Swachity

The Camera has been found!
As previously mentioned, I did a test swatch for Veniza using yarn from my stash. I had this wonderful multicolor yarn, Yarntreehouse Melody 2, that C gave me for Christmas. I was swaching for another project when I realized that the yarn was the right gauge and stickiness for a color work fingerling weight project. I grabbed some grey palette, leftover from my Endpaper Mitts and used the computer to make the charts easier to read in two colors. I like how the two yarns work up together, but I am going to go with a different color for the actual sweater. I ordered 5 skeins of the Palette bare (2200 yards) and a set of size 2 circular needles this afternoon, and I should get the package in the next week or so, and then I will cast on.

I've also swached and cast on for Knitty's Isabella in some green sports weight wool from the stash. I don't know if this is going to work out to a wearable item for summer in Texas, but it gives me a shawl break until the other yarn shows up. I did alter the directions a bit and did a provisional cast on using Knit and Tonic's tutorial posted earlier this week. However, apparently in the YoK2tog row, I dropped a stitch. At first, I paniced, raced to find a crochet hook to fix the damage, and then realized that this is going to be on the inside of the back of the sweater. No one will ever see it.
Picking up the stitches was a bit time consuming. and my spar size 2 needle is bent, so that made for an awkward lying project prior to knitting the rows together. But the actual knitting two together didn't take that long.







And in the end, I had a nice, scallopy finished edge... Except for where I forgot a YO on the turning row.







I've still been plunging away on the Cap Shawl, or the Cotton Candy Shawl, since the posters on the Victorian Lace Along have said it reminds them of the sticky sweet fluff. I am on chart two, about 103 rows in, and have 70 rows plus the edging left to go. I am still on the first ball of yarn, and I'm quiet certain that I will have more than enough yarn to finish her. I did have a moment of panic with her this evening as I was switching over to a longer circular needle. I stretched her out to see her full size... without putting protection on the needle ends, and had 10 stitches fall off the needle. Visions of the Peacock Feather Shawl falling of the needle, and the resulting Frog of 3 weeks worth of work flashed through my mind as I bent over to examine the damage. Everything that fell off was a section of YoK2tog's, and I lost the yo's (no biggie) and one K2tog dropped back one row. I think I did an ok job of picking up the stitches, re-knitting the stitches with a crochet hook, and when this baby is blocked out, I don't think anyone will be the wiser.
*Phew*

I've been swatching...

I have been making some progress on the Cap Shawl. I am on the last row before I start Chart 2, which the first few rows will be more of the same. I am maybe 1/4 of the way done with the body and starting to get a little bored with this. While the Cap Shawl has been the only official WIP since Sunday, I have been working on doing some swatching for future projects:

While swatching again to Knit Lucie with the YarnTreehouse Melody that C gave me for Christmas, I realized that it was a fingerling weight yarn, that was sticking to itself rather well. So I had the idea grab a ball of leftover Palette and do a quick swatch for Venezia... They worked well together, and as soon as payday hits, I'm going to order 6 balls of KP Fingerling Bear to pair with it.
What, you want to see a picture... um, DS hid the camera on Sunday, and as soon as I find it...

I also did a swatch for Isabella using left over Brown Sheep Natura Sport from Cromarity. I got gague on size 2, and cast on last night. I am modifying the pattern a bit. How it is written, you knit the hem, and later go back and sew it down. I had the bright idea to knit the hem down (like in the Venezia pattern), and cast on with a provincial cast on. I am one row past the turning row, and it looks like instead of doing k2tog's for the hem, I'll have to p2tog across 141 stitches. Oh Joy.

My parents are taking C all this weekend for my Dad's birthday present, so aside from the normal house and yard work, I should have plenty of knitting time.

I need a Vacation after my Vacation!

Its been a super busy week. Last weekend DH and I did yard work, and ripped out our old shrubbery and their root systems, on Monday, we planted nine new rosemary plants in their place. They don't look like much now, but they should fill out later this year and be a nice, pleasant smelling hedge by fall.







