Monthly Update

I feel like my posts to this blog are becoming monthly updates! lol. I've sort of been on a blogging diet lately, but I haven't been on a knitting diet.

I went to six flags on Halloween (yay!) and knit up most of the foot of my classy slip-up socks on the car ride there - so I've finished up sock #1 now. I think it looks really good and it is super comfy. Now I'm on a mission to finish the second sock asap so I can wear them this winter. I love hand knit socks - they are SO cozy! Here's a pic:

I also resurrected the Tess cardigan I was working on last spring and I'm making excellent progress on that. I've got the left front and the back piece finished now and I just have to do the armhole/neck/shoulder shaping on the right front and I'll have the body of the cardigan finished up. Damn - I just remembered I have to do the sleeves too! Arg! I've still got quite a way to go but I want to finish this puppy up as soon as I can too. Here's my progress:

I'm conflicted because I really want to finish up these two projects but it's also not too late to do some gift knitting for Christmas, so I can't decide if I should start on those projects or devote all my attention to these. If I go the gift route I could probably only knit up one or two gifts, and nobody is getting store bought gifts this year due to my extreme unemployment so it might be weird to give only two gifts. Is that just me rationalizing being selfish and working on my own projects?? lol. Who knows what I will do. Tune in next month to find out... j/k, I hope to post some more updates soon. I also still need to do FO posts for Delphine and Rusted Root. As usual, I've waited too long to post them and now I barely remember the details. Oh well.

Fini!

I finished up Rusted Root! I've got to say - not my favorite project!! I think it's a little too tight and I'm not sure about the purl row on top of these weird puff sleeves. Also, the tight BO on the bottom is driving me crazy! I might rip it out and try again, but I already tried to do it loose the first time - I don't know how to make it any looser.

Post #2!

Here is a pic of the progress on my tie-back shell. I knit it as long as the pattern suggested, but I have a feeling I'm going to want it longer (yarn supply permitting), so I left the hem stitches on a piece of ribbon just in case.

Whoah!

Holy crap it's been a long time since my last post!! Honestly, I haven't been knitting a whole lot lately. I don't know why, I've just been in sort of a funk.

Anyway, I finally finished up my Rusted Root yesterday. I've been almost done with it for a long time, but I was pissed off at binding off my ribbing because it was too tight so I gave it the silent treatment for a while. I ended up leaving the tight BO on the bottom edge, but I modified the ribbing on the sleeves and neckline to a 1X1 rib and did a tubular BO to keep it stretchy. (My first tubular BO! Yay!) It's on the blocking board now, we'll see how it turns out. This has certainly not been my favorite project. I think all the negative feelings it has given me has been part of why I haven't been knitting a lot. Too much stress!

Here's a pic:

Hallelujah!

I finally finished that endless strip of twisted rib for my waistband of the tie back shell! Yay! I also picked up all the stitches to knit up the bottom half. I can't believe I'm actually excited to knit several inches of stockinette in the round... but anything is better than that waistband torture. Lol. My plan is to knit as per the instructions down until the turning ridge on the hem, then transfer the stitches to some scrap yarn and let it hang out there until I finish the rest of the top - that way I can adjust the length if I want it a little longer. (I tend to wear low-cut jeans, so I hate it when a top is too short and it shows my belly sticking out!) Incidentally, this is going to be my first time using a hem in my knitting. I'm a little nervous that it's going to look weird, but the sample looks very nice, so I'm going to trust the pattern.

BTW - picking up the stitches from that waistband for the bottom half wasn't so bad. I think I've finally got the hang of that particular skill. (Yay!) Of course, figuring out the correct ratio for picking them up was kind of a pain, and it turned out that each segment required a slightly different ratio - so I hope that won't cause any weird effects; I don't think it will. So far it looks okay.

OK - less blogging, more knitting!

p.s. I'm going on vacation this week which means a long plane ride to knit! Yay!

new project

Last week I started a new project - the tie back shell from the latest issue of Knit.1:

Darling, huh? The waist band ties in a bow in the back. You knit the waistband first, and then pick up stitches from it to knit the top and bottom of the shirt. It's a pretty smart design, but it means that for the past week I have been knitting an endless strip of twisted rib and I'm about ready to go nuts with it. I've already gone through one 120 yard skein and I'm only about 2/3 of the way through. Observe:

I can't believe I chose another project that involves picking up mass amounts of stitches, but I feel like after all I've been through in the past few months with the hexacomb cardigan and Delphine, I'm kind of an old pro at it.

The yarn I'm using is absolutely fabulous; Ella Rae Silkience -- 49% Cotton, 39% Modal, 12% Silk, 8% Rayon. So soft! (you all know me and my obsession with modal). The color is also a really pretty aqua - I don't think my photo does it justice. I got it from WEBS online on clearance in May with some of my graduation money. I only paid $2.49 a skein! Whoo hoo! With all the stress of finals and graduation this spring I went on a bit of a naughty yarn shopping spree, but I think I deserved to treat myself. Now that the bar is over I want to treat myself again, but unfortunately I don't have any more sweet graduation gift checks rolling in.

Progress Report: Rusted Root

To update since my last post on the matter- I did indeed frog my whole Rusted Root sweater and start over to fix the lace pattern (nearly 200 yards frogged!!) I added a few extra increases/rows before I separated the sleeves and the problem with the tight armholes is now much better. They are still pretty snug, but I didn't want to go too crazy because this puppy is cotton, so I know it will stretch itself out.

I've been working extra hard to catch up on this piece and I'm proud to announce that I'm at least 70% done now! Yay! See for yourself:

I think I'm going to add some hip shaping at this point so the sweater doesn't pull quite so snugly across my belly. I didn't do any really dramatic waist shaping, so I don't want to go too crazy with the hip shaping, but I need something in there or I'll feel self conscious and never wear this thing. Which would be a shame, because I think it's really cute!

p.s. Why am I suddenly leaning to one side in all my pictures? Posture, young lady!