Back to some unfinished business

So I spent a couple months working on Knitty’s Yosemite, which I stumbled upon after buying a bunch of Paton’s Silk Bamboo in a rich blue.  I thought the pattern was perfect for me, since I am a teacher and love showing off my wares at work.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get to finish it until after school got out.  It took me about 3 months (maybe a little less) to finish this easy faux-cabled top.  Here’s a rare in progress picture, and the finished product.

After finishing this, I wanted to knit something that didn’t involve the color blue, since it seemed that everything involved blue of some kind in the past year or so.  So, after scooting around on Knit Pick’s $1.99 patterns, I found this tank top that I thought was just precious.

New Works in progress coming soon!

 

Back to the grind

So I spent the majority of the last year working off and on at an orange and blue striped sweater – prfect for any gator fan.  I finally finished it around Easter and freed myself up for more projects!

This one was a simple top down raglan, like the eight million other’s I’ve done.  The yarn I used was Mirasol Tupa, a wonderfully soft Merino/silk yarn.

 

An FO and a UFO

First, I received some awesome vintage yarn from my BFF Tori.  It’s called Glimmer Fluff, and it’s by the now defunct company Columbia-Minerva.  I had 3 skeins of it, and I wanted to make something super wearable, so I made a shrug! 

I was concerned that there wouldn’t be enough yarn for real sleeves, so I made shorter ones.  I based the design off of the Tilted Duster from Interweave Knits.

The buttons are also vintage, and I bought them on Etsy some time ago and have been itching for an excuse to use them.

I am also currently working on Knitty’s Mosey but that might take a while, so don’t hole your breath.

 

WIP: Buttony Sweater

I’m out in Telluride again, working on this Buttony Sweater.  I’m almost done with it actually – currently on the second sleeve.  I’m using Paton’s Rumour yarn in Duberry Heather.  It’s a beautiful colorway and I love the feel – so soft.  I think it’s 85% acrylic and 15% Alpaca.  It sheds a bit which can be annoying though.  Here are some pictures.

 

Finished object

I spent a lot of time here in Telluride knitting, and managed to finish one of my projects.  It’s a purple and maroon top-down raglan with faux-fair-isle (double-knitted) hearts along the yoke.  It’s done in Knit-picks superwash swish worsted.   I also found a knitting store here in telluride – bought some orange and blue Brown Sheep lamb’s pride to knit Matt a Gator hat.  He wants UF on the earflaps, so I’m thinking about doing it in double-knitting just to try something new.

 

WIP – Cropped Cardigan

Here is a partially knit top-down raglan cropped cardigan.  I was working on the collar when I took these pictures.  

 

Inspiration

Love this vest from the new knitty!

 

Bleh

I had to break down and order another skein of the blue yarn that I love so much. For those of you interested, I finally got over my laziness and looked up the name of it – it is a worsted yarn from Uraguay, made form pure merino wool, and it comes from Malabrigo yarns. It retails for about $10-11 a skein. I’m really enjoying working with it – it feels good, not itchy at all, though it does have that kind of dense, moisty feel if you know what I mean. There’s a little bit of a halo, but not too bad. The color I have is called Azul Bolita, but there a many other BEAUTIFUL colors, especially in the kettle-dyed collection (which is the one I’m knitting with now).

Anyway, I finished the body of the cropped cardigan, and realized that the neck is far too low (more of a scoop neck) if I was to simply add a ribbed collar, and I do not have enough yarn left to do any more of a yoke/collar. So I ordered another skein. I will post the WIP and the pattern notes thus far (it’s been a little bit of an adventure!) this afternoon.

My other WIP is either going to be a long tunic-y sweater or a sweater-dress. I haven’t decided. Like the other one, it is also a top down raglan, and I am going to add pockets at the bottom of it, with some type of double-stitch design. I don’t really enjoy intarsia, so I tend to do double stitch more often when I picture-knit, just because it looks good and I don’t end up with all that yarn hanging down. More than one ball at a time is too much for me!

Next up is a project that deserves mention. Quite some time ago, I took a couple months and attempted A pattern called Delphine from a blog I found, and ended up having to change the design around a bit. I made an awful rookie mistake, and now I have a sweater that’s finished but not wearable. I plan on frogging it to the point where I can fix it, and then knitting it back again so it will be awesome.

 

New project

In my last post, I posted some beautiful Merino yarn.  I said that I was making knitty’s Coachella – well I lied.  Frogged the whole thing, because I got inspired.

I am over halfway done with an adorable little cropped cardigan.  It’s a top down raglan, which by the way is by far the easiest way to make a sweater.  I don’t think i’ll ever make a sweater any other way.  Basically, you end up knitting the neck, shoulders and the tops of the sleeves,  then you put the sleeve stitches on hold and continue with the body.  Then, you reattach the sleeves and finish them, then pick up stitches for a collar.  Easy Peasey.

    I’m kind of at a loss as for what to do with the bottom of my little cardigan.  I kind of want to do some type of simple lace pattern, but I haven’t found one I liked.  I considered using the skull and bones lace pattern, but it goes in the opposite direction and it’s a little long for a cropped sweater edge.

Suggestions are welcome!

If my sweater comes out cute, I will totally post the pattern – I’m basically pulling elements from all sorts of things, and some of it is just common sense. 

Since I’m doing a cardigan, I’m gonna need some buttons!   If you’re still living in the dark, check out Etsy.  They have home-made buttons and hand dyed yarns, and it’s a great place to sell your stuff when you’re done knitting it (I mean honestly, how much of what you knit do you actually use?).  Just be sure you’re not making money off of someone else’s pattern!

 

Yarn Porn

I recently bought this beautiful heavy worsted yarn from the local yarn store – I’m really enjoying how it’s knitting up.  So far, I think i am making knitty’s Coachella with it, though it will be a little warm.  I also have some more FO pictures – My So Called Scarf (go ahead, google it) in Lion Brand Landscapes.  Love that yarn, it knits up so pretty. Close up of the stitch pattern  And a felted purse based on someone else’s pattern that I can’t find right now Knit with Cascade, which I wasn’t really a fan of.