FO - Short-Row Hat

Wow, I can't believe I've finished another project! Quickie projects are great, though I really would like to work on and finish something more substantial. I actually had a reason for knitting this hat, though, since it's been pretty chilly around here and all the winter hats I made last year were left at home. Figures it would have been warm today, since I'd finished the hat and could have worn it.

I have yarn for a couple of hats, but since I decided I dislike the beads I bought for my Odessa, and can't find yarn to match my Silk Garden for the entrelac hat, and I had some more Paton's SWS just waiting to be turned into another hat, I went ahead and started on the Short-Row hat from IK's website.

This pattern confused me at first... I'm sure if you had done short-rows quite a bit, it would be no problem for you, and though I've used the short-row technique twice before, I still don't didn't totally understand it. I'm not sure that I could use short-row bust shaping for garments yet... I think I am going to have to work a pattern that includes them to see how it works. But this was really good practice, although my turns are not very well hidden. Some of them look pretty good, but there are some pretty big gaps between the diamonds.

Also, there is a pretty obvious mistake I made, and didn't notice until after I'd not only seamed the hat, but felted a bit and blocked it as well! I don't know whether there's a way to fix it, since I obviously can't rip. This pattern goes really quickly, and definitely does not get boring! The SWS yarn looks beautiful with the diamonds, too.

And didn't I mention somewhere that I felted the hat a bit? Yes, I did... and no, it's not called for in the pattern. The hat came out a little too big. I carefully felted a little bit by hand, trying the hat on in between. It's still a little longer than I like my hats; if I had my way, I'd remove three or four of the garter stitches in the band, since I have to fold them under now anyway. I had to stop felting because it was getting too tight. The felting did another nice thing, too... it made some of the gaps from the short-rows a bit smaller. The hat is very warm (I'm sure that's due to the slight felting), and overall, I'm pleased with it. Despite the obvious mistake I made, I think it will get a lot of wear this year.

Also, I didn't knit the "nipple" at the top, because Dusty looked at the picture of the pattern, and said, "Why is there a nipple on the top of that hat?"

Pattern: Short-Row hat from IK website
Needles: recommended size (7?)
Yarn: Paton's SWS, Natural Geranium, ~1.25 balls
Mods: felted a little, left off the icord thingy

I know, I know... quit babbling, you nut, and show us the pictures!!

Here they are... aren't the color changes beautiful?






This is my attempt to show how much the wonky part sticks out. It's actually in the back of the hat, but I turned it so it would be easier to get a picture.


Here is a close up of the mistake. I don't know what to do about it, other than pretend it's not there. It's pretty noticeable, but since I worked pretty hard on this hat and don't know how to fix it, I'm choosing to not notice it. Haha. Unless you have a suggestion that doesn't involve ripping.

I have one skein left that I am going to use for a scarf. I really do love this yarn!

Oh, and finally fixed the cables on Gatsby Girl. Yay! Now I won't dread picking it up and working on it a bit when I have spare minutes!

Not a Fashionable Girl (photo heavy, sorry!)

I think, in my last post, I mentioned that I received a skein of Malabrigo, in gorgeous shades of purple. I'm in love with this yarn... and so worried that this one skein won't be enough for a fantastic scarf. I've been hesitant to start working with it due to that.



I also received 3 skeins of Noro Silk Garden, color 84. It's just beautiful... pretty much every color in the rainbow is in this one skein! Dusty said it looks like Fiestaware. Hehe. The ladies at the yarn store I got to visit on vacation told me it would take three skeins to make a bag I'd been eyeing... I ended up needing only a yard of the third skein to finish the bag. I think I also have complained already about my desire for an entrelac hat pattern to use the third skein. I don't know where the pattern is from, sorry! If you recognize it, please let me know. I definitely want to give credit.





Here are all the new yarns, including an in-progess shot of the bag.



And here's the finished bag:



Unbelievably easy, I started on this bag on Saturday, and finished it Monday, I think. It's all garter stitch, and some very simple shaping. It knit up so quickly, and while it's small, it's a great size for me - I never carry large bags! I love it!

I also finished this vest from Knit.1, Spring/Summer '05. I've never seen anyone else in knit-blogland make it, and I can't understand why! It's darling! I'm very happy with the finished product. I am a little worried that the sweater vest adds some unwanted bulk, though. I made the smallest size, and used under 3 skeins of Cotton-Ease in Pineapple for this, and made only a couple of mods. The vest was too long when I finished it, so I undid the seams, and removed a few (2 or 3?) inches from the bottom, picked up the ribbing, and knit until it was right. I also knit the armband ribbing in the round, as opposed to flat.



As the subject line states, I'm definitely NOT a fashionable girl, but in this outfit, I feel that even my super fashion conscious ex-roommate would approve. Hehe.

Here's a close-up of the vest.



And the side:



The details really are important:



And, just because I love it, a close-up of the fedora:



Those shoes could fool anyone into thinking I've got style!



Yes, I've posted them already, but the shoes really work with this outfit!

Is it too much to ask?

