Shiny New Project

Hey guys! I'm knitting a million projects shiny green cardigan!!! It's so cool!

"But don't you have, like, five sweaters on the needles?"

Nine-ish, actually, but LOOK! SHINY AND GREEN!!!

Preeeeeeeeetty sweet, eh? ;) It's Grace, by the ever-so-talented Jane Richmond. My gauge is a bit iffy, but a violent blocking should fix it if my first measurement was more correct than my second (which was right on).

I've been in destash-mode rather than finish-everything mode. That'll change as December looms. That's when finish-all-the-things-itis hits me. Right now, I'm enjoying knitting lots of cute little things (this is the biggest project I've started for a while) and watching them fly off the needles as quickly as I had the urge to cast them on. I'll try to share some on Friday. I have a serious backlog of FOs piling up.

Working on anything fun? You should always have something fun on the needles!

Works-in-a-Pile

Thank you so much for your comments on all my posts. I sometimes get busy/distracted/forgetful and don't reply to them very quickly, but I'm caught up now and I hope you'll keep commenting. :)

I have loads of knitting planned for the evening, lots of Grey's Anatomy to catch up on in the next 12 days (when it will magically disappear from Hulu), and some soup to make (it's soup weather?! Crazy!), so I have to keep this short, but I'll give you a shot the pile of stuff I'm making and a list of what's in the pile and you can see if you can discern what's what, haha.

A shawl, a sock, my Ginny's Cardigan, a little stuffed bunny (that hasn't been stuffed yet), and a baby sweater I am going to try to finish before tomorrow evening. I'm focusing on smaller projects this fall to give myself room to finish up a huge pile of unfinished sweaters and to use up a stash I'd like to get a bit more under control. I kind of like it, really. It's refreshing to need only a few days or a week to knit up something cute or useful or gift-worthy.

What do you prefer to knit? Does a sweater or blanket or other large project give you greater satisfaction in the finishing than a smaller one or is it the other way around for you?

Knitting is Work, Right?

The three day weekend did nothing to inspire my work ethic. I'm just glad I have one less day I have to work this week. :) I'm knitting like a fiend, though. Or trying to, anyway. Lots of other stuff I have to do. :P

I'm almost finished with Ginny's Cardigan. I'm hoping to put the finishing touches on it this weekend. That means I should find some buttons!

I also cast on some slippers for my great-grandma. I feel like they should take no time at all, but it hasn't gone quite that quickly, haha. They are perfect for bus- or mindless-knitting, so I won't notice how long they take. I have to get them done soon! Her birthday is coming up!

What are you working on? Are you super excited for fall (or spring, as the case may be)? :D

Sleeves, Sleeves, and More Sleeves

School is starting, which means all sorts of craziness for me. No time to acclimate to being back home after my trip Home, a dissertation prospectus that's due (again), an office move (and nowhere near enough space for my books), class planning (that I haven't had time to start yet), and of course five bunnies! They are the least of the crazy, though. After some amazing climbing, water bottle rejection, litter box amnesia, and food weirdness (and that's just Teddy! :D), I think everybun is settled and happy. As happy as a bunny can be (tolerant is a better word).

Still knitting. I promise. Though you wouldn't know it from visiting here, eh? I'm stuck in a sleeve rut. Three sweaters, all in the sleeve phase. I'm down from six to four and a half, though, so there's progress. Would you like to meet the sleeves? Let's!

Here's the half, which is a bit tighter than is necessary, even though I knit it a size larger than the rest of the sweater. Couldn't get my hand through the cuff of my size. :S

And the whole sleeve, which is actually a 3/4 sleeve. I knit the thing inside-out sort of accidentally and had zero laddering, which has never happened when I magic looped a sleeve (or two at a time). I think I'm going to just do that every time. By knitting it inside-out, I mean I had the wrong side (the knit side for this cardigan) facing me and worked the right side (the purl side) on the inside of the sleeve. I had intended to knit the whole sleeve because I hate to purl, but I couldn't get it to work and still pick up stitches prettily in the underarm. That didn't make any sense, did it? Please refer to paragraph one of this post and forgive me.

