Category: finished object

  • I got nothin’

    Oh wait…I do have a finished sweater! Okay, so the photo kinda blows. But I didn’t want to take another – who knows when there’ll be more daylight?

    drops jacket 103-1

    Drops Jacket
    Pattern: Oh, you know the one…the one everyone’s been making! Drops Jacket 103-1, in the aran weight pattern with long sleeves.
    Yarn: Fleece Artist Aran Alpaca, from an Imogen kit
    Needles: 5 mm?

    So. The knitting was really fast, but, you know, gift stuff got in the way. I’m actually pleasantly surprised at how this turned out – it’s really easy to wear, flattering, and warm (yay alpaca). I love the colours, too – sort of a plummy-purple-brown mix.

    No buttons yet (see a theme around here?) but of course, I’m a fan of the sweater stick, so no big hurry. I think I would like to put some buttons on for the security when it’s closed, but I also like being able to adjust the overlap when I wear it.

    Collar doesn’t really stand up like in the photo, but that’s okay – I think it might be a bit chokey for me (and maybe itchy).

    I love this sweater!

  • so long, 2007

    I can’t believe it’s that time again! This year has gone by so quickly that I feel like I haven’t been able to catch my breath. It’s been an interesting year, I suppose – lots of good things happened, like graduating from university, my garden adventures, my first vacation in years, a great Rhinebeck with rachel and jaya. Of course, where there’s good, there’s always something to balance. The last couple months have been very difficult for me personally, and the going is still tough. Things take time, you know? Sometimes too much time to bear.

    But! New year’s is always a time of reflection, and rebirth, time to move forward and leave the past where it is. Tonight, my family is all out doing their partying things, and I’m at home with a bottle of Trocken in the fridge and just loads of Indian takeaway (tomorrow, I’m going off wheat, dairy and soy for a few weeks to clean my system up – tonight, I’m eating!). And knitting. I’ve got the possibility of one more FO of 2007 tonight.

    The benefit of having lots of projects on the needles at once is having lots of FOs at once! I’ve completed not one but two sweaters in the last week. First up is the Treeline Stripe, of course (sorry for the crappy photo, I think the stripes confuse my camera) –

    treeline stripe, done

    Treeline Striped Cardi
    Pattern: based on a concept by the Purl Bee – I looked at the colours and the yarns, and did my own numbers, shaping, and details.
    Yarn: 3 skeins of Shelridge Farm W4 in Chocolate, 2 skeins in Misty Blue, 3 skeins of Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Villain.
    Needles: US 7

    Okay, so it doesn’t have buttons yet. But I’ve worn it a few times, and I just love it!

    Next up, a surprise FO that jumped from the needles this week.

    a very bulky sweater

    A Very Bulky Cardigan
    Pattern: my own. Top-down raglan with crochet edgings.
    Yarn: 5 skeins of thick and thin merino from Americo Original, some random handspun merino from my stash.
    Needles: US 15 (no wonder it was so fast)

    I started this on Christmas Day (Tuesday), I think, and wore it to work on Saturday. It’s pretty uncharacteristic of me, all that bulky wool and wacky edging, but it’s fun and very cozy. I even had the big buttons in my stash.

    To me it looks like a big version of a little girl’s sweater.

    bulky sweater, flat

    In 2007, I finished at least 18 tops or sweaters (there might’ve been an extra one or two in there undocumented), and a couple projects each of socks, shawls, skirts, and other assorted things. Here’s to even more in 2008.

    Bye, 2007, and well, good riddance.

  • in the midst of the storm

    It was pretty to watch, but a pain in the ass to get around in! I did quite enjoy the quietness of the city under the blanket of snow – people staying in, very few cars on the road, all that jazz.

    in the midst of the storm

    Wish I could say I stayed in and baked cookies or something, but instead I went to work and my students (troopers, they were) cooked up some fabulous handpainted yarn. Then it was off to a house full of people and cookies.

    Today I’m enjoying the view from inside, knitting along, and watching the snowplows go by.

    after the storm

    And I finished the Ultramerino socks.

    Ultramerino 6 socks

    There was plenty of yarn left over from one skein – probably about eight grams.

    leftovers

    Specs, again: 3.25 mm needles, 48 sts, 3×1 rib and eye of partridge heel flap.