Tuesday and Wednesday were spent painting and re-arranging C's room. We went from boring white to brilliant blue, with a wall of sunny yellow. We also finally moved his crib out of our room, and into his room. We are working on sleeping in his room, C will spend half the night there, but will come looking for us around midnight. Where his crib was in our room is now a sitting/reading/knitting nook that is too far from the bedroom TV to be of much use.

Friday we took C to the Dallas Zoo. While it is much nicer than I remember it being from 15 years ago, it is still a crappy zoo. But I have been spoiled by the Ft. Worth Zoo,which is one of the top zoo's in the south, and by seeing the Singapore Zoo last March, which is one of the top 5 zoos in the world.

I also finished knitting the neck and sleeve bands of the Deep V. Jenny Raye asked where and why the green yarn shown in my last photo of it came from, and while I could try to explain it, Eunny did a great job on explaining the use of the crocheted steek here. In fact, that article was written while she was designing the Deep V.
All that left is to wash and block her, but since we are going to be wet and muggy here for the next few days, I'm going to hold off a bit.


I've also made progress on the pink blob that shall transform to the Cap Shawl. It is so hard to photograph the details of this shawl, but the yok2g pattern spirals from the center like a flower. I love working with the Misti Alpaca so much, I hope that in the end she blocks out close to the original measurements in the book. This is currently my only WIP, and I will probably work on this solo for the next week or so, but plans might change.

Snip, Snip

I finished knitting the color work portion of the Deep V Argyle Vest this morning. Not bad considering I only started the neck steak last Thursday. DH and our friend L have been teasing me all weak about the horrid color combination here.






I expected crocheting the steekes would take a lot of time, effort and tears, but I had them done before DH was up and ready to go today. The yarn is used is some of the left over yarn from Cromarty, truly making this a leftovers vest.








Then, It was time to take the plunge. I gathered up my good scissors (the ones kept hidden in my craft drawer) and made the first cuts, holding my breath and biting my lip the entire time.










A sigh of relief to know that I was able to cut the steaks without cutting the crochet. See how pretty the inside of the vest looks!











I finally tried her on to see if she would fit: DH said that he liked the neckline. The armholes seam a bit wonky, but I'm ok with that. My first steeks cut!

Afterwards DH kicked me out of the house to go knit at Simpatico yarns, and I picked up a little reward to swatch with.




I'm thinking of using this yarn to knit the Weekend Pullover from the Fall 2006 IWK, but the colorway will depend on what Mary Jane has in stock durring the Fire Cracker sale.

FO: Pearl Buck Swing Jacket

After much procrastinating on finishing this one, she is done! Please ignore my big fat gut
I finally got DH to help me take photos, but I forgot to make sure my hair and outfit were photo ready.

Specks:
Pattern: Pearl Buck Swing Jacket by Kate Gilbert from the Winter 2005 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Knit Picks Merino Style in Honey, Christmas present from my MIL, 11 balls
Size: 44 inch
Needles: Knit Picks Options, Size 4, various length cables.
Start: January 12 End: March 13th
Modifications: None. I hit gauge spot on for this baby. I love everything about this, from the color, to the sleeve lengths, to the seaming, yes even the seaming! I think this is going to work with me next week to be my work sweater, since the building is kept on frigid all summer.

Ahhh... Vacation

DH and I start a week of Spring Break this week, but I have been productive during the last work week. I finished seaming and blocking the PBSJ: But since I have been unable to get a half way decent mirror shot, the final photos of it will have to wait until DH is back from his D&D game.

I am now 78 rows into the Deep V Argyle Vest, and almost to the arm steaks:

See, I figured out how to rotate photos

I hope to get almost done with the vest this week. I am still having fun doing the stranded color work, and I think I am ready to progress to a "real" Fair Isle sweater done at a smaller gauge. The diamond pattern is much easier to see onscreen than in person. I wonder why that is.

