The Half-ghan

Matt loves this new shawl. I bought this yarn for him actually (to make him gloves, but it was too "hairy"). It's light and airy, yet adds that little extra warmth that is needed on cooler days. He's decided to call it a "half-ghan", as a shawl sounds girly...


I can't quite capture the look of this half-ghan. The yarn just doesn't photograph well.


The "pattern" is quite nice to do, and using such big needles made this a quick knit. I will absolutely do this again with different yarn (and hopefully more yarn... as I would love it to be about an other 6" deeper).


Guess I should give some project stats, eh?

Pattern: Textured Shawl Recipe (ravelry link). Not really a pattern, but just notes and the textured stitch pattern.

Yarn: Fibre Company's Buck (70% alpaca/ 30% wool, aran weight). Bought at MDS&W in the "ends" basket.

Changes to the pattern: well, can't really say I changed anything, as there really isn't a true pattern. I will say that instead of counting rows, I went by inches (each section is 4").

Overall Impressions: a lovely simple concept for a shawl with a fun textured pattern. While I don't wear shawls (don't feel sophisticated enough to to be stylin' in wraps like this... not my style), I find that they are nice to toss on around the house. I think this will actually get some wear.

It's a shame that I don't particularly like wearing shawls or scarves (or hand knit socks for that matter), as I like knitting them (well not socks for that matter). The lack of finishing... the sizing of using as much yarn as you have... plus that whole gauge flexibility thing makes them a delight to knit. However, let's face it, when it come to what I actually wear, we can assume that I'll grab a cardigan first (and most likely a green one at that!).

So that means I'm back to work on Melinda... a lovely crochet cardigan!

Wool Withdrawl

I've been focusing on just two projects lately: Matt's Cotton Textured Pullover (still need to finish the first sleeve) and Melinda (still working on the right front). Between the pure cotton and the linen cotton blend... plus the recently finished cotton blend projects, I realized that I needed a fiber with some flexibility... just to mix it up a bit.

Introducing my Textured Shawl:


This pattern is more of a "guideline" from Ravelry and with US 10.5 needles, it's been going very quickly. I'm already on my last skein of yarn.

The yarn is an alpaca/wool blend that I picked up at MDS&W to make Matt gloves, but the high alpaca content didn't quite work for him. So it's going to be a lovely little simple (and snuggly) shawl. A nice instant gratification project that helps break up the summer projects a bit.

The yarn is very hairy with high tranference. It's very soft and drapey... I can't wait to see how it blocks! (with some luck, I'll have the knitting done today or tomorrow... but I'll need to find space for blocking. Living room being torn up cuts into my blocking space).

Then back to cottons and linens!

Production Coordinator

So we had Matt's parents here for a few days, and immediately jumped into the remodeling of our living room (well... sort of immediately. The custom built cabinets had already been started).

Matt's painting right now, as Keith is moving very quickly on the cabinets. I'm doing my best to stay out of the way, yet give the impression that I'm being helpful. Hmmm... sounds just like when I worked in publishing (heehee).


Jake has sort of taken the whole company, house destruction with his usual "eh" attitude. As long as he has a napping spot, he's okay.

In fact, it's giving me the opportunity to work on Matt's Cotton Sampler Pullover. The first sleeve has 4" more to go. It might get done by the end of the month? Maybe.

Communications is the key to any good relationship

Melinda and I have had some recent issues and after some intense discussions, I think we've worked out our problems and are moving forward with a better relationship.

I've agreed to read and follow directions... specifically for the same size through out the pattern.

Melinda has agreed to be more consistant with gauge, as long as I'm honest about my size.

We both agree that this relationship is well worth the effort and work. We know that together we can create something beautiful.

In other words, after looking at the finished back, I realized that Melinda wasn't going to fit me. So a complete restart was done... and I don't really mind.

I have decided that the fronts and back will be worked to the armhole shaping, then I can do all the shaping together (so I remember what I did). I look forward to many happy years with a finished Melinda (that fits).

