One last FO for the '07 record book

I managed to finish the second mitt of the pair of
Snow on Cedar Mitts. Now, if left to my own devices, I might not ever knit such a lacy design for fingerless mitts. However, I do love anne's patterns. It was truly worth the extra effort.



Although I've purchased several of anne's patterns, this was the first pattern I've knitted and completed and I'm very pleased. Her thoroughness in pattern writing is a boon to me. I also love that she uses charts and written directions for lace. While I can get through a chart, chart-reading is not intuitive to me, so if there are written directions, I tend to go for my crutch.




I love my mitts and can't wait to wear them often. The longer length will be perfect at the office. Maybe now I will knit another pair or two of the other fingeless mitts patterns I've purchased from anne. :-)



Project Specs: Snow on Cedar Mitts
Yarn used: Blackberry Ridge Silk Blend Lace Weight 75% wool/25% silk in color: Willow
Needle used: US 1 (2.25 mm) wood dpns
Proect length: mid-October to mid-December.
Mods: none, knit as written
This is a fairly quick knit. However, I test-knit the first mitt for anne. After I finished it, I just never went back to finish the second one. Once the weather got cooler and the office temperature dipped, I decided it would be easier to just finish the second one and I'd have new mitts. I love the longer length too.

I am working on my second January One Monkey sock, but I don't know if I will have a pair before the year's end though. If you don't hear from me before then, Happy New Year!

Finale: FO Ariann, Finally

Ok, I finally sucked it up and got some pictures of me modeling Ariann. My photographer was a bit unwilling, but I cajoled, wheedled, talked him into it.


After wearing Ariann a second time, I've decided the sweater is a "qualified" success. Yay! I adore the color. Everytime I see it, I fall in love a little more.










Project:
Ariann by the fabulous Bonne Marie
Yarn: Cascade 220 The Heathers, color #2450 5 1/4 skeins
Project length: end of August thru mid-December '07
Needle size: US 7 (4.5 mm) and US 6 (4 mm) needles
Mods: First, not really a mod, but a mistake. I knit the wrong size to wear as a cardigan. I knit my usual 40" for a pullover, but whoopsie, Ariann is supposed to be a cardigan.

Second, when knitting the sleeves, I neglected to read the instructions that advise you to incorporate the increases into the lace pattern. Hmm, so it became a "design element" in my sleeves. I have the lace pattern, with a stockinette panel in the back. It works for me. And actually in the pictures, it's not visible, but I'm happy with it. I embraced the mistake (heh-heh!)

Other than that, my buttonholes were all jacked up, but since they're not really functional, since the cardigan is not large enough to actually be useful, it doesn't really matter. I am not a fan of the open cardigan. I tend to like them buttoned up or tied shut, so it's different, but I am getting used to it. I like the sweater too much to not wear it.

The sleeves are a bit too long, but once again, the fault of myself as I realized I knit it a bit long, but honestly, ripping back in the lace pattern just was not appealing to me. I knew I'd somehow lose my place and it would just be ugly.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Drive-By Blogging

I'm writing the post I hate to write, which is one without pictures. Sorry about that, but time has gotten away from me so much this past week, I wanted to go ahead and post while there's still time.

Regarding Ariann, it's a mixed bag, but I will get some pics up this week. I wore it on Friday and well, it's not a qualified success, but it got done and that's something?

Not much knitting has happened this past week. Mostly because I'm still trying to get my Christmas cards out. I haven't been much in the mood for Christmas this year, but after shopping on Saturday, which wasn't too terrible, I started to get into the spirit. Also a certain knitter's holiday party hosted by Stacey this weekend, really helped to imbue the Christmas spirit this year.

I'm still working on the mate to Snow on Cedars and it is coming along. I"m on the gusset part, so it's finally beginning to look like something.

Other than that, work on Ribby Pulli has been stalling, no real reason, but I've been kind of meh. Maybe because I wasn't as thrilled as Ariann, I dunno. Ribby Pulli is to the armholes and now I have to cast on for the first sleeve, so that's where it's at.

I have yet to start my sister scarf, but I have thought about it, does that count? :-) Yeah, not so much. But that will probably start in earnest in the New Year.

December Goals

Now that we've entered the month of December, I want to get back to setting some goals for myself. I'm still trying to be gentle on myself. Even though it's December, I have no Christmas knitting goals this year, which is a relief.

