Knitting Update

I finished the upper body of the stuffed pig last night. It's a little smaller than I thought it would be, but after looking at it, I don't think I'd want it to be much bigger. I cast on for the underside and hope to get that completed sometime during the weekend. I hope it will be cute!

I hadn't yet decided on my next knitting project, but I'd been eyeing this sweater, the Best Friend Cardigan, from Wenlan Chia. The pattern appeared in her first book Twinkle's Big City Knits, however, I got it for free here, via bits & bobbins. The only down side to making this sweater was the cost of any super chunky yarn. Granted, I only needed five skeins, but that would be at least $75. But after receiving an email from a LYS that was having a sale on Rowan Big Wool, I took that as a sign and bought five skeins in a color called Zing. This project should knit up pretty quickly considering it's knit up on size 19 needles!

Cabled Border

Here's the cabled border of the sweater. I have two more pattern repeats to do before it's finished. Then I will pick up stitches on one of the long sides to knit on the body.

Finished Cardigan

I sewed the buttons on the cardigan yesterday afternoon, so it is officially done!

Blocked Up

Corrective Action

I finally finished the reworked fronts last night. I would have been done sooner had I not forgotten to bind off for the armholes. At least the fronts are now done! I started the sleeves after the fronts were finished and those will be done in a flash. I hope I can block all the pieces later this week.

Must Pay Attention

As you can see, I made a bit of a mistake here on the two fronts of the cardi. I didn't knit enough rows on the eyelet sections before the peplum waist. So, it looks like I will have to do some frogging. Luckily, these sections knit up pretty quickly. I think I'll go ahead and knit up my sleeves first and then revisit the fronts.

Here's the Back

I finished the back of the cardi on Saturday while sitting and knitting on my new sectional that came in a month early! I started both fronts and am at the beginning of the peplums. This is knitting up pretty fast. The cardi is a lot shorter than I originally thought it was. Since the fronts have no stockinette stitch, I'm expecting that the rest of my knitting will go by rather quickly.

I Love Peplums

As I started this project, I realized that I really love to knit lacy patterns. The patterns usually require me to pay attention, stay focused and are interesting enough not to be boring. I'm just past the peplum. I was a little disappointed that the top half of the back was all stockinette stitch, but it should still knit up pretty fast. I suppose I could just kept knitting the eyelet stitch pattern, but I think the smooth fabric will be a nice contrast to the lacy bottom.

Getting Started

I headed out to Lint yesterday after work to scope out yarns for the short-sleeved cardigan project. I was leaning toward the Blue Sky Organic Cotton, but I didn't like the color selection. Then my eye caught the new stock of Cotton Fleece on the shelves. I had thought about knitting up the cardigan in a light gray yarn and when I saw this slate charcoal color, I knew this was my yarn. I haven't used Cotton Fleece since I knit Gigi and as I was swatching and the knitting up the eyelet rib last night, I was wondering why. This yarn feels great in my fingers. It's a little splitty, but it creates a wonderful fabric.

What's Next?

These two patterns are from the spring/summer issue of Vogue Knitting. The cardigan looks like a fun and easy lacy spring number. I'm really drawn to the dress for some reason too. I think it's because of the buttons. I'll probably start with the cardi first. The pattern calls for Lion Brand Organic Cotton, but I couldn't find that, so I may have to substitute something else.

Oversized and Warm

I finally finished the Alexi cardigan last night. I had completed all the seaming over the weekend, but didn't have the buttons until yesterday. I made the smallest size, but it's still a little big. However, it's the perfect wear around the house, lounging sweater. I may try to shrink it a little bit in the washer/dryer, but I'll have to wear it a bit more before I decide on that.

Blocked Up

I finished the sleeves of the Alexi cardi earlier this week and pinned the fronts and back down for blocking. Those were dry today, so tonight I pinned down the sleeves and they are now blocking. I'll seam the shoulders tomorrow and start knitting on the button bands.

Knitting Productivity

Unfortunately, another storm that was supposed to hit last night didn't happen, so I'm back at work today. I finished the fronts of the Alexi cardigan last night. I worked on them a lot during the weekend and the last couple of snow days. I like that I didn't have to bind off for armholes and only for the neckline. I shall cast on for the sleeves later this afternoon.

Slow Going

Knitting has been very slow on the Alexi fronts with all the sewing I've been focusing on lately. But I was able to knit a little at lunchtime today. I hope to make more progress during the holiday weekend too.

In Apparel Construction class, I learned how to do a tissue fitting for the commercial pants pattern I bought. Basically, you pin the inseam together and then put the pattern on and have a partner help you pin the rest together so that it fits your body. You make new markings and then cut out the pattern accordingly. Most of the patterns were too big, which goes to show how wacky commercial pattern sizing is. My pattern just about fit me perfectly, so I didn't have to make any alterations, which was a bummer because I wanted the experience of having to alter something. But, I can always do another tissue fitting later. I'm also taking a Textiles class and I think that will be really fun. For homework this week, we get to do fabric burn tests to look at characteristics of different fabrics.

So Far, So Good

I'm about three inches into the armholes of the Alexi cardigan now. I should have the back finished some time this weekend.

I was looking at JoAnn's sale stuff and noticed that a yarn ball winder and swift were both on sale. I never thought that having either of these things was a necessity, but since both are on sale, I think I may have to buy myself some holiday gifts!

Cables, Diamonds, and Seed Stitch

Once I got the sections of the various patterns memorized, this knitting started to go a bit faster. There are four sections of cables, two diamonds with double seed stitch, and then more double seed stitch at the beginning and end. This knitting goes on until I bind off for the shoulders.