Yarn Crawl

Clearly, It's a Sickness

My latest purchase from the Twist Collective...following my usual routine, they send an email, I buy the pattern. So many patterns, so little time. To compound the sickness, I'll probably buy the recommended yarn too, as it's an interesting blend of baby alpaca, silk, cashmere and camel - I know I don't have that already in the stash...

Sylvar Progress

I managed to get a picture of Sylvar this morning before leaving - I separated the sleeves about four rounds ago:

I'm loving this Miss Babs "Roasted Pumpkin" colorway!

An Actual Knitting FO: Paloma - Finished at Last!!!!

After all of the trials and tribulations I had with this project, Paloma (from the French Girl Knits book) is finally DONE!!

front

back

worn backwards

closer up

Vital Stats:
Pattern: Paloma, from French Girl Knits
Size: 33.5", but see modifications
Yarn: The recommended Louet MerLin sport in "Shamrock"
Needles: Every pair I own, it seemed like

Notes/Modifications:

Hooboy. This project should have been so easy - top down, seamless, no sleeves to speak of - but it made me just about crazy and it spent much of its life to date sitting in time out in a bag in my yarn closet.

I redid the yoke probably four times and still I can point out mistakes I made - the upper body stitch pattern(s) are really hard to get right for some reason. I had no problem knitting the underbust or bottom section from a stitch pattern perspective - the problem I had with the bottom was that as written, I didn't like the length - so I actually lengthened this (a first) to be more of a tunic length. I also did another set of increases as part of that lengthening.

I also used bigger needles (one size larger) to make the bottom, and then had to do the bindoff twice - once with the one-size-larger needles (too tight) and once with needles two sizes larger than those! Finally that was the charm.

On the sleeves, I had to reknit one of them twice, and bind that one off twice - again, had to go up a few needle sizes. I didn't bother with the "increase bindoff" as I couldn't figure out the instructions in the book, so maybe that would have helped with the tightness on the sleeve. But she does say in the book that if the bindoff is too tight, to redo it with larger needles. I mean, my shoulders and arms are decently well-developed, but I'm no Jillian Michaels or anything. So I think the sizing is goofy on this. I did make the smallest size (33.5") but this is usual for me. It could be the yarn, though, as it is a linen and wool blend.

The ribbon is from M&J Trimming and is the hand-dyed ribbon in "Green Apple". I used the 5/8" wide ribbon instead of the 2.5" wide recommended as I thought that would be way too wide. I think she also said you needed 2.5 yards of the ribbon, and as I could only buy by the yard, I took a chance and rounded down to 2 yards instead of "being safe" and getting three. I'm glad I did - as you can see, 2 is even a bit too much, and I need to trim some of it back and retie the bow more nicely.

Also, when they say on the M&J Trimming website that there will likely be seams in the ribbon, they really mean what they say. These were pretty messy, visible, uneven seams on this ribbon, and it was a bit of a struggle to make sure they were inside the top instead of outside. I couldn't trim them out as they are right in the heart of the ribbon. So, though the ribbon is beautiful in color and texture, I wasn't wowed by the "workmanship".

Overall, though, I like the end result (though it still is tight in the front part of the arm (not the bindoff, but just pulls a bit when my arms are forward, like when I'm typing at my desk.) I thought maybe if I tried it backwards it might fit better, but it was even tighter. In retrospect, I probably should have made the 35" size, especially as I ended up putting the ribbon in so that would have prevented it from falling off my shoulders. I do like this, and will wear it, but maybe it just needs more blocking. Come to think of it, I didn't re-block or wash it after I did the cap sleeves, and maybe that is the problem, as this yarn loosens up substantially when it's washed. We'll see when I wash it.

I am almost done with the orange leaf yoke top and just have the finishing to do on Broderie. Here's a sneak peek of the latter:

After adding the bottom section, the waistband pulled down to be at the actual waist, instead of the underbust where it was before. I actually think this will be a better look for me, so I'm happy about it. Lottttss of finishing to do on it though. Hopefully by the end of the weekend!

Stash Enhancement and One Sleeve Down...

Yesterday Jim and I rode the bike out to the Midwest Fiber & Folk fair. It took a loooongg time to get there on the way there as we took the scenic route - about an hour and forty-five minutes. On the way back it took about an hour on the expressways. We were worried about rain, so figured we should take the quickest way possible. Luckily we didn't get rained on.