All I want is to knit an entrelac hat using my remaining skein of Silk Garden. Is that really asking too much? Apparently. The few patterns I have found seem to require more than one skein of yarn. Is entrelac really that much of a yarn hog? I can always get an entire hat out of just one skein, even with crochet... usually, I even have leftovers! So why would an entrelac hat need more than one skein of the Silk Garden? I'm afraid to start up anything if I'm going to need more or contasting yarn, because I've discovered this stuff doesn't like to be frogged very much. Well, I didn't actually have to rip it, but I did have to drop a couple of stitches to pick up one I'd dropped a few rows down, and that was more difficult than usual. Argh!

I have two FOs of which I'll be posting pictures soon (hopefully this week). Unfortunately, they are neither the Spencer jacket nor the Gatsby Girl sweater, but they are cute. I've only had time to work on easy projects, and it's annoying me... but school must come first!!

Oh, and not only was this my first Silk Garden experience, but I also finally got a skein of Malabrigo. That stuff is heaven! I am in love with it.

Future Knitting Projects

On the sidebar, I posted links to projects I am either going to knit, or considering - probably enough to last me a couple years... or several, considering how slowly I work (and no, I don't work slowly due to perfectionistic tendancies; every thing I've knit has mistakes in it that I didn't bother to fix). Since I have no interesting progress to talk about, or pictures of an FO to show, I'm going to talk a little about (possible) future projects. I like to do this every now and then, so I won't forget what I want to make, and what yarn I want to use when I make it... and after all, the only thing as fun as the knitting itself is the dreaming of a new project!

Note that these are not necessarily in order of when I want to knit them, or of which is my favorite.

So first, I've got Rapunzel. Ok, I lied... just a little. I've wanted to make this since I saw it on another blogger's... blog, back when I thought rowan was a tree. It's numero uno on the list right now (of wants... I don't know for sure that it will be my next knit, depends on if I can find yarn). I have no idea what yarn I'm going to use for it... it calls for Kid Classic, so I figure just about any worsted weight wool would do, and Lamb's Pride may work really well, since I am pretty sure both yarns have mohair content. I have never worked with Lamb's Pride, nor seen any of its colors, so I don't know about this. A sweater knit almost entirely in seed stitch - I don't think I'll want to do this again, so I'll have to get it right the first time, including the yarn and color. I've been thinking Wool of the Andes in Mulled Wine, since (at least on my monitor), it is a fantastic mauve-ish color I've been wanting to use for a very long time. Although, I may want washability, in which case Swish in Bordeaux would be just the thing. I've been dying to work with Andean Silk... but I don't know if it would work for this sweater. I've heard all about the stretching and shedding, and would hate for this sweater to lose its shape! Sangria would most likely be the color I'd choose for this yarn. Another problem with this sweater is that it is finished with a yarn called Rowan Lurex Shimmer something or other, and none of the colors I've seen for that would match the color I want the sweater to be. Which basically sucks, because I haven't seen anything yet that would work as a sub. Also, I think I will need to learn short-rows for bust sizing for this. Boo. Whew, that was long!

Next, I've got Eunny's Deep V Argyle Vest. I've got Telemark for this, in Bayberry and Snow Leopard. Sometimes, when I look at these colors, I love them together. Other times I hate them. Anyone want to trade some Pesto or Aubergine for some Bayberry? Actually, I bet Pesto and Aubergine would look good together...

Serrano is just what I've been looking for and thinking of (no, I don't care that I'm ending this sentence with "of," tyvm)! A fitted, simple, lacy cardigan. I've got Palette in black for this. Yes, black. How boring, right? I need a sweater that will match everything, and you can't get more neutral than basic black.

Technically, I think it's called "Jacket with 3/4 Sleeves" or some such boring name. I dubbed it Phildar "English Riding Jacket", and I love it! It's the reason I got this book. I've got some red (Cherry? is that the color?) Cotton-Ease that I think will be great for this sweater!

The Knitpicks Kimono Styled Sweater will be, I believe, in Merino Style, maybe in Petal or Rhubarb (yum!). I've also thought of using Storm, but it may be too dark, and I don't want to hide the cables.

This Garnstudio design,Drops 87-03 (Wrap Cardi with Flowers), I think I will knit in my Wool of the Andes Hyacinth. I LOVE this color so much, I could never say it enough!

Glampyre's Simple Knitted Bodice, aka Guinevere. Again, no idea what yarn to use. It calls for a silk Tilli Tomas yarn, and all silk yarns are super expensive. I thought this sweater could be more appropiate for Andean Silk than Rapunzel. I've also wondered about Elegance from Knitpicks... it's a smaller weight, so I don't know whether it would work... but it's alpaca and silk. Ideally, I'd knit this in white... but in reality I won't. I refuse to knit in white if at all possible (with the exception of Odessa, since I've procured a skein of white Cashsoft for that), because I know me, and I hate, hate, hate dingy whites. So when it started to get dingy and I realized I couldn't bleach it, I'd never wear it again. But maybe a cream color.

Cookie A's fantastic sock pattern, Baudelaire, will be knit in some purple shade of Palette I was going to use for Pomatomus socks, which will now be knit in some purple/blue/green shades.

I bought *gasp!* Red Heart for Tubey. But wait till you see it... I think it's going to look great!

What else would I use for Orangina other than Brown Sheep Cotton Fine? I love the yarn! BSCF has so many lovely colors, and I know I won't knit this until next summer, so it will depend on what colors I'm really digging at the time... but right now, I really like Oriental Jade, Dusty Sage, Spryte, and Rue.

