The Yoke Has Been Tangled!

Tangled Yoke Cardigan
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Some days I just seem to get better photos than others. Today wasn't a great day. Anyway, I wanted to get an updated photo of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, as the cabled section is done.

It should be pretty smooth sailing at this point, with just the rest of the yoke to finish up (stocking stitch). Then it's just the button bands, the weaving close of the underarms and blocking (which I can't wait for. I know this yarn really blooms when blocked).

The Tangled Yoke is my main concentration right now, but of course I'm knitting on a couple of other things...

Gaelic Morning Mist
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I sure do love the way the Gaelic Morning Mist is knitting up. The single ply yarn is giving it a great halo that I really love, while keeping the nice stitch definition that I like in cable work. The reverse st. st. of the upper body is going to be fab in this yarn!

Considering that I just finished a project yesterday, I'm surprised at my lack of post project restlessness (okay, some things were swatched yesterday, but I really did want to work on getting the cabled section done on the Tangled Yoke). I want to finish up two more projects in 2008.

I won't mention that October is practically over... meaning 2 months left in the year.

Kathmandu Gansey

Kathmandu Gansey
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Well, I've finished my first non pattern sweater... and there are some things I would tweak, but overall both Matt and I are happy.

I should've made the front neck opening a bit deeper and I might need to lengthn the sleeves a bit (we'll see... the last sweater I did for Matt in this yarn grew a bit with wear).

Kathmandu Gansey
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Matt loves it, and he's a big fan of the Kathmandu Aran yarn (I'm sure he would feel equally fond of the Kathmandu DK too, which is good, as I've got some of it in my stash for him). Sadly, this yarn seems to have jumped in price a bit. It's just like the Jo Sharp Aran Tweed, but it was always just a little cheaper. I'm finding that they're about the same price now.

Kathmandu Gansey
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Let's do the project stats:

Pattern: None. It's a pretty basic gansey, knit in the round, split for the armhole opening, sleeves picked up knit knit down and in the round. Fast, easy, very basic math. I did add a little armhole gusset, as I knew it was going to be a slim fit on Matt and I wanted him to be able to move his arms. As I said the only thing that I'm not happy with is the front neck opening depth. should've made it about an inch deeper. Matt says it's comfortable, and that's what matters, right?

Yarn: Queensland Collection Kathmandu Aran

Overall Impressions: This was started purely so I could take something with me on vacation. I wanted an easy, portable knit using wooden needles so I could take it on the plane with me. The garter rib and st. st. really suit the yarn and Matt loves how light yet warm this sweater is. We're both giving it a thumbs up!

So that's one more finished project for the year. Next up? I'm going to try to finish my Tangled Yoke Cardigan (and really hope it fits well!)

Suspended due to weather

If you're watching the World Series (and I know you are!), then you know the kind of weather we're having here in the south eastern Pennsylvania region. It's not supposed to get any better for the next 2 days (with some hints at some snow flurries)... so we'll see when they get the rest of this baseball game in.

It's also effecting my photo capabilities (or it's just making me too lazy to take photos). However, progress is being made... and I'll have a finished project by the end of the day.

Matt's Kathmandu Gansey is just about done. The second sleeve is past the halfway point to the cuff, and then just a few (and I mean a few) ends to weave in.

I was making nice progress on my Tangled Yoke Cardigan, and I'm half way thru the tangled yoke itself. Had a little issue with my decreases (I don't like having to do things on the wrong side... I read my knitting as I'm not a fan of counting). Basically I closed the wrong cable and had to rip back two rows (as a 5 stitch decrease is not fun to rip). So it's slow going, but getting very very close. I still hope to have it done by the end of next week.

Let me also add: What happened to October, wasn't September just last week?????

It's a Keeper!

Gaelic Morning Mist
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This is one of my new swatches. The pattern is from A Fine Fleece... yes, yes, I know I wasn't going to cast on an other project from the book until the latest was completed... but hey, it's a swatch, remember? (and while October Frost is out of circulation, it will be added back in very soon).

