… to the proud Canadian she sees in her mirror every day! I managed to complete two tank tops today!

1. Lorelei

Front:

Back:

Specs:

Yarn: Cotton Fleece Berry (2 skeins) and New Age Teal (1 skein)
+ Lang Mille Colori 1 50g skein
Needles: 4 mm Addis and 4 mm bamboo crochet hook
Pattern: Lisa Shobhana Mason in her book “Yarnplay”
Time spent: 6 days approx.

This was great to knit and I really like the finished outcome. It did turn out a bit less formfitting than I wanted… but no huge problem. I stuck to the pattern closely this time… but did a slightly different design on the front and the back, which is why you all get treated to a shot of my butt (just in case you were wondering!) 😉

2. “TTC Tank”

All but the shaped part at the top was knitted during my commute to work (1/2 hour approx)… my first subway knitting project, but not my last! (however, I guess I’ll have to find a simple scarf pattern..). This one, like the Lorelei, had the benefit of being a stashbuster… this one was knitted almost all in the round and the only seaming was the shouders (for which I did a 3-needle bind off instead…)

Yarn: Lana Grossa Elastico (cotton/polyamide)
Needles: 3.25 mm and 3.75 mm takumi bamboo + 3.5 mm crochet hook
Pattern: “4×4 rib tank” by Cabin Fever.

Cheers!

Kristina

PS. the toxic looking cooler in my hand? One word of advice… DON’T SPILL IT. It actually has stained my countertop. SIGH. None of which, of course, stops me from drinking it…

I decided to start creating my own fireworks today… with this wildly coloured Cascade fixation yarn!

Here is my completed Lorelei… not blocked yet, but wanted to post anyway!

Specs in today’s second post (together with pictures of me, perhaps a reason to avoid it… and gaudy looking vodka cooler!)

And this is the new work in progress:

And… these will be future works in progress…

To the left is allhemp 6 by Hemp for Knitting, to the right Sari silk. Thanks to those on the Knitty message Board who suggested washing these. I notice a bit improvement with the hemp in particular… the Sari silk not so much but it still did soften a bit. The hemp is my latest acquisition… and although the red linen in my stash drawer is no doubt feeling very jealous and neglected I will probably be using that one next.

As for the He Gansey… back on the shelp (just for a short while).

Oh, by the way… Happy Canada/Dominion Day!!!

This is the new “TTC tank” I am working on – by Shobhana Mason in her book Yarnplay. However, I’m so happy with the pattern that I am cheating and working on it off the subway as well – started on Monday this past week.

Here’s a couple of shots of how I hope Lorelei looks when she grows up…

Betty’s
Claire – 28 April post

The photography skills of both Betty and Claire are clearly far superior to mine as well!!

And here’s my work in progress – bottom almost done:

I’m using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece for most of it.

… and where is the He Gansey, you might ask? Still in progress. Only the sleeves left to go. Will get back to it today… really, I will!

I went yesterday to the LYS and bought some Hemp for Knitting (allhemp 6) in periwinkle and pumpkin. End goal – yet another T-shirt! (a girl can’t have too many… apparently).

Here are my updates:

(a) the gansey sweater

I’m ready to start the neck shaping now… then the sleeves… no seaming! 😉 Gotta love this pattern. Unfortunately for me, it means I’ve developed a new yarn predilection – Rowan All Seasons Cotton (probably $2million per ball where I live… got this stuff on line at Cucumber Patch but do not wish to develop an online yarn purchase habit…)

Luckily I have some more All Seasons in “sea spray” – for me! Stay tuned…

(b) TTC project #2

After what seems like years, the TTC tank #1 (below) is FINALLY at 14″ – after seeming to hold at 13″ for about 50 rounds. I must confess I cheated and did a bit at home last night. Now I can’t do any more plain knitting without shaping, so time to start a new TTC tank: the Lorelei!

Here’s the beautiful photo that led me to buy the pattern book – linked from the Knittyboard:

Knitting Betty’s Lorelei

…and here’s my swatch:

Too bad it’s not big enough to hide my face:

Using good ol’ Cotton Fleece this time around (from the stash…! Well, more or less…) together with a skein of Lang Mille Colori for the middle panel.

Wish me luck!

Kristina

PS. Smoking is SO glamourous…

Well, I managed to get a bit done on the He Gansey during my holiday – more than expected. It is rather an easy and fast knit and it’s shaping up well (although … well, it’s grey. SIGH).

I managed to get to here:

…on the first day of my trip to Kingston – in 29 degree weather! I was sitting on my mother’s porch and managed to get a decent suntan at the same time.

