Finish Friday: CCTC

I finally got the zipper sewn in for the Can't Clean Toilets in Cashmere cardigan.

Not the best job ever, but for what this cardigan is targeted for, it's just fine!

I did end up with a heavier zipper than I wanted (drawback of online ordering... but it's not like they have any kind of zipper selection at Joann's). It'll do, and the blue is surprisingly a decent match (I had ordered a grey zipper just in case).

The pattern (Ribby Cardi by Chic Knits) is a favorite for a reason. This might be finished number 6 or so? I might need a break from it (or at least the next one will have buttons. I might just need a break from sewing in zippers... and I have two more to go!)

 Project Stats!

Pattern: Ribby Cardi by Bonne Marie Burns (the most knit pattern here at le Knitting Park)

Yarn: Red Heart Super Tweed

Changes to the pattern: well, I changed where I did my raglan decreases so that I ened up with a moving rib. My gauge was a little larger than the pattern, as I needed the extra room.

Problems with the pattern: uh, ya, there's a reason I've knit this a billion times. So no. No problems with the pattern.

Overall impressions: this is the type of project that reminds me that I am an equal opportunity yarn consumer. It's a Red Heart yarn. It's acrylic. The yarns snobs are gasping in horror. However, I can't (or want to) always wear high maintenance sweaters. This is for those chilly days that I don't have to worry about keeping it clean. It can be tossed into the washer and dryer. I looooove the colors (that blues is just stunning and I bought more of the grey for Matt).

So I have Suzy Too! to get a zipper in yet plus one of my earlier Ribbys. However, one zipper at a time!

It's Photoshoot Friday!

and no.. I am not drunk.

Anyone who knows me knows how much I HATE having my photo taken. However, my dressform doesn't always cut it. So with a beautiful day out, a willing husband (and the promise of a beer later), we did a little photo shoot of my last two finished projects.

The super warm and cozy Letitia Crowley (the link takes you to my Ravelry page with more photos)! Ya, it's gonna be fab this winter. The yarn is AWESOME! (for those who need reminded: Valley Yarns Berkshire. Ya, that's right baby! Wool and alpaca in a beautiful shade of blue). It actually crocheted perfectly for this project.

As you can see from the modeled photos, I still have issues with the shoulders being too big and the sleeves are too long. However the entire intent of this project was for fast and cozy. It's certainly cozy (and looking at the forecast for the winter, that's gonna come in handy!)

Now Twyla! This is definitely one I'll make again. Granted it's a wee bit dressier than I intended (looks better with my black skirt than with my cropped jeans... but there's only so much wardrobe change I'll do for a photo shoot. I mean I have make up AND jewelry! Ya even my legs are shaved).

So hopefully that's enough distraction that no one notices that I didn't get the zippers sewn in this week (hey, I have them pinned! Just not sewn).

Finished It Friday: Twyla

So Twyla is finished! Whew, that took me longer than expected.

The original intent of this cardigan was for a simple crochet around the house sweater. Ya, not only was it not a simple crochet project, it ended up being more tailored and dressy for just around the house.

I did a glob of mods which is one of the reasons it's so tailored (and here's something I don't say very often: it actually looks better on me than on my dress form. I am much much fuller figured than my dress form and this fits me well. I'll get some modeled photos when we have some decent light... and my hair isn't soaking wet from my shower...)

The yarn crocheted up much better than I expected. I have no idea why I even thought of this yarn for this, but I'm glad I swatched it. The silk gives it the weight and drape while the wool helps with the shape.

So let's do some project stats!

Pattern: Twyla by Berroco

Yarn: Moda Dea Silk n Wool in Sangeria (discontinued, of course)

Problems with the pattern: can't really say if there are errors, as I did so many mods that I can't verify the pattern. I will say that I wasn't even close on yardage. I had a panic that I wouldn't have enough yarn (I miscalculated how much I had in stash). According to the pattern I was going to need 2200 yds for my size. I ended up using about 1500. Granted, most of my mods cut down on how much yarn I would use, but that still seems like a huge discrepancy.

