How The West Was Spun

FO: Printed Silk Cardigan

Apparently Typepad ate my original post, but be that as it may, I have finished the tenth NaSwekniMoDo09 sweater!

Project Specs:

Pattern:  Printed Silk Cardi by Connie Chang Chinchio.
Yarn:  Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool in a grayed denim-blue color. 
Needles:  US size 4 circs.
Mods:  I shortened the length a little bit, but I deepened the armsceyes and adjusted the sleeve caps as well, since I think it would have been a bit tight on me otherwise.  I also lifted the scoop neck by 1-1/2 inches and I also added another 1/2-inch of ribbing there.
Notes:  This was not exactly a fast knit (took me almost 2 months!) and you do need to pay good attention to the diamond pattern or else you get confuzzled with the decreases and shaping easily.  The 1x1 ribbing is.... well... slow.  I was happy the sleeves were only three-quarter length ones.

So: Sweater #10 for NaSweKniMoDo, PLUS a Project Spectrum 4 offering (since we are focusing on blue things this time).

All for now...
 

WIP Wednesday - October 14, 2009

Project #1: Printed Silk Cardi

Despite having my MIL here this weekend, or perhaps because of it, since we had a lot of car-driving time, I managed to finish up sleeve #1 that would not die, and got that sewn into the finished body.  I then gave mysel a stern talking-to, and started sleeve #2, which I suspect will also be a bit of a slog, but dadgum it, I am going to finish it, one way or the other.

Goal:  Finish sleeve #2 and get this sewn into the sweater.  I will just have a few ends and the ribbed neckband to complete then to get this one off my plate.

Project #2:  Icelandic Poppy Shawl

I also made some nice progress on this one this week.  I finished the body repeats, I worked the set-up rows for the border, and started on the border, knitting rows 1 through 5 of the 18 rows I need to complete.  You can just barely see the border pattern starting to emerge here.

Goal:  I'm going to see if I can get this border finished, and then I'll just have the crochet bind-off to do.  Kind of a lofty goal, but I'm at least gonna try.

All for now......
 
 

WIP Wednesday - October 6, 2009

Prepare to be thrilled by the stellar photos this week, let me tell ya.  My apologies for their level of craptastic goodness.

Project #1: Printed Silk Cardi

Car time, but not a lot of knit time this weekend.  I have knit about 5-1/2 inches of the total 12 inches (these are 3/4-length sleeves) I need on this.  Pretty boring 1x1 rib, so I will hold out the hope I can at least get the first sleeve finished this week.  Tubular cast-on for this, for those of you keeping score of such things.  I tried two different techniques and picked the (for me) easier one.  (Insanely busy this week, with my MIL coming on Friday, needing to get the camper to and from Santa Fe for repairs and just general life stuff in the way.)

Goal:  Finish sleeve #1.

Project #2: Icelandic Poppy Shawl

I have knit half of the remaining body pattern rows on this one, sneaking in a little bit of knit time before and after we left for Colorado.  Yup - still looks like a large blob o' lace.  I did make the executive decision to only do the 7 body repeats as called for in the pattern.  I did some Google and Ravelry searching for finished photos, and this looks a little bit larger than some of Evelyn Clark's other smaller shoulder shawls (like the Flower Basket or Swallowtail shawls), and Carrie is a small person, so I am hesitant to make it too much bigger than it is written for.  And...um... I am tired of knitting the interior pattern at this point anyway. 

Goal:  Finish the last 4 rows of the body pattern and work the setup rows for the border.

All for now.....

FO: Printed Silk Cardigan

It's done!  I finished the second sleeve Friday night while watching Frodo and Sam visit Mt. Doom (again) and gave it a nice bath Saturday a.m. while I worked.

Project Specs:

Pattern:  Printed Silk Cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio, from IK Spring 2008.
Yarn:  Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool in a dusty denim blue colorway.
Needles:  Size 4 circs.
Mods:  I deepened the armsceyes slightly.  They were going to be a bit tight on me.  I also lifted the scoop neckline by about 1-1/2 inches, and added 2 extra rows of ribbing at the neckline to accommodate the added buttonhole.  Otherwise, pretty much as written.
Notes:  Not a super quick knit (and there's nothing wrong with taking a while to knit something, but I didn't expect 2 months to knit this either).  You do need to pay careful attention to the brocade diamond pattern on the bodice during the decreases/increases or else you'll lose your place.  This wound up being a wee bit large on me.  I could have probably even gone down another size, if there had been one.  I may, at a later date, add a ribbon backing to the button placket to give it a little extra support, as I think it'll need that with more wear.

Sweater #10 for the NaSweKniMoDo09 challenge, plus my offering for Project Spectrum 4, where we are working with the color blue for this 2-month period.

All for now.....
 

WIP Wednesday: September 30, 2009

Project #1: Printed Silk Cardigan

Thanks to my Remicade day, I actually got a lot done on this cardigan this week. I have finished both the left and right front, and I have sewn all the body pieces together, as well as tacked the banded hem in place.

Goal:  We are traveling this week, leaving on Thursday, but I think I can handle 1x1 ribbed sleeves in the car, so my plan is to start the first sleeve.  I should be able to get at least half of the sleeve done on our trip.

