Christmas crafting

The 30 hats in 30 days craze was a sudden urge of a project that ended up in failure (which is okay!); Christmas crafting is usually on the chill side in these parts --  intentionally so, so as to enjoy and concentrate/contemplate the Reason for the season.

I try to write Christmas cards each year, but don't stress out too much over them.  I still had a few purchased cards to use, a hodgepodge mix of designs bought on sale here and there over the years.  I supplemented those with some simple handmade ones, using a single stamp (picked up on a whim), my usual cardstock, and a shimmery ink I'd received years ago as a gift.  I was quite pleased with the results:

[xmas postcards]

When I ran out of those, I dove into my stationery stash and found some Crane's letter paper with a blue border.  I folded the sheets in half and stamped them with blue ink.  DC helped me out a bit and I realized that I should have enlisted him much sooner, because he did a great job!  It was a nice treat to take my time to write the cards --  60- or 70-something all told -- until Tuesday of Christmas week, under twinkle lights and with glasses of tea or wine.

[cardmaking station]

I also took down the leaves and, with DC's assistance, put up the crocheted snowflakes that I'd made a couple years ago

[snowflakes]

The only other truly crafty thing I finished was a crochet project that actually got done in time to gift to our friend in Phoenix (so it doesn't really count for Christmas).  The pattern is Drops' crochet collar with bobbles, which I worked up in doubled Malabrigo and my largest (size P?) crochet hook;  I omitted the crocheted edge (which I didn't know was there at all from the picture, because it's the same color as the model's shirt!). The inflections in this Cinnabar colorway gave the collar a lot of depth and texture, and it looks lovely on our friend, who has a snow-white complexion.  Sadly, this is the only photo I have of it:

[bobbles]

Thanks to limited Christmas crafting, the holidays remain devoted to faith, family, and friends -- the way I hope to always make it!  Hope you had a great Christmas!

Christmas knitting

Hope all your Christmas knitting got done in time, and that their recipients are enjoying them!  

Knitting For Me came to a halt as the idea to knit hats entered my mind, oh, somewhere around October.  I vastly exagerrated my knitting prowess and decided that I could knit 30 hats in 30 days.  I scoured the Internets and Ravelry and had an entire army of patterns lined up in my mind and on my shelf.  The dream faded quickly as it took me five days to knit the first hat (Stella's).

I plugged onwards, to see just how many hats I could churn out in a month's time.  Next up: Urchin.  I'd been saving up a skein of thick-'n-thin(ner than usual) Malabrigo in a lovely teal color -- purchased two (three?) Thanksgivings ago at Imagiknit in San Francisco (how and why do I remember these things?) -- for something special, and it turned out just how I'd imagined:  lovely!

[urchin -- to keep or to give?]

I frogged and made some mods, so Urchin, too, took me nearly a week to complete.

Then it was on to a simple hat in a purple yarn my parents had acquired for me.  I wanted to use up as much of it as possible so there was some frogging involved here, too, as I went back and forth with the when and how much of crown increases and decreases.  Another week gone by...

[three weeks = three hats... (x_x)]

I hadn't intended on knitting the Turn A Square hat, but in a quick moment pulled out a skein of Noro Kureyon and some leftover Patons Classic Merino.  It only took one day to knit one, and in a fraction of the time it took to knit the above, I had four hats!  If only I'd started with this pattern!

Some modifications were made: decreasing the number of stitches cast on, elminating the additional stitches made after the ribbing, knitting 2x2 instead of 2x3 stripe pattern.  I used the entire skein of Kureyon in three hats and knit up the leftover solids (pea green, olive, gray) into a fourth.

[four squared]

It was an awesome stashbusting experience!  Another cool tidbit:  the grey came from the leftovers of my Forecast sweater -- whose buttonband was reknit ages ago but never blogged -- which I've been wearing practically nonstop the entire season.  It now looks like this:

[finally finished forecast]

So: seven hats total (one claimed by DC, two by *ahem* moi-meme!).  A lot less than I'd aimed for, but, on the flipside, a bit of a head-start into next year's gift giving.  Now: back to KFM!