Changes to the pattern: lots and lots. I started with the sleeves, which were the same width from cuff to armhole. I'm not a fan of wide cuffs, so I chained fewer stitches then increased. I added 2" to the sleeve width to deal with my heavy upper arms. I changed the neck shaping to a more V neck (the original is a sorta crew/v combo that a lot of people seemed to have problems getting to sit right, luckily, I prefer the deep V). I narrowed the shoulders by two cluster on each sleeve. After doing the band, I didn't like the wide band around the bottom, as it changed the drape, so I only did front bands. I also changed the sc band to a textured sc stitch. I didn't do the bands around the sleeves (as even without them, the sleeves are a smidge too long). Whew! I think that's it!

Overall impressions: Love it! While my intention was for a cozy around the house cardigan, this ended up being one of the best fitting/stylish things I've made for myself. The yarn was perfect. The crochet stitch is awesome (as Matt said "don't take this the wrong way, but that doesn't look like a crochet project"... meaning it doesn't look like I'm wearing an afghan).

The only thing I'm a bit disappointed in is where I ripped back the yoke to fix the shoulder width. The stitch pattern is much more open in that section. I was hoping it would block out when I re-blocked it, but there's still quite a difference. Luckily, it's on both the fronts and back and looks like a design element.

 Now that I have all the mods figured out... I still might get a cozy around the house one done yet!

Coming Soon! Zippered Cardigans! (I have 2 cardigans with the zippers pinned in, just need to sew them... plus a third that's actually a fix).

Finishing Friday is Overrated!

It's not how you finish, but how you start! Right? I've come down with a total case of startitis while I have globs of projects that I "should" be finishing up. I blame the pleasant summer weather we are having. I know I'll need/want these wool sweaters in 6 months... but I can't bring myself to concentrate.

These sweaters need zippers. Ya, first I gotta order them.

These sweaters need sleeves. Some are even started (one was even done, but knit on the wrong size needle so it needs a third sleeve. Awesome, as I do love knitting sleeves)

These hats need pop-poms.

These have fitting issues that need to be fixed (not a full representation: I have more stuffed in my WIP/UFO closets)

Not shown are the projects that I'm chugging along on that are sorta boring. Or really boring. Or simply put aside as I'm limited to how many projects I'm allowed sitting around the house.

Meanwhile I keep casting things on (usually frogging them right away). At some point I'll have to just focus and get a bunch of things off my WIP list to FO list... meanwhile, I have empty size 7 needles....

How many mods does it take to make me a cardigan?

A few weeks ago, Cathy at Webs posted this cardigan from Berroco on their Facebook feed. You know, that's exactly my kind of project!

I swatched a bunch of stash yarn. Berroco is now recommending Ultra Alpaca. While I love the Ultra Alpaca, I didn't swatch it. I found something in my stash before I got that far.

The Moda Dea Silk n Wool has been a favorite of mine (I've knitted two projects with it... and of course it's discontinued). I loved the Sangria colorway, and I thought it would make this cardigan. It swatched beautifully. As a matter of fact, I might like this yarn crocheted better than knitted!

Started with a sleeve and ran into my first issue: No shaping. The sleeves are the same width from cuff to bicep. I hate wide cuffs, so I decided to chain fewer stitches and increase to the width. Then I noticed that the sleeves weren't going to be wide enough for me to wear anything under them. So I made the sleeve width wider.

I also didn't like the combo of V and crew and decided to do a straight up V neck (more flattering for me).

All was good until I dug out the rest of the yarn: I only had 12 skeins* and the pattern told me I would need 15 based on their yarn requirements! PANIC! (sleeves were already done and I was in love with the pattern stitch in this yarn. I really didn't want to start over with a different yarn).

At this point I had the back done, the sleeves were to the sleeve cap and I felt that if I seamed with a different yarn and didn't do the bottom border, I might squeak by. So I optimistically went on ahead.

Finished the fronts and the sleeve cap shaping with globs of yarn left over. (I had 2 full skeins. Most of on other and about half of two other: almost 4 whole skeins left). Good to go!

Blocked it yesterday and started seaming it up today. Got half it of seamed up with the second sleeve in and slipped it on...

OH NO! I didn't look closely at the schematic! The shoulders are way too wide for me. These have fitted sleeves, and a 2" drop isn't good. I need to rip back and decrease at the armhole on the front and back.

Not today. I need a break. I feel that this pattern has been nothing but a rework. Other than the pattern stitch and the A-line shaping, I feel that I have had to change everything.

Next time? I'll do it top down and seamless... now where did I stash that Ultra Alpaca?

