Knittypants

Vogue Spring Summer 2006

I really like the new Vogue! It has such a pretty cover, I like it just for that, but there are so many cute designs inside.

I love the cover skirt soooo much! I won't make it, I don't believe in knit skirts for this mother of 3, but I do think it is really, really pretty. I wonder if I could sew a similar one? Hmmmm....maybe I will just have to buy one. These are my favorite designs.

This cute little green one. Mari Lynn Patrick designed it, the same lady who did Bobble Blue for Interweave Knits Spring 2006. I think they look similar, but I like the green one more. The neckline and details are so interesting.

And, isn't this one pretty, so soft and lovely. It's knit in ribbon yarn which I don't know if I like or not. I think this one is my most favorite, but I am nervous about deciding to knit it because of the ribbon yarn thing, plus when I tried to google the yarn I couldn't find it, which can't be a good sign!

This is another I really like. You can't really see it in the picture I posted, but this girl has an ugly old shovel in her one hand and in her other she is holding a quilt. That's just weird. The sweater is also in ribbon yarn, but for some reason it doesn't intimidate me as much as the cami. Anyways, they are all marked Experience Knitters, so I think I will let them marinate in the maybe one day list while I work on becoming an experienced knitter!

Ha! A Finished Object.

If you look at my progress bars, you will notice they are all under 40% done. Except Skully, but don't look at him, he doesn't count. Nothing is going to be finished soon (well, I guess I could whip up the Kittyville hat fairly quickly, but I am still mad at it and really Fiona's cardi wouldn't take too long, but it doesn't count either). I need some instant gratification, something to post and say Ha! A finished object. Something that would allow me to procrastinate on Skully even longer. So I made a flower washcloth.

This is the one from Weekend Kniting. It's so soft and squishy, and it has a nipple in the center because I quit paying attention to the decreases towards the very end and when I tried to fix it I couldn't see my stitches in the chenille, so it's a unique design feature! My husband wants to steal it it's so soft and in such a manly color. I guess that's only fair since he won't be wearing his sweater till next winter! I used Chrystal Palace Cotton Chenille and it really hurt my hands and I have a bit of a sore spot on my right ring finger from wrestling with this yarn. This sucks because I still have 2 more hanks of this to use up, so there is more cotton chenille wrestling in my future, but I will take a little break for now. I wanted to show you the increases and decreases on my Cheesylove, the ones that killed all my braincells trying to figure out. I had to fiddle with the pictures a bit to get the stitches to show up, so I hope they can be seen ok.

These are the increases just before I start the hearts.

And, these are the decreases. I am pretty happy with them, the look nice and they fit fairly well with the K2 P1 rib. I am going to finish seaming Skully tonight. I am mostly positive that it will be done, and I am pretty sure I won't change my mind at the last minute.

What the Mailman Brought

I was noticing my blog was starting to look pretty black with Cheesylove and Skully being the 2 main projects on the go. So here is a different color for you.

I guess I am in a blue mood. The wool cotton is for Picovoli, there's 5 skeins all together, but they didn't all fit on the stool. Then I think I will make a multi-directional scarf with the Louisa Harding Kimono Angora. And the needles are so I can get started on my Shell Border T-Shirt.

Stuff

Here's my progress on Cheesylove. Yum, I like Jo Sharp's Classic Dk Wool. It feels good. The decreases on this are really making me have to think, though. The ribbing is a K2 P1 pattern and it's hard to decrease without looking messy. I have my Knitter's Handbook by Montse Stanley out and every time I come to a decrease I have to figure out what will look nicest. So far it's not to bad, but these decreases are keeping me on my toes.

I wanted to show you how much yarn I had left after the knitting of Skully. Eeek! I ran out! Just the little bits cut off the woven in ends. I ended up finishing the neck in doubled black Nature Spun and the bind off row on the back, too, I am at the point that I don't even care if it's noticeable I just want it done. If Peter doesn't like it, it can just hang out in the back of his closet. There will be no frogging and reknitting of this yarn!  Now I need a blocking miracle to make this thing fit! I am pretty sure the arm length will be ok, but I am not so sure about the body length.

And here's looking into the eye of chaos!

The Unknitting

Sigh...

I unaccomplished stuff last night. The light blue yarn is Jo Sharp Soho Summer in Cloudless and I made it into The Little Black Top from Stitch'n Bitch, except mine was a Little Blue Top. I made it in September and I have never worn it. Of course it's too cold to wear right now, but I haven't even wanted to wear it. It's just not really me, the model in the book was so cute and saucy, I thought I would be cute and saucy, too. Nope. Not in this top, and the yarn is to nice to leave unloved, so I frogged it and am planning to make the Vintage Camisole from Artisokka. I think it's so pretty and feminine and I am pretty sure I will wear it since it looks like half the tops already in my closet. I am not exactly sure why there are so many little balls of yarn from the top, the construction is interesting and peculiar to me, kind of like I made up my own directions or something, I'm not exactly sure what I was doing or thinking, but I guess I will start with the larger balls of yarn and finish up with the smaller and not complain too much about all the ends I get to weave in. The darker ball is my Kittyville Hat. You may have noticed that my sidebar percentage bar for this knit went from 75% back to 0%! It was mostly done, but every time I tried it on and went to add the ears something ended up being off. Even when I squinted my eyes and didn't look directly at it, something was just not quite right. Too big and it looked weird. I made this same hat for my sister with the same yarn and the same needles only 3 months ago and my gauge has changed! Hmmmph! I guess that's what happens when I can't decide which style to knit with Continental or English so try both on the same project. I am starting Cheesylove tonight, I've had it with being good, new knitting is needed. I will still finish Skully up, but I am going to cheat a bit.