I haven't started the other sweater's sleeves. Let me rephrase that: I haven't restarted the other sweater's sleeves yet. They were all but done and I tried on the sweater and ripped them out, ripped out the band, ripped out the shoulder seams, and added short-rows to the shoulders. I've done this before to add an inch to the back. I'm hoping I don't have to do it again. It's pretty and I love it and the sleeves will be better this time (if the back is finally behaving), so I'm not bummed yet, but I'm not convinced that the whole thing won't end in frustration.

Once I'm finished with these three sweaters, I'm going to pick up one I partially frogged this time last year. Guess what it needs?! SLEEVES!!! Please help me make sleeve bearable! What do you like to do when you knit sleeves? Movies? Audiobooks? Daydreaming? Wearing the first finished sleeve? ;)

I'm going to cast on a million socks when the SSKAL is over, lol. Too many sleeves!

Change of Scenery

I'm back home in Idaho for about a week. As I walked to the front door of our house last night, I thought, "Gosh that tree looks weird....Did they replace it?" It wasn't until this morning that I realized it's because it has leaves on it that it looks weird. :) I haven't been home in a green season (there are fewer than normal in Idaho!) for four years.

Trip = new project, in my book, so here it is:

Ginny's Cardigan from the Unofficial Harry Potter Knits magazine released last year. I'm loving it! The yarn is Frog Tree Alpaca Sport. It knits up rather unevenly, but I suspect a good steaming will set the stitches right. Maybe plump them a bit too. It's an awfully light sport.

I'm three chapters from the end of Deathly Hallows and that makes me really sad. I'll have to do a Harry Potter movie marathon when I'm done. And then maybe listen to all the books all over again. ;)

It's incredibly, uncharacteristically (I live in the desert) stormy here! How's the weather in your neck of the woods? Hopefully as knitting-friendly as here!

Sweaters Galore

Today is cast-on day for my favorite annual knit-along! Very Shannon's Summer Sweater KAL! I look forward to it every year and plan way, way too many sweaters. This year is no different, except that I'm going to finish all of my sweaters-in-progress first. First-ish. ;) I will allow myself one new sweater as I work on the others.

I have some gorgeous alpaca for Ginny's Cardigan and a trip home next week that will afford me some time to get a start on it (and finish up the Narcissa Socks from the same magazine...and look like a big ol' HP nerd going home again ;]).

I'm looking forward to having a whole host of new sweaters from my pile of knitted stuff beside the futon. I hope it all works out like I plan!

Do you care to join? You can knit any sweater you like! There are great prizes, amazing sponsors, helpful posts, and a huge community of wonderful ladies knitting along! The Ravelry thread is full of incredible pattern ideas if you need any. ;)

Warm at Last

My Office is a Fridge

Pattern: Sedum by Jane Richmond
Yarn: Knit Picks Cadena in Coal
Needles: US 10 1/2 and 7
Project Page

I started this project about two and a half years ago. Seed stitch is not very fast or very fun to knit, and bulky is unbearable in the summer, so it took a nice vacation under the futon for a while. :) Since the Summer Sweater KAL this year permitted works-in-progress and my WIPs are driving me insane, I decided this was the perfect opportunity to pull the sucker out and give it the sleeves and bands it needed to be a complete sweater.

My office is freezing more often than it is comfortable. Today, it was stifling hot and an hour later, icy cold. Go figure. I thought a cute, bulky sweater that lives in my office would go with anything I'm wearing and make up for the fact that the space heater I stole from our department library doesn't work anymore. I'll no longer have to dress for winter in the office when I know it'll get up to 86 degrees outside, like today. I can just toss this guy on and be happy!

The pattern I used was a free version back from when Jane first released it. It has its problems, but she has since rewritten it and addressed anything I could criticize. The yarn was sort of disappointing. It sheds a lot. It claims to have 30% alpaca in it, but it's really scratchy. Even after I washed it, it, it didn't get any softer. It didn't grow, either, which I thought was weird because seed stitch always grows...but everything fits, so no harm. :)

Overall, it'll serve its function well, so I can't complain. It is really cute and it is out of my WIP pile, so I'm really happy about it. You'll be seeing a lot of my old WIPs becoming FOs in the next few months. It's time to get them done and out of the back of my mind! I'll have to tell you about the duel I'm doing to keep me motivated.