Bus knitting

It having become down-right impossible to knit Swallowtail on the bus--keeping the chart out, plus trying to do a p5tog while the bus is stopping and going, and bumping all the while--I went back to garter stitch and yet another Baktus.

This is one of my favorite color combos: some beachy tones (leftover Regia) plus off white (Elann baby cashmere).   A good pop of color amidst the monochromatic darks of my fall/winter wardrobe; and light enough (in color and weight) to continue wearing into the spring. 

But who says this is for me?!

Scrunched-up Swallowtail

It wasn't until I was nearly a week into the knitting that the idea came to document my progress day by day.  By then I'd gotten to the 6th of 14 pattern repeats.  And I found that at 7, 8, and 12 repeats, the Swallowtail Shawl looked about the same on my needles, something like this:

Since then I've just about finished all 14 repeats of the second chart and moved the stitches onto a longer circular needle.  It's easier to see the shawl's growth, but it still kinda looks the same, something like this:

It's been two weeks since I've cast on, and although I was making killer (for me) progress, my bus knitting has come to a halt in the past few days in favor of naps (yes, the kind in which one's head embarassingly bobs up and down). 

This week is the dash of last-minute shopping and crafting for the weekend's Family Fiesta (a.k.a. the un-baby shower, un-wedding reception, and un-housewarming party all rolled into one), so I may or may not make any more progress.  The goal is to finish by the end of the month though, so do expect an FO post by then!

Blue Baktus

This was my no-brain knitting for Hawaii--which was tossed by the wayside in favor of a coupleTwilight books (what can I say?).

It got done sooner rather than later, though the posting about it here has been the reverse.  No changes to the original pattern.

Pattern: Baktus 

Needles: US3 Addi 16" circular

Yarn 1: ShiBui Knits Sock, Gekiryuu/Rapids

Yarn 2: Patons Kroy Sock, Chelsea Tweed

Yarn 3: Navy merino leftover from the first FO.

 

 

[looks nice on the reverse side, too, no?]

 

The edge where the yarn ends are carried up looks ropelike and much neater than I thought it would (sorry, no pic).  The most tricky bit about working with three yarns was the different amounts I had of each.  This one turned out smaller than the first Baktus I knit, but still wrap-around-able and tie-able:

I wanted to keep this one for myself, but instead gave it to my friend for her birthday last weekend.  Oh, sacrifices.  I'll just have to dig up combo of sock yarn leftovers and knit another one, I suppose... darn. (^o^)

Knitting For Me: Whisper Cardigan

This little number was finished and blocked in time to be worn in Maui.  There were tons of mods, the details of which I no longer recall, and which may not help anyway because there is no method to them at all... but here's my best shot at a recap of what I did:

Pattern: Whisper Cardigan (Hannah Fettig for Interweave Knits, Spring 2009)

Yarn: Recycled cotton/cashmere from a thrifted I.Magnin sweater

Needles: US6 aluminum dpns + circulars; US3 Addi turbo circulars

    
[difficult to take pics of a piece that is the same color as one's walls...]

I wanted straight sleeves so knew from the get-go that I wouldn't be casting on 90 stitches.  From sock-knitting, I knew that 60 sts in the round on US1 needles could be a sweater sleeve for me, which helped me determine 64 as a cast-on number for the Whisper Cardigan -- with positive ease from the larger (US6) needle size.  As you can see from the photos, the sleeves are not tight around my arms at all.

Accordingly I decreased the number of stitches cast off at the underarms.  The only other change I made was to do increases for the 'flaps' every 4 rows, instead of every 2 as called for.  So the sweater still drapes, just not a whole lot.

Although you can't see it in the photos, the back/shoulder is a bit longer than ideal:  it got stretched out a bit in the blocking.  Doesn't make it unwearable, but it does fall off my shoulder every now and then.   If I were to knit this again (a great gift knit) I'd make the shoulder length a couple inches shorter than called for in the pattern, to account for the slight stretching. 

