Basic Cable

My winter hat is done! I finished up last night and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I read comments on Ravelry about it and with all the too-small remarks I decided to do 6 pattern repeats instead of 4. It definitely covers my ears now!



Pattern: Basic Cable from Stitch n Bitch Nation
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Onyx
Needles: US7 and US8 Denises

I am sorry to say that poor Branching Out is in hibernation mode :( I haven't even picked it up except to steal the needles for a new project. Yes, startitis has hit BAD. I have been wanting to do Mr. Greenjeans and now it is begun! I picked up some Malabrigo Merino Worsted at Wool and Company the other day and cast on Greenjeans, well, actually Tealjeans. I am in love with this yarn already - it is soft and gorgeous!

I also picked up some new yarns recently. Fringe Knitting in Aurora is unfortunately going out of business - but from what I understand about the closing, the silver lining is that their Dream in Color yarn has gotten so popular that running the store is no longer feasible. So I went to the first day of the going out of business sale (which was crazy busy!) and picked up these:



The first two pics are Cherry Tree Hill Potluck Supersock which I love love love! The last pic is what was labeled as Dream in Color remnants. I loved the colors - greens and purples - and I'm thinking that those two hanks will make a good scarf - either Here and There Cables or My So-Called Scarf.

Oh, btw, the Namaste bag is AWESOME!! I love how roomy it is and a lot of people have complimented me on it not realizing it's a knitting bag :)

Time to get the kids ready for school...

New Knitting Bag

I am so excited! I did a little early Christmas shopping and picked up something for DH to give me. Here it is!!



It's the Namaste Everyday bag in Brick Red! I put two sock projects, a hat project and my personal stuff in it and it works out great for every day :)

So...I'm still working on my Cherry Tree Hill socks - sock #1 is done and I'm almost ready to start the heel on #2. I'm working on the gusset for the first sock for my daughter using Wildfoote.

And after remembering that I left my hat at a restaurant last spring I also cast on for the Basic Cable hat from SnB Nation.

Children's Neckdown Cardigan - done!

Wow! Could it be that I've completed a child's sweater in less than two months? Yes! The neckdown cardi for my daughter is complete! Here is the picture:



Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple Children's Neckdown Cardigan (#981)
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa Primo in lavender (6 balls)
Needles: Denise and DPNs in US9 and US6

I really thought I was going to run out of yarn for this project. The body of the sweater ate up FOUR balls of the yarn and I was in a panic. But the sleeves ended up using only two balls so I ended up with two extra (wristwarmers perhap?)

So next up are some small projects. I have done NOTHING with poor Branching Out so I'm going to start up the 10-minute rule mentioned on KR. I must work on it for ten minutes before working on anything else.

Aside from BO I still have my Cherry Tree Hill socks, a chemo cap that I've frogged three times and a pair of socks I'm starting for DD. I also wound a ball of Hempathy for the Everlasting Bagstopper so I may be starting that as well.

Ravelry - I'm in!

I got my invite last week, I don't remember what day exactly, it's been kind of a blur! Anyhow I have been adding projects and taking pictures of my yarn since then (I'm LesleyKnits). I love how you can really see exactly what yarn you've got. And it also helped me to see exactly how long I let particular projects sit!

I had put Bronty on the back burner while finishing other things and when I went to add him to my project list I realized that I started on him NINETEEN months ago! Crazy :P He is what should have been a project easily finished in a few nights (at least at the pace I was knitting 19 months ago) but for some reason I let him sit quietly in my knitting bag.

So of course as soon as I realized how long it had been I took the 40 minutes necessary to finish poor Bronty and here he is...



This was a project I started less than a year after starting to knit and had I known what I know now I would have knit him on smaller needles, you can see the stuffing very clearly even from a distance. Oh well!

I put Bronty where my son could see him when he got home from school and he was thrilled that Bronty was finally done!

I also pulled out a sock that I started earlier this year. The reason why the sock fell by the wayside - beside other projects taking over - is that the skein got horribly tangled. I don't know if that usually happens when you have a 400-yard skein of sock yarn but the other day I sat down and unraveled the whole thing. So now I'm making progress with the sock tucked in my purse. I even worked on it today while my daughter played in the mall playground. Here it is...



I've made a lot of progress on the sweater for my daughter since I last posted. I took this picture last week but I'm now on the 2nd sleeve.

Newly on the Needles

Well, now that my son's hoodie is complete I am moving on to two new projects.

As I mentioned before, Branching Out is my very first lace project. I have completed two pattern repeats and now that school has started again I'm hoping to have a quiet house where I can concentrate! I understand now the benefits of knitting from the chart but it requires my full concentration - at least this early into the project. So here is what I've done so far...



It's hard to tell from the photo but if I stretch it out I can see the pattern forming.

My other current project is a top-down cardigan for my daughter. I'm using the Knitting Pure and Simple Children's Neckdown Cardigan pattern and Filatura di Crosa Primo yarn. It's a heavy worsted superwash wool. Here's the start of that sweater...



My daughter is pretty excited about it especially since it's "puhple" her favorite color. And this time around the sweater should have buttons and buttonholes unlike my last attempt at a sweater for this child.