Have a fabulous weekend! Any plans? The orchard sounds like a fun trip to me. Or finishing Water for Elephants in the hammock. Maybe you have other fall activities in mind? I'd love to know!

For more FO Friday posts, visit Tami!

Fate

Wispy

Pattern: Wispy Cardi by Hannah Fettig from Knitbot Essentials
Yarn: Quince & Co. Tern in Syrah
Needles: US 2, 4, and 6
Project Page

This project was sort of serendipitous. I don't think I ever would have desired to knit this sweater if I hadn't knit one for Hannah herself. Nor would I have knit it when I did except that I happened to win a few skeins of the very yarn I wanted to use to make it, and in a great new colorway to boot! All that and I still couldn't find a suitable name for it. :P I've been listening to Harry Potter audiobooks instead of music.

I enjoyed the pattern and recommend it. It's a very quick knit. Don't knit it by your usual bust measurement, but by the measurement across your back, as stated in the pattern. I made a size 12/14 and wouldn't mind it a tad smaller, actually. I can't rule out knitting it again. I would try a more fitted sleeve next time, though. I'm just not sure this loose sleeve is quite my style.

To block it, I only washed it and laid it on a drying rack. I may need to pin the bottom out for maximum delicious drape. The curl is a little crinkled and I can't have that. It's the best part! The yarn is really wonderful. Quince & Co. is the bast basic wool any knitter could ask for. It's nice and round, washes beautifully, comes in gorgeous colors, and is so soft and comfortable to wear. Tern has a touch of silk, which makes the already magnificent drape just that much better. I can see knitting many more projects with this yarn.

See the hair? I've discovered the magical secret to getting it to stay up: hairpins! Not bobby pins. Those are for stray locks or securing tendrils or braids to your scalp. Hairpins are for buns. They are magical! I've been wearing my hair up a lot because of them. I only have to take it down because my hair is too heavy and gives me a headache.

I'll have another sweater for you Friday! See you soon!

Back in Time for Fall

I'm delighted that fall has arrived! Just in the nick of time. I love the weather, but the wardrobe is the best part. :)

Sorry for the long hiatus! I was away spending time with the family rather unexpectedly. Since I was gone from school for about two weeks, I'm now buried in grading and Greek, but I think I can get through it all this week and back to knitting and blogging.

I believe the Summer Sweater KAL is drawing to a close in the next week or so, so I have two sweaters to put the finishing touches on and share with you very soon! I will share one on Wednesday (I don't have any works-in-progress to share anyway) and the other Friday. I have the cutest dress for Wednesday's sweater...I can't wait to show you!

Sorry to make this so short, but I've got some blocking to do if I'm going to have any sweaters to show you. I will see you Wednesday!

I've missed you!

Is It Still Summer?

The weather this week has proven that it is, indeed, still summer. The campus was abuzz this afternoon, signaling the impending season change. The weather has been so strange this year that I fear we might be in for an early and long winter, but I'm hoping for more of the wonderful fall/spring/early summer mixture of temps we've had. In any case, the calendar hasn't kept me from dreaming up and knitting on some fall sweaters.

The Greatest

Pattern: Buckwheat by Veera Välimäki
Yarn: Sundara Yarn Petite Sock Yarn in Lunar Eclipse (December or January colorway)
Needles: US 6 and US 2.5
Project Page

This is my first sweater for the luvinthemommyhood Summer Sweater KAL this year! Last year I had the incredible fortune to win grand prize in the drawing and that got me...a lot of yarn. :) One thing I won was a gift certificate to Sundara Yarn. Sundara dyes only three colorways each month and she changes them every month. If you love this month's Inspired by Monet colors, for example, you have to get them now because they go away on August 31st. You might get lucky and catch them in the Odds and Ends next month, but why risk it? I fell so in love with the two colorways in December, I think it was, that I bought them both. I bought a deep purple for legwarmers and this light purple-grey. The yardage in every skein is very generous, so I only needed two for this sweater, which I had in mind when I hit "Buy".