Here's another shot I took -- in my kitchen this time instead of the living room -- so you could see it a little bit better.  

[Please excuse my peeking pajama bottoms!]

The cotton/cashmere makes this sweater sooooo buttery (like the color) soft, and so warm!  In sum: a great sweater, clever design, and definitely wearable -- success!

To knit or not to knit?

Coming home from Maui--yes, I know: two weeks ago--I was met with red lines of fire and black smoke in the San Gabriel Mountains (set to be contained this weekend) on the drive back home, and, opening my door, a layer of dust over the entire apartment--and the retrofitting is still not quite finished.  I've been living out of my laundry basket, growing  an expensive pile of dry cleaning, and--having forgotten to take out the trash before going to DC's last weekend--am dealing with a mini swarm of fruit flies in my kitchen.  That's just the tip of the iceberg, friends.  I'll be back when I can finally clean, and the dust is swept away for good.

In the meantime, here's something I saw in Sunday's paper that made me smile:

To knit or not to knit: Is it rude in a crowd? -- latimes.com

Posted using ShareThis

Roadtrippin': Sac-town

This was our second road trip to Northern California for a wedding (DC's grad school friend); first wedding on a week-day.  In addition to taking Friday off, I made arrangements to leave an hour early on Thursday.  DC picked me up from the office, which meant leaving two hours before we would've if I'd worked a regular day and then taken the bus home.  It shifted traffic conditions in our favor, and it was still light before we got to Fresno, where we spent the night (so nice to be able to break our time on the road in half!).

[one minute: cornfields aplenty!]

[next minute: deserts]

I brought my current knitting project, the Whisper Cardigan from Interweave Knits, Spring 2009.  Stockinette stitch is perfect for roadtrips!

[Why so many safeties? Very rudimentary counting ability...]

We awoke on Friday morning entirely refreshed, and after a quick breakfast, were on the road again by mid-morning.  It only took about 2 1/2 hours to get to Sacramento.  Our destination: along the Sacramento River, just outside of city center.  A quick lunch, an afternoon siesta, and a quick change, and we were all set. 

The couple is techinically already married; that's why you don't see any chairs set up for a ceremony.  In fact, they live abroad, and their summer vacation is actually three weeks on tour to have various celebrations with their friends and family who are in the U.S.  The weather couldn't be better: a sort of cold-snap had Sac-town and its surrounds about 20+ degrees cooler than they usually are this time of year.  Lucky us!

[open bar + hors d'oeuvres -- yes please!]

[dance floor?! boo yah!]

Our friends are Muslim, and had an Arabic-style celebration.  Samosas, skewers, lamb chops -- yum.  Ladies in beautiful, glittery, sheer, floaty saris and dresses -- beautiful.  Arabic music, clapping, cheering -- interesting, and fun!  Bon Jovi and ice cream -- typical of the groom.  Table names of cities with significance to the couple and their courtship -- educational.  Congrats, N+N!

Being so close to the capital, I had to stop by and see it (I hadn't been since the 6th grade California History field trip)!  Unfortunately, deterred by large crowds of (loud) Asian tourists, we didn't stay too long.  But I still managed to take a few cool shots. 

  

   

All this in 20 minutes -- justapeek indeed!  We spent more time and were at greater leisure at our next stop.  And it was just Saturday morning!  More (pictures, mostly) later!

Botched button band

Forecast has been finished and blocked for a couple of weeks now.  It fits fabulously.  I found some buttons but stalled on sewing them on because I wasn't quite satisfied with the button bands.  Finally, though, I worked my way to pinning the buttons in place, just to see what a pseudo-finished-object might look like:

Not too bad, no?  Unfortunately, not that great, either.

I do like the contrast of the red against the grey (with the yellow of my walls, to boot -- hello, autumn!), but as you can see progressing downwards, the band becomes increasingly ruffly and fussy -- so much so that a couple of the lower buttons consistently get unbuttoned!  Oh dear.  Even after I read a ton of articles on how to pick up the stitches, accounting for the difference between stitch length and width.