I also started the Cap shawl no 4 DPN's, and just today had enough stitches to transfer to a circular needle I love how the center of this looks like a flower. You can see where the DPN's put extra stress on the stitches (marked by the yellow and green stitch markers), but I have hopes that this will block out. I am almost done with the first chart, and to the "uncharted" area where you add a Yo, K2tog every 4 rows.

In addition to all the knitting I have planned for this week, we are also going to buy and plant new shrubbery, take the lawn mower in to be fixed, paint C's room and bathroom, and take C to the zoo.

Have a good knitting week!

March Madness has struck...

Go Mean Green!

UNT has made it into the NCAA playoffs!

DH took care of bath and putting C to bed last night, so I had real knitting time. I got a few more rows done on the Deep V, I started the neck steak, and am on the first row of decreases/increase after that. I'm probably 1/2 way done with the sweater, considering that after this the rows get smaller and will go much faster, and I am at a point where I need to move to smaller needles already.

I also cast on for the Cap Shawl. After quiet a few mistakes with the cast on instructions in the book, I googled for better instructions, and found Eunny's tutorial. I am about 12 rows in, not much, but it is addictive, and I hope to get much more of this shawl done over the next week while DH and I are off for spring break.

What do

A knitting project your only "ho hum" about,

A huge mistake a few rows back

and a case PMS from hell

have in common?

The Alpine Knit Scarf taking a trip to the frog pond. Of course this happened before I remembered to get any photos of it.

I will re-knit it, but on size 2 needles instead of my 4's. Straights it is.

But first, I think I will give the Cap Shawl from VLT a shot.

Sleepy Thursday

*Yawn*
The PBSJ is officially finished, but the FO shot needs to wait until I have the time/energy to steam block the seams and can get DH help me get some decent photo's of it. Seaming it wasn't as bad as I feared it would be, and by far, I think it is my best seam job yet. But I will wait and talk about that later.

I have picked up steam on the Alpine Lace Scarf. As predicted, once I got past the border, this is going a lot faster, and I have been trying to get one repeat of the rose leaf pattern done each day, and sometimes two done. Even the P2tog's aren't as annoying as I first thought they were. I pretty much have the entire pattern memorised, and only have to look at the chart every once in a while.

The Deep V Argyle Vest keeps growing. If I stretch it out, it comes to the right measurements, but is a tad long...But I knew that was going to be a problem going into it. I'm approaching this project as a big learning experience, and since the yarn is all leftovers from other projects (a lot of leftovers) I don't feel quite as guilty for it not being at gage. I'm on the increases at the waist, and should start the neck steak tonight or tomorrow morning.

I have been thinking about what my next big project will be. I am thinking that I will either give Lucie another shot. I have the yarn for it in stash, and its a lot of straight knitting. It might be boring, but I have started finding joy in the 'boring' knits. My other "maybe" project is the Equestrian Blazer from the winter 06 Interweave knits. I have been thinking of frogging the unfinished and way-to-big Mariah (my first sweater, no swatching done) and using the Plymouth encore from that for it, but I'm not sure. That would be a lot of ball winding, and unsttiching and unweaving of seams. If I can hold off until July, I can buy Cascade 220 at the Simpatico Fire Cracker sale for about $35 ish. Decisions decisions. Lucie and lace can keep me busy until then....
Also on my "to knit" list is Eunny's Venezia, also from the Winter IWK. I saw a two color version on Craftster and have been thinking of doing that as well, in either a chocolate brown with pink/purple or teal or a Blue and cream version, or a tan and brown. I will use KP Pallett to save on money.
But I am really thinking that I will make myself finish the Alpine scarf before I start anything else. Its been three weeks and I have hardly made any progress on her.