I'm using Elann's Highland Donegal, which I love. I'm not usually a big fan of single ply yarn, but this one is just so lovely I couldn't resist (and my stash of it has increased... and I'm tempted to get more). The color is Morning Mist, so it's perfect for Gaelic Mist pattern (hence the name "Gaelic Morning Mist").

It's yet an other one of those "knit in one piece to the armholes" cardigans. I know most people really prefer this, but dang, I don't like casting on almost 300 sts! (luckily I've discovered that I prefer the crochet cast on... so much easier than the long tail for that many stitches!!!).

So I'm far enough that I know this is just what I had in mind. I love the color. A beautiful gray/green/blue. Very me. Very wearable (and I love the way the cables create waist shaping.

Okay, still need to finish up some things before the end of the year... but sometimes a girl just needs to... uh... swatch.

Will Knit For Yarn

Hey Theresa!
click to enlarge...
ya, black doesn't really photo well, does it?
Got the buttons on Hey, Theresa today. I'm very happy with it (however, we'll see how it actually fits Theresa... I don't knit for anyone but me and Matt... so we'll see!). Want the project stats? Of course you do!

Pattern: Hey, Teach
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cotton Angora in black
Changes to the pattern: added 2" to the bottom section and a repeat on the bodice section and the sleeves. Added seam stitches.
Problems with the pattern: Second time I've knit this.. no problems.
Overall impressions: While I don't normally like to knit for other people, other knitters do not count (they understand the work and "handmadeness" of the item). Knitting this for Theresa was quite fun actually. She gave me 20 skeins of the Cotton Angora and I get to keep the left overs (took 11 skeins for those keeping track of that sorta thing). The yarn worked perfectly with the pattern and I love the black lace. So if this fits, it's definitely getting a thumbs up (btw: I threw the dog hair in at no charge).

Here's a detail of the buttons/lace (and thanks to Betty with the help of picking out the buttons. So if you don't like them Theresa, you can blame Betty... bwahahaha!)

Hey Theresa! detail
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Some quick other projects updates. My Tangled Yoke is on the long boring st. st. yoke. Matt's Kathmandu Gansey is still on the sleeves (and needs some tweaking). Some other projects "may" have been cast on... but I'm not sayin'... they just might be swatches.

General Updates

Just a quick update on my works in progress.

Matt's Kathmandu Gansey is at the sleeves. I think my sleeve/body gauge is different. I don't have the wooden circs small enough to do the sleeves, so I'm using some metal ones. I think it's a little tighter gauge, but shouldn't have much effect, and I think Matt will enjoy the slightly denser (warmer) sleeves.

Kathmandu Gansey
click to enlarge and see the most beautiful fabric ever
I love the way the Kathmandu Aran Tweed knits up. It doesn't have a lot of flexibility, but the drape is wonderful. Matt loves the softness. Quite frankly, this sweater is going to be very snuggly... in a very manly sort of way, of course.

I'm also progressing well on my Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I'm about halfway thru the second sleeve (I did take a pic yesterday, but wasn't happy with how they turned out, and it's too dreary today to get a better one). I'm making a lot of minor adjustments to this pattern. Hopefully this will give me a nice fitting cardigan.

I did finish up all my Babette afghan blocks. Julie is just about done with hers as well, but with the holiday season upon us, we'll wait til after the first of the year to start seaming up the blocks. I really enjoyed working on the squares, and I do have one started in some stash yarn to keep.

Hey, Theresa is progressing... slowly. I'm halfway done with the right front (with the back and left front done). Just need to pick it up and work on it (I've been obsessively knitting on my Tangled Yoke).

The good news is that it seems that Jake's tumor is not progressing as quickly as we first feared. He's on pain killers that have made a huge difference. Apart from having to be careful when he goes up/down the stairs (as the last two spills were pretty bad), he's back to being his usual grumpy self.

Okay... let's see if I can get that second sleeve for my Tangled Yoke done today!

Matt's not the only one that cycles!