The best thing to do is to frog both bands completely and reknit on smaller needles.  This time 'round I'm not going to slip the first stich of each row so the top edging tightens up a bit, and so the buttonholes end up a tad smaller.  There's no rush, really, since it's still summer (so hot during this photo shoot!).  Hopefully, the anticipation of having a new handknit sweater well and ready to wear in a couple of months will motivate me to get this done sooner rather than later.  Wishmeluck!

No idle hands

Or, in other words, explainin' where I been...

DC came home last week, after having spent a fortnight in Africa (+ nearly 2 days' travel each way).  Just in time to celebrate the 4th of July.  Which is also our Y1 anniversary.  Luckily, he broke me in to his summer rovings by taking a monthlong trip to Europe when we first started dating last summer, so two weeks really was nothing.  It gave me some time to do stuff around the apartment (rearrange, again) and work on my gift.

The idea that We. Must. Have. A. Logo. got into my head a while ago, and stuck.  So, with the idea of getting the image in my head down on paper and framing it, I sat down with Microsoft Word and my extremely mediocre design skills.  I wanted something plain and graphic, and was going to put it over layers of security-lined envelopes of different patterns.  After nearly an hour of making text boxes, scaling, and aligning, I got it the way I wanted, and hit Print. 

Then I decided that it'd be better to print on the laser printer at work (shhh!), so I saved it to a thumb drive. 

Then I decided to print on my cotton blank postcard stock, so I dove through my stationery stash to find it. 

Then the idea came to me to do a cutout, so I traced the logo onto the blank card, and got out my knife and ruler.

Then I decided to make the cutout circle of the "d" into a heart.

Then I decided to do another "frame" of the security envelope pattern around the outside of the logo.

Then I chose the background color (chose the black over baby blue, to highlight the heart).

Here's what the final product looks like:

Not what I had in mind at the beginning, and certainly not perfect, but organic and spontaneous -- which reflects us.  The second part of the gift is the requirement to take a picture with it every July 4th!  I'm thinking of making a smaller version that we can take along on our trips, too (he doesn't know this yet, but will be happy to oblige, I'm sure!).

* * *

Whenever DC is away, I take out his letters and read through them again.  Not only does he write beautifully -- both in penmanship and content -- he shows his creativity, too.  Here's an example, which I'd been meaning to frame for a while but just got to recently:

[with new succulents!]

It's a little puzzle he made for me, using a coffee cup sleeve!  Cute, no?  I used another security lined envelope innard for the background, it's a subtle gray color that adds the right amount of texture.

For my Y1 gift, though, DC completely surprised me with:

[lovely! green!]

After exchanging gifts, we headed out to meet our parents for brunch.  Interesting way to spend our Y1 anniversary, don'tcha think?!  We celebrated in the evening -- just us two -- with wine and sparklers. 

* * *

In my last post I mentioned that I was already putting the Kacha-Kacha Counter to good use.  I got to over 100 rows much faster than I had time to take a picture, and then got to the point where I don't need the counter anymore!  This morning I finally snapped a couple of shots before heading out the door.

This is Forecast, by Stephanie Japel for Knitty W05.  Yes, I have wanted to knit it for that long.  But I was daunted by something sweater-sized and held off.  For a long time.  During which I knit shawls and socks and other little things.  One day, a couple weeks ago, I decided to cast on, and from there I kept going.  And now I'm almost done!  I got some knitting done during lunch, and am over halfway done with the ribbing on this (second) sleeve.  If I don't have to stand on the bus ride home, I think I can finish by the time I get home today!  So I can start picking up stitches for the button band.  Which shouldn't take long.  Which means I will have an FO to show you shortly!

The full story when the time is right.

Happy belated 4th of July!  I hope yours was good, too!

New knitting goodies

A few weeks ago my parents came home with this yard sale purchase (plus five 50g balls of high-quality-looking yarn!):  a set of bamboo dpns, straights, and circulars, all size US7; a pair of Susan Bates needles, size US8; Clover crochet hook, size J; three markers; and--the gem of the lot--a Clover Kacha-Kacha counter...