I think I can get a few finished objects this month. That's because there's been a lot of casting on for projects, which means something must come off the needles, right?

1. First goal is to finish the second Snow on Cedars Mitt. I finished the first one and the second has languished while I'd been focusing on Ariann. I think this project is definitely doable for the remainder of December.




2. I really would like to finish the second of my January One Monkeys too. I love this colorway and the yarn is so soft and squishy, it's just wonderful to work on. Again, it was dropped during November and now it's time to pick it back up again. Just the second sock to go and I think it's doable too. I made the first sock with the Monkey pattern on the cuff and made the foot plain. Part of it was that I didn't want to knit the pattern anymore, I was sorta unsure how well the patterned foot fits in with shoes. Secondly, since I have this love/want more/can't control myself feeling with STR, I decided that I need to see how it looks knit up before buying more than my current two pair's worth of socks. I was pretty pleased with how it pooled, so I would probably be ok with trying this yarn again.



3. Another venture in the sock world is a pair of socks for Mary Kay. This is part of the "I knit her a pair of socks, and then I get some of her beauteous yarn to knit myself another pair." One might think that I still have to knit myself a pair of socks, but I look at it as another opportunity to knit with her fabulously dyed yarn. I love it and I'd be knitting socks anyway. In all honesty, I'd knit her a pair of socks, regardless of free yarn, so there you go. I'm starting to feel that I don't mind knitting socks for a friend who would love and appreciate them, b/c I'm not overloaded with socks, but I really have lots. I counted in my sock drawer the other day and there are at least 16 pairs of handknit socks and I have enough yarn in my stash for 30 more pairs.



4. The last goal for this month, isn't to finish a project, but to cast on and find a suitable pattern for this yarn. My sister called me last Friday to ask me if I would knit her another scarf. Of course, I have no qualms knitting her a new scarf. She lost the scarf I knit her about 5-6 years ago and I'm happy that she loved the last one so much that she wanted another one. The first scarf I knit for her was out of Avanti, a fingering or sport merino yarn that had a bit of grey mixed in with it and I combined it with another thin black yarn knit in double moss stitch. Well, my sister has requested another black scarf. Other than the fact that she wants another scarf, why does she hate me? Black yarn, so hard on the eyes, but oh well.

I've chosen some black Cascade 220. Thrilling huh? I'm going to search through Ravelry for some scarf patterns. If anyone has some suggestions for texture or stitch patterns in black yarn, I'm open. Because I'm using black yarn, I think some patterns would not show up as well, such as cables and I'm not sure if lace would show up well either. One thing I won't be doing is more moss stitch. I'm not a fan of it and won't do another whole scarf in it again.

Ariann Preview

For the month of November, I let the goals slide. I knew I was starting a new job and wasn't sure what to expect in my first few weeks. It turned out the first couple of weeks were sitting with others for on-the-job training. However week 3 started out with all day training, so I've been pretty pooped.

In an email conversation, Margene suggested that my goal for November should be to focus on finishing Ariann. While I did work on other projects too, I did make that a priority. While I did not finish in the month of November, I am almost to the finish line.

I'm actually pretty relieved to be almost done. Anything that could go wrong, did.

The sewing on of buttons and blocking will commence tomorrow and hopefully a FO picture by the week's end.

Pay It Forward

is a lovely concept. I've seen others that have done this or are doing it, but I've happened to comment on Lynne's and didn't realize I was signing up for Pay It Forward. Then Lynne announced on her blog that I was a recipient of her generosity!

I received a beautiful package and the most thoughtful card from her. I loved the cocoa and the day I received it was my first day at my new job, so it was a welcome package. As the days have gotten colder and morphed into fall/winter, cocoa is a perfect accompaniment to the changing weather. Tootsie Roll Pops, a package of White Chocolate Macadamia cookies (my fave) and a copy of Folk Knitting in Estonia rounded out the package.




Thanks so much Lynne for the lovely package. I really appreciate it. I'm sorry I didn't acknowledge it sooner, as the transition to the new job is going well, but not leaving me much free time in the evenings.

Now, in order to pay it forward, (and the text is lifted from Norma's blog b/c I couldn't find it anywhere else, sorry Norma, but no hotlinking, see?!)

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days. That is my promise. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Thanks for playing!

