Finished: Delancey Cardigan/WIP: Weekend Getaway

My Delancey Cardigan has been finished for a couple of weeks now, and I had high hopes for a real photo shoot with this one. I wanted glamour shots, darn it! But with the holidays, finding time and a willing photographer was too hard and I decided the inside photos would have to do.



The pattern is by Alexis Winslow (just a tip: it can be purchased through the Knit Picks site for a few bucks less than the Ravelry download costs), and I'd say it's a great pattern in every way. If you get gauge, you're off and running since the pattern is very specific and clear for row-by-row instructions. I mentioned my short row problems earlier--the pattern doesn't specify *how* to do some things, just that you need to do them, so I'd say it's not a complete beginner pattern, though. It's totally seamless, so if you like that sort of thing, this is a perfect cardigan!

I used my go-to yarn, Knit Picks Swish DK. I love this yarn--it's soft, washable, and comes in beautiful colors. When it's knit at more of a worsted gauge, the fabric is so light and drapy, yet snuggly too! The colors in Delancey are Beach Glass, the perfect greeny-turquoise, and Pampas Heather, a surprisingly interesting and complex neutral. I would call it green, but as you can see, bronze buttons look like they were made for it:


In that photo you can also see the slight fuzzing on the sleeve that happens with wear--I've been wearing this a ton! Usually I'd take a sweater shaver to it, but I thought someone might be interested in what the yarn looks like after a few wearings.

One thing I am not too happy about is that since this is knit at 18 sts/4 in with DK yarn, it's pretty loose, and my purse keeps catching on it! I've had to carefully work several snags back into the sweater.

Anyway, the fit is really nice. I made the 36" size, which matches my bust size with zero ease and has a few inches of negative ease on the hip--the right choice for this pattern, I would say. It's very stretchy because of the diagonal construction. After wearing it a bit, I ended up sewing down the back of the shawl collar because it wouldn't stay folded properly. Once I did, the front of the collar looked perfect, so I'd recommend doing that.



It feels good to be done with this, because I sort of fell out of love with it as I went along. I've realized that I don't have very many "plain" sweaters, the kind I can just throw on with a casual outfit and run to the park. I've got one in the works now that is really just a glorified hoodie--I'll share more about that one later!

For now, though, guess what I will be doing tonight?



(That's the back of the intarsia panel for my mom's Weekend Getaway Satchel...almost done!! I'm really having fun with that project.)

Let there be color!

Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of your knitting? I sure do. Between school, work, colds, things breaking in my house, and fall fun activities like a trip to the apple orchards, I have had to stay up into the wee hours of the night if I want to spend time on my hobby...then pay for it dearly the next day when the kids are up at 6:30 am and want to come crawl in bed with me. It's adorable, but of course I can't go back to sleep. I always have to remind myself that they won't be little forever, and just squeeze them a little tighter until I am happy to be awake.

Despite the lack of knitting time, I have:

• made a very little progress on my Delancey Cardigan. WIP photo here.

• finished a Honey Cowl, for which there will be no blog post because it's ugly--there is no redeeming neon pink, yellow, and green varigated yarn!--though the free pattern is awesome and highly recommended. Ravelry pattern page for Honey Cowl by madeleine tosh.

• nearly finished a Peak's Island Hood by Ysolda Teague (Ravelry pattern page.). In a wonderful bonehead move, last year I purchased one skein of Patons Classic Wool in Aran, and one in Winter White, but didn't notice the difference until I was three inches past the skein change in my Hood. Argh. Silver lining: There will be Wilton's food coloring crock pot dye-ing to write about!

• knitted about 4 inches of the intarsia part of the Weekend Getaway Satchel (Pattern photo below from Interweave Knits, Fall 2005) .

So, leave it to me to choose a huge, involved piece for my first intarsia project! I had to giggle at myself when I started the first row and realized that although there are only 3-5 spots of color in each row, the black background in between also requires a separate ball of yarn. I had to wind about 6 balls of black as I progressed across that row! I think at this point, I am up to about 12 little bobbins at once. This picture was taken about 10 rows ago, and there are also some red and yellow patches involved now. It just tickles me to see all the colorful little bobbins of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes hanging off the back of the work.

This bag is a labor of love. It's not TV watching or social knitting now that the solid pieces are all done. I've even felted them already! As soon as I get some good pictures I have lots to share.

Finished: City Cape with Bonus WIP Photo!

Since I've been working on so many things at once it's been a little harder than usual to see progress, but I finally have something that looks like a cape and a cardigan!


I am pretty much done with the Not-a-Poncho City Cape, from the book Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard. I used Cascade Ecological Wool in color #8087, Coffee. It's a top-down, raglan shaped cape. It took me a little under two skeins, and I added several inches before beginning the arm holes, otherwise the armholes would have started half-way up my biceps. My only other modification was changing the trim to 3 x 2 rib instead of 2 x 2. This is one of the things I really wanted for my Fall/Winter wardrobe, so I'm happy it's done before the weather changes.