Delphine?. If I decide to knit Delphine, which I probably will someday, since it is an amazing, beautiful design, well, I hadn't really thought about yarn for it yet, probably Wool of the Andes again, maybe Hush and Violet.

Something Red? This is probably less of an "if" than a "when??" I don't know what yarn it'll be, but it will definitely be in red. ;-)

Fetching? If I ever get just one ball of Trendsetters' Kashmir, I'd probably use it for this, or a small neckwarmer... something to wear it close to the skin and feel how nice and soft it is! It is really the softest yarn EVER. I think the lady at the yarn store I go visit when on vacation is tired of my petting it every time I go in... I'm sure she wishes I'd buy a ball and leave her yarn alone! haha.

Forecast? Another pattern I've wanted to knit since I saw it, I'd definitely knit Forecast in a tweedy red yarn. Some blogger had made some changes to it that I'd want to do also, so I'd have to find that blog again.

Judy Jetson? I FREAKING LOVE this pattern! This design is awesome! Will I ever knit it? I don't know... could I wear this in real life? I'm not sure I've got what it takes to wear this knit.

Arisaig? I love Arisaig. It's really beautiful... light, airy, almost wispy. Will I knit it? Hopefully someday.

Lucy in the Sky? Lucy in the Sky is a very cute, almost casual cardigan. The diamond patterning really sets it apart from the casual cardigan you could find in a store, which is why I'd knit Lucy. Not to mention the Beatles reference is awesome, and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is a fantastic song.

From Knit.1's Art Issue, I want to make:
this Lace Tunic. It's one of my favorite sweater designs right now, and my only hesitation has been that you're supposed to find lace inserts for the jacket. Two inch lace is hard to find, and non-white 2" lace is even harder. So that's why I haven't started this yet. I'll alter it, though... mine is going to be shorter.

Butterfly Shawl. Love this shawl! Love it! Where would I wear it? Argh!

Cropped Cardigan. This is just a little edgy, and very cute. I've seen a few finished ones, and they all look great. I would love to do it in the green, but I don't know if I can wear green... especially that shade of green.

I don't knit many purses, but this polka dot bag is adorable! I am soooo making that! Another knit purse I want to make is this one, and soon. Out of wool, or a wool-blend... not alpaca, are they crazy?!

There is also a twist top from VK Summer 2005 that I am going to make out of some Cotton-Ease, either a bubble-gum pink or a pale green. And a gorgeous cardigan from this summer's VK I want to make also. Why are pictures of patterns from VK back issues so hard to find?

I'm also unofficially adding to this list a Clapotis, and a red Shetland Triangle. I'm also wanting to make a Morehouse Merino Camilla scarf, but using their varigated Monet yarn instead of a solid. I don't know if they'd do that, but I've really been wanting to use that yarn!

Anyway, I'm sure you're thinking "Geez, this girl sure does have a lot of things planned for herself!" Why yes, yes I do. No one I know really even WANTS me to knit for them, and I do knit for charity, but I feel it's fine to knit for myself as much as I have time. And I don't have a time limit set for any of my knits - it could be years from now that some of these projects finally are finished (or even started!). I do have a few things planned for others, but I can't post about them here.

By the way, as a progress update, I can say that it turns out I still need to work a bit on SS before the neck shaping, the darn messed up cables on GG are driving me nuts and I should have ripped it, but now I'm too stubborn, since I've already invested this time into fixing it without ripping, and I finished one stockinette project awhile back - a fabric knit purse. I don't know when I'll be able to line it, and finish putting it together, so it's not TECHNICALLY finished, but it's not my fault I have NO ROOM for cutting fabrics in this dorm! Otherwise, I'd have cut out the fabric for that darling little tweed skirt I've been planning for months... ANYWAY. So I started another stockinette project, and am, I'd say, around 40% done with it if you don't include the finishing time (and let's be realistic - I DON'T include the finishing time, because that means I'd have to think about it! That might slow progress).

Well, this was a good 15 min wasted. :-p

Mermaid

Why doesn't Hanne Falkenberg sell her patterns outside of kits? I would knit Mermaid in a second if I could get just the pattern. I could knit it in colors I actually like, for, I think, way less than 1/3 of the price of the kit. Sigh...

I feel the same way about a few of the designs from Kim Hargreaves' site.

I wonder if they really make that much more money selling only kits.

Spencer is going well. But I'm getting to the hard part. The neck shaping. Oh yay. I feel frustration coming on. :-(

My feet are freezing! I really should knit those Pomatomus socks soon. And some fingerless gloves for my hands. And maybe a shawl, since I'm wrapped in my cozy blanket right now. My room is actually cold for a change! Brr! Could the a/c finally be working? Unlikely.

I Hate the 80s (fashions)

I really, really do. So why do I LOVE this look (on the model; I'm sure I wouldn't like it on myself)?!


Image from Newport News website.