Gigi!!

Here she is.

Here's another picture, my daughter kindly took later, which shows the sweater without shadows. This is Gigi. I made the smallest size and used the colors and yarn called for, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Victorian Pink, trimmed with Truffles. I only ended up needing 4 skeins of the Victorian Pink even though I lengthened the body by about 2 inches, so I have lots of leftovers to play with. I didn't do the bow, I like it without. The pattern is very well written. I have a couple more Chicknits patterns and I am glad to know they are so easy to use. The cotton fleece is such a nice yarn, I have bought some more in blue to make a sweater for Kaelen. It's just comfortable to knit. I did wash the brown yarn with vinegar and cold water since the dye ran. It took about 3 rinses to get it to behave itself.

She's Finished!

Gigi is finally done! A tubular bind off did the trick on the hem, and it looks pretty good, I think. I had a few set backs, and had to fix a few mistakes due to lack of paying attention, but in the end it worked loverly and I am glad to know this bind off.

She is now blocking on the spare bed and will make her debut once dry.

This is another project I started, Branching Out in leftover Kid Silk Haze. I was planning on using up the rest of a skein on another Airy Scarf, but then I decided I needed something more interesting to knit. I want this to end up about the same size as an Airy Scarf so I am knitting it on smaller needles. It is so pretty making lace!

Never Ending!

Thank you everyone, for all the kind comments on my Go Everywhere, Go With Everything Cardigan. I really felt shy about posting that one to the blog, but I shouldn't have, I feel much better about the cardigan now. Rain mentioned that she doesn't like things for a while after she has made them, either. And I am starting to think it will grow on me. It's definitely nice and warm and that's what I wanted when I decided to make it. My love is definitely cooling for the following two projects, and I am starting to think they will never be done! I keep working on them, but I seem to make no progress!

Here's Skully, he's mostly done. But as I was knitting the last sleeve, I ran out of yarn, so I did some surgery and took some length out of the body and managed to get the sleeves a decent length. With a good blocking I think it will fit fine, but when I did that I realized I had messed up on the previous sleeve, so now I need to unravel about 2 inches and correct my mistake, plus finish the hems for the body again. And then of course, block and seam. Great, it will be done just in time for spring! Those skulls are my first intarsia, it's a bit sloppy, but I don't think it's too bad, and my husband couldn't care less, so that's fine.

Then there is Gigi.I am kind of stuck on her bindoff around the waist. After cutting off the ribbing and knitting down for length, my first bind off ended up being too tight. After a bit of research on a nice stretchy bindoff, I tried a tubular (which took me about two hours) but that ended up way too loose! The bottom doesn't stay down nicely, so this afternoon I picked out that cast off and I am going to try again tonight. Hopefully, third times a charm! See the yarn sitting on top, singing her siren song! I no longer want to be working on Gigi or Skully, and am starting to wish the knitting fairies would come finish them up in the night. I want to move on to Simply Marilyn and Cheesylove and that sweet little pile of Allhemp6 in Aubergine calling out to me to make a Shell Border Tee.

Go Everywhere, Go With Everything Cardigan

I finaly finished this sweater! I started it last October and now it's done just five months and a bit later.

The actual knitting only took about a month, but the finishing I really procrastinated on. I think the reason I took so long is I was rather unsure of how it would turn out. I didn't like the yarn it was very scratchy, and the style is frumpy on me, although I didn't acknowledge that until I was mostly done the knitting. Then it just sat for a couple months waiting for the seaming and then the crochet edging (which is pretty sloppy, crochet is not something I am well practised at). Finally, it took me another two months to get the buttons. Now that it is done I like it better than I thought it would although it is definitely an around the house sweater!

Here's a picture of the front, when I finally put the buttons on and tried it on, I discovered the buttons gapped! There is no way I will sew the buttons on again, so it's a design feature. It actually does look better than when the gaps are closed, there's a bit of visual interest with the gaps. I also added waist shaping which I like and I think makes the sweater much more wearable then a boxy sweater would have. This is the Go Everywhere, Go With Everything Cardigan from Stitch'n Bitch Nation. Made in Lavender Emu Superwash, and the crocheted edging is Mission Falls 1824 in Damson. I have learned though to really pay attention to the cut of a sweater. From now on I will be much more picky about what is flattering on me and not take the time to make something that doesn't look good on me. Also, no more itchy yarn, I will pay a bit extra and make something that feels good on.

Up to Something

This is what I have been up to knitting the last week.

I started another cardi for Fiona! I think this had better be the last for a while, before my other kids start to feel unloved. It's a simple v-neck cardigan from Baby Knits For Beginners by Debbie Bliss. I have done a bit more on the back since I took the picture.

This is my kittyville hat, I just need to find a few quiet moments and I can finish this up, and if I hurry it will still be chilly enough to wear! Do you remember my Mudflap Girl Tank without the Mudflap Girl,

well, it became this. I never really liked this tank I found it too warm and kind of sloppy looking, so I frogged it. I have one brown and one pink skein leftover from Gigi and I am thinking maybe a striped Gigi or something similar. I also finally finished my Go Everywhere, Go With Everything Cardigan and I will post some finished pictures next post.