I don't know if the news has traveled out of Southern California, but we've been having record heat around here (113 degrees in downtown Los Angeles and at least that hot where I live!) so I just couldn't face stepping outside to model my wooly cape. It's pretty much done, but it's supposed to have ribbon facing on the front bands and around the armholes. I bought some brown and cream with blue accents paisley ribbon at Joann, but it's not exactly what I had in mind--so I might just leave it off until I find the right one. I wanted something a little more earthy, and less of a contrast with the knitted part.

I do like the Cascade Ecological Wool, if only because it's so cheap. I bought five skeins of this stuff on sale at WEBS for $11 a huge skein of heavy worsted/bulky weight yarn (depending on who you ask), and so for $55 I have knit my husband a sweater, this cape, and still have enough left for a short sleeved cardigan for me. This color is a little hairy, but I have a lighter color that isn't quite as bad. From now on I think I will stick to the lighter colors.

Just for fun, here is one of my WIP's, the Delancey Cardigan designed by Alexis Winslow. Delancey is a one-armed lady at the moment...but I love knitting with Knit Picks Swish DK, so I don't even dread the sleeves. The other one will be coming right up! I'm using Beach Glass as the main color, and Pampas Heather as the contrast color. It's a little less punchy than the pattern model, but I was good and used stash yarn.




This is such a well-written pattern, and for once it's designed for taller-than-average girls with long arms! I actually knitted my sleeves SHORTER than the model. Never happened before! I really like the way it's written, with row numbers given in all instructions. It would be difficult to modify the length without completely re-writing the pattern, though, so keep that in mind if you're considering this one. This will hit me around the bottom of my rear, and I am 5'7" tall. Once I get the bottom trim knitted on, it will not have that "V" shape anymore.

A Few Updates

Since I haven't taken knitting pictures in a while (still getting used to the new homeschooling schedule!) I thought this would be the perfect time to make a little list of things I've been wanting to blog about but haven't had the time for. Not the same as a real post, I know, but it will have to do. :)

1. The stash challenge has, quite honestly, been a complete bust. I really am an addict. I don't intend to stop trying to knit only yarn I already own, but among other purchases, last month's mad money was spent on a lot of Knit Picks Main Line (discontinued yarn) that was just too good a deal to pass up--a Raveler had it for sale for 19 skeins for $25--and a whole shipment of Knit Picks Wool of the Andes has come to live at my house. The latter was purchased for...

2. My first go at intarsia. More on this later, but I'm making a huge felted satchel for my mom. I've got the back, sides, bottom, and straps done (the solid-colored pieces) and will be starting on the colorwork soon.

3. I have been a little bit on the scattered side when it comes to my knitting lately. In the past week, I've worked on the Not-A-Poncho City Cape from Custom Knits, the Delancey Cardigan designed by Alexis Winslow, the aforementioned Weekend Getaway Satchel, and yes, I started yet another new project tonight: Sheer Poncho, an absolutely gorgeous laceweight free pattern by Amy Arifin.

I don't know why I keep starting new things--I suppose I would finish pieces more quickly if I stuck to one or two at a time, but I've decided to stop feeling bad about it and just go with it. It's fun! I'll be writing more about each of those projects as soon as I can...with pictures, I promise.

My 2010 Stash Challenge

Ok. Deep breaths...confession is good for the soul. Hi. My name is Amy, and I am a yarnaholic. It doesn't matter how much is already in the closet, a good yarn sale will tempt me every time! When I first started knitting just over two years ago, buying yarn seemed like a good idea. After all, I didn't have any! One never knew when a given project would be finished, and it make good fiscal sense to purchase supplies for my hobby when there was a sale.

My first few purchases were 100% wool yarn skeins in twos--my first projects were diaper woolies for my son, and that's all it took for one pair of "longies." So, that explains the tub of random worsted weight wool, of which the following is a sample (I started out with the basics!).



Then, I discovered that I could knit sweaters for the kids, and so I bought a slightly larger quantity each time, thinking to make each of them a couple of sweaters. This explains the assortment of Swish DK in the closet.





Once I was on to knitting sweaters for myself, all bets were off. Sales became even more important because I needed 10 or so skeins, depending on the size of the ball. This explains the explosion of full bags of yarn, like this one.



Who knows what my reasons were for the multiple skeins of laceweight or fingering weight--they were pretty?



I just noticed that most of this comes from Knit Picks! I am not sponsored by the company, I promise!! :)

The thing is, I have never been a collector. Friends of mine collected erasers, stickers, charm necklaces in elementary school, and so I did, too--but that might possibly be the last time I intentionally collected something. I don't like "clutter" in my house, so figurines or knick nacks are out. I only really wear a few special pieces of jewelry, I don't scrapbook, and I don't play any sports that require lots of gear. I also couldn't care less about the latest technological device. That's why my yarn stash snuck up on me; I refused to believe that I had become a hoarder of yarn!

