Greens and blues

This very easy garter stitch shawl is finally finished. I actually was frustrated with the bouclé yarn as the needle tip kept getting caught in the loops of the bouclé. It would then be a tug of war until I realised I had to give in and reinsert the needle more carefully. Of course, the rows keep getting longer, so towards the end it felt like that never ending project. I love the colourway on this one; it's called Rainforest and the yarn is by the wonderful Canadian company Fleece Artist. The yarn is incredibly soft and will be a very warm shawl for a winter evening in front of the TV.

Greensleeves

Not much to look at right now, but this is a long rectangular piece of green variegated bamboo knitted with a strand of dark forest green mohair. It is softer than the proverbial baby's behind. When complete, this will be one of the shawl-sweaters with long sleeves - the armholes are being held in place by the waste yarn. I am totally in love with the colour and the feel of this sweater. It is so luxurious. Knitted on an LK 150 at SS 4, the gauge is good and big for a light, airy feel.



Sadly, the *(&%#$! tension swatch lied on this one. This is the grey and black cabled sweater from Vogue. The back is complete and I have done some on the front band - which is what tipped me off that the gauge might be off. The cables and width of this piece look considerably smaller than in the photo. I haven't done actually checked the back gauge against the pattern yet, but it looks like I might have to frog the back and start over with larger needles. Harumph. I have put it to the side for the moment and working on completing a few bits and pieces. I'm going to try and get back to this one by the weekend. Keep fingers crossed that I might be able to work with the back as it stands...

New school year, new sweater

The knitting on this little multi-coloured sweater is all done, the sewing up complete, the ends worked in... and it is too small for the recipient!!!! So I have had to take out the cuffs and am going to add a few inches to the sleeve length. This won't take too long, but it is frustrating to have a project complete and then to have to take it apart again. This project has already seen repeated revisions, and one more change is almost more than I bear. I am not best satisfied with this sweater in any case. The variegated yarn is too orange for the purple and pink. However, the recipient loves it, so that is the main thing. She is going to help me pick out some buttons, then it will be her back to school sweater.
Here is the sweater I have started for myself. I have had the yarn for ages, and it has been on my Ravelry projects page since January, but I had to wait for the Ravelympics, and complete several hanging-on WIPs, before I felt caught up enough that I could cast on this one. The gauge is fairly big, so it should knit up fairly quickly, but the sewing up on it is supposed to be fairly challenging. We'll see!

Half baked

This is the shawl that didn't make it over the finish line. At about 50% done, it still has a long way to go. It's warm and cozy for the cold weather we have had the last two days!

Ravelympics rock!

Well, I have successfully finished three out of my four Ravelympic projects. This one I had some challenges with sewing it up. At the cast off shoulder edge, the eyes open up quite dramatically, and I had two wavy bumps in the shoulder seam the first side when I had finished sewing it up. I looked at it, contemplated options, discussed with knitting friends, and then emailed the designer - Norah Gaughan. Norah suggested that sewing them up firmly would work, as the weight of the garment would pull the seam straight. What I had sewn on the first shoulder didn't look like it would straighten out, but I thought about possibly drawing the eye together by catching only the knit stitches in the seam and pulling them up taut. That seems to have worked, although there is still a bit of a wave to the shoulder. In any case, I am very grateful to Norah for her suggestions and support.

One last project, the Fleece Artist shawl, is still on the needles. I doubt very much it will make the finish line before the deadline - which is roughly 9:00 am tomorrow morning. I have no intention of pulling an all nighter just to finish a shawl!!! I am still happy about how much I have completed though. The shawl, though not complete, has progressed a lot since the start of the Ravelympics, so all is not lost.

Sprint to the finish line

Love the colour of this sweater, love the design... not so happy about the fit. I may have mentioned that I made the mistake of not reading the yarn indications on the pattern carefully enough. Debbie Bliss designed this pattern to be oversized anyway, and then wrote the instructions even larger because she was using Rowan Denim yarn and she allowed for 20% shrinkage on the final garment. Because I was knitting to the measurements, without thinking about this shrinkage factor, I have successfully created a beautiful garment that is about 6 sizes too large for the boyo. I should really rip it out, take about six inches off the length and off the sleeves, and redo the neckline. However, he will grow. We know that. He has been doing that successfully for 11 1/2 years...













Two out of four Ravelympic projects complete. The white sister sweater is ready for sewing up, and the shawl is coming along, albeit slowly. It looks like three will be complete, and possibly (fingers crossed everyone!) four!

WIPS wrestling

Well, here is one finished object in the WIPS wrestling event for the Ravelympics! A member of Ravelry, in a tip of the hat to the Yarn Harlot, has established the Ravelympics. The idea is that you begin and complete a project during the Beijing games. However, the organizers were brilliant and also established an event wherein you could complete some of those languishing projects that have been cluttering up the work basket forever! This was perfect for me. I have entered four objects in this category: The Backyard Leaves scarf (shown above), the sister sweater (for sister's 50th birthday in March), the Stewart sweater (just needs to be sewn up!), and the Fleece Artist shawl. I have high hopes for all but the shawl. It is not a project I am enjoying working on - the needles keep getting caught in the loopy ends of the yarn. It's a very boring knit, too; straight garter stitch, with an increase at the beginning of each row.

In any case! I can excitedly jump up and down for the completion of the first WIP. This scarf was an easy knit, even though I had to concentrate on the chart a bit. The only thing I don't like, and this has been mentioned by other Ravelers, is the join at the centre back. The instructions say to knit two halves, then sew them together. Others have complained that the cast on edge is too tight, that it is hard to join them together. In fact, the problem is not that the edge is too tight, it is that there are fewer stitches here than in anywhere else in the scarf. I did a provisional cast on, then picked up the provisional cast on, plus a few more, and started knitting in the other direction once I had one side if the scarf complete. If I were to make this again, I would increase the number of stitches at the second cast on (you knit two rows, then cast on additional stitches). I would also see if it were possible to do a provisional cast on at that point, as well, so you would have two cast on edges to pick up from, and then a very small seam between, where the two extra rows met. Sounds confusing? You sort of have to know how the pattern is established...