I love Veera's patterns. This one has been in my queue for a long time. I think it was the neckline that really sold me. I forgot, however, that I'm slump-shouldered and a bit of a hunchback, so maybe boatnecks aren't my thing. She always uses short-row sleeve caps, too, which I'm also not a fan of, but they fit well enough, so I can't complain. I will complain about the short-row shaping at the shoulders on both the front and back. I get bubbles there because I think my slump-shoulders don't pull the sweater into the right shape. I'd do fewer short-rows there if I knit it again and maybe omit them altogether on the back to draw attention away from my hunchback, which I feel like pokes up out of the neckline more than it ought. All that to say that the yarn and pattern are genius and all of my complaints have to do with the fact that I have terrible posture!

The name has nothing to do with my feelings about the sweater. It's all right, definitely not the greatest. The name comes (as most do) from the name of a song. This one by the stunning Cat Power. Chan Marshall might have the most beautiful singing voice I've ever heard. She's been singing for commercials when not recording and I want to buy every product her voice appears behind. :)

Have you ever finished a sweater that was perfectly functional but didn't really fill you with excitement? Have you grown to love it or do you still feel that way? Does it hide in your closet, or do you wear it fairly often because it is so functional?

Forgive my wordiness today. :P For more FO Friday posts, visit Tami! It's not too late to join in the Summer Sweater KAL, either.

Resurrected

I have a strange dissatisfaction with my current knitting projects. I think it is a mixture of my back-to-school anxiety, an anxiety about how many works-in-progress I have scattered around, and the simple fact that most of my big, active WIPs are stockinette. I need a little pattern in my life. :)

Recently my mind has gone all the way back to this gem. I call it My Office Is a Fridge because, well, it is and this guy is going to help me cope. The pattern is Sedum. I'm working off the free notes from 2010, which was only one size (thank goodness, because I wasn't smart enough to note the size on my project page!). I'm not sure what it is that makes me want to pick it back up. The seed stitch? The bulky yarn? That it only needs sleeves, bands, and a collar? The coming school year? I do always think of this cardi when I have to go into the office again. Some day it will live in there and I won't have to dress with a guess as to what the temp will be like on any given day. That's the temp in my office.

My active project is a Wispy Cardi. I have a couple of friends who've been talking about knitting it, which made me think of it, and one or two popped up in the Summer Sweater KAL, which made me want to knit it sooner and the new colors in Tern just put me over the edge, so here it is! It's going pretty quickly, but I'm starting to get elbow pain from the stockinette, so I'm trying to take it easy with the knitting. That's really hard to do!

What are you working on? Have you dug up any ghosts from the WIP pile recently? How many do you have in that pile? You'll be meeting more of mine each week until they are gone!

Piles Upon Piles

I missed writing on Monday in an effort to get some stuff done, but now I feel like I haven't written for ages (or gotten anything done, for that matter). I don't like that feeling. Gotta stick to the blogging schedule. :)

I made a really long list of my WIPs on a Ravelry thread and now I feel like I should ban myself from casting things on until other things are done. It's gotten kind of ridiculous! I have 13 easily finishable WIPs and 7 hibernating projects. I feel less bad about the hibernating stuff, but some of them could come out of hibernation if I had fewer works-in-progress....Or know their inevitable demise sooner, anyway.

In any case, here's the sweater I've been chugging away on for the Summer Sweater KAL while my WIPs beg for attention. I started it last Thursday and expect to have it done this weekend. It's worked up super, duper fast!

I don't like short-row sleeves, though. They don't look that great and I don't think they fit that well, either. I can't figure out why, since set-in sleeve caps have the exact same shape. I might have to tear it out and figure out a different solution. Do you like short-row sleeves? Do you have a suggestion if I have to try something different?

I hope I'm not the only one with loads of works-in-progress. Make me feel better? Or worse. I can take it. :) I promise to finish one or two things before I cast-on something new. Pinkie swear!

For more WIP Wednesday posts, visit Tami's Amis!

Start Your Sweaters

Listen? Do you hear it? The sound of hundreds of knitting needles clacking away?

