I originally thought I was going to post about this sweater, tell you how it was a fail and then frog it. but my flickr friends have changed my mind, so think of this as a "before" post and sometime next month we can talk about the "after".

pattern: owls
yarn: louet riverstone chunky, neptune, 5 hanks
needles: 6mm and 6.5mm circs
date started: 10.31.09
date finished: 11.04.09

for the most part, I ignored the owls sweater because as cute as it was I wasn't sure about the actual owls. would it fit with anything else I wear? and what about the round yoke, I've never knit or worn one? the owl bug hit me once amanda and amanda started talking about knitting it on flickr. all of a sudden I wanted to join in; it was perfect timing since we were driving down to florida, how much more concentrated knitting time could you ask for? I was in the mood for a long sweater I could cuddle up in during the winter. I didn't cast on until we hit virginia and the body was done in no time, at one of the carolinas. the next day I worked on the sleeves while we listened to lemony snicket but took a break once the heat outside was too much.

this knit might have been a little too fast for my own good. as I knit the body I noticed that width didn't look right, and since I wanted a long body I added length after the increases like the pattern states. this just didn't work on me (can a more obvious statement be stated?). this didn't become completely obvious until I was almost done with the yoke. I finished just to finish and then bugged rangsiwan over txt the rest of the night. I basically made myself a heavy carry-on for the flight back. I've left it alone since we got back unsure if it was worth saving or not. that's where my flickr friends come in, all them told me to save it. so I guess I'm saving it. my plan of action is to cut the body below the front short rows and knit down starting the decreases right away. of course if you have another idea I'd love to hear it.

Posted by bitter purl at 09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

pattern: aestlight
yarn:shibui knits sock, sand, 4 hanks
needles: 4mm
date started: 06.29.09
date finished: 10.28.09

poor aestlight. what can I say about it? you know it's a bad sign when it takes you four months to finish a shawl. for a while it seemed the fates were against her and wanted her gone. she lived through some indignities, including traveling the east coast while stuffed in a bag, surviving a puppy mauling, and just plainly being ignored.

I cast on for aestlight as a little knit along with rangsiwan, and amanda. the garter stitch triangle went by super fast and then I hit the lace section. this is where things start to drag. part way through it dobby decided that I should start the lace over, which totally killed my mojo. when I finally tinked and got everything back on my needles I dragged the shawl up to a weekend at kripalu. unfortunately for me, someone took one of the pattern pages as scrap paper! so I basically had to sit in the car and just mentally scream. no matter how much I tried to will it back, the pattern was gone. I asked for it again when I flew down to miami with the same person around labor day. umm they threw it away!

if I'm honest with myself all these setbacks were just excuses. I kept saying that I NEEDED the pattern page because my notes were on it. but I could have easily counted the stitches on the needles to figure out where I was in the lace section. I finally did that a few weeks ago, when the sad looking pile of knits got to me. it turned out I only had a few more rows to do until I got to the edging. the edging was another source of angst, mostly because I was so close to finishing yet so far away. I plowed through it though because I knew I would love this shawl once finished.

and oh how I love it! the garter stitch is so squishy and the merino so soft. I'm glad I chose a neutral colored yarn so I can wear it with more outfits. the only thing I found odd was the amount of yarn I used. I should have used only three hanks according to the pattern, but I definitely had to use a bit of the fourth one. also, my shawl came out bigger than the pattern states; I could have used two blocking boards if I had an extra. I guess my gauge must've gone crazy somewhere in the middle. it's ok, I think this is the perfect size for me.

after four months, aestlight was definitely worth the wait (and tinge of hatred). how about you? do you have any projects that just don't want to be finished?

Posted by bitter purl at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

somehow tom (unintentionally) saved up all of his vacation time for the fall and we've pretty much taken full advantage. we've mostly gone places we can simply drive to and got to step out of our every day lives for a week at a time. one of our trips was a drive up to ithaca since we missed the town and hadn't been there in years. I used the car ride as an excuse to test knit for kirsten.

pattern: miller's hat
yarn: louet riverstone worsted, charcoal, 1 hank and smidgen
needles: 4.5mm and 5mm circs
date started: 10.10.09
date finished: 10.26.09

it was smart of me to start it on the way up, because knitting on the cayuga wine trail was, shall we say, dangerous. I followed the pattern exactly and loved every minute of it. I don't know if the herringbone or the cables was my favorite section. the only snag I had was running out of yarn as I reached the decreases. you need just a little more than one hank of the riverstone to complete the hat and the garter stitch edging.

when I took these photos I hadn't blocked the hat yet. I think I was too excited to be done and basically wove in the ends and wore it. it's taking a nice warm bath now, which I hope helps the slouch department. I really want the back to relax and slouch a little more without me having to mess with it too much.

Posted by bitter purl at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

I really hope you all enjoyed the preview for pure knits! posting all the pictures got me all excited for the book all over again. I need to figure out what I have in my stash that will work with some of the patterns. actually, I still need to decide what to start first. stash diving should help. what about you? what do you think you'll knit? what yarn and colors are you planning on using? I would love to hear your ideas!

thank you so much for all your comments last week. I loved reading all of them and I'm so happy so many of you came out of lurkdom. now I have a ton of new blogs to check out.

I used the random generator today and...

the winner is:

andrea! send me your address and I can get the package out to you!

I also found a hank of malabrigo in natural hiding amongst the book stuff. so guess what, we get another winner!

little miss s! surprise! send me your address as well.

Posted by bitter purl at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

tonight brings us to the fourth and final chapter, cables! I didn't realize until now how much bigger this chapter is.

both the scarf and hat in the cameron set are knit in the round with multiple strands of baby alpaca, making them quick knits for the winter. I love that the scarf is basically a big cable you get to wear.

Continue reading "artic cables" »

Posted by bitter purl at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (8)

chapter three features touches of lace to full on lace sweaters. there's a nice range of styles and experience levels for everyone.

I love the easy styling of athena. not to mention the fact that it's knit in silk with a silk mohair trim. it's all about the details for me, like the full fashioned shaping in front, the subtle draping neckline, the little bit of lace at the hem, and the braided belt. it all comes together to make a sophisticated tunic.

Continue reading "wintry lace" »

Posted by bitter purl at 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

I'm sorry I'm a little late on today's post, but I was hit with insomnia last night and I'm really dragging today. hopefully I'll actually make sense!

while chapter one is all about shaping and contrasts, chapter two plays with textures using stitch patterns.

the herringbone and chevron patterns in the pilatus hat and scarf set are set off by the use of two different yarns, grace wool and silk and a merino wool. the sheen of the silk really highlights the "crags" of the pattern.

Continue reading "cool textures" »

Posted by bitter purl at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)