It's All Real

My finished Sahara has officially been introduced to the rest of my wardrobe. It's nice and warm which doesn't make good timing for the upcoming summer months, but I'm hoping the opportunity will present itself anyway. Since it took me four months to make this one, I know I won't have a short-sleeve or sleeveless version done in time for the summer. This sweater represents much more to me than just another piece of clothing. It represents my ability to read a pattern and complete a process that it not my own. It's my third sweater and by far the most complicated one I've made. The sizing and shaping worked despite my lack of faith in my choice to make the small. I knew in my mind that "technically" it should work but, in my heart, I was still wondering if it "would" work. I'm glad that this is something I can wear as opposed to something I just made for the experience but went horribly wrong. I can show it off and be proud to tell people I hand-knitted it.

On to the next project...A recycled silk shawl.

I've just done a little test to see how the silk looks and feels and what kind of stitch pattern will best suit the yarn. I want to make a triangular shawl and show off the unique beauty of the recycled silk. So far this is what I've come up with. It's a drop stitch pattern with increases at the same time. It looks pretty good to me but I want to try it with smaller needles to see how that looks before I go any further. This was done on Size 15 needles. Updates to follow...

Slowly making progress

Today I finished my Horcrux socks!!! They were a really easy knit but I just couldn't get the time to work on them. I used the Anne by Schaefer Yarns which is a superwash wool/mohair/nylon blend with my Knitpicks circulars size 2.5 mm and am very pleased with the way it turned out. It was a little pricey which really didn't bother me until I put them on to walk around in and stepped in some Mac & Cheese left on the floor from lunch. Now that these are finished I can start working on the Twisted Flower socks from Cookie. My friends have already started them and I'm the last hold-out.

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SAHARA

My Sahara sweater is about 75% done. I'm done with the edging on the bottom and just need to put the edging around the neckline and pick up for the sleeves. I read on the Sexy Knitters Club blog that some people are picking up for the neckline first before they do the sleeves and I think I might do that also. I'm a little worried that it's not going to stretch quite far enough to fit over my bust. I don't know what I'm going to do if that's the case but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. I'll be absolutely thrilled if this sweater fits me and I'll totally make another one with short sleeves in a lighter color for summer.

I'm using Berroco Softwist in Midnight Blue for the sweater and Trendsetter Yarns Sunshine in Blueberry Hill for the trim.

I know it takes me a long time to finish things. All I can ask for is a few hours a week to work on my knits. I just can't resist the little faces that beg me to play with them instead. It's way easier to resist house cleaning and laundry.

Lucy Project #1 Complete

The first assignment from my Lucy Project, the Simply Splendid socks, have been completed. They took about 9 days to complete from cast-on. I used Socks that Rock Mediumweight in colorway Chapman Springs, two size 2 circular needles and knit them both at the same time.

I like the way they turned out and if my feet were rounder they would fit great (I had a sizing issue). I wasn't sure why they didn't feel right at first but after going over my notes I made I figured out my mistake. I had received Lucy's Sock Technique DVDs and saw where you were supposed to measure for your ankle measurement. I measured too high on my ankle and it put my ankle measurement at 8.5 inches. If I had measured correctly it would have been 8 inches. So they are not going to be wearable to me the way they are because they are too loose around the ankle and foot. I have two choices - 1) frog them and start over or 2) find someone with really round feet and give them away. It's just too early for me to frog them so I'm just going to wait a few days and see how I feel. The fact that I've spent 9 days on something to just have to rip it out is so harsh right now.

In the meantime, I've started two new projects. The first is the Sahara Sweater. I'm cautiously diving into the pattern because I don't want to overlook something important. The second is the Falling Leaves sock pattern from Knitty. I'm using two size 1 circular needles and Lang Jawoll superwash sock yarn in Lavender. I'm really excited to have new projects on the needles as they are both something I have been waiting to cast-on for. I did finally get my 3 hanks of socks that rock yarn yesterday. Woo hoo! :)

Spiraling out of control

Yesterday I had a little time to myself, so of course, headed to my local yarn shop. I had bought the Sahara pattern from Stitch Diva a couple of weeks ago but hadn't acquired the yarn for it yet. I had searched around for a little while on the internet perusing my options but have not had the guts to drop almost $200 on the Tilli Tomas yarn used in the sample. Yes, it was beautiful, georgeous and completely perfect the way it was made, I'm just not sure if my current skill level warrants that kind of spendage. I might have still bought it if any of the yarn stores I frequented carried it. They had a few of the skeins that I would have used for the trim, but not the Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple. And not in the dark blue I have decided to use for the sweater. I thought that I would see it, feel it, and maybe somehow, justify it to myself. It WAS my 3rd sweater, I kind of understand how it works now. But it didn't matter, because it wasn't available to fondle.

I knew that the nice lady at the yarn shop would be able to help me pick a substitution out that I would still feel good about. The pattern calls for Tilli Tomas Pure and Simple and Tilli Tomas Rock Star. The yarn is just magnificent but...see above. So I decided to go with Berroco Softwist in Midnight Blue and Trendsetter Yarns Sunshine in Blueberry Hill. I think it will still be the beautiful sweater I am envisioning.

I also have completed a little project from Leigh Radford's book Oneskein 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet. I made the Spiral Rib Bag. It came out very cute but it was a little smaller than I wanted it to be. I could have just kept going and made it taller but I only had the one skein of yarn and wasn't sure how much yarn the bottom was going to use. You knit in the round with a 16" circular needle, then bind of the top, then complete the bottom. It was my first experience knitting with such a short circular and was a little uncomfortable at first, but after a little while it got easier. I would have rather used Dpns, but I'm always open to trying new techniques. And I have an enormous amount of needles inherited from my grandmother that I feel I should at least try.