FO: Lilly of the Valley Shawl

Happy Mother's day to all of the Mother's out there. This was my Mom's gift:

Pattern: Lilly of the Valley Shawl by Nancy Bush Lace Style
Needles: Denise US6
Yarn: Alpaca with a Twist Fino

Please excuse the sweats :) I forgot to measure it so I don't have the dimensions but it is smaller than the version in the book. I made some modifications so the shawl would only take 1 skein of the Fino. I omitted one pattern repeat by casting on 74 stitches. I did 9.5 pattern repeats, increased to I think 82 stitches on each edge, and picked up 210 along each side. In total I used about 70g of yarn, about 613 yards. I could have made it a little bigger but I was afraid of running out of yarn. I screwed up the edging and bound off without making the points. Very annoying but I think my Mom liked it the way it was. I love this pattern and I love the Fino, really really nice stuff. The nupps really weren't that bad at all. As long as the YOs and Knits are done very very loosely on the previous round purling 5 together isn't too bad. I'm glad I left them in. I think eventually I will make another shawl, I want one for myself and it was an enjoyable knit. I felt bad thinking for a moment (OK, longer than a moment) that maybe my Mom wouldn't want this and I should just keep it. I did give it away and I'm glad, I think it will be loved and that makes me happy. Now that the clean up from my family's visit is over I'm going to tackle the Swalowtail shawl and relax. I've strung a bunch of beads and I'm anxious to get to it.

Now Back to the Knitting

I've been trying to write this post for a week or so but between computer issues and life in general I just didn't have the energy. I'm finishing up a lace piece that I will show you next week but in the mean time I've been stealing some time to knit on my Leyburn socks. The first is just past the heel.






I had some unusually strong willpower and was able to resist the WEBS sale in April and I was delighted to see that pay off with Berroco Comfort going on sale in May. I bought a bunch for arabesque so the sale really helped. They didn't have the colors I suggested in the pattern so I had to make some substitutions. I love the colors but I don't think I will use the darkest purple. I may use the green even though that will give me one more color than called for. I can't wait to start making hexagons, hopefully tomorrow.



My willpower was short lived and I also got some Ella Rae Silkience that I am going to use for the Printed Silk Cardigan from the Spring Interweave Knits. Thankfully I found a copy while I was out this weekend before the new issue comes out. I find it helpful when others give numbers when describing yarn substitutions so I'll do my best to pass on mine. I did some swatching and with US4 I get about 6.35sts/inch in pattern and about 5.75 sts/inch in stocking stitch. I thought I had a 36 inch bust but with help measuring properly I find I'm about 37-37.5 so following the directions for the smallest size I should get a sweater that comes out to about 37 inches. I've looks at the galleries for this and searched Ravelry and I think that this sweater looks great with either positive or negative ease so I feel pretty good about this. I'll get a thicker sweater but I don't mind and this yarn is too nice not to knit right away. I've only knit a few inches on this sweater but I really like it so far, this yarn is so soft and the color is the most gorgeous light teal, the picture does it no justice. I can't wait to work with it more.



Next week I'll be starting a beaded Swallowtail Shawl to wear to a wedding this summer, what great timing for the pattern to go free!

Step Away From The Blog

Someone learned how to edit HTML this week :) Unfortunately trying to pimp out your blog can suck the life out of you and your knitting time. I promise to stop fooling around with this thing and have knitting pictures this weekend, right now I need some yarn.

FO: Tilted Duster

Pattern: Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan Fall 07 IK 36"
Yarn: Berocco Peruvia, 6 skeins of Chipotle
Needles: Susan Bates US9 29"

Leaf Buttons from Joann Fabrics

Finally some time for a photo shoot this week. I really like this sweater and I think it will get a lot of wear once the weather gets cool again... I had to go down a needle size to get gauge with the Peruvia, it is by far one of the softest yarns I have worked with. I am a bit concerned with how this garment will wear, the loose ends of the peruvia were already felting together while I was knitting so I'll need to be careful with this piece. The color in the photos is pretty accurate, it's a nice blend of red and brown, a great transitional piece from fire to earth in project spectrum. I made no mods to the pattern which is easy to follow. The skirt did drag on and on but really it wasn't too bad. Had I not been racing the weather I don't think it would have seemed to take forever to finish. My only issues are that the sleeves are a bit snug so only T-shirts underneath, and the collar is a bit long and floppy. I'm not taking it out but in retrospect I would have picked up a few less stitches and maybe knit it an inch shorter. Minor things and I'm still very happy. I made the 36" which is zero ease for me and it's fine, the next size up may have kept the front closed a bit more but I didn't want to risk it being too big. I saw the coconut leaf buttons on Ravelry and was so happy I found them at Joann, I think they really go well with this sweater. I've been doing lots of knitting but I want to get out and pick up some flowers for the yard so that will have to be another post. Enjoy the weekend!

Adventures in Sock Knitting

You know, I did well in math throughout school but apparently knitting math involves some wacky theorems that I know nothing about. The Leyburn sock went from this:

To this:

I have larger feet than what the pattern is written for and even though I swatched and went up a needle size something went awry. So I'm off to try again with the larger needle size but will keep the stitch counts given in the pattern. This is such pretty yarn I hope it works out this time.

Thanks to a sick day yesterday (I hate my sinuses) Tilted Duster is blocking away. There is still hope for wear this season :)

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.