Blowing the yarn budget!

Sometime last May or June I sent Stacy over at The Knitting Nest an email asking about ordering a bit of Malabrigo. I love doing business with Stacy because she is just so darn nice. It does not hurt that she has a lovely shop filled with great yarns.

Time passed and in July she emailed me to let me know she had finally received a response from the Malabrigo representative with a list of all yarns available which she promptly forwarded to me so I could order what I wanted.

Well, of course, I wanted everything, but that was not possible, so I asked her for a bag (10 skeins) of worsted Sealing Wax and half a bag (5 skeins) of worsted Simply Taube.

One day last week, Stacy emailed to let me know the shipment had just arrived.


Yay!

As I work in San Antonio, today was the first day I could get up there. Wee One and I struck out late this morning (the Knitting Nest opens at one), ran through Borders Books and Target, then stopped by the yarn shop.

Oh, my word, Stacy had the most beautiful array of Malabrigo!

Here is the Sealing Wax I ordered:



In addition to the five skeins of Simply Taube, I had to add another one to the bag, just in case:



On my list of things I needed to acquire was a skein of Cascade Superwash 220 for something else going to Afghanistan. I chose the color Walnut:



A dear friend and colleague is expecting his first child in October. He told me the other day they are having a baby girl. Lorna's Laces in pale pink called out to me when I walked by:



Then, just when I had convinced myself I was finished, I made the mistake of glancing over at the sock yarn and two skeins literally jumped into my hands.

Malabrigo sock in Cote D'Azure:



and in lettuce:



Of course, these will not become an ordinary anything, although, I have no idea what they will become, because the combination of these colors is just too extraordinary:



Can you imagine Sigrid in those yarns?



Or what about Sikkim



or Joni:



Then, of course, there are always these mittens



The possibilities are endless...

I love knitting!

Unexpectedly Delightful!

Here I was knitting along on the denim yarn, quite content to slave away with the harsh, unforgiving cotton when I received a message on Ravelry from one of my "friends."

This is the progress on the back of the hoodie:



It all began innocently enough with a comment on some luscious yarn I have been squirreling away for a special project just for me.



The yarn is Camelspin by Handmaiden in Bronze. I splurged and bought it for myself last Christmas to make this Rickenbacker Scarf by Kirsten Kapur of Through the Loops.



The comment my friend left was:

Wow….this is going to be an exceptional scarf, judging from the yarn you’ve chosen…any pics of the WIP for us yet? ;-)

I told her she was an evil woman as I had other projects on my plate, but before I knew it, I learned how to do a provisional cast on and knitted away. Here are some wee fingers holding it for a picture.



My friend came by and gave me some additional encouragement:

Soooo pretty!! This is going to be fantastic!! Thanks for giving in and starting just so that I could see … LOL! :) Happy knitting, I will keep an eye on it while it is growing :)

Spurred on, I knitted some more.



The yarn is heaven, sheer bliss.

On the edges I added Madelinetosh tosh sock yarn in Bearded Iris for contrast.

I LOVE this knit!

If you are interested in trying just a wee bit of lace, this is the place to start. The only stitches one needs is knit, purl, slip, yarn over, knit 2 together and pass slipped stitch over.

For the provisional cast on, Knitty has an easy tutorial here. It is easy. There are a ton of videos out there, too.

Laura, I know you have your eye on some of that wonderful soft yarn with the little sequins. This is your chance, my dear, that would knit up beautifully into this scarf with something decadent for the contrasting ruffles. The pattern calls for 1 skein of the main color of yarn at 104 yards...

Although, I altered the pattern by added two repeats and dropping the needle size to accommodate my sport weight yarn.

Swatch me go!

Yesterday, I finally finished the man sweater sleeves!

Yay! Oh, Yay!

Except, of course, they are too long...sigh.

While I waited for them to dry, I began swatching for the sweaters I had in mind.

Wee One came in and immediately spied the Debbie Bliss Denim Aran and asked me about it. While we were looking at it, I did a few calculations and realized if I doubled the yarn, I might have enough for the short-sleeved hoodie. Casting on a couple of dozen stitches, I hit pay dirt!

My gauge was spot on!

Wahooo!

Returning from the office a little while ago, I cast on. As this is knit on size 10 needles, a couple of hours of attention resulted in this:



Want a closer look?



This will not be a stealth knit as Wee One is anxiously watching its progress.

The yarn is knitting up beautifully and I anticipate this will be a much loved and worn item. I am particularly pleased with the fabric it is making. They do not call it Denim for nothing. This thing will go straight into the washer and dryer with the jeans and I can tell it will weather and soften more with time.

