FOs: Tuxedo Shirt and Baudelaire...

A bit of catch up.



Pattern: Sleeveless Tuxedo Shirt by Theresa Schabes from Interweave Summer 2007
Yarn: Jaeger Java; 4.5 skeins
Needles: US3/3.25mm Susan Bates Silvalume circs
Buttons: La Mode buttons from Exquisite Fabrics in DC
Time: ~1 month for knitting, another 2 months before I finally got buttons and sewed them in.
Mods: Shortened the body a bit and lengthened the straps since I wasn't sure if I had enough yarn.

Notes:

I finished knitting this in June, got the buttons soon after, and it was another couple months before I got around to finishing. This top didn't really appeal to me once the knitting was done, even after blocking. As a result, I kind of lacked the motivation to finish. I finally got around to sewing the buttons and weaving in ends this weekend and now, I love this top. I will definitely wear this quite a bit. Amazing what those finishing touches can do.

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Pattern: Baudelaire by Cookie A. from Knitty Summer 2006
Yarn: Koigu KMP in royal purple (2 hanks)
Needles: US1/2.25mm Susan Bates aluminum DPNs
Time: 1 month of commute knitting

Notes:

I *heart* this pattern, and I *heart* these socks. I've done the usual cuff-down socks, toe-up socks with short row heels, socks on DPNs, socks on two circs, and I've decided that toe-up socks with gusset heels on DPNs are my favorite technique. Normally I get bored knitting socks but this is my second pair of toe-up with gusset/heel flap. They maintain my attention, and they don't take ages to complete.



And, of course, I like almost anything that's purple.

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I've also been crazy enough to join the Ravelympics. Well, at least I'm crazy enough to knit a reversible Washington Capitals scarf in the the style of soccer scarves. BTW, did I mention I've never done double knitting before? And that I have a crazy work schedule? And that I'm totally making this up as I go along? Yeah...

FOs: Boteh and Monkey

Trying to make up for lost time...



Pattern: Boteh Scarf by Kathy Merrick from Interweave Crochet Spring 2007
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in Red Rover (2 hanks)
Hook: F/5/4mm Boye aluminum
Time: 1 week
Mods: Gauge was tighter than specified so I crocheted 4 extra triangles for a total of 20 to reach the desired length.



Notes: My first real crochet project! I figured it out sometime last year, mainly because I really liked the Boteh Scarf. The yarn was originally knit into a mini Sarcelle that just turned out too short. It makes a nice Boteh, though. This was an easy pattern to crochet (note: there is errata for this) and made for nice instant gratification.

And I finally got the Monkey off my back...



Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A. from Knitty.com
Yarn: Southwest Trading Co. TOFUtsies color #722 (1 skein)
Needles: US1.5/2.5mm DPNs]
Time: 5 months
Mods: Altered pattern to be knit toe-up, short row heels, knee-length (because the yarn would not end), increases for calf shaping

Notes: These are *finally* done. I pretty much got tired of their unfinished state and the slow progress due to making them exclusive travel knitting, so I devoted some time after the Boteh Scarf specifically to finishing these socks. I wanted to use up as much of the yarn as possible, which is why they're toe-up and knee length. One skein of TOFUtsies goes a long way (I wear a US 7 shoe in case anyone was wondering just how far). I still have a bit left over but that probably would have taken me closer to the knee than I'd like.

For the calf increases, I basically added a couple stitches per lace repeat over four rounds, which enlarged the overall lace pattern (i.e. each repeat has 4 rounds of eyelets originally, this went up to five after increasing). I also knit the ribbed cuff about half an inch longer than called for.

For some reason the color pattern on the second sock flashed instead of striped until I started the calf shaping. This one feels looser than its mate so maybe my gauge changed slightly for the first half and then tightened up. I did knit half of this second sock while on a couple hours of sleep and jet lagged. The latter half I did at home. Oh well. I'm just glad these are finally done.

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.

FO: Widdershins...

The fastest socks I ever knitted, and my first FO of the year!



Pattern: Widdershins by Brooke Chenoweth Creel (Knitty.com Summer '06)
Yarn: Koigu KPPPM in "denim/pink" (#P400)
Needles: US1/2.25mm Clover bamboo DPNs
Time: 1.5 weeks
Mods: Adjusted for smaller row gauge, increased up to 60 sts on leg.