*in full disclosure: I did have this yarn listed at 12 skeins in my Ravelry stash. I would save myself a lot of heartache by using my info on Ravelry. This is the second time recently that the info was there, but I didn't check. Which is why my Ravensong is not done...

The Beauty of Grey

It's not a black and white world...and I'm digging the beauty of grey right now.

That's the pile of current WIP. Grey is the dominate feature on all of 'em. They might be wide in fiber choice: There's a 100% wool, a 100% acrylic, a 100% alpaca, a cotton/silk/wool blend and a cotton/acrylic blend (ya, when I say I'm equal opportunity yarn consumer... I ain't kidding).

Normally we can assume that these are for Matt. He's Mr. Neutrals and I lean towards the brights or... green (yes, I do loves me some greens!). However, these are evenly spread for each of us.

Grey is a lot like green tho'... there really are so many shades of grey that you can get so much variety.

Keep an eye out for more details: especially that seamless yoke/marled/striped one that is front and center. I'm in major love with that project right now.

(these projects also inspired me to put on Live's Mental Jewelry. My very favorite Live CD).

The Big Swatch

So I thought I would have a finished sweater to post about today, but it seems that it needs a bit of tweaking.

This sweater was just one of those things that I wanted to play with and I ended up with a full sweater.

My idea was to reverse the Knitting With Tears Cardigan by doing a raglan shaped pullover with a solid st. st. body and broken rib sleeves.

I used Ann Budd's recipe from her The Knitter's Handy Book of Top-Down Sweaters, but I tried to adjust a bit for Matt's anatomy (and I got half of it right).

I added a set of short rows to the back to adjust for his wide shoulders and I did some decreases in the body to adjust to his 7" chest to waist drop.

I could've made the sleeves wider for his biceps and he doesn't like how high the neckband sits (feels like it's choking).

Overall, I'm fairly happy with it, and I still haven't blocked it (the drawback of seamless sweaters for me. When I have to seam, I always block before I sew them up... ). I think the blocking will help a bit with the sleeves, but I think the neckband will just get ripped off and I'll do a simple rolled neck.

While I should be working on some of my lighter weight projects, this was actually such a fast and easy knit that I couldn't put it down. Need to get back to my Ravensong for Summer (not only a project for summer, but a project for ME!)

Finished!

I finished a fairly quick crochet cardigan for myself last night. 

There are things I like about it and things that are "okay".

My initial intention was to make up a quick and warm around the house cardigan. I confess I'm more of a knitting snob than I like to admit. I have tendency of not wanting to waste "good" yarn on crochet projects. I know part of it is yardage. Crochet projects usually take a lot more yarn than a knitted project.

I had swatched this project in all sorts of yarn. I think I even started in in an acrylic yarn that I love (my most worn around the house sweater is in TLC's Heather. So comfy and I can throw it in the washer AND dryer). Nothing was "right".

I also usually stick to really light yarns when I crochet projects to wear.

Bulky yarn + bulky stitches (like crochet) + bulky girl = not usually a flattering project.

So during this horrid winter, I decided I needed something warm and cozy (and that fits). I remembered this pattern. I had ordered the yarn for a knitted project, so I already had it (and I can order more for the knitted project, right?). Swatched it up and loved it.

The pattern stitch was easy. Huge hook, single ply wool/alpaca yarn in a pretty shade of blue. It went quickly. Then I hit the sleeves. Didn't like the sleeve cap shaping at all. So I spent some time doing a little trial and error and got a nicely fitted sleeve cap.

While working on it, there were times I thought it was going to be great. Then other times I felt it was going to be the type of project that gives crochet a bad name. Now that it's done, it fits the bill. Is it runway wonderful? uh, no. Is it perfect to snuggle up on a cold winter day? yep. and that's what I wanted. Let's do some stats!

Pattern: Pocket Cardigan from the book Plus Sized Crochet: fashions that fit and flatter

Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire in light blue

Problems with the pattern: I found the directions to be little on the light side. They are written for experienced crocheters. There is no schematic and the only sizing info is for the finished bust measurement. Not overly helpful. The sample does not fit the model, making it a poor reference for the whole "fit and flatter" thing. The yarn used in the book is equally vague. I had to do a lot of research to find it (ya, googling it by how it's listed only gets you to the distributor, the yarn is named Icelandic Wool and it's by Oasis yarns). It's also listed as a bulky weight yarn, but once I tracked it down, discovered that it is in fact a worsted weight (and no wonder I wasn't liking any of the earlier swatches). The Berkshire is an aran weight (knits at 16 sts to 4", the yarn used in the book sample knits at 20 sts to 4").

