Wednesday, May 28, 2008

More FOs


Salt Peanuts from an old Interweave Knits. I used Cotton-Ease (again) and knit it in one piece to the armholes. After using short rows and a 3-needle bind off on the shoulders I knit the sleeves from the top down. Only seaming required was joining the collar at the back and sewing it down. Using a ribbon to tie it as the pattern calls for makes the collar want to roll, so I tried a pin and that seemed to work.

This is anther Lizard Ridge dishcloth for a knitting friend's birthday -

And this is my favorite of the ones I've knit so far -

I also did a solid one -

This is what I've been working on since Sunday - it's hand-dyed alpaca from Rivanna River Farms -


The colors are not showing up well - pretty aquas and soooooooooo soft! I showed great restraint at the Sedalia Fiber Festival as this was my only purchase!

Monday, May 19, 2008

New Pattern! (sorta)


I said I'd probably never publish another pattern, but I'm not sure this counts anyway since it's basically the same one with different yarn and a couple of rows of garter stitch. I've put it on Ravely as a free download. My Ravelry username is LAylor13, or you can search for "Lizard Ridge Dishcloth." I have not been able to get a really good shot of this particular one - the colors look washed out no matter where I take the picture, and now that it's been in use for a few months, it's all faded anyway -

Friday, May 16, 2008

Pedicure Socks and Cache Coeur

I think she (DD) likes them. Doesn't make me want to knit socks though.


Finally done and I wore it today. DD wants to borrow it, so I guess that's a compliment.

After all that tedious edging, the bind off was too tight and I had to REDO THE WHOLE OUTSIDE EDGE!!! I couldn't use dpns like I did on the second underarm (which worked great btw) but since there were soooo many stitches packed on they didn't get all crossed up on the cable like before. Plus I used my Harmony interchangeables instead of my Addi Natura's and they are smoother so the stitches moved along more easily. I bound off with bigger needles and it came out much better. I didn't make the ties, but decided I did want a front closure of some sort and found a pretty silver dogwood blossom pin that belonged to my grandmother that's perfect. The color in this picture has a strange purple cast - the actual color is more like the progress shot a few posts ago.

I started yet another project in Cotton Ease - (I really should have washed something to see if it holds up. Hope there are no nasty surprises on laundry day) Salt Peanuts from Interweave Knits Spring 2004. This one is heavily modified. I knit the body in one piece to the underarms which was easy to figure out - I just took out the selvedge stitches and combined all the instructions. When I divided for the fronts and back at the armholes things got hairy. Someone on Ravelry said "Holy complicated shaping Batman!" I couldn't have said it better myself. Migraine inducing, and I'm not sure I got it exactly right. There was some vagueness in a spot or two that I may or may not have interpreted correctly and may or may not have done the same way on both fronts. I tried it on after doing a 3-needle bind off for the shoulders and it seems to be okay. (Small rant: why would a pattern chock full of short rows NOT use them for the shoulders? No biggie to figure out myself but I did find it odd.) I've picked the stitches up for sleeve #1 and am using Barbara Walker's method to knit the sleeve cap from the top down (more short rows.) I had to redo it once - my gauge is a bit tighter when only knitting (no purling) so I had to go up a needle size to keep it from being a bit snug.

I've also made one Christmas present mug cozy from leftover gold Aurora 8. Picture to come eventually.

Hmmm, after my recent rip-fest, I'm not sure what's left on my to-do list for this year. Let's see!
  1. Shawl-collared vest COMPLETE
  2. Fix DH's sweater DONE
  3. Finish Tangled Yoke DONE
  4. Toggles on CPH (will wait 'til fall)
  5. Finish Malabrigo sweater FROGGED
  6. Finish Silky Wool sweater FROGGED
  7. Finish Cotton Patiné top FROGGED
  8. Bird's Nest shawl (UFO - 33% completed) (will work on this summer)
  9. Heartland shawl (UFO - maybe 15% completed) (ditto)
  10. Lamb's Pride cardigan FROGGED
  11. Einstein coat (UFO - about 60% completed) (will pick up in the fall)
  12. Celtic Knot FROGGED

That's 8 UFO's/projects dealt with since the first of the year. I'm not positive I will finish the shawls or the Einstein this year, but I do plan to make some progress anyway.

No regrets so far about the ripping out. I think it has freed me up to knit some stuff that I can wear right now. As soon as I finish Salt Peanuts, I have a ginormous skein of Sugar 'n Cream in a pretty cinnamon shade to make a summer top with. I really like 'Becky' in Debbie Bliss Summer Essentials which I'm going to try to find at the LYS tomorrow after Yoga class. Gotta love Ravelry - I never would have found that pattern otherwise.

I finally got around to 'registering' as a designer on Ravelry. I have a tiny little pattern I plan to put on as a free download as soon as it get it all polished up.