Monday, April 21, 2008

FO! Springy Scraf

At long last I have another FO to post. This pretty little thing is the Gift of Friendship scarf by Christine McKnight. I used knitpicks shimmer in Happy Dance, which I believe has been discontinued, on size 4 needles. The lace pattern was very simple and easy to memorize as there are only two different rows. The yarn though was very slick and that made the knitting a little annoying at times. I would recommend this yarn though because its so wonderfully soft and it blocked very nicely.

Given the simplicity of the project this took a really long time for me to make, almost 2 months, but my goal was to use up all 440 yards of the shimmer which I did.

Next on my to do list? Well, yesterday I swatched for Green Gables so I think that's what next. I've had this yarn sitting around for about a year so its probably about time that used it.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece
Needles: size 7 in the round
Guage: 5sts/1in

I've only used Cotton Fleece once before for a Loop d Loop ballet tshirt. In that pattern I found the yarn to be very drapey, perhaps too drapey. I'm hoping that the tighter gauge of the tee will make it fit better. I also find Cotton Fleece to be a bit splitty at times, but nothing too annoying. But I do like how soft it is and the price doesn't hurt.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

gettin springy with it

I love living in New England and having the four seasons. But towards the end of each I always have a hankering for the next. I love spring and all I want is for it to be May and for everything to be sunshine and flowers.

Perhaps this is reflected in my desire for new knitting projects. I'm tired of my Central Park Hoodie. I want it finished so I can making something light and fun for spring. So the other night I decided it was time to swatch.















Yarn: Classic Elite, Classic Silk
Color: light purple
Needle: 5
Guage: 5 sts/ 1in

Maybe this is because I don't work with much cotton, but I was rather surprised that the stitches grew a bit when I blocked my swatch. Working with this stuff was pretty nice, not too hard like some cottons and the swatch is pretty soft. My plan is to make Sahara with it.

Yet despite all that talk above about how much I long for spring I did just order 4 skeins of ultra alpaca to make the Minimalist Cardigan. I love that stuff so I just couldn't resist that Webs sale.

taste the rainbow

So last night I sat down to write a post and simply could not think of anything to write. I was so hopped up on diet cherry Pepsi and chocolate that mind was going 3,000 miles a minutes but it all went out too fast to make the connection down to my key broad. I don't have much sugar or caffeine in my daily diet so I can get a little wired when I do have some. Today I'm having a bit better luck with focusing thanks to the lack addictive substances in my system

Sadly, not much knitting has been going on the past few weeks. I did manage to finish these socks out of SWTC's tofutsies on size 2s. They're pretty basic, but I did make an eye partridge heel for the first time which is so pretty in the multi-color yarn. The SWTC It's really lovely stuff. Very soft and nice to work with. It's not nearly as tough on the hands as knitting with 100% cotton. It's even machine washable and didn't pool very much. I'm wearing them right now and even though they came out a touch big I really like them. Plus I might have enough of the skein left to make another short pair. Next time though I think I'll go down a needle size.

My other projects, however, feel never ending. All I want is to be done with them and move on to other things. More on them some other time, like when I don't need to finish my civ pro reading for tonight.