Other things I'm loving - the ballet flats (particularly with bows). Also, faux animal skin, but only in the form of shoes (and one particularly hot dress I own but have never worn). Pointy toe slides. Vintage 40s and 50s dresses, or new dresses made from vintage patterns in that time period. Round toe tweed heels... actually anything tweed! Pointy, red, mid-calf boots, with a heel, of course, and military style jackets (though I doubt I'd wear one, the style is really cute). Trumpet skirts. My beloved button-down shirts. Pink, red, turquiose/blue-green, seafoam/mint, grey. And, of course, lacy or cabled knits. The Kara Janx Kimono dresses (see below).


Apparently I even love red and pink together now.
Here's a link to Kara Janx

Things I am definitely NOT feeling: skinny pants, tunic length anything, leggings, jeans under skirts, balloon skirts, those boots with all the fur... this list could get long... very, very long.

On the knitting front, I've gone into the body of the Spencer, but not very far. That's it. School is not leaving me much time for knitting! :-(

Whoops.

My stockinette project turned out to be a mostly stockinette with a few hidden tricks, which means there are parts of it on which I cannot work and study at the same time. I can read and knit st. st., keep track of a couple of increases/decreases, but nothing else. I knew there was a little shaping, which didn't interfere... guess I need to learn to read ahead in my instructions! Instead of just looking at the picture, and thinking, "Hmm, that looks like it will require no attention!" Ah well, it is still MOSTLY stockinette, which means most of it can be worked on during study time with no negative impact on my grades (!! not even knitting is allowed to interfere with school). But it also means I'm going to have to use a little real knitting time, or, more likely, tv-knitting time, to work on it as well, as it doesn't require MUCH attention, just a little. It is an awesome knit though, and I'm wondering why I haven't seen anyone else online make this.

I also have one entire sleeve of the Spencer finished! YAY! Now only a whole lot more to knit. Good thing I loooove working this pattern. I enjoy it so much, and it goes by so fast, the thing seems to be knitting itself. I'm half convinced my needles are sneaking a little work in when I'm not around. The body is looking a bit more complicated, so I've hesitated working on it. I'm afraid the chart + new shaping is going to give me fits again. BUT... ohmygosh, I am so in love with this sweater. I want it to be done already so I can wear it! Argh! Annie Modesitt, you are a freakin' genius!

For GG, I totally screwed up the beginnings of the front (back? they are both exactly the same, so I don't guess it matters which). I did the cables wrong, and didn't catch it for quite a few rows. When I finally did catch it, I thought surely there could be an easy way of fixing the cables without ripping all those rows. So I dropped the stitches on the cables, and had to figure out how to reknit them... which, I believe, may be taking longer than just redoing the whole thing! Argh!!!! It is aggravating, because every time I glance over at my bag with this project in it, I want to pick it up... I adore the yarn so! But I need to save it for when I can give it all of my attention to finish fixing the cables. Two are ok now, but the other two still need to be redone.

The only thing worse than having a project that frustrates you, is having a couple of projects that are wonderful, and not being able to work on them ALL THE TIME! :-)

The Return of Cotton-Ease

Lion Brand has listened to us! They are bringing back Cotton-Ease! YAY! I'd heard this rumor on the Craftster forum, and emailed to see what the company had to say about it. Here is their response:

Dear Crystal,

Yes the rumors are true! We will be re-introducing Cotton-Ease in a brand new range of colors in a few months. Stay tuned to the newsletters for an announcement!

With Warm Regards,

Allison Mackie

Lion Brand Yarn Company
http://www.lionbrand.com
support@lionbrandyarn.com


Awesome! Thanks, Lion Brand. I hope there is pink!!!

Of Delphine, shoes, and evening gowns

If you read this blog, you know I love sweaters. If you know me, you know I love shoes. And if you REALLY know me, you know I secretly love, love, love skirts and dresses.

Delphine and I had a spat. A major one! I'm not sure what made me think I could knit a sweater without a pattern. With major shaping AND cables. And all kinds of intricacies that I don't know whether I can handle. It's not coming along well at all. The shaping isn't making me happy, the sizing is making me want to cry, and I won't even go into the cables. AND I think with my bust, I'll have to figure out how to add short-row shaping to a cabled section! Let alone that I've never done short rows for shaping a sweater at all. I really don't know how they work, or exactly WHAT kind of shaping you are supposed to be doing with the short rows. Wow, I really did not think this through. I don't even know that this style of sweater is going to flatter me. Apparently, I am just a pattern knitter... NOT a designer! It's disappointing, but not surprising. I gain more respect for knitwear designers every time I pick up this darn sweater. I'm not exactly giving up, but I think I'm putting this sweater on hold... again. I guess I need more experience. *sigh* I just don't know what to do about this sweater. I've attempted all these calculations, read all of these articles on shaping... ugh! I'll feel like an absolute failure giving up, so I don't plan on it... but don't expect to see this thing any time soon! :-( I think I'm going to have to work on something else in its stead for now. I need to learn more!

Soo, since Delph annoyed me so... I worked a little on GG, and quite a bit on Sideways Spencer. I didn't have the concentration time I needed this weekend to work on Butterfly.

Here's a *gasp* progress shot of SS. The color is waaaay off. It is not a bright red as it appears in the pictures - it's really a deep, jewel toned red. NOT burgundy, either.



It is turning out very pretty. One thing I found out, though, when I blocked my E-town hat, is that this yarn seems to GROW. So I'm a little worried that this thing will end up too big for me, although it seemed ok in the swatch. I'm not worried that it will turn out too small, since I've read the stitch pattern really stretches.


