Friday, March 8, 2013

Finished Object Friday

Finally, I have finished my Sophia Vent Cable Jacket!  I am very happy with how it turned out.  Many thanks to Chris at ChrisKnits for her advice on how to apply the binding tape.  This pattern starts with stockinette stitch, which as you know is prone to rolling.  Some knitters have started with a row or two of ribbing but I didn't want to have that look.  I bought some binding tape and sewed it on to the edge and it had a lot of flare.  After asking on my blog for advice, Chris knew exactly what I should do.  I had just applied the binding thinking that I was not stretching either.  The trick was to measure the sweater, measure the required amount of binding tape, cut it to fit, and then scrunch the sweater a bit while making the binding fit.  

Believe it or not, I had an extra eight inches the first time!  No wonder it flared.  Many thanks to Chris, who by the way has the greatest stash organization system I have ever seen.







The best thing about this pattern (which is by Debbie Bliss) is the back.  Overall, I'm very pleased with how it fits!  This will probably be the last finished object Friday I have for awhile so I'm glad that it is something I'm proud of.  I felt like this took forever but it was just seven months - felt like two years.  It was one of those things I would start and then have to put down - about five times!  I can wear it a few times before the weather changes.



So check out everyone else's projects at Tami's and Wisdom Begins in Wonder.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Wednesday Work in Progress

A few weeks in a row!  Yeah.  I'm working on a sweater, my design.  I had this idea about a chevron striped pullover.  I haven't had any luck getting good pictures of the stitch pattern.  It is a combination of two different chevron patterns (one with yarn overs and one with yarn in front and back) and a garter stripe.  There are four colors and five sizes of stripes.  I'm really enjoying doing this - no deadlines, no worrying about sizing it four ways.  The yarn is Berroco's Remix, which is a recycled yarn of cotton, silk, nylon and acrylic.  I got the yarn on the yarn crawl this fall and just loved the colors and the feel of it.  This is the back, I'm making it long enough for a tunic but just at the point of shaping the armholes.  I'm going to try to do the sleeves as set in from the top down to match up the stripes.  We shall see in a few weeks how that goes.
I'm still working on hexipuffs at various times and my socks.  For some reason I can't find a picture of those at the moment.  I like the way that the pattern looks but it is not going very quickly.  I might need to change needles.  Last night was our guild meeting and I polished off two more hexipuffs in between taking the minutes. Everything else i was working on is at a difficult place.  Socks are just about at the gusset and the sweater is at the armhole shaping.  I can't do all of those things at a meeting while taking notes, but hexipuffs are perfect for that.


On a sadder note, my first ever pair of socks has bit the dust.  Holes in the heels.  These were made of a superwash sport weight wool - not sock yarn.  I did them in a toe up sock class and they were the socks that convinced me last fall that I could conquer my sock fears.  I'm on my third pair of socks since then - all out of yarn that is actually designed for socks.  I have to admit that I didn't treat these very well - washed them until they were practically felted and also wore them out on the driveway to get the newspaper.  I'm going to save them though because they make me happy to look at them.

Head over to Tami's to check out the works in progress.

Friday, March 1, 2013

FInished Object Friday


I have been lazy on Thursday nights and Friday mornings and haven't gotten this out here.  One of the projects I was working on was ublished in the February - April Issue of Cast On, the Star Flower Cardigan.  The picture on Ravelry has the wrong exposure and they spelled my name wrong, but that is my fault for not catching it in the final review.

This is my first publication in Cast On and I am very excited.  They are wonderful to work with and produce a very high quality educational magazine on a remarkably small budget.


I wore the original one to the Master's Ceremony last June in New Hampshire.  I did it with a ribbon tie and hook and eye close at the waist level.  While it looks like it is a V-neck here, it isn't.  It is a crew neck but it hangs in such a way that it doesn't look like it.  The one for Cast On has shorter sleeves which is also better I think.


It's Friday.  Go check out everyone's great work at Tami's and Wisdom begins in Wonder.  Have a great weekend.