I'm currently about halfway thru an in-law visit, so Melinda isn't getting the attention she needs... but I'll make it up to her (and I'm losing faith that she'll be done by the end of the month, which I believe puts me behind schedule).

More Melinda

I finished the back on Melinda's Textured Cardigan yesterday and have the left front underway. I'm really enjoying how this is working up... to the point I didn't mind doing that sleeve shaping on the back 3 times.

However, I'm not sure I want to do it a 4th time... and I might have to. My number of stitches didn't match the pattern. I'm going to do the fronts and decide if I need to rework the back.


The drape on this is fab... much better the original attempt (which felt heavy and stitff). Sadly, the photos have to be "dull" to show the stitch definition. The yarn is "bright white" and if it's in decent light, the white yarn overwhelms the stitches.

I have to say that I've been enjoying crocheting with this yarn (not sure I would like knitting with it. It's very stiff coming off the skein and it's super duper splitty). So much so that I've got more of it in a different color for an other crochet cardigan... ya, cause I don't have enough yarn in my house!

Getting good practice...

Shaping in crochet is not my strong point. I'm great at making crochet squares and rectangles... but as soon as I've got to start decreasing/increasing in a pattern stitch, things can get wonky.

I had to rip back the entire sleeve shaping on the back as I wasn't happy with how I was decreasing. Much happier the second time.

Then reality set it... I'm following the pattern as written. The pattern is not written for large busted women. I realized the the stitch pattern change was going to hit me mid bust. Uh, not a good look for me.

So I'll be ripping back the beautiful sleeve shaping again so I can add some length to the body. I'm going to use my Hey Teach as a guide (as it hits me at a good point). Here you can see the difference:


I considered keeping the back as is and adding some bust darts to the front, but I think it would change the "look" of the sweater too much.

Hmmm... I think that's all the work I did yesterday about to ripped back. Let's not think about that... more that it's an enjoyable project and if I just wanted the finished project, I would go out and buy a crochet cardigan. It's about the process... and getting what I want rather than settling for "it'll do".

Post Sucess Project Issues

I'm not sure why this happens, but anytime I'm super happy with a finished project, I seem to wallow in short attention span/problem project world for a bit.

After I completed Bee Balm, I was on a "project high"... sort of chasing the dragon if you will. I'm looking for a project that will give me the same feeling of sucess and satisfaction as that one did.

That's gonna be hard, as it's one of my favorite projects. Ever.

So I'm working here and there on some things. Matt's Cotton Sampler is progressing, but slowly. I'm only working on it during breakfast, so that means not a lot of rows are getting done each day. I should move it up to my regular knitting rotation, as I am very happy with how it's knitting up and I know he's going to enjoy the finished sweater.

As for projects for me... I just can't get focused. Tho' I may have hit on something:


A white crochet summer cardigan. Pattern is by Melissa Leapman and can be found in her book Crochet with Style. I'm using a sport weight linen/cotton blend (Elann's Linen Twist) in bright white.

The yarn is very splitty, and the high linen content makes it smells (and the moisture in the air doesn't help... but right now I think everything smells). It's so splitty in fact, that I had to change the upper section to an easier to work stitch. The original uses a "textured sand pattern", which you need to work into the front/back of the loops. With this splitty yarn, every stitch was taking me forever. So I just changed it to a sc/dc stitch and I'm okay with it. It's really the bottom stitch that makes this cardigan anyway.

It's moving quickly (especially once I changed out the top section pattern stitch) and the back is at the armhole shaping.

So I'll focus in it... for now. While I try to work on Matt's Cotton Sampler, and maybe some of these other summer cardigans sitting around my knitting knest. I still hope to get two projects done this month!

An update on yesterday's projects

So, let's see what has developed in the last 24 hours on the projects from yesterday.

Matt's Summer Cotton Sampler Pullover did shrink in the wash (cold, delicate, laid flat to dry). Good thing I did add the extra length and worked flat. I didn't measure it until this morning (as I was comparing the front to the back). Glad I decided to wash the back before I tackled the sleeves (or the sleeves would be too short), as I had assumed that it was the dryer that was going to shrink it. This is good to know for future projects with this yarn (and it's wonderful yarn... wish I could wear the natural colors). So the project is moving forward as intended.

