Mer Knits!

I thought that instead of only posting when I have something done, I should probably let you in on my current projects.  Makes things a little more interesting, I hope!  First, the Phyllo Yoked Pullover from Knitting Nature:

Not much to see so far, but I'm enjoying my new Knit Picks wooden needles  and nifty chart holder.  They're both making the pattern so much easier!

 

I guess this post can't all be about WIPs, because I have a finished object!

Pattern: Kim's Hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts

Yarn: Mission Falls 1824 Wool

Notes:  Someone in my husband's family, who shall remain nameless, has been bugging me for a hat.  Constantly.  So I caved and whipped this one up in just a little over a day.  Cute, huh?  If I were to do it again, I would move the checkerboard pattern down farther, but I had already ripped out the whole hat once and wasn't about to do it again!  And I don't feel bad giving this away as a gift, because it makes me look like I don't have any hair:

After being sick nearly the whole month of January and helping to coordinate a big event for work that took place last night, I feel like I can now finally get back into normal life.  Which includes returning to my knitting, of course.  Even though I didn't knit much in the past month, I was still able to finish a bulky sweater:

(sorry about the pictures, my usual photographer is out of town and I'm not so good at self-portraits)

 

Pattern: A combination of the Ballet Wrap Cardigan from Interweave Knits Winter 2005 and the Wrap Jacket with Hood (#40) from Rebecca 32.

Yarn: Merino Bulky from handpaintedyarn.com in Pagoda, 6 balls (size 10 1/2 needles)

Notes:  Even after frogging the entire body, this was still a quick knit.  I used the Rebecca pattern for the edging/ties and the idea of knitting the body in one piece.  The rest of the pattern is the Ballet Wrap Cardigan.  I think the fact that the ties are on my hips rather than my waist and that my gauge was a little off created a little less coverage in the front than I'd like, but it still works.

 

The only major modification I made on the Ballet Wrap pattern was to create an edging for the back of the neck--the pattern has you leave it as a raw bind-off.  I continued the ribbing pattern from the front edges around to the back by not binding off the 5 neck stitches, continuing the two edges in pattern until they meet in the back, and sewing them down.  The seam is not so pretty, but I still think it's an improvement:

 

And the yarn is sooo soft and smooshy.  I always thought I wasn't a wool person, but I think I've just been using the wrong kind of wool.  I love this stuff!  I did have to alternate skeins to avoid pooling, but the resulting fabric full of subtle color changes is well worth it.  I hope that I can wear this sweater at least once before the Houston winter is over!