And the Winner is...

I know I said I was going to wait until Friday to purchase yarn, but I couldn't. With charge card in hand, I headed over to my LYS in 96 degree weather to browse and buy. I had decided on this turtleneck sweater from Rebecca 14 for my next project. I'm using GGH Via Mala in grey and ecru combined for the whole sweater, not just the bottom half. I started my swatch and am excited to start putting my needles to work!

Possessed

I saw Possession a couple of nights ago. It was a wonderfully romantic love story that was a little sappy at times, but overall, a great film. One of the things I noticed in the movie was Gwyneth's fabulous sweaters, mainly turtlenecks. I'm inspired to start some new projects. I'll be heading to my LYS on Friday when it's payday!

Seeing Spots

Here's the front of the sweater. Obviously it needs some blocking. I like the contrasting hem and will add that to the sleeves and neckline. I haven't been to my LYS in about a month with vacations and work and all. I can't believe I've gone this long without buying any new yarn! I was looking through some old Rebeccas and Rowans last night and found about six patterns I wanted to knit for fall. It's amazing I didn't already have these patterns bookmarked. I felt as if I had never noticed them before. It's also been a really long time since I attended an open knit or stitch and bitch meeting. That's another reason I'm looking forward to fall–things will slow down a bit. I feel like I have been constantly on the go this whole summer.

Back to Work

I feel like I've been out of the loop forever! But I'm back on my regular work schedule so things are easing into normal. I haven't read any blogs for about a week! I am working on the back of the sweater now. Finished the front last week. I'll get pictures up tomorrow. School starts in a week and I must admit, I am ready for fall.

A Little Progress

I am about halfway through on the front of the sweater. I should be able to finish it this week since it's supposed to be a for one-year-old and is relatively small. I'm at another week-long training this week and posts will again be sporadic!

Hot in the City

The weather has been so incredibly hot here since returning from vacation that I haven't done much knitting on my sweater. Instead, I've been lounging around a pool and trying to find air conditioned hangouts to go to after work since my second floor apartment traps in so much heat. I think I'm just about ready for fall.

There's No Place Like Home

Got home from Vancouver yesterday afternoon. It took five hours to get there and six home to drive home. After all that driving, I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. Did a lot of walking around everywhere, all day long. Here's some of the stuff I saw: Capilano Suspension Bridge, Robson Street, Yaletown, Gastown, the West End, and Stanley Park. Vancouver reminded me a lot of San Francisco. There were tons of tourists and the weather was amazing. I managed to do a tiny bit of knitting during the trip. I started a children's sweater that I'm designing.

I'm at another week-long training (part two of the training that I attended several weeks ago). I'll try to post as much as I can.

Bead It

Inspired by all of Kate's recent fancy beadwork, I decided I needed some new jewelry myself. The necklace is the Double Diamond Stitch necklace from Robyn's Bead Page. Originally, it was supposed to be a choker-style necklace, but I made it a bit longer. It sits right on top of my collarbone. I saw the bracelet in a book while I was at the bead store getting supplies for the necklace. I am going to try to make another necklace in a similar style as the bracelet, but with blue and green chunky beads. You can get a more detailed view of the jewelry if you visit moxie. Just scroll to the bottom.

Going on vacation tomorrow. See ya all in a week!

Sweater with Peplum

I finished this sweater this morning. I love how it turned out! It was a fun pattern to knit, with all the detailing, etc. It was also knit in the round, whcih was a nice change. I was able to knit the neckline with the remainder of original yarn that I had left over from shortening the sleeves and using a different color for the sleeve ribbing. The only thing I'm not happy with is the hem of the sweater. The one purl row turned out a little sloppy even though I did it about five times.

Darn It!

So the LYS had no more Goa in stock. I bought the last of it and since it's a cotton yarn, they said they wouldn't be buying anymore for the fall. Here's the problem...the sweater required 450 grams of yarn. I bought 450 grams. However, one skein was a slightly brighter lime color and I didn't notice because it didn't have a label on it. I just assumed it was the same. I noticed it was different when I tried to use it for continuing the body of the sweater. I've usually had lots of leftover yarn with the Rebecca patterns I've knit in the past and I figured I might be okay. But when I was knitting both sleeves at once, I realized I didn't have enough. What I decided to do was frog both sleeves and use the other lime color for a contrast ribbing on the sleeves as well as the neckline. (See picture to the right.) I'm also making the sleeves a little shorter than the pattern says. Hopefully, it'll turn out okay. Pictures next week...