The rest of the progress happened here today in Toronto:

I’m showing it off because I’m quite proud of how quickly it’s growing! I like working with the Rowan All Seasons – and I particularly like the knitting in the round and the shaping. 😉

Hi all:

I’ve finished the Bacardi (or, as I call it, the Cuba Libre)!

It’s still somewhat damp from steaming last evening, but I couldn’t wait!!

Specs:

Pattern: designer Barbara Gregory, from the book No Sheep for You by Amy Singer
Yarn: Super 10, 6 skeins – #3334, 3456, 3944, 3871, 3428, 3784
Needles: 4mm (addi); 3.75 mm (aero circular)
Size: second smallest (34.5″, I think)

Notes:

– I would recommend this pattern to anyone! The results belie the (relatively easy) knitting of it.
– make sure, however, if you do knit this that you have sufficiently long needles for the border (which is picked up and knit all around). I didn’t, leading to a few dropped stitches and curses!
– This also had the virtue of fitting quite well (pre-blocking). It is, however, quite close fitting on me and I will probably end up using it more as a standalone sweater than a jacket. I hope to post an “action photo” while hanging out at the waterfront this week on holidays (although trust me to finish a cardigan during 30 plus degree weather! SIGH)

Now – off to a week’s break in Kingston/Ottawa and probably very little knitting (although, stupidly enough given the fact that it will be steaming hot, I am taking the He Gansey with me as it is at a very easy stage). I may also get to finish off the TTC tank…

For projects coming up, see below (17 June – and happy belated, Mom!).

Now that I’m almost finished the Bacardi, time to decide what to do next.

Of course, this summer was supposed to be the Summer of Stashbusting… that is, until I visited my two LYSs on payday and shortly thereafter at the beginning of June.

So, what will it be next? Hmmm…

(this one does involve a bit of stashbusting… with the purple Cotton Fleece – which would make me feel very virtuous…)

…or this one…

(the yarn was purchased when I went to pick up the accent colours for Lorelei, above. So much for virtuosity! As a concept, it’s overrated, I think…)

…then there is always this one:

(this may be an accident waiting to happen, as I have heard mixed reviews about the Sari silk and tops. But it’s just so purdy… and the tension is right for the pattern. So, hey.)

… and last but not least, this one:

(which will be my first full attempt at knitting with linen. Couldn’t resist the colour.)

And, of course, there is the He Gansey which I started and about which my ever-patient DH enquires from time to time…

Decisions, decisions!

Happy workweek! (I’m off. Ha ha ha).

kb

PS. Happy birthday, Mom!!! I will start on the Christmas present soon. I promise. Really. And you’ll love it! 😉

Here’s my update on my 2 works in progress:

1. Bacardi cardigan

a.k.a. the moniker I’ve come to know it by – Cuba Libre. Ole!

I am really enjoying how this is working out… I LOVE Super 10!!!

The only hassle is sewing in all the ends – but since I hate weaving in and ignored the instructions to carry the yarns up the side, I have only myself to blame!

This is the main body of the cardigan (mostly knitted Sunday and yesterday). I have started on sleeve #1 and hope to be done sometime this week.

2. TTC tank

For want of a better name (although Citrus Sorbet has come to mind), this is my commuting/work meeting project. 11.5″ and growing. I fell into what I have heard called the “black hole syndrome” – I needed to get to 11 inches to move back up to larger needles and this seemed to take FOREVER. I would keep measuring it and it was as though it never grew. Finally, though, the magic number 11 (inches) arrived. Soon it will be time to start shaping it (armholes and such), at which point I think I must find another project for commuting.

It matched the squirt gun that DH bought to chase the pigeons from the balcony, so I thought I’d pose them together. 😉

Here it is! I loved knitting this and would definitely make another one. The sad look on my face is only me thinking “It’s finished already? sob” 😉

Specs:

Yarn = Mission Falls 1824 Cotton
needle sizes = 4.0 mm and 4.5 mm
start date = 3 June 2007
end date = 7 June 2007

The Mission Falls was nice to work with – the resulting fabric has a pebbley sort of feel to it.

One odd “design feature” – you may see from the picture that one of the skeins appeared to be from a different dyelot. The odd part is that the dyelot was marked as the same on all my skeins. And, funnily enough, I only noticed it when I saw the photograph… it shows up a bit “in person”. Oh well.

I decided to jazz up the pattern a bit by going with a two colour chequerboard motif for the band (rather than the original, which was houndstooth), and to add that pattern to the sleeves as well. The border and neckline is also in chequerboard pattern.

So, off to work. This weekend will probably start on the Spicy Fitted Tee from Fitted Knits.

Cheers!