Not much knitting going on

this weekend, because it was N and D's wedding! We were all members of the wedding party, and had obligations all three days. Friday I got a little knitting done in the morning running with DH and my Dad to the Asian market in Carrollton to get stuff for dinner Sunday night. After that it was time to pick up C from daycare and get ready for the rehearsal and dinner. The plan was for me to walk out as one of the first brides maids, and for C to walk out just before D. In the rehearsal, when I walked out before him, he stood in the doorway crying, and cried the entire way down the aisle.
Take two. C walk out with Mommy, holding her hand if necessary. That went OK, but DS was getting tired and cranky early on. We let him run wild during the dinner (at El Guapo's), and ran into one of his daycare friends on the way out.

Saturday morning DH took C to the park to get him worn out early on while I joined the other bridesmaids at Danny's salon to get ready for hair. There was NO KNITTING at all on Saturday. *gasp* After I was done with hair DH and C picked me up, went home, packed our bags, and went to the hotel to get ready.

How cute is this?
All three of us clean up pretty well, don't we? I'm just sorry we don't have a better shot of C and I. I did wear the Print O' the Wave stole, and received a ton of compliments on it. D didn't wear the Peacock Feathers Shawl, but still looked beautiful. After the ceremony my dad came and picked up C so DH and I could party with the rest of the crowd, and hang out with friends we don't get to see very often.
We did get to stay in a nice room at the Wildwood Inn, and had a wonderful breakfast Sunday morning. Then we went and picked up C from my parents house, went home and started prepping for Tark's birthday dinner. Home made dumplings with shrimp and fish balls (my fav!) and steamed buns plus pineapple rice (which turned out better than I though it would) There was so much food, and I didn't break out my knitting at all.
I did manage to get to row 49 of the DVAV, almost time to start the increases, and will soon start the steeks, and 5 rows of the ALS. Since the sun is up latter now, I will try to get picks tomorrow night (tonight is my WW meeting).

Rosebud....

I've had that going through my head ever since I started the Rose Leaf pattern on the Alpine Knit Scarf last night. I think I'm finally getting on a roll with this baby. Of course every time I try to work on it, C wants my attention, but that is life.

Progress on the Deep V has slowed down some. I am mostly working on that in the car (when DH drives) and at lunch right now, so I am only getting a few rows done a day. But since I started the color work last Thursday, and I'm on row 31 today... um, about 6 rows a day?

I'm still working on seaming the PBSJ. I have the back, yoke, and fronts joined, so all I have to do is the arms and side seams, pick up and knit the neck band, and steam block. If I put my mind to it, it won't take that long. I will try to finish that before spring break, and I will try to finish the Deep V during Spring break (yeah right).

Speaking of Spring break, DH and I are also going to try to get a lot of home improvement stuff done. We are going to tear out the old shrubbery, plant new Rosemary shrubs, paint C's room and the hall bath, and take C to the zoo one day. We decided to keep him in daycare for most of the week :( but that's the only way we can get a lot of this stuff done.

I can't think of a title right now.

Yesterday my parents took C to a car show and kept him overnight so DH and I could attend bachelor/ette parties. D has strep so the bachelorette party was canceled. I did take advantage of the time to get the PBSJ blocked and pinned out. Everything sank to the proper measurements, except for the sleves, but I will work with those when I sew them and steam block later this week. I was able to unpin the fronts and the yoke this morning, but the back and the sleeves need a bit more time to dry.




Progress has been slow on the Alpine Knit Scarf. I did change the needles to the KP Option 4's and have managed to trudge through one and a half repeats this weekend. I think once I hit the transition and the rose leaf pattern and don't have to p2tog quiet as much, I should start moving a lot faster on this. The Alpaca Cloud is so soft to work with, an is much finer than the Shimmer I used for my last shawl.




I did rip out all the color work progress from last weekend on the Deep V Argyle vest, and I re-started it on the size 5 needles Thursday night after I bound off the last sleeve for the PBSJ. This isn't the best color combo I have seen the vest done in, but it is growing on me as I knit and get more rows done. Worse comes to worse, I can always wear it with a red shirt and go as "Ugly Betty" on Halloween.

Friends of ours had their second child yesterday, and speaking of child, its time I go get dressed and pick up C from my parents.