FO: Phildar sleeveless cowl...

Pattern: 11 Pull sans manches (no. 458-T6-256); Phildar Special Twenty Automne-Hiver 06/07 (no. 458)
Yarn: Patons Divine in night sky; 4 skeins
Needles: KnitPicks Options US9/5.5mm & US10/6mm; US9/5.5mm Empress bamboo DPNs
Time: 1 month, on and off
Mods: Knit in the round up to armholes, picked up and knit the cowl and armbands.

Notes:

This was more of a fun knit--one of those trendy items that happens to catch my eye for some reason. I'm not sure how much wear I'll get out of this but if the cold weather keeps up, it'll be very useful. The top is really cozy. My mom even pulled the cowl up over my head and said, "Hey, you can use it as a hood if it gets too cold!" I also wanted to try out an easy Phildar pattern to see how I would do working from a French pattern. It's been a couple years since I've needed to use the language. A little out of practice but still okay.

I picked the Divine because I needed something that would be light and drapey for the gauge the pattern calls for. The yarn called for in the pattern is also a novelty yarn, which is part of the look that appealed to me, so I wanted to mimic the fuzzy aspect without crossing over to furry.

The pattern had you work everything flat in pieces--front, back, neck, and armbands. I noticed the Divine would be a pain to seem so I converted it to be worked in the round. I also picked up stitches for the cowl and armbands and worked those in the round. In the end, the only thing I had to seam were the shoulders.

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In other news, I tried wearing the tweed V-neck for a day. The baggy sleeves really got to me so I took care of that. I ripped out the top until I had the desired stitches for the upper arm and knit the sleeve cap. Then I cut off the bottom where I my first set of increases were, knit the bottom part of the sleeve to the desired measurements and grafted it to the upper part of the sleeve. It fits much better now.



I've also been working on a couple other items:



On the left is the Print o' the Wave Stole by Eunny Jang. I've had this printed out for a long time and only got around to knitting now. I had some KnitPicks Shadow that I bought to qualify for free shipping and a lot of time while taking care of some family obligations last month. I'm on the inner border now, and it looks like it'll be done by the end of the week.

On the right is a sock made from SWTC Tofutsies. I saw the yarn at the yarn shop and was intrigued. It's much softer and stretchier knit up than you would think. In the skein it feels like cotton string. I also really like the colors. I'm just winging a toe-up, ribbed pattern (the former to maximize yardage, the latter for interest). I think this will be a slow project, though. I only pick up it occassionally.

Times are busy. I'm in the process of moving to DC. I've never been, but I just see it as another adventure. At least I won't have trouble finding yarn shops, though.