Two more summer tops!

This weekend I finished both my Tivoli (which is NOT BLUE, but orange) and my Orangina (which is not orange, but blue :-) ). I wore Tivoli today, and it is a great wearable top! I used Cotton Ease in Orangeade. I fall in between the sizes that are currently available, from Grumperina, so I decided to use the smallest size in a bigger gauge. The cap sleeves are perhaps a little on the loose side, but other than that the fit is great! Here is a pic:


Orangina, though is a little on the snug side.... I think I will need to wear an aqua cami underneath it. I really liked this pattern too - the lace pattern was easy to remember, although after a while I lost motivation and the two lace panels seemed to take forever. Of course I WAS using size 3 needles... So much for my pledge to never use anything smaller than 10's! HA! Oh well, now 8's seem really big ;-) I used the Rowan 4-Ply cotton called for in the pattern, but only used 4 balls (not the 6 called for in the pattern). Here are a couple pics. There is a transparency warning for the second one!!




I've also started a second Bardot, this time in Smokey Linen Print. After these last two projects, this top is going really quickly! Here's a progress photo after only 2 days:


And of course I've found a couple new projects to add to my already long list of things I'd love to knit. First there's Eris from girlfromauntie.com, home of the famous Rogue sweater (also on my list of course!) I'm planning on doing the cardigan version in some Cascade 220 from my stash... either in silver spruce green or denim blue heather.

Also I am intrigued by the pattern on the cover of the new Vogue Knitting. I'm often attracted to patterns with unique construction (like Dibs in Ribs) and I'd learn a lot doing this. Plus I have been looking for an excuse to work with some Lorna's Laces in Watercolor. I think I'd do it in the exact colors shown. This one will have to wait for a bit though until the yarn budget can support it (or at least is non-zero).

Lots of Catching up to do!

It's been a long time since my last post! At the end of June we took our trip out to Minnesota and helped to build a new room on Brennan's Gradma's house. It was a lot of fun! But of course it slowed down my knitting. I did finish Bardot before we left, though.

Bardot is from the Rowan Beach Cool collection. I modified the pattern to be knit in the round, so all I had to sew were the sleeves. This is a very wearable top! I love the neckline and the little cap sleeves. I had a panicy moment today when I washed it (yes, I know it says hand wash, but the gentle cycle has worked fine in the past) and had significant shrinkage in the vertical direction. I did manage to pull it back into shape. I hung it upside-down from a skirt hanger and it is currently drying that way. Hopefully, it will be fine.



While in MN, I got some wonderfull handpainted cotton! It is Peru from the Great Adirondack Yarn Co. in colorway Painted Desert. I had such a hard time deciding on a colorway, but I'm very happy with the Painted Desert. This yarn is so soft and doesn't really feel like cotton! Plus is is a heavier weight, and was great for Knitty's W tank. With the leftover, I was able to make Glampyre's One Skein Wonder. I was unsure if I would like the little cap sleeve, so I added about three inches to each sleeve. That ended up being a really lucky guess, since after the ribbed trim, I only had about 5 feet of yarn left!

Here are some pics:



Currently I'm working my way through the second side of Orangina. I completely jumped on the bandwagon with this one. I'm using Rowan 4-ply cotton in Aegean. (Yes, I know.... another blue one!) The lace pattern is easy to remember, but a couple of times I made a mistake and had to rip out a ocuple of rows to fix it. About midway through each side, it just seems to take forever! It makes me remember my initial pledge that I would never do anything that was on needles smaller than size 10! Boy have a I broken that! Here I am using 3's! I'm really hoping to finish this soon, there are a couple more summer things I'd like to do before it gets to be fall! I think the next thing will be Grumperina's Tivoli T. It's amazing how popular that pattern has become in a short time. Every finished Tivoli has looked really great - It seems like another really wearble top. I think I may use some of my cotton ease stash.... but what color? hmmm...

I'm a closet blue addict...

Several people have pointed out that a majority of my knitting has been in blue yarns. I didn't realize how much until I made myself a list:
Ribbon X-back - blues
Clapotis - Lakeview (blues / greens/ purple)
Cannes - blue
Sitcom Chic - blue
Smooch - blue

plus the future projects that I have the yarn for...
Orangina - blue
Chickami - blue
Mariah - teal (does that count?)
Ribbi Cardi - periwinkle

plus two kinds of cotton that are in search of the right tank pattern...
I guess I am a closet blue addict. I don't do it on purpose, I swear!

Wait til I make my Fiery Bolero, though! That will NOT be blue ;-)

it's been a while...

... but I've been busy knitting!
I have a couple more FO's to show off. I finally finished my Sitcom Chic:

I used Cotton Ease in candy blue. It may just be the most wearable thing I've made yet. It was curling pretty badly, but some steam helped it out some.