Transitions

It's pretty hard for me to post without a picture. It feels a bit worse to post a recycled photo, but really Ariann is really all I've been working on. It is coming along slowly, but it ever boring to knit right now, with the super-long rows. I keep thinking that with all these decreases, it will get shorter eventually, it just doesn't seem to be happening yet.

I'm really a bit bored with the sweater, but I know I will love the outcome, so I continue to slog on. Plus, I've also got Ribby Pulli (scoopneck version) on the needles and if I keep switching to knit on it, I will soon be at the point where I will have to cast on for sleeves. If I finish both sleeves, then I will be joining more stitches to the yoke and knitting and slogging through an unbearable amount of stitches again. Gee, does this sound familiar at all? ;-)



What I'm really looking to sink my teeth into next is the Gathered Pullover from the latest Interweave Knits. It also starts as knitted in the round, bottom-up and then split at the armholes. I really want to make this. The pattern calls for sport/dk weight yarn to be knit at a larger gauge for drape and fluidity. I know this is supposed to work, but really the sportweight yarn I have, I swatched up to size 8s and still didn't have the right gauge, but the "openness" of the fabric was a bit too much for my liking. I'm just having a hard time believing this would work for the sweater and not be too open. I dunno. I'm thinking of just using a worsted yarn that would knit to this gauge and calling it good. Perhaps I would lack fluidity or drape, but I think I'd be ok with it as it.

The other issue with this sweater is minimal, but the sweater has rolled edges, which I don't love. Those sweaters tend to roll up too much for my liking (gee, picky much, it seems). I can't decide on an edging, seed stitch, ribbing, but it just dawned on me to preserve the style of the sweater that I like so much, to hem it instead. Hmm, there must really be something to writing things out, eh?

The job is going well, btw. Thanks to everyone for their well wishes. I'm really happy to receive them and will try to thank people personally in email. I just have access to my home email when I've left work and with the transition to a new job and work environment, I'm pretty tired when I get home.

You may have noticed that I didn't put up a November goals post. There are a couple of reasons for it, some of it was because I felt I was too ambitious last month and part of it was because I knew starting a new job and didn't know how that transition would affect my knitting projects. The first couple of nights, I was too mentally drained to even knit. But slowly I started picking up the needles and a few rounds here and there have happened.

I did finish the first Monkey socks. Haven't cast on for the second sock, but plan on doing so shortly. I also cast on for a different sock (stockinette) in some of Mary Kay's fabulous yarn. This is actually a pair of socks for her. The deal is I knit her a pair and then she gives me enough hand-dyed sock yarn for a pair of my own. Lovely deal, eh?

Well, that's enough blathering from me for one post. Next up, a fabulous concept of Paying It Forward. Soon, I'll be paying it forward to a couple few of my blog readers.

Fall Bouquet

A pretty fall bouquet given to me by my sweetie, M, for my new job and promotion, with a bowl of ripe fruit



Ribby Pulli in repose, a beautiful fall sweater



Ariann, sleeves done, and fully joined, working the yoke, ready to become a cardigan

Fall, it is good.

October Review

Remember, those October knitting goals?

As I was telling Chris in email a few minutes ago, was that as soon as I posted my goals for the month, I almost immediately lost interest in my goals and cast on for a new sweater. Haha, so much for goals, huh?

But all was not lost. I've done pretty well, considering.

1)Finish the Farrow Rib Scarf. check




2. Finish the first of the Tofutsies socks for the shop sample. double check

3) Start a new pair socks. check




4) Get to the armholes of Ariann. done and one sleeve done too




5)Start the Corrugator scarf, erm, not so much. I was a bit scarfed out after the one for my BIL, but I will start soon.

6)Some test knitting for anne Oops, didn't mention that one



7) Casting on for Ribby Pulli (scoop neck version) in Silky Wool


Overall,a great month for goals. Next, November's goals.

Happy Halloween!

From me and my nephew Chason to all of you!!

1st pic is him with his first carved pumpkin. He was seriously excited, can't you tell?


And earlier this month, a "Boo at the Zoo" program, Chason was Spiderman! He looks a bit mean here, but I take it as Spidey looking fierce, right?

Ariann . .Somewhere in the Middle

I can't really call this, Ariann, the beginning, because really I've been knitting on it since the end of August. We had a crisp day and I was ready to cast on. Ariann has been getting some love off and on. Lately I've had a lot of startitis, so some things gets worked on more than others and eventually enough is done so that it's finished.




