Sunday, March 22, 2009

Promised photos

At last, I have some knitting project photos to post.

Geese Gone Goofy Ruana




First socks -- Off the Cuff (Knit Socks! by Betsy McCarthy pg. 80ff)


Classy Slip-up Socks (Knit Socks! by Betsy McCarthy pg. 104ff)


Best Foot Forward Socks (Knit Socks! by Betsy McCarthy pg. 56ff)


Waving Lace Socks (Favorite Socks from Interweave Press pg. 104ff)


Spring Thaw Socks designed by Cat Bordhi



Arch Shaped Socks

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Projects -- Spring is coming!

Last Friday, I finished my reversible vest (Knit One Below), although it is not really reversible. I could not figure out how to hide the yarn tails that resulted from casting on, joining yarn to knit the back and right front above the underarm, and the ends at the shoulders. There just did not seem to be any way to hide them so that the vest could truly be reversible. I did "spit splice" the yarn joins in the middle of the project, and, I must say, the joins are really invisible. It's a technique I will use in the future with any "feltable" yarn.

I have knitted my swatch for my first warm weather garment, a cardigan in garter stitch with lace lapels. It's a very simple, but practical and elegant garment. The yarn I am using is Queensland Soft Wave, an unmercerized, sport-weight cotton yarn that has a crinkled appearance somewhat like Mission Falls 1824 Cotton, although it is much more pleasant to knit. I'm a bit concerned with the strength of this yarn because it takes no effort at all to break it. The color of the yarn is a very light sage green -- very spring-like.

Friday, March 06, 2009

Reversible Vest

I am currently working on the Reversible Vest from the book Knit One Below. It is a simple project that seems to be taking an inordinately long time to complete. The stitches are wide but short, with a gauge of 4 stitches per inch and 8 rows per inch. Of course, that means that fewer stitches need to be cast on, but it takes forever to make any progress vertically. Since it is a reversible vest, I am "spit" splicing the yarn. I've never used that technique before, and I must say that I will probably employ it whenever I am knitting with feltable yarns in the future. It certainly makes the inside of the garment neater to eliminate working in yarn tails.

Another comment about the knit one below (k1b) technique: the stitches are not as even, at least in the unblocked garment, as stitches produced with stockinette stitch. I am hoping that the stitches take on a more uniform appearance when the garment is blocked.

Monday, March 02, 2009

Blogging the blahs!

I really have the knitting equivalent of a bad case of the mullygrubs. Currently, I am plodding along on a couple of winter knitting projects like a grasshopper dragging itself along at the end of summer. I'm trying to finish my Arwen hoodie and also the reversible vest in Knit One Below. They are both lovely projects, but spring has sprung in west Texas, and winter knitting is just plain dull. My fingers are itching to begin working on my spring knitting -- cotton and bamboo yarns in lovely spring colors, lacey, flouncy, fancy knitting, lovely and enticing projects. Oh, to be finished with these winter woolies! What I need is a good, west Texas norther to put me in the mood to complete these wintry projects.