If you’re a regular here, you might remember my post about my ill-fated watersock mary jane slippers… After the first slipper disaster, I took a break from slippers altogether, made some baby booties and hats to get my confidence back up, and then I attacked the Twinkle Toe pattern Kristine recommended from Ravelry. The photos on Ravelry are so cute, and I’m using Comfy which is so soft and lovely, what could go wrong? Kelley (and Xena) helped me cast on at craft night last week (I’d never done a provisional cast on before, in fact, until just now I thought it was called a provincial cast on and therefore must be some fancy French way of doing things!), and she showed me how to wrap and turn. She was slightly suspicious of the pattern’s recommendation for size 6 needles, but I printed it out ...

Read more »

I realized last night that I DO have to steek the v-neck because, since I am knitting it in the round, I started my rounds under the left arm. But, if I were to knit to the beginning of the neckline, then turn and knit back, I would end up on different pattern rows in that next row – the front left would be one pattern row ahead of the rest of the sweater. Aaargh! I prefer steeking anyway, but I’m a little worried about the cotton/Modal yarn – I’ll have to sew the steeks really well before I cut. Oh, and I’m doing half raglan, half saddle shoulder shaping. I’m doing raglan decreases until I’ve decreased out two pattern repeats; then I’ll knit even until it’s at the point to take the remaining sleeve repeats across the top of the shoulder as a saddle ...

Read more »

I had been looking for an excuse to try out Comfy ever since I knit up the buttons-and-closures swatches for the cover of the April catalog. It was so soft in my hands, and I loved the resulting fabric (even though I had to do even *more* dreaded seed stitch for the swatches). While I was editing Kelley’s podcast interview with Joan McGowan-Michael, I got to listen to them talking about Joan’s Shaped Lace Tee pattern in Knitting Lingerie Style. Apparently I’m an easily impressionable lady, and their discussion was enough to make me pull out my needles and get to work. I had purchased 9 balls of Comfy in Blackberry when it came out, thinking that I’d make some kind of short-sleeved sweater. The amazing part to me is that I only ended up using just under 5 ...

Read more »

I have a confession to make. I play roller derby. I’ve tried not to let it interfere with my work or knitting, but somehow derby seems to sneak into everything I do. My Ravelry ID is cherry lipsmacker because that’s my roller derby name. But I’d managed to resist the urge to knit roller derby inspired projects. Until now. When Hard Knox announced she was throwing a baby shower for T’Beatcha Senseless, the first girl in our league to retire because she’s having a baby, I knew exactly what I *needed* to knit. I adapted this pattern from Ravelry for hockey skate baby booties and used Bare Superwash Merino instead of black yarn to make the roller skate equivalent. In order to make the skate, I had to: a. learn how to switch between knitting and purling without creating huge holes (AKA yarnovers). Thanks Tina! b. learn how to ...

Read more »

I finally finished my sister’s sweater! All that seed stitch took forever, but it’s finally done and, thankfully, fits her without any weird gaps or bunching. The pattern is Roam from Knitty, and I really liked the shaping that’s hidden in those long chains of slipped stitches that run up the front (and are on the back, too). Yarn: Knit Picks Elegance, in Ash Needles: Nickel Plated Options, US 5 Pattern: Roam, Knitty.com <

Read more »

I finally took a picture, so I can show you my latest lace project – the Myrtle Leaf Shawl from Victorian Lace Today. I am in love with this book, and every time I finish one project from it, I start another. I’m making this shawl nine pattern repeats wide because I prefer wider lace shawls that can wrap around really warmly. There is errata for this pattern, especially the chart, so if you’re making it too, you’ll want to check on that. I have a trip coming up in a few weeks, so I’m saving this project to be my in-flight entertainment. Besides, I’m supposed to be knitting my Apres Surf Hoodie to wear on the trip, so I need to pick up my needles on that project this weekend. Pattern: Myrtle Leaf Shawl from Victorian Lace Today Yarn: Shadow in Campfire, a discontinued color from ...

Read more »

Remember my post on color picking last month? Well, I just finished the hat with the colors I chose. The five colors of Main Line I was considering were Adobo, Harbor, Steel, Cypress, and Oregano. Only 4 would make it into the hat. Ultimately, I eliminated Oregano. Then was the issue of which color would be the main color. At first I went with Steel, but it ended up washing out the other colors, so that I wasn’t getting enough Adobo love, so I ripped it out and changed the main color to Adobo. Here’s a view of the crown: The pattern is one I made up using a spiraling 1 row stripe technique that I wanted to try from Grumperina’s blog. For Christmas I made my husband a Jayne hat with earflaps at his request (any Firefly fans out ...

Read more »

Whew! Now that it looks better, I’ll show it to you…. When I took the photos of my Apres Surf Hoodie on Monday, I placed the body strategically so you couldn’t see the sides because I was embarrassed by how the sides looked. Early on, I had decided that I didn’t want to deal with increasing and decreasing in pattern while I was knitting in the round, so I started at the hem with an extra 8 stitches in stockinette at each side. These stitches got decreased out to the waist, then increased back in to the bust. And, they looked terrible! I’m glad the bottom side sections of stockinette are there because I will use them for the steeks for the side vents, but the side stockinette sections at the bust height were just plain ugly. Soooo, I ...

Read more »