Mer Knits!

Hooray for air conditioning - otherwise there would be no knitting around these parts from May through October.  I guess I have to expect that Houston will be terribly hot from now until the fall.  Ugh!

Good thing I usually knit with cotton!  My current project is Cherry knit in Svale.  I'm loving it!

The top picture shows the actual color.  The bottom picture is a close up of the stitch pattern.  It's so cute and keeps things from getting too boring!

I'm also very excited to be taking a few sewing classes this summer.  A sewing lounge opened up in Houston and I think this will be a great way to finally find out if I'm doing things correctly when I sew!  I'm betting that I'm not. :)

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!

I should just call this my Knit and Tonic post, since both patterns are by Wendy.

A rainy weekend is the perfect time to catalog the stash.  I determined that I really don't have that much yarn--mostly leftovers and random skeins that I purchased a long time ago.  I tried to explain this to my husband when he saw all of the yarn sitting on the living room floor, and he didn't seem too convinced that I had a small stash.  :)

I've also been working on the Silk Camisole from Last Minute Knitted Gifts in my hand-dyed silk yarn from The Sanguine Gryphon. 

Not much to see yet, but since it's mostly miles of stockinette in the round, it (hopefully) won't take too long to finish!

I think nearly every little girl has a brief period of time when she dreams of growing up to be a ballerina.  Luckily I realized quickly that I am terribly uncoordinated and it would not be a good career choice for me.  But at least I can feel all pretty and feminine in my new pink(ish) Ballet Camisole.

Pattern: Ballet Camisole
Yarn: 5 balls of Knit Picks Shine Sport in Orchid
Time to knit: April 5-24, 2007
Notes: I love this top.  The shaping is fabulous, the length is perfect, and the Shine Sport is super soft and comfortable.  The only change I made to the pattern was to omit the shaping on the outside of the straps.  I used one ply of the Shine to gather the neckline, but I may try to find some matching elastic like the pattern recommends.  Even with the crochet around the edges, the armholes still want to roll.  I thought about picking up stitches for an edging instead, but I don't think I'll bother.

Well, I'm off to Stitch n Bitch.  I hope to have some fabulous new yarn purchases to show off for you this weekend!

It seems that I'm becoming a weekend-only blogger.  Oh well, what can you do?  At least I have a finished knit:

Pattern: Boobholder/Minisweater from http://www.glampyreknits.com/
Yarn: Joann Sensations Dolcetto in Cream (I'm not sure they make that yarn anymore) frogged from this
Time to knit: Finished April 7, 2007 or so
Notes: I should have tried it on more frequently to get a more fitted shape, but it works well anyway.  It's nice and light and will be perfect for a cover up in over-air conditioned buildings.  You can see the loose fit here:

You can also see my new haircut.  I'm not so sure about it yet.

The Ballet Camisole is growing fast!  Stockinette in the round is a bit boring (and I know the progress pictures aren't thrilling either), but I love how quickly it's knitting up:

Hopefully I'll be able to stick with it and will have another FO shortly!

I had the afternoon off last Friday and the cold rainy weather hadn't blown in yet, so I took a walk around the neighborhood to enjoy the gorgeous day and to try to capture some signs of spring (really, it's already late spring in Houston).  I didn't do so well--I'm definitely not a photographer.  But here are a few that worked:

Does anyone know what this plant is?

Barnett Newman's sculpture "The Broken Obelisk" outside the Rothko Chapel

Pomegranate blossoms--these are in our yard but they don't do very well because they don't seem to get enough sun.  Too bad!

Knitting didn't get too much attention this weekend, but I did finish the Boobholder.  It's drying now and I'll get a picture as soon as I sew on the button.  I've also started the Ballet Camisole from Magknits in Shine Sport in Orchid--I'm loving this yarn.  A little splitty, but so so soft and a great color, I think.

I've also been planning for more spring/summer projects, including the Bonita Shirt from Interweave Knits Summer 2006:

Also in the plans?  The ever-popular Sahara and a few more knit tanks and tees--I love warm weather knits!

Pattern: Crinkle from Rowan 39
Yarn: Rowan Cotton Glace (color 808), almost 9 balls
Time to knit: February 13 through March 29, 2007
Notes: I love it!  Crinkle is a straightforward knit with very cute results.  I didn't have any issues with the pattern.  The edging wants to curl up all of the time--that doesn't bother me too much, but I might try to steam block that or something. 

The yarn is nice, though I'm not sure I would have been happy with it if I had paid full price (I got it on sale at WEBS).  A crazy amount of knots--I've never seen so many in a regular old cotton yarn.  But it does look pretty when knit up!

Now, which look do you prefer: Crinkled (above) or Un-Crinkled (below)?  I'm leaning towards Crinkled.  Maybe when I wear it I'll change it every few hours. :)

Who knew I had so many blue/gray/white projects?

Crinkle is getting close--I'm doing both sleeves at the same time, and I'm nearly done with them.  The the seaming and picking up a million stitches for the edging...ok, so not that close to being done.

I started on Glampyre's Minisweater (aka boobholder) using some leftover JoAnn's yarn that I had bought for my Winter Capelet.  I may need to frog the capelet to have enough yarn, but I'm ok with that.  I haven't worn it much.

Half of the Rene purse is done and the second half looks just like the first, so I won't bore you with a picture.  I also bought some pretty white fabric to make this pattern, once I work up enough courage to start!

Thank you all for your wonderful comments on the Bell Sleeve Sweater!  It seems that I finished it just in time--I wore it twice and then the Houston weather warmed up, so I don't think I'll be able to wear it again for a while.  But the Main Line seems to hold up nicely, and it's very comfortable to wear even with my sensitivity to wool.  There is a bit of pilling under the arms and in high-friction areas, but nothing unmanageable.

I finally got out the sewing machine and did a crappy job of lining my Counterpane Pouch, so it's all done!

I've continued my Project Spectrum themed knits with two gray projects:

Crinkle from Rowan 39 in Cotton Glace

Rene purse, also a Rowan pattern, in Handspun Bulky from http://www.handpaintedyarn.com/ in Polar Morn.

Now to get ready for a symphony concert--my belated Christmas present!  Have a great week!