Back to School U-Neck Vest

I finally give you the U-neck vest in finished form. I also have to thank David for pictures. We seem to be getting better at him taking pictures of me. I always feel stupid, so I make weird faces. However, playing the piano gave me something else to think about, which helped a lot! I had this Classic Elite Skye Tweed in my stash for a year or more from a closeout sale at Fiber Nooks and Crannies. (Whenever Michelle destashes, my stash grows!) Anyway, I loved this tweed and really wanted to make a vest, but there were only 5 balls of it. So I embarked on this vest from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits book.
I made some changes to conserve yarn. I cast on 144 st which was halfway between the 35 and 37" finished bust sizes, which for me should have produced about 2 inches of negative ease. I only knit 8" in the lower section instead of 9. I didn't do the last set of bust increases and I narrowed the straps a bit.
I also narrowed the neck and sleeve edgings quite a bit. I think I like them better this way anyway to be honest. I really like this vest. I think maybe the pattern is written a bit large, because FO fits perfectly, and I expected it to be a bit tight. My gauge is still right on, even after washing. The yarn softened up a bit after washing too. It was really stiff and harsh feeling to my hands while knitting it.
The one thing I don't love is the way the fabric bunches at the front of my arm. Partly this is because I should have made the sleeve opening longer, but I think it should also be written to bind off and/or decrease a little more there in the pattern.
Pattern: Back to School U-neck Vest by Stephanie Japel
Yarn: Classic Elite Skye Tweed, 5 balls
Needles: Size 8 Addi Turbo
Size:35-37", (3" negative ease)

Will I make it?

I am going to chime in this Wednesday with the WIPs. The Back to School U-neck Vest is almost done, and I am still not sure if I will have enough yarn for the edgings to be done as described in the pattern. I may have to go begging on Ravelry for someone's leftovers. (Classic Elite Skye Tweed anyone?) It is discontinued of course. Meida's socks have made it through the heel flap and turn, but I have been pretty wrapped up in other projects, so these are a bit neglected.
Still spinning the Maine Woods roving.
And the Apres Surf Hoodie, still on the sleeves. All that lace and the fine gauge makes it a bit slow. I seem to have a fingerprint on my camera lens..

Almost (but not quite) FO

So I am in the category of people who didn't finish their Ravelympics project. I set myself a goal that would have require the whole 17 days of intensive knitting, and due to many other life events, this simply did not happen. So this is how it went. I wanted to finish my Apres Surf Hoodie which I started July 2nd and was 42% done at the start of Ravelympics (This is according to the weight of yarn I have total and the weight left, and I am making the assumption that I will use all the yarn. I realize this is a faulty assumption, but it was the best I could do.) I had finished the back and the decreases up to the waist. I finished the front and the I-cord bind off at the hem and blocked it.
And I started the sleeves.
I have 174 g of yarn out of the original 440, so that makes me about 60% done. Sooo..this was fun, but I need to learn to plan for the fact that I cannot sit and knit for 2 weeks when I have a non-knitting life to attend to. I still love this hoodie and the yarn is a joy to knit with. The pattern is challenging me but not frustrating me, what more can I ask for in a knitting project?

Abundantly Delicious

Last weekend we were in Portland after dropping my parents off at the airport and I persuaded My DH and DD that we should go to a yarn shop I have been dying to see. Abundant Yarn and Dyeworks is in a really cute little neighborhood/small town in a big city type of place and has a cafe as well. Soooo, in addition to the incredible selection of yarn and books, there is a play area to keep my daughter busy and YUMMY food. If I lived closer than almost 2 hours away I would be there every day. It is probably good for my pocketbook that I don't. Here is what I came away with this trip.Alpaca Merino Silk 50/30/20 in a colorway called Improv by Abstract Fiber. This was so noticeably beautiful that as I carried it around the shop people were asking their friends, "What is that?" and reaching out to pet it.
Now if I can spin it without destroying its beauty...

FO Cap Sleeved Sweater

I finally got my mother, the sweater and me with my camera in the same location, which turned out to be beside a hotel pool. I don't know what to say about this sweater because the main thing that I see when I look at it is that it is too big. Mom says she doesn't mind, that she likes it. My husband thinks it is fine too. What I see is that the neckline is too big and she always has to pull it up to keep her bra straps from showing. The cap sleeves are not really cap sleeves, the waist shaping is too low.
The pattern on the front is pretty, but doesn't pop out very much. The underarms hang low so you can see the bra there when she raises her arms. The yarn is really soft and the sweater itself is pretty, it just doesn't fit her right. Part of the problem is the pattern itself. Other Ravelers have experienced this same problem. The sweater sizes as listed are not right. I knitted the size that said it would fit a 40" bust for someone with a 44" bust, and had the knitted fabric not relaxed so much I think it would have been fine. So my lesson for the day is..do my homework with the gauge swatch..knit it big, wash it, hang it. Such a pity to knit something this time consuming that doesn't come out right. I like the feel of this yarn, and the look and the price, but it is a pain to knit with, it splits like crazy. I doubt I will knit with it again.
Pattern: Cap Sleeved Sweater by Debbie Bliss from the Pure Silk book.
Size: Largest listed
Yarn: Plymouth Royal Bamboo, 12 balls
Needles: Size 3 Addi Turbos

Cherry prOn

Here is what we have today..cherry Kool-Aid dyed alpaca handspun. This roving came from Alpaca with a Twist and was white originally. This stuff is cashmere soft..I think it will be a scarf. And here we have once again that handspun BFL that I dyed once with Wilton's copper color. It came out a funny salmon color that I didn't personally like. In the previous blog post it looks better than it did IRL. So I dyed it again with Wilton's brown and got it to a more respectable rusty coppery color which I like.
This yarn is a bit rustic and I have about 300-350 yards of it, so I am thinking maybe a capelet type thingy..not sure of the gauge yet.
And this came in the mail while I was gone to San Diego. A 4 oz Wool Blend Roving from Main Woods Yarn and Fiber dyed in a Pumpkin Patch colorway.
So fair on the bobbin it looks like this.
I am not sure if I like it or not. I don't hate it..and it is really easy to spin pretty thin. I am hoping for something approaching a reasonable sock yarn.

The Birthday Loot!

Now that I am a big girl I get to pick my own birthday presents, so when David asked what I wanted for my birthday this year I immediately remembered these bags that I saw at Soft Horizons a few weeks earlier. This is the one I picked out from kpixie. It is fake leather and so soft you just want to pet it. It is made by Namaste and has oodles of pockets and lots of space. I can fit ALL my WIPs in there at the same time, with the required books or magazines for the patterns. I really liked the lime green one, but decided this would be more practical year round. Somehow lime green just doesn't go with gray rainy weather. And with my birthday money from mom I got books...two Harmony Guides from the Interweave hurt books sale, and two EZ books from Knit Picks 40% off sale. I am about to become addicted to Elizabeth Zimmerman, I can tell because I tried to quickly peruse The Opinionated Knitter and got sucked in for much longer than I intended. EZ was an excellent writer and a clever person and just plain interesting.