FO: Hitofude

I finished up Hitofude and just love it.  The color and lace work are amazing and the yarn feels great against my skin.  

We just got a new puppy so I don't have a lot of opportunity to wear it (or any of my handknits, really) but it is a great addition to my collection.  

The pattern is really ingenious and I love telling people about the construction of the sweater.  It is so different from others that I have knit, or western patterns in general. 

I highly recommend this pattern for people that have some passing experience with lacework and are ready to take it to the next level.  The pattern is very well explained and I didn't lose my place, not even one time.  The fit is flattering and forgiving and I think the styling suits a wide variety of wardrobe preferences.

As always...details on my ravelry page.

Hitofude and Murakami

The inspiration struck when I was about half-way through my very first Murakami novel, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.  It dawned on me to search for Japanese knitting patterns and off I went.  It had been awhile since I had been inspired with a new project - and this one just came to me.

I wound up with Hitofude and have just a half-repeat to get to the end of the arms.  The construction of this piece is incredible - what you see in the photo is half of a rectangle that reaches wrist to wrist.  I will eventually fold the rectangle in half the long way and seam to make two arms.  Whew.

This is an amazingly clear pattern so far and the knitting has been very, very enjoyable.  I am working it up with Madelinetosh Merino Light in scarlet.  A red knit for a red head?  I think I can pull it off.

The photos I have seen of the finished sweater are lovely (over 2,000 in Ravelry) and I hope to have this one done and off the needles by the holiday season.

FO: Hildina

It has been a cool summer - which prompted me to put aside my sock knitting and take up a bigger project.  I pulled out a very special skein of unknown fiber and unknown origin that was given to me by my husband for the holidays.  The sport weight wool is heavy, but it made the most loveliest of lacework shawls.

This was my first attempt at lacework and I did ok with it.  I had to frog it a few times, ripping back up to six rows of knitting in an attempt to re-work mistakes with yarn overs and - most especially - the 3-into-7 stitch.















Once I got it sorted the shawl came together quickly and blocking it made a nice difference.  The yarn really opened up and and the lace panels blossomed.  I do wish I knew more about blocking lace and I have a feeling the some weights at the points would have helped give it a bit more shape.

Overall it is a great pattern and lovely finished piece.  I am excited to wrap up in it as the temps fall this autumn (or even tomorrow night).

FO: Red Fiona

I finished this sweet tunic the day before Thanksgiving - and actually sewed on the back button while in the car, on the way to the hike we took on Thanksgiving day.

This top could not be nicer: the fit, patterning and style are just about perfect for a little girl.  But the pattern is all written (no charts), and there's no schematic either.  So the pattern is a bear to follow, but once you settle into the groove it begins to make sense.

Also the sizing is off in my opinion.  The size I knit is labeled in the pattern as 3-6 mos.  Granted I was likely a bit off with my gauge, but not by much.  And while my youngest daughter is on the small side for a 20 mos. old, she isn't THAT small.  So if you endeavor to knit up this pattern go by measurements, not age range.

 

The yarn, which I've mentioned before, is a fantastic locally sourced alpaca/nylon blend.  It took just about 600 yards to knit this up, which seems like quite a bit of yarn, but the great thing about tunics is that they can be worn for a long time.  These photos are also pre-blocking, and given that it's an alpaca hand knit, it will grow quite a bit once we give it a washing.

 

The beauty and ease of construction for this top is something that I admire and I'm thinking I may just have to knit another, in a larger size - maybe size it up to an adult?

 

ps.  Don't mind the crazy wardrobe on my youngest - she gets the leftovers from the other three with regards to clothes/sizing and any hopes for matching outfits have sadly been lost.

FO: Immie Tee, #1 & #2

I can't remember where I first saw this pattern, but I fell in love with it.  And I had just the yarn in my stash to make one - this amazing hand dyed sage green that would look fantastic on my youngest.  So I took measurements, did a swatch, and cast on.  I made it all the way through the sweater, thinking that it would fit - certainly wouldn't be too small - and that I had made the right choice on the yarn/color combination. 

But I made a mistake at the outset.  I didn't trust myself.  Instead of making the size that most closely matched my daughter's measurements, I made the size that most closely matched her age.  Surely at 10 mos., she should be wearing 12 mos. clothing, right?  [Since all my kids mostly wear gently used/thrifted clothes I have not found sizing labels to be very reliable.  There are times when my 4 yo is wearing size 6 pants, and my baby is wearing 2T onesies.]  And since I didn't go with the rational choice, which would have been to knit the sweater that would actually fit her, I wound up with a gorgeous sweater tee, perfectly matching the pattern measurements for 12 mos., but way too big for her little body.  She is a petite one, this last daughter of mine, and at 10 months she has an 18" chest, and more closely matches the 3-6 mos. size of the pattern.

So what did that mean for me after casting off and blocking this most lovely of sweaters?  Only that I had to make a second one of course!

I pulled some more yarn from the stash - a lovely reddish-pink left over from the Norwegian cap I knit late last year.  And the 3-6 mos. size tee fits her perfectly, with the green one waiting in the wings. 

A Finished Project

I can finally move something from the WIP column to the FP column! I completed the lace scarf last night and blocked it this morning. I love the way it looks, feels and drapes. I also love that the pattern completely hides all my mistakes!

More fisherman yarn

The lace scarf is coming along well. I plowed through a skien of yarn and had to put the project on hold until the same yarn came on sale at JoAnn Fabrics. It did last weekend and for a brief 20 minutes this last week I was able to join the new skein and continue my work. Maybe it will be done in time for my brother-in-law's law school graduation in mid-May? Maybe that's pushing it...

Stuck on Scarf Island

Here's the progress on the two scarves in the queue. I'm certainly not breaking any speed records, but I think that I have made some respectable gains. Obviously neither are blocked - and won't be for some time - but this gives you and idea of where I'm at. The other picture is of a current project that is eating up some knitting time. I borrowed the book from my Mom. It's a great read so far and intriguing enough to keep me from my needles. Tonight is movie night for me and Dad, so maybe I'll make a move towards getting off this island.

Lace!

After two false starts I actually have some lace going! At first I was reversing the YO and instead of creating the necessary 'holes' I was just doing increases. Once I figured out what I was doing it is has been smooth sailing.

I have modified the pattern to fit better with my skill/comfort level so I am only doing three repeats (vs. the five in the pattern). I also added a couple of rows to the bottom border so that it better matches the side border. It took me about 45 minutes to get through the patterned 16 rows so we'll see how long this scarf actually becomes (maybe I'll get faster as I get more used to it?). I am really enjoying learning lace - but it is definately NOT naptime knitting. It requires too much focus; something that is in short supply with three kiddos!

...I will learn some lace.

Since I finished up the baby booties, my knitting queue is clear and I am free to create something for myself! I can hardly believe it. Yes, the scarf is still in the wings, as is the felted bag, and there are some more stockings to be knit for the advent calendar, but I am ready for a challenge...ready to learn something new.


The other week our family attended a benefit for Aubrey Poole. As the lone bidder on the one knitting item in the silent auction, I was delighed to win it! It was a knitting basket with three skeins of yarn (used to create the booties below), two sets of knitting patterns (scarves and sweaters) and a set of three knitting classes at a local knitting store, The Knitting Tree. I am very excited by all of these things! I can't wait to use the classes to try out some new things (cables) and have decided that my new project will be to learn some lace techniques by knitting up the Fern Lace Wrap from The Little Box of Scarves, by Melissa Matthay and Sheryl Thies. Here's to trying something new!