WIP/RIP: a surprise

(For those that aren’t familiar with the term, WIP means Work In Progress!)

cashmere tank

This was actually the first project that I took out, with the intention of ripping it out – it’s a cashmere tank, meant as long underwear, that I started in 2007! Thank goodness for Ravelry notes, I should probably update my notebook more often…

Anyway, I pretty much finished it except for the armhole trims, but I just wasn’t feeling it. The yarn is Habu laceweight cashmere, held double – I think I had bought 5 tiny skeins. It wasn’t quite enough, and the body was too short. But the yarn was super duper soft and light, so I started ripping.

cashmere tank

I took out the shoulders (three needle bind off) and ripped out the upper front and back, then looked at it and thought…there’s all this knitting in this piece, can I turn it into something else? It has a bit of waist shaping, but I decided it would make a perfectly lovely plain cowl. Ravelry to the rescue again – I didn’t know what needle size I’d used but I actually had it on the project page! Whew.

cashmere tank

So it’s back on the needles now and I’ve knit an inch or so. I’ll go until I’m almost out of yarn, then knit a couple garter ridges before binding off. I’m really inspired by Alabama Chanin stuff right now (I’ve been devouring the third book and plotting my summer sewing) so I might actually do some embroidery or other embellishment on the fabric when it’s done. I was pretty surprised at myself for continuing on with this yarn, after all the intention was to have fewer projects on the needles! But the other projects I ripped out were pretty pleasing on that end, and who doesn’t need a cashmere cowl?

P.S. I did an interview with Michelle Treese last week – you can read it here!

WIP/RIP: more sweaters

Spring stash cleaning continues!

an abandoned sweater

An abandoned sweater attempt – this is almost a whole body! I know I abandoned this one awhile ago because there were no needles in it – I think I’d decided that I didn’t have enough yarn. This one was a bit of a pain to rip out because it’s striped every 2 rows.

dream in color classy

I don't even know what this is

I don’t even know what this is, but it was stuffed into a bag! Maybe a swatch, I’m pretty sure the yarn is Cascade 220 – but why did I leave just a cast-on on the needles? I’ll never know. Ripped!

cashmere tweed

This is a pretty yarn that deserves to be something! It’s 100% cashmere tweed from ColourmartUK – the beginnings of a top-down sweater. I only have 2 cones so it might be a bit tight on yardage, but I might try again. I didn’t pre-wash the coned yarn, but the knitted fabric is way soft!

I’m also trying to work through a bit of my spinning stash. Here’s some Into the Whirled merino/silk. I’m not having much patience with spinning though, so it’s a bit fast and loose. Pretty still!

pretty!

spring cleaning: wip or rip?

oh march

Well, it’s supposedly spring, but here in Toronto that still means snow! I know lots of people are tired of winter, but I love it – I like wearing layers and wool and cozying up under lots of covers, and eating lots of hot soup and stew. It’s not that unusual for it to flurry into April (though those ones are really just for looks, they never stick around) so I’ve still got some cool weather ahead.

I do like the longer daylight hours though, and there’s a bit of that changing of the seasons in the air, which leads me to spring cleaning! I was looking through my stash the other day for something in particular, and found the Pile Of Stalled Knits. Everyone has one, right? Things that just aren’t going the right way, or are just boring. Sometimes you just have to be in the right mood to deal with them. Today – the laceweight edition!

pretty, but...

This one is really pretty – it’s Blue Moon Laci. Alas, it’s also a laceweight sweater that I started maybe 4-5 years ago! I knit a fair amount but it just stalled out. I’ll definitely revisit the idea though. I’d love to knit this yarn up into something else, maybe a lacy shawl or shrug.

ripped.

black laceweight cardigan?

Black laceweight sweater? Yikes. This one didn’t get very far. Maybe I’ll try again though, with the yarn doubled, and from the top down. Ripped!

More WIP/RIP to come!