One done, 12 to go!

Pattern Name: Julissa (scoop neck version)

Yarn Used: Madeline Tosh Vintage in tart

Modifications made: none

This was do much fun to knit, and I'm stoked about wearing it today. I finished it last night, and will wear it even though it's not properly blocked. Who cares ... It looks pretty good!

No frump here*

Sorry for the blurry pic.  But look!

I was at a weekend retreat with my spinning & weaving guild, and was able to make a ton of progress on Julissa. Actually, I made even more progress since this photo was taken on Saturday afternoon.

We had such a wonderful weekend. It was the first time we had this kind of retreat. There were 7 of us, and there was no agenda -- it was just a time for us to work on projects (I took a bunch of unfinished knitting projects but only worked on two of them!), chat, and get to know each other better. It was fun to share advice on other people's projects, too.  It's really neat to have a problem and have the benefit of the collective wisdom of the group to help you along.

There was another guild from northwest Ohio who was having a retreat over the weekend too, and they were very near where we were. So on Saturday night, we went over to their group to meet each other, knit, spin and drink wine :-)  Their weekend was a bit more structured than ours was, in that they were all learning various dyeing techniques. I really like the loosey-goosey way ours was set up.  We spent some time on Saturday exploring a couple of the local antique shops, and some of us visited the Thomas Edison Birthplace Museum (I skipped that in favor of more knitting). We shared the meal prep, and let me tell ya, these women made some great stuff.  I'm a little afraid to get on the scale after all the great food we had!

I hope I can finish this one pretty soon, now that the body is mostly done. I haven't yet decided whether to go with short cap sleeves or elbow-length sleeves. But either way will be fine, and will very likely depend on how much yarn is left after the body is finished.  Full-length sleeves are out of the question, though ... I think they will increase the "frump factor" which I don't want!

But now, I think I'll settle in with a bit more knitting before bed.

G'night!

* in 2011 I knitted a sweater that I really liked. One morning I put it on and the Mr said "Don't wear that." I asked him why and he goes, "It makes you look frumpy. You're not frumpy, you're hot, so don't wear that sweater." So this is my first attempt at knitting sweaters with absolutely NO frump factor!

2013 sweaters ... what's next?

No photos this time, because I'm not far enough along yet to show any real progress. But I'm cruising along on Julissa (Ravelry link!). Over the weekend I finished the raglan shaping, cast on stitches for the front, joined to knit in the round and have already started the waist shaping area.  I wonder if I can get this done by the end of January .... Which makes me think about which sweater to start next.

I pre-ordered Cooperative Press's Fresh Designs: Sweaters  book shortly before it was published, and man, I want to knit just about everything in there.  Right after I got my copies (yup, I bought one print copy and one digital copy), I went straight to Smith's and bought enough Malabrigo Rios yarn for this sweater:

It's got everything -- hood, pockets, extra long cuffs (optional), a figure-friendly silhouette. I can't WAIT to knit this one.  In a gorgeous blue color called Azul Profundo. See?

I will cast on this sweater in February, whether Julissa is finished or not. Because it will truly be "Everything Nice" -- and who doesn't need a little burst of color to get through winter in Ohio?

It's way past bedtime, folks.

~mz

Playing catch-up

In August, I finally got around to finishing February Lady.  And I got to wear her in August too. The building where I work is plain frigid in the summer, to the point where having a wool sweater on hand is a pretty great idea. Here is an awful shot of me wearing it:

And one that I took as it was blocking.  Looks pretty dang good, eh?

And my favorite part, the buttons that I bought 2 years ago at the Great Lakes Fiber Show. I wish I could get my hands on more of them!

And just for fun, a candid mug shot that I snapped when I wore it again recently:

Next up: the sweater that I started knitting for Eric last year. This is me modeling it as soon as it came off the needles. February Lady snuck in on the pic, too: 

And one more as it was blocking. 

Luckily he loves it.  But hopefully he will let me borrow it sometimes :-)

Beautiful sunset

Great way to wrap up an awesome day.

First one ... DONE!

She's beautiful, right?

