Sleeves!!

I needed two, but ended up with four...and then some.

The Ayana sweater I started, oh, in November last year, on my way to a funeral, now has sleeves.  Unfortunately, they are not yet attached.  But, the knitting is done!

As with most things, I got a little distracted.

Norah Gaughan got in the way with a little design she calls Stibnite.

I was only going to swatch to see if the yarn I had in mind would work...

It did.

Two sleeves and an entire back later, I decided the yarn was going to work really, really well.

The pieces are obviously not soaked or blocked, but they are done!

The yarn is Lobster Pot Yarns Whale of a Skein in Hyacinth.  I have been hoarding three skeins of this for a very long while with its luscious combination of wool/cashmere/angora.

For some perverse reason, the exceptionally nice stuff in my stash languishes longer than the nice, ordinary, run of the mill yarns.  I guess, I feel the the expense of the luxury yarns should yield some pretty fantastic projects. I am getting over it, though, why should I not have a cashmere sweat shirt looking thing, if it makes me ridiculously happy?

All that remains of the Lobster Pot Stibnite project is the long lace-like scarf that forms the front of the cardigan.  It would be done, but for the guilt of all this selfish knitting.

The family, of course, has managed to come up with a few things to assuage that guilt.

The husband liked the vest I made for my dear friend with the birthday coming up, he suggested he might enjoy one of his own, in LSU purple.

The yarn is new to me.  It is Morehouse Farm Merino 3-strand in Boysenberry.  It is much like Malabrigo.  I have not yet cast on, but soon, very soon.

The older daughter is attending UT in Austin.  She has been going to the football games, too.  While we are still in triple digit temperatures, I anticipate there might be at least one game in which she might need a new sweater, so I found a pattern and immediately cast on a Longhorn Girl Sweater:

The pattern is I Heart Aran by Tanis Fiber Arts.  The yarn is Malabrigo Merino in Cinnabar.  Sweet One was home last weekend and heartily approved the pattern and yarn.  Yay!

Not to be left out, the younger daughter (Wee One), found something she thinks she would like to have.

The pattern is fine. It is Wylie from Berroco; however, the yarn is Origami, also by Berroco.  The likelihood of this project actually seeing completion is not great, despite my love for my daughter.  The issue is simply this yarn is the most vile combination of acrylic, linen, nylon, and cotton.  I wish I had something nice to say; however, I shall stop there or this post will be never-ending.

Startitis is not yet through with me.  I spent the better part of last weekend pouring over my stash and my queue, marrying yarns to projects.

It was delightful!

More to come later.

Anyone else flush with project anticipation now that it is officially Fall?!

Happy Knitting!

A Tisket, a Tasket....a lovely, lovely basket!

A few weeks ago, some knitterly friends came over for a day of yarny goodness, a hearty meal, and lots of laughter.

Accompanying two of them was the most thoughtful basket full of fabric, flowers, a monogrammed vase, wind chimes, and all sorts of wonderful goodies.

Upon seeing it, my immediate thought went to food.  I asked myself, at the time:  "Wouldn't this make the perfect bread basket?"

No, that did not make me or the basket happy.

My mind, still centered on food, asked:  "Fruit, perhaps?"  Everyone needs a fruit basket (eggs, you see, were out of the question because we have no chickens).

Afraid the fruit would soil the basket, I decided that was a poor use for the lovely basket.

So, lonely basket stood empty...

At least, for a short, short while, before yarn began jumping into it!

I am pleased to report both basket and assortment of yarns are very, very happy.

The End.

Cavalcade of FOs!

For the uninitiated, FO = Finished Object!   An elusive object for most of us!

This sweater was actually finished several months ago, but I never took proper pictures of it.  I have worn it a half a dozen times, so far.  The sleeves appear long here, but I cuff them and they are perfect!

