NaKniSweMo

KnitGrrl is hosting the 2nd annual NaKniSweMo (knit a sweater in a month) alongside NaNoWriMo. I'm participating in the ravelry group, but I won't be able to track my progress on the blog since I've decided to make a sweater for someone else! Don't want any prying eyes figuring out what's going on!

more wips

Well, it's finally sunny enough to take some photos, of course, now it's only about 2 or 3 degrees above freezing! And since I'm still in my pjs this morning I took some pics indoors. But the lighting coming through the windows is still a lot better and the colours are pretty true.

First up, the endpaper mitts:
I've just started to increase for the thumb gusset and I'm loving these mitts. They're so pretty and it is so much fun to watch the pattern emerge. These are high-cognitive knitting though - I have to pay extra close attention or the colours end up getting switched around on me.


And now, 2 more pairs of wrist warmers but on the opposite end of the knitting-cognitive spectrum:
These are the hand/wrist warmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I can't even remember how many times I've made these, but they're cute and fast. This pair was cast on Saturday night and bound off yesterday afternoon.

And the second pair, also the hand/wrist warmers from LMKG:
Both pairs are for friends - I wanted to do something similar but in different colours, at the least. I tried a different stitch pattern on this pair at first but it wasn't working with these colours.

The yarn for both of these is Mirasol's Hacho, a 100% Merino Wool which is super sprongy and really very pretty. The colours are super vibrant - they're hand-dyed but somehow the colour changes are very short. Anywho, I like 'em and it might just be a great sock yarn (although not necessarily marketed as such).

WIPs update

Ok... long time no blog! Things this semester have been pretty hectic... it's my first time teaching a course higher than at the introductory level so it's taken some time to get into a teaching groove. But I'm getting there, slowly.

This past weekend I went home to the Great White North for Dr. BF's PhD graduation ceremony. While fun, not a lot of work or knitting got done.

Anyways, when I have found the odd moment I've been working on some new projects. I have Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts on the go, in forest green and a sort of darkish lavender malabrigo lace weight (each double stranded). No pictures of those yet... I'd need much better lighting. Also on the go is the Chinese Lace Pullover by Angela Hahn. I love the pattern but am unsure about the yarn I'm working it in. I'm using Blue Heron Rayon Metallic in "Iris" as mentioned the last time I wrote anything, and I love the colours, but I'm not sure that I love them on this top. Also, because of the increases it's doing some really funky pooling right now. I'm not so sure about that either.

Unfortunately the lighting today is pretty grey and dreary... not very good for picture taking, especially of things like colour-work or crazy weird pooling. But here's what I can show you:

The beginnings of the Cinnabar Scarf, also by Angela Hahn (what can I say? She designs pretty things!)



And a seamed, blocked Wheat Ear Cable Yoke:



And the cable close(r)-up:



I blocked it as directed in the pattern - light steaming. However, the 2 small rows of ribbing at the hem are finding it hard to compete with the miles and miles of stockinette so I am taking a slightly more aggressive approach to the blocking. I know that some people took an even more aggressive tactic and re-did the ribbing along the cast-on edge but I don't think I'll go that far... although I can imagine myself wearing it and continuously fiddling with the edge to make it lie flat.

status not-so-quo

It's been a rough start to the semester around here... nothing that I really want to get into because really, it's been discussed to death. I'm trying to get back on track this weekend and hoping that next week will be better. Let's be honest though: Monday is "fall break" and first thing Thursday AM I'll be on a plane, flying back to the Great White North to attend Dr. OSCBF's graduation. So I'll have a 2 day school week, into which I'm probably going to pack more stuff than I've done in the last 2 weeks.

On the knitting front, things have been somewhat slow. Lots of starts but not so many full stops. Except the WECY. It's seamed, but I really need to give it a good firm blocking before I can show it off. My roommate and I spent some time re-organizing the stashes that were attempting to take over the apartment last night, and I cast on the cinnabar scarf last night. And about a week ago I cast on the Chinese Lace Pullover in Blue Heron Rayon Metallic colourway "Iris" (see the last one on the page). I like it, but part of me keeps thinking "Rainbow Brite threw up on my sweater". I'm going to try and give it a chance though.

Pictures later... I will try and get the WECY blocked today or tomorrow (no promises, I'm trying to jump-start my brain this weekend and that might not mix well with steaming... I don't want to burn or melt the sweater... just make it lie flat when I wear it!).

Wheat Ear Cable Yoke Pre-Seaming

I am completely finished the Wheat Ear Cable Yoke except for seaming, so I thought I'd take a quick pre-seaming photo via my Mac!



This will also be cross-posted to the WECY KAL blog.