Sneak Peek

I wasn't sure how the tweed slip stitch pattern was going to look in this sweater, but it slowly started to take shape after I did about two repeats of it. I think I finally have the stitch pattern memorized too. The colors switch every two rows, so I'm just dropping one color and then picking up the next. I'm so glad there will be no weaving in of ends! I'm loving the grey and yellow color combination too.

Finally!

I had ordered yarn for the vest from two different online stores and just received the second batch of Garnstudio Alpaca yesterday. I'm using light grey as my main color and light butter as my contrasting color. I hope to be able to cast on for this project this weekend.

End-of-Summer Sale

I'm having a yard sale this weekend and there will be some handsewn and handknit stuff. Here are the details:

End-of-Summer Sale includes some furniture including coffee table, wall shelf, dining room chairs, handsewn and handknit clothes (as well as clothes from the Gap, Banana Republic, and other name brands), Kenneth Cole and other name brand shoes, Roman shades, mini blinds, IKEA rugs, leftover renovation materials that include Marmoleum remnants (colors include Charcoal, Asian Tiger, and Flax), carpet and tile, rugs, jewelry, vintage sewing machine in console, and more.

7414 N. Kerby Avenue
Saturday 8/18, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

Next on the Needles

After finishing the lacy yoke sweater last week, I had no clue as to what my next knitting project would be. Then I caught a preview of the fall 2007 Interweave Knits. I saw several patterns that I want to knit up, but found this free web pattern that I loved, and even more perfect, it's a vest! You know I love a great vest. The vest knits up with only five skeins of yarn, so I may just use what's called for in the pattern. It should be a challenging project with a master color and contrasting color to deal with and a bunch of slip knit stitches for the tweed pattern.

Benefit

Portland has a new IKEA. Look what came as an insert in today's Sunday paper. Now that's what I call marketing brilliance!

The Yoke's On Me

I finished weaving in all the ends of the sweater at lunchtime yesterday. Even with short sleeves, I think it's still a bit warm out to wear this, but it will be perfect for fall. The yarn, 50% Merino wool and 50% silk, knit up into a great fabric that showcases the lacework nicely. I could probably try to block out that lace a little more, but I think it will be okay. The chart is 39 rows and there is an error in row 35. Luckily I thought to check the Rebecca forums and there the correction was! Other than that, the pattern is easy to follow and fun to knit.

It's Blocking

I finished the lacy yoke on the sweater last night and just pinned it for blocking. I somehow got off on the chart by a couple of stitches and didn't realize it until after I had just started the ribbing on the neck. I had to rip out several rows, but it didn't take long to reknit. I really like how the yoke turned out. It looks much better in person than it does in the magazine photo.

Joined at the Pits

Yesterday I joined the front, back, and sleeves together, so now I'm knitting in the round. I have 288 stitches on my needles! I started the lace motif after three rounds of stockinette and on the second row of the chart I noticed something funny. Because I'm knitting in the round and only on the right side, all even rows should be straight stockinette while the odd rows follow the motif pattern. I had just finished the second row, but had followed the third row of the chart. So, I had to frog all of those 288 stitches to knit a stockinette row. Now I'm back on track on row three of the chart. Woohoo!