in the way of an attention span.

Since my job started, I've just been knitting small accessory projects:

The Architect Scarf from Greetings from Knit Cafe in Silky Wool.

A mistake rib scarf in Jo Sharp Silk Road Aran Tweed.

A ribbed hat in Debbie Bliss cashmerino.

A hat with Karabella Super Yak.

Shedir in Calmer.

I also have knit one sock from Trekking Pro Natura for Harold, one sock from Shelridge Farms in a green heather and one sock from Mountain Colors Bearfoot. I never used to have second sock syndrome, but I guess there's a first time for everything...

Molly Ringwald

I couldn't keep my hands off the O-Wool Balance. Here's Molly Ringwald, knit in barely 5 skeins. The 5th skein was basically just to do the crochet edging. Instead of a 22 st/4 inch gauge, I was getting 18 on size 6 needles. Instead of going down several needle sizes, I decided to modify the pattern instead. I cast on around 168 stitches, did the waist shaping as written, did the ruching on the center 41 stitches and basically followed the outline of the pattern. The one thing I did not consider was the arm circumference. I cast on too many stitches and the arm edge kind of hangs in midair... I'm just glad I never see myself from the side. I agree with Amanda- the crochet edging is pretty crucial to getting the top shaping to fit well. I'm pretty happy with this top! Two summer tops in a row! Hurrah!

Lotus Blossom Tank Finito!

Lotus Blossom Tank by Sharon Shoji. I substituted Plymouth Royal Bamboo and ended up using 8 skeins on size 4 needles. I did one extra pattern repeat and made the armhole slightly smaller (knit about 7 inches up the back instead of 7.5). I washed it to block and didn't pin it out. This yarn felt like cardboard when wet and took three days to dry. I was a little worried that the texture would change, but once it dried, it felt like it did before.

This was not the most fun thing to knit- trying to knit the plymouth at a tight gauge was a little hard on the fingers. I initially didn't have enough yarn, and bought three extra balls and had to start over on smaller needles after 2 reps of the lace pattern on size 5 needles. I didn't have much left over after 8 balls were knit up- I was a little nervous when I was knitting the edgings, but it was all fine. I also had anxiety that the variegation in the yarn would look bad with the lace pattern and the whole thing would look too busy and weird.

Despite all of my false starts, anxiety, and discomfort, I'm pretty happy with the finished result. It's a very wearable article of clothing- I love the neckline and the a-line tank shape. The variegation doesn't bother me, and I only wish that it was hot today so I wouldn't have to wear a sweater over it!

The Knitting at the Lake House

5 skeins of Rowan Big Wool gone 'poof!'
Size 13 needles for all. Beret is from Vogue Knitting Holiday 2006, inspired by this.

vintage velvet II

When I made my first vintage velvet scarf out of Knitpicks Decadence, Harold said that he would like the same scarf in red. So I bought the yarn and started the scarf. Last year? Earlier than last year? I can't remember, and I never did get a shot of the first vintage velvet when I finished it. hm. Anyway, after diligently knitting on it the last few weeks, it is finally finished!

3 skeins of Knitpicks Decadence, size 10 needle. From Scarf Style.

In other news, I made a red cable hat out of one skein of Knitpicks Sierra, leftover from my sister's cardigan from last year. Size 10 needle, 72 stitches.

And I finished 2 scarf UFO's!

Inspired by LMKG's airy scarf, but wider and with varying lace inserts. 1 skein! A very long scarf on size 9 needles.

2 skeins of Artfibers Bistro. Size 10.5 needle.