I did make two purchases:

First, four skeins of Brooks Farm Acero in a really pretty black color (it's like a semi-solid black that is really gorgeous and will have a nice sheen to it)

It's like 1600 yards, which is a lot, but I was worried about just getting three skeins. They were only $18 each for 475 yards or whatever it is, so I figured I should just go for the extra skein to be safe.

Next (and Jenny, you are going to laugh at this!) I bought five skeins of Allhemp 3.

The joke is that over a year ago (maybe almost a year and a half ago now) I sent a half-finished hemp knitting project to Jenny to finish and keep as I was so frustrated with it, and I sent her the heavier weight allhemp 6 I had purchased for a skirt as well because I was so frustrated with the hemp. However, that was when I couldn't stand small needles - and that was Elann Canapone, which kept tangling up and driving me crazy. I am now ready to give the Allhemp 3 a chance, but if I hate it, I will just destash it. It was only like $35 (no discount or anything, but I've discovered that lightweight yarns are a great deal for the money - even though you have to buy more yardage, proportionally they cost less anyway - it says this in Knit So Fine and it really is true.) Also, I don't think I'll ever attempt the Allhemp 6 again - heavier inflexible yarns really do kill my hands. But I figured that I don't mind thin cotton now, so why not give the lighter weight hemp another try? Plus the Allhemp has to be wound, so I can wind it right, unlike the Canapone that's in a (tangly) ball already.

I'll also share another addition to my stash that I bought on Ebay - delicious, isn't it?

I also finished the first sleeve of Broderie this morning:

I shortened it my standard 2" and the length is perfect, but I'm hoping it loosens up a bit when I wash/block it as it is a tiny bit tight right now when I put it over my arm. I'm sure it will be fine.

I'm hanging a bit today...the party was a lot of fun last night but I drank too much wine. Again, I think about how thin I would be if I only would stop boozing it up because honestly it's my only major diet flaw. LOL. I've been getting a lot better, but there's room for improvement for sure. At least I have been going to the grocery store and buying (and eating before it goes bad!) healthy food and eating better and exercising every day and drinking my five 16 oz bottles of water a day and usually only drinking one glass of wine at night with dinner. The wheels tend to fall off the bus at parties though. Oh well. It's a journey. All I can do is try to continually improve.

Checking in...

Not much going on so far this week - I've been swatching different yarns for the Tie Back Shell (another Connie Chang Chinchio design that I want to knit with the SKC this quarter) and I think I finally decided on Debbie Bliss Pure Silk in a royal purple color from stash. I bought the yarn a few months back from a sale at My Sisters' Knits and I think this is the winner for this design! I considered and dismissed Rowan Wool Cotton (right gauge, but no "sheen" which this design needs) and Classic Elite Premiere (ok, but again, the sheen factor wasn't there.)

Other than that, I still have to do the little cap sleeves on Paloma and pick out a ribbon for the neckline. The pattern recommends a 2.5" wide ribbon and I am going to go with a 5/8" wide one instead as I think it will fit in the eyelets much better and also be more understated. I'm thinking of one of these hand-dyed silk ribbons from M&J Trimming for it. Any suggestions on colorways?

I plan to cast on the first sleeve of Broderie later today as well, and I'm starting to feel some sewing mojo coming back after a hiatus.

I guess I had more to say than I thought!

Leaf Yoke Progress!!

I just came home and finished the leaf yoke chart on my Knit.1 Leaf Yoke top - loving it!

The lace pattern will open up even more once I wet block it, but as I had the opportunity to show it before doing the pickups from the bottom, I figured I would show it off (plus I'm so giddy about it, I had to share:)

I think it's going to be a knitting-focused weekend!

Summer Knitty's Up!!

I really want to knit this!!! This is one you really cannot have be loose though (hello, armhole gappage/b&&bs flying out), so I'm going to have to knit the XS which is a little smaller than I would normally knit (hello, 29") but it should work because that won't be too small under the bust/rib cage. Ideally I'd like it to measure about 31", though, a little smaller than my high bust measurement, as this needs to be small enough there to stay up. I'll find a yarn and swatch it to play with the gauge. Depending on how stretchy the yarn is - oooh,just remembered the hot pink Rowan Calmer I have in stash - the 29" could be just fine.

That's the only thing I want to knit this time. Peace out...

Silken Scabbard FO!

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! I got suckered into knitting a few gifts now as I saw McKenna (5) and Mia (4) and they told me again how much they love their stuff. How am I supposed to resist that?? I have to pick some patterns and yarn soon here as time's a tickin'. I have some turquoise Colinette Point 5 in my stash that I could repurpose for a cute sweater coat for McKenna, and Mia - I think as she loves skirts I will give her the variegated Bounce skirt I made earlier this year that I thought I'd be giving to McKenna.

