...so I've been knitting instead of posting...

Since last we met-

Finished:

• Soy Silk Shawl for Mom (former UFO)
• Faux Russian Stole from 'A Gathering of Lace' in Baby Alpaca Silk (from stash yarn)
• Charlotte's Web in my own hand-dye (former UFO)
• Diamond Fantasy shawl in Koigu (former UFO)
• Calorimetry in Cascade 220 Tweed (from stash yarn)
• Irish Hiking Scarf in Cascade 220 Tweed (from stash yarn)
• Another dishcloth (or two)

In progress:

• Top down sweater in Malabrigo (uh, not from stash yarn - from vacation yarn)
• Wedgie scarf in Noro Kureyon (from stash yarn)
• Tangled Yoke cardigan in Aruacuania Nature Wool (from stash yarn)

Oh, and I'm quilting again - (from stash fabric...)

Retreat Report and Month-End Update

As if it wasn't enough to have a weekend devoted to friends, knitting, and relaxation - after a week of spring, we had SNOW for the retreat! Not enough to keep any one from getting there, but enough to cover the fields and keep me happy watching it fall outside the window while I sipped tea, ate homemade cookies, and knit. Good times.

March goals:

• FINISH FLAK!!!!!! DONE!


• Veste Everest from Interweave Knits in Cascade 220. DONE! (Actually finished today.)


• Probably something else, but not sure what at this point - started a sweater in double stranded Silky Wool

Veste Everest -

Cascade 220 - different gauge from pattern and modified to knit in the round and make longer. I like it but those all-over cables definitely add a few pounds. I don't seem to have a FLAK picture handy and its already been put away for the summer, so you'll have to use your imagination for that.

April Goals

• Finish Silky Wool sweater
• Soy shawl for Mom for mother's day
• Special project for possible knitty article
• Work on Einstein coat (UFO)

What's up

Dear Daughter and I leave this afternoon for a weekend knitting retreat with our knitting group. I've restarted (surprise!) the vest - it was coming out too large. Yes, I did swatch. I should just about get that finished at the retreat. FLAK is finished - can't believe I forgot to post about that earlier. I actually got to wear it before it got warm here. It is cold and rainy today - great knitting weather! The trip will include a visit to a yarn shop I have been wanting to see. I will try not to buy any yarn. We'll see.

Just finished going through all my knitting magazines and making index cards for each project I would seriously consider knitting. I'm really glad I did it because there were a lot of things I had completely forgotten about. Now when I'm looking for a new project, I can flip through my index cards which are sorted into categories instead of looking through stacks of magazines. I tossed any issues with no patterns I liked and no good articles. I suppose I should do the same with my books, but I tend to remember basically what patterns are in a book - with magazines I have no clue usually.

February Goal Check

February's goals:

• finish FLAK (sleeves need to be knit/reknit)
• felted box for Dad in his school colors (felt bag at the same time)
• Argosy from Winter '06 knitty for Mom
• Undecided sweater - either Equestrian Blazer, Celtic Cabled sweater (UFO), Cascade 128 Tweed sweater, or cabled sweater in Araucania Naturewool Chunky.

February's accomplishments:

• FLAK - sleeve 1 reknit, sleeve 2 about 2/3 done
• Felted box - DONE!
• Argosy - DONE!
• Cascade 128 sweater - DONE!
• Triple Mohair Triange UFO - FINISHED!
• Felted clogs - DONE!
• ZigZagBag - felted

Some pictures -

Argosy (top) pattern in knitty.com. Peruvian Collection Highland Silk, 2 balls of Celadon.

Triple Mohair Triangle - pattern from Fiddlesticks knitting. Called for 3 strands of lightweight mohair held together, I used a single strand of Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Kid Mohair in Swamp.

The plan for March:

• FINISH FLAK!!!!!!
• Veste Everest from Interweave Knits in Cascade 220.
• Probably something else, but not sure what at this point

Felting Day

Yesterday the box, clogs, and bag got felted.

I find felting a little scary. If things come out weird, you can't rip and redo (my favorite pastime, apparently.)

Here's a picture of the scarf and calorimetry I made for my friend in NYC. (I don't know what's up with the pictures - they are being put in weird places.)

With only a few days left in the month, I am on target except for the FLAK sleeve redo which may spill over into March. I did get the 128 sweater done though, so I am ahead of schedule on that. I wore it yesterday, which may be the last cold day and it has now been blocked and is drying. A couple of other extras also got done this month. It's almost time to firm up the plan for March! (It does seem to help to post my monthly goals, and it's fun when I get to check things off at the end of the month! I love checking things off of to-do lists.)

I delivered the baby sweaters last Monday and found out the babies were born the day before. Good timing, yes?

Crawling along

Some progress to report, but not much. First sleeve of 2nd attempt at the 3XChic (sorta) is done and I'm pretty happy with it. I really like Maggie Righetti's method of picking up stitches for the sleeves and knitting them down to the cuff, with short-row sleeve caps. Solves the annoying problem of sleeves not fitting into their spots smoothly when seaming, and the gaping holes you get when seamless knitting ala EZ. Once that sleeve was completed, I made myself finish the FLAK sleeve that was nearly done. Now I have 2 sweaters that are complete except for 1 sleeve. I expect to finish the 3XChic this month, the FLAK is doubtful. I have to rip out the first sleeve attempt and redo it to match the new one. I don't want to put it off because I want to be able to remember what I did this time, but I really am tired of working on that sweater! I guess I should get a picture of it with the 2 different sleeves - I'll put that on the to-do list for the weekend.

I started on the 2nd ball of yarn on Mom's Argosy, so that is halfway done. Haven't started Dad's felted box yet, but it should be a quick knit.

At least it has been cold enough here to wear some of my handknits!

I'm such an idiot

Seems like lately I do a lot of reknitting. Sometimes just part of the item, this past time, the entire sweater.

I knew I had gauge issues, but since I was making the 40" size and wanted a smaller sweater, I thought it would be okay. I kept checking as I knit, and it seemed okay, but once I got the front and back knit and used the 3-needle bind off to join them, it became obvious things were not going to work out. Unfortunately, I had already knit both sleeves, so they were wasted effort too. Since I had to reknit anyway, I decided to make the changes I had been thinking about as I knit. First, I added an inch of contrasting color to the hem of the body (and will do the same for the sleeves when I get there.) Second, I went up a needle size. Third, I knit the body in the round to the armholes, and then divided it. I shaped the top of the front and back as before, but kept the 2 extra stitches I had on each side on safety pins. Fourth, I kept the back of the neck stitches live instead of binding them off. Fifth, I'm knitting the sleeves from the top down after picking up the stitches. I'm working on the first sleeve now - using Maggie Righetti's method of making a sleeve cap swith short rows. It's looking pretty good so far. The good news is that I think I have enough yarn!

I've made a bit of progress on Argosy, and fringed about 1/3 of the Mohair shawl, but have been consumed by this latest sweater this week.