watched the mile markers passing

A week's vacation let me finish the yoke on this sweater. Now if only I could get my act together to graft the underarms, sew in the ends, and block! (I have a few flights later this month and plan on only bringing this along so I can force myself to do so. Someone on this blog suggested that strategy to me once, and it has served me well since. Unfortunately, the timing of these flights may mean that I'm not awake for much of them.) Before blocking, I think it looks way prettier inside out, without all that distracting puckering. Will post details when it's actually wearable!

we'd better stop before this story begins

Once again, I am neglecting all the knitting I need to do simply because I'm too fascinated by watching this sweater grow. So hold me accountable, blog: I will not knit another row on this sweater until all the finishing is done on the knitting that I'm supposed to gift tomorrow. I will not.

Or, at least, I'll only let myself knit rows as a reward for filing my taxes...

Ribbons at the County Fair

I entered four knitting projects in the Arlington County Fair and won two blue (first place) ribbons (for the Ladybug sweater, which you have seen) and a scarf which I finished just in time for the fair and two red (second place) ribbons for the blue sweater you have seen, and a more recent turquoise sweater. Lots of areas have fairs, and it's fun to see what other people have done and satisfying when your hard work is recognized. (My grandfather was a county and state fair manager in the first quarter of the 20th century, so fairs are in my blood.

The scarf was from the Filatura Di Crosa fall/winter 2007 collection pattern book, knit of one skein of "Superior" - 70% cashmere and 30% silk - very soft and fine. It is called Lacy Sampler" because it uses five different lace patterns, with eyelet in between - wicked because as soon as you get into the rhythm of knitting one pattern you have to learn another one. It decreased between each pattern so it was narrower around the neck. It was also knit in two identical sections and then woven together in the middle with kitchener stitch (which went much better than on the socks I tried).

The first pattern is Horseshoe.

The second is Flame Chevron.

Diamond Mesh is the one I had to rip out and reknit (and unknit - yes that is the only way sometimes) repeatedly to get it right.

After Diamond Mesh, The Cloisters was a breeze.

Then Twin Leaf was the center pattern that was joined in the middle. You can see where the pattern changes directions when it is connected.


Here's the Turquoise sweater.


It was a strange pattern, with the bottom band knit first as a long scarf-like band sewn together in a loop and then the stitches for the body are picked up onto the band. (Interestingly the judge at the fair commented that the seam attaching the band was too bulky and I should consider using the Kitchener stitch - which would have been impossible since there weren't unfinished stitches to weave together) I altered the pattern a little by eliminating the side seams and knitting it in the round up to the armholes. The pattern called for crocheting around the neckline and sleeves, but didn't tell how many stitches - so I had to improvise to find out how many stitches to skip when it turned out too floppy when I crocheted into every stitch on the bound off (or cast on) edge.


The Yarn was Saucy Sport, a very commonly available yarn, and the Reynolds pattern number is 82382.

Knitting for Myself after Christmas

Since Christmas, I've been knitting for myself. I've finished two sweaters and my first pair of socks.


I started the socks rights after Christmas and quickly finished one, and then took a break while I knit a sweater. That was probably a mistake because the second sock is much tighter knit so they don't fit the same. I have a book about using two long flexible double pointed needles instead of a set of five double pointed needles so that you knit both socks at the same time to prevent this problem. Maybe I'll try that next time. I usually wear thinner socks, so I'm not sure about handknit socks in any case, but it was fun to try, and they work well with clogs. It was self striping yarn, so the stripes aren't as impressive to knit as they look.


Next, I hurried to knit a winter sweater before the weather got too warm to wear it, but I needn't have worried! I had plenty of opportunities. This was a very expensive yarn and I had some worries that the lace pattern I picked didn't really maximize it's potential, but I am pretty happy with the finished product. The yarn had two strands, one mohair and the other a loopy synthetic strand that was a little shiny. Very dramatic!

Finally I knit a sweater to wear for Easter. The yarn is 55% cotton/45% silk - very soft. I actually knit the sample guage square twice to make sure the size would be right since fit seemed important. I was glad I did and I'm very happy with this sweater.

I've knit so much I have a pain in my right elbow. I may have to take a break! I have more projects lined up but haven't decided what to tackle next.