One of my October goals was to get Ariann to the armholes, so that I could get started on the sleeves. That goal was met about 2 weeks ago. Finally last week I cast on for the first sleeve and over a long weekend, that sleeve was finished. One would think that I would cast on for the second, but I was kind of bored and instead worked on Farrow Rib a bit more instead.

The yarn I'm using is Cascade 220 Heathers in color 9453, I think. I really love how the yarn is knitting up, the color keeps entrancing whenever I put it down. Since I've finally knit with a beautiful purple that I know I will wear, I've been in a purple yarn buying mood. Hmm, things to see later down the road.

I hope to cast on for the second sleeve this weekend and once done, I'll be ready to join the sleeves to the body and get this sucker done.

Diary of a Knit Gone Wrong

Of course, this is the weekend of Rhinebeck. For those of us not going, maybe you will see my meager blog post offering. (hee!)

Today, I thought I'd talk about a project which was on the needles for quite some time, my Classic Elite '03 Tweed Neck Down Shaped Cardigan (scroll down to see pattern pic). After several attempts with this project, I had to put the needles down and declare defeat.

I started this project sometime in January of this year. Thinking it would be an easy knit, lots of stockinette and oh, yeah, I have to pay attention to the seed stitch. The thing is, this is a simple project and one that should have been a success story.

The great tragedy with this knit, was not with the pattern, but complete and simple user error. This knit turned out to get a lot of play when I was on the telephone at work in the busy, busy months of call center world in January/February. During one of those days, in between phone calls, I somehow managed to select the wrong count (in a multi-sized pattern) for the sleeves/body. Somehow I believe, I was knitting one size for the body and a different one for the sleeves, but not bigger/smaller, i.e. bigger for chest area and smaller for sleeves, but the opposite. The body fit was good, however, the stitch count for sleeves was just off.

As you can see in the pictures below, the first two pictures show the left sleeve, which was the first sleeve I worked. After I finished it and was about to start the second one, I tried it on and a had a lot of bulk under the arm. Didn't really like how that worked and looked at it again and again and had my expert friend (Susan)take a look. She and the LYS owner both agreed I had picked up too many stitches.





They advised of how many stitches I should pick up and ignore the pattern. I tried that suggestion, cruised along, took it by for a look-see and no, I had a different bulge under my arm this time on the right sleeve. Some referred to it as a goiter(that would be the bottom two pictures here. And please ignore my bathroom shots while in my pjs. It was either with pjs or no pictures and no pictures = no post, so there you have it.





I tried once more and I still had bulges, in all the wrong places, and finally I admitted defeat. For, you see, I was knitting a top-down raglan, and to get those sleeves corrected, I'd have to at least rip back to the armholes and probably a bit before that, to get back on the right track. While I do like this pattern and expect that I'll try it again, now is not that time.

This project has been ripped and the yarn is awaiting another time on the needles. I guess the best thing is that I'm getting a lot of knitting enjoyment out of this yarn, right? ;-)

'Til next time . . .

Stash Sale

Friends,
I guess it's that time of year again. I've been culling the stash a bit and there are a few gems that while nice, just aren't for me anymore.

Hopefully some of you will be able to help me out with it. Please be sure to send me an email for anything you are interested in. Sales are on a first come, first served basis. Email to : awandaATgmailDOTcom with subject title: STASH SALE

Prices do include shipping.

First up, a skein of vintage Opal. This skein does not show up on the Opal web site as part of any collection. My best guess is that it will knit up in some type of striping, but not as a regular sequence. Approx. yardage=420 yds 75% wool/25% polyamid Price $9 SOLD



Berroco Uxbridge Tweed, now discontinued. 11 skeins, 92 yds each. 33% wool/46% acrylic/9% polyester/8% cotton/4% nylon, all skeins same dyelot. 1 skein was partially used to start a swatch and is included. Price $29 SOLD



2 skeins Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, 80% wool/20% nylon, 210 yds each, color: Vera
Price $13 SOLD



9 skeins Reynolds Sedona, also discontinued, this is a lt worsted yarn, 111 yds each, 100% mercerized cotton. Most skeins are wound, however, one ball had an explosion and I've never corrected it. Pretty plum color, Price $20



2 skeins Handpaintedyarn.com Laceweight, colorway unknown. 100% wool, has olive greens, blues and peach 850 yards each. Price $8 SOLD



3 skeins Mountain Colors Weaver's Wool, 100% wool, 250 yds each. Colors: blues/greens/purples. Price $21 PENDING



Thanks for looking

FO: Opal Caterpillar socks

I managed to finish up a pair of Opal socks this month. I started these socks while at Camp WannaKnitKnit in July, as I was also finishing up my Sockapalooza socks. As these were plain stockinette socks, they lingered around for a bit, but they are done and I still really like them. Very fun!



