Blaze of Glory!

Yeah, couldn't wait til tomorrow, will ya forgive me?

Pattern: Blaze from Knitty Fall '04. I made the smallest size 30/32 because I had an inkling the cables, which are basically ribs, would streeeeeeeetch. And they did. Go me.
Yarn & Needles: Filatura Lanarota Chaco, 4 balls of colour 710. (Look familiar?) Knit Picks Options US6 for most all of it, US4 for neck decrease.
Modifications: I did another round of decreases to end up with a P1 K2 repeat, then knit maybe four rounds straight to tighten up the neck line a little. I also blocked this quite severely adding about 2" of length to both the body and arms. Worked out great!

OMG. I have to admit that I was skeptical about what I was creating when I was knitting this. It was kind of lumpy and thick and the neck was ginormous. But I persevered because, eh, don't care. I also knew from experience that the yarn would soften a lot with blocking so I trusted my knittery spidey sense. I am so glad I did! Go knit this, it's awesome!

FO: Baby Cable Socks

Who would have thought my love hate relationship with the kitchener stitch video would lead to such a delay in finishing a pair of socks? I can't do kitchener without viewing it (since I lost my arrow instructions) but yet it takes one and a half minutes of waffle before she actually does the damn graft. Gah! But never fear, my arrows are re-scribbled on the back of an envelope meaning that last night I was able to finish not one but two, yes TWO projects!

Real "live" evidence of kitchener at work.

Yarny close-up.

Pattern: Baby Cable Rib socks from Senstional Knitted Socks.
Yarn and Needles: Cherry Tree Hill sockittome in River Run (I'm guessing just over half a ball) on my plastic dpns. The yarn was a gift from Girl on the Rocks during the Ravelry Summer Camp swap.

For shits and giggles, and to satiate my rabid desire for symmetry, I switched the direction of the cable on the second sock. Not that it's really noticeable to anyone but a deranged knitter with a foot fetish. (Which I'm guessing you all might be.)

The second project? Blaze is finished but not yet quite dry, so you'll have to wait 'til tomorrow...

Blaze of Glory

So I had been planning to knit something else entirely when a new knit jumped onto my needles. it's funny how that happens.


This sticky-fingered photograph is plenty out of date now. I zoomed up the 14" of the body to the arms and have knit a good 3" of the left arm. Maybe I can make a late entry into the Ravelympics and cause a big upset by snatching the gold from the clear favourite? Not sure who that'd be, but yeah! Competitiveness!

Another UFO bites the dust!

I'm thinking maybe I should have joined the Ravelympics WIP Wrestling team after all...

This knit has actually been finished for a while but due to unfortunate circumstances it never got completed, until now :) May I present to you not only my newly finished Emerald Seas but also my new look!


Pattern: Emerald Seas from Knitty Summer 2007.
Yarn & Needles: Knick Picks Shine Sport in Leapfrog, about 5.5 balls for the size M (35" chest). Options US4 for ribbing and US7 for the body.

I didn't do any modifications but if I'd been a wee bit smarter I'd have added waist shaping or knit the next size down. I wasn't sure how 5" of negative ease would look, but as is the 1" of negative looks a little bit loose. I am obviously smaller in person than I am in my head. I will not, however, be giving this to my mom, the repository of all over-sized knits because I like the colour way too much. Me, selfish?!

Little Stripey Sweater.

This weekend I finally made a special button run to finish up the striped cardi I started a while back for my friend's baby's second birthday. This was a ludicrously easy knit despite the gazillion ends that needed weaving in and I would definitely recommend it for its cuteness.


Pattern: Striped Cardi from Lion Brand, age 24 months (Ravelry)
Yarn & Needles: Lion Brand Cotton Ease, one ball each of pistachio, popsicle and candy blue, plus an extra couple of yards of candy blue (the main colour) from a second ball. Knit picks options US7/4.5mm.
Modifications: Shortened the sleeves to 9" instead of 11" because people had noted that they were too long. I chose green buttons because the two blue options they had in the store looked wrong.


And one last gratuitous macro shot for good measure...

I'm baaaack!

It's been a while and I'm starting to think that I should do something to earn my keep, you know like actually blogging or favoriting something obscure on ravelry for my friends to look at, you know, something. Usually my trips back to the UK are full of productivity but not so much this time. As well as a week long science diversion in Berlin, I persuaded my parents to go to the Lake District for a couple of days which only really left me time for knitting during plane rides. So I knit one lonely sock.

No kitchener because those instructions were lost when my wallet was stolen and I didn't have a needle on the plane. The second sock is a couple of inches in and will be finished in due course. I suffered a wee bit with premature toe on the first sock which has taken a bit of the joy out of the second.

But there's more! Books galore!


The Beatrix Potter book contains some really dated styles but the motifs are so cute! The Guernsey and Jersey pattern book was published in the '60s and contains both the history and designs from original ganseys. It's a bit water damaged but still awesome. As with most of my knitting books I'm not sure when if ever they will be used but they sure do look nice on my bookshelf.

OK, blogging quota filled? Back to Project Runway I go!

MIA- One week in Berlin.