Project #2: Icelandic Poppy Shawl

Also got thru my assigned repeat this week on this project.  I have one more repeat left of the small lace pattern to finish up before I get to the wide border.  I think, from what I can tell having loosely blocked this out with pins, that I don't want to add any further repeats of the small pattern, so this last repeat will be it for the main body of the shawl. 

No pics this week.  It's just all crumpled up on the needles at this point.

Goal:  This is not a travel project by any stretch of the imagination.  I'm not going to set a specific goal for this, but if I can work on it "a little" before we leave, I'll be content with that.

All for now....

WIP Wednesday - September 16, 2009

Project #1:  Printed Silk Cardi

After some concentrated knit-time while watching the USC game after our training ride on Saturday, I finished up the back of the Printed Silk cardi.  I have also since cast on for the left front and I'm working on the waist decreases in the stockinette right now.

Here's a detail of the pretty twisted-stitch diamonds.

Goal:  Finish knitting up thru the ribbing at the left front waistline.

Project #2:  Icelandic Poppy Shawl

Not as much progress on this as I would have liked, although I met my posted goals for it.  The repeat on this pattern is long (18 stitches) and the repeats are staggered, so I'm still getting used to how the yarn overs and decreases line up over a set of full repeats, which means I'm still looking at the charts quite a bit, and that isn't the best for foosball-watching and knitting at the same time.

And another closeup for you - with all the pretty subtle semisolid shading that Carrie does so well.  There is absolutely zero pooling, even though there are a lot of different colors/hues going on in the yarn.

Goal:  Even though those rows are getting longer quickly, I'm going to try for 2 more chart repeats this week.  That will put me at 5 repeats out of the called-for 7, and we'll see where I am in terms of size by then.

All for now....

Not That You Asked....

but, yes! I have also been working on my forelorn, lonely Potpourri Socks.  Sadly, I have only worked on them in the truck while hauling from point A to point B, and we've done only local trips recently.  (It takes approxiamately one 8-row pattern repeat to drive from here to the Caja, by the way.)

I have knit 7 of the 8 repeats I need for the leg of sock #1 (I told you - slowwwwww)

Quite a fun pattern to knit - easy to remember the repeats and certainly not difficult at all in terms of technical skills. 

It also blends the colors REALLY nicely.  I've gotten zero pooling so far with this.

We'll see how things go when we get to the heel.  Which, at the rate I'm going, ought to be sometime in mid-October.

All for now.....

WIP Wednesday - September 9, 2009

Project #1: Printed Silk Cardi

I finished up the ribbing for the waistline and started on the twisted stitch pattern for the top of the back section.  I have knit about 3" done of the total 7-3/4" I need to knit, and have cast off for the armsceye shaping.

 

Goal:  Finish knitting the back.

Project #2: Icelandic Poppy Shawl

I got this cast on before we left for the race over the weekend.  I have finished the set-up row and worked the first of 7 repeats that the pattern calls for.  I think I'll probably make this shawl larger than the 7 repeats, but that'll at least give me a goal to work towards.

 

Goal: Knit 2 more pattern repeats.

PS - Totally craptastic pictures in terms of colors this time.  It's rained almost every afternoon here that I've tried to get decent photos.  Sorry about that!

All for now.

FO: Aphrodite Shawl

Finished, and I am really happy with this pretty little shawl.

 

Project Specs:
Pattern:  Aphrodite from the Summer Twist Collective 2009 edition.  Designed by Sivia Harding.  This interesting construction (see photo below) creates a sort of rounded-edged almost-square.  The lace pattern is written for the inclusion of beads.
Yarn:  Malabrigo Lace in the colorway "Cognac". I used about 705 yards for this shawl.
Beads:  Size 6/0 beads from the Bead Wrangler online vendor.  These were applied using the crochet-hook method.
Needles:  Size 3 US circular.  I probably could have used the next size up, or maybe 2, but I like the smaller size this turned out with this gauge.
Modifications:  None.  I knit the larger number of repeats, but there are 2 sizes included in this pattern.
Notes:  Overall, a very well-written, detailed pattern.  Sivia includes helpful things like your stitch count for each increase row.  She has a nice tutorial on applying beads using the crochet-hook method.  I had no problems with this pattern, and I'd rate it easy intermediate to advanced/adventurous beginner.

 

The unique shaping helps it sit snuggly around your shoulders and actually wraps all the way around in the front.  I cast off very loosely for the lower edge and let it sort of ruffle in the blocking process, rather than trying to make the purled edge live in sharp points. 

 

A close up of the beading and pattern transitions.

 

I've added this as one of my PS4 projects (finished just under the wire) for the July/August Cardinal Directions (for the red/pink group).

All for now....

WIP Wednesday - September 2, 2009

Project #1:  Printed Silk Cardi

I finished the stockinette section of the lower body, and knit the 12 rows of 1x1 ribbing for the waistline.  I've got the embossed diamond sections to work on next.

 

Goal:  Work the embossed diamond pattern and shaping up to the armsceyes.

Project #2: Icelandic Poppy Shawl

Pictures of that new project's yarn in yesterday's post.  I'll get this cast on and the set-up rows knit.

All for now.....