Project Specs:
Opal Caterpillar yarn from the Rainforest Collection
Started: end of July 07
Completed: beginning of October '07
Needles: US 1.5 2.5 mm Pony Pearl needles
Mods: None, just my basic 64 stitch stockinette socks, cuff down, with heel flap

Next up, a sample sock for the shop in Southwest Trading Company Tofutsies yarn. I knit it using the Fanny sock pattern. OMG, I really hated how this yarn pooled. Pink and green colors on the front of the sock and purple/blue on the back. Very weird. I didn't enjoy knitting with it at all, but I finished a sock. The second will be done eventually. One good thing to note about the sock yarn is that it softened up after a wash and dry though.





Now, on to new socks.

October Knitting Goals

With a nod to Polly, I've decided to start a list of my knitting goals for the month. I find with most things if I have a list, it helps me to prioritize what I'd like to work on, even if I don't get it all done.

1) I'm going to be go out on a limb here, to finish theFarrow Rib scarf I'm working on for M's brother, also known as the BIL scarf. What Farrow Rib Scarf you ask? Well, it's this one I started around the first of September, you know, back when I was taking that blog break? Yeah, thought that would jog your memory.

2)to finish at least a sock from the Tofutsies that I'm working with, which is really irking me, but it's best to get it all done now.

3)Start a new pair of socks, in honor of Socktoberfest, although it's doubtful they will be finished during the month of October

4)Get to the armholes of
Ariann. This sweater I am knitting out of Cascade 220 in a lovely heathered purple, that I adore knitting with.

5)Start the Corrugator Scarf with some of my stashed Colinette Jitterbug.

Thanks to everyone for the helpful information in the last post. I am exploring several for more information and tips. You guys always come through!!

Juliet: The Beginnings

The problem with quick knit projects is that they are never really all that quick for me. With that said, Juliet is moving right along. I started this project a couple of weeks ago, in a desire to use up some stash and because I think this project is ideal for the fall-ish weather we've been having. Right now, Juliet has moved to the top of my queue and on the needles for that very reason. Earlier this week, I had Monday and Tuesday off and I thought for sure I would have it completed. It is possible that I could have completed it, but based on the picture below, you can see that it is not finished.

As usual, on my long weekend that I was going to enjoy, things came up that prevented me from my true state of relaxation, but I did manage to get many things completed.

I do appreciate you readers that are still hanging around. I needed to take a break from blogging and focus on others things for a bit. I was really slacking on finishing up the editing and revision of my final paper that I had to submit to my former university in St. Louis. I sat down last week and tackled that beast, sent it off and the professor has already approved it. After I send in a petition to graduate, I should receive my sheepskin for December graduation of '07, sometime in early February '08. To say I'm excited is an understatement. That and working on lingering things.

Something else I'm really wanting to work in is exercise and lifestyle (read: diet) changes. Diet, as in a way of eating, changes. Part of my focus is to lose weight, but really to be healthier.

I'm looking at either joining some online health/fitness communities and looking for good online tools. If any of you have suggestions, I'm definitely open.

Back to Juliet, I'm on the third repeat of lace now and expect I'll probably get up to six repeats and call it good. I've tried it on twice and am pleased with the fit. Now just to get 'er done.

Birthday Goodies

I hope you had a good Labor Day weekend. Mine was great. Very relaxed and relaxing. We hung out with some friends on Sunday evening for a bbq. Ate some Jamaican food, listened to some reggae and other Caribbean music and then came home and watched some movies. It was great to stay at home and spend time with M, just the two of us. And of course we were both off Monday and I have Tuesdays off, so it was a very nice, long weekend for me.

You would think on my day off that I would blog, but quite the opposite. I'm in fact, rarely motivated to blog on my day off. Instead I do fun stuff like laundry, washing my hair and twisting my locs. At least that was yesterday, but I truly cherish my time in the house alone. Hmm, lovely.

