Category: sweaters

  • is this what I get for trying to rush?

    So. My new Lucy was coming right along – got up to the yoke on the weekend. Pretty!

    lucy is alllmost done

    The yarn is Dream in Color Classy in Black Parade, and I did a slightly lengthened version with just 4 skeins! Motoring along, wanted to get it done early this week so I could give it a good washing and find some buttons (I’m thinking some little pewter ones we have at the store).

    diamonds

    Pretty pretty texture. I finished the yoke, with a slightly different neckband treatment this time (more on that with the FO post) and went to graft the underarm.

    uh oh!

    Um, notice anything? I didn’t put enough stitches on hold for the sleeve gusset! Crap. I did notice that the number of stitches was off once I got up to near the top of the yoke (and there were a lot fewer stitches) but I kind of ignored it and kept going. And this is why.

    But, since I’m REALLY not about to reknit the entire yoke, I fudged the grafting and it’s blocking now. We’ll see once it’s dry and I can put it on whether I decide to do something crazy.

    Nah. I really won’t rip out the yoke. So near-FO it is!

  • new toys

    new lens baby!

    A couple weeks back I ordered a slightly used lens off eBay and it finally arrived this week! It’s a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 (as I’m sure you can read). While I do like my 50mm 1.8 Nikon lens a lot, I’m just not fast enough with my manual focus to take good photos of say, moving objects (I can handle yarn and stuff that doesn’t move!).

    The Nikon body that I have (the D40) doesn’t have a focusing motor in the body, which is why it’s so small and light – but it means that lenses which aren’t marked AF-S (or HSM with Sigma) won’t autofocus. Like I said, I can deal with it for still subjects, but it’s hard for people and such! And pretty impossible for taking a self-portrait with (for my Flickr 365 project).

    So enter the Sigma lens. I LOVE IT. The only downside is that it’s a bit heavy (430 g, that’s nearly a pound) but I’m sure my arms can get used to it. Or else. And in addition to the new (to me) lens, I got a great Christmas gift from my best friend’s family – an SB-400 speedlight flash! I haven’t used it yet because I need to dig up some batteries, but it’ll force me to learn how to use flash properly. Most of the time I cringe when I see someone take a photo with flash (particularly with point and shoot cameras) but this one can be angled up to the ceiling for more natural light.

    oooooooh

    Mmmm, this lens is awesome! Anyway, my Lucy redux (knit in Dream in Color Classy in Black Parade) is coming along, but rather slowly. Now that all the Christmas knitting is done I ought to be able to push it out a little bit. I do want to cast on for a sleeve so that I have something in straight stockinette, which should be easy to get done!

  • merry merry!

    Okay, I’m actually not all that merry this year – I just can’t seem to find that Christmassy spirit. Oh well. Keep on trucking, I guess! I do finally have all my gifts set, but I do need to do some (erm, possibly all) of the wrapping up tonight.

    vest...now with proper shoulders

    The vest turned out fine, quite nicely in fact! I’m just about to sew on the buttons, the fake-woven-leather kind. I’ll try to get a modeled shot tomorrow!

    At our gift-exchange dinner last weekend, my aunt remarked that my grandmother would probably like the hat I was wearing (Gretel), so I quickly cast on for another in some super yummy Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted.

    gretel in progress

    It’s in Cranberry, which my camera’s doesn’t love – it’s darker and richer than it looks in the photo. Currently still drying, so it might need to be wrapped tomorrow. Good thing people won’t be over until suppertime.

    I’ve made an eggplant casserole for my Christmas dinner main, since everyone else will be eating turkey/roast beef/salmon (yeah, it’s a lot of meat), and put together yummy yummy taco dip. I baked up a batch of Ysolda’s gingerbread cupcakes in my mini cupcake pan and they are super cute! One batch made just shy of four dozen minis. My icing is a bit runny though, I’ve already put in a lot of sugar so now I’m hoping that a sit in the fridge uncovered, and frosting the cakes right before serving, might help it along. Any other ideas? I should’ve made it a cream cheese frosting…

    While I scramble to do all those last-minute things, I hope all of you who celebrate Christmas have a great one.

    tinsel bokeh

    And for those who don’t – have a great Thursday!