What I Did on Vacation

I finished the front this morning as I watched Roll Bounce and Dark Water. I've included a photo where you can see detail of the two columns of purl stitches that will form the vertical stripes. I'm eager to start crocheting for that part of the plaid pattern. I guess I'll get to that once the piece is done blocking. I'm planning to start on both sleeves this evening.

Back Off

Here's the back of the plaid turtleneck. It just finished blocking. I am on the front of the turtleneck now and have just knit up the first section of horizontal plaid stripes. I like the way all the colors are contrasting with each other. There is an error in the directions of the stripe pattern regarding the colors. In the magazine, it says the stripe pattern alternates between the chestnut heather and the forest green heather. It should read the natural heather and the forest green heather.

PS Happy holidays!

Hats Off

I finished these projects during the snow day yesterday. I knit the slip stitch grid hat just a little bit bigger than the directions called for so that there was some extra room on top. The top is square-shaped and makes the hat look like a fez. I like the spiderweb effect the slip stitching creates though. I also had time to start the plaid turtleneck and am in the process of knitting up the seven inches of ribbing. Photos to come!

Snow Day

A winter storm of freezing rain and snow came into town a couple of hours earlier than expected yesterday afternoon. I thought I would have the day off today, but the local news reported that our offices would open two hours late. When I actually got to the office, it turns out that they were closed! So, now I have all day to work on swatches for the projects you see above. Prior to heading into work, I drove out to the Fabric Depot for the yarn. The patterns are from the fall issue of knit.1 magazine. Because of the weather, the Depot was dead, which was fun for me. I got all the yarn for only $25!

Big Yarn Day

Since I last posted, I haven't done much project knitting. I've been knitting up a few swatches for smaller projects, like socks and gloves. So yesterday, I logged on to eBay to look for some Louisa Harding yarn. I had seen her yarns in a LYS recently, but it was rather expensive at $11.50 a skein. I wanted the kimono angora for a vest design that I've been thinking about for several months. I found the yarn online for only $6.50 a skein! I immediately bought six skeins in the olive color featured in the photo above. Then I trekked out in the cold weather to get some GGH Goa for a seed stitch baby hat and matching booties from Sharon Turner's book Monkeysuits. I also purchased some Brown Sheep Nature Spun to knit up a pair of gloves for myself. I've never knit gloves before, so that should be a fun project. I plan to come up with a pattern from the Hand Knit Gloves generator.

Basket Case

Over the weekend I finished the purple poncho for my friend's daughter, so I wanted a quick project to work on while I decide on my next larger project. I had been wanting to make these crocheted baskets from Erika Knight's Simple Crochet for some time now. As the book title suggests, they were very simple and easy to make. Mine are about four inches in diameter, but you can make them whatever size you want. I used some leftover Lion Cotton in my stash.

Six Months

After six months working on this project, I am finally done! I finished seaming up the sides of the vest yesterday after work and when I got home, I threw it in the washer, along with some towels, set on delicates mode. Once that was done, I tossed everything in the dryer on the knits setting, which uses a cooler temperature. I let that go for about 20 minutes before changing the temp to a higher heat. The dryer went for another 20 minutes and when I pulled the vest out, it looked great. The stitches were a bit tighter and more uniform. When I measured it against another size large sweater, it was exactly the same size instead of about four inches longer, like it was when I measured it against the same sweater last week. Mission accomplished!

PS This vest is a gift, so I'll have photos of it being modeled after I give it away in a week or so.

Quick Update

I finally finished the ribbing on the second armhole last night! And I have woven in all the ends except for the ones on the sides, which I will seam together today. I hope to post photos tomorrow.

Purple Project

While I finish seaming and knitting on the neckline and armholes of the Drunken Argyle vest, I decided to start a poncho for a friend's daughter. I'm using Cascade 128 and will add that sparkly Trendsetter Aura at the neck and hem. I'm looking forward to a quick project!

Time for Seaming

I blocked the front of the vest a couple of nights ago and I am now ready to do the seaming. I love this vest, but I think I made it a size too big. I must admit that I barely glanced at the finished measurements, assuming that a size large would fit a chest size of 42/44 when the pattern says that a large would fit a 44/46. What was I thinking? I guess I am just used to making things for myself and not others! So, I may try to do a little creative shrinking/felting in the washing machine and dryer. Wish me luck!