I'm trying to finish up my goals for the end of the year, so I've been cycling thru my WIPs and I'm feeling pretty good about my progress.

My Tangled Yoke is on it's first sleeve, Matt's Kathmandu Gansey is going really well (and he's mighty excited... he's already said "I know I'm going to wear that one a lot". Best husband, ever!) and I'm steadily working thru Hey Theresa! I've even been working on Babette (only the 2 round squares to finish up).

I'm also struggling trying to finish Patrick. This is the project that I bought the yarn for Matt as a Christmas gift, so I really need to get this done before this Christmas.

Patrick's first sleeve
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I admit that I have a love/hate relationship with Patrick. I love the design. I love the yarn. I don't love them together (the Beaverslide yarn is too heavy to knit at this gauge). I also don't love the way the pattern is written at all. I would suggest that Black Purl Design patterns are not for the novice knitter. They are full of errors (most are missing info... something that a copy editor would've picked up on). However, it's soooo close to being done (just the sleeves!)that I can finish it by the end of the year (as long as I work on it here and there).

Meanwhile, I'm going thru "cast on withdrawl". I might need to start something new soon! Finishing is fun, but I sure do love the rush of a new project!!!!

Oh, and as a blog note: I use Internet Explorer, and so that's how I designed my blog. However, Matt uses both IE and Firefox. I saw my blog on Firefox, and noticed it doesn't work real well. I'm going to give up the whole self design thing, and just switch over to a Blogger template this weekend. Hopefully that will be more user friendly for those using different browsers! I'll leave the coding to the experts!

...Breaking News...

This just in... It's October. Almost a week into October actually.

How did that happen!?!

If you do Holiday knitting (and I don't), that's only 10 weeks of knitting. Not a lot, actually. Since I don't do the holiday knitting thing... mostly... it's more about how much time is left in the year. I have a goal of finishing 20 projects this year.

I'm still on track, but the pressure is on! I will say that losing the time of the Olympics to do "fixes", while totally worth it, it did cut down on my FO list.

So believe it or not I'm only working on three projects right now. Here's some bad update photos (it's overcast this morning so I had to use the overhead light... and ugh).

Hey, Theresa is doing well. I met up with Theresa over the weekend to make sure that we were happy with the sizing, and it looks like it's going to be a good fit:

Hey, Theresa
click to enlarge that sucky photo
So the back is completed and I'm at the lace section of the left front. The hardest part is the st. st. section for me. The lace goes faster, as it's simply more interesting. It's also definitely not knitting as quickly as mine did... but that's to be expected, as it's like knitting the second sleeve... just for a whole sweater!

Some more bad photos:
Tangled Yoke Cardigan
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The body of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan is done, including some short row bust darts.

Tangled Yoke Cardigan short row bust dart detail
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Uh, that's a lot of st. st. I simply can't wait to do the yoke section. Should be so much fun with all those really really long st. st. rows. Like the Sitcom Chic, only at a much much smaller gauge, so I get lots more stitiches!

I do have the first sleeve cast on, but I was hoping that I didn't need dpn's, but I can't spread the stitches over my circs, so I'll have to dig out some size 4 dpns today.

Last, but far from least is Matt's Kathmandu Gansey:
Kathmandu Gansey
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This is the most disappointing photo in the group. I can't get a quality photo of how incredibly beautiful this fabric is. This is knitting up very quickly (it's been moved to my breakfast knitting for the time being). The front is done and I'm on the back yoke. Super simple stitch pattern and it will be done in no time. Love a quick easy gansey.

So if I can get these three projects done fairly quickly (the Hey, Theresa and the Kathmandu will both be done over the next few weeks), I will only need to finish one other project before the end of the year to hit 20! That seems reasonable, right? I guess I should finish up Patrick for Matt (since the yarn was a Christmas gift last year... he should have the finished sweater for Christmas THIS year... and I only have the sleeves to do). I'm also pretty close on Cassidy and a couple of other projects. So it can be done. Yes... it WILL be done!