...all for $1!

My moms and pops da bomb.

I'm already using the counter, and it's the coolest thing.  Will show you what I got soon!

FO: (slightly) backwards Baktus

Here, as promised, is the full-on photo of the Baktus scarf.  Please nevermind the unwoven ends. 

Pattern: Baktus scarf

Needles: US3 Addi 16" circular

Yarn 1: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, Camouflage

Yarn 2: ShiBuiKnits sock, Moss

Yarn 3: Regia, olives

Mods:  I basically did the increases and decreases at opposite ends of the work, resulting in a diamond rather than triangle shape.

The width maxes out at 65 stitches across, which is substantial enough for me!

You'll notice that there are three yarns used.  I ran out of my main yarns with 15 stitches on the needles!  Luckily I found a stray leftover skein of the Regia that was in the same color family, so the difference is subtle.

Going through my sock leftovers all at once has shown me that I've knit a lot of socks--at least 20 pairs!  But, I rarely wear the three pairs of socks I have for myself.  It could have something to do with SoCal weather and the fact that I'm in flip flops most of the year, but I've learned that I'm just not a knitted socks kinda gal.  So: no more knitted socks for myself (no matter how cute the pattern).  And much thanks for this pattern!

I leave you with a snapshot of some Queen Anne's Lace that I picked up at the farmers market last Friday (yes, I buy weeds).  I've always loved the daintiness of this flower; I even enjoy its slightly weedy smell.

You should know one thing, though...

...it's hella messy.

Hit-and-miss knitting

Remember the yarn that I got for myself on my birthday?  It's been through several iterations of summery shawls, all without success.  For some reason, I just can't seem to find a pattern that matches the colors of the yarn.  So sad.

I'd settled on making a long, rectangular scarf, and after a Ravelry search, decided on the One Skein Stole (Rav link).  But it ended up too airy for me.

Next, I discovered AeRang, and thought that the geometric pattern would be really neat.  I didn't want the stockinette triangles on the borders of the shawl, but for the life of me could not figure out how to continue the pattern and maintain the proper stitch count.  Saved by Ravelry again: someone else knit the shawl without the stockinette triangles!  In contacting that person, I made a new friend who very generously shared with me the chart she made to reflect her modifications.

By the third repeat, I was getting the hang of the pattern but losing my initial passion for it.  The geometric pattern seemed entirely obscured by the color variegations, and I felt that it would be a more worthwhile venture in a solid color.  I was getting frustrated by frogging and rewinding the yarn...



...but I frogged nevertheless.  And then started the now-ubiquitous Baktus scarf.  But (again) right after I started knitting it, I realized my poor matchup of yarn and project: this scarf is really best suited for stashbusting, and I wanted to preserve my pristine skein of yarn for something special -- as well as something I knew I'd use.

I didn't have the heart or energy to tink even this little bit, so it sits on my shelf as you see here, patiently awaiting its next incarnation.

Another jaunt on Ravelry (Obsessive? Me?  No way.) and I've got my eye on the Maja shawl as a possible contender.  I'm pretty hopeful, but, honestly, after so many misses my color confidence is a bit shot I'm hesitant to cast on.  Anybody out there have any suggestions?  Lemme know -- I'm all ears!



In the meantime, I dove into my stash of leftover sock yarns to cast on for Baktus.  I grabbed the remainders of the Lorna's Laces Camouflage from my dad's recent socks, and the ShiBui Knits yarn left over from a pair of gloves I'd made for DC last winter.  I'm alternating every two rows; the green of the ShiBui yarn is more semisolid so you don't see a distinct striping, but I quite like it.

At this sitting I'm already done with the scarf (garter stitch = perfect brainless bus knitting).  Instead of doing the decreases at the end of the row, I did them at the beginning, resulting in a parallelogram-shaped scarf.  (Weird to explain, I'll snap a pic soon.)  It looks neat, and will be a nice gift for someone.  I know, I know.  But it's too masculine to be a Knitting For Me FO...