I know there is technically nothing wrong with having lots of something, but for me, for my little house, and for my committment to living a simple life, I have too much. So, I am putting it out there in the world that I won't be buying any more yarn until I use up what I have. This will be a fun adventure, "shopping" from my stash and searching for just the right pattern for each little pile of yarn. I also have some really pretty things on the needles that are just waiting for me to finish them up. Wish me luck in my new, frugal, and responsible endeavor!

Sweaterbabe's Dramatic Lace Wrap Cardigan

Since I have been knitting, I notice knitwear--sort of the same way I never noticed a certain car model around town until we bought one. But when waiting in lines or walking through the mall, my eye catches shapes, styles, and colors in commercial knitted garments, which gives me inspiration for my own hand-knit wardrobe. Lately, I have been noticing especially these great drapy cardigans. They are perfect with the skinny jeans that are so fashionable now, and they just look so effortlessly stylish. Most of the examples I've seen on other women have been plain stockinette, and while the shape itself is beautiful, it's kind of boring to knit. When I saw Sweaterbabe's new pattern, #112 Dramatic Lace Wrap Cardigan, it hit me that it was EXACTLY the cardigan pattern I was looking for! (Photos are from Sweaterbabe...she was kind enough to give permission to use them).

Those long front panels are right on-trend, and the lace pattern gives me something fun to knit. The back is gorgeous as well--and there is waist shaping, which for my hourglass-ish figure is a must!

I've purchased several Sweaterbabe patterns over the last year, and one thing I really appreciate about all of them, including this latest one, is that she writes the patterns out line by line. What I mean by that is there is no sort of hand waving--"Knit until it feels right!" She tells you exactly how many rows to do. That is relaxing for me, because I don't have to take copious notes as I knit...I can just mark my place in the pattern and I know exactly where to pick it up again then next time I sit down with the project. That is perfect for me because I usually have several projects going at once.

I received the pattern a week or so ago, and it was pure kismet that the pattern called for Knit Picks Swish Worsted (superwash merino) when I had a shipment of single-ply merino on its way to me already! I was so, so, SO tempted to go ahead and order some Swish for the project because that is probably my favorite yarn...it washes so well! But I had ordered a sweater-quantity of Purewool in an apple green color back in the first week of April when they had a sale, so I decided to be good and wait for that--I know it will be a good yarn sub. Since it is hand-dyed to order and shipped from Uruguay it takes over a month to arrive on my doorstep, but it came today! I can't wait to get started...

It's a little *ahem* brighter than I expected it to be, but brights are in this season, right?

Queen Anne Cherries

I was looking at my WIP's yesterday and realized I have become a Knit Picks addict. Most of my projects currently on the needles are worked with Knit Picks yarn...but as far as I am concerned, they have outdone themselves with their new line of tonal hand-dyed yarns. I must confess, though it will probably make me a "bad handknitter," that I kind of hate multicolored varigated yarns. Actually, I shouldn't hedge that (something I am working on in general, actually--hedging). I HATE multicolored varigated yarns. I have used them, but only once have I been able to keep it from pooling. It might be the perfectionist in me...I don't like not being able to control the look of the finished object.

However, it is so fun to see the different colors slide through my fingers and work into stitches, combining different ways as I knit. Once I discovered semi-solid yarns, I could have most of the fun of a varigated, with a MUCH more subtle final result. Here is one of my older projects, made with a hand-dyed semi-solid:


Up to now, I have only had monochromatic semi-solids to choose from, but Knit Picks did something brilliant, I tell you. They used several shades from one little wedge of the color wheel, ie. from yellow-green to blue-green, to make a tonal yarn. I bought one called Queen Anne, inspired by the Queen Anne cherry, to make a pair of socks.

They took tones from golden through salmon pink to make the most beautiful yarn I have ever seen! I can not get a photo to do it justice. I will be making Froot Loop by Kristi Geraci--I think it will show the hand-dyed tonal yarn to perfection! (Pattern photo below).

And the colors in the yarn even remind me of Froot Loops. The whole thing just makes me happy! I imagine this will be a long term WIP...something I work on in little bits here and there when I need to be cheered up, but here is my starting-line photo. Isn't that yarn gorgeous??

Let me count the ways...

Why do I love knitting?

Because it's slow. Like my breathing in yoga, it's soothing to the nervous system. I have to think about the process. I have to decide if I want the finished product badly enough to make it, stitch by stitch, or if I would enjoy the process enough that the end result doesn't matter so much.

Because it's tactile. Each kind of yarn feels different as it slips through my fingers. One of my first verbs as a child was "softit." As in, "Mommy, softit!" [translation: "Mommy, please let me touch that deliciously soft thing!"] I shop for clothing by walking through a store, discreetly dragging my fingertips along the racks of skirts, sweaters, blouses; I buy when the feel of a fabric stops me in my tracks. Knitting gives me that pleasure from the first time I pick up a skein of yarn, all the way through each wearing of the finished garment. I haven't knit with some angora/merino yarn aptly named Sublime yet, simply because I am not finished softingit.



Because I can watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer while I knit.

Because I can turn this...



into this!



Because, as Stephanie Pearl McPhee put it: knitting is like life. You do the same small things over and over, and end up with something beautiful.