FO: Textured Tunic

Here is my Textured Tunic dry and with buttons

Pattern: Textured Tunic from Fitted Knits by Stephanie Japel

Needles: Susan Bates US 9 and Clover US9 DPNS
Yarn: Tahki Donegal Tweed 4 Skeins

Modifications: Where to start. This is the second pattern I have made from this book and I'm a little disappointed. The yarn I used gave me a different gauge but following the directions for the second size gave me a sweater slightly larger than the smallest size of 34.5". I added some waist shaping and only did slits on the bottom part, not the weird flap thing the directions called for. I am rather well endowed in my hip area and I thought the sweater would be too tight with the flaps. I didn't make button holes but did sew some on because I liked the look. I knit the sleeves in the round but they came out way too tight so I ripped them out and did not do the decreases. When I got near my wrist I increased a couple times to give a slight flair to the sleeve.

I'm not sure how I feel about this sweater, it fits OK and looks nice enough but I'm not sure about the bottom. This was my first time adding my own waist shaping and I think I could have done a better job. The yarn is nice and I'll be able to wear it against my skin but I could have gone down another needle size. If I were to do it again it would be nice to use a yarn with some more drape, perhaps a silk blend. If the neckline stretches out I may try to do a crochet chain around to tighten it up, we'll have to see how it wears.

A somewhat Wicked distraction

I should be finished my Textured Tunic but after deciding the first sleeve was too tight and ripping it out I needed to put it aside for a few days. That sleeve and most of the second are done and it will hopefully be completed very soon. In the mean time I needed a distraction.

I debated posting on this for awhile as it may be a touchy topic. I saw a few posts of Wicked's on the Internet and I really thought it would be cool to have a short sleeve top down raglan with baby cables to wear as a vest. So I took my Back to School vest out of its punishment bag and began to rip it out until I got to a point where I could just knit from the old garment into the new one. Maybe this is wrong but I am tired of winding yarn, I wound 875 yards of Alpaca with a Twist Fino for my Mom's Mother's Day gift and that about drove me batty. Now after working on the Textured Tunic I have a good idea of how top down raglans work and I used baby cables in my neckwarner a while back so I did not purchase this pattern. I feel a bit guilty for taking this idea but honestly I don't know or care if mine comes out like the original. I just want a simple sweater with baby cable ribbing at the yoke, sleeves and bottom. I'm not even sure the pattern calls for this ribbing everywhere. If some day I want to make the pocket I will buy the pattern but for now I would just rather use the picture as inspiration and go my own way. That being said since it will be close to a published pattern I won't list any technical details. I don't want to give people a way to get out of buying this pattern. I didn't even check my gauge with a swatch, just cast on what I thought might work and went to town. I'm almost ready to split the sleeves and body. I love this color Cascade 220 and I'm glad it will see the light of day.


Since the end of the Tunic is near I went to Woolworks to get some black yarn for a Buttony sweater. It is worsted instead of bulky so I'll have to do my own math but I think the results will be worth it and it is good to keep the brain working. Hope I have some nice FO's to show of soon.

The Upside of Monogomy

Probably the nicest thing about devoting your attention to one project is that even if you have to rip the sweater twice even though you did the math and it should have worked, you still make progress pretty quickly. The body of the Textured Tunic is done after several modifications. I'm not too frustrated with it because this sweater is teaching me how to custom fit my garments. Not exactly what I had in mind when picking this as my next project but a good learning experience. I hope to finish this up this week if I don't have to modify the sleeves. I have it in my mind that I can finish two more sweaters before it gets too warm out, I think I just want an excuse to buy yarn to make a black Buttony sweater. Tilted Duster is a definite but we'll see if I can squeeze one more in before I dive into my new summer yarns :)

WEBS Rocks!

My new yarn arrived very quickly and it is all wonderful stuff. I can't wait to start using it. This is for summer knits and just having it arrive makes me happy and anxious for spring. Now I don't have to worry about using my free shipping coupon in time :)It will have to wait a little while until I make more progress on my Textured Tunic. I'm up to the box stitch portion now and liking both the pattern and yarn so far. This is my first top down sweater so watching the raglan shaping unfold is pretty cool. It is also nice to have some stockinette stitch to work on, I guess I'm just in a simple knitting place now.

FO: Tangled Yoke Cardigan and FO: Little Leaf Scarf

2 FOs for the price of one today.

Pattern: Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang Interweave Knits Fall '07

Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed in Whisper 7 balls (just a few yards of #7)

