Wool & Words

Finally--a bathroom mirror pic of a finished Lara:

I need to get a cute shower curtain.

Yarn: K1C2 Paintbox, color 10, 15 skeins (including seaming)
Needles: Addi Natura, size 7

Mods: I added about 6" to the bust measurement to accomodate my natural curvature (that Debbie Bliss doesn't write for the busty gals). I also added 4" of length in the body and sleeves, since I wanted the cardi longer.

Thoughts? I'm wearing it for the second day in a row. I love it. Love it. Love it. I will knit more of these. The pattern is just too freaking easy.

Posted by KnitNut at 03:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

A month or so ago, I posed a question or two to you all regarding wedding business. I've been percolating an idea in my head for quite some time now, and thought I'd share it.

I think a perfect name for a party planning company would be Reality Check. I'd love to sit down with brides (and grooms) to be, listen to the "it's my day and I'll do what I want" speech, and then give them my 30-something Wedding Reality Check. I'd want to say things like:

And, I'm sure, a host of other bits. Do I think that you should marry in sackcloth and ashes? Only if you're Catholic and have chosen Ash Wednesday or Good Friday as the ideal day to tie the knot. But there's nothing wrong with demonstrating a bit of restraint.

Posted by KnitNut at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I feel a bit cheesy claiming victory. I think if I won any medal, it would be a very tarnished bronze.

I finished the sleeveless top last night, and by "finish" I mean that I completed all knitting and 99% of the seaming. I haven't yet tried it on, and I'm not exactly stylin' in a manner currently that would make for optimum blog photographs.

Things I learned/tried in this project:

--dyelots can vary within themselves. I constantly forget this little fact, but every time I've worked with Homespun, I've taken care to get skeins from the same dyelot. Invariably, some skeins are brighter than others, so I end up with shadings in the projects. Since this one took 1 full skein per side, I can live with the (very subtle) difference.
--Seaming this stuff is always a real pain for me. Bumpy, boucle-ish yarns like to hook into themselves, and this one is no exception. This go round, I used some TLC LusterSheen in an oyster color (double stranded) for the seaming and it went like a dream. I will remember that for future Homespun knits.
--Patterns aren't always meant to be followed. If I'd been thinking when I began this project, I would have adjusted the measurements on the sweater. I can tell that it will be on the short-ish side, and while I'm sure that I won't much care when I'm wearing this over a turtleneck with jeans, I will care just enough to be annoyed with myself.

Thus ends my Olympic Knitting. I can honestly say that I would have been much more productive if I had stuck with the plan. I kept putting off finishing this top, which meant that I didn't start the baby blanket that was waiting. I did get a bit of knitting done on the other tops, but not so much that I feel further along on those projects.

Of course, the real truth is that I had a visitor most of this past week (Hi Emily!), and so I've been engaged in many non-knitterly pursuits. I've got pics and will upload those in the next day or so.

Enough update...back to the dissertation salt mines...

Posted by KnitNut at 01:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I wish that I could say I'd been utterly faithful. As it is, I'm lucky to say I've finished the front and back bits:

The finishing shouldn't take more than an evening's work--seaming and then knitting the neck edging. My sister is visiting, though, so my knitting time is curtailed by more social events--and I'm not complaining!

Posted by KnitNut at 01:14 AM | Permalink

I'd much rather be on the Bebop...

Posted by KnitNut at 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

That was yesterday, right? Day 4?

I finished the back of the tank and cast on for the front. I barely knit on Sunday, so I'm hoping that an hour or two at night will get me through this quickly enough to cast on for another project o' Lion love this weekend.

I'm so glad that this was my challenge. I spent the better part of Day 4 playing with data files. I'm doing that again today. And tomorrow, and so on. So this is just the low key knitting I need.

Of course, the other projects have been calling to me with their siren songs. I want to touch wool again. I'm amazed that I've made it this far without faltering.

Posted by KnitNut at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Day 2:

Got to the armhole decreases on the sweater back. Steve cooked a great dinner and we tried to see a local production of Henry IV (both plays together). We didn't get seats, so we returned home to delicious dessert (Steve again). What did he prepare? Emeril's New New Orleans Pasta (a personal favorite--all that cream sauce!) and Dark Chocolate Mousse with whipped cream, raspberries, and toasted hazelnuts. Mmmmm.

Day 3:

Furniture moving day. I got a little more done on the back, but we've really just been doing house related things. Oh, and we went to see the play--3 hours and delightful. Well, as delightful as three hours of treachery, mayhem, and swordfighting can be.

Posted by KnitNut at 10:28 PM | Permalink

8 inches in and I'm moving! This top is going lickety split, which is to be expected when you're knitting at 3 stitches/inch. Once this is done, it's on to the big baby blanket in Pound o' Love. That will be slow going indeed.

Unexpected challenges? Well, the yarn is what it is. Homespun is soft and kinda fluffy; it's also splitty. If I've been struggling with one thing, it's been the splitting. When I knit with other splitty yarns, I can usually compensate for it. This one, not so much.

An upcoming challenge will be pattern matching. I chose a shade of Homespun that is variegated--bad move. I thought about knitting the front and back together, but realized I would then have some strange color movement when I got up past the armhole decreases. I figure it will be like the challenge to match socks, but different. Yeah. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

And, despite the siren call of the Jo Sharp, I'm sticking to the yarn. It's nice to breeze (in a manner of speaking) through my knitting as opposed to the slower crawl when I'm working with a DK weight.

