I was this close to completing a sweater this month! unfortunately work and cooking for thanksgiving got in the way of that personal goal of mine. I didn't end up with any progress shots, which is unusual for me, but I think this time I just wanted to knit without thinking about. rather, I worked on this sweater when I needed a pause, a time to think about other things. it's pure luxury to have cashmere sitting on your desk during those breaks.

I bound off the collar last night with almost no yarn to spare. now I just need to find some time to block and seam this baby, which is always my downfall. I really can't wait to wear it around this winter though so I know I'll stay motivated and get it done this month.

I already started another project though, this time for my brother. he's been asking for a scarf for the last year and I finally decided it was time to cast on for it. my only directions were 1) it had to have red in it 2) not be a solid and 3)he likes stripes.

I've had this yarntini sportweight in 'luxury' for over a year I believe. it was during that "I want to knit knee highs" phase and I thought it would be soooo funny to knit burberry socks. jess sent the perfect yarn my way but I couldn't bear to break open the little bags she sent them in (I seem to have this problem with a lot of yarns in my stash). my brother needed a scarf though (he lives in chicago!) and this yarn has marinated long enough. after looking through a few of my books last night I decided to go with the mistake rib pattern from lmkg - simple but not boring.

my brother won't be the only one getting a scarf this winter though. I'm being selfish and knitting myself a big ole chunky merino stole. after I saw amy's version a few months ago I knew I had to have one. I started it some time before the wedding, but haven't worked on it since. I even took it with me on our honeymoon, but I've found that I don't like knitting in planes and when you're running around in kauai the last thing you want to do is knit with chunky merino. unfortunately, this will still take the back burner to my brother's scarf but I'm determined to have it done this month as well.

are there any projects you're dying to get off the needles before the new year?

Posted by bitter purl at 09:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

after cooking for two days, eating for what seemed like a week, and being sick for the last few days I thought I'd get back on here and show you a few photos from sensual knits the publisher sent me to post. elsewhere on the internets, there are some photos on the barnes and noble book page and sterling has posted a pattern available for download (scroll down). it's straight out of the book, so you can see what the design of the book is like. another example of the page designs is available here.

steph's top down modern kimono is knit in a dk silk wool blend (kaalund and louisa harding) and has intarsia flowers winding around the body. I still think I broke steph during the tech edits and this is why she went away to germany :)

one of the benefits of being best friends with someone is that you get to sucker them into doing things. enter leah and her fab shawl. I knew I wanted a shawl/scarf that looped in the book (if anyone remembers my olsen twins obsession, raise your hands). after a phone call and some swatching, leah came up with this lace and cable pattern for the kimono angora.

another sucker! friend came through with this sweater. every time I look at this photo, I think of all the im's and emails jo and I sent while trying to figure out its cool construction. jo definitely had the design in her 'mind's eye' so it was fun to be a sounding board for her.

though all of us worked in a time crunch, no one felt it worse than sarah. her yarn took forever to arrive from australia and she had, in a sense, the most knitting to do than anyone else. I still don't know how she did it!

as I sit here under the heat vent, I wish I had sarah's over sized shrug to cuddle in. did I mention it's cashmere? ok, so technically I do have it, and all the other designs, in my possession. but I'm trying to be good here and not wear them around the house. I'll just have to knit my own versions.

this photo kills me because they are meant to be thigh highs and it doesn't show off the cool 'knit seam' in the back. I'll have to send the stockings back to rangsiwan so she can get a proper photo shoot. this would require me to actually remember to mail them. anywho, aren't these so cute!? i mean...sensual!

*as I post this last image, I realize that all but one are blue! I promise the whole book is not blue. I must just be going through a blue period right now, it doesn't help that I'm knitting myself a blue sweater that is always sitting on top of my desk.

Posted by bitter purl at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

I meant to post about what I'm knitting now and all that goodness, but that isn't really important when the mailman (well, dhl guy, but close enough) delivers a little surprise**. the publisher received a few finished copies last week and dropped one in the mail for me so I could take a sneak peak (I'll be getting a few more copies soon!). I've seen this book go from scribbles, to a word doc, to a proof set, and now, finally, a paperback! it was fun looking through the patterns and thinking of all the friends that came together to help out. this was definitely a collective project.

this book also gave me an appreciation for book publishing, in high speed form that is. when illustrations, patterns, edits, and random word docs are flying around amongst 25-30 people, something is bound to 'not translate'. so that correction you mailed in? yeah, it may or may not show up. reading a bio of myself that someone else wrote was, let's say, an odd experience. live and learn I guess.

*apparently the book is out at some barnes and noble's already, though it's slated for a january release. I hope you guys love the designs I chose. I'll try to see if I can post pictures soon.

**I'll also use the "lack of sun for photos" as an excuse, thank you very much

eta: it's officially out on amazon as well!

Posted by bitter purl at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (35)

while I haven't had that much time to knit for myself in the last few months, I did manage to get a few things done during any down time. my goal was to get everything out of my knitting basket by either finally finishing it or frogging it. thankfully, my basket wasn't too full.

the first to go was my lone jaywalker. for some reason I never bothered to knit the second sock, making the first one kinda of pointless. I knew I still wanted something more than just plain stockinette for the yarntini, so I repurposed the yarn into a zig zag scarf from scarf style. now I get to enjoy that merino goodness around my neck. I love the end result, but while knitting I remembered how much I hate knitting scarves!!! (how much? about three exclamations worth)

ah, that poor puffy sleeve blouse from fitted knits. I started it a year ago (I had to search the blog to figure that one out), ran out of yarn, then out of steam, and then I take a craptastic picture of it to commemorate its 'doneness'. sorry stef! I used a lambswool/cashmere/angora blend that I bought from a mill and I've seen some dyers start selling it now. it isn't that impressive in the skein, but once washed the fabric is soft with a slight halo from the angora and cashmere. the only mods I made, that I remember, were getting rid of the lace peplum and just increasing at the same rate as the pattern and lengthening the cardi at the peplum. does needing more yarn than the pattern state count as a mod?!

once I had cleared most of my basket, jess sent me the most wonderful gift! how could one resist some gorgeous hand-dyed pink! and grey silk/cashmere yarn? I debated between a sweater or a scarf/shawl. I knew I wanted something cozy, so the scarf won.

I knew going into it that this was going to get monotonous, but I had a few things on my side. the yarn is in the aran to chunky range, so I knit using 6mm needles and increased till there were about 70 stitches, I knit mindlessly while watching tv, and did I mention how gorgeous this yarn is?! it's unbelievably soft and has a gorgeous sheen, I wear it around the house just to feel the fabric. this is definitely a decadent knit. I finished it before the wedding, hoping to wear it that day but unfortunately it wasn't cool enough that weekend (in october. in the fall.) at least it's finally gotten cold the last couple of weeks so I can wear it all the time and not have people comment (why do people feel they can question my level of coldness at the supermarket? why yes, I am cold!)

Posted by bitter purl at 01:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (20)

to say that the last few months have been unreal would be an understatement. I know it's been quiet around these parts, but I've been around, lurking if you will, between hiring vendors, working on projects, and mostly not cleaning my house. when all that was over with there was THE day and then honeymoon fun! now I'm back and hopefully I can start knitting and sharing again. who knows, maybe I'll even get into some NaKniSweMo action!

Posted by bitter purl at 06:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (40)