Changes to the pattern: I shortened the sleeves and the sleeve cap shaping for a more traditional fitted sleeve cap.

Overall impressions: this is not the best project I've ever made. However, it is exactly what I wanted/needed. It's very warm. It's soft and cozy. The color makes me happy. It was quick and fairly easy (I still hate seaming crochet projects. Knitting is soooo much easier). I will probably make it again, but in a very different, lighter weight yarn with lots of drape to make a little spring cardigan. I love the pattern stitch a lot. So we'll give it a B+...

Respect The Niche Market!

So our local Barnes & Nobles hosted The Yarn Harlot yesterday. You would think by now that book stores would get the devotedness (is that a word?) of knitters. I mean all you have to do is look at her blog to see the volume of people that show up!

Since we knew that it would be fairly crowded (and to be honest, our B&N has not always been well prepared for us knitters. Our SnB has met there for years. They even started putting us on their schedule, yet there were many times we would show up and they had completely forgotten about us) we decided to show up about an hour and a half early. They were already out of chairs.

The Yarn Harlot lived up to her writing. She is a fabulous story teller and it was very enjoyable.

We waited in line for our book signing and knitters are a fairly laid back group. Standing in line we knit, we chat, we make new friends.

Here's Julie with Stephanie:

and here's me with Super Model Matt and Stephanie:

 

I had wanted Matt to wear his St. Patrick sweater (for obvious reasons. plus I love that sweater), but the wool/mohair heavy cables might just have killed him (it was a wee bit warm).

Normally, Julie and I head over to Pittsburgh for the Knit & Crochet show (which is this weekend), but we decided to take a break from it this year and do something in the fall (Stitches East perhaps? Maybe just a road trip up to Webs?). It was kismet! Even tho' I didn't get to buy yarn I don't need, it was an awesome knitting weekend!

Finish It or Frog It Friday

The white cotton blend cropped cardi is practically done. uh.. yay? It only needs buttons and you would think I would be very excited to have it finished.

I was until I tried it on. All I can say: UGH! I've made this pattern before and the alpaca version is one of my most favoritest sweaters evah. However, the little (okay, not so little) weight gain has made it unwearable right now.

So I figured when I was looking for a white cotton blend cardigan, this pattern would be perfect. I couldn't have been more wrong. While I did make the appropriate size, I'm not sure if the cotton blend vs. alpaca was a good choice. The Cotton Ease gave me fab stitch definition, but it of course does not have the same drape. I'm also not so sure that a cropped cardigan is really body appropriate anymore. I intended to wear it over a bright print dress, and it still may work for that, but as an everyday cardigan: it looks horrible on me.

So I'm not sure if I'm just going to go ahead and put some buttons on it and then try to adopt it out or if I should frog it. Since there's nothing wrong with it except how it looks on me, I'll probably find some buttons and put it up for adoption. So I guess I'll call it done.

Project Summery:

Pattern: Design 4 from Patons Canadian Living Booklet

Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease

Problems with the pattern: none, third time I've made this pattern. Easy peasy.

Changes to the pattern: I lengthened the body a few inches (so there's also an extra button). I added some moss stitch in the center of the main cable.

Overall impressions: while there is nothing wrong specifically with the finished project, I can't wear it (when Matt gives you a head shake, you know it's bad: he's Mr. Positive). So more body issues than project issue. Disappointed, but definitely won't be making any more cropped projects. I'm not 25 with an hourglass figure anymore.

and now we remember why Matt ends up with more finished projects!

Seemed like a good idea at the time

Let's face it: it's been a harsh winter. Everyone is tired of the snow, the ice, the freezing temps (and losing power is never fun). We all cope the best we know how.

I decided to remind myself that spring will be here... eventually. Since it's my turn to have a finished project (I'm trying to alternate finished for Matt, then me) I went thru my WIP's and found this cute cropped cotton blend cardigan (a favorite pattern: third time I've knit it. I might be thinking of an other in wool).

