After the Lull

OMG! So the Lull of 2006 finally ended! Here's what happened. The set-in-sleeve dysfunctions were piling up - a sweater for my dh gone awry and a sweaterlette for me: both with puffy shoulders and looking hideous. So I threw them into the corner and just stopped knitting. Keep reading... its going to get better. This knitting boycott went on for 3 months until I attended the Midwest Stitches Convention, which I had signed up for when I was a happy, prolific knitter. I was dreading even doing the swatches for this event, let alone going, but my dh and I had a whole family trip planned around it.

Then came Judy Pascale and Margaret Fisher- sent-from-heaven. (sidenote - took a terribly disorganized and lame class from Debbie New who I highly do not recommend!) Anyway - Margaret's class - called "The Long and Short of Knitting Alterations" was life-altering - I'm not even joking. She taught how to take apart an item into an upper and lower section; basically, darn a scrap yarn through the row above and the row below your chosen cutting place. After cutting, you can lenthen, shorten, reattach, etc. So all I could think about was this scarf gone bad from last summer. My mistake was using cotton for a scarf that was a stockinette based lace. It rolled like a mother and no matter how much starching and ironing and blocking I did, there was no hope.

So I got home and took the scarf apart in 6 sections, then seamed them to eachother width-wise to make the bottom half of a shirt. Let me add now the wierd part of the story. During the Lull I went to Goodwill and bought for $3.99 a knitted top that someone made - it's gorgeous. I later discovered that the mystery knitter used a popular pattern called Lelah. Here's a gallery of them: http://knittingforboozehags.com/gallery/lelah-top-gallery The one I bought looks exactly like the grey one with the green ribbon. Anyway - after making the scarf into the bottom of the shirt I knitted the top in stockinette and voila!

Pattern: Mine, inspired by Lelah (above link). The leaf lace pattern was from Vogue Spring/Summer 2005 - the scarf patterns at the end of the editorials

Yarn: Knit Picks Shine in Blush

Needles: 7 for lace, 5 for yarnovers and midsection, 3 for bust and straps

Pattern: Nautilus Hat http://marniemaclean.com/patterns/Nautilus/ This girl has really cute patterns. I've now done this hat in 3 colors - same yarn. I have since added ribbing in last 5 rows.
Yarn: Royal Cashmere by Plymouth Yarns
Needles: size 7 dpns

If you're in the mood for a really easy project that is adorable this Baby Kimono is a winner. It's knit in one piece yae! and the only "wierd" thing you have to do is the cable cast-on.

Pattern: Baby Kimono - Interweave Knits Summer 2005?
Yarn: Knit Picks Ambrosia - 3 balls of Grass
Needles: size 5

Here's a booty close-up.

Pattern: Family Circle Easy Knitting Publication Holiday 2002
Yarn: Knit Picks Ambrosia in Grass
Needle: size 5

So, then I yearned to do more socks. Here's one of the pairs. Regia 6 - delightful yarn. Got it at Little Knits - online store.

Pattern: http://www.knittingpureandsimple.com/socks.html

Yarn: Regia 6 from http://www.littleknits.com/

Needles: size 3 dpns

So, then one day I became fascinated with Fair Isle. I got a few books and was enthralled by its rich history. Of course I couldn't just start with a hat of gloves. I went straight in for the vest with traditional steeks and all. Luckily, Eunny Jang, in her infinite wisdom, has created a detailed pattern with steeking instructions for like $5. So I got it. You do the entire thing in the round and then cut the armholes and v-neck that have been steeked.

After about 4 inches I reaized my argysle wasn't working, so I made up a simple Fair Isle stitch pattern with a colorway of 4 colors.

Here's a close-up of the contrasting color steek that I cut between.

It all went well until it was all done. Because I used Cascade 220 and a size 7 needle instead of a thinner yarn and the size 4 that she used my seams turned out really bulky. So I machine steeked it with 2 rows of stitching and cut off the seems. Then I sprayed them with water, manually agitated them (just scrumpling them around) and ironed them down. I think it created a felting effect, because everything stays where it is supposed to. Its a really fun item to wear. I wear another shirt under it because I don't like to feel wool on me, but its not scratchy at all - and not too warm.

The only other mod that I did was decreased stitches in the arm and neck bands and used a size 5 needle. When I didn't do that it was totally Mad Max vest.

Pattern: http://www.eunnyjang.com/knit/2006/01/deep_v_argyle_vest.html

Yarn: Cascade 220

Needle: size 7 round

The following is a 2 color Brioche that didn't make the final cut. I frogged it and am currently using the Misti Alpaca for a baby jacket with matching Uggs. Going to be seriously cute.

Pattern: Brioche Scarf from Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky in light pink and Brown ( I do not recommend this yarn for this project. It is too bulky, barely stays on the short dpn, and is scratchy by the face.)

Needles: size 10