The only down-side is that the cotton is tough and does not give at all. Hand fatigue will pretty much be a constant. I shall have to couple this project with something springy and soft, perhaps, the v-neck red sweater for mom.

Lest anyone think I am short-changing the wee child, fear not. Come Christmas morn she will have a knit to open.

Several months ago, Woolgirl asked me to do a jacket for Miss Babs to take to Stitches South.

Here is Sweet One modeling the finished garment:



Pattern: Tribeca by Dolce
Yarn: Miss Babs worsted Yowza in Frasier

When she asked if I would make her one, Wee One selected more of Miss Babs Yowza; however, her colorway was Blue Grass:



I even found the perfect little button to go with it:



As inquisitive as she is, Wee One's will be the most difficult to keep under wraps. I think for the time being, I shall cast on late one night, then carry it off to the office to work on during lunches.

Over the snit and back to the knit

After two solid days of running diagnostics and cleaning up the hard drive and registry, I am back to rocking on the computer.

Yay!

I had thought my AVG had let me down and allowed malicious spyware and adware onto my computer, but a $30 download of Ad-aware showed that was not the case.

It just required a little love and attention, as well as the deletion of quite a few old files and broken exec links.

Now, onto the more interesting stuff.

The sleeves are well in hand, so to speak, as I am closing in on the final shaping and bind-offs. I will not be able to seam it together until the weekend, but it will be wonderful to have it off the needles.

Next up: A sleeveless pullover for Mom in 100% cotton.

As mentioned in a previous post, Mom liked a sweater vest I had made for Sweet One; however, when she tried it on, some adjustments were obvious.

Here is a shot of mom in the vest. As her hair was a mess and she was not fully made up, I acquiesced and lopped off her head:



Of course, she wants it about three inches longer. Instead of knitting this flat, I will alter the pattern to knit in the round. I will add an inch more of ribbing and two inches more of the stockinette so that the line where the ribbing meets the stockinette will fall just below her bust line. She will still get the length she desires, as well as a better fit.

The yarn is Peru Naturtex Partners Pakucho Organic Cotton I bought from Elann ages ago.



The color is supposed to be Sage Green, but I just do not see it. I knit a swatch to wash and dry twice. It is incredibly soft. I am just not a huge fan of knitting with cotton. It is hard on the hands, but my mother LOVES it!

There are only three yarns in my stash that are actually cotton. The Pakucho above, some Debbie Bliss Cotton Denim Aran, and some Organic Cotton/Bamboo (51% organic cotton/49% bamboo)I had specially dyed for me from Blarney Yarns last year.

The Debbie Bliss Aran Denim looks like this:



Wee One fell in love the Debbie Bliss and asked me to make this short-sleeved hoodie from the Fall 2009 Issue of KnitScene (scroll down, it is the Heather Hoodie):



Unfortunately, the pattern calls for bulky weight yarn and the Aran Debbie Bliss is just not working out to gauge.

Instead, with the Aran Denim I will knit the ubiquitous Central Park Hoodie for her from the Fall 2006 Issue of KnitScene.



Now begins the stealth knitting for Christmas. I have decided there are four sweaters in my future that will be unveiled Christmas morning.

Wee One will receive the short-sleeved hoodie from above that she originally wanted in the Debbie Bliss; however, it will actually be knit up in Cascade 128 bulky:



That means, naturally, Wee One will get two hoodies, but the long-sleeved version will be in the cotton denim that is easy to wash and dry and not quite as warm as wool. Perfect for our climate. The short-sleeved one will be done in bulky wool and, hopefully, prove to be a quick knit. Yes, I know, I have said that before.

The cotton will not be a stealth knit, just her bright blue wool one.

Moving along, Sweet One is extremely picky about what she wears, but she indicated several months ago she liked this Scabbard pattern from Stitch Diva (if you follow that link, you will see a long-sleeved version, as well):



For this, I will use the Blarney Organic cotton/bamboo. This yarn is so incredibly soft and wonderful!! I cannot wait to get it on the needles.



As mentioned before, the husband is getting Norah Gaughan's Devon, yarn to be decided...

Mom is slated for another sweater. For almost a year I have queued up a Mr. Greenjeans for her in this lovely Dream in Color Classy yarn in the colorway of In Vino Veritas:





However, I made something similar in a dark black/brown colorway last year. In addition, I came across someone's project on Ravelry that converted this to a pullover, rather than a cardigan.



Last year it took me a week to knit the Something Red pattern in Dream in Color Classy Black Parade:



Ambitious, I know, but there you have it, my Christmas knitting plans...