Top-Down Sweater - DONE!

Yippee! The topdown sweater I was knitting for DS is finished! I love topdown design - it is just genius the way the directions are almost like a magic trick. I did end up frogging that first sleeve where the pooling occurred so it does look better now although I see some spots where there is slight pooling. But my son is happy and it's done well before the cold weather will hit!

So here it is...



Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple Children's Tunic #232
Yarn: 2 3/4 hanks Lorna's Laces in Seaside
Size: 6-8

So next up is another Knitting Pure and Simple pattern for my daughter. It's the Children's Neckdown Cardigan and I've got Filatura di Crosa Primo in a lavender shade for it.

I also started my very first lace project. I decided to give Branching Out a try. So far it's been a little frustrating. First I cast on the wrong number of stitches and didn't notice til I finished the garter stitch border. Then I ended up with the wrong stitch count on row 7 and ended up starting over. But now I've got one pattern repeat down and I put a lifeline in. I'm going to move the lifeline every time I finish a pattern repeat. But the good news is I'm getting better at chart reading!

Pooling Problems

First of all, I am back from vacation! My husband and I took the kids to Disney World followed by a few days at the beach. We had such a great time! My daughter keeps saying she wants to go back and I tell her "yeah, me too!"

I'm still plugging away on my son's sweater but I've run into a dilemma. In finishing the first sleeve I ran into an area where some serious pooling started to take place. I saw it there, plain as day. But you know how it goes, you think "Next row, it'll stop...okay next row...okay next row is a decrease round surely the lovely striping will return"

Here's the sleeve in question:



See that lovely C-shaped pool? Now that I see a photo of it in the light of day, ripping it out seems like the only answer. *sigh*

I did find a yarn store while we were at Cocoa Beach. The store also sold needlepoint and tatting supplies so the yarn selection was not what I am used to at my two LYSs. But I did find some Wildefoote to make socks for my daughter and Mission Falls cotton for baby hats.



Here is the first hat:



I used the Children's Cotton Hats pattern from "Last Minute Knitted Gifts" for the most part. I did omit the eyelet round and add some ribbing. The 2nd hat will use this blue in its stripes.

Some new projects...

Okay so I was flipping through my blog and noticed a pattern - most of the time I post only when I have a FO. And considering how infrequently I actually finish something that makes me an occasional blogger.

I had a birthday a few weeks back and got a few knitting-related presents. First off, my husband and the kids got me a yarn winder and swift! The yarn winder is the blue and white one that most places carry and the swift is made of wood. I spent the next week sneaking upstairs to rewind the leftovers from my previous projects. I also received a book - Knit Scarves! - from my sister and there are several scarves that will make nice future projects!

But I have been doing a lot of knitting lately on a new endeavor - my first top-down sweater! I'm knitting my son the Knitting Pure and Simple Children's Tunic.



He requested it in the yarn used in the picture (Lorna's Laces Seaside) so I placed my first Jimmy Bean's Wool order. I HIGHLY recommend them! I ordered late Monday night, got a confirmation email 30 minutes later, a shipped notification the next day and the yarn was in my mailbox on Friday!

Anyhow, I am in serious love with the topdown construction. I love that there's no seaming. I love that the yoke increases form beautiful 'seam' lines at the front and back of each shoulder. I love that my son could try on the sweater the other day so I knew the sizing was good.

But just as I am in love with topdown I am giving another seamless construction design a shot - a tank top knit in the round starting at the bottom. It's the Lutea Lace Shoulder Shell from IK Summer 2007.



I'm swatching Tahki Cotton Classic in a lavender shade right now but I'm unsure how to handle the shrink/stretch factor of cotton. Since it's mercerized cotton, does it behave the same? I'm definitely going to have to machine wash and dry the swatch to figure out the right size.

Warm Fuzzies Scarf

I love FO time :) I think that makes me more of a product knitter than a process knitter. I mean, I absolutely love to knit, it's relaxing and I enjoy it, but I love the feeling of accomplishing. And I especially love that feeling when the knitted object is a birthday present.

I wanted to make my friend Jenny a scarf and knew a couple of things about said scarf right from the start. First of all Jenny loves red, more specifically blue-red tones as opposed to yellow-reds. Second, she really likes great classic design with a little preppiness thrown in so I thought a cable-knit scarf would be perfect.

So DS and I made a pilgrimage to the LYS where I found an amazingly soft angora/merino wool blend - Elsebeth Lavold Angora in Cherry Red.

Next up was the pattern. I tried the Irish Hiking Scarf which I have made before but it just wasn't working for the yarn so I frogged. Then I tried the Reversible Cable-Knit Scarf from Lion Brand but again, a no go.

I finally found what I wanted while flipping through SnB Nation. I noticed the Warm Fuzzies scarf and the fact that the yarn used was very similar to my yarn so I cast on and it looked great!

The pattern is a mock-cable rib so you don't even use a cable needle, you just knit the 2nd stitch first and then the 1st stitch.