Today is the beginning of the much-anticipated Summer Sweater Knit-a-long, hosted by luvinthemommyhood. The Ravelry group has been abuzz with excitement. I haven't looked today, but I suspect everyone is so busy casting-on that it might be a bit quieter than normal. :)

I have a rather extensive list of sweaters to finish and start this go-round. We'll see how many I get through. Monday I showed you the little black box in my newly organized corner that has yarn ready to cast-on in it. Here's what's in it, all for the SSKAL:

On the left is two skeins of Quince and Co. Tern in a new color, Syrah, for Wispy. The black and white skeins are The Fibre Company Canopy Worsted in Orchid and Obsidian for Frontenac (which doesn't really count in this KAL because it doesn't have sleeves). The purple skeins at the bottom are Sundara Petite Sock Yarn in Lunar Eclipse for Buckwheat. You've likely seen the pink cakes before. They are a mystery yarn, 100% wool, for a design I drafted up just last night. I'll share more of the details and process with you as I work on it. :)

I can't cast anything on until my Celestarium is done (which will be very, very soon!) and I might finish my Deco and/or Sybil before I cast anything on, but I'll likely start with Buckwheat, then the design, Frontenac, and Wispy once I start casting things on. As my poster indicates: I want to believe I can do it all. ;) We'll see!

Want to join us? You should! Go sign up at the link I provided at the top of this post and visit the Ravelry group! The ladies there are really great and really chatty. Whether you join or not, it is time to start thinking of sweater season. Got any patterns in mind for yourself?

Infatuated

Lovesong

Pattern: Exeter by Michelle Wang
Yarn: unlabeled mill-spun Polworth and silk blend
Needles: US 5 and 8
Project Page

This sweater was a long labor of intense love (though I did swear at it a lot in the end). It shouldn't have taken me six months, but other things got in the way and I was frequently overwhelmed by stress over whether I would have enough yarn to complete it. The thought of getting to the last stretch of this gorgeous cable pattern only to realize that I'd have to rip the whole thing out and find a new project was enough to make me shove it out of sight for a while.

I made a couple modifications through fear of yarn shortage. I did only half of the shawl collar increases and half of the sleeve increases. I'm very happy with the slightly smaller shawl collar, but I do wish the sleeves were a little bit bigger. If I block them on a form, they might be okay. I finished with two little tiny balls of yarn left!

I named it for Adele's "Lovesong", originally by The Cure and first covered by 311. I still can't decide which I love best, but Adele's is most befitting the sweater, I suppose. There's clearly no answer, but I'd love to hear which you like best if you feel like rocking away about 12 minutes of your life. ;) I'll tell you right now best video goes to The Cure (it always does!).

For more FO Friday posts, go to Tami's Amis!

Woman at Work

I'm too busy. :P

I'm currently working on finishing up my reading list on my Greek author so I can take the test and focus on classes. I can't find my French dictionary, though, so that's fun..... :/ The good news is that I have lots of stockinette projects and I can knit and read at the same time! Yay!

My projects either don't look different than last week or are so close to done that I can't show you yet! So here's a different kind of work-in-progress. I won a giveaway a couple weeks ago and the goodies are slowly trickling in (along with a few things I thought I had better order while John is least suspicious of all this yarn coming into the house ;]). I think I'm waiting on one more skein, then I'll share the goodies in detail!

My Rock Island and my legwarmers are really, really close to done. I'll have one to share with you tomorrow! Go check out some on-time WIP Wednesday posts on Tami's blog!

A Little Goodness

This week has been a really rough one. I'm loving that it's Friday so I can finally relax a little bit. I'm seaming Falling as you read this, so watch for it next Friday. Today, I'll just show you this totally awesome cake, which has kept me from dropping out of school a couple times this week. That and I won first prize in the Summer Sweater KAL Giveaway! I've never won anything in a blog giveaway and here I won more than I think I'll know what to do with! I'll show all the goodies when I get them. Promise.

This is a three-layer double chocolate cake with raspberry filling and vanilla meringue buttercream frosting (the frosting is the best part). Mmmmmm. The recipe is from bella eats. I followed the recipe, except in two places, where I didn't take a careful enough look at our pantry. Instead of 3 oz of semisweet chocolate, I used 2, and 1 oz of bittersweet. I also didn't have enough sugar to make the frosting, so I used the last 4-5 tbsp I had and subbed powdered sugar for the rest of the measurement. I don't know what difference it made, if any, but it is really, really good!

I don't bake very often, so this is real treat (and surprise that it's so delicious). Next time, I'll make it a sheet cake so I can share it with people. :)

Because this is already a really scattered post, I must tell you how much I love Halloween movies. Not the scary ones (there aren't any or I would love them), but the others ones, like Beetlejuice, Hocus Pocus, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Edward Scissorhands, and Practical Magic, which I'm watching now. This movie always made me want to be a witch. And have a sister...oddly enough....John has never seen The Shining, so we are going to watch it tonight (over pizza and cake!). I'd love to know what your favorite Halloween movies are!

