Evie

Evie!
Pattern: Debbie Bliss Stella/Pure Cotton (This is a great book! I already want to knit three more designs)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Stella Colour 15, 7 balls
Comments: a very quick knit, very simple, but with interest. The bulky yarn really makes the knitting zip along, but the yarn is not unpleasantly heavy. The wet-blocking really evened out the stitches and gave the fabric more drape. This was a sample project commissioned by Needles and Pins.

She is already holding court in the window at Needles and Pins. I have to say, it was a really easy, fun, and quick project! It only took a while because I had other things on my plate and knitting projects oddly don't progress very fast when you don't touch them for a week or more.

Also, the book (Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton/Stella) the pattern is from? Fantastic. I can think of at least four or five other garments I would knit in a heartbeat. And the fact that the book is divided between Pure Cotton and Stella. The gauge seems fairly interchangeable, so anyone buying the book for either yarn would have quite the array of options.

Central Park Hoodie

The first of my Spring Surge Sweaters are done on time!

I did sew the last button on this baby at 10 AM on Easter Sunday, finishing it just in time to wear to church (my determination was perhaps fueled by the fact that I had packed no other appropriate outfit) and so I did have my new sweater for that day. Even a bonnet, if you count the hood.



None of my pictures are that helpful for people who want details on the sweater, but really it looks pretty darn exact to the pictures in Knitscene (yay!) but if anyone has questions or want to see a particular part, just let me know.


(could I look goofier? must be spring fumes)

One of the things I love most about this sweater is the colour. It is so super-saturated that I am sure I will have to wash it separately all its life, but it is completely worth it. Look at how it pops out from the gray of spring! When I walk down the street in it (and trust me, I throw it on whenever I am leaving the apartment) I feel like I couldn't stand out more from the dreary sidewalks and naked hedges if I were wearing a fluorescent orange vest. Now, my goal is not usually to stand out, but for this sweater I will make a happy exception.

It was a great pattern to knit, some errata, but nothing that I couldn't have figured out on my own. A very fast knit, despite the hood. (note: there is a LOT more knitting in a hood than you think there is. It is the area equivalent to about 2/3 of the back!) The cables are easy-peasy without a cable needle, and with the nice elasticy wool they spring into place and really pop.



So: the details!

Central Park Hoodie
Started: March 12, 2007
Finished: April 8, 2007
Pattern: Knitscene, Fall 2006, from Rosemary!
Needles: This loose knitter used a 3.5mm Addi for everything but the ribbing.
Yarn: Ram Wools Selkirk in Red (120) 4.5 skeins (248m each)

Modifications: I extended the main body (the cable repeats) of the sweater in length. I wanted a size small for snugness, but I am long-waisted and this extension makes the sweater much more wearable than it would have been on me.

I also extended the button bands to 2" instead of 1.5". I don't know if I would do this again, the edges of the button bands flip up a bit, but I haven't actually blocked them yet, so we shall see.

I wet blocked all the main pieces, and it really really improved the wool. This is a rough under-processed wool with lots of vegetable matter in it, but with a fairly even ply. The label says it gets softer with each wash, and I have had no problem with it against my skin so far.

This is a warm snug sweater, and I have been wearing it as a jacket over a tank top in our April weather of 5 degrees. It might be chilly, but the snow is gone and the plants are starting to wake up again!

York

York
Pattern: Noro Knits by Jane Ellison
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden 247, 8 balls
Started: end of August 2006
Finished: January 11, 2007

Notes: I somehow forgot the front neck shaping, but it doesn't seem to have made too much of a difference. Must remember to READ the pattern more often.

Thanks for Rosemary for the book! What a great birthday present. I had bought the yarn on impulse, glad I did.

This was my very first zipper! Thanks to everyone for the advice!

Tubey!

Tubey!
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted Merino (Cinnabar) 5 skeins?
Pattern: Here
Finished: February 14th, 2006

I am pretty sure this was the first pattern I ever finished while the pattern's issue was still current.

I love the design of this sweater! It actually took my awhile to fully understand the construction. The neckline is very flattering on me, I think. I love this sweater. I also love Malabrigo.

Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan
Pattern: Cosmopolitan, by Jo Sharp
Yarn: Jo Sharp Rare Comfort Infusion Mohair (blueberry)
Finished: November 20, 2005

After fiddling around with it for the last month or so, I've finally finished Cosmopolitan! I had to put her away for the summer because mohair and SW Ontario humidity do not mix! Then, once I got around to picking it up again, I finished the sleeves, then set it down. Then picked it up, and steam-blocked it. Then set it down. Then eventually sat down and picked up the roughly 274 sts around the neck/front edge and knit for two inches. It took me about two hours to pick up the stitches, an entire hour to knit that first super-tight row, then I knit the next 8 rows or so in about 40 minutes. Love that. The ties took no time at all, either, but the ENDS just about were my end. I need to get in on this knitting-in-the-ends thing. I don't mind the actual weaving in so much as the oppressed feeling of being done, but NOT done.

(out of the four or five pictures Mike took, I look goofy in all of them, so I just cropped off my face. I know you understand.)