I'll sit on a cushion and sew a fine seam... (Heather)

I may not win any awards for my stitchery, but it seems structurally sound. All zipper installation instructions should come with references to Grey's Anatomy.

First you make a tube.... (Adriana)

In fall 2005 "someone" (*cough* Heather *cough*) told me that Mission Falls was going out of business. I had fallen in love with their worsted weight superwash wool so I bought enough to make three sweaters (for the record they were going out of business but are back now). I made Tempting exactly a year ago but decided against making any more sweaters until I'd gotten down to my goal weight. Since I'm almost there (10 more pounds to go!!) I decided to knit Tubey with wool purchased specifically for that pattern. After working at it for a little over a week I am now done the first tube (the arms and back) and ready to start the body. But I am suffering indecision regarding the striping of the body so I wanted to get some feedback.


Arms at sides


Look! I can fly!!

So, as you can see, I did three stripes just above the elbow. I still have a little over two balls of purple and a little less than two balls of the blue (and lots of the cream). Initially I had been thinking about doing the upper portion in cream and introducing the stripes around my waist but now I'm concerned about the corset effect. This is my first time working with stripes so I'm apprehensive that the end result will look terrible. Any thoughts on this matter would help greatly.

No, York is not done (Heather)

I haven't started seaming yet. Good news is, the pieces are pretty much dry now. I had to take them off the bed around nine last night to ensure a relatively dry night's sleep.

Instead of cleaning my apartment or seaming my sweater, or even running my errands, I have been waffling over what sweater I want to knit next for me. Never mind that I promised my husband that his sweater would be my priority. It will still be next, but I need something to which I can look forward. A carrot, in other words.

After a session of pattern-flipping, and having consulted my to-knit list, these are the current contenders:



Rowan Felted Tweed (colour: Blaze 149) for Salina:



OR



Rowan Kid Classic (colour: Victoria 852) for Greek Pullover:



Any thoughts? I seem to be in a very Rowan mood today.

My Christmas Project (Adriana)

One of my favourite presents this year was some gorgeous Sea Silk in colourway Ocean. I cannot get over how beautiful Sea Silk is. It's soft and shiny and the colour really looked like the ocean. I hadn't had room to pack my ball winder so I tried to use a wine bottle as a nostepinne.

Here my brother assists until my mom points out that I'm going to have trouble pulling the inelastic silk over the top of the bottle. Luckily it's dad to the rescue with a wooden dowel.

He takes over holding the yarn, a task he used to perform for his mother and grandmother back in the old country. Note he's wearing the handknit socks which were last Christmas' present.

Once the gorgeous silk was wound I wasted no time in casting on for the Forest Canopy Shawl which I'd been dreaming of since I saw WendyKnits' version. I knit away on it during the week between Christmas and New Years, and was thrilled to finish casting off at 11:37pm on December 31st. I also got a set of blocking wires for Christmas and I was so excited to use them that I forgot to take the obligatory pre-blocking photo in which the lace looks like cat puke (although if my cat puked up something that colour I would be very very concerned). This will have to do for the pre-blocking photo:


After leaving it to dry overnight I awoke to this beauty (gorgeously photographed by the boyfriend's new digicam).


And since knitters love pictures here's a shot of the edging

And a detail of the leaves

Heather's hubby went a little crazy playing with the settings on the camera which resulted in this artsy shot


And, of course, no finished object post is complete without a picture of it being worn

(Please ignore the squinty eyes; I'd just gotten new glasses)

The flash really lights up the shine in the silk. I think the colour is most true in the first picture of me wearing it.

This was a beautiful yarn to work with. It's thin but not too much so, more like thin sock yarn than lace weight. It's so soft and shiny; I think it's spoiled me for other lace yarns.
The Forest Canopy Shawl was a great pattern. It's perfect for a first lace shawl or for someone who has been burned by lace in the past (damn you Swallowtail with your stupid nupps! I will conquer you yet!). It's an easily memorizable pattern and very customizable. I will definitely knit it again.

Block this way (Heather)

Is there anything more satisfying than casting off the second sleeve?

Maybe throwing the whole pile of knitting pieces into a nice room-temperature bath?



Or maybe seeing it all laid out on the bed (I really hope it dries fast...) waiting to be seamed?



I suppose what would be better would be to have it all seamed and zipped up, but that will just have to wait.

Now, would it be better to put the zipper in first, or should I seam the shoulders and knit the collar first? The pattern would have you sew in zipper absolutely last, but then again, the pattern told me I would need 7 balls of yarn...

Finally, a cautionary tale:



Never teach grafting post-dinner in bad light after a glass of wine.

The Battle of York (Heather)

York is my perfect storm of 2006. A convergence of many separate events resulted in a very pleasing cardigan.

First, on a visit to the yarn store, a shipment of Noro had just arrived, with new colours, even! I did something I had never done before, snap up a bag of Silk Garden 247 without any real thought to what I would do with it.

Then, a month or two later, my birthday present from Vancouver arrived, including a much coveted copy of Noro Knits.

Finally, while Jane was visiting in the summer (a very unknitty summer with lots of work and not so much free time) I very lazily cast on for a swatch, and proceeded to miraculously get gauge on the first try on 5mm needles (usually I would have tried with 4mm first, as I am a loosey-goosey knitter, but the lazy won out and the 5mm bamboo circs were sitting on the coffee table)

Then, having nothing else to grab when we moved to Toronto, I cast on for the back, and nearly finished in two days of driving back and forth.



That percolated in the WIP basket for awhile while we unpacked and settled in, and eventually i knit the two fronts (at once). I cast on for the sleeves immediately, and the frogged them both after three inches. Then it sat for months.

I took it out the week after Christmas, and slowly eked away at the first sleeve, knitting two inches or so a day. I just don't knit as much at my parents' place, I guess there is too much else going on.

Finished the first sleeve on and after a very stormy drive back to Toronto last night.



I cast on the second sleeve immediately, and in about three hours (including watching the Yarn Harlot on Newsworld) I got through the increases, and am ready to knit straight for awhile while we run errands around the city.



I am planning on finishing the second sleeve today and blocking it tomorrow. Then the sewing begins! The only thing then standing between me and a wearable cardi will be a collar and one measly zipper.

Wait, did I say zipper? *gulp*

What I did on my Christmas Vacation (Adriana)

I taught my mom to knit!


She took to it really quickly but ultimately decided that what with trying to sell the family house and move across the province, she really doesn't have time to knit right now. I'll get her hooked this summer once the move is complete.

(If you are wondering what I'm working on in the picture you'll have to stay tuned. All will be revealed soon and, trust me, it will be worth the wait)