2013: More Powerful Than Ever!

I had a lovely stay-cation over the Christmas/New Year holidays. It's a great time of year to have plenty of time on your hands. Due to various circumstances, I was on my own for the holidays this year. This was my choice and felt a little selfish, but of course the wonderful people in my life came through as usual. Friends from college and former co-workers visited, invited and generally welcomed me with open arms.

How can you have such wonderful people in your life and not know in your heart the 2013 will be the best? To paraphrase friends: 2012 - please see yourself out.

Want to know one way I know this? I got to start a project I'd been wanting to make for a long time, without having to buy any extra yarn! (Prepare your best Jimmy Stewart impression and say "It's a Chrastmas Maricle, Clarence!!")

Remember my Delancey Cardigan? I had a great time knitting it and I liked the process... but I'll just admit it. I made a poor yarn choice and should have shortened it. What I've really made is a nice robe and not so much a cardigan.

Looking at other people's finished Delancey's on Ravelry helped me realized that many people had either size or length issues with their final projects. Then, I came across a super modified, deep v-neck version that I couldn't get out of my head. (You can see it here if you're on Rav!)

What I really loved was her eye for color. I just don't have a clue how to pair colors in a creative way, and she'd done all the work for me. When I sat down two days before Christmas, I realized I had almost all the colors in my  house at the very moment! I could be making my very own Modified Delancey RIGHT THEN.

So I started:

 And just couldn't stop! Christmas movie marathons really help productivity, admittedly. Thanks for your help, Zuzu's Petals!

Whaddya know about that, Bert?

I also did my best to take some time for Droopy, just so he didn't go more than a few hours without a little recognition. Otherwise he makes this face:

Hey. You. More giant Milkbone treats, plz.

 As of the start of today's Bowl Game Bonanza, this is where I am:

Ignore the face and hair, please? Consider it one last Christmas gift to me, kay?

Reminder: you're ignoring the face and focusing on the chevrons!

So, basically, I'M IN LOVE. And I don't really care that it makes me look like a happy chappie in a snappy sarape. Because I love it!

Happy New Year, guys. It's going to be great - just you wait and see.

Fancy Delancey - Part 2

Picking up where we left off yesterday, here's the rest of the Delancey Cardigan.

The sleeves were a real test of my patience. Lots of counting and re-counting, it's enough to make you abandon a project for something new and exciting! But the Knit Along group were great motivators and I carried on.

Progress (and photography) was blurry and slow. By the time I finished the first sleeve it was time to visit my grandparents and cousins in Florida. I packed up the ol' sweater and a variety of needles and spent four hours in various planes and airports finishing the second sleeve. This photo was taken right as I got home:

I then got lazy in terms of photography and just went on ahead and did the part that excited me the most about the pattern: THAT SWEET COLLAR!

When I bound off the last stitch, I attempted to take and arty photo to share with the group. The results were...kind of lame, but my did that sweater look fancy, even with all the ends hanging out everywhere.

 Today was the Final Step. I wove in all those ends (UGH. That part of knitting never gets fun) and bought buttons from Loopy Yarns in the South Loop. I then couldn't concel how happy I was with the results and took some photos of me resembling a sweater-clad cheerleader. So, yay! Rah! Delacey!

Fancy Delancey - Part 1

Eight weeks ago, Sweatshop of Love hosted a Knit Along for Alexis Winslow's Delancey Cardigan. I was sad to miss out on this one - it has been in my project 'to do' list forever - but I'd just put in a yarn order and that was going to be it for the month. Then, a knitting friend The Owl and The Bee took two minutes to convince me it was worth another purchase, and my mind was made up! It was cardigan time.

Trying to stay somewhat budget conscious and knowing that summer is just around the corner, I decided to make the sweater in cotton instead of wool. I went with Knit Picks Comfy Worsted in Planetarium (blue) and Macaw (a bright green).

This is the second project that I actually sat down and swatched. This doesn't seem like a big deal to the average reader, but trust me, when you have a pile of brand new yarn and a freshly printed pattern, the urge to just dive right in is strong.

Swatchin' the day away

 

My gauge turned out to be what the pattern called for: size 8 needles. It was officially time to get started. My fellow KAL-ers agreed, the best part of this project was two-fold: 1) the construction was really interesting- you start by casting on just three stitches! 2) STRIPES!

The beginning weeks flew by:

Stripe mania!

Blue and green

And the tons and tons of stockinette stitch was easily tackled because of the increases/ decreases every few stitches and getting to change color just when you think you've had enough!

The binding off for arm holes also went pretty smoothly. I think this is where using cotton is a bit problematic, the one side is a lot saggier than the other due to the diagonal stitches. I had to make some adjustments when I seamed the shoulders together.

Dividing for armholes

Starting the first sleeve

The sleeves were the biggest challenge for me. My picked up stitches left some holes along the seam and when I sewed the front and the back of the body together, I needed to make an adjustment on the left side to make sure both sides were even. This has left me with a little flap next to the seam. I think I've figured out a solution, but I won't worry about it until the rest of the sweater is completely finished.

Tomorrow: The Rest of the Delancey Story!