july wrap up!

i worked on a few things in july that didn't make it to the blog before august hit!

breaking news: i've ended by embargo on cables. last christmas, my honey's mother gave me a copy of costal knits by hannah fettig and alana dakos. she also gave me a significant contribution to my yarn fund, and i was able to get yarn for the rocky coast cardigan!

this swatch of rowan felted tweed aran is from a few weekends ago when i worked at the shop. as i finished the skipping stones cardi, i needed another little something to work on while i'm on the clock. after i swatched, i wound up using the whole first ball that shift! after that fingering weight on us3's, this worsted weight on us10.5's is flying by! i'm excited for this cardi, the cables are so lovely, the tweed is delightful (i love the little blue flecks!), and it'll be nice and snuggly if arkansas ever gets cold again.

i decided to follow executiveknitter's mods, as many people noted problems with the shoulder fit, and her project page had the most helpful notes. hannah fettig has since released a different solution to this shoulder problem, but executiveknitter's looked easier.

color 131

for my birthday, my boss gave me this gorgeous skein of ella rae lace merino! it looks like fire (and smells like cinnamon, no lie). and i knew exactly what i wanted to do with it!

the pattern is amy's scarf by amy van de laar. this double-sided lace pattern is straight-forward, even if i do have to watch it to stay on top of it all. this also temporarily ends my embargo on long scarves. and it's inspired by my new favorite fandom: doctor who! i'm going to do my best to finish it before class starts on the 20th. finger's crossed! i'm about 25% through it now. (since i haven't finished the skein, this project won't count towards july's mile)

i also started and finished two secret squirrel projects, one using 75% of a skein of koigu kppm, and one using 420 yards of berroco comfort (maybe..?). i'll post pictures later :)

looks like july finished with 1.4 miles! on to august!

longing stockings

the day after i got back to the states from studying abroad in florence, i needed to cast on some socks. it was the kind of urge you just can't say no to. my hands and mind would not be satisfied with anything else. since it was monday, and my LYS was closed, i went to one the next town over, mockingbird moon. there, i found dream in color everlasting.

next step was to find a pattern to go with this colorway, tidal. i really wanted to keep up with an island theme, as my honey was on the mediterranean island of cyprus. i found this pattern, mermaidia by christine jeffery. it's a great little lace pattern, an easy to memorize 6 rows.

i basically just applied the stitch pattern to my favorite method of doing 2-at-a-time, toe-up socks. i cast on 15 stitches on each side, and increased to 33 on each side to have enough stitches for the lace repeat and to do a slip-stitch heel. i repeated the lace 12 times on the instep, and 12 times around the leg.

weirdly, the yarn from the center of the ball pulled out darker than the yarn pulled from the outside of the ball. not a big deal on socks, but i might be upset if it was a sweater.

this is the closest to the true color.

this is my third time using a dream in color yarn, and i like this brand a lot! this everlasting is a great 100% springy merino. it's not as thick as the smooshy, which makes it perfect for socks. i think it'd be great for a scarf like this one.

can you tell i love using instagram?

these longing stockings were bound off yesterday, and my honey comes home in just a few hours.  and here's another 400 yards to july's mile! 1.3 miles and still 5 more days in july!

the january cardigan

i have been working on this sweater off and on since january. that makes it my longest project ever. of course, it could have gone much faster if i wasn't under any budgetary constraints, and didn't frequently cheat on it with the other 17 projects i've worked on this year so far.

thank you, serenity, for modeling this for me!

the yarn is koigu kppm, which readers of the blog and anyone who's talked to me about knitting for five minutes will know that it's my 'desert island' yarn. the brown MC is 2393 (10 skeins) and the blue verigated CC is P451 (2 skeins). i managed to get gauge throughout with US3 needles.

sewing up, before and after

the name of this cardigan is skipping stones, by mel clark, from koigu magazine #1. the act of skipping stones holds a very special place in my heart: on my first date with my honey, we went hiking, then for a swim in a creek near the trail, and he taught me how to skip stones across the surface of the still water. he also found me a heart-shaped stone that i've kept on my bookshelf ever since.

my favorite part of this cardigan? maybe...

 i'm so glad that this cardigan is finally done, my friends at knit night will recognize it as the sweater that i've been lovingly referring to as "that same f-ing sweater." so much stockinette! and so much sewing up! the sleeves took foooorever...mostly because i had to make them a bit bigger, and then mess with the decreases for the cap shaping.  including all those snaps! but totally worth it! it might have to hibernate in my closet where i can't see it until it's cold enough to wear it...

oh snaps!

