Well, actually, I must confess that it has been a great life this week and accordingly I’ve been able to allot a disprortionate amount of time to knitting! Ribbing section of a sweater, two tank tops and other WIPs later, here is the progress report:

I kicked off the week in uncharateristically selfish fashion by starting on the He Gansey from the No Sheep book for DH:

… but then I got bored with the colour, which was DH’s choice (sorry, DH, I should never have asked your preference…) so I turned my thoughts to the other items posted below… and to colour choices for the Bacardi cardigan from the same book for ME…

… which I will probably start on Monday or Tuesday after I have finished this little dress…

… and also this (which involves no little frogging of the way-too-large boxer shorts)…

Colour me (apart from the grey gansey yarn) obsessed!!! It has been a thoroughly enjoyable and relaxing week (and I did even manage to fit in a few social events and a trip or two) – and I will have great difficulty going back to the office on Monday. But – I’ve got to pay for all this yarn somehow… 😉

Well, thanks to kind people on the Knitty Board responding yesrterday morning to a plea on what to do with some sale yarn”: here is the result!!!

Pattern is the Ribbon X-Back (found on the Knitty webiste at Knitty.com)

Yarn: Rowan Cotton Tape – most of 4 skeins for the x-small – I combined deep pink and purple which is what I had bought on sale

Needle size: 8mm

Time spent – total 5 hours!!

A GREAT summer pattern!

Here it is: based on the Samus pattern at the Knitty website: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall05/PATTsamus.html

Yarn: (body) Super 3 (Kerzner – discontinued – mercerised cotton, aran weight) – 650 g approx; (edging) Newport Pima Cotton by Classic Elite Yarns (mercerised cotton)
Notions: 5mm circular needles; 3.5mm crochet hook

I had committed some kind of sin some months back by knitting a cardigan for DH where I knew I would want to use the same pattern again for myself (see my post on 25 October 2006). So – the challenge was to make sure that the two, seen together, did not look some some cutesy “his n hers” deal. I think I’ve managed, more or less. How?

Some notes:

– when I first saw the pattern (which was knitting in roughly the same orange colour as you see above), my first thought (with no offence to the designer at all) was “Who would knit a gorgeous sweater like this in the colour of a pumpkin”? Answer (with the cold light of 20/20 hindsight): *I* would… at least if I came across a Super 10 like yarn on sale!

– I changed the cable pattern on the bottom from the original, partly in aid of avoiding the “his ‘n hers” syndrome. The pattern I used is located in the fabulous book “Cables Unlimited” by Melissa Leapman.

– the edging choice was torturous and expensive (considering that I spent only $45.00 or so on the yarn for the body). My initial thought was fuschia Super 10, then lime green. I ended up buying two skeins each of fuschia and KELLY green (the latter “by mistake”). I couldn’t find the lime green (one of my favourites) and ended up buying another scarlet coloured skein yesterday. After all that, the Super 10 did not work out well for me because the gauge (DK) was too different. AND I now have spent more on the Super 10 than I did for the original yarn! (probably just my subconscious telling me “Buy and hoard Super 10… buy and hoard Super 10…)

– re. edging: I’m also a bit sad because my ultimate choice, the Classic Elite, did not work well for the i-cord eging specified as there was not enough give and the slip stitches seemed to pop out. I was particularly peeved at this as I had wanted to do a cable I-cord edging. Oh well. I resorted to the handy old crochet needle – at which point I could not find a way to make the edging 100% even. This, I will term a “design feature”.

– there are no fasteners. I will be using this as a spring/summer light jacket and find I don’t do up my other jackets in the spring and summer anyway.

– the sweater has not been properly blocked. This is because I am lazy and impatient and hate blocking. (I must reserve any energies I have for seaming, which I also hate). I did throw the knitted pieces into the wash after finishing and steam-ironed the crocheted edging and trim. I’m sure it would look much better if blocked, but I can’t be bothered.

– the sweater was very fun to knit (as was DHs) and I would highly recommend this pattern for people relatively new to knitting who want to try out a cable pattern for the first time. The one in the actual Samus pattern is quite a bit more intricate than the one I chose, and ultimately looks better with the cardigan… but I’m happy with this one as well and it was quite a bit simpler.

Now, on to the He gansey from No Sheep and to figuring out how to convert some sale yarn (polyamide wide ribbon, Rowan Cotton Tape and Pheonix “soy silk” into cute little tank tops… I don’t know that I have enough in quantity of the latter two nor that I have the mathematical brain required to compute the stitch count for wildly different gauged yarn in the tank top patterns I have… SIGH).

Here is a dress I designed – have not worn often because not 100% happy with it, but good for a first effort at knitting a skirt, I think:

Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece

And here is a photo of a “phony seam” on a sweater knitted in the round…
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece

I wish I had never bought the No Sheep For You book by Amy Singer. Not because I don’t like it – but because I’m having a difficulty getting to work with all the great patterns. And – the stash which I had successfully started to bust is now burgeoning again.

