Hot in the City

The hot weather past weekend made me retreat to the basement where all I did was knit and watch episodes of Mad Men on demand. I did manage to get the front of the hoodie completed. I did notice that my armhole bind off for the front occurred a few rows later than the back, so they won't match up exactly. I haven't decided if I want to rip out all that work or not. The anal retentive side may get the best of me.

Oh Yeah, I Finished the Back

I forgot to post this picture last week when I finished the back of the hoodie. I'm about a third of the way through the front and the knitting seems to be cruising along. It's been nice and hot here recently, so I haven't spent too much time knitting.

PS Orla Kiely now has an online shop!

Baby Stuff

Here is a baby sweater and hat I made for a friend's baby. I also made another bib from a pattern in Mason-Dixon Knitting. The sweater pattern is called Poonam and is a baby version of an adult pattern from Berroco. It was fun and easy to knit. The hat pattern is from a LYS.

Hoodie Back

Though I wasn't sure about the yarn color, I decided to go ahead and start in on the hoodie Friday night. I think the color is starting to grow on me. I love knitting lace patterns and this one is easy enough to memorize. For me, knitting lace is addictive. I'm always trying to complete just one more pattern repeat. Before I know it, I've done three or four pattern repeats.

What Next?

I haven't had much time to think about my next knitting project because I've been working on some other projects that aren't really craft-related. I finally had some time tonight to search through some patterns and came up with these two possible projects. I love the nautical stripes and shaping of the Breton Girl pattern, which originally appeared in the fall 2007 issue of Knitscene. The vintage styling of the Farrow Rib Cardigan is appealing to me too. This pattern first appeared in the winter 2007 issue of Interweave Knits. I may have to line up both of these projects for some of my summer knitting! You can buy both patterns individually in the Knitting Daily online store.

Worldwide Knit in Public Day

Saturday, June 12

Head on out to Pioneer Courthouse Square downtown and join other knitters to show your solidarity.

From the OregonLive Knitting Blog:
Lori Patterson, who heads up Portland State University's new Stitch n Bitch group, organized the one for Pioneer Courthouse Square. She said PSU's group does knit squares for blankets for charity, so if you want to do a six inch by six inch square to donate while you're hanging out on Saturday, "that'd be fabulous." She said they picked the square because they "wanted to knit somewhere where people don't expect knitting to happen. The time is listed as 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., but she said that's more of a suggestion than a time frame: "If knittters go crazy, we can knit all night." You'll need to bring a chair, water and snacks.

The Naked Sheep Knit Shop is having public knitting on the sidewalk in front of the store from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They'll have a salad potluck at noon. The store's newsletter says "Bring a salad to share, something delicious to drink, a comfy lawn chair and your knitting! We'll show people how much fun we knitters can have!" The Naked Sheep Knit Shop is at 2142 N. Killingsworth.

Stockinette Marathon

I finally finished the 16" of the Avast body on Saturday night while watching La Vie En Rose and 3:10 to Yuma. It didn't seem to take too long since I was occupied with the stories of the films (both thumbs ups!). Last night, I cut out the fabric for the Amy Butler Lotus top. I'm in the process of sewing that up right now.

It's Blocking

I finished the lacy yoke on the sweater last night and just pinned it for blocking. I somehow got off on the chart by a couple of stitches and didn't realize it until after I had just started the ribbing on the neck. I had to rip out several rows, but it didn't take long to reknit. I really like how the yoke turned out. It looks much better in person than it does in the magazine photo.

Joined at the Pits

Yesterday I joined the front, back, and sleeves together, so now I'm knitting in the round. I have 288 stitches on my needles! I started the lace motif after three rounds of stockinette and on the second row of the chart I noticed something funny. Because I'm knitting in the round and only on the right side, all even rows should be straight stockinette while the odd rows follow the motif pattern. I had just finished the second row, but had followed the third row of the chart. So, I had to frog all of those 288 stitches to knit a stockinette row. Now I'm back on track on row three of the chart. Woohoo!

Lint is Closing

Today was the first day of LYS Lint's going-out-of-business sale. This is sad news for the local knitting community. Everything is 30% off and there are still lots of bargains to be had. I managed to snatch up this silk wool for my next project, a sweater with yoke from Rebecca 33.

The sale will go on until everything is gone. Stop in and wish Melissa and crew good luck!

Melissa Shrugged

I finished the armhole edging and seaming of the shrug last night. I think the sleeve length is perfect and I like the shaping in the front. It actually turned out much better than I thought it would, but I still I don't know if I'll ever really wear it. I'll try to find something to pair it with in my closet!

Blouson

I finished knitting on the neckband and weaving in all the ends of the Blouson last night. I made the size up from the smallest size and the sweater is still pretty roomy and blousey, though the waistband fits my hips just right. I made the sleeves just a little bit longer and they almost hit my wrists. The Mainline yarn makes for a nice soft fabric that feels good against the skin. I can see wearing this sweater quite a bit once fall hits to keep the chill off.

Knitted Pleats

Here's a picture of the pleats and waistband on the back of the blouson. I finished the front and the sleeves last night. Actually, I finished one of the sleeves and then ran out of yarn on the second sleeve with only four rows to go on the cuff. The waistbands and cuffs will be folded in half and tacked on to the hem on the inside of the sweater. I really like how the crossed stockinette fabric turned out.

I also managed to cut out my fabric for the jumper dress, but haven't progressed much further than that. The dress directions look pretty quick and easy, so maybe I can start sewing tonight and have a new dress before I go to bed!

Weekend Progress

I've been steadily working on the blouson and actually finished the sleeves last night. I'll steam block the pieces before I start adding the pleats.

This weekend was also spent looking for a new sewing project to start. I thought I would use this Built by Wendy dress pattern or a Machiko Kayaki pattern, but I wanted something more summery and strappy. I ended up buying four different jumper dress patterns and settled on the Simplicity 3738 to start first. I actually bought the Amy Butler fabrics the day before I bought the patterns and I thought they worked best with this particular dress. The pattern is cut out, so I'll cut fabric tonight.

Moving Right Along

I managed to finish up the back of the Blouson sweater over the weekend. It looks pretty big, but there will be pleats there on the bottom. The crossed stockinette stitch has added a nice texture to the fabric and doeesn't seem to be creating any strange sort of bias. I'm starting the raglan armhole decreases on the front now.

Knitting Time

I received my KnitPicks Mainline yarn in the mail yesterday and promptly knit up a swatch. I had to go up a couple of needle sizes from what was recommended, but the fabric looks fine. For the second half of my swatch, I knit using a crossed stockinette stitch, which is knitting through the back loops on all right side rows. After seeing the swatch, I decided to use this stitch for the Blouson instead of reverse stockinette, which I hate. I figure the crossed stitch will be a little more interesting than just plain stockinette and it gives the fabric a nice texture. I haven't knit for a while and it felt good to pick up the needles again.

Sneak Peek

As some of you know, I have been in the process of remodeling my basement, kitchen, and bathroom. It has almost been six months since the work started and now it is slowly coming to a close. I am really excited because I now have a studio space in the basement where there formerly was a large round dining table. I just finished unpacking and organizing the area last night and it turned out better than I could have imagined. I am psyched to start using this new space!

Strawberry Clutch

This cute felted strawberry clutch is a Kate Gilbert project from the spring 2007 issue of Knitscene. I'm using double strands of the recommended yarn–Cascade 220. Once the two sides are done, I'll use duplicate stitch for the seeds.

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.