WIP Wednesday 11/14/12

Still going strong on the Tussie Mussie cardigan here- I've finished the lower part of the body.  Just the sleeves, yoke, and button loops to go!  I'm a little bit concerned by how much the fabric seems to want to curl, but I'm hoping that blocking will take care of that.

I hit a minor snag when my Knitpicks Zephyr Acrylic Needles broke again.  Before knitting with the Zephyr Acrylic needles, I never broke knitting needles while actually knitting with them- sure, I've stepped and sat on a few needles, and they've broken, but that's totally my fault.  I feel like knitting needles should be able to hold up to someone actually knitting with them.  I don't think I'm a particularly tight knitter, but this is the second time I've broken one of these needles in the middle of a row.

 Luckily, I had an extra pair of tips on hand, but that doesn't make me any less frustrated with the situation.  While I'm normally a huge fan of Knitpicks products, I don't think I'll be buying these particular tips again.  I'll definitely continue to purchase the Knitpicks Nickle-Plated Needles, though!

WIP Wednesday 11/7/12

This year, I’ve decided to take part in NaKniSweMo.  This is a take-off from NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), in which participants attempt to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November.  NaKniSweMo (National Knit a Sweater Month) challenges participants to knit a sweater in one month (which is about 50,000 stitches, give or take).

I’ve been meaning to knit and finish a sweater forever, but I need a deadline to really get me amped up to actually finishing it.  I’ve chosen to knit the Tussie Mussie sweater for the challenge, a free pattern from Knitty which has been in my queue for just about forever.  I cast on in a medium and it was huge, so I’m now trying again in a size small (and I pretty much always wear a size medium or large, so this feels kind of weird to me!)  I’m several inches along and have begun the waist decreases.  I’ve decided to add a couple of inches in length, as most of the projects on Ravelry either complain about being too short or show a little bit of belly. I’d really like this to be a sweater that I can wear to work, so I need it a bit longer.  I’m also going to knit an extra repeat of the nosegay pattern (the flowery stuff), to compensate for the extra length.

Although it takes me forever to knit the pattern repeat parts of the sweater, that’s really only a small panel, and I zip through the rest of it (which is knit in reverse stockinette), so the knitting is going fairly quickly.  The bobbles really aren’t that hard to do- rather than have to knit a gazillion (okay, more like 6, but still) stitches together like you have to do when making a nupp, the bobbles just require you to turn your work several times.  Time consuming but easy.
Here’s my progress so far:

I’ve also been working on the Solar Flare shawl as a knit-a-long in the 2KnitLitChicks Ravelry group.  The requirements for the knit-a-long were to knit any shawl in a gradient yarn.  There was a pattern designed specifically for this knit-a-long (although you aren’t required to use it!), and I did try to start it- however, it was very poorly written and confusing (I think the designer was rushing to get it done in time, and didn’t have it test-knit).  I realized that I was getting frustrated and not enjoying the knitting at all, so I ripped it out and started this pattern instead.  It’s going wonderfully- so much easier!  I really like the way the lace is knitting up.

To be honest, I’m not entirely sure that I’ll be able to finish both projects this month, but I’m certainly going to try!


What are you working on this week?  Stop by Tami’s Amis’ Work in Progress