Of course I have some softer and more feminine-colored sock yarns just itching to get on the needles.  What's pictured here isn't even all of it, but it's a good start. (Did I really make that many socks?  Sorting all the colors has been a nice trip down memory lane!)  I'm so glad to have discovered this pattern; looks like it's gonna be a garter stitch summer.  Well, it's back to Baktus-ing for me!

Bus knitting

I have made some progress on the second Pomatomus sock that I started on the bus last week.  In keeping with the theme, I snapped another shot before I got off this morning.  Voila:

Here I am on the second repeat.  Knitting this part is generally pretty quick for me.  On the 30-minute ride into downtown today I put in about a dozen rows.  Good thing the pattern is easy to memorize!  One and a half more repeats to go until the heel flap...

...which is where I always get stuck.  Well, the flap itself is pretty quick, knit back and forth on only half the number of stitches.  Turning the heel doesn't take that long, either.  But man, when I get to the gusset, it seems that thing never wants to get done--even as I'm doing decreases!  For the first sock, I was done with the cuff after our week in D.C.  But it took an additional three weeks for me to get through the gusset and sole.

I hope it doesn't take me so long for this sock; I'd like to have ends woven in next week (even though I'm not going to gift it until October, for the recipient's birthday) so that I can continue with Knitting For Me!

4 p.m. - 10 a.m.

Before regular sleeping hours, on a free evening, one can:

• balance a checkbook (even after years of not looking at a register)


• draw a rudimentary but fairly accurate floor plan of one's new apartment

• reorganize one's kitchen a bit better

• cook a just-what's-in-the-fridge dinner (egg noodles and bok choy stir-fry)


• wash the dishes (doesn't always happen the same night, don't tell my mom)


• overturn a pot of succulents and break them all (but replant tips and keep fingers crossed)


• wash a skein of newly acquired secondhand yarn

• paint one's toenails; and


• fix and restore photos to previous blog posts.

Then, when a bout of insomnia has one tossing at 3 a.m., one may decide to get out of bed at 3:30 and:

• organize mail, coupons, and receipts


• wind leftover and stray yarn into balls


• clean off the coffee table


• finish a sock; and

• still get two hours of sleep.

After waking up and getting ready, one may even have time to take photos of some accomplishments before leaving for work. This may cause one to miss breakfast and be 10 minutes late, but, in any case, one may start the second sock on the bus.

And, if one, is lucky, one may find a trail bar in one's desk drawer, and be blessed by coffee and strawberries from a coworker.

What an incredible 18 hours for one!

FO: Camo socks for Dad

Just a few rows of ribbing, binding off, and weaving in.  And still, these didn't get finished on time.  And now my parents are out of town, so my dad won't be getting these until even later.  *sigh*  Oh well.

An interesting thing, though.  I turned the sock inside-out to weave in the ends, and discovered that I quite like the look of it that way!  Check it out (the one on the right):

   

The difference is subtle, but very textural.  Here's another shot, which shoes the soles:



What do you think?  I like both!  I'm going to tell my dad he can wear them either way.  Knowing him, though, I suspect he'll opt for the traditional stockinette side showing.  Well, he can do as he pleases. They're his socks, after all!

Re: the yarn.  This was my first time knitting with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn, and I really enjoyed it!  There were no knots or snargles.  The yarn is not sproingy like Koigu, Cherry Tree Hill, or ShiBui, but feels smoother than Regia or Opal.  It's defninitely a yarn I'd use again (and again), and not just for socks!

These still need to be blocked, and I promise they will be before my parents' return from their travels. 

Happy (belated) birthday, Dad!

Knitting For Me: First FO!

Been plugging away at the Shetland Shorty, and it got done a couple of weeks ago.  And I've actually worn it!  I've been knitting for a several years now, but this is probably the very first successful garment I've knit for myself.  Just call me a late bloomer...