Thanks to everyone for your ideas about the tank. I'll probably pick up another skein of the yarn to see what changes I can make, esp. as far as picking up stitches around the neckline and armholes to perhaps make it more wearable for me. It is an ok top to wear, it's not horrible, but not loving it. So we'll see what can be done. It will probably be on the back burner till next summer, but that's a big deal to me.

On to my birthday, which passed over a week ago. All I can say is for the Birthday Card Exchange, you guys rock! My mailbox was overflowing with cards, which really made me happy! My mantle was full of cards. So much so, that I had an overflow station on top of the TV cabinet with additional cards. The musical cards that Del and Bron sent were too cute. And Michelle, that crafty girl surprised me with five, count 'em, five cards. So I had plenty o' cards for my birthday. My sister sent one from her and husband, as well as one from my nephew Chason with a new picture of him. Goodness all around!





Of course, some of my knitty girls had to hook me up with nice knitting gifts.
Nachaele gave me the gift of cold, hard cash which was to be used for yarn. But what the heck, I used it for me, so we're all happy! It's pretty much if I have cash, it's gone in a nanosecond. And Michaele provided the wine for the evening and a couple of bottles that came home wth me (as pictured in the mantle above).

Some Colinette Jitterbug in the Raphael colorway ::swoon::, more stitch markers! and a pair of Addi Lace turbo needles. Yay, I'm excited to have my very own pair of Addi Lace needles. There was also two skeins of Lacey Lamb laceweight in a beautemous red, which I forgot to include in this post. Sorry. But you can see it on Ravelry or Flickr.



And Joan, the Fairy Godmother indeed surprised with a lovely package. Sneaky girl, she is, asking for my address to send a card, which she did, but also included some neat things in her package. A bookmark in the shape of a buffalo (how did you know I keep losing book marks!-I've vowed to only use this book marker in my home library of books, so if I forget to take it out, it will only be lost in my house versus going back to the library!), a notepad with a knitting emblem from lantern moon, a wooden needle case with scrollwork on the case and two bars of Bison Chocolate (yes, I know there's only one pictured, the second is gone) in a milk chocolate bar with a truffle cream center. Yummy, yummy.
Thanks Joan! I loved it.



More knitting has ensued. A new project was cast on and has given me fits and starts with the pattern, but I will let you know about it soon.

Blogging might be sparse for a bit. I thought about taking a blog break, but I think I miss it a bit when I think of actually doing it. I'm working on some personal stuff, nothing major (and don't worry, no baby making is happening over here!), just doing some things for me, which may take away time from the blog. I do plan to blog, but it might be sporadic (which why is this really any different from the way I usually blog, I don't know).

Ciao,
W.

Analysis of a Pattern or Disappointing FO: Lacy Rib tank

Today's installment is analysis of a knit gone wrong. In all actuality, I suppose the pattern is just fine. It's not a good fit for me, however. A friend, Aisha, finished one and it was so cute, I really wanted one too and the yarn was fairly inexpensive.

I did finish it (over two summers). The first side went much slower than I expected, but I don't knit stitch patterns as much in garments, but once I got used to it, the second side went very quickly. Once I seamed it and tried it on, meh. Really not excited by this one at all. I wore it to work one day and still pretty blah about it.

The biggest problem is it's not flattering to my body. It's okay, just not very figure-flattering. The first problem that I didn't notice b/c the first one I saw was on someone and then I haven't seen it in awhile, so it's based on my memory is just how low the front and back are. Now I've got cleavage to spare and then some, so not the problem. But the neckline isn't working the girls, it's just there. A nice plunging V would really benefit them, or a square neck or a round neck, but perhaps a smidge higher. The neckline is very open, which is okay, but I felt very exposed all day wearing it. Secondly the straps are too skinny. They barely cover my bra straps and cami (that was required with the laciness of the pattern). It was pretty annoying.

Thirdly, I should have known better since there was no shaping in the pattern at all. I learned last year that I really do prefer some shaping. However, because this is ribbing, it does cling to your curves, but I just don't care for it.

This is why you should really pay attention to the pattern and your body type. I guess for me, I do still have problems determining what is a good fit or not.



Pattern: Lacy Tank
Yarn: Schachenmayer Nomotta Rainbow 6 skeins
Needle size: US 5
Project Completion-August 2006-July 2007
Mods: None-super simple project to knit, no shaping, just a stitch pattern
Fit: D-
Wearablity: F
Overall feeling of this top: Meh!

And there you have it. Your thoughts on this project/pattern are welcomed.

