At Last!

I finished the second sleeve on the Disco Lights sweater while traveling to Minnesota. And then I started on my cotton wool shell. Now I need to find the rest of the yarn and I need to block some of the baby sweaters I've done. Have to decide whether to have the Disco Lights sweater finished professionally. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Excellent Progress

The striped green thing is coming along. Of course, I was an 1-1/2" past the armhole shaping before I measured, but I figure it's okay because I'm tall.

Went to my local LYS today to get enough Frog Tree Alpaca to make the Secret of the Stole project.

Naturally, I needed to get enough yarn for a shell. My original idea was to get something for which I can use the beige Tilli Tomas Disco Lights and Aura combination--the combo as the front and something metallic for the back. I ended up with Rowan Wool Cotton for a shell but two different sales people helped me, so what I've ended up with is a pattern and enough yarn for a boatneck pullover. I'll have to see how that goes--it's on #4's which is pretty slow going for me.

The coup of the day was finding a really really cute stocking cap knit in Christmas green and trimmed with a red metallic "garland" and buttons to represent the lights and ornaments. I hope my younger niece likes it!

Secret of the Stole

I finished my swatch yesterday! I ended up using Frog Tree Alpaca in a Wedgewood blue and #4 needles. Had to rip back several times. I will definitely be using a safety line once I begin the project. I will block it tonight and upload a photo of it soon--my first (intentional) lace!

Taking a hard look at the stash tonight. I feel like I have to prioritize my projects and start getting way more productive. There are at several projects that are almost done. These include three hats--one for my sister and one for Gicell, a colleague at work--they're both feltable; the third is a cashmere hat for me. I just need to finish the rounds on DPNs. There's a vest for my older niece, a shrug and three baby sweaters. And since people are having their babies now...a former work colleague had a beautiful baby girl in August and a former client just had her own lovely girl. Got to get cracking...

I think I'll be more motivated now that the weather here on the east coast has gotten cooler. I keep hearing it's going to warm back up but I don't know. I love the cool brisk day and cooler nights snuggled under a warm and toasty comforter. Someone had their fireplace burning last night--it smelled so good. I'll need one of the three throws I have in progress soon! First there's a big thick throw made from stripes of Biscuit and Cookie Rowan Biggy Print (I think I'm knitting this on #35s!). Then there's a cable throw made from Big Wool--I think the panels alternate Latte and Sandstone (I'm recycling from another project). And the last is my log cabin throw.

In a Slump

I'm half a sleeve away from finishing my Tilli Tomas Disco Lights sweater. And I still have half my stash on my dining room table, waiting for a photo op and to be stored away. I don't know what's wrong...nothing is getting done.

I stopped at a LYS in Ho-Ho-Kus and got some fingering weight yarn and needles to try to swatch the Secret of the Stole. I haven't done lace before--I'm a little worried about the yarn overs. I think I'll do it without beads for the first try. However, the yarn is still out in the car and needs to be wound.

I also have a WIP for a friend from work that needs help. She lost the pattern. I'm recreating it and need to rip back two or three rows--someone started plain stockingette right in the middle of the diamond pattern. I'll try to get that done this weekend.

The Cupcake

I've finally finished the cupcake from One Skein. My niece has been asking for it for almost 2 years! We had gone to a LYS in Cape May, NJ and she chose pinks and a big heart-shaped button for the top. It's taken me that long to get the base done. Then I did several "toppings". Finally decided to use white to contrast the pink. I used several strands of different yarns including Aura to give it some sparkle and "umph.' Hope she likes it. I had reservations about how the top fit on the base but think it looks cute (most of the time--sometimes I think it looks like a mushroom).

WIPs

I've been cataloging all the projects I'm working on. Here are a few... Clearly I'm partial to pink. From the top you see:

1. Manos sweater for me

2. Debbie Bliss Cashmerino ribbed sweater for my nephew (which I'm sure won't fit!)

3. Rowan white cotton baby sweater (original baby too big to wear it)

4. Butterscotch Novelty--I ordered the yarn online and HATED the color when I got it. I bought lots of different novelty yarns to "kick it up"

5. Pink Silk Tank--I forget if this is silk wool or silk cotton but the armholes are too deep--I need to rip it down to the armhole shaping...

6. Pink Top Down Sweater--using Brown Sheep for the Ready Set Knit knit-along. Got stuck at the sleeves

7. Rowan silk cables--this is gorgeous

8. Black alpaca--the pattern was customized for me based on a designer pattern

9. The back of a yellow cotton tank

10. The back of a white cotton tank

11. DK wool baby sweater of checkerboard

12. Brown velour mobeius "scarf"--all I have to do is sew the ends in...

PS: the red alpaca felted hat decidedly NOT work out. Back to the drawing board.

Slow Going

Last night was devoted to the green striped sweater. I was able to work my way up through six yarn changes. The idea is that after every six I'll put in a few rows of either Trendsetter Aura or the camel colored beaded yarn. My original idea was to work in groups of 3 different yarns in a 4/2/4 row stripe pattern. But the second group I used must have been light worsted v. worsted or thicker so the fabric isn't as dense as it is below, so I stuck to 2/2/2 rows. Hopefully this won't make a difference.

I'm using the fact that I spilled a bottle of water on a whole bunch of things as an excuse to not work on the Tilli Tomas sweater--there's only one sleeve to go. So much for the positive momentum for finishing!

Finally!!!

I finished the gray bag for my sister. It still needs to be felted and the handles have to be sewn on and I started messing around with a plastic form to give the purse shape, but it's done.

I also made a good dent in the base of the cupcake for my niece. I hope to get that finished tonight. Still thinking about what to use for the top. That should go way faster...we'll see. I have plenty of "chores" to keep me busy this week.

Organizing the Stash

I pulled out all my yarn with the intention of organizing it months ago, but it's been laying around in a barely controlled mess. I took the opportunity to get started this weekend. I decided to put the cottons and lighter weight projects in less accessible storage and store the works in progress or near to progress more accessibly. Unfortunately my knee seized up halfway through and I had to stop. My parents came to visit and needless to say I was in for some pointed comments about too much yarn. They're going to Ireland and I asked for Irish merino--fat chance!

The good thing about this exercise is that I'm taking inventory and cataloging all the fiber and projects I have going on. Today's goal is to make a concerted effort to be realistic about what I'll do and to donate "extra" yarn.

My LYS was open yesterday. I ran up there for some DK wool for the Christmas ornaments and got some luscious alpaca in red, green and white.

I also got alpaca yarn for a hat for my nephew--they went to an alpaca farm on Martha's Vineyard and bought me a skein of coffee brown for a hat for me. I'm going to experiment with stripes for him. We went with DK weight so it will be nice and soft. I really wanted to use Noro but it's so scratchy.

And I bought some Zara and Kidsilk Haze to make a cupcake from One Skein for my niece. I promised her a cupcake more than a year ago and she asks for it every once in a while. I made the first base yesterday but the join was kind of sloppy looking so I'll try again today. I need to work on making the top bulkier--yesterday's experiment wasn't wide enough.