When I stashed it away, I had the fronts done and the back better than half way done. The back is just moss stitch, and I got bored. Well, Olympics hockey and moss stitch actually work really well together and I got the back done fairly quickly.

As usual, the first sleeve wasn't too bad. I love the staghorn cable (it's easy and I don't need a cable needle). Now I have just a few more inches on the second sleeve. That means it's almost done. I mean I have less than 4" to knit. There are no front bands, so there's also not a lot of finishing. Yet I am slogging!

I'm tired of white. White snow. White fog. White ice. White yarn. I should've chosen a project that is wildly colored!!!

Normally I would say "next project will have a bright color!", but since I'm alternating between projects for me and Matt, he's up next. He's sorta anti-color. Certainly nothing bright. So it will have to wait for the next next project!

Meanwhile spring will eventually get here... and I will have a white cardigan ready for it!!!

Finish It Friday: Rowhouse!

I've been procrastinating on the finishing of Matt's Rowhouse. I knew I wanted to try something a little different with the closures. After much browsing and playing, I ended up making some toggles using a dark grey ultrasuede.

Of course this required me to set my sewing machine up again (we had guests for the holidays, and so my studio is converted to a guest room). Oh, then we had that whole pesky winter thing with too much ice, snow and no power for a few days.

However, it's Valentine's Day and someone deserves a sweater (ya, the 20" of snow yesterday means someone has been doing a lot of shoveling).

I wasn't too sure about the closures at first. I haven't been sewing much, and just like anything that you don't do on a regular bases, I'm a bit out of practice.

I used a light grey for the sewing (as the flecks in the yarn have a light grey) and some wooden toggle buttons that Matt picked out.

The straps are probably too long, but I'm not sure I can get it off of him to move them over a bit. I will block it at some point.

Let's do some project stats!

Pattern: Brownstone by Jared Flood

Yarn: Queensland Kathmandu Aran (yes, I am heartbroken that this yarn is discontinued)

Problems with the pattern: none. This is a very well written pattern (see previous post gush)

Changes to the pattern: NONE!!! What??? Yep, thanks to knitting to gauge and the man friendly sizing, I did not make any changes to the actual knitting. The only thing I changed was the closure where I made ultrasued toggles rather than twisting the yarn to make the loops.

Overall impressions: this sweater is awesome. The pattern: awesome. The yarn: awesome. The color: awesome. Yep it's awesome.

I will readily admit that I it's more than likely that I'll knit this pattern again. Maybe in a nice cotton blend...

Sneak Peak at Rowhouse

Just a quick update on Matt's Rowhouse. Basically it needs some closure and a bath.

Took some photos of it on my dressform today, but that's not a great representation of how it fits (girl vs. boy, plus there that whole sizing difference).

I do love the Kathmandu yarn! It's not the easiest yarn to work with (and don't even think about using it for seaming), but the colors, the feel, the texture. It's one of Matt's favorite yarns and combine it with a pattern that he loved, and I think we're going to have a winner here.

I have some wooden toggle buttons for the closure, but I'm thinking I might head over to Etsy and look for something a little more in the grey scale color range. We'll see what he wants (he actually already picked out the wooden toggles, but that was before we decided on this yarn).

Timeout!

This is a cardi I started for myself based on an Anthropologie cardigan. It's exactly what I've been looking for for around the house. I love the heathered grey with a bright contrast. I like the casual fit and the neckband styling. Plus who doesn't love pockets! Looks like a fun easy knit that I could do a little math and come up with something for me!

I had a bunch of yarn leftover from my Can't Clean Toilets in Cashmere cardi (that has it's own issues and is in a timeout until I fix the neckband) so decided to use that.

The pattern stitch is different from the inspiration cardi, as I didn't want to do the shaker rib of the original (time consuming and it does eat a lot of yarn). Ack! That means math, measuring, and an accurate gauge! Okay, did that. Cast on and it flew off the needles.

As the picture shows, I have the back done. However there is a huge issue: my butt. I don't normally make sweaters this long and I underestimated how much ease I would need. I want this to hang loosely and it's not going to do that with the size I decided on.

So I do think the stitch pattern works, I love the heathered grey and I like the blue. However, since I have to do a complete restart anyway, I'm debating if I should change up the contrast color.

Hmmm... I think it's an other project headed for a timeout while I knit on one of Matt's projects where these kinds of issues don't seem to appear. Well, at least as much.

