Buttonhole Blues

Well, I have made a little progress on the yoke of the February Lady Sweater, and I have to say, I am not a big fan of the buttonholes that were suggested. I found that an extra hole develops next to the one-row buttonhole suggested in the pattern. I used a 4 stitch button hole, and have ripped back 2x now to get each one right, even now that I know about the problem. I am unknitting right now back to the 2nd buttonhole. It is lucky that there are only 3 of them in the sweater. Otherwise, I am loving this pattern. I have never done a raglan before, and I have to say, the construction is genius!

A Sweater for a Lady

I have been making some progress on Bell Sleeved Jacket, but was feeling the the wool sweater was not exactly ideal for summer knitting. Just when I needed a summer sweater to work on, the perfect one came along!

I am officially jumping on the bandwagon, this time while the wagon is still rolling. I am knitting the insanely popular February Lady Sweater. The pattern is free on either Ravelry or at the link above. It is based on EZs February Baby Sweater.

Last night I went to the very first knit night at the brand new store Slip Knot (sorry no website yet) in Newtown Square. There I picked up some Rowan Calmer in a soft blue to start my Lady Sweater. When I got home, I immediately started a gauge swatch, and cast on this morning on the train (sans coffee...apparently, coffee machines need a little thing called water to make coffee. The nerve!). Never have I seen a pattern and started a project so quickly!


I can't wait to see how this turns out!

In other news, an envelope arrived in the mail today containing this:


How divine! If you have even a small itch to knit this Niebling, I would purchase it now, because Laci's has it for a whopping $7. Prior to that, the only way to get it was to bid on Ebay for a back copy of Anna July 1986 for a whole lot more than $7. I was a bit shy to spend a hundred dollars or more on one pattern, so imagine my excitement when I discovered that Laci's had republished it. Get um while they're hot, ladies and gentleman, because I have no idea how they got the rights, and it very well may be a limited edition.

I probably won't knit this for awhile, but this was one pattern I wanted to be sure was in my library!

Reading has stolen my knitting time!

After the move to the burbs and my newfound train ride time, I thought for sure I would be whipping through knitting projects in no time!

However, with the train ride has come a renewed love of reading. In the morning, I am almost always drinking coffee and have found it nearly impossible to juggle my coffee and knit on the train. In the afternoon, the train is often crowded, and I feel when I knit, I almost invade others space on the train even with the small motion of my arms.

I have always loved to read, but the last few years have been busy, and a lot of the free time I did have was spent knitting. In the last month I have read 3 books:

The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

None of them were " 5 -star" such as some of my favorites such as The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns and Life of Pi, but they were good reads nonetheless. I particularly liked Eat, Pray, Love and My Sister's Keeper.

I am currently reading The Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler.

Not to fret though, I have managed to finish the first snowflake sock and cast on for the second. Here are a few pre-blocking photos.

Snowflakes Falling

Now that my final is done, I was able sneak in a little knitting time this morning to work on my snowflake socks....I have turned the heel, and may officially be addicted to colorwork.

They are a tad tight, but I can get them on, and with a little blocking, I think they will be fine.

Now I have to get back to packing. We are moving in a week, and there is still a lot to do!

Lace baskets

I haven't posted in a little while. I have been busy writing my Masters thesis. Although I have been knitting a bit in my spare moments.

Here is my progress on the Flower Basket Shawl. I am up to 135 stitches, but still have a long way to go.

I love this pattern. It is so easy to follow and very repetitive.

Here I pinned out one of the flower baskets to show you what they look like. Pretty, no? I probably won't post about this project again until it is complete, as lace just doesn't look good until its all blocked and bloomed. I already have multiple future lace projects picked out. For those who like Evelyn Clark, until May 14, Interweave Knits top 5 Readers Choice Patterns are free in a 30 page booklet, and the Swallowtail Shawl is part of this booklet. I also love the Nantucket Jacket and might knit it in the future.

Cables, Cables

Here is a peak at one of the front panels of Bell Sleeve Jacket. I am done with the back and about half done with the left front panel.