McKenna's a bit of a tomboy and likes hoodies and sweater coats and Mia is like a little princess - totally girly. She looks exactly like a miniature Reese Witherspoon, with blonde hair, blue eyes and a pointy little chin. Yesterday she had on a black velvet dress with black/white "fur" (like a fake ermine) cuffs and collar, and she looked adorable. I should have got pictures of them yesterday. For Mia's twin brother, Noah, I'm going to buy toys as he doesn't want clothes. I have a tough time figuring out gifts for boys, but I got some ideas from his mom. I also may sew a few things for the girls, time permitting.

In other news, I finally wore Silken Scabbard the other day and had Jim take pictures.

Stats

Pattern: Silken Scabbard
Size: 33
Needles: size 4 and 3 Addis
Yarn: Joseph Galler alpaca from my SP12

The sleeves will be longer (full length) once I wash the whole thing. I had washed the body and it grew quite a bit in length but hadn't done so yet with the sleeves. I like it, it's warm and soft, but it's hard to find the right jeans or bottom to wear with it as it is pretty clingy (but not too tight, really.)

Here's a close-up of the shoulder cables:

and a goofily lighted one from when we were playing with the camera settings:

Conclusion: not my favorite, but I do like it and will wear it. It's actually less "off the shoulder" than I thought it might be, so I could wear it to work with a skirt, and I think I will try that next. It might be better that way than with jeans.

Baby Cables!

I made a little boo-boo after separating the sleeves (well, actually a couple of them) so I decided to rip back to just before that point. While I was at it, I decided to try it on. I'm liking it and decided to put it back on the needles after ripping (I was almost at the point of not. Although this yarn is beautiful and soft, it is also quite "splitty" - I really hate that word, but if the shoe fits - and it's been driving me a little nuts on the cables. It would be totally fine for stockinette.)

Here it is so far:

Yes, there's a mistake I decided to live with on the sleeve. I decided after I finished the cable that the rest of it working correctly made the mistake less noticeable. I'm really not very good at fixing cables that are messed up below my current row, no matter how many great tutorials I read by the Yarn Harlot. I tried on the body screw-up that was only two rows down and failed miserably - I think mainly because of this yarn's multi-ply properties. Grrr.

I also found more fabric stash I hadn't catalogued (it's physically in the closet, in a plastic box, but not on Flickr yet.) So I do have even more than I thought - but I still am going to at least check out the sale. Same rule will apply to any potential purchases as the RTW in my closet - if it's not a soul-stirrer, it's not coming home with me. (A good rule in general in many aspects of life, right??!)

Stalking the Central Park Hoodie

Lately it seems like the Central Park Hoodie has been popping up a lot on people's blogs/queues, and somehow I have become obsessed with knitting it, modified to my liking.

Here's what I want to do to it:

1.) knit the back and two fronts in one piece to the armholes
2.) short row the shoulder shaping so I can three-needle-bindoff the shoulder seams
3.) pick up around the armscye and knit the sleeves top down
4.) possibly put in a zipper - I know I don't want buttons
5.) either eliminate the hood or do it the way Turtlegirl did hers

I'm also debating about the sizing. If I knit the 36 with the needles I got gauge on (7s) I would have between 1-1.5 inches of positive ease, which may be alright for this sweater the way it was originally intended and would work with the zipper idea. If I knit the 32 (also with the 7s) I'd be wearing it open. I can do a 32 in pullovers but in cardigans that are supposed to close it's more iffy. Another option would be to knit the 32 on needles that will yield about a 34 (8s) and I could either do the zipper or wear it open. Still deciding...I considered knitting it in pieces, the way it's written, which would make each piece go fast, but I know I'll procrastinate sewing those seams at the end and won't enjoy the process. I think it will go pretty quick anyway.

I've narrowed it down to Brooks Farm Riata from stash, but am trying to decide on a color.

I have either a wine color

or

a warm pink (but I already have an Ariann made out of the red version of this yarn and it may be too similar)

for solids (I've eliminated a plain medium blue from consideration for this as I think it will be too "matchy" with jeans) and two variegated options -

either blue/green (crappy pre-DSLR pic)

and rose/violet mix (other not so crappy pre-DSLR pic)

I know variegated wouldn't normally be a choice most people would make, but I think it could look cool, especially the one with the blue and green as it would really pop with jeans.

What do you think?

Gratuitous political content: YAY OBAMA!