This is my first completed sweater of 2012 -- FINALLY!!! It's called "Paddle" and it's by Classic Elite Yarns -- you can buy the pattern from your local yarn shop or this link. I had a lot of fun knitting this, and was really proud to wear it last week.  People said that it looked like a store-bought shirt! It took me close to 8 weeks to knit it ... not because it's hard but because life gets in the way sometimes, despite our best intentions.  My trusty dress form, Tippy, models it beautifully, doesn't she?

On to #2!

I'm still knitting!

See? Here's proof:

That is the TGV (High Speed Knitting) shawl from Ravelry. I started that one on Easter Sunday and finished on the following Saturday. Clearly the speediest knit of the year so far, and very satisfying.

The 12 Sweaters in 2012 (Rav link!) is still moving along, and I currently have 3 sweaters on the needles right now.  The one I was knitting for hubs, which then became mine, has been sent to the frog pond for myriad reasons. Let's just pretend that never happened, shall we?  Currently I'm working ever so slowly on:

• Kurasun Vest: The back piece went fairly quickly but as I was working the left front, I realized I didn't care for how it was turning out and frogged it.  The plan is to add a few extra stitches on each edge so that the hearts won't get cut off with the arm hole shaping.
• February Lady Sweater: I'm FINALLY close to finishing the yoke, putting the sleeve stitches on waste yarn and knitting down the body. This one took a while to determine the gauge, and figure out which size to knit based on my gauge. I think I'm finally on the right track. I am making a few modifications to this sweater to make it a bit less "swingy," and will also shorten the sleeves and add a neat button tab element.  I'm using these buttons that I got from the Great Lakes Fiber Show in 2010. 
• Paddle: This cute tee is a knitalong at my LYS.  It'll be a nice summer top, and if I can manage to make quick progress on it then maybe I can wear it to the above-mentioned fiber show next month ... ?  

Yesterday I also started another TGV shawl in purple Alpaca Sox yarn from Classic Elite.  I found out that Kathy, a friend and former coworker of mine, passed away a few days ago. Her memorial service is next Sunday afternoon, and it was requested that attendees wear "casual purple" dress (purple was her favorite color).  I picked up this lovely soft yarn at my LYS yesterday. If I knit fast enough then I'd like to wear it to the memorial, but mostly to  send healing and comforting thoughts to her family with every stitch.  The yarn is warm, the color is like a jewel, and the knitting will be easy-going and fun, just like Kathy's personality. 

Now that caffeine and breakfast have been consumed, it's time to get out my knitting and make progress on *something* today.

Happy Sunday to you!

IMAG0317.jpg

IMAG0317.jpg, a photo by mzundercover on Flickr.

IMAG0317.jpg

There's nothing like starting over

Remember that sweater that I was knitting for my husband?  Well ... I've had to start over.  Completely. From. Scratch.  Essentially, even though I begged and pleaded for him to try it on before I got too far along, he kept saying, "Nah, it'll be fine, just keep going."  Over the holidays I got up past the armholes and MADE him try it on.  Know what he said?  "Um, I'd like it a little bigger."  GAH!  So instead of frogging what I had, I just cut the yarn and started over.  This time I am using slightly bigger needles and knitting the next size up.  That should give him PLENTY of ease since he's a guy that fully believes in layering (it's not uncommon for him to wear like 4 shirts at a time!).  I'm making decent progress, though, even though I may not be completely finished by the end of the month.  With a vacation day today and a holiday on Monday, I foresee plenty of quality knitting time in my very near future!

2012 knitting plans/goals

Once upon a time, I decided to essentially quit making New Year's resolutions, and make plans instead.  This applies to the various aspects of my life ... personal, professional and crafty.  So I thought I'd write down my current knitting and spinning plans for the coming year.

• Knit 12 sweaters
• Start the Sheep Heid tam on 1/1/12
• Spin all of the Gomez fiber (the wool which is English Leicester x Border Leicester is from a sheep named Gomez)
• Knit the Gomez yarn into a sweater -- not sure which one yet
• Finish that "Block O" blanket for my new niece or nephew, who's due to arrive at the end of July.

Quite an ambitious list, actually.  12 sweaters will be a challenge in itself, for sure.  But first, it's time to pull my husband's sweater out of "time out" and see what needs to be done to fix the gauge problem.

Happy New Year, everyone!