Pattern:  Ribbed Diamond Pullover
Yarn:  The pattern called for Aran weight; however, I have this thing about doubling up strands, so I used two strands of fingering weight yarn:  Miss Babs Yummy in Black Cherry Monochrome and Zitron Trekking #147.

The loft and texture of the two strands of fingering weight are wonderfully cushy and warm.  Together they knit up to a perfect worsted/aran weight.  This is one of my all time favorite sweaters!

After I finished the Twisted Me sweater last weekend, I cast on for a man's vest.

Pattern: Nathan.  (Bonus!  It is a free pattern.)
Yarn:  Queensland Collection Kathmandu in Sailor

Four days later, it was finished!  Yeah, it surprised me, too.  I thought I needed one more skein of yarn (and it is being shipped...)

It is hard to make out the details, but it is a simple stockinette body knit in-the-round to the arm holes, then the back and front are knit separately flat.  The yarn is Aran weight, and knits up FAST!  It is a combination of wool and silk with a touch of cashmere.  Very Nice!  The husband promised to model it this weekend, before I wrap it up and send it on to its real owner.

Finally, a year and a half ago, I designed a sweet little cowl for one of Woolgirl's kits.  She called it the Hello Cupcake Cowl.

I called it the Fountain Cowl.

Originally, it came it two sizes, the pink is slightly smaller than the blue.

Well, in preparing to release the design to the public, I decided to offer it in two fingering weight sizes (as seen above), as well as a nice worsted weight size.

Pattern:  Fountain Cowl (soon to be released)

Yarn:  Pink (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Pale Pink), Blue (Yarn Daze Water Colors in Fountain), Green (Malabrigo Merino in Verde Esperanza)

While not yet a full fledged FO, I had to sneak in my current WIP (Work-In-Progress).

Pattern: Ayana
Yarn:  Madelinetosh Tosh DK (one of my favorite yarns on earth!) in Cove

All that remains are the sleeves, and one of them is 75% complete.  I am hoping to have this one done by the end of the weekend.

Football season means copious amounts of knitting time!

Are you ready for some football?!

Twisted Me!

Several months ago I added a pattern to my queue that caught my eye because of how it was constructed.  It was knit in one piece from one sleeve, across the body, all the way to the end of the other sleeve.  The only seaming was from back to front and along the sleeves.  I was intrigued.

 

Pattern:  Rachel (It is now available at that link for free!)

Wading through my stash, I found some suitable yarn and immediately swatched.

I used Blue Moon Fibers Twisted in Valkyrie.  The gauge was bang on.

Yay!

But, there my interested ended, and the pattern, yarn, and swatch languished for months on end.

Saturday a week ago found me moving from one lace project to another with very little enthusiasm.  I was tired of using little needles on socks and shawls with only slight signs of progress.  I wanted something quick, easy, and, perhaps, somewhat mindless.  No offense to the Rachels out there, but the pattern Rachel came to mind.

Well, a week later and I have a finished object!

Double Yay!


I originally had three skeins of Valkyrie, two were dark and one was noticeably lighter.  The pattern estimated some 1600 yards of Aran weight.  So, I split the lighter skein into two equal balls with the thought of alternating a dark skein with the lighter skein for the first sleeve, moving on to alternating two dark skeins for the body, then finishing the second sleeve with a dark skein and the remaining half of the lighter skein.  What happened is that I ended up not needing to use the second dark skein at all, because the sweater used less than 1100 yards in total.

Part of me is kicking myself because it would have looked lovely knitted only in the dark skeins, but the other part of me (the practical, be happy with what you have side), thinks the unintended vertical stripes are sort of subtle and definitely slimming.  If you think that is confusing, you should really hear the other conversations in my head.

In any event, I LOVE this new sweater.  When I tried it on over a t-shirt yesterday afternoon I thought it may have been a bit snug; however, last night, I put it on without the t-shirt and was delighted with the fit.  I am now eyeing the Malabrigo in my stash to make another one...

Finishing a sweater and immediately wanting to cast on for another is a wonderful thing!