fo: sizzle

Pattern: Sizzle by Wendy Bernard (Kit & Tonic)
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in Robin's Egg Blue
Needles: size 5 circulars (size 4 for seed stitch edging)

This knit took me 2 weeks start to finish, which is fast for me. My fingers got tired from knitting so constantly with cotton. I knit a size small and will block this for a little more ease, hopefully. I'm very glad I converted it to knit in the round, as I avoided a lot of purling and was able to try on and modify as I went. I lengthened it by a couple inches and I'm glad I did so; it's none too long in my opinion. I'm happy with how the piece came out but I'm not sure if I will wear it--I don't wear low-cut or fitted tops very often.

sizzle in progress

My sizzle is in one piece after a week and half of knitting. All I need to do is knit on the seed stitch edging at the bottom, neckline and armholes. Obviously, it's a bit low-cut now but I hope with the edging complete it will not be too risque. I'm very glad I made the size I did...it's quite close-fitting now but I think with a bit of blocking it will be just right.

spring knitting

I've started a new spring/summer top this week. I've been wanting to knit a Wendy Bernard pattern for ages, and though I have her book, Custom Knits, I couldn't resist buying this pattern entitled Sizzle from her blog, knit & tonic. I'm using brown sheep cotton fleece yarn from my stash for it. I've already knit a couple of tops with this yarn, and though it's not my first choice, I'm really into knitting from my stash these days--I think I have purchased yarn only twice in the past year. I'm knitting a much smaller size than usual and I'm knitting it in the round instead of flat, so I'm hoping I don't run into issues with that--it's my first time doing such a conversion. So far it's going pretty quickly, so I'm hoping I'll be wearing it before the season is over!

bright colors for dreary weather

Recently I pulled out my holiday lights tam (which I hadn't touched in well over a year) and started working on it again. I had abandoned it because I wasn't at all sure if I was happy with the color combinations; I wasn't willing to pay for the yarn called for in the pattern, so I had substituted with my best guess as to the right colors--even dying some of my own with koolaid when I couldn't find anything to match what I saw in the pictures in the pattern. Anyway, I'm still unconvinced, but i'm going to keep at it a little longer. It's nice to have some color in my knitting, anyway, when all you see outside is white, gray and brown.

fo: rabbit

Started: December, 2009
Finished: February 12, 2010
Pattern: Last minute finished gifts
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Sportweight (doubled) 2 skeins
An early Easter present for my niece! He's not quite as cute as the picture in the book, but he's still cute. Took me quite a bit longer than I thought. The finishing was kind of a pain. I wish I had used angora for the ears, but I didn't feel like buying a whole skein of yarn for that, so I just used some pink alpaca that I had--but of course it doesn't have that fuzzy halo that angora has.

fo: raspberry beret

Yarn: Classic Elite Fresco (wool/alpaca/angora) 1 1/2 skeins
Needles: 3 and 5, I think? How do I forget so quickly which needles I used?
Pattern: Cabled beret by Ashley Hasse

I had to modify b/c I didn't get gauge at all--instead of 4.5 stitches to the inch I got 5.5--so I cast on 120 stitches instead of 100 and did 5 cable rounds instead of 4 before beginning my decreases. THought it would still be too small but I like the fit. I'm about 3/4 of the way through the scarf. It's quite skinny (less than 4" wide) so it really needs to be fairly long.

And, here's some of the Romney fleece that I'm spinning. It's coming out extremely noily and bumpy. I just can't card it enough to make it smooth. Hmmm. I think I'm going to have to join a spinner's guild soon so I can bring my questions to someone!

current wips

After finishing my few Christmas gifts (a hat made of my own home-spun yarn for my dad, and a very simple shawl for my mom) I started this very skinny cabled scarf for myself. I'm not following a pattern, just winging it, and I think it's probably too skinny, so it will have to be very long, which means I'm only about half done. The yarn is lovely, though, merino and alpaca with a touch of angora.

Then, I'm working on Ishbel, though I'm probably going to rip it out as the yarn (knitpicks shimmer, turqoise splendor) is just too crazy for it, I think.
And here's the first skeins of yarn spun on my own wheel--very homespun looking, but pretty.Which means I've been able to start spinning the wool my aunt and uncle sent me. Pictures of that in progress next time--for now, here's a picture of it keeping Clementine warm.