There are only two I need to keep under wraps, the husband's Devon and Wee One's bright blue short-sleeved hoodie. Mom is in Louisiana and Sweet One will be away at college.

So, does anyone else have Holiday gift-giving knitting plans they would care to share?

Put the needles down...

and step away from the sleeves...

In the prior three or four days I have spent at least twenty hours knitting these sleeves two at a time.

Before I went to bed last night, I just knew I had two or three hours left before I could cast off, wash and dry them, then seam them to the sweater and be just damned done.

Don't get me wrong. I love the sweater, but on size 4 and 5 needles, it is a HUGE amount of knitting and I am generally not a monogamous knitter. However, I was trying really hard to finish this one completely before I moved on. The last sixteen days have been devoted exclusively to this project. With my short attention span, that is like an eternity.

I spent a solid three hours on the sleeves this evening and they are now 23 inches long, but I have only just begun shaping the sleeve caps and it has quickly become apparent I have another three or four freakin' hours (at least) until I can say I am finally done.

Can you hear the frustration oozing out of my pores?

Add that to computer issues (the damn thing locks up for ten to fifteen seconds two or three times when I try to type just ONE sentence) and I am almost suicidal.

Yeah. It is definitely the little things which send me over the edge. People dying and houses burning down, no problem, I am ten feet tall and bullet proof. Technical crapola and minor blips here and there, I am ready to drive off a cliff.

For the past hour I have been having an internal dialogue trying to convince myself it would look just fine as a stupid vest. Obviously, that is not true; however, as I was trying to infuse positive vibes into this thing and not get someone shot the second he puts it on while in a foreign country, I am putting it down for a few days.

As the question posited in the previous post, I decided to order just a skein of the Swish Bulky to swatch and wash before investing in a sweater's worth.

While I like a deal just as much as the next person, I have found in all things, you typically get exactly what you pay for and there is a reason most premium yarns are pricey.

As soon as the test skein arrives, I will do a little test and, of course, post my results.

Happy Knitting to each of you, as I head off to sacrifice the cat or a dog or two to the knitting and computer gods, sadistic though they may be.

Yarn Question, please

Has anyone used KnitPicks Swish bulky?

I would like to stealth knit the husband a sweater for Christmas. I have chosen Norah Gaughan's Devon.



Tomorrow is our anniversary and I had the husband buy me a gift certificate to Knitpicks, but am afraid I was a bit too hasty. Reviews on Ravelry have not been that great for this yarn. The major complaints were that it shrank in length up to 20% and it pilled greatly, as well as it did not wash and dry as superwash should, looking years old after the first cleaning.

I am hoping this is not the case.

Any experience with this yarn?

Quick Update - Lolly

I fully intended to prepare a post this weekend to elaborate on the projects I have in progress as well as the few little ones that I have actually started and completed recently. But awhile ago, during breakfast surfing, I realized I had not looked at the latest issue of Twist Collective

I’m only a few pages into it; but it certainly starts off with a bang! So, I’m not betting on writing too much of a blog post today. But I will post a few pictures I’ve taken of late. Commentary will have to follow later. If you’re a Raveler, you could see a few details here.

I actually started and completed these items during the past week!

Cozy Crawlers (aka Leg Warmers) for a 3-yr-old dancer.

Book thong anyone?

This little lined pouch was knitted and sewed up the week before. It's made for sweet small treasures...

I am working on the match to this manly mitt. My long-lost brother has a birthday in September. Won't he be surprised!

I will be finishing this pale pink pinwheel of a baby blanket soon! The baby is due to arrive in September (such a fine month!) I plan on devoting a whole post to this project in the near future!

Below, the parts of MY sweater. It's coming right along! What you see here is one front panel, not quite finished at the top; the lower third of the back; and one sleeve not quite finished at the top. It's called Cinnamon Bark in Forest Afternoon (at Ravelry.)

Lastly, the beginning of a Summer Tunic for a little girl - we'll see if it continues or not. I'm not too sure about it.

Below, is an Urchin cap I made for my sister that has received some special treatment to make it fit. I swear I haven't had the best of luck with hats. Maybe I'll get around to elaborating more on this later. But from what I've read, Urchin is not a "sure thing" when it comes to fitting. In the future, I may stick with hats with ribbed bands.

That's all folks.

But for sleeves...

I would actually be finished with this one!



However, I will slog along and hope to completely finish this in the next few days.

Seaming the front and back together, then finishing the collar was just the kick start I needed to prod me along (as well as Christine's help in the comments below - Thank you!).

