mistake rib scarf and headband

yarn: rio de la plata merino yarn in pink carnation (2 skeins)

needles: US10 (scarf) and US9 (headband) denise interchangeables

pattern: mistake rib over 32 stitches for the scarf and mistake rib over 20 stitches for the headband

as always, all project information (completed or in progress) is on the sidebar. this project, thankfully, was a stash buster! sorry i have no pictures of my new project on the needles but they are coming along swimmingly! hopefully i’ll remember to get them under the ott-lite tonight for a little photo shoot.

three things:

1. for those in the comments on the last post that exclaimed that they would love to have a sweater much like the baby ribbed jacket in their size, they are in luck! there is a pattern called the lara cardigan also by debbie bliss that is the same (but constructed differently). it’s knit in the alpaca silk but several people i know have knit it in a different yarn.
2. don’t forget! if you live in NYC, come and see project playwright II, this week only! friday and saturday nights are pretty much guaranteed to sell out so get your tickets online if you can.
3. firefox 2.0 ROCKS! seriously, if you aren’t using this browser, you simply are not cool my new favorite feature? spell check in form fields! i’ve been able catch all of my badly spelled words before they hit the blog! if only i had this from the beginning.

mmm, seaming AND pocky

saturday was world pocky day. 11/11 looks like sticks right? so i dug out my almond crush pocky and sewed up the chocolate brown baby ribbed jacket.

yarn: debbie bliss merino aran (5 balls)

needles: US8 for body and US7 for ribbing

pattern: ribbed jacket from debbie bliss special knits for babies

all done and into the mail on monday or tuesday! then when i was done with that i decided to work on altering some old jeans of mine so that i can wear them during my pregnancy. i got these maternity panels on joann.com a while ago but hadn’t the time to install them until now.

here await the jeans for alteration

i hate ripping seams, so tedious

first you have to rip the sides of the jeans down, cut across the bottom, and then sew in the panel on the bottom then up the sides. there was a point when i actually didn’t think that it would work. in the end, i’m satisfied with the results. it took FOREVER for me to install it but i think that the next time will go faster.

saturday night, KP and i enjoyed some movie time which meant more knitting and then today there was nothing but star wars on cinemax. you know what that means, right?

more blocking

here we have the mistake rib scarf and a matching headband which i was able to eek out of the last of the yarn… i’m on such a roll, i’m almost afraid to acknowledge it. now, all i have on the needles is the second leg warmer but i can guarantee that won’t last long. i have two projects lined up to start: some glittens using knitpicks swish superwash in dark navy and the 3-hole noro shawl.

speaking of flying, my fingers have been doing a lot of that lately. not only have i been coding like a mad genius at work, but i’ve been knitting every night. it’s so nice to be back into a routine again. the first trimester of my pregnancy really had me down and out, but now i’m back! i feel pretty normal nowadays with only the growing stomach to show that i’m really pregnant. no weird cravings, no insatiable appetite, just normal. it’s kind of nice!

so here’s the progress on the latest projects:

getting close!

i’m really cruising along with this baby ribbed jacket! i finished the second sleeve last night and started working on the right front (that spot where you see the needle hanging out.) i think that i should be done with the body of the sweater tonight! i have the money pit at home and will probably watch it and knit tonight if all goes according to plan. i haven’t seen that movie in years but it gets quoted a lot around my household.

growing…

the mistake rib scarf is growing slowly. i keep switching back and forth between the two balls of yarn i have because they are from different dyelots. i do one big chunk, then another so that, in the end, it will look like it was intentional to have big blocks of different color texture. i should have alternated on alternate rows but i didn’t realize the difference until it was too late… and i hate ripping. so there ya go.

the second angel sock (no picture.. use your imagination) is past the heel and cruising through the foot. i now work on this on the train some days when i don’t feel like reading. this morning i got a lot done on the way into work! so, needless to say, i never finished a pair of socks during socktoberfest, which is a bummer, but i was into the spirit of the thing anyway, and i certainly learned a lot from lolly on sock making! so thanks for the great KAL, lolly!

i still haven’t casted-on for the second leg warmer yet, but i will as soon as i get through the body of this baby sweater. the recipient of the sweater is waiting patiently for it, so i might as well get it done ASAP.

not to be left out of the whole KAL thing for more than, like, 3 seconds, i joined the norovember KAL. it’s also very much like socktoberfest in that there’s no pressure, but if you can knit with noro in november, then do it and join the KAL! i’ve been dying to start my japanese 3-hole shawl forever. you may remember it?

the 3-hole shawl

it’s basically one REALLY long rectangle of wavy stitch with three holes in it. your arms go through the first two holes and then the rest of the shawl wraps around your front and your left arm goes through the third hole. this way your arms are free to do things. great for breastfeeding, if you ask me. this is from the fall/winter 2005 let’s knit magazine in japanese. thankfully, i know enough japanese to do this pattern easy peasy, and it has a chart. no problem.

and this is the yarn i’ll be using (from the stash, of course):

noro silk garden 225

so, once the baby sweater is done, i’m going to cast on for this bad boy. i hope to finish up the angel socks soon too, because i have some christmas knitting to get going on as well. november should be fun! thankfully, i have a nice long thanksgiving weekend at the end of the month and a week of working the box office for the next madair production (come see the second annual Project Playwright!) to get lots of knitting done. huzzah!

