Mini Vacation

I was on a bit of a mini vacation this weekend. My sister and I both took the day off Friday to hang out together and see Jeff Dunham, the funniest man on the face of the earth with the Family. Seriously, if you haven't seen his stuff you are really missing out. Anyway, while out during the day we stopped in at Sit and Knit Too in Old Wethersfield. I like this shop quite a bit, the people were friendly and there was a nice selection of yarn. I of course left with a few treasures. First up some Dream in Color Smooshy sock yarn in lovely greens and purples for my first real socks using the Leyburn Sock pattern. I've made my parents toe up socks in Berroco Ultra alpaca but these will be for me. I'm not usually a variegated yarn person but the colors are suttle and I really think the pattern is cool. I hope to get to them soon. I recently decided to play along with project spectrum so these will fit well in the earth theme. I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep to the colors of each element but seeing as Chuck was red and the Tilted Duster has both red and brown hues to it I'm up for the challenge. I also left with two skeins of gorgeous purple fingering weight Baby alpaca and silk yarn for the Lace Ribbon Scarf from the most recent knitty. I've been looking for just the right scarf pattern for myself and as soon as I saw this I knew I'd have to cast on. It will be my small summer project when I need something easy and portable. So I'm still working on the Tilted Duster and I feel like I'm racing the weather with this one and loosing. I have a couple more rows on the skirt, which indeed seems endless, and the collar to go. I hope to finish it this week and get maybe one wear in before the warm weather but we'll see. At least I won't have it hanging over me the whole summer. So this is how I'm spending my last day off today, recovering from a little cold I picked up Friday with my knitting and a Puppy in my lap. Penny turned three Saturday so she's being spoiled this weekend :)
I don't think my Mom reads my blog but in case she gets sneaky I'm keeping a certain project off the blog, hopefully it turns out OK.

FO: Buttony

Pattern: Buttony by Katie Marcus

Needles: Clover US8 29" circs and DPNS

Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted 4 skeins of Onyx

I finally finished Buttony last weekend and we had enough daylight to take some pictures after I got home from work yesterday. The best part of this sweater is the cute flower buttons I found at Joann Fabrics, I love them. My camera sucks at close-up shots but you can get a hint of the cuteness from this shot.

This was my third top down raglan in a row. I made some changes to the pattern (more like an outline) starting with the yarn. I didn't like the bulky yarns my LYS carried so I decided to go with the Lamb's pride worsted since I had never tried it and the black colour was so intense. I love the color but this is a much rougher wool than I have ever used so I think I may always need a long sleeved shirt underneath. I was hoping to be able to wear T-shirts with this so I could keep it in rotation as the weather gets warmer but that is my own fault. I wanted to get the yarn at my LYS and had to compromise to do so. If there is a next time I will use a more drapier, softer yarn and do the 3/4 sleeves I thought about. I would also put the first button hole in the top ribbing, I think it would look neater. I cast on the indicated number of stitches and increased until I got the fit I desired. I made the button band seed stitch instead of garter stitch, I really love seed stitch and have never really been a fan of garter stitch. I also added some waist shaping which worked out well this time I think. Too bad I hadn't seen this handy calculator in time.

I started this sweater the first time in February and finished at the end of March but for some reason it felt like an unending process. I think it was having to rip out most of it due to stupid mistakes and really wanting to wear it before it gets too warm. I'm glad my Love-Hate relationship with this sweater is ending on a positive note. I really love it's cute, classy look and will wear it a lot, I think it will look great paired with a skirt on more dressy occasions.

I've been plugging along on the Tilted Duster but will save that update for another post. Penny hasn't made an appearance in awhile so here is a cute puppy shot, my version of Friday eye candy :) She just loves to wrap herself up in a blanket.

FO: Bluebird, aka Redbird, aka Chuck

Pattern: Bluebird by the Berocco design team

Needles: Clover US7 DPN

Yarn: Scraps of Ultra Alpaca

Say hello to Chuck! I don't know why I call him that but that's his name. This is the second little guy I made, I just had to have one for myself. These are really quick and easy to make, I highly recommend the pattern. Instant gratification projects that make you smile are a great thing :)

Happy Easter!

FO: Wicked-ish

I finished up my version of a Wicked type raglan this weekend and wore it to work today.

Pattern: Based on pictures of Wicked by Sarah and Rachael

Needles: Denise US7

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers

Overall I'm pleased with this top. It works nicely as a vest and fits pretty well. I love the color and I think this FO will see a decent amount of wear. The Cascade 220 was nice to knit with, not my favorite yarn but a good one. I think this only took about 2-3 weeks with other projects mixed in. It was a bit liberating not to have a pattern at first.

I've been making progress on Buttony, last night I split for the armholes. I will definitely like wearing this sweater, the black color is so vivid in real life and they Brown Sheep yarn is really soft.

I've also finally cast on for the Tilted Duster! I am so excited for this knit. I bought the magazine this fall and the yarn on my first trip to WEBS over Thanksgiving weekend. I'm part way through the back and I have to say so far the Peruvia is a dream to work with. It is sooooooo soft I love it. Hopefully the finished project will wear well. Call me crazy but after three top down raglans I am so ready to seam up a sweater. I can't believe I said that but those long rows before you split off for the sleeves go on forever. I guess I like having small milestones with seamed up sweaters. So I'm pretty much splitting time between these two projects though I may take some time off to knit another Bluebird. I knit one in red Ultra Alpaca but gave it to my grandmother without taking a picture. We had the first family gathering at our house last weekend and with all the crazy house cleaning we had to do I'm just glad I finished the bird.

WIP Wednesday

I thought I'd share a quick round-up of what I have going on.

First up is my Back to Wicked vest, from Back to School vest to this nearly completed Wickedish top. I have one cuff left before I knit to my desired length.

Next up we have Buttony. Buttony and I have not been getting along. I was up to splitting for the armholes when I realized I hadn't placed the markers right. Stupid girl. I really can't believe I didn't notice, I deserved that complete frogging.

I swatched for the Tilted Duster from the Fall 2007 IK and got gauge with US9. Once I have a FO I will cast on for that, I can't wait!

I was lucky enough to get promoted at work even though the company had a terrible year. So I allowed myself to celebrate with these two skeins of Canopy from the Fibre Company. They arrived today from WEBS and will become the Summer Shawlette, free in IK's website. I had been wanting a soft summer wrap and seeing that pattern on Ravelry sealed the deal. I was going to splurge on some cashmere but I was hesitant about the price and I fell in love with this color. It's so pretty I may just have to play with it tonight :) 50% Baby alpaca, 20% Merino, 20% Bamboo in the rosehip colorway.

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.