FO: Printed Silk Cardigan

Finally done and worn to work today.

Pattern: Printed Silk Cardigan by Connie Chang-Chinchio
Needles: Knitpicks US4 and Clover US3
Yarn: Ella Rae Silkience

Holy finishing Batman! There was a lot of sewing involved with this sweater. I can't believe it but I started this cardigan a year ago. The body went pretty fast but those 1x1 ribbed sleeves took forever. The cotton yarn hurt my hands when doing ribbing so i had to take frequent breaks, and it was just too much ribbing. I don't seem to tire of stockinette but ribbing, not my cup of tea. I had to fudge the sleeve caps to account for a difference in row gauge, I can't tell you what I did but it worked. I actually took the time to do the sewn bind off but it was way too floppy. I ended up crocheting around the neckline bind off for stability and modesty. The weight of my cotton yarn was making this way too boobalicious for me, it was sagging below my bustline and I wouldn't have worn it. I think it looks neater than the sewn bind off anyway.


I do like the finished product, I think it was probably worth all the work. I do doubt that I will make something with ribbed sleeves any time soon. The one thing I wish I had done was a hem or something at the bottom, I foolishly thought the cotton wouldn't curl but it is and it's bugging me. Maybe once it gets washed it will relax a bit. The buttons are from Joann's and were amazingly the perfect color. So overall I am pleased and I think this will see quite a bit of wear, it feels good to finally get this out of the WIP pile. This is already the second item I have made from the spring 08 IK magazine, one of the better issues in my opinion, and there are a few more to get too.

FO: Ilene Bag

I finished this awhile ago but waited until I could get some actions shots to post. Inside our entire haul from the first day of our local farmer's market.

Pattern: Ilene Bag by Hannah Ingalls
Yarn Louet Euroflax sport 1 skein
Needles: US5 and US3

I went down a needle size only because my 6s were otherwise occupied and I wanted a slightly tighter knit bag. I got this yarn in Portland Maine last summer and used all but a few inches of the skein. Despite the fact this thing killed my hands to make I'm really pleased with it. It is comfortable to wear and easy to knit. It also stretches like crazy, it held: Cabbage, collard greens, kohlrabi, beets, cucumber, broccoli, and spinach. Then we went off to pick some of these to make the most wonderful honey sweetened preserves (amazing on ice cream):

I love summer :)

A Case of the Mondays

Just as I sat down outside to get some knitting done my husband pulled in and it was time to start dinner. That just fit in with how the rest of the day went. I did have a chance to snap this quick photo of the shrug my sister asked me to make. She wanted Silver and sparkly, Woolworks did not disappoint as I found this Sugar Rush yarn made from sugar cane. It is great so far and more silver than this picture. I took this as an opportunity to come up with my own pattern and stop in to the anniversary sale...I think it looks good so far, hopefully she'll like it.

I meant to post this Friday but time got away from me. And I'm lazy lately. I stopped into a great place, Silver Circle Studio in Putnam on the way home from work Friday. I needed something to cheer me up after a long week so I got this awesome Annie Adams shawl pin, isn't it cool? It is a bit heavy so I guess I'll just have to make a sweater to go with it :) An interesting side note: The owner of the place is the sister in law to the pin creator so I got to learn a bit about how the jewelry is made. I highly recommend stopping in if you are in the area, there is some amazing art there.