Also, I whipped up "Smooch" from the Rowan All Season Cotton Collection by Kim Hargreaves in 10 days - and may have set a personal record! I used the All Season Cotton in Seaview, and I have to say it is now on my list of favorite yarns! It's just cozy to work with and to wear, and has a little bounce to it, which makes it nicer to knit with than other cottons. I hope to do a few more items from that collection eventually!

(we're getting boring with the picture location and poses... I'll try to mix it up a bit next time :-) )

I've FINALLY started Audrey from Rowan #35. The instant I saw a finished Audrey online, I knew I needed to make it, but I've been stewing about the color. I had ordered some Calmer in "pool" for it (on sale since the color is discontinued) but just a couple weeks ago I found a bag of "zeal" (also discontinued) on Ebay and won the auction (my first one ever!) Zeal is a deep purple... and anyone that knows me knows the end of this story... :-) Needless to say, Audrey is purple :-) I think I'll use the Pool for the Iris shrug (also in Rowan #35). Frankly, I'd be happy making everything out of Calmer! It's so wonderfully soft, and nice to work with once you get used to the stretchiness. I'm actually getting less hand cramping than usual working with it.

Cannes is complete!

Here is my completed "Cannes" from Rowan's Beach Cool Collection.



I used Rowan Cotton Braid in Matisse, and Cotton Rope in Calypso. The pattern calls for cotton glace worked double, but I couldn't find a color that I liked that worked with the Matisse. The cotton braid was a bit difficult to work with, as it is just a strand of cotton held together with a network of fine threads. It seems like a rather delicate yarn, that may wear rather quickly. The resulting fabric is incredibly soft though! I also really liked working with the cotton rope. It's a nice light, but chunky yarn - and there are some nice simple patterns in Rowan's Cotton Rope Collection that I think I'd like to try. Even with the splitty yarn, this worked up really quickly! (and that's a big bonus!)

Now I need to hunker down and finally finish up my Sitcom Chic. I could really use it at my psych class. The room is always freezing!

Dibs is Done!

I finished Dibs on Ribs 2 days ago, and yesterday had my first true experience with blocking wool.
I think it turned out alright. The lower front ribbed panel that had been puckering significantly seems to have flattened out, and with blocking I was able to get the lower sections to their intended length.

Here's some pics:


When I started this I was SOOO pleased with this color Kureyon. Now I think I need a break from it. I have a bunch more of this color. At this point I'm not sure if it will become a Rosedale sweater or a bunch of booga bags for Christmas gifts. We shall see. Even Remi wanted to get in on the action:


Now I need to decide whether to start something else (one of the bunch of tanks I want to do) or try to polish off something already started. Blaze is moving *really* slowly. I have about 2" done so far. I'm not very proficient with the cables yet, so it takes me forever to do a row. With Sitcom Chic, I'm at the point where I need to do the sleeves. I tried to use DPNs for the first time the other day... it was a mess! I may try the magic loop on them.

Symmetry is highly overrated!

Well, It's been a while since I've posted, but there HAS been knitting going on! I started the Dibs on Ribs sweater the last week of April, and have been addicted! I'm using Noro Kureyon # 139, which I just love. I really like the unique construction of this sweater. I was getting so bored with the long rows of stickinette in my Sitcom Chic, and this was a great diversion.
The lower part of the sweater is worked in two panels, with triangular ribbed insets at the lower front and middle back. You are *supposed* to begin both panels at the same location in the colorway so they are as symmetrical as possible. Well... I was off by a stripe. I'm trying to convince myself that it will be part of it's charm :)
Here are some pictures of the finished lower half, as one long strip, and then assembled:


lower front & back:


Since I took these pictures, I"ve finished the top part of the front, and I'm now working the back (which, unfortunately consists of looooong rows of stockinette with some shaping). I'm worried a bit about the sizing of the whole thing. This is my first sweater out of wool, and I'm hoping blocking will cure a few problems. (It will also be my first *real* experience with blocking!)
For example, I have the correct guage, yet the lower panels are an inch shorter then they should be. Also, the ribbed insert in the bottom of the front puckers quite a bit. (And that's certainly not an area where I'd lke to have extra puckering!)

Misc. FO's

I'm catching up on my FO pictures! We went to a concert last night, and since we've had a random cold snap (last week it was 80!) I had another chance to wear my favorite FO - Clapotis!



And since I was in a picture taking mood, here's a final pic of last month's Booga Bag:



My order of Kureyon that had been lost finally came this weekend, and of course I celebrated by whipping up a Madeline Bag (from Black Sheep Bags)



The kureyon order included some #139 and #40 along with the #100, and now i'm itching to try the Dibs on Ribs Sweater from Interweave Knits. So I'm on a hunt for 2 more balls of #139 in dye lot A...



There's lots of end-of-semester things going on this week, so I'll have to squash the knitting itch for a bit - it can be motivation to get through the week perhaps!