Now, shoes. As already stated, I love shoes! One thing I always have problems with is finding a great pair of well-fitting shoes. I sometimes wear a 5, sometimes a 5.5, and, very rarely, a 6. It's hard finding cute shoes in a 5 or 5.5, believe me! My roommate happens to wear near my size also, and today she was wearing the cutest pair of shoes she'd just got. I tried them on, and they fit! I NEED them! Well, I don't NEED them, but I do hope to get a pair - they are very nice, dressy, black slides with a heel that isn't TOO high... the exact pair of shoes I've been searching for FOREVER! Here's a pic:



UGH! I love them!

I also love evening gowns. The only reason I ever bother to look at magazines or sites with celebrities is the beautiful gowns. For some reason, I'm usually most attracted to red gowns. Here are some I just adore:

This one is from Loralie.com, and it's called Show Stopper, for obvious reasons.



This one, also from Loralie, is called Passion:



The last dress from Loralie is called Salsa. I LOVE it!



The final beautiful red dress, from Yosa.com (she sells the most fabulous wedding and costume gowns!!), is appropiately named The Red Dress.



I wish it was considered OK to be married in red here. I would definitely be married in this dress!

A Deal With Myself

You may or, more likely, may not notice that several projects have been moved to the "Back Burner" on the sidebar, though they've been on the back burner for awhile now, in reality. Today, I was putting away a couple of things in my needle case, and realized it looks like I don't have any straights or circulars, only DPNs. This is because I have so many projects in the works. That's just shameful!

I'm making a deal with myself, and posting it here so that it will be real. That way, maybe, hopefully, I can keep it. For some reason, starting a new project is always so exciting for me, but then I put it down and don't feel like picking it back up. It's getting out of control. I love knitting, and I love having a finished knit, so I don't know why it's so hard for me to keep on just one project!

Anyway, here's the deal:

I cannot cast on for any new projects until I finish at least 3 BIG projects. The only exceptions are: a stockinette/garter stitch project - if I finish my current one, I can start a new one, because I only work on it at times I couldn't work on anything that requires attention, or if Cookie chooses me to test knit her cute cabled sweater thingy, I can drop everything else and work on it... because I really, really love it. :-D

I'm going to focus on: the armwarmers I'm test knitting, Gatsby Girl, Butterfly (but only when I can give it my complete attention, since this knit requires that much of me!), and I am going to give Delphine another shot. If Butterfly frustrates me too much, I can elect to work on the Spencer Jacket in its place, but I'm hoping Butterfly will get easier for me. Knitting lace is a new experience - I'm not used to having to pay attention to EVERY SINGLE STITCH!

Ponderings

I responded to a post of Wendy's, from KnitandTonic, and she replied mentioning how future anthropologists will someday analyze our stuff. And, yeah, it's probably unlikely that my knitting or anything else I've made will be around for that long, but let's suppose somehow something like that is found. How will they see this refreshing tide of craftiness that has swept over our country? As a rebellion against a society made up of people who do nothing but work and sit in front of TVs and computers all day, against a time when hobbies have been lost (and not entirely due to disinterest, although that is a big part of it - some people I know are simply too tired at the end of the day for their hobbies, and even for their families, which I find heartbreaking... I hope that is never me), against a materialistic society where everything is easy and cheap, but disposable and somewhat meaningless? That's never been a conscious reason for my crafting; it's really just been something to keep me from being bored and it's something I really enjoy doing, but IS that the reason, perhaps, that crafts of all kinds seem to be rather popular now? ARE we tired of our disposable, bored society? Are we tired of working all the time to have "the best," but never having the time or energy to enjoy the things we earn? How long will it last? How long can it last?

Sorry for the lack of pictures in these posts. All I've got are wips that pretty much look the same from day to day. Kinda boring, I think. But maybe more exciting than a post with no picture at all?

I said I wasn't going to....

But I cast on for another hat! I SHOULD be working on the GG, and the only reason I'm not is that I saw another hat pattern I loved! But after this one, I'm going back to GG... even Odessa will have to wait, although I'm itching to work with that dreamy Cashsoft!

Lion Brand and Cotton-Ease

I know this will probably make anyone reading this gasp, but I actually rather like Lion Brand's yarn. Blah, blah, blah, it's cheap and it's not an animal fiber. Blah, blah, blah, it's gaudy/scratchy/whatever.

