FO: Jilted Sweater

This latest finished project is brought to you by RuPaul's Drag Race, Seasons 1& 2 and Valkyrie (that Tom Cruise movie you totally forgot about):

 

 I'm happy with it and forgot how much I missed me some Manilla Luzon, girl.

 

Feeling Jilted

I wanted to share my progress on my Jilted sweater, but I'm not feeling particularly verbose. So I'm just going to share a three-step process with you:

 

Step 1:

Knit and knit and knit forever

Step 2:

Remove marker and drop stitch on the front of the garment. Keep reminding yourself this is part of the design and not to panic while working on the K1P1 ribbing.

 

Step 3:

Whew! It fits! Take a selfie that gives you Double Tricep and Double Hip Mystique.

My Prerogative

Last week, I was really excited about my new project because it involved color. And I still am, I promise! Check the progress:

Bring it on down to Colorville, amiright?

But I forgot that I added some other yarn into my KnitPicks order - some Capretta in a light grey color.

This is the exact opposite of what I was looking forward to - we've had enough grey in our lives lately, after all. but you guys, this yarn... is so squishy soft and so pretty. I just wanted to try it out, honest. Plus, I did this to my nails:

Which was plenty of color to mesmerize me while I cast on a few stitches of this squishy new yarn. Those few stitches just happened to turn themselves into a project - Jilted by Jennifer Dassau featured in Holla Knits:

It's slow going, but the yarn feels so nice, it keeps me motivated. When it gets to be too much, I hop back to the chevrons. We'll see which one wraps up first! Is this a little flighty of me? To bounce wildly back and forth like this? I'll refer you to the following:

Inspiration

An awesome thing that I found:

Montezuma Sweater

DearGolden is a wonderful vintage shop on Etsy and I love reading their blog posts each day for a little style inspiration.This guy is from the 1970s, kint in acrylic and is only $34. Not too shabby. I love the wave motif at the yolk. Makes me want to throw on some strappy leather sandals and paint in the desert somewhere.

I'm back in a colorwork kind of mood. I hit a snag with my Norwegian boot socks and had to put them aside for a while. The foot of the sock doesn't call for any decreases and therefore turned out kinda... stumpy.

It looks fine from the side:

 But then, Stumpsville:

See what I mean? Just a little too much fabric at the foot to shove into a shoe. I found this frustrating and put the project aside for a while. I've got a new super colorful project in mind, but the yarn is taking foreeeever to get here and I need something to do while I'm waiting. Ripping back and restarting the feet of these socks seemed like a great 'waiting around' project. It's good practice for the new colorwork project I'll be undertaking soon, and I might actually have functional boot socks before winter is over! Who'd have thought?

Invested

I'm trying to get my financial house in order this year. I'm going to try to live thrifty, bring my lunch more and (gasp!) get serious about my savings. As part of this resolution, I'm trying to use yarn I already own. I have more than I realized, and it really should be put to good use.

A few months ago, I won a yarn give-away hosted by Holla Knits. I won two skeins of Dirty Water DyeWorks Edna in Celery - a beautiful wool-silk blend of yarn in a lovely green color. I was trying to figure out how best to use it, and since I got it from Holla Knits, it only made sense to use a Holla Knits pattern!

It was time to cast on Put a Belt On It

 

I had a small skein of KnitPicks Swish Sport in Cobblestone Heather. I think it makes a really nice contrast to the green. And my, how a project with no sleeves flies!

Plus, there's the back. CABLES. Yum.

Just finished up the seed stitch border this morning and thought you'd like to see the magic of blocking.

Before:

Front

Back

And here we have it drying:

I'll try to be better about modeling the finished garments, but for now, enjoy the magic of blocking!!

Blue Moon

Writing my little ode to Norwegian knitting the other day made me long to try those boot socks again. I had a bit of professional news that left me in a funk on Thursday, so it was clearly time to start a new project. Cheap thrills are underrated:

And you know what? It really worked. I'm feeling great and the recent cold snap here in Chicago makes me really excited to finish these up and wear the hell out of them. Insert Norwegian Celebratory Phrase Here!

I fell behind a bit on my Holla Knits KAL work, mostly because I was busy magically transforming my home with the power of paint. My "before" photos didn't make the ol' upload this morning, so you'll have to take my word that my dining room was a subtle, light blue. I've had the idea of using a more saturated, royal blue for a while. I love the white trim around my condo's many (drafty) windows, and wanted to pick a color that would make the white pop. After a visit to Home Depot, I decided Song Bird was the way to go. A gallon was purchased. Paint supplies were carried up from storage. This is where I should offer many thanks to my lovely assistant:

Lovely Assistant shows us coat 1 of 2 while covering profanity on tee-shirt

It's always hard to capture the correct color on your point-and-shoot camera early in the morning, but these are pretty true to what I see when I walk in the room.

POW!

BAM! (Excuse the Diet Coke, I have to actually live in this house, you know)

Still working on that photo arrangement, but I'm trying to use existing holes from shelves that were up in the room's previous incarnation. I've been resisting the urge to buy tons of new art on Etsy by salvaging mediocre stuff I have hanging in other rooms/ laying in closets around the house. I'm really happy with it - I'm going to love surprising myself every time I need to walk to the kitchen for something over the next few weeks.

Weekend FOs

I went a little nuts this month with yarn shopping. I bought more yarn at one time than ever before and, while this was really fun, it also made me anxious. I hadn't actually finished something in a long time! Finished the Delancey, however was like removing a road block and I had a really productive weekend!