Can I say how much I love the neckline. The designer did an excellent job with the neck decreases.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Knitting furiously...

but no pictures to show for it.

Good news: Both back and front sides of the man sweater are complete. Not bad at all for ten days worth of intense knitting.

Bad news: Only just cast on for both sleeves (two at a time because I hate reading directions more than once) earlier this evening, but I *hate* knitting sleeves.

To entertain myself, I may go ahead and wash, block and seam the sides so I can work on the collar and take a few pictures. Perhaps, that will inspire me to knock the sleeves out.

If anyone is interested in making this sweater, I must add the ribbing is quite soothing and the pattern is wonderfully written. The designer paid extra special attention to detail and it shows.

Pictures next time, I promise!

In other news, what have you guys been working on?


UPDATE:

Okay, I hate sleeves. I really do. Sleeves are why I do not knit more sweaters. One of these days I will learn to make the sleeves first...

SECOND UPDATE:

The sleeves are on hold as a migraine as settled in. No knitting while one has a headache.

However, I went ahead and soaked the front and back pieces.

They are drying now; however, I did take a couple of shots of the neckline and how the decreases are made three stitches inside the neck edge for a charming little detail. Of course, stitches will be picked up once both sides have been seamed together for a bit more interest and finishing.

Inching along

While it may not look like much now, there are 27.5 inches of ribbing from the shoulders to the hem on this back section of the sweater. I would like to say I am halfway there, but there are the sleeves to consider.



Not too bad since I started this Saturday night!

In an effort to streamline this project, I have decided against adding cables along the front and sleeves as they would slow me down considerably.

This decision was made after I reviewed and organized all of my knitting yesterday and realized I have a ton to do, five sweaters, not to mention hats, scarves, and gloves, before my holiday gift-giving plans are complete.

Yikes!

In other news, Susan's birthday is in October. I cast on for a Raglan Shawl that I designed last year. Hopefully, this one will move quickly, as soon as I can get back to it.



Love the color.

All things sweat-her

Of course, San Antonio just broke an all-time record yesterday. Since they first began data collection, it appears Summer 2009 has already had thirty-seven days of three-digit temperatures and we are still counting.

What better time to begin knitting sweaters?

Seriously.

Remember the Malabrigo vest I made for Sweet One a couple of months ago?



Yeah, that one.

Well, my mother arrived in town on Saturday. Yesterday, Sweet One modeled it for her.

Now, Mom wants one, too. Although, she said she wanted one just like that, there are a few modifications.

Oh, boy.

At Christmas she saw Wee One's sweater:



Mom requested one "just like it, except..."

That sweater ended up looking like this:



and this:



This time around, she does not want wool, but cotton. She wants it longer. She wants it to fit better. While she has always preferred v-neck sweaters, she thinks she is okay with a rounded neck. She wants it in white.

Sigh.

In other news, Saturday night I started a nice sweater for my buddy now on the ground in Afghanistan. I had four skeins (over 2,000 yards) of this wonderful Yowza worsted superwash wool from Miss Babs that I found knits up much like a DK in Bronze. (I love the yarn, but as a tight knitter, it does not perform at all like a worsted weight).

I found a pattern on Knitty using DK yarn on smaller needles (the pattern calls for Size 3 and Size 4), but the fabric it makes is lovely. The pattern is called Leo.



The above picture is from the Knitty site. The following one is from a great project someone did on Ravelry:



The ribbing is a monotonous 5 x 3, but it is going fairly quickly (as fast as one can on such small needles), but I am inspired and know my friend will be greaty pleased.

As I also know he likes cables and knots, I am going to modify the front of the pattern a bit. My thought is to a vertical cable to the right of the neck line on front and then have that same cable run down the left sleeve to give it some asymmetrical interest.

This one is going to take some time, though. As of late last night, I had barely reached twelve inches of ribbing for the back.

Here's a shot of it when I was about eight inches along...



I love the color!

(Please note, there are shadows falling over the picture as the color of the yarn is not that variegated.)

I also think it is a good design which can be worn over an undershirt (although the machine washed and dried fabric it makes is so soft) or under a heavier shirt and jacket for an extra layer of warmth. I understand that part of the world gets really, really cold in winter.

In addition, I am thinking I may make it a loose turtleneck. Does anyone have an opinion on that?

As Wee One has a sweater and a hoodie she would like me to knit, not to mention a sweater for me that lacks a pair of sleeves and a sweater for Sweet One and the husband I have the yarn for, socks may well be taking a back seat for a while.

After all, what else does one do when the outside temperatures remain over a hundred?