Last Finished Projects

I figured these two projects would be the last of 2007. I actually wanted to finish a pair of Spey Valley socks I'm working on, but I just didn't have enough time. I did finish these two projects, the Puff Sleeved Feminine Cardigan from Fitted Knits, and the quilt. I used about 7 balls of Knit Picks Merino for the sweater and size 6 needles. I lengthened the sweater a little bit. I think I'm going to redo the neck, and make it shorter. But the sweater fits well, and it was a good simple project. The quilt I've been working on is done now. I think I started it in March or April, and then it sat for a while until I put on the back. My sewing machine has a hard time sewing a straight line lately, so the quilting and binding isn't great. I think for my next quilt, I'm going to do a sampler, so I don't have to do the same pattern over and over.
I've been designing a sweater lately, so that's been taking up most of my time. I found a good webpage for calculating decreasing, increasing, and other stuff. It's hard trying to figure out the math equations for some of that stuff. So this makes it a lot easier. For the next year, I want to finish all my single socks, and all the WIP's I've got now. It's starting to be a lot, so I can't start any until they are done. I also want to knit from stash for the whole year, which is definitely possible. I have a couple of projects lined up that will use size 2 or 3 needles, and that alone will take time. I also want to try designing more, doing more crochet, and doing a lace project. I also want to do more artwork. This year, I ended up doing a lot more knitting than anything else. I want to try focusing less on one thing. Well, those are my goals for next year, with knitting from stash being the most important. I will force myself to do that one. I just can't look at sales posted on Knitty or Ravelry, and I should be fine.

Short Sleeved Winter Cardi

I have been working on designing a pattern for a while, so most of my other projects have been put aside. But I was tempted into starting a new one, as a quick project. I started the Short-sleeved Cardigan from Fitted Knits, in Patons Shetland Chunky Tweed. I'm not sure about this yarn, because it has acrylic in it. But I thought a bulky 100% wool sweater wouldn't be useful for more than a month or two in my climate. I just need to make quick, simple projects when I working on more difficult stuff. So far, I added short rows to the back, so it will be a little longer. I've noticed the front always sits too high and the back too low, with the top down raglans. I also didn't want to use the yo increases. I had plans to make some socks as a Christmas present, and ordered yarn in October. But I guess it was on back order, because I still haven't heard anything from the online store. I wanted that particular kind of yarn, then I ran out of time, so even if could choose another yarn, I wouldn't be done in time.
I don't really like to celebrate Christmas anyway. It would be nice, if there weren't the frenzy of buying presents. I like the idea of a winter holiday to celebrate the solstice, and to celebrate with friends and family, but I hate that it only seems to be about a shopping frenzy. A week after Christmas, the same products and sales are still there, and they are coming up with new reasons for us to shop again. Valentine's Day, Easter, etc. It cheapens the whole holiday. I guess I would feel differently if the traditions of Christmas were ones my family had practiced, but we didn't, so I don't associate them with my own life. I only see them in the media, as an advertisement, so I don't relate to it. Other people might see the whole thing differently, and not be so bothered by the media advertisements. I don't like that the media seems to tell us what we should be doing, and we all have to do the same thing, and decorate our houses and everything in the same way. I wish there more regional holidays, where each state or area celebrated a holiday differently, and there was a lot more diversity. That would be really interesting.

Swatching Starsky (but not Hutch)

I started working on Starsky from Knitty, and have been learning how to cable without a needle. I used these directions, and it is so much easier. For some reason, I kept thinking it would be a lot more difficult, and now I wonder why I wasn't doing it sooner. So far the pattern is working, except for the gauge. My gauge seems to be the same, yet it's turning out kind of small. I'm doing the medium size and hoping it to be around 41", but the back is about 19", so I don't know what's happening. I'm going to try washing my swatch and then measuring. I actually swatched this time with two different needles, size 9 and 10, to make sure I got the right gauge. But I must really tighten up my knitting when I do the actual project, or something. Hopefully I won't have to start over and knit the large size. I'm using Cascade Ecological Wool, which I really like. It's soft, but seems like it'll be strong.
I also finished a Waving Lace sock, using Merlin the cat bamboo sock yarn. I like the yarn, but I think I should have used a solid color with this pattern. It is pretty much lost with the bright colors. I don't really want to rip it out, though.

Socks and more socks

I found this page of album covers that is really funny. Some of the outfits remind me of the ones in Stitchy McYarnpant' s book, the pictures of whole families wearing matching hideous sweaters from the seventies. With knitting, I've mostly been working on socks. Except for Rusted Root, which I started in the medium size, and it turned out to be too big, so I had to restart in size small. I noticed though, that there aren't any schematics of the pattern, so it was hard to tell what the actual size would be. The medium is 35" to 38", and the small is 32" to 35", so I figured the medium would fit. Oh well. I actually finished this sock, in Fearless Fibers raspberry, but it is a little too tight. I'm not sure if it will stretch a little after blocking, or I'll have to redo the whole thing. It is Conwy from Nancy Bush's On the Road. The yarn was a little splitty, either with this pattern, or the yarn, I couldn't tell. I used size 2.25 mm (1) needles. I also dyed a batch of Kool aid yarn again, using Lemon Lime, Lemonade, and Tropical Punch. I was originally going to have more yellow, but it started looking too rastafarian, so the Tropical Punch covered up most of the yellow, and even most of the green. That color definitely seems the strongest, since it bleeds into everything next to it, and needs the least amount of Kool aid for the most coverage. Now I'm working on Spey Valley, again from Knitting on the Road, and the second Monkey sock. Then I can start on this Kool Aid yarn.

Mesilla Sans Embroidery

I finished Mesilla, after redoing the neck twice. The first time I didn't pick up enough stitches, so it was way too small. It came out smaller than the sleeves, actually. The second time, I increased stitches in the blue foldover part, so it would lie flat. Otherwise the folded over neck area seemed to curl over and wouldn't stay folded over. I may or may not still put on the embroidery.
I used Mission Falls cotton in Sea for the main color, and Jade, Wintergreen, and Dark Blue for the rest. I really liked using the Mission Falls, since it's really soft. I also got most of the yarn really cheaply on Ebay, otherwise I probably wouldn't have used this brand. The main thing I think I would change is too make it a little longer. Otherwise, it's a really comfortable sweater, and was pretty easy to knit.

Demi is Done

I finished Demi, from Rowan Vintage Knits in January, after about 7 weeks of knitting. I used about 7 skeins of Rowan Yorkshire Tweed in Plum, with hardly anything left over. I used size 8 needles, although I think the yarn might work better with size 7. I didn't want to redo the pattern for a smaller needle size. Then I worked almost exclusively on this project, since I liked it so much. The sweater fits well, although my gauge must have been off, because it came out smaller than the size I knit (medium). It is a little more close fitting than I expected, but seems to work anyway. The main thing I modified was the size of the bobbles. Instead in row 1:I knit into the front, back, and front, of the stitch row 2: turn and purl across the three stitches, row 3: turn and slip 2 stitches together as if to k2tog knit the 3rd stitch and pass the first two stitches over the third. It worked a lot better. In the book I think the bobbles are five stitches and that was too big for me. The hardest part was the construction of the button area at the top shoulder, because I wasn't sure how it was supposed to connect. The button area is knit separately and sewn onto the top shoulder and the back later. This was a good project, because there was a lot of interest during the whole thing. There were a lot of ends to weave because of the button area, but the sweater turned out good, and the yarn gets softer after washing.