Bonita Progress

I've been making some progress on the Bonita shirt. The Knitpicks shine I'm using is really soft and is easy to work with. The pattern is easy, but I messed it up and had to unravel part of it. I still have to pay attention to it. This is the first pattern I've done from Interweave. It seems like I've been knitting awhile, but looking back at my projects, they all seem to be mostly stockinette. I definately want to make some more complex patterns in the future. I want to make the Lotus Blossom tank from this same issue. The lace is more complicated than this pattern, so I figure I can switch back and forth between them. I ordered some bamboo yarn, so I can see if I want to use that.

The Heat

I've been trying to knit the Bonita shirt from Interweave, but it is so hot here that it's impossible. But so far it's fairly simple. The foldover hem seems like a lot of work for just less than an inch of knitting. I had to redo it twice, because of gauge. I used metal needles and the slippery cotton made it really annoying. Now the only thing I'm worried about is that it's still turning out too big. I don't think I've ever knit with 100% cotton, but I've heard that it's really stretchy. Another shirt that I wanted to knit sometime soon for summer is the Lotus Blossom Tank, from the same Interweave. I don't have anything that is like that, and the lace would be the most complicated that I've knit.

New Shirt on the Horizon

I got some Knitpicks Shine for the summer Interweave Bonita shirt. I really like the lace patterns on it, because it isn't too complex. I don't know how well Shine will last, so I don't want to spend months and months if the yarn doesn't last. The color is actually lighter, it's Wisteria, a light grayish purple. I wish Knitpicks had a lot more color choices, for almost all of their yarns. Another thing I'm going to try is sock knitting. I've heard that it's difficult, so I want to attempt it. I got some sock yarn from Knitpicks a while back, and I really don't like the color or the feel of it, but I guess I'll use that.

Cupcake Finally Done

I finally finished Cupcake, from the Happy Hooker. It probably took me about two weeks, but I stopped for month. I changed some of the waist shaping and the length, because I had a different gauge. Also the sleeves were too wide, so I did double decreases in the center of the sleeve, about two inches before the lace part. It made the sleeve curve and fits my arm a lot better. I'm not sure how the original sleeve was supposed to fit, but mine stuck out really strangely. I used Amazon Nova cotton yarn in Medium brown, which was cheap and easy to use. I think I might try a knitting project with it. Another thing I noticed was that that bottom hem, where the first chain is, is really tight compared to rest of the shirt. Everything else is stretchy, but that part isn't. I think if I made the first chain with a larger hook, it wouldn't be like that. But other than that, I'm happy with how this turned out, especially for my first crocheted piece of clothing. The next thing I want to make is the Unseemly Sweater, but I'll probably wait for a while. I already have to many unfinished projects.

Cupcake Reborn

I decided to finish some UFOs that have been in the back of my closet. I like working on this shirt, which is Cupcake from The Happy Hooker, but I really changed the pattern around. My gauge was different, so all the numbers are changed. The best part was that I didnt' write down all those numbers, I just calculated them when I was crocheting. I wasn't looking forward to doing all that again for the front, since I had no idea what I did. I ended up just measuring the back then estimating. Hopefully it will work out. I plan to also finish Branching Out in the next week or so. I just want to move on to new projects, so I want to get these over with.
I also saw the new Knitty, and am not too excited about it. I haven't got into making socks, and almost all the patterns are socks. I did like the hemp maze hat, the Perdita bracelet, and the Manresa legwarmers. I really like the pattern on the legwarmers, and might just use it for something else, since I don't wear legwarmers much. I wanted to see more tops, but in a way, it might be better that there aren't any. I already have too many patterns that I want to try, and I wanted to try to make my own patterns, so that's probably enough.