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?

Just a teaser....

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

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

Yarn: Loops &Threads Dewdrops

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?

I just want my yarn....

The USPS and I don't seem to be getting along very well. First, I ordered blocking wires and a bag of Elann Adara in Surf from Elann.com. I was really excited about the blocking wires (pins are a pain in the butt to use and I've been knitting more lace and shawls lately), and the Adara is for a sweater vest for my Grandfather for Christmas.

I ordered it, Elann shipped it out quickly, and it travelled really fast. I was so excited when the tracking number listed it as delivered to my apartment- but then I got home and it wasn't there.

My apartment building has a buzzer system. The USPS and the residents have swipe key thingys, and you can buzz up to a resident's phone if you don't live there and want to get let in. I don't have a landline, so mine goes to my cell phone. The day after my package was supposed to be delivered, I recieved a call from the buzzer while I was at work. It was really difficult to understand as the speaker quality on the buzzer is not that great and the man speaking had a heavy accent, but from the gist of the conversation I gathered that the package had been delivered to the wrong building. The call got disconnected, I couldn't call back, and he didn't call back.

I called the USPS the next day- the main 800 number representative was very friendly and apologetic, but the woman they directed me to at the local office kept saying that the delivery confirmation number said that my package had been delivered, and that it was my regular delivery person so she couldn't possibly have delivered it to the wrong apartment. She was very rude.

Finally, the next day, a very battered package was leaning against my door when I got home- my order! I was very excited, and everything inside was great.

Sandrasingh.com is having a special for September- when you spend $50, you get a free surprise skein of yarn. I had been waiting to try to try out their house brand lace weight, and they had Berrocco Ultra Alpaca on sale, and the month was almost over- so I couldn't help but place an order! They shipped it out 45 minutes later (talk about fast service!). I had it shipped to my work address, since I was a little bit concerned about shipping stuff to my apartment again after the last time. According to the USPS, it was delivered yesterday. I do not have my package.

This is getting really frustrating.

Yarn Delivery!

The Dizzy Sheep had a Spinoff on Labor Day weekend. For those of you unfamiliar with the site, it normally offers a sale yarn each day, with $1 shipping. When they do Spinoffs, however, as soon as each deal sells out (or after a certain amount of time), a new deal goes up. And we're talking some pretty good stuff! Some Ravellers bought 8 or 9 orders- I was good and only made two orders, plus bought the Daily Deal the next morning. My yarn finally arrived!

1 skein Berocco Sox Metallic in Acai (Destined to be a Lavalette) :

1 skein Malabrigo Lace in Stonechat (Not sure exactly what this will become):

2 skeins Malabrigo Lace in Stone Blue:

1 skein Dream in Color Baby in Lunar Zazzle (for a Seascape Stole):

Dog time

I had a great time this weekend- I went home to visit my parents and the dogs! This is Napoleon (Po for short), a Miniature Chihuahua who visits very often. When I'm home, he quickly decides I'm his favorite person and follows me around the house (seriously, Po, I promise I can go to the bathroom by myself!)


Poor Po scratched his eye up a bit- they bug out so much that it's really easy for him to do. He looked like this most of Saturday, but looked better by Sunday.

Mia, my lovely white fluffball, is my baby. My parents finally gave into my pleas for a dog when I was in eighth grade, and she's the result. She normally looks happier than this, but she hates having her picture taken.

I didn't get much knitting done because Po demanded my attention all weekend. He's not a puppy anymore, but he still wants to Play Play Play all the time!

My father and I took the "Kids" as we call them collectively, out for a nice walk on Saturday morning. Both of them behaved themselves beautifully.

Later that day, we got to visit Mia's best friend, Emmy, at the park.

Emmy and Po played like crazy.

Mia, on the other hand, prefers to explore by herself.

It was a great weekend, and I am so glad I got my dog time in!

FO: Cabled Mitts

I finished these in August and never really got around to posting them here (Whoops!) I wanted to knit a nice pair of fingerless mitts for my August Color Swap partner- as you can see, the color of the month was Blue (one of my favorites!) I chose a cabled pattern for a little more interest than your basic, stockinette or ribbed mitts. They knit up really quickly, and fit nicely.

Pattern: Valentine Mitts

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease

Colorway: Blue Heather

Needles: US 6 DPNs

The Verdict: I like them! I don't know if I'll be knitting this pattern again (there are so many great fingerless mitt patterns out there, and I'd like to try them all), but I'd call this pair a success.