Saturday, October 30, 2010

WIP Round-up

The Bark N Knit blog came up with the idea of posting about all of our WIPs, and I thought it sounded like a great idea! So…what am I working on now? I have a bunch of WIPs:

Actively Being Knit:

1.


Pattern: 26-5 Cotton Neat Vest

Yarn: Elann Adara

Colorway: Surf

Needles: US 7

Knit for: My Grandfather, for Christmas

Progress: This one will be for my Grandfather for Christmas. I had to modify the pattern a little bit- I could not get gauge (size 7 was too small, size 8 was too big), so it took some effort to figure out how many stitches I had to cast on to get the right size with the size 7 needles that I thought the swatch looked best in (95 looks like it might be the magic number!). I'm working on the endless stockinette of the body right now; when I get to the armpits and the neck shaping, I'll have to figure out how the increased stitch count will affect those decreases.

2.

Pattern: Strangling Vines Lace Scarf

Yarn: Classic Elite Alpaca Sox

Needles: US 10

Knit For: My Aunt, for Christmas

Progress: I'm only a few inches into this, but I already have the pattern memorized- each repeat is 4 rows, only two of which have a pattern (and a simple one at that!) It's working up very pretty and soft.

3.

Pattern: Back to School U-Neck Vest

Yarn: Cascade 220 Quatro

Knit For: Me

Progress: I got the yarn in a Destash, and realized that it was a perfect match for this sweater, which I've been wanting to knit for awhile I'm a few inches into this- it seems to be a nice, simple knit and I'm really enjoying it. I love the way it's working up, but I'm a little concerned it will be too green for me!

4.

Pattern: Fall Breeze Shawl

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft

Colorway:

Needles: US 8

Knit For: My Mother, for Christmas

Progress: I'm about half-way done with this. Quite honestly, it's boring- the pretty lace edging is separated by a few feet of plain, boring stockinette. Now, I like having some stockinette projects on the needle- they make good travelling knitting when I'm going somewhere that I can't give my knitting full attention. However, it's getting to big and bulky to be easily transportable. It's a Christmas gift for my mother, though, so there's my deadline.

5.

Pattern: Birthday Cowl

Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted

Colorway: SFO Sky

Needles: US 6

Knit for: Me

Progress: I'm about five inches into the cowl, and the pattern suggests knitting about 9. I love working with Malabrigo- it's so soft! This pattern is so perfect for the yarn, too- the swirl really stands out against the rest of the cowl because the stitches seem to go in a slightly different direction, which really stands out with the yarn coloring!

6.

Pattern: Annas Shawl

Yarn: Knitpicks Comfy Sport

Color: Cashew

Needles: US 6, US 4

Knit For: My Grandmother, for Christmas

Progress: I'm knitting this for my Grandmother for Christmas, so it had better be done by then! I've finished the body, but every time I try the sawtooth edging, I mess up, have to rip it out, and get frustrated. I plan on blocking out some time to sit down and work on it, and see if maybe I can get the hang of it. If not, I'll just choose a different edging- not a huge deal.


Just Need Finishing:

7.

Pattern: Tongues of Fire

Yarn: Santa Fe Aslan Trends

Colorway: Purple Heart

Needles: US 7

Knit For: Me

Progress: I bought five skeins of yarn for this shawl, and knit until I ran out of yarn. I lost my knitting mojo on it for awhile, but I got it back and finished it off! Now I'm done knitting, but I've been procrastinating about weaving in the ends.

8.

Pattern: Calais Shawl

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids

Colorway: Turquoise

Needles: US 5

Knit for: Me

Progress: I'm done knitting this, but for some reason, I've really been procrastinating on weaving in the ends and blocking it. I'll do it eventually!

9.

Pattern: Crow Prints Shawl

Yarn: Schoppel Wolle Zauberball

Colorway: Blackberry

Needles: US 10

Knit For: Me

Progress: All I need to do is bind off, weave in the ends, and block. I was going to do an extra knit row on this, but then I ran out of yarn during the bind-off, so I had to unravel the last row!


On a Time-Out:

10.

Pattern: Alison Shawl

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca

Colorway: Oceanic Mix

Needles: US 7 and US 10

Knit For: Me

Progress: This shawl is working up fairly pretty, but it's taking a time-out as I play with other projects that caught my eye.

11.

Pattern: Milkweed Shawl

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy

Colorway: Deep Seaflower

Knit For: Me

Needles:

Progress: This shawl was taking me forever, and I was having so much trouble- I was amazed that people considered this an easy, intro-to-knitting pattern. I think the problem is that I was using the written instructions instead of the chart. I will pick it up eventually and finish it, but I needed a time out from it.


I'm almost embarrassed by how many projects I have in progress- almost. After all, I feel like knitting should be fun! If I force myself to work on something that I'm not enjoying, where's the fun in that?

Monday, October 11, 2010

Just a teaser....

Here is some Alpaca goodness I have soaking in my tub...hopefully I'll have some FO Posts for you soon!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

FO: Sparkly Cowl

For the September Montly Color Swap, we got to choose which color to use. I was thrilled to hear that my swap partner loves teal, because it allowed me to use Loops &Threads Dewdrops yarn. It's so sparkly and pretty; I've been dying to make something out of it!


I decided that a cowl was just the thing. I chose the Kunterbunt* pattern because it required the right weight of yarn and was simple enough to really let the yarn show off.


The pattern was great- very easy to understand and knit up really quickly. I was not, on the other hand, thrilled with the yarn. It was really splitty and hard ot knit with. part of it may have been my problem, since i'm not really used to knitting with SuperBulky weight anymore, but I thin that part of it was also the yarn itself. Additionally, I'm not sure that this was the right choice for a next-to-the-neck garment, as some of the sequins ended up the inside, making it kind of scratchy. When I was done, I had to go back and try to poke them through to the outside.
Pattern: Kunterbunt
The Verdict: It worked out okay, and yielded a pretty cowl, but I really cannot see myself using this yarn again.


*Does this name sound dirty to anyone else, or is my mind just in the gutter?