The project NOT moving forward as intended is the short sleeved Mr. Greenjeans. This project is a perfect example of how swatching doesn't tell you the whole story. I am on gauge. Trust me I've laid it out, measured it. I measured the number of stitches. I measured the overall back width. When it's flat on the floor, it's perfectly on gauge.

However, when it's hanging (like when I'm wearing it), the fabric loosens up and grows. It grows in length (as I would expect from a bamboo/cotton blend yarn), but also in width. So I do think I'll go down a needle size and try again. I'm not thrilled with the stitches and I think the smaller needles will help that as well.

This is why I never believe my swatches for gauge... things change between swatch and project. Whether it's how I knit, how the weight of the garmet changes the gauge, if it's laying flat (which is NOT how we wear sweaters). I'm always willing to frog projects if they're not working... and this one is definitely a do over. Eventually.

However, right now, I think I'll have an other cup of coffee and cast on something new.

Not JUST Fallout 3

According to my Facebook status, I play a lot of Fallout 3 (my Xbox 360 account does an auto status update for Facebook... usually when I don't want it to). However, that does not mean I'm also not getting some knitting done:


A new project has been started! That's Mr. Shortsleeves... a summer version of Mr. Greenjeans. In a very splitty cotton/bamboo yarn (called Amazon by Needful yarns. Elann had a full bag sale). Notice that it's a completely different color for me. A blue green rather than a green blue! (heehee). It's moving quickly, but I'm not used to knitting at such a loose gauge (and trust me, after swatching this for a different project, it needs to be knitted at this gauge). I'm not thrilled with my uneven stitches (loose gauge + cotton/bamboo yarn = uneven stitches for me). We'll see how it blocks, but right now, I'm fairly happy with it. (especially after I tried it on when I divided for the sleeves... fabulous feeling fabric!).

Also Matt's Cotton Sampler is progressing slowly. I went ahead and blocked the back:


After much internal debate, I ended up doing a wet block (meaning I didn't dry it to shrink it). First, I like the length on it (even tho' it's about 2.5" longer than I normally make sweaters for Matt) and second, due to the nature of the stitches, it's going to have to be wet blocked anyway.

I do have the front underway, with the first section just about done (it's currently my breakfast knitting.. but if I get on a roll with it again, I'll move it to "main project" again).

Last and certainly not least is the Sunflower in Soft Sunshine:


I will say right now that the color is soooo much prettier in person. Sadly, this is a fairly slow knit for me. The lace pattern is worked on both sides and includes a p2tog... and with this very splitty yarn, that slows me down. However, one sleeve is done and the second is underway.

So lots of different projects... but all with non flexible yarns. My hands are starting to feel it a bit (or is that from Fallout 3?). I might need to throw a wool yarn in there somewhere... or maybe a crochet project... just to not tire my hands out quite so much.

hmmm.... soft cotton yarn

When Knitpicks first put up their Organic Simply Cotton yarn, I was obligated to get some. I ordered the lightest color hoping that it was fairly white so I could wear it. It wasn't.

In fact, the yarn is fairly yellowish cream. Perfect for Matt.


It's perfect for Matt on several levels. The color will look great on him. Plus the yarn? Sooooo soft and yummy.

I'm using the aran weight, but I'm knitting it fairly tightly (using a size 6 US needle) and this sampler textured pullover has been a delight to knit. (We all know how I love to knit samplers!). The pattern is from the Nashua booklet County Fair (which is the same booklet as the fab Cables & Rib Cardigan).

I'm making this much longer than usual for Matt, knowing it will shrink up with washing. However, even if it doesn't shrink up much, I think the styling will be fine for him if it's a little longer than usual. It's going to be a nice relaxed cotton sweater.

I'll get the back done today, then I think I'll play with an other project before I tackle the front. Or Fallout 3.