Notes:

I found the toe-up with heel flap construction way more fascinating than is probably healthy. =P For the first sock I was simply figuring out the pattern, for the second I thought about how I could convert other sock patterns to be worked like this. I see much more sock knitting in the future now that I've found a technique I really enjoy.



My overall gauge was smaller than what was stated in the pattern. It didn't matter so much on the foot--it ended up being a perfect fit. I just had to calculate how long the gusset and heel came out to with my row gauge and knit the foot length accordingly. However, I was afraid it might be too narrow once I got to the calf, so I gradually increased up to 60 stitches up the leg. My mom loves the socks, and they fit perfectly!

As for my first impressions of the Koigu...Well, I'm personally not crazy about variegated yarn. I think I've only used it for myself once although I've used self-striping sock yarn for gift socks. Even so, they did a really good job with dying the yarn. I've also read that the base yarn for Koigu is from Louet, so I guess if I want some nice sock yarn in the future I could probably get it directly from them in solid colors.

Now, back to my reknit project...

Reknit: Ribbon Tie Cardigan...

Which I'm still not happy with.



This was the first sweater I knit when I was still twisting my purl stitches. I got quite a bit of wear out of it and figured I may as well knit it again the right way. It looks much better than before (and the yarn was still okay despite being unraveled and re-used). The only problem is that in the year since I last wore it (I decided not to take much with me to school in England), my personal style and taste aged a bit as I got closer to going out in the real world and working in professional office settings.

Or as my mother puts it, I'm getting old. =P This cardi just isn't for me anymore.

This could pass as a child's cardigan, though. I think I'll include it with this year's contribution to the Dulaan project.

As for my current RIP, well, let's just say all that 2x2 ribbing isn't a lot of fun. Just to keep me from getting too bored I started a new, but small, project.



This is sock 1/2 of Widdershins in Koigu KPPPM for my mom. We went to a yarn shop a few towns over where I saw Koigu in person for the first time. I picked out a couple skeins of a deep purple for myself to try and told my mom if there was anything she wanted, she could pick out the yarn. She decided to go for socks in this pink/purple/blue colorway.

FO: Embossed Leaves Socks

Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks by Mona Schmidt; Interweave Knits Winter 2005
Yarn: Regia Silk in Loden (#70); 2 skeins
Needles: US2/2.75mm Clover bamboo DPNs
Time: 1 month
Mods: Did not break yarn after turning the heel; Worked leaf chart 7 times total instead of 7.5; Grafted toes.

Notes:

I had quite a bit of fun with this. The leaf pattern kept me interested, I really liked the way the heel was worked (although I did modify that part a teeny bit), and I love the toe. I'm not sure I would use the 1x1 rib method for casting on again as this came out rather tight. But since it still fit, I didn't bother to go back and fix it. I also reinforced the heel and toes with some nylon thread since I plan on wearing these around the house all the time.

I'm not a fan of breaking the yarn and rejoining on socks. It's something I try to avoid doing when possible, and on this pattern there really wasn't any reason to do that. I just simply knit across the heel stitches, picked up stitches down the left side of the heel flap, worked across the instep, picked up stitches up the right side of the heel flap, and knit the first half of the heel stitches onto the last needle. Just like any other basic sock.

I ended up leaving the last half repeat of the lace chart because it would have made the socks too long for me. I'm not sure if this is because my row gauge was off, but I know that it was spot on for the leg. Who knows?

Overall, this was a great pattern. I can see why so many people have made these socks. The yarn is also really nice, especially since it doesn't irritate my skin.

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The rational side of me says I should get going on the sleeves for Brilliant Retro. Unfortunately, having my size 2 DPNs freed up meant the rational side lost...


First of the Wine and Roses Mitts

On the bright side, these are going really fast AND I'm using up some leftover yarn that's been sitting in the stash for a year.

A picture's worth a thousand words...

I think this sums up my life quite well:



First complete sock and then some. And now, back to the essays...

I couldn't help myself...

As soon as I got my DPNs in the mail, I had to start knitting the socks. Normally I'm good about not having a lot of projects on needles, but I was too excited. I never knit socks before, and I really wanted to try it ASAP. So far, I have the first sock of the first pair I'm making halfway done.