Finished something, finally

Blue penny front
Originally uploaded by thraceknits

Between some late nights at work and playing outside lots, I did actually manage to finish a project.

Pattern

Bad Penny by Stephanie Japel, in size small.

Yarn

Eden knit up on US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 4 (3.5mm) needles.

Although the bamboo fabric is nice and soft, and feels pretty good in the heat of summer, I won't be working with this yarn again. It's really, really splitty, the printed yarn bled considerably when washed (I swatched with the light blue solid), the fabric bloomed more than I expected under the weight of the finished garment and the ribbing also stretched out a bit too much at the bottom.

In spite of all that, I've worn this out in public a couple of times, and it really is nice to wear in hot Utah weather.

Mods

I added some shaping by decreasing at the back once I reached the bust, then added more decreases at the front under the bust. I like how nipping in the back with more decreases improves the fit overall. I then added some increases at the same rate for the front and back for the hips.

At the bottom, after doing a tubular bind off for 1x1 ribbing, I decided I didn't like the way the lace pattern looked, and the bind off edge was a little tight (a common problem with the tubular method). In the pattern as written, the lace is supposed to end about a 1/2 inch from the bottom.

I decided to rip back and move the lace pattern to the bottom of the ribbing instead, and use a k2tog bind off, which is both easier to work loosely and makes a stable edge to finish off the lace.

The ribbed ties and edging on Arisaig are creeping along at glacial pace. I also added a couple of short attention span projects to the mix: an entrelac scarf in Silk Garden and my first pair of socks (toe-up, stockinette mostly). More about all that later.

Updates, lots of updates

Between the demands of work, training and completing my first bicycle century and a recent death in the family, I've had the attention span of a stunned goldfish when it comes to knitting. And yes, I've also been neglecting my blogging duties.

Since I needed some easier knitting, I made Glampyre's One Skein Wonder out 2 skeins of Debbie Bliss Cathay I had the stash.
Other than compensating for a different gauge and making the border ribbing shorter than called for in the pattern (I was running out of yarn), I substituted Open Honeycomb stitch for seed stitch on the cap sleeves. What would I do without stitch dictionaries?

The sleeve details show up better in this photo.
Overall, I think the pattern is cute, easy and customizable. The shrug is a little tight under the arms due to the shortness of the border, but will probably stretch out over time. I also used Elizabeth Zimmermann's stretchy sewn bind-off. Other than being a little splitty, Cathay was actually pretty good to work with and I would use it again.

I also started another summer knit in bamboo yarn, also from the stash.



It's a crappy picture, I know. I'll post a new one soon once I finish the waist ribbing.

Waiting room knitting

It's time for another project spectrum photo, so this is a good time to show the waiting room mittens. I used a basic mitten pattern and leftover yarn.

Basic wool mittens
Originally uploaded by thraceknits.

Yarn diet begets stash management

Whenever the end of February rolls around, the nice people at Costco and American Express reward me for all my hard work swiping plastic the rest of the year. Note: I only advocate responsible use of credit. Anyways, back to the shopping: I spent some of my rebate on this to help with yarn management. Perhaps a jumbo ball winder is overkill, but I like the idea of making really big yarn cakes now and then.

Knitting continues and I'll post pictures soon. In the meanwhile, I'll distract with Dalek sightings on the internets.

Coronet and more

I'm too tired right now to make up a witty (or witless) title. I finished C's hat last week. It's been washed, dried and shaved: this wool fuzzes somewhat with handling and pills after washing, but looks great (at least for now) once the loose bits get removed.

And here's the top.

Pattern

Coronet by Alexandra Virgiel from Knitty winter 2003.

Materials

Two skeins (approximately 77 grams) of Mission Falls 1824 wool in denim on US 7 (4.5 mm) needles at a gauge of about 5 stitches per inch after washing and drying.

Mods

I made the band using a horseshoe cable (same number of rows as the original) and worked a slipped stitch selvedge at each edge of the cable band. The hat was also knit up as a beanie, so I picked up stitches (84 stitches) for the hat body with the right side of the cable band facing out. I used C's most worn knit hat as a guide for diameter (10 inches, 25.4 cm) and depth (8.75 inches, 22.22 cm unstretched).

As you can see from the photo, C is on crutches. There was a snowboarding injury on Saturday involving his board edge and a rocky slope resulting in a fractured kneecap. It's funny, but I figured that I would get the first serious snowboarding injury around here. We spent a total of 10 hours (I'm not exaggerating in the slightest) getting him medical care; enough time for me to finish one mitten minus the thumb and start it's mate (I always have knitting when we go play outside, in case I need a break). I'll post photos later.

In other knitting news, I took the Kilim-style hot pad knitting class at Black Sheep weekend before last, and why not? I've done very little colour work and figured I could benefit from some advanced expertise. The tips I picked up will apply to stranded colour knitting as well.



The hot pad (main colour is Harrisville New England Highland, contrasting colour and backing is Cascade 220) we started as a sampler for a kilim-style mosaic knitted rug turned out fine, although it puckers a little at the sides. I'll have to carry the yarn more loosely next time. Since I did end up buying the rug pattern, I guess I'll have to practice.

The beginnings of a coronet

This hat has been featured twice before on this blog.



C asked me to make him something knitted, and I need an easier project to do when my brain turns to jelly at the end of the day. A couple of skeins of soft superwash wool that I bought last year in Saratoga Springs fit the bill nicely.

Long projects and short

Last week was one of those weeks. I did manage to get the body of Arisaig finished, blocked and seamed, as you can see. The sleeves are coming along: I started the second sleeve with the intention of knitting both at the same time once they've reached the same length.


While going through the stash, I found a single ball of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran which was orphaned at the NPS store, of all places (it was $3 USD, how could I refuse?). So what do you do with 1 skein of this yarn?
OK, that was fast. Do I have enough yarn to continue?

My hands get cold when I'm working on our home office computer.

Knit from your Stash: personal guidelines

Since I need additional incentive to knit the stash back down to manageable levels, I'm adding new rules for myself:

2.d.1 If I fall off the wagon and buy yarn, I will add at least the amount spent on yarn over and above my per-paycheck contribution to my money market account.

6. If I fall off the wagon more than the allowed one time pass, I will add twice the amount spent on yarn above my per-paycheck contribution to my money market account.

As you can see, I've recently made a resolution to save more money. We'll see if I can stick with this until September.