Knit on, Olympians!

Posted by KnitNut at 02:11 AM | Permalink

Thanks Mouse for the snappy Team Georgia button!

Posted by KnitNut at 12:04 AM | Permalink

I figured I needed to get my act together on my projects, so expect a KAL report on Thursdays.

Sock of the Month KAL

For my first pair, I'll be knitting Steve's Trekking XL socks. He deserves these, and I'm a bad fiancee for not getting them knit before now. He likes 'em simple (like me), so we're just knitting around and around.

Here are a few candidates for upcoming months:

What a bevy of riches! The blue/green combo is Strumpfwolle, a gift from my last Sockapalooza pal. The others are delightful Trekking XXL in colors 107 & 105 (bottom row, left to right) and 05 & 70 (top row, left to right). I'm trying to find a good color card online, but having no real luck with this color set.

Knitting Olympics

More about this in yesterday's post. Project Lineup:

Homespun Sleeveless Top (KnitIt! Spring 2006)
Oat Coture Baby Blanket in Lion Pound O' Love
Random Homespun Scarf (Straight Garter Stitch, baby!)

In Other News

I thought I should post a pre-Olympic project status so that I can see how much I actually knit on these non-Olympic projects. See how I'm already cheating?

First, the Pearl Buck Cardigan:

That's the cardigan back panel. I've finished knitting it, but still need to bind off the back to create the pleat--I'll be doing that today. There are 2 sleeves, 2 fronts, and one YOKE to go. How many sweater patterns have a yoke?

Next, the cotton twins. First we have Oat Couture's Tropical Tee in Plymouth Fantasy Naturale (what an awful name for a yarn):

Every time I pick up this knit, I can understand the pull of the lime! I'm enjoying it but have already planned to eschew the pattern finishing directions. The instructions have you leave the shoulder bits live and then connect them with a three needle bindoff. I say, why bother with that bit of irritating seaming on a summer top? I'm planning a grafting session instead. We'll see how that goes.

Next up, the second half of an ill-fitting blast from last summer--the Shapely Tank:

With any luck, the sizing gods will be on my side in this one. I'll never forget last summer's tank debacle!

Posted by KnitNut at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

All around the blogisphere you can hear the needles swatching.

But not here in Chez Words. We're knitting models. We don't need no stinkin' swatches!

OK...I'll probably end up regretting my impulse to jump into the Olympic fray sans swatch. I may end up with an enormous version of this top:

I have faith, though, that the pattern writer knew what they were all about when they called for those size 10 needles.

And why worry about gauge when you're knitting this:

It's Oat Couture's Building Blocks Blanket. I've got a Pound of Love in a denimy blue that is just perfect for this bad boy. And it's a blanket--no swatching required!

Of course, all this preparatory swaggering will, of necessity, lead to some eating of the Humble Pie. But I say, it's part of the spirit of challenge! I'll be the Olympian who comes unprepared, donuts and cigarettes (just kidding sweetie) in hand, with dreams of medal glory and actions that only qualify for the Couch Olympic Games.

Add to this the fact that I'm knitting with mercenized cotton yarns right now, a surefire way to screw around with my tension, since I have to be a bit tighter with the cottons to get an even fabric. I will not be swayed, however--no swatching for me!

In Other News

I'm carefully considering my options for my SockPal. I'm thinking lacey socks and for some reason, I can't get the color pink out of my head. Stay tuned for further developments.

Posted by KnitNut at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Yesterday, after months of searching and hemming and hawing (what does that mean, anyway?), I, Anita Marie DeRouen, found and purchased 2 pair of jeans that fit within 20 minutes.

Bow down before my greatness.

In Other News

Thanks to Deb for a wonderful addition to my musical library--The Proclaimers' new album, Restless Soul. Muchas Gracias, Deb!

Posted by KnitNut at 01:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I've been mulling over the Harlot's Knitting Olympics challenge. I signed up with this vague idea that I would design and knit a shawl in the time alloted. Then I got down and dirty with my dissertation and realized that I don't have the mental capacity to design and knit anything of moderate complexity. What's a girl to do?

I need to do something challenging to me...that's the rule, eh? I need to start it and finish it within the time of the Olympics. And now, I find, it needs to be challenging in some way other than the technical.

So I'm going to be knitting with acrylic yarn. Lion Homespun, Pound o' Love, WoolEase. For the entire Olympic challenge. I have a bunch of it earmarked for various things (models for my JoAnn teaching, charity knitting, baby blankets), so why not? I can knit stockinette to ease my tortured mind; the challenge will come from resisting the siren call of all those lucious wools calling to me from the knitting bag (case in point--I'm currently knitting Trekking and Lorna's Laces socks and a sweater in Jo Sharp DK--bliss!) and sticking to my servicable-but-not-as-luscious acrylics. A challenge of will.

I even made a button:

In Other Knitting News

Thanks for the great stash management tips. I hope to apply them this weekend. The loose stash (the stash not located in the craft closet or cedar trunk) is currently residing in my bedroom. Steve helped me reorient the furniture in my office/guest room/craft room Sunday, and it was all we could do to just get the furniture appropriately situated. This weekend I'll be sorting, sifting, and generally deciding who gets to stay, who must leave, and how they will be departing.

And, of course, I'll be drawing names for a FABULOUS PRIZE. So get those ideas in if you've got em! All comments posted by Friday, Feb. 3 at 11:59 p.m. with some stash management suggestions will be entered.

Posted by KnitNut at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)