Rowhouse!

So not all my knitting is just for Fix It Fridays! I'm sorta bopping between several projects, but believe it or not, the one that seems to have the bulk of my attention is Rowhouse.

Bascially, it's an other Brownstone for Matt. Since I'm knitting them one right after the other, I decided to call it Rowhouse.

This just might be the perfect man's sweater. First, it's an easy knit (tho' I think I've worked more short rows in the last 2 months than I've done over the last 22 years of knitting, but that's also because I seem to be a bit obsessed with shawl collars right now). I wouldn't call it "beginner" friendly (see previous comment about short rows), but definitely an advanced beginner could do it.

Second, this is a very precisely written pattern. I'm not sure if all of Brooklyn Tweed's pattern are this detailed, but kudos to Jared Flood for being so specific (and yes, that even includes what kind of cast on he used. Of course, I didn't actually DO that cast on, but it's nice when a designer tells you what they did). I have issues with designers who think that everyone knits exactly how they do and assume that you'll do it the way they did things (as a complete aside: this is actually why I didn't get far with the TKGA master class: the first question was about casting on, they didn't tell me what cast on to use then asked me to tell the difference between the two sides. I normally use a crochet cast on, project depending, and there is NO difference between the front or back. It looks the same. It's why I use it... well and I don't have that whole pesky "how much tail do I need" for when I do a long tail cast on. So while most people have a "go to" cast on, it's not all the same. Some people like the long tail, some like a cable cast on, some even do a backword loop. Never assume a knitter does it the same way as an other knitter! Okay, rant over... I'm just saying that even tho' I didn't use the same cast on as Mr. Flood, I appreciate his including it in the directions so that if I want to make mine exactly as the pattern, I know what the designer did). He also has number checks thru out (and being math challenged, I always appreciate that!).

I also love the gauge. Aran weight is where the bulk of my stash is (ya, it's an aran/cabley thing). I did stash dive for this... and this is actually sorta special yarn.

I'm using some much beloved Queensland Kathmandu Aran (discontinued. of. course.) in a dark blue-ish gray. I'm calling it midnight navy. I bought the yarn while we were on our 20th wedding anniversary trip ( did you know that there's a yarn store within walking distance to Dogfish Head Brewery?). So I knew that I wanted something that showed off the yarn, plus it's one of Matt's favorite yarns.

So the yarn and the pattern got the thumbs up from Matt (he's been seen very regularly in his Brownstone since Christmas). It's been a fairly quick knit, especially since I've been working on it between Fix It Fridays and 3 or 4 other projects that I've been playing with. There's also been a lot of browsing of new projects and even some (gasp) swatching.

A Fix It Friday Update

Just a quick update on the Suzy Too! hoodie. First let me say that I hate sewing crochet projects. I have no issue with knitted pieces, but I really really hate seaming up crochet.

However, the sleeves are sewn back in after I fixed the too large sleeve cap. The side seams are done as well.

All that needs to be done is the reverse sc around and a zipper.

The initial intention of this project was to make up a quick, easy, cheap project for around the house.

It is none of those things. I started this back in the summer of '12. I wanted to use up some acrylic stashed yarn, but I ended up having to track down more to finish it. The crocheting was fairly quick (apart from my complete lack of pattern reading skills. I had the same issues with the pattern I did the first time I made it), but I hit a lot of road blocks on the shaping as well as the finishing.

All I can say is that it is easy care. It will be nice to wear around the house. However, I gotta remember to stick to afghans when I crochet. I could've had a knitted sweater done by now!

The 2nd Friday of the year...

... and this whole "Fix It Friday" thing is already annoying.

Of course the weather is nasty (dark dreary and very wintery) which means that casting on sounds so much better than trying to fix mistakes.

Suzy Too! is in pieces (mostly). The sleeve caps are ripped back. Now I have to seam it up again. Blah. The yarn is fairly dark (a mostly navy multi-colored) and while I have every light on in the family room, I still feel like I need a flashlight to see well enough (this might be a mental thing... it's really a dark and dreary morning).

I think as long as I do something/anything on it today, I'll be pleased. Then I'll reward myself with Matt's alpaca Corduroy (which I'm about to divide for sleeves!). Alpaca always makes me happy.

First Finished Project 0f 2014!