Plus: also I am loving working on a Samus-style cardigan (Knitty website) I’m now facing the dreaded SSS (second sleeve syndrome and just want to start something else.

So – I’m posting my WIP photo of the Samus to re-invigorate myself:

Yarn: Super 3 by Kerzner (discontinued) – purple is for the i-order border and is Newport Pima Cotton (mercerised)

And with all greatest intentions, my plan was first to knit the Bacardi pattern, calling for Super 10, in order to engage in some stash busting – it’s getting to the point otherwise where I could probably open a Super10 store:

….but then I went on-line and bought Rowan cotton for the following two projects:

What’s a girl to do? Good thing I’ve got this week off work… but the danger is that I will never go back! However, no work, no money for more yarn… such a dilemma.

And, on the upside, I just rescued a 3 drawer plastic “file cabinet” from my apartment disposal which will help to contain the stash…

… but on the downside, I still have two bags to sew together and line… (I HATE this part)…

😉

Some info about my recent geeky quest to finding a cheaper substitute for the Rowan Calmer called for in the Morrigan pattern (from No Sheep For You – highly recommended). I had come across Lana Grossa Elastico – like the Calmer, 50g = 160 m. The results from my tension sample tests are in…(pardon the stripes from my balcony railing – my camera works better in natural light). The tangerine colour is the Calmer, the yellow the Elastico. All samples were knitted on bamboo circular needles. The tension sample is taken from Chart R3 of the Morrigan pattern from No Sheep for You – meant to yield a 4″ swatch from 40 sts. and 44 rows.

1. Comparison
The two adjacent samples were knitted on 3.25mm as the pattern calls for. The smaller sample on the top was knitted on 3mm needles.

2. Calmer
This tension sample worked out just about right – 4″ x 4″ approx.

3. Elastico – 3.25mm

When knitted on the same size as the Calmer, this sample worked out to a touch over the right width (4.2″ approx) but quite a bit too long (at over 4.5″)…

4. Elastico – 3mm
… so I tried the Elastico again using the next size down of needles. I got lazy, though, and only finished 1/2 the sample (the row length is 22 rows instead of 44). Results still not 100% – width right this time at 4″ but length still too long (at 2.25″ approx for 1/2 the sample).

You may also notice that the Calmer has knitted more evenly than the Elastico. No doubt part of this is due to my own (lack of) skill :-). However, the difference in quality is quite pronounced in my samples. If anything, the Elastico sample closest to the appropriate tension is the most uneven.

So, for myself, I think I would have to stick with the Calmer. A surer cable knitter than myself might have some luck with the Elastico, though.

A note about the relative characteristics of the yarns: the Calmer was quite a bit “thicker” (read: fluffier) to the feel than the Elastico and also had quite a bit more stretch. I liked working with both equally but they were quite different.

Another note: I felt quite clever with myself by managing to knit part of these samples without using a cable needle! (I did the Calmer sample half and half, and can’t tell the difference between the two parts myself. For the technique, see the new book Cables Untangled by Melissa Leapman).

It’s been a while since I posted. Have been too busy knitting and being depressed with the lack of sun. Now the sun is back… !!!

1. Periwinkle Bag

I need to put in some lining yet…

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Specs:
yarn: Burley Spun – Brown Sheep, one skein
needle size: 10 mm
time to make: 2 hours approx

2. Samus-style cardigan (in progress)

Specs:

Yarn: Super 3 (discontinued) – Kerzner – aran weight mercerised cotton. I plan a border with lime-green Super 3
Inspiration: Samus pattern from knitty.com
Needle Size: 5 mm

3. Tension sample for Morrigan

This is my attempt to see if I can substitute yarns for the gorgeous Morrigan sweater in the new book No Sheep For You by Amy R. Singer. Designer = Jenna Wilson. More to the point, it’s my endeavour to see whether I actually have the guts to try the sweater. This is a sample based on chart R3. Not the colour I would go with… I just had this lying around, which is 1/2 the price of the yarn called for (Rowan Calmer). The tension sample (meant to be 6 inches) is about 1/3 inch too wide. Height was OK.

Specs:
Yarn: Lana Grossa Elastico
Needle Size: 3.25 mm.
Time Spent: er…. don’t ask… 2 hours.

… many months in the knitting (well, actually, only about 3 days in the knitting but spread out over a long time). The pattern is found at masondixonknitting.com.

This is a detail of the LOVELY yarn:

Specs:

Yarn: Fleece Artist Kid Silk 2 ply (70% kid, 30% silk) – most of two skeins (total weight approx. 450 g). Colour is called “blue rainbow”
Needle size: 4 mm (bamboo)
size: small

I loved working with this yarn – and the sweater will be luxurious to wear. For once, am hoping for cold weather tomorrow.

And – the sweater fits as though it were made for me!

😉