I am still knitting, working on other projects. I'm down to one pair of socks on my needles. I decided to give the Opal Caterpillar socks to M2. Even though they are a bit high for him, he said he would still wear them. Next, I'll cast on a pair of socks for M. He's deserving of a pair, but man is he ever picky. I got him to agree to a pair of Trekking socks in shades of black/grey. I think he's scared I will give him some wildly variegated socks and expect that he wear them. See, this is why I buy lots of black socks in bulk! Boring man socks, but at least the man-friendly Trekking has something for me too. He thinks I will be knitting them in stockinette, but little does he know. I'll do the Thujas and see what he thinks. Or some other simple pattern, not too much patterning for him.

My computer is still actually working, so I'm not sure about the virus thing, but I've backed up everything to be sure. I'm sick of spending so much time on my computer lately, so I've just backed away from it for awhile. What you don't realize when you get a laptop and add WiFi is that you spend so much time on it.

While I love Ravelry, I've decided to use it as a repository to add projects to queue, look up projects instead of googling them and keeping stash up to date. I don't have the time to spend chatting on various forums. School has started again for M2 and now it's high school. I'm getting old when high school algebra is starting to stump me! Gah.

Okay, back to my cave.

p.s. Thanks again for all the lovely cards I received. I must post soon with my array of cards and a beautiful package from Joan. Thanks to Cozy and Bron for my singing cards!

FO Report: Lemon Ice Socks

Happy Birthday to me! Yes, I am posting this on my birthday. This year marks 35 years on this earth. I'm very excited about my birthday. Not that there is much planned, but I'm always a bit happier and cheerful on my birthday, as well as I should be. :-)

A pair of socks has made its way off my needles, yay! Lemon Ice socks which were gifted by Kathy in my coffee swap package. The sockotta sock yarn did not sit long and immediately launched itself onto my needles.

A very simple sock, a k3, p2 rib. I used 60 sts on the first sock and realized it was too wide. 55 sts on the second one and it's a perfect fit. The socks are quite comfortable and cozy. Not much to say about these socks. The yarn was easy to work with. Not exactly my favorite, but definitely nothing wrong with it.



Project Specifications:
Sockotta sock yarn
Needle size: US 2 (2.75 mm) dpns
Started: mid-July 07
Finished: August 07
Mods: none really.

And because Beth asked so nicely, a couple photos of the finished DFS modeled by me.





Have a great day! I sure intend to. Oh and while you're at it, please wish my grrl,
Michelle, a Happy One year Anniversary!!

FO: Diamond Fantasy Shawl

I posted some pictures a couple of weeks ago about the blocking of my finished Diamond Fantasy Shawl. Sorry it took so long. I thought I would get some pictures with me modeling it, but my photographer hasn't been around lately (too much working late) to get a good picture, but I was also too lazy to get out the tripod, so what you see is what you get, sorry.

Because I only had 500 yards of yarn, I planned to knit the scarf version, which I knit an extra repeat of the pattern. The I-cord edging uses up a lot of yarn, so I'm glad I stopped at one additional repeat.



This is a pattern that I would normally not knit, just looking at it, it's not the type of lace I was drawn to. However, I liked the idea of using some of those huge skeins of sock yarn as something other than socks. The pattern was a bit challenging, but in the end totally worth it for me. When I took the "scarf" off of the needles, it was indeed a scarf. Once I blocked it though, it really grew quite substantially. It's a good sized shoulder scarf/shawl now and I really like it.



Pattern:
Diamond Fantasy Scarf/Shawl by Sivia Harding
Yarn: Hello Yarn fingering sock yarn(wool/nylon blend) in color Staggering
Started: Mid-March '07 (during Spring Break)
Completed: July 29, 2007
Modifications: just knit an additional repeat of pattern to use more yarn and make a bigger shawl.

I also finished up the Lacy Rib Tank. I'll eventually get some pics of it up. I'm not pleased with this one at all. It's just ok. It might not get a lot of wear, we'll see. I wore it once and was less than impressed.

P.S. It might be a little bit before the next blog post. I was going through the blog blahs for the last little bit, but now my laptop has a virus and I'll be backing up stuff and doing a "destructive recovery" so says the HP support rep. So it's all fun and smiles at Chez WWK.

P.P.S. Thanks to those lovelies who have already sent me birthday cards, it really brightened up my day yesterday.