back in its rightful place

sorry to say that it wasn’t in the closet balled up in the corner partying with other handknits. if you’ve lost a handknit, it’s possible you will find it in the spot you’re least likely to think of so get an outsider’s help or opinion. when i was younger, i always had my mom look for things i lost because i could never find them myself! i’m glad i married someone who is willing to look for things for me. i seem to be blind to the areas i never think it’s going to be in.

knitting update:

baby sweater in the making

this is the sweater for my friend’s baby, H. it’s actually MUCH further along than this. i already divided for the front and am working through the left sleeve. it’s a quick knit and i’ll have plenty of yarn leftover. maybe a hat too?

one down…

here’s the first of two leg warmers! man, are these fast knits, or what? i was really surprised how quick i was done with it. i’ll cast on for the second one this week after i finish at least one side of the baby sweater.

the second angel sock is almost to the heel (i’ve been working on this at lunchtime or on the train) and the mistake rib scarf is about 12″ long but i have much more to go on it. i’m not in a rush to finish this scarf so i’m willing to put it aside for other ventures.

speaking of other ventures, has anyone else felt that their yarn stash has grown considerably this year? geez, i took one look at mine the other day and felt overwhelmed by what i had. then i read jody’s entry about taking stock of her festival yarn and using it up before the next festival. she is keeping a list in the sidebar of her site and crossing the yarn off the she uses. brilliant idea, i thought! i’m going to take it one step further, though, and take stock of ALL the yarn i have.

i know. i know. the idea spooked me out but i got down and did the dirty work. here be the list in all its glory: the stash (it’s also over there on the sidebar if you need it.) seriously, this is EVERYTHING that i have. most of it is photographed so if you want to see it there are links at the top of the page to my galleries. i’m also going to float the items that i’m currently using to the top. if i don’t use all the yarn for that project, i will re-inventory it and keep it in the list. yarn that gets used entirely will be struck through. hopefully this little experiment will keep me from buying anymore yarn and on track to having “just what i need” instead of “everything that i want.”

laugh, if you must. those of you who know me know that i’m a sucker for color and fiber. it’s gonna be tough. i won’t deny it. but maybe this list will shame me into submission… maybe.

yarn: tahki cotton classic; maroon, beige and white

needles: US7 denise needles (two sizes bigger than called for in pattern)

pattern: kyoto at knitty.

modifications: well, i didn’t do as many modifications as i originally thought that i would. i didn’t leave the shoulder stitches live for a three-needle bind-off. it was much easier to just do a normal bind-off and then seam them together. i also didn’t pick up stitches for the collar. i realized that the stretchy nature of the cotton would lend itself to wonkiness if i did this (and then there was the color bleeding problem). in the end, the only modification that i did do was to pick up stitches along the bottom and then knit the sash down from there. it turned out great!

also, i did a longer sash because i didn’t want the cropped look and i’m, once again, happy with the results. i took a poll a few days back and option B came out ahead and that’s what i went for! thanks everyone! you’ve got great taste.

a few things to note for anyone who wants to do this:

• the stitch count on the size L for the back is wrong. cast on 96 stitches, not 95.
• also, follow the directions for the crossover of the front. she correctly states in the directions that the crossover should be left over right but the picture is reversed! the japanese only cross right over left when they are burying the dead. bad faux pas to do it the other way.
• be warned if you want to do this pattern: there is A LOT of seaming involved. if you hate seaming, i would suggest you try something else. i will probably steer away from any sweaters with this type of seaming for a while although i’m very happy with the way all my seams came out. i just hated doing them! so tedious.

HAPPY!

after all that i went through to finish this project, i’m very happy with the way it turned out. i’m sure i’ll wear this sweater often! huzzah!

in other knitting news, startitis has set in. i started two new projects this weekend and i’m considering starting two more!

first, do you remember my old one skein wonder made out of the beautiful rio de la plata yarn? yeah, well, i sent it to the frog pond yesterday. what a royal mess! it was awful trying to rip that thing. i’ve sure learned a lot about weaving in ends and seaming since i made that OSW. i love the yarn and it just seemed like such a waste to have it sitting in a garment that i never wore. so i bought a second skein of the rio de la plata at the point on friday and added to old OSW yarn, i’m making a scarf.

mmmmm

this is just a plain ol’ scarf using size US10 needles and the mistake rib stitch pattern. it’ll go really well with my orange coat this fall! so this project will probably be finished mighty quick.

how 80s!

i also started some leg warmers which will be great with either my clogs or mary janes this winter. i’m using one strand of silver sport weight alpaca from a touch of twist that i got at rhinebeck last year and one strand of grey munsell merino 150 rainbow color no. 136 leftover from the somewhat cowl. i looked at the pattern for leg warmers in last minute knitted gifts and decided to cast-on 48 stitches and do 1×1 ribbing. easy enough.

i’ve updated both the 2006 completed projects and projects in progress pages with full details.

but let’s not forget that i’m also working on the second angel sock… i want to cast on for the noro three-hole shawl… and i’m coming up with a plan for my top-down maternity cardigan. let’s also not mention that there are two quick projects i want to throw in for christmas presents. lots to do!