Needles: Susan Bates US4 36" and DPN, Addi US3 and US0, Inox US2

I love this sweater and I am so glad it is finished. The fit is perfect. I added some length to the garter rib section somewhat accidentaly but I decided to keep it and I am so glad I did. The length is perfect for me, I'd always rather er on the side of too long. I used US3 for the collar (what a pain that was for me) and US2 for the button bands simply because I didn't have long enough 3s. I picked up 152 stitches to compensate for the extra length, it may have been a few too many as the bands flop a tiny bit but I think it looks fine. I may wear this open from time to time and I am not doing those again. This was a nice knit, it was a pain at times but thankfully those moments came near the end and with a finished sweater in sight I ripped and kept going. This sweater greatly increased my knitting confidence not because of the complicated yoke or the folded hem but because of a near disaster Friday night. As I was kitchenering up the last armpit after finishing the collar and button bands the yarn snapped in my hands. I thought I had accounted for all of the loose stitches and finished up. As I excitedly tried on the sweater I heard a loud snap and almost had a heart attack. Something in the armpit broke and I had way more stitches loose than I should have. After over an hour of examining things I finally managed to graft the loose stitches from the front and then finish up the armpit. So after a freak out and some nasty words all ended well. My husband actually asked me if I enjoyed knitting during this whole debacle, my answer was of course! Just look at the finished product, it's worth all the time and effort to have a comfy new sweater. This yoke shot is a good representation of the color. I am afraid of damage with wear (which will be a lot) after the breakage but I have plenty of yarn left over and I'm getting the hang of this grafting thing. Just please don't let the yoke break!

Last night I also finshed up my Little Leaf Scarf

Pattern: Little Leaf Scarf by Pam Allen from Classic Elite Make it Modern

Yarn: Classic Elite Soft Linen in Soft Fern 17grams

Needles: Clover Bamboo US6

I adore this scarf. It is so freaking cute I can't stand it. I also love this yarn like you wouldn't believe. It is so soft, light, easy to work with, not splitty, just perfect. More is on the way for the Soft Linen Button Up Shrug and it is bringing it's cotton bamboo friend for the Girl-Tank both from the same booklet. They may have talked some Valley Yarns Colrain into coming along too... Yeah, that free shipping coupon Webs sent to those who bought during the sale burned a hole in my inbox. I just hope they don't sell out of the yarn before it ships. Man, I am on a yarn diet for sure now. I've never had a stash before but when this stuff arrives I'll have 4 projects backlogged, ouch. Anyway, back to the topic at hand. The scarf pattern doesn't require DPNs I just like keeping a small project on small needles and I like bamboo. If you make this beware that the length given for the scarf is way too long. Measure as you go, I had to rip back to get it just right. I love this booklet so much and will probably make everything in it, I'll write up more as I go. Tonight I cast on for the Textured Tunic from Fitted Knits in Tahki Donegal Tweed I got from the Super Bowl sale at Woolworks. Yeay for a project on US9 needles!

p.s. Is any one else having spell check problems?

What A Tangled Yoke I Knit

Phew! That was intense. It was fun to see the cables take shape but row 7 kicked my butt and I had to rip half it back. Well, un-knit stitch by stitch is more like it. But it is done and I'm in the home stretch now.

Ever since I saw this booklet on another blog I had been lusting after it. No LYS that I have been to around here carries classic elite yarns and I couldn't find it online. Until Thursday when I stumbled accross it at Jimmy Beans Wool. My inlaws had given me a gift certificate for Christmas so I took that as fate and had my husband call in an order while I was at work. Saturday there was much squeeling and rushing to the mailbox just after we saw the mail lady put the package in. I am going to make the scarf on the cover this week, I like that there is a pattern that uses one skein of yarn, such a great way to try it out.

FO: Gemma Beret

Short post since it is Lost night, I just couldn't wait to show this off.

Pattern: Gemma Beret by Sarah Hatton

Needles: Addi US3, Denise US8 and US9, Clover Bamboo DPN US8

Yarn: Valley Yarns Sugarloaf

I had to rip the initial version of this as it was way too big. I cast on 90 stitches in the round and increased to 108 after the ribbing. The next increase I think I had 114 stitches but now I don't remember. Knit to about 15cm and winged the decreases. I decreased according to the pattern directions except I left out one 3 row section. I think it came out pretty good. I'm not sure if I will block it right away or not, since this is a merino microfiber mix I'm not sure it will do much. I love this yarn, it is very soft and not itchy at all. I wish the color would photograph better, it really is a beautiful rust color in person.

The Back to School vest is finished but we won't talk about that right now, it is being punished.

I went to the Super Bowl sale at Woolworks Sunday. It had been awhile and it was nice to stop in and chat for a few minutes, everyone there is so nice. I was fortunate enough to pick a 33% discount out of the bowl, I'm so glad I had a decent amount of yarn in my hands :) Below you see some Tahki Donegal Tweed in a lovely cream mix. 5 skeins for the Textured Tunic from Fitted Knits. Penny is worried I didn't buy enough since the guage might be off but she has been wrong before.

For my Mother's Day I want to make a Lilly of the Valley shawl from Lace Style out of this Alpaca with a Twist Fino in cream. I love this yarn, my Print 'O the Wave stole is using the same yarn and I really liked the feel. My mom also admired it one time I was working on the stole at their house so I'm sure she'll appreciate her own item out of the Fino. Plus, if it is a gift it will get done :)

p.s. spell check isn't working so I appologize if there are errors. Blogger really ticks me off sometimes.