Summer time blues

Because nothing makes more sense than knitting a wool blanket in 100 degree Tex-Ass weather.  Yes, another Hemlock Ring Blanket.

A cute little girl sweater from Cleckheaton No. 951 – Design 3 minus the hat.  I have some pink and green leftover so I may knit a pair of Saartje Booties to go with it.  I think the model really makes the sweater.  My daughter has had that monkey (which is really a gorilla but at the time her little three year old mind could not discern between the two) since she was three.  She has aptly named is Monk Monk, and it is a girl.  If you look closely you can tell she’s a girl because her fingernails are painted and she’s wearing lipstick.  Oh and as soon as I finished the sweater she grabbed it and shoved her “monkey” through all the holes and declared that it was a perfect fit (!) for Monk Monk.

As soon as the blanket is finished I will mail them off to the recipient and then hopefully – closure.

Show-Off Ruffle Skirt

Show-Off Ruffle Skirt

Pattern: Can be found in Lace Style

Yarn: 7 balls of Knitpicks Cotlin

Needles: #4 US Knit Pick Options 24″ Circulars

Pattern Notes: Another Kat Coyle creation. I wasn’t impressed by the pictures in the book but every Kat skirt I have ever knit I have loved so I assumed that the Show-Off skirt would be no different and I was correct! I love this skirt! The bobbles started out as fun but after the 5th row they became tedious. I modified the lace and bobbles section by splitting it in half – front/back, so I wouldn’t stress myself out with having to knit 307 stitches at one time, plus I rather like my slits to be on the side. I am a huge fan of brown but after knitting the front half of the lace and bobbles, I wasn’t exactly sold, but after I finished it and added the red ribbon I was definitely sold on the brown. I only completed sevens bobble rows, I also only knit 12 rows after each decrease. Instead of a knit waist tie I just added more red ribbon.

I am not a huge fan of knitting with cotton but this yarn was a cotton and linen blend and I really really like this yarn a lot. I will definitely knit with Cotlin again and this may be my go-to cotton/cotton blend yarn.

Oh woe is me

My show-off ruffle skirt is coming along smoothly or so I thought.  I was into my 5th bobble row before I noticed the difference in spacing between the 3rd and 4th bobble row.  Two rows short.  *sigh*  I didn’t have the heart to rip it back and fix it so I continued and finished the bobble section of the skirt.  Except now I’m working on the second half of the skirt and I’m going back and forth between doing it correctly or doing it to match the first half.  It isn’t entirely noticeable, but darnit….  This is one of those dilemmas in which the desire to have a perfectly made skirt is battling with not wanting to redo all those bobbles.  *%$#@)*

How now brown cow

Brown is the new black.  You heard it here first.  Brown is the redheaded step child of colors.  It doesn’t help that people equate the color of brown with poop….  It is a perfectly lovely color, and usually in its various shades, looks perfectly lovely on all people of different color tones.  Right now I’m going through a brown phase, so you may see a lot of brown colored items coming from me.  Can I just say how much I dislike making bobbles?

Thelma and Liz

Prophetic.  Driving off a cliff.  I don’t exactly hate this finished object, but I don’t exactly love it either.  It was an extremely quick knit, I think it took me maybe four days, five – tops.  The original pattern doesn’t call for any shaping whatsoever and I’m definitely in the camp that believes that shaping makes any knit object look better on a person.  So I did a little waist shaping and a little bust shaping which definitely adds to the appeal of the top.  My main issue has to do with the fit of the top section of the shirt.  I find it to be too short up top, and I’m not exactly thrilled by the fit.  I used Classic Elite Cotton Bamboo which I really liked working with.  I’m not a huge fan of cotton, but with the bamboo, it gives it a shinier look and it definitely gives it a softness and makes it easier to knit with.  I’ll work with it again, for sure and believe it or not, I only used three balls of it to make this top.

Prairie Tunic

Prairie Tunic

Pattern: Available at Knitting Daily. http://shop.interweave.com/Prairie-Tunic-P350C44.aspx

Yarn: Just under two skeins of Buckingham, Bristol Yarn Gallery

Needles: #3 US Inox Express Circulars

Gauge: 6 stitches/per inch

Pattern Notes and Modifications: Where to start? I went into this project with an open mind and tons of knowledge because I did a lot of research from other knitters who had made this top before me, so I was prepared to modify this project as much as possible in order to make it work for my body size. With my calculator in hand and pen and paper I did some quick math. I started with the back and cast on 94 stitches. I followed the pattern until the triangle extension, in which case I repeated the four edge stitch section 11 times, and then again followed the pattern instructions for the rest of the pattern. For the front I cast on 84 stitches and followed the pattern exactly just taking into account the 30 less stitches I originally cast on. Instead of keeping the slits on the sides I decided to sew them up, I like the way it looks a lot better. The length of the top ended up longer than I expected, but overall it works. I love this top a lot, it’s extremely delicate and it looks extremely intricate, but the pattern was so incredibly simple that I might make another one.

Detroit gal at heart

I grew up around the Detroit area, I went to high school in the actual city of Detroit, but more importantly I grew up with the love of hockey and of course being a Detroit gal at heart, my love lies with the Detroit Red Wings. So how awesome is it that they won the Stanley Cup tonight!!! Did I happen to mention the fact that one of the main reasons I fell in love with hockey in the first place was because I totally had a major crush on Chris Osgood? I still do but let’s keep that between us. *blush*

Better Judgment

I have loved the paririe tunic, its simplicity, its beauty, its uniqueness, ever since I first saw it last year. It finally became available through Knitting Daily and I jumped and bought the pattern. After some thought I decided to use KnitPicks Gloss because the gauge and weight was an exact match for the Jaeger Sienna. Unfortunately as I was reading the pattern I realized the smallest size was a 33″ bust. I realize that it’s a tunic and it’s supposed to be a light and free flowly, but 33″ goes beyond free flowly, we’re venturing into “swimming in the garment” territory. So I did a little math and cast on less stitches but with the amazing stretching powers of the lace inserts, even that did not help. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with my original yarn choice so I decided to dig through my stash to see what else I might have that would work. I came across several skeins of Buckingham (Bristol Yarn Gallery) and even though it’s a fingering weight yarn, it knits up at a smaller gauge than the Gloss. With my smaller gauge yarn and my new fangled math, I jumped into the project and quickly fell in love. Every couple of rows I would stretch and pin and measure my progress. I eventually got to the back triangle part before realizing that I had decreased way too many times in the waist and therefore did not have enough stitches to properly decrease in the upper back. I must be growing and maturing because instead of breaking down in tears and swearing and kicking small puppies, I calmly and without fan fair put the project aside, reworked the math and restarted the project. I know some of you must be wondering why I didn’t just rip back to the waist decreases and work from there? There is a logical explanation. I wasn’t happy with the size of the tunic, and despite my better judgment I persevered thinking that I would fix the overall size by just adding more waist decreases not taking into account the fact I had to decrease for the triangle section. I will finish this project if it kills me. I am determined.