First, I improvised a cotton sweater based on the pattern Kelly by Jean Moss in a book called Contemporary Knits I picked up at a Borders closing sale. I really liked the neck and had wanted to make something out of Shine Worsted since I made that Christmas hat for my brother.

I modified the pattern so much that the only thing that really remains is the construction of the neck. Still, I'm pretty pleased with the result:

Stripey Sue

I reworked the sleeves three separate times, and still they're not 100 perfect, but I reached a point where I was ready to be finished with the Beachy Summer Sweater and move on to bigger and better things.

I've started a series of Knit Alongs with good friend The Owl and The Bee during our Wednesday (and sometimes Monday) Knit Nights. A few weeks ago, we cast on two-at-a-time toe-up socks to try a new technique. I'm totally sold! I am a sufferer of "second sock syndrome", meaning when it's time to make the second item of a pair, I'm usually over it and ready to move on. Two-at-a-time means you'll have socks the same length without all the counting (BIG plus in my book!) My boyfriend, a wrestling assistant coach from a family of wrestling enthusiasts, wanted a pair of socks in the colors of Oak Park River Forest High School because of an inspiring coach working there. So he picked the colors and the yarn and I made my interpretation of what he requested.

Wrastlin' Socks

 I still have a ton of ends to weave in, but after weaving in a TON of ends in both the Delancey and the summer sweater this weekend, I'm giving myself a break for a day or two.

The curse of loving stripes - so many ends! Ugh!

Finally, I finished up work on a little hat design I've been working on. Nothing fancy, but a fast, fun knit with added pom-pom realness.

Werq That Pom!

During photography this morning, I realize that what I actually made this weekend was a pretty decent Smee costume from Disney's Peter Pan.Time to join the real world for a while, I think!

Aye, aye, cap'n!

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!

Sweater-itis

Today, I feel like a grownup. For the first time in my knitting life, I swatched before starting a project. I recieved a package full of lovely new yarn and was able to stop myself from diving right in on this sweater project that I'm really excited about. Please remember this occasion.

The project I'm so jazzed about? Shadow by Olga Buraya-Kefelian, published in Wool People Vol. 1 by Brooklyn Tweed.

Swatchin' it up!

I've got the width right and it's just a touch long, but I think "agressive blocking" will do the trick on that one.

I would apologize for the photography, but it's winter in the Midwest, so nice natural light is hard to come by. You'll just have to deal with my horrible yellow lighting for now and I promise to try to make improvements. Anyway, I'm really excited how nice the yarn looks in the cable pattern. It's Wool of the Andes in Camel Heather from Knit Picks.

Closer to the real color

Meanwhile, I'm using up some yarn I won on ebay by starting a Beatnik Sweater.

Beatnik

The yarn is super ugly, in my opinion. It's a combination of christmas green and red that comes together to make this muddy brown look. I'm hoping the cables will give it a nice retro feel and diminish the fug. I'd wanted to work with Cascade 220 for a while, and ebay makes me compulsive, so here I am. It's actual color looks a little something like:

Doesn't quite capture the ugly...

And finally: a project for the commute. A Herringbone Cowl from The Purl Bee for a beloved sorority sister of mine. She lives in a warmer climate but is always cold. In her honor, I've named this project The Alphie Cowl. <> The yarn is scrumptious - Brava from KnitPicks in Dove Heather. It's the best acrylic I've ever worked with - so soft and light. This one is going by fast and I'm loving every stitch.

I may have taken this picture on the bus...

With snow in the forecast for tonight, I'm looking forward to some Netflix and knitting. After my workout, which really will happen. Really! Happy Friday, guys.

Hello, Again, Hello

A-hoy, mates!

I haven't had a ton of time for knitting, for I have been socializing and RSVPing to showers and attending Christenings. In short, being a person in my late 20's. But now, it's time to return to being a woman in her late 70's and hit those needles HARD. It's almost November and it's time to grow that Present Pile. I've been knitting lots of tiiiiny things for tiny people, so I needed something fast. I cast on this guy Sunday morning and on Sunday night I had a hat. It's in my high school's colors for my brother who is currently a sophomore at said high school (Go Greyhounds!) The pattern can be found here and can be done by anyone. For real, you can do it.

Cool hat, bro

So, now it's back to tedium with BF's Niece's Stripped Jumper Dress:

Almost a skirt

I really want to make this amazing Herribone Cowl featured on The Purl Bee (and I WILL, mind you), but I'm trying to do that thing where I don't have the exact right supplies to make what I need and it's been really messing me up on this particular project. I have started and restarted this particular project 4 times now. I hope I'll have something to show you before I throw my size 15 double pointed needles out the window for not being size 17 cable needles. You know, because it's their fault.

FO: The Damn Sweater

I had a blast this weekend traveling to Bloomington, IN and taking in the best of IU with my cousins, sister and boyfriend. Lots of adventure, by which I mean, lots of drinking. I'm just now feeling back to normal (seriously). The following photos sum up the weekend nicely:

I think I've made my point

But now that I'm feeling back to normal, I really need to share my big news. I FINSIHED MY NEMISIS SWEATER. That's right, That Damn Sweater has been vanquished. Sadly, I wasted the nice weather we had being outside and whatnot and NOT taking pictures of said item. So, you have to deal with more bad photography. But I'm willing to subject you to that, for I have vanquished:

BAYAM

 

Ok, lame pose, but it *does* feel like I gave birth to this thing.

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

And no, I didn't realize the closet door was behind me, ok? And I could have put a little more effort into my hair. But that all must be ignored and we must celebrate, for I have made a sweater. And I will actually wear it. Feels good!