First FO

Usually, after I have finished the actual knitting on a project, I procrastinate with the finishing. But this time, I was uncharacteristically prompt about it because I really wanted to have an FO by the end of January, and I just made it.

Actually, I think I have made my peace with the finishing process, at least mostly. I actually kind of like seaming with mattress stitch now (shocking!), and I try to weave in ends as I go along so that it's not too tedious at the end. I still have trouble with set-in sleeves, but these were not the set-in kind, so I lucked out! I think I'd like to take a class on finishing techniques (maybe I'll ask my LYS whether they might want to have one) or make myself read one of the books on the topic. If you have a favorite book on finishing techniques, suggest it to me!




This is the Boatneck Pullover, a free pattern by Tahki Stacy Charles. You might recognize it from the ads in Vogue Knitting last year. More details are in the gallery.

Speed Bumps

I'm one of those knitters who is more likely to turn to a new project when a current one is not going well, rather than plowing through the problem.

I thought I'd start off the new year right by attending to one of my UFO's, the ruffled jacket.

This is a fairly chunky yarn (Classic Elite Gatsby) and was supposed to have been a quick knit. But I already abandoned it once, after I had finished knitting the front and back pieces but was not happy with the 3-needle bind-off I used on the shoulder seams. So it got stuffed into the project basket. I resurrected it to take another stab at it. I undid the 3-needle bind-off and re-blocked the pieces. It was at this point that I realized the neckline on the back piece did not match the schematic.

I followed the directions and got a shape like this...


...when the schematic showed a trapezoid shape, not a concave neckline. I couldn't find any reference to this on the errata page (which was hard to find, by the way). I emailed Tahki Stacy Charles and got a nice reply back, saying they thought the directions were right and the schematic was wrong. But in thinking about it, I decided to go with the schematic instead, since you're supposed to pick up stitches from the neckline to make a ruffle, and it might be weird to have a ruffle sitting so far back if you go with the concave neckline. so I had to redo the back.


After all that, I seamed up the front, back, and sleeves, only to find that the sleeve cap bunches up in an unflattering way. Needless to say, the project is back in my basket.

In other news, I made good progress on the Juno Regina stole and really like it. But the Options needles I was using were driving me nuts since they kept unscrewing. Finally, I went to my LYS and bought a set of Addi Lace needles. Problem solved! That was a minor speed bump. I was going to get rid of my Options needles, but I think I'll try superglueing them to the cables--they obviously won't be modular anymore, but maybe I can at least get some use of them that way.

The other active project on my needles is this boatneck pullover, using Knitpicks Swish DK. I'm usually pretty lazy about doing a proper swatch, but in this case, I lucked out because I had just used the same yarn on the buddha pillow, so it served as a huge gauge swatch!



So far, things are going smoothly, but I did make some mods. I'm knitting this in a smaller gauge than the pattern calls for, to size it down. I'm knitting in the round and would have ideally added a "faux seam stitch," but I forgot to do so. I added waist shaping, since I almost always want that in a sweater. And finally, I reversed one set of cables so that the cables would be mirror images of one another, rather than exactly alike.

Revelry on Ravelry

Happy New Year! How do you ring in the new year when you've got a very very bad cold, young children, no babysitter, and no energy? Yup. You activate your Ravelry account.

I got my coveted invitation in August but have been too busy to do anything with it since then. So because I wasn't up to doing much else, I allowed myself to indulge in some major surfing. I can see why people like it so much! I've been able to connect with some new folks and be introduced to blogs that I wouldn't have found otherwise. I even learned about a local Sit 'n Knit that I had no idea about! My favorite feature is being able to see so many variations of projects--it's really inspiring how people can have such different takes on a pattern. If you're on Ravelry, I'm SoKnitpicky there, too, so come say "hi."

I have 2 new projects I started over the Christmas holidays, but I've only taken pics of one so far.


This is the beginning of Juno Regina. I've finished the charts for one end and am about 6" into the middle portion. I'm using the very scrumptious Malabrigo Lace Merino. Yummy! They call this color "Azul Profundo," but I just think of it as peacock blue.

Last Hurrah

I managed to squeeze in one more FO in 2007...the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. It's been off the needles for nearly 2 months, but I blocked it badly the first time and thought it was disastrous. So I stuffed it into the project basket and tried not to think about it. I only pulled it out a couple of days ago because I thought it wouldn't be good to drag bad knitting karma into the new year, so I resolved to figure out something to do with it. Luckily, I decided to reblock it before trying anything drastic, and it did the trick! More pictures and specs are in the gallery.



I am still having problems with it gaping at the buttons, so if that could be fixed, it'd be just about perfect! All in all, I'm really happy with how it turned out and will get a lot of wear out of this cardigan.

This was also my first experience using the Knit PIcks Options needles (size 4). I know a lot of people swear by these, but they didn't work out so well for me. I have some of the regular Knit Picks circular needles and love those, but something in the way I knit makes the Options needles keep unscrewing. (Yes, I did use the little gizmo to help tighten them, but no, it didn't help). So I'm going to stick to my Denise needles whenever possible. I just wish they came in the size 3's and 4's!

I'll share my new projects next time. Happy New Years!

Final Four

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I had a great Christmas, and I actually got all of my crafting done on time. It was fun, and the only stressful part of it was trying to finish up the last bits of a couple of projects so that I could drop off all the presents before we left town. I had planned to just give IOU's for any unfinished projects, but these were just so close that I pressed on to get them done. Go to the gallery if you want the project specs.

First up, a pillow for my parents. This was my first intarsia project, so it took longer to get the tension right. Plus, I had to pull out the sewing machine to sew the backing on. I wish I had a full shot, but those pictures turned out blurry.


Then, I made a felted basket for my uncle, who does woodworking and has turned out beautiful bowls for all the rest of us for years.


This little guy is Sleepy Sam, my first knitted stuffed animal. It was for my aunt, who collects teddy bears. This project was the real nail biter. He had been knitted up for awhile, but I didn't finish him until the last minute--I was up past midnight getting him seamed up.


Yup. That's how I felt at the end of it! Oh yes, there was a final fourth project, but it was just a little one and I got too busy sewing up Sam to take a photo. I used 1 skein of Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille to make a flower washcloth to include with some bath and lotion goodies for my great aunt.

So that's it! That's the end of the gift crafting for this year. I've moved on to 2 new projects for myself (even though I should be finishing up some UFO's instead), but I'll share those another time.