In any case, once I reestablished a feel for the pattern it was easy going.  There are tons of modifications--not because I'm one of those genius pattern tweakers or customizers, but just to work around the mistakes I made without having to frog any more than necessary!  Looking at the various versions and notes on Ravelry helped me make the biggest change, which was knitting only 12 repeats of the Birds Eye Lace pattern for the left and right fronts (instead of the 17 prescribed for the XS size).  I figured it out by trying it on, as best as possible, while knitting.

When I rejoined the yarn, I realized that I'd mixed up the front and back, I knit the neckline and front edging in reverse garter (purl every row).  Because of that, I knit one extra row before binding off so that the bind-off edge would show on the right side of the garment.  You'd think a body couldn't mess up on simply purling, but somewhere along that part I managed a dozen or so knit stitches, which went unnoticed until I was weaving in the ends.  Oh well.  Thank goodness I'm not that much of a perfectionist!  And besides, the flaw is on the wrong side; from the right side you can't really tell.  So I'm not showin' where it is!



What I will show you is how much yarn I had leftover.  What a relief, after having woried that I'd totally run out!  At the beginning, I tried to conserve by knitting only seven of the nine garter rows for the lower band and ties.  I don't know how much that would have helped, but in the end it really came down to knitting five less repeats on the left and right fronts. 

I love this shrug!  It fits comfortably, and both color and pattern add a cheerful pop and some texture to my mostly-darks-and plain wardrobe.  I also like that it's a bit longer on me, not tied right below the bust.  My younger brother, the art student and one of the most stylish people I know, was surprised to hear I'd knit it myself.  He said it looks like I bought it, and expensively.  Huzzah!

Here are the specs:

Pattern:  Shetland Shorty (Gundrun Johnston for Knitty, Summer 2008)

Yarn: Hand Maiden Sea Silk, Pumpkin

Needles: US3 Addi turbo circular, US4 aluminum straight

I took advantage of a day off and the morning light to take a couple of additional photos.  To tell you that Shetland Shorty is my most successful garment requires me to show you my past failures.  These were worn after they were completed, but due to dissatisfaction on various points, have, over time, been demoted to the back and bottom of the drawer.  I thought I'd post and talk about them now, before they get frogged.



First we have the Apricot Jacke from Rebecca 27, which was, incidentally, my very first sweater (finished in 2006).  It's a lovely sweater, but I think my first mistake was yarn choice.  GGH Samoa is 50% cotton and 50% microfiber, which is great for the machine washability, but does not have the "pullback" of wool, which is obvious especially at the elbows.  The other major flaw is the sagginess of the arms, which you can see pretty clearly in the photo.  I learned a lot, through this, about knowing my own measurements and knitting garments to fit me (what a concept).

I adore the pattern too much (and forked out too much money to get it) to go without this sweater, so it will be knit again, in either a wool or wool blend yarn, and fully taking into account the lessons I learned the first time around. 



Next up we have the Spring Fling cardigan, also finished in 2006.  I'd wanted an openwork cardigan to stave the blast of the A/C at the office, which had me bundled up like it was winter in high summer.  Like the Apricot Jacke, my initial mistake was yarn choice (hmm, is a pattern emerging here?).  I used Baruffa Aerobic, a 100% merino wool that ended up too warm, despite the open pattern.  I also had problems with width, which were exacerbated when the cardi was blocked and the lace really stretched out.  You can't really see it too clearly in the photo, but the arms are really baggy and bunchy, uncomfortably so.

Were I to knit this sweater again, I'd also add a proper band around the neckline and down the fronts (although it's not in the original pattern).  I did add one row of crochet, thinking it would stabilize the edge more, but, unfortunately, that didn't quite do the job.

I was so discouraged at those two failed sweaters that I haven't even attempted one for three years!  I don't know that you could call the Shetland Shorty a comparable project, but I put it in the same category because it's for me.  With the high from this success and the resolution made at the beginning of the year to knit for myself--not to mention a few more years of knitting experience to back me up--I am exited to begin to knit a sweater for myself again.  Here's to future successes!