Sidetracked

Indulge me in a bit of a fashion show.

I wish these pictures showed how close the sweater color is to the color of Rose's eyes.

She likes it so much. The day I took these, it was fairly warm, but she didn't want to put her t-shirt back on. "No, I wear sweater!" So she wore it for the rest of the day.

In the meantime, I've been sidetracked from Green Gable by a few different things.

a) So far, I have not been able to get gauge, which is 5 stitches per inch. This will definitely affect the look of this sweater, so I have had to do some thinking. If I use #6 needles, as the pattern recommends, I get 5.25 stitches to an inch, not 5. If I go up to #7's, I get a little less than 5, and the fabric is a bit untidy. Now, I did some math, and 200 stitches (the body stitches in the large size) divided by 5.25 stitches per inch is 38 inches. That would make a pretty good fit for me, not too loose, and not too tight. So I keep asking myself, do I trust my math? I haven't decided yet, so there's always...

b) Wendy's toe-up sock. So far, so good, but I'm reserving judgement until I finish one. In theory, you can try it on as you go to get a better fit. But as long as I accurately and honestly count my stitches per inch, my top-down socks fit me just fine. I'm not sure I like the sides of this toe. They're not as neat as the decrease, knit, knit, decrease on either side of a top-down toe. Of course, it could be my sloppy short-rowing. :P

c) The "celtic cable" from A Cardigan for Arwen in the winter 2006 IK. This is a reversible cable, the first I've ever seen, and I couldn't for the life of me wrap my brain around the idea. I've done more than a bit of cabling, and I just did not understand how a cable can have two "right" sides.

Here it is, front side and back side (sorry, they're not the greatest quality pics, but you get the idea -- you can see the pattern on both sides!!).

I still don't understand. But it works.

It's done!

And how quickly! I need to knit more baby sweaters. It's quite a rush (for me) to be able to complete a garment in three weeks. I'm really very pleased with how it turned out, too, since I used nothing but a bare-bones (yet very effective) raglan calculator and my 365 Knitting Stitches a Year perpetual calendar.

I had enough yarn for full-length sleeves, and plenty left over. Thank you again, Peg! The color is just lovely, and it's going to be a nice pullover for breezy summer mornings.

Nuala also approves.

The next project: Green Gable. I just got some Cotton Fleece in Robin's Egg Blue. I can't wait!

Love,

Kim

Diamond Lace

More progress on Rose's sweater:

I knit down to the hem, adding some diamond lace details.

The lace is adapted from a motif called "Diamond Rib" in the 365 Knitting Stitches perpetual calender (August 5, I think). I left out the purls between the diamonds so it wasn't a rib anymore.

Then I picked up and knitted the collar, using the rib pattern as written so it would be fairly elastic.


I have about a ball and a quarter left. I think I may be able to get some 3/4 length sleeves out of it, but if I don't, this piece is actually already pretty cute as a short-sleeved sweater. So we'll see what happens.

I've got a bit of a head cold that has got me feeling pretty rotten, so I'm not sure how much progress will be made in the next few days. I'll be sure to show you what happens next when it happens; in the meantime I may have to lie down. :)

Love,

Kim

Cozy

It wasn't quite warm enough to be outside modelling this, but at least it was sunny. I'm trying to let go of Andrew's comment that it would look great on our dining room table. I know he meant it as a true compliment, but now I'm wondering if people are going to think I'm wearing a table runner.
I'm ready for Spring to come back. Today it snowed and then it sleeted. It doesn't look like things are going to warm up anytime soon, and I don't like it! My tulips and forsythia, which, like me, had been tricked into thinking it was finally time to come out, are pitiful now and I'm not sure they're going to come into their own this year.

I started a lacey rib pattern on Rose's blue sweater, then had to rip back eight rounds because of a wonky decrease. I know what I did wrong, and I can fix it. I hated putting all those stitches back on the needle, but I would have hated looking at those mistakes every time Rose wore the sweater even more.

Think Spring!

Kim

A little blue sweater

Here is Rose, modeling her partial sweater. Sorry for the poor lighting; I was lucky enough to get her to stand still -- I didn't want to push my luck and remove her from the toys of the moment.

This is a bit less than two balls of the four that Peg sent me. I decided on a top-down construction so that I could knit the sleeves last and make them however long the yarn would let me. I'm going to put a lace detail around the hem and the collar, which will add some interest and perhaps let the yarn last longer. Also, a bit of lace will go with the lacey look of the raglan seams:

I'm not sure how this happened, really. I used a "knit in front and back of stitch" on either side of a stitch marker to increase from the neck down to the arms. I don't know if the holes are a result of the increases, or of making them right next to each other, or of the looseness caused by the marker, but I like how it turned out. Of course, before I use a top-down construction for a plainer sweater, I'll have to do some experimenting with alternate increases.

Then there's the hem lace... I had envisioned a row of little leaves, but all the lace motifs I've found so far are vertically, not horizontally oriented. I've got another 15 - 20 rounds of stockinette to find more options, though.

I've got to ask Andrew to take some pictures of me wearing Cozy. My "camera in the mirror" technique is less than effective, although comical.

Love,

Kim

Checking in

Dear friends,

I finished Cozy yesterday. It's currently reclining on our guest bed, all stretched out and drying. I have no pictures for today's post, but I've been feeling so bad about my infrequent posting lately that I thought I'd rather just check in without pics than let another day go by without saying anything.

I'm really happy with this wrap, and can't wait to wear it. Of course, Michigan weather being what it is, we're now having freezing temperatures after a week or two of lovely mild warm spring-like days. So it's back to the wool coat and mittens, and Cozy will have to wait until Mother Nature decides it's spring again.

I cast on a little sweater for Rose out of the Sari cotton yarn that Peg sent me. (Peg, I love that Cindy sweater, too!) I'm using this top-down Raglan recipe. It's going pretty well, so far.

Poor Yarn Harlot! I had attended her talk in Ann Arbor last August, and wanted to go to this one, but couldn't (Palm Sunday + church music director = no Harlot). She had such a rough time of it -- I felt so bad reading this post. Everything seemed to turn out okay, but can you imagine? I'd have been sick.

And the best news? Rachel had her baby, a little boy they named Nathan. He was born on March 29, and he weighed 9lbs. 9oz. We're going to go see him tomorrow!

Love,

Kim