And it's for me! I have to admit it's been a while. Not only on a finished project for me, but one that I've been this happy with the results.

I will say that the knitting on this one got pretty tedious, so I would work on it in spurts. Just goes to show that working a little here and there does add up!

I did mess up somewhere, as my neck/raglan shaping didn't come out to have the same number of stitches as the pattern. I also completely ignored the directions for the shawl collar and just did my own thing. I must confess that I like my collar a bit better. At least for me. The more traditional collar suits me more than the big portrait type collar on the original pattern.

Let's do some stats!

Project Stats!

Pattern: Amanda by Lisa Lloyd from A Fine Fleece (finished project #8 from book)

Yarn: Knitpicks City Tweed HW in romance. (YUM!)

Problems with the pattern: my numbers and the patterns didn't match up, tho' I can't be certain this isn't a knitter issue and less a pattern issue.

Changes to the pattern: I lengthened the body a bit, did my own shaping for the shawl collar. The usual sleeve shortening (and they're still a bit long, but it seems to suit the style).

Overall impressions: I love it. It's warm, soft and snuggly. I like the way it fits me. I looove the color. The pattern stitch combined with the yarn give it a bit of a drape that it didn't need any shaping.

So that's one more off the list of projects from A Fine Fleece. Might have to cast an other on today, as I now have some empty size 9 needles....

2014: Fix It Fridays Are Back!

A couple of years ago I took one day a week to concentrate on fixing projects that had issues. Sometimes it was a simple just frog the project, but the idea was to take Fridays and either fix it or frog it.

I have globs of stalled projects* again, usually because there's some kind of issue that caused me to toss them aside while I worked on something more fun.

Well, it's time to crack that whip and get those projects back into shape! So I'm setting Fridays aside again to work on problems. Not exclusively, as I still want to work on my WIP's. Plus it's a nice reward!

First up is my Suzy Too! This is Melissa Leapman's crochet hoodie (officially named Suzanne). I wasn't happy with the way my sleeves went it (they're poofy) and I used a whip stitch for seaming ('cause I was impatient). Now I have to un-seam it, play with the sleeve cap and re-seam it with a mattress stitch. However, it's one step at a time. I'll just concentrate on picking out the seaming (and I think I'll probably take off the hood and re-do it as well...).

Hopefully I can move some UFO's to WIP's to FO's this year!

*I'm sure there's some deep rooted psychological issue here, but almost all the projects that are stalled are projects that are for me. I think I have a tendency of fixing issues with Matt's projects when they come up while I toss mine aside and start something new.

Year in Review: AKA Year of Matt

A quick review of my knitting projects for 2013. While I still didn't do the volume of some of my previous years (there were some quilting projects and some major video game playing), I did get more done than I anticipated. All of them for Matt. (I am only listing sweaters this year with no hats/purses/quilts).

I didn't get the first sweater completed until September. This was one that had been on the needles for a while and I just buckled down and finished it up. It is officially one of Matt's favorite finished sweaters to date:

Beau in Beaverslide's wool/mohair in Autumn Licorice

This is the 31st finished sweater I knit for Matt (hence the name). While this project started out as something completely different, this ended up being an excellent finished project that he's wearing quite a bit.

No. 31 (seamless hybrid) in Lion Brand Fisherman's wool

When I showed Matt this pattern, I assumed that he would want it in a solid heathered or tweed yarn, but he liked the look of the hand dyed yarn. Dyed my own with food coloring and got a neat looking sage/tan blend that took some work to even out the color bunching.

Whitfield Jacket in hand dyed Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Bulky

This was Matt's Christmas gift this year. We loved the Aspen Bark color and he really liked the pattern when I showed it to him. Had to play with the gauge and he's worn it every day since I finished it (with 2 days to spare). This will be knit again!

Brownstone in Beaverslide wool/mohair in Aspen Bark

So, considering that I didn't really start doing serious knitting until late summer, I was able to crank out four sweaters... 3 of them started and finished within that time. Matt likes all 4 projects (and I think he might be addicted to the Beaverslide yarn).

That concludes The Year Of Matt's Sweater Review. I wouldn't be surprised if 2014 is more of the same. I really enjoy knitting for Matt. While the man does not need more sweaters, I love knitting for him (more than knitting for me). There will be at least one more Brownstone knit!