For some real FO Friday posts, check out Tami's Amis.

Marvelous!

I have a second to breathe (and write a post)! It's nice. :) Usually I don't go crazy until mid-October (midterm), but this year it's the movement into the second third of the semester that's killing me. I've had worse weeks, though, so I think I might me moderately rockin' it.

On the knitting front, I'm knitting a few rows here and there on a few different things. Here's the thing that has blossomed most, though. It's a baby blanket that I started last Friday at a get-together with the gals in my department. I didn't have anything mindless I could take to work on while we watched a movie, so I cast this puppy on. It's rather pleasant. I'm not crazy about the shadow rib rows (p2, k1 tbl) because knitting through the back loop requires an iota more of attention than I've had to give it, but I haven't messed it up...yet.

I cannot decide if I like this color! I loved it when I picked it out because it wasn't white, we didn't have a lighter tan, and the darker brown was just not baby enough, but it's earthy and boyish and I think the mother will love it. Now that I'm about halfway through it, though...I just don't know....What do you think? You can be honest. :) It's Plymouth Encore DK, so I don't know if I can dye it, but that wouldn't keep me from trying!

I think I'm still on track to show you a few finished baby objects Friday (or one, at the very least), so I hope to see you then! For more WIP Wednesday projects, head over to Tami's Amis! Now that the Summer Sweater KAL is winding down, you should definitely go to luvinthemommyhood to check who has finished their sweaters. They are beautiful! I wish I had more time to devote to mine. :( I think I should have it done in a week or two. fingerscrossed!

Blog 'N Run

A quick update before I'm off to class.

Look! I have the beginnings of an Exeter right front! Yay! It took me two or three hours to wind 9.7 oz of yarn by hand (O.O), but I didn't have too much trouble and now I can knit from it! Yay! I'm praying that I have enough from the right front and both sleeves. I should, but we'll see.

That's all I'm going to show you, but there will be at least one baby item on Friday. I'm hoping to finish my sample knit by Monday so I can ship it, too. It just needs sleeves and finishing. I never know if I can show it to you. I'm tempted. It's pretty and published, so...maybe?

For more WIP Wednesday posts and Summer Sweater KAL posts, go here and here, respectively.

So Tiny!

Here's something you've probably never seen me knit: baby items! I've got a cape and a sweater going. There will be a blanket and booties by the end of the month, too.

In other news, a new sample knit:

A shawl:

And a neglected Summer Sweater KAL project:

School. Think of how many projects I'd have time for if I didn't have to go to school! Soon-ish. This post was delayed by a dreaded and clingy cold, but for more WIP Wednesday posts, go to Tami's Amis!

I Swear I'm Knitting

Just not very much or very often. I still haven't gotten my schedule to work for me well enough that I don't have to bring things home with me. I have Labor Day weekend to get it figured out, though, eh? Or maybe I'll just knit....

Here's an old picture I've probably used twice before to show you something I've picked up again after about four years. I'm determined to finish it this weekend. I've finished beading, so it's just knitting a few more (giant) rounds. I told John I'm going to burn it when I'm done. I might still.* But I'll take photos first.

My poor Exeter. I really want to work on it. I do! I just isn't maturing at the rate I'd like. I'll make some progress on it, promise. I have to finish it soon so I can start another Summer Sweater KAL sweater. It'll either be Insouciant (while the weather is still nice enough) or Levenwick.

My robot mittens have hit a stand-still. No wonder I didn't finish them sooner. They take forever! I need to redo the first one, so dreading that has slowed me down, too. They are so flippin' cute, though!

I think that's everything that is actively clicking on my needles. In other modes of life, I'm working on Greek, Greek, and more Greek and I have to begin revising a paper and write an abstract for said-paper before the end of September. Busy, busy, busy! Such is life.

How are you? Much more relaxed, I hope? Knitting lots of good things? :) I need some knit-spiration, so do tell me what you're working on!

WIP Wednesday posts here and Summer Sweater KAL posts here! See you Friday!

*Okay, fine, I won't!