New Toy

A friend at work gifted me with this Brother knitting machine the other day. I've quickly scanned the manual, but have been intimidated by all the parts of the machine to actually read how to use it. Maybe I'll be ready to tackle it this weekend!

Sweet Cherry

Here's the beginning of the back of the Cherry sweater. I started it Saturday and got as far as the eyelet row on the waist when I realized one row of my little bird cables were off in relation to the other alternating row. So, I ripped everything out to the first row of cables and started again. Tonight I caught up to where I had been. The Cathay is a bit splitty, but it knits up beautifully. I really like this pumpkin color too!

Tanked Again

I finished this tank top early Saturday, hoping to wear it sometime this weekend, but who wants to wear a knitted tank in 100° weather? Not me! Due to being knit in seed stitch, one of the edges of the straps was really curly, so I threw it in the delicate cycle of the washer and fluffed it in the dryer. I like the wide straps and the split side seams that you can't really see in the photo.

In Pieces

I finished the back of the tank a couple of days ago and am close to completing the front. The straps are knit up on the front and then sewn onto the back. I hope to have a new top for the weekend!

Feeling Good

The Berroco Touché felt soft enough to the touch, but once it's knit up, it feels even better. There's a slight sheen to the fabric and the stitches look uniform and even. It's easy to knit with too.

Machiko Fan Club

Finally, a Machiko Kayaki pattern to call my own! I started this project around 10:30 p.m. and finished at 1 a.m. I was so excited at how it was turning out that I had to keep going until it was done. The most time-consuming part was the armhole, neckline, and hem casings for the elastic. After ironing the casings, I pinned them in place and then sewed them down. The last step was inserting some quarter-inch elastic. It's a fun summer top!

Sew Fine

Even though I started knitting a new tank top, I also managed to start a sewing project too. Jealous of Mariko's fabulous Machiko Kayaki projects, I had to begin my own. Last night, I cut out the fabric for the simple sleeveless top shown here, which is from the book Sewing Talk (ISBN 4579110528). I'm using a cute cherry pink-striped fabric that Alicia dropped off at Mariko's backtack party. The pattern only has two pieces, so it should be a fairly quick project. That is, if I decipher the instructional pictures correctly!

Next Up

Here's what I scored at a LYS this afternoon. The Berroco Touché is for the Eliza tank top and the Debbie Bliss Cathay is for the Cherry sweater, which I was alerted to after reading about it on Silvia's blog. After the lacy Bonita project, I needed something that would be quick and fun, so I started the Berroco swatch for the tank.

La Bonita

I didn't want to wait until the sweater was blocked to post photos, so here is the finished Bonita! The I-cord edging around the armholes went much more quickly than the neck. The fit is good and I didn't make any modifications to the pattern. In the photo, I'm holding down the sides so they appear smoother, but after blocking I think they will be fine.

Necking

I finished the I-cord neckline today at lunch. It took longer than I expected, but I like how it looks. I have to graft the remaining four stitches to the beginning, but that shouldn't be too difficult. I just have to do the sleeve edging and then I'll throw it in the gentle cycle of the washer and then the dryer to block it.

Really, They're Sleeves

I finished the sleeves last night. They knit up quickly since they were rather small. Today I will seam the shoulders together and then sew in the sleeves, which will also get icord edging. Since this was knit in the round, there are only a few ends to weave in. Photos to come later this week!

Body Movin'

I finished the body of the Bonita shirt last night while watching the finales of The Sopranos and Big Love. I cast on for both the sleeves and need to actually start knitting on those today.

Knitting and a Fancy FLOR

I've started working on just the back of the Bonita shirt and should have that side done by this weekend. I hope to have this sweater finished and wearable by next weekend!

In other non-knitting news:
Check out my new cool rug, courtesy of Interface FLOR. Here's the old rug.

Hooray for Headbands

Here's a cute headband pattern that you can download courtesy of Heather.