apparently in a post a few months back, i counted using 3 skeins of this koigu... i'm not sure how accurate that is, for the striped side panels and the back... and i apparently never counted again if i used a skein in a specific month, so i guess i'll count the other 9 skeins here for july's mile! this sweater usually only got pulled out when i was at work, but i got a lot done on it during spring break in march while watching a lot of hockey games out at the ranch.

so july, you get another 1575 yards! now up to 1.1 miles! woot woot!

diving deep

i've succumbed to a bit of crochet fever recently! this adorable little guy is the deep sea diver by maffers

and i have to say, i'm glad i started with the squid first, because this guy was more of a challenge! especially the neck brace of the helmet, that took me a few tries to get the hang of (i think i was attempting to single crochet into the BACK of the chain, instead of the right way around).

the yarn is the same as the squid, more trilli from firenze! still loving it! though it does get a little splitty if you have to use the same bit 3 or 4 times. the helmet, gloves, and boots are color 20, the body is color 21, and the portholes are sublime dk color 276, some left over from this hat.

i used about 210 yards, bringing july's mile up to 374 yards, or .2 miles! stitching right along!

crochet calamari!

last week, with the skein of the purple trilli, i started my first crochet project!

(follow me on instagram: kkpwnall)

the pattern is Squid by Maffers on ravelry, who's got some really adorable designs! i think it was a great first pattern, it almost solely uses single crochet, with occasional increases and decreases thrown in. the increases and decreases are simply and perfectly explained in the pattern directions.

invaluable in teaching myself to crochet have been these videos by the Crochet Geek aka Teresa on youtube, that were recommended to me by a customer in the shop a few months ago. her videos and explanations are clear, and i love how after showing the method at normal speed, she shows it again in slow motion, so you can see it really clearly.

it really is purple like the above picture, somehow this one turned out blue!

i bought the e-book of the Squid and Deep Sea Diver, and i think i'll start on that one next!

oh, and this'll be 164 yards of july's mile!

lace cardi

this cardigan is the Celery Cardigan, by Veera Välimäki. i love what it does for the gorgeous kettle-dyed manos lace, especially the garter stitch sections. it's impossible not to like manos' colors! and the short rows were a lot of fun, though i did feel like i needed to do a whole section at one time so as to not lose my place.

this project took me two months of on and off knitting to finally finish (and still needs a name!). partly because i was in italy, partly because this summer has been incredibly hot already, and my hands tend to sweat anyway, and this would make the yarn tight on the needles, no matter how loosely i tried to hold it, and end up making me really frustrated when i couldn't get my stitches to move.

i also had a problem with laddering. it seems that i can't avoid it on cardigans that have markers separating the fronts and back, that no matter how tightly i pull the yarn across the marker, it ends up creating a mess. so i used purl bee's fake seam tutorial again. and it may have made it worse... i really hoped that it would all even out in blocking, but i've been having a hell of a time with that too. i got advice from my boss, from my mother, and from knitty, but it hasn't really helped. i lay it out on my yoga mat, and spritz'd it with some water, but i don't think it looks any different, and the laddering/fake seaming is still evident. this blocking didn't seem to make these stitches relax at all. does anyone have some advice? the yarn manos lace, and it's a baby alpaca/silk/cashmere blend.

i wrote a haiku to this lace weight cardigan:
two double fake seams
fingers crossed you will block out
messy, messy knits.

i might just stick to sock weight or bigger...

EDIT: i soaked it with some yarn wash for 15 minutes, and rolled it out in a few towels to get the water out, then layed it out for a few days. it seems to be pretty ok, but that seam is persistant. might just have to live with it.

april/may/june's mile

i made Cassy Dominick's Tuxedo socks from spud and chloe fine, a wonderful wool/silk blend that's delightfully springy! cassy's pattern is really great, with a stitch pattern that's easy to memorize after a few repeats. love love love the texture! (400 yds)

i also made up Stephen West's Dustland hat from st denis nordique. i added a few extra repeats to make it slouchy. i love this wool, it'd make a lovely sweater! (225 yds)

i used Vernoica O'neil's bourough pattern to make a set of convertible fingerless gloves for my fabulous study abroad roommate, nina. all the pics i took of them turned out blurry, hopefully she'll send me a good pic! (200 yds)


and finally, i finished Veera Välimäki's Celery Cardigan in manos lace. this gorgeous yarn was a gift from my family last christmas, and i love this color! (1095 yds)

so, out of 3 miles, i did 1.09! woo... in the mean time, i did have finals, graduation, and studying abroad in florence! i think that's a pretty good excuse ;) i'll just have to make it up with all the fancy new yarn i got from italy!


i apologize for the lack of action shots, my honey/photographer is abroad for another 3 weeks :)