Look what we have here! A finished sweater! I've been meaning to blog about this one, but I just haven't had a chance.

Yarn: Hipknits silk in "barbie pink" (not really, it was custom)
Pattern: Angelica Tunic
Needles: Addi Turbos 5mm, 24" and 4mm, 24" circs
Date Started: 2.18.06
Date Stated to Ignore: 2.27.06 (a new stat I'm starting)
Date Finished: 3.18.06

Soooo this would have been a fast knit really. The last time I even mentioned it all I needed were the sleeves and maybe to redo the bindoff. Easy enough right? Except for some reason I just couldn't get myself to do it. Actually, that's a lie, I know exactly why I didn't touch it. I wanted to knit the sleeves in the round, BUT I didn't have circs long enough to do it. I never made it to the yarn store to get some AND I didn't have any dpn's in the right size either. So there Angelica sat, next to my bed every night mocking and taunting me. Finally she reminded me that I had a wedding shower to go to and nothing to wear. I really didn't feel like shopping, so I had to knit. The wedding shower was on the 18th, I decided on this brilliant idea on the 15th at ohhh 11 at night.

That night I ripped the bindoff and kept going till just before the hip increases. The next day (the 16th) I started knitting the body again and added a few more increases and also about an inch (maybe 1.5") in length. I was finally ready to meet my nemesis, the sleeves. What did I do? I went and finished the neck trim. I picked up all the stitches that night and finished the knitting on the 17th, when all was left to do were the sleeves. I still didn't have any new needles, so I forced myself to use what I already had. I found some 29" Clovers in the right size. OH. MY. GOD! I hate those damn needles. The join makes it impossible to knit in magic loop with ease. I spent most of my time trying to push the stitches up from the cord onto the actual needles. I never want to see those needles again (if you want them, then let me know). Once I decreased enough stitches I switched to my beloved addis and flew through the rest of the sleeve. By dinner time I was done and ready to start on the second sleeve. I ended up going out to dinner, then watching a movie, and maybe knitting a little just before I went to sleep. Not good! I woke up on Saturday morning extra early to get the sleeve done. I still had to weave in all the ends and seam that little bit in the underarm. The wedding shower was at 5 and we still had to get ready and drive an hour and a half to get there. With three shots of espresso in me I worked on the sleeves till a little past noon. I still had the purl ridges to go! We left the house at 1:30 and in the car I finished the sleeve and just started weaving in ends like crazy. At around 3, we got to our family's house and I seamed the underarms and finished weaving anything in. I forgot something important though, the button. At that point I didn't care, it didn't even faze me. I just looked through my boyfriend's house for a pin and used the best one I could find. Needless to say, there's been no blocking of any sort on this sweater.

After all that, what do I think? I think this was a great knit, an easy piece with some really pretty details. I didn't stray from the pattern at all other than adding some length to the body. I love the fit, I went for zero ease totally ignoring this conversation. The hipknits silk is super soft and easy to knit with. It did fuzz on my skirt a little, but I love the drape and feel of it so I forgive it. This was my first time knitting with a 100% silk and I definitely see myself doing it again. I think I will knit this sweater again, but next time in some cotton (totally ripping Illanna off) and without the neck detail. I hate to admit it, but I really liked the way the sweater looked with a more opened neckline (like Katie's). I really don't mind if it draws more attention to my chest (like I can somehow draw attention away from it, hah!), does that make me a slut or something?

Moving on....

Inspired by Leah, I decided to go around my kitchen and find some pinks and red for you. Of course, I had to throw some yarn in the mix. Can't fault me for that!

Sundara sock yarn in Cherry Blossoms

Sundara sock yarn in cirque

And what became of that gorgeous yarn I showed you the other day?

I think I've frogged this sock maybe three or more times. The first time I had the wrong number of stitches and the rest were just because I couldn't decide on a pattern. I really want my pal to be happy with his socks, but at the same time I want to make sure I finish these in time. I finally decided on a simple mock cable stitch, basically a k3 p2 rib but with a little decreasin-increasin action thrown in. I'm already six inches into the foot, but I'm still having second thoughts. What do you think of this pattern?

Posted by bitter purl at 06:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (42)

x-posted

I've kinda been out of the blogging world this week, but I have been knitting behind the scenes if you will. On Friday, I was able to bind off the body on Angelica, which gave me hope to finish this last weekend. But alas the bind off was too tight, so I undid the bind off, added an inch of length and bound off again with bigger needles. Still tight! umm me thinks I need to add some hip increases, oops. Oh well, at least that will be fast. I think I'll work on the sleeves though first and then go back and deal with the body. Nothing like false progress to raise the spirits.

So far this has been a relaxing and enjoyable knit, which I really needed this last week. I'm talking about getting both stitch and row gauge people! The fit ... perfect! And the hipknits silk is soooo soft. It doesn't dry my hands out like other silks or silk-blends have.

Posted by bitter purl at 04:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

Posted by bitter purl at 11:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)

oh no, it's just a hat.

Pattern: Vanilla Bean Hat (ie my own top-down pattern)
Yarn: Cascade 220 in grey and Elann Peruvian Higland Wool in Pumpkin
Needles: US 7 and 8 (4.5 and 5mm) 16" Addi Turbos
Date Started: 11.17.05
Date Finished: 11.24.05

It's finally done! And what happens when it's done? The weather warms up again. But that's ok, this will be worn soon, I'll make sure of that. With all my complaining, this hat really only took a few hours, it's just that I never sat down to focus on it except when watching animes with the boy. I think this was a big mistake because I left myself open (or was I stuck?) to get design ideas.

He's a very specific one, this boy. The original specs were tight, long enough to cover the ears, with a one inch wide orange stripe followed by 3/4" of grey. Mistake number one: I let him tell me when he thought it was wide enough. Boyfriend here doesn't understand the nature of knitted fabric or the concept of stretch; he made me increase a little too much since he thought the hat was small. stupid boy. The hat came out a little wide, not by too much, but this carried over to mistake number two: the hat was really long/low. All I needed to do was cut some eyeholes out and he would be the kid from Fat Albert. This wouldn't be too bad since he planned on rolling it, but it was too wide! I was very thankful for a washing machine. I just threw the hat and some Eucalan in hot water and let the machine do the work. Two cycles later, the hat is the perfect width and length. He can't complain about cold air touching his ears, damn hat is so thick. I did make a teensy third mistake, I knitted up a hem to stop the hat from rolling but in my Turkey and wine stupor forgot to whip stitch it before throwing it in the wash. Oops, he gets an extra orange stripe. The hat would be too short (for his tastes) without it, so really it can't count as a mistake, right?

In other news, I finished the first half of Backyard Leaves over the long weekend. This is one of those projects that you can use to impress everyone with your mad skills, if you are into that sorta thing. Anytime I whipped this out to quickly knit up a repeat I heard gasps and I could definitely sense some jealousy. Maybe not, but you weren't there so you don't know. I'm still in love with the pattern, which is a good thing since now I have to do the whole thing over again.

eta: Carrie and I started a kal for Stef's new pattern for HipKnits. Neither of us has the yarn and probably won't start till after the holidays, so feel free to join us anytime to knit this little beauty. We can figure out yarn subs for the next month at least.

Posted by bitter purl at 07:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)