The Lilac Legacy

Nothing like a deadline to make you finish something up. Just in time for Christmas (even though I started in September) is this heathered purple sweater I made for my friend's mother. It's knit in Berroco Ultra Alpaca, and I think the sweater came out just great, probably the best thing I've knit to date. But, as always, something to learn from the experience: the amount of hand time you have to put into finishing a garment is VERY important. Getting the small details right takes some work! I had to block all the pieces separately, then had to block the entire sweater before I could get the buttonholes and the front bands to behave. I am please with this one, my friend is very pleased with this one, now let's hope her mother is very, very pleased with her new sweater! I've got several sample yarn hanks left that we didn't use for this sweater, so now I need to find some one-hank wonder patterns to use up the extra fiber!

Wrist Warmers

OMG! These tiny knitty things were a GIANT pain in the butt!
My friend Martha & I were in the local knitty shop picking out buttons for her mom's sweater, when she spied a set of these all knit up on display and pranced around the store with them on. She then bought me the yarn, which included the free pattern, to knit these for her. I thought they looked pretty simple. HA! Turns out I had to make peace with the dreaded DPNs (double-pointed needles) in order to even get the project off the ground. After getting used to using them (I hold my yarn weirdly when I knit, so DPNs are real trouble for me with the way I knit), I started the project. Three times to be exact, because every time I started, I realized that the pattern was totally unforgiving in terms of missing a stitch. And since they were on 4 DPNS, there is no logistic way to unravel back down to where you missed stitches! Argh! After the fourth attempt, I knit one up. Then I knit up the second one, and discovered that because I made the first one just a couple rows longer than the pattern called for, I didn't have ENOUGH YARN to do the second one!!!!! Back to the knitting store...Anyway, lots of lessons learned on this one. These are kinda cute, so now that I have mastered the pattern, maybe I can lighten up and knit my daughter a pair. The yarn is Tahki Savoy, which is a silk/wool blend. It's in a yummy shade of purple, and the yarn has the most wonderful sheen to it thanks to being 50% silk. Hmmm, what else could I knit in that?

Long Time No Bloggin'

Well, it's been quite a while since I posted something, I've been busy with knitting and getting my Etsy site together! (see tag at right, click on it & view the shop!). I have done a whole bunch of projects since the last summer sweater, some of which don't even have pix yet. I did a summer sweater in a soft bamboo yarn from Classic Elite in a twisted knit with 3/4 length sleeves, but was disappointed with the end result. I picked up too many stitches along the neck side and it came out way too droopy. I also knit a fabulously colorful sweater in Berroco Borealis, which is a VERY cool yarn, but while I like the sweater, it's a tad too short for me. I will need to knit a bottom band on it, which should fix the problem. In the meantime, I am knitting a nice cardigan-type sweater for my friend Martha's mom--Martha commissioned it from me. My payment (which I received already) is a marginally used refrigerator and a used-once stove!!! The sweater is a luscious lavender in Berroco Alpaca, and I will post the final product when finished. if you check the Etsy site, you'll see my new passion - hats, scarves and cowls. They are projects that you can finish quickly, and if you play your cards right, you don't need to spend a bloody fortune on yarn, either. Here are a couple samples.

Awesome Summer Sweater!

This is just about my favorite sweater I've knit so far! It's knit in Berroco Bonsai Colors, which is a bamboo yarn, and the color is called Bora Bora. I had begun a different shrug-type of sweater with this yarn, but I realized that after I'd gotten a good third of it completed, it wasn't a style that would look very good on me. So there I go, unraveling things again. This pattern was in the same book as the shrug, so I thought this might work for the yarn I had. I was concerned that when I had knit this multi-colored yarn, the color banding would be unflattering on me. But I persevered, and when I had the back done, I kept flapping it on me to help me decide if I should proceed. I decided it would probably work, thought not 100% certain. I finished this sweater up just yesterday (day before Memorial Day 2010), and WOW! It's a perfect fit, and it looks great on me. What more could I ask for? And I do love working with bamboo yarn, it's so very soft and the drape on this yearn is pretty incredible. Now on to my next bamboo project...

Springtime Knitting

It's hard to take pictures of this one, as the garment construction is really unique. It has a waterfall front, and the yoke of the garment sits on the back. I like this sweater, but I'm not entirely sure that I am done with it. This one is my lesson in pattern alterations, and how you have to pay attention when changing one thing, as it will affect other things. I altered the width of the sleeves because I wanted them to be slightly drape-y and not too snug, but this alteration also made the yoke longer than expected in the back. Because of the way the garment is made, the back of the sweater is suppose to be long, but the front was coming out too short (due to the alteration). So I added some stitches to the front drape-y parts, but I really think I should have added even more. This sweater was completed in mid-April 2010, and I used Berroco Origami yarn, which is a really unique, cord-like yarn in the color Sunset. This yarn is best suited for a loose knit, and I really like the texture of this sweater a lot. I'd like to use this yarn again for something, maybe a vest. When I come up with a final plan for making this sweater the way I had wanted it, I'll post that!

Finished With Winter!

Next I finished up this beautiful wool sweater just in time for--spring! It's really too heavy for me to wear now, but I'm sure it'll be great next winter. I think I finished this up just as our weather turned flukey in March and reached 90 degrees for a few days. The color in the picture doesn't do this justice--it's a really fabulous dark teal. The yarn I used is Berroco Peruvia, which is a nice, long-staple wool yarn from what must be some of the softest sheep in the Andes. I had originally started with Peruvia in another color on another sweater, and discovered that I like the yarn a lot, but not the sweater I was working on. So I bought some of the teal for this sweater. Originally my gauge was waaaaaaay off and I didn't realize it until I had almost completed the entire back of this. Not one to settle for what I don't want, I unraveled the whole mess and started again with smaller needles. It DOES pay to make a swatch first, but even that isn't entirely fool proof. I also customized the band that goes around the front edges & neck of this sweater. The first sweater that I didn't like had this seed stitch pattern on it, which I did like. The front band of this sweater was suppose to be just a plain stockinette stitch, but that seemed too boring to me. So I worked it in the seed stitch instead. I want to use this yarn again next winter, it was really great to work with.

Hats & Hats & Hats

Next from the Berroco pattern book was a spiffy-looking hat in the Blackstone Tweed. I had sweater yarn left over in the Plum Island, so I knitted a hat. Took a while again to master the pattern, but once I did, things went well. So well, that I decided I wanted a light gray one. So I gave the Plum one to my neighbor, and I made myself the gray one in Wintery Mix. It came out really good. So good, in fact, my teenage daughter told me she liked it and wanted one. She couldn't decide on the color, so I bought enough yarn in each of the two browns colors. She chose Ancient Mariner, so I made her hat. Having the two extra balls of Limerick, I proceeded to make hat #4. I love these hats! I may make more next winter! And with leftovers from all of the colors, I made a nice scarf that used the same pattern stitch as on the hats.