No offense to the self-proclaimed yarn snobs (or anyone else, for that matter) - you guys taught me that certain things are worth spending more for - like superwash wool and alpaca, and good customer service with knowledgeable, helpful people at a real yarn store... and I am very appreciative... especially since some of those things I would probably not have thought of myself. Yall have me DYING to get my hands on some silk, angora, and cashmere! And after being convinced to try wool, I would now always rather knit with wool than acrylics, myself... I just love the feel of wool in my hands! BUT I don't think it makes me less of a knitter to use other, cheaper things whenever I feel like it. I don't even need an excuse for doing it, and no one should feel like they have to add in how they used acrylic because " I know so and so won't handwash it" or something along those lines. I used an acrylic yarn to knit a scarf for my mom, and I worked very hard on it, and she loved it. She didn't care that it wasn't made of some super special fiber. And it's not like I don't care enough about my mom to use the best for her. She deserves cashmere! And I don't really think it's fair to make knitters feel that their works aren't as special because they used *insert name of random cheapo yarn here.* Not that I have noticed this too often, but I have seen the occasional snub... even if it's unintentional. They probably worked just as hard on that FO, and ya know, yes you can find natural fibers for cheap, but knitting is an expensive hobby, and not everyone has it in his/her budget to buy even the cheaper wools. And when so and so posts about something she/he made, and receives a comment about oh, that's so cute... *insert something derogatory about acrylic here,* I'm sure it lowers the satisfaction of having made something, and devalues it. And most of the people using those cheap yarns either
1) are new knitters who don't know any better, and making them feel snobbed is not going to encourage them to keep knitting
2) don't have easy access to better yarns, or don't have the budget for them (do we really want to make people feel bad about that?)

Anyway, back to the point, and as I said before, I had no one in mind writing this, and if you only knit with natural fibers, that's fine and understandable, but just please don't alienate others or act like you are better than they, because they use acrylics. You can even talk about why you love your natural fibers so much, just don't be all like "OMG, I can't believe you use acrylic! UGH!!" Even if you're thinking it, you don't have to say it. There are better ways to introduce someone to the wonders of wool!

As far as LB yarn goes, I like that it's cheap, and I like that most of it is machine washable. I like that I can get Lion Brand yarn even in a tiny town that has only a Walmart, no craft store for about 50 miles, and no yarn store for well over 100. Although even our selection of Lion Brand and Red Heart is extremely limited, and I wish so much that I had easy access to other yarns. Now, I will agree that it's unlikely for any woman in the world to look good in a sweater knit entirely of Fun Fur. But it's cute when used for a scarf, or as trim for a hat. And I'll bet your 7 year old daughter would feel like a rock star in a little Fun Fur jacket. Also, Homespun DOES fray, so no fringes with it (or at least tie knots at the bottom, and expect them to eventually get fluffy), but it's very nice and soft, although, yes, it splits because it's so loosely spun. And I knit a cardigan with it last year, have even washed it a couple of times, and it still feels soft, looks nice, and keeps me warm. Anyway, the point of this is that I do like Lion Brand's yarns. Although I am in agreement that their Cashmere blend yarn is too costly for the cashmere content.

But this entry isn't really meant to praise the company, or even to make an argument for the use of the "crappy yarns." The point of this entry is actually just to whine.

I recently got my hands on some discontinued Cotton-Ease, and Lion Brand, WHY did you stop making this stuff?! I don't love knitting with cotton, but I've found it works rather well for knit garments in Louisiana, and this Cotton-Ease is nice and soft, and I love it! I mean, I love BSCF and Rowan All Season's Cotton, but Cotton-Ease was more affordable than the Rowan, and more easily attainable than both, especially for me... and it is really a great yarn! I'd say Lion Brand's best yarn. And Lion Cotton or Kitchen Cotton or whatever it's called is no substitute, because knitting with cotton blends is about a thousand times better. I guess I'm being a cotton snob now, haha... I'm a hypocrite. But 100% cotton hurts my hands. And, being serious now, why on earth did they discontinue it? It was before I started knitting, so I never saw it in stores, don't know how well it sold, but due to the fact that it's been discontinued for what, well over a year now, and still has so many fans, it HAD to have done well! Despite having been produced in a rather limited color palette. C'mon Lion Brand, give us back our Cotton-Ease! And in more colors!! You won't regret it!

FO: Kirsten Dunst Spiderman 2 "Pithy" Hat

I finished the second Kirsten Dunst hat I was making, the Spiderman 2 "Pithy" hat, also from Littleturtleknits. I think it's pretty darn cute! I used the new Paton's SWS, in Natural Geranium. I modified the pattern, by not knitting as long, and doing the decreases a little differently - I did one row of decreases, did the purl row, then did the next row of decreases, worked a couple more rows in pattern, did a final decrease and another row, then closed the stitches as instructed. I thought it might help shape the body to more what I wanted, and it does look pretty good, imo, so I guess it worked. I do think that it looks a little funky from the side and the back... so I'm not completely sure about this hat, either.

This yarn is so nice and soft! It is also sort of "slippery." I will definitely use it again. I would not, however, ever use it for making a sweater/vest/anything of the sort - it fuzzes up way too much. My hat is already very fuzzy. As you will see in the pictures below, it does stripe very nicely. I love the pinks/plum/blonde colorway. I have two balls and a little bit left, which I am going to use for a scarf. I think this yarn would make a beautiful clapotis.

I need to start putting on makeup before I take pictures modeling my fos.

Several pictures below:







Oh! Edited to say that I now really understand how people can be so nervous about working with dpns. Using dpns with this stitch pattern was a _itch, at least for me... if I knit too tightly, the k2tog tbl were almost impossible to do, and if I knit loosely, I was constantly dropping stitches, and even needles a time or two. NOT fun, especially when trying to find where the yarn over was.

Tiffany Sweater

How beautiful is this? I don't know how it would look on ME, but I love it. It's simple looking, but elegant.