Jaywalkers

I completed my first Jaywalkers.
Pattern: Jaywalkers by Grumperina, MagKnits
Yarn: Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino Color: P436 (also the yarn in my blog header)
Needles: Size 1 Addi Turbo Circulars
Modifications: I shortened the leg to 5.5" because I was worried about running out of yarn. I probably could have squeezed another 0.25-0.50" into the leg, as I had a bit of yarn left over.

This is a really cool pattern, and I will most definetely knit it again. It works well with varigated and self-striping yarns, but also has large areas of stockinette knitting, making it good when you need that mindless knitting. It also fits my foot really well.

Fair Isle!

Two nights ago I cast on for Snowflake Socks by Chrissy Gardiner from Interweave Knits Fall 2007. This is my first Fair Isle attempt and actually it is going suprisingly well. I am knitting with the main color (blue) in my right hand and the contrasting color (white) in my left. The Continental still feels a little awkward because I am a English style knitter. No puckering and it looks nice and even, although it might be a little tight. I can get it over my heel, so it probably will be okay, but I am going to try to keep my strands a little looser.

Branching Out Complete!

As promised here are my completed photos of Branching Out. I am very pleased with how this turned out, and although I struggled at the beginning (mostly because I didn't know what a yarnover really was), it did get easier once I got the hang of it.

Pattern: Branching Out
Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Stream Heather Less than 1 skein (about 0.5?)
Needles: Size 8 needles

Now that I am knitting the Flower Basket Shawl by Evelyn Clark, I realize just how challenging this scarf was, especially as a first lace project. There are many unusual stitches in the lace, although it was nice to only have 25-31 stitches on my needles at one time! Less counting!

I also want to say that I adore this yarn. The subtle heather colors, the softness, the bounciness....

A few tips for those looking to try lace:

1. I would not say that this is a good first lace pattern (even though the pattern says it is). There are a lot of different stitches, and there are easier patterns out there. I might try an Evelyn Clark Pattern first or the Airy Scarf out of Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. You could probably do one of these in no time and be better prepared for a more adventurous lace project with a basic understanding of yarnovers and how needle size affects the look of the piece.

2. I used the recommended Size 8 Needles. This results in a fairly open scarf, but if this is not what you are looking for either go down a size or 2 (or 3) and see how that looks. Or double the yarn or use fingering weight instead of lace. Actually, for a first lace project, fingering is probably not a bad idea in general.

3. Check out Eunny's Majoring in Lace Tutorial before you start and probably during the project too!

4. Use lifelines, especially after you get comfortable with the lace. I found that just as I got comfortable, I would go 4 repeats without putting a lifeline and then realize that I had the wrong number of stitches somehow or find a major error somewhere. Lifelines will save you from having to rip out your whole project. The stitches in a lace project are very hard to see and especially as a new lace knitter, virtually impossible to pick up if dropped. I am getting a little better at it now, but my current project also uses doubled yarn and smaller needles, which makes the stitches easier to see. Waxed Dental floss works great and is easy to carry in your project bag. I would put a strand of floss through the stitches on my needle at the end of a repeat when I knew I had the correct number of stitches. If I messed up, I just inserted my needles into the spaces (stitches) where the dental floss was, counted and viola, I was ready to start knitting again without ripping out my whole project or tediously unknitting all those stitches!

5. Your project will look like a hot mess. You will wonder if it will ever look like the beautiful projects you see on everyone's blogs. It will look uneven and you will have trouble discerning the pattern. Blocking takes care of all of this and makes your lace mess into a beautiful piece. Do not despair!

5. Lace blocking wires are fantastic. Knitpicks sells them as does Joanne Fabrics.

Not much to look at....

I was so excited after finishing my Branching Out lace scarf that I cast on for Evelyn Clark's Flower Basket Shawl last night. Not much to look at yet, but isn't the yarn color scrumptious? It is Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in TidePool. A lovely blue green blend. I am knitting this lace weight yarn double for a slightly more substantial shawl.

It took me a little bit to get used to these Size 6 Addi Turbo Lace needles. I knit my last lace project on bamboo, and these are a little bit slicker. The taper on the needles is nice though, and once I got used to them, I figured out how to avoid stitches accidentally slipping off the needles.