I also really liked that the pattern is reversible - the WS is a 2x1 rib. I used this as continental knitting practice time. I've read and heard that ribbing and seed stitch are WAY faster and easier if you knit continental so I gave it a shot. Those rows totally flew by, it was amazing. I knit them as fast as if I'd knit in my usual English way but without the frustration of moving the yarn back and forth.

Here's the finished product complete with fringe!

GORGEOUS yarns (or, why I haven't blogged recently)

It's hard to do much else when you've got not one but two yarns that are difficult to put down!

First up is this scarf that I'm knitting for my friend for her birthday. I knew I wanted to knit her a cabled red scarf and found this amazing Elsebeth Lavold Angora at the LYS. It's unbelievably soft and the red is a gorgeous vibrant shade. I'm using the Warm Fuzzies scarf pattern from SnB Nation - it's a mock-cable rib that I love because the wrong side is ribbed so it looks good either way. My friend's birthday is in early March but I'm making good progress. The cable part is very simple, just two stitches.




Next up is a sock yarn - Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in Green Mountain Madness. The color is unbelievable - my photo below just doesn't do justice to the amazing shades of green and blue. It feels so soft too.



Since taking this photo I've moved all the stitches onto a circ because I'm giving Magic Loop a shot. After needles falling out TWICE and several "dig through the couch cushions/knitting bag/purse for the missing DPN" I decided to pick up the ML booklet and the new circ.

So far I really like ML - adjusting stitches and needles only twice in a round is definitely making the work go faster. I also like the fact that I can pull the needles through so that all the stitches are on the cable, less chance of dropping any.

So DH and I recently purchased a set of bedroom furniture. It's beautiful and I love that we no longer are cramming clothes into too-small drawers. But one of the big benefits is that one of the old dressers was moved to the guest bedroom - and it was completely empty...until now!!



Yup, that's it, my rather meager yarn stash! I'm not sure that even qualifies under the definition of 'stash'!

Two firsts! Socks and a Felted Bag

I have two FOs to share - the first is my very first completed pair of SOCKS! Woo hoo!



Pattern: Knitting Pure and Simple Beginner's Sock Pattern
Yarn: Plymouth Encore

This was a great newbie sock pattern. It was needle-by-needle instructions which really helped me understand the basic construction of a sock. And the fact that the pattern called for worsted weight yarn was nice too because it went very quickly so I could see what I was doing.

I was so excited about finishing them that I cast on for Jaywalkers but for some reason they were clearly too big so I frogged them and will try a smaller needle size. I did an in-the-round swatch so I'm not sure what happened. I used US3s for the swatch and the first attempt so now I'm going to try my 2s.

Next up, my felted bag! It was the Kitchen Sink Bag from Two Old Bags and I used Cascade 220. I started this bag about a year ago but it kept getting pushed to the back burner. Finally I completed it and felted. But now that I'm looking at the photo I'm realizing it really does need another trip through the washing machine, the stitches are still visible.



Pattern: Kitchen Sink Bag
Yarn: Cascade 220

One last thing, I just want to talk about what a great LYS I have! I go to Wool and Company in Geneva. They have a great selection of yarn - almost every time I see a brand of yarn on the internet or in a magazine that I want to try it turns out they sell it.

So anyhow I stopped in last week with my 2-year-old DD. I know what you're thinking - 2-year-old in a yarn store? But she is well-behaved - there is a crate of books and toys and she will sit and play quietly.

I needed a substitute for a yarn that had been discontinued - DH wants a brown scarf. So I asked the two women working in the front and they started to make numerous suggestions showing me all types of yarns. Then one of the women remembered a yarn that wasn't out yet on the floor that could work and went in back to retrieve 3 balls of it for me. That yarn (Lang Tosca) turned out to be the winner!

I was so grateful for their help - I was able to get what I needed and get out of there quickly!

Men's Rustic Scarf from 'Last Minute Knitted Gifts'

Here it is, the first knitted item for my husband! It's the Men's Rustic Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts done in black and two gray tones. It was a VERY quick knit - started Tuesday night and finished yesterday afternoon. I love the blips of the previous color that show up.

Now Husband would like a brown version. I love the browns used in the book but unfortunately that yarn is discontinued so I'll just have to go to the LYS and figure something else out. I've done some searching on other people's blogs and found where someone did a brick red with two browns, I like that!

Pirate Sweater Completion

Yippee! The pirate sweater is done. My son is wearing it today and he's happy with it :)



Pattern: Pirate Sweater from Zoe Mellor's Adorable Knits for Tots
Yarn: King Cole Smooth DK
State Date: late August 2006
Completed: January 9, 2007

Next up - the Men's Rustic Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts for my husband. It's shown in brown tones but I'm knitting it in black, charcoal gray and heather gray using Lamb's Pride Bulky.

Also - I received money for a gift this Christmas so the other day I took a trip to the yarn store and got...

• The basic sock pattern from Knitting Pure and Simple
• Two sets of DPNs for the sock pattern
• Denise Interchangeable needles and an extra cord

I'm using the Denise needles for the scarf and already they've made life easier. I cast on using a US15 on a long cable and then switched to the US11s the pattern called for. I really like plastic needles - they're lightweight and I feel more in control of the yarn than when I've tried metal.