From: Knitting Fever

RIP Fur Collared Shrug

"Rip" or "rest in peace," either way you interpret it, this sweater is pretty much gone, for now. I don't think I want to knit the fur collared shrug anymore. I haven't even thought of picking it up in months. I ran across it today straightening up my yarn, and thought, bleh. I still LOVE the color of the yarn, but the project just doesn't inspire me any more. Plus, I am pretty sure I would have had to get more yarn for it, and if I am going to do that, I'd just rather knit something else. I do think this sweater would probably be cuter in pink anyway... I could even go all out and knit the obnoxious fun fur collar in a multicolored pink fun fur, and it might look really cute. Wow, I just got excited about the idea of the shrug again. Maybe I do still love the shrug, and the yarn, just not together. Sometimes it be that way.

The Hyacinth color, I think, once I've ordered more yarn, will either be used for this great jacket in my Phildar catalog, or one of various sweater patterns I've found online. A couple I am considering are:

http://garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=89&d_id=15&lang=us

http://garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=88&d_id=22&lang=us

http://garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=81&d_id=28&lang=us

http://garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=80&d_id=15&lang=us

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter05/PATTforecast.html

I've always planned on knitting Forecast, but I never imagined doing it in a yarn this dark, so I don't know. I always saw it in red or yellow. Oh! Or, I could do the cute green cropped jacket from the Art Issue of Knit.1. I could, of course, thumb through all of my magazines to see if there was anything else I'd planned that would look great in this color. I'd thought of just trying to find a stitch pattern I loved, and seeing what I could do with it, but I already have one sweater in the works that is self-designed (sort of) and going nowhere, though I suppose it could be if I actually worked on it for awhile. Yes, I am talking about Delphine and that darned cable that is hindering me from even WANTING to work on it.

These two aren't considerations for the WotA, but I love them so much! I will definitely knit them some time! The first seems like yarn substitions will be hard to find. :-(

http://garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=96&d_id=1&lang=en

http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall06/PATTserrano.html

I also decided to use my purple sock yarn for the Baudelaire socks, instead of the Pomatomus, since I found a (cheap!) perfect watery colored sock yarn to use for them! I don't have it here yet. I don't think I'm a sock knitter, though. I see all these gorgeous sock patterns, and think about how nice it would be to have some warm, handknit socks for wearing in the dorm (and just about anywhere else - my feet are ALWAYS cold!). I'll go as far as picking out the pattern, picking out the yarn, maybe even getting started... then I end up putting them down and forgetting about them, until the next time my feet are freezing and my store bought socks are doing no good (like now!). So, before this fall/winter ends, I will knit at least ONE pair of socks, to see if it's all it's cracked up to be, and plus because I am still dying to have Pomatomi (ses?)!

I need to get back to Gatsby Girl. I'm thinking of finishing the Spiderman 2 hat first... it is looking lovely, although quite fuzzy. SWS stripes beautifully, and the color, Natural Geranium, a blend of pinks, mauve, and blonde, couldn't possibly be prettier... or more me. But I do hate how fuzzy it is.

Oh! I think I just found the perfect sweater! At least, I think it would look pretty in the Hyacinth color, and it's just beautiful... and I think the gauge would work. I'd love to hear your opinions!

http://garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=87&d_id=3&lang=us

FO: "Elizabethtown Pithy Hat"

I set aside GG for a more "instant gratification" project - a hat, of course! I love hats, and I particularly loved this hat from the moment I saw it in the movie. The movie wasn't bad, but the hat was awesome! A search brought up a pattern, so I decided to give both this and the Spiderman hat from the same page a try. I went for the Elizabethtown hat first because the other will be in Paton's SWS, and I don't want to frog this yarn much - it's very nice and soft, in beautiful colors, but it's also loose and only one ply - not fun, at least imo, to rip. I didn't know whether I'd like how this hat turned out, since pictures of it completed were hard to come across and most people seem to have modified the hat to be close fitting. I wanted the hat to look as much like the one in the movie as I could; I can knit a "skullcap" with my eyes closed, but this hat needed to be MORE! It needed it be fun, happy, bright, and unique to capture the spirit of the hat in the movie, and I still feel mine falls short of the mark. The shaping isn't right, somehow... but I like it ok. I also feel this style works better on a girl with bangs, which I don't have or plan to get.

I used the pattern from here, and used Swish Superwash in Red Pepper, on size 4 and 8 dpns.

The first two are pictures from the movie for comparsion, followed by two pictures of me in my hat:

More Gatsby Girl progress

I've finished the back of Gatsby Girl, and while I don't normally bother with progress shots, someone expressed interest in seeing the sweater in the Felted Tweed. So, here are a couple of bad pictures of my progress on this sweater:

Gatsby Girl progress

I've made it to the lace chart on the back. I am such a slow knitter. I see all of these other bloggers who finish things within a couple of weeks, and I know the same project would take me months! I don't know... I don't have the best concentration skills, and I am very easily distracted, so that is probably part of it. My wrist problems probably don't help, either. But, after about 2 weeks of a lot of knitting, I still really haven't made a lot of progress. And I'll be much slower when I get back to school. Classes start a week from Wed, and I will no longer have much time to knit.

Anyway, so I THINK, thanks to a fellow knitblogger, I've fixed my problem with the Spencer... for now. That doesn't go to say I won't have the same problems elsewhere in the pattern. I learned I needed to wait until I have the full number of stitches needed for the chart before I attempt it, and just knit stockinette until I do have enough stitches. But I've been taking short breaks from the small needles I use on Gatsby Girl, and working a few rows of the Spencer pattern now and again. I've gotten a few inches of the left sleeve done. It is going to look marvelous in my yarn, if I dare say so myself. I just hate that this color, I'm sure, will not appear at its best when I take pics for the blog. I'm already thinking about buttons for it. I believe buttons can make or break a project... it really is all about the details, and those are such an important, obvious one. I always thought the lovely pewter and pearl buttons I used for my corset top and partially for my Candy would look particularly beautiful on this design, but I don't know about using the same button so many times.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that the Cascade 220 superwash just didn't work out for GG. I got CLOSE to gauge, but not near enough... so I went back to the yarn store, and one of the ladies recommended Rowan's Felted Tweed. I chose a teal color (online, I found it to be named "Watery"), and I was able to get gauge with it. Teal is one of those colors I never knew for sure that I could wear, but at the yarn store, they said "With your complexion, how can you NOT wear it?," which made me decide that maybe it would look nice. I have a very hard time decided which colors are good on me, since I have very fair skin (and I think cool-tone, rosy, but of that I definitely cannot be certain), very dark brown eyes, and a natural hair color that is hard to distinguish between light brown, dark blonde, and strawberry blonde, depending on the lighting. So normally, I've just worn colors I like, but lately I've been trying to wear colors that look good as well. At first I worried that the yarn would be too busy for the pattern, but when knitted up, it is actually quite subtle. I love working with this yarn so much, although the alpaca does shed, the yarn just feels so nice in your hands. It's my first time working with an alpaca blend, and I believe I can say I'll be trying more of them in the future. This sweater is going to be fabulous! Also, thinking of buttons for this one (the shoulder has a few small buttons on it), I don't know if pearls are going to be the best look for this sweater; a shame, because I do dearly love pearls, and that little detail was one of the main points that attracted me to this sweater to begin with. There is enough white that it could possibly work, but I really think pewter or even faux-wood buttons may be a better choice. We'll see when I get far enough into the sweater to really decide.

Oh yes, and how could I forget to mention that the kind ladies at the knit shop also told me I should knit myself another corset top, since it looked so great on me. Glad to hear it, since I have decided I'd love one in another color, and maybe with long sleeves. But what color? Maybe black... although that might mask the beautiful, intricate details that make this top so wonderful. The corset top has, I believe, been the most complimented thing I've knit to date. The fish bag is close, or maybe equal, and RR has received its share as well. I can't believe I forgot to post that awhile back, a local artist saw me wearing my corset top, and loved it so well that she asked me to pose for a drawing in it. I don't know whether she will actually get around to painting it or not, but still, that was pretty neat.

Am I bad?

Is it bad to drop the two projects you're working on, that you've been dying to make for so long, and really want to work on, out of frustration, and instead, start on something completely new?

If so, then I am bad. Instead of working on the Spencer or the Butterfly, I swatched for the Gatsby Girl pullover from the new IK. It is my favorite thing in the issue, and one of the loveliest sweaters I've seen in a long time. It's sooo elegant! It calls for a DK weight, but I thought I could possibly get gauge using a worsted, and tried Cascade 220 superwash in a lovely shade of a deep, peacockish teal... at least, that was the shade it looked in the store. Here, it appears to be more of a hunter green, at least to someone who's been staring at it for an extended amount of time. I'm not sure I like the hunter-greenishness of it. I loved the teal. The Cascade is nice, but I really think the less-expensive Knitpicks' Swish is much softer and more pleasant to knit. I've been bragging so much about this yarn lately, but I really think it is nearly the perfect yarn - soft, pleasant to knit, washable, affordable. In a word, wonderful. Imo, the Cascade has only two advantages over it - a greater range of colors, and probably a greater availability (although not to me normally, since there isn't a yarn store near me unless I'm visiting down South Louisiana).

At least I don't have to feel bad about not picking up an old project when these two started giving me problems - they are all at home! Though I really wish I'd brought the Noro Butterfly, since it's really been going along well, and it's a simple tv, distraction friendly project.

I WANT to knit the Spencer so badly! I didn't want to put it aside for any reason, but I am having a major problem with the chart, and can't figure out what I'm doing incorrectly. I've wanted to make this thing since I saw it, and particularly since I saw a modified version of it, lengthened and given a flared rib. I hope I can figure all that out... assuming I ever figure out what I'm doing wrong on the chart now. I also couldn't love the color I chose for it more. I am really disappointed, because I figured this would be a knit that forced my attention, but was still do-able. My heart is broken. :-(

Ripping out lace sucks. I can't even talk about Butterfly right now. It's too painful.

Ok, so I'm being a drama queen, but I really do wish these projects were going better!

Oh yeah, and I wore Rambling Rose to the yarn store today... what a reaction I received! All the ladies there thought it was just beautiful, and were very impressed with my knitting... I guess they didn't realize how simple it really was! I was very pleased, considering that I was unsure of wearing it and worried that it didn't look right on me, or looked "grandmaish."