bonus: obligatory brooklyn tweed-like photo included!

mitred squares baby blanket, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

So, along with all the Christmas knitting I want to get done (note: want, not actually doing), a friend of the family, who was also my TA for Canadian History, is having a baby in early January. So I promised my mom I would make her something really cool... and I've been wanting to try out mitered squares for a while.

Here's a bird's eye view of the progress thus far:



Less artsy but more comprehensive!

Based on this pattern. I'd never done mitered squares before, but there's something satisfying about them. Garter stitch, getting progressively smaller... It feels like an accomplishment every time I finish one.

Yarn: 2 colours of Knit One Crochet Too Ty Dy Worsted weight.
Needles: size 7 circ.

FO: chinese lace pullover

chinese lace pullover, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

I finished the chinese lace pullover yesterday. I love it! It needs to be blocked still and I made some major modifications, but I think it's possibly the prettiest garment I've made myself so far. I'll try to post some post-blocking pictures soon.

Details:

Pattern: Chinese Lace Pullover by Angela Hahn: Ravelry link and Angela's blog link
Needles: US 6 for body, US 4 for sleeves
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino 6 skeins (900 yards) exactly in colour "Rupestre"
Mods: Woah boy... there have been a lot... the most notable being the sleeves: I totally omitted the lace at the bottom of the sleeves. And I used needles 2 sizes smaller in order to not have huge bell sleeves. Also, I crocheted around the hem, sleeves and neckline to get them to lie flatter... they still need some work (aka blocking), but overall I'm happy with them.

Apologies again for the long period of blog static... to be honest, I've been in a bit of a funk lately. School is good, I have great students this semester... I even have lots of new wips to show... it's just been a bit of a rough time emotionally. I have good days and I have bad. The last couple have been bad, but hopefully things will start looking up soon. I've been looking for plane tickets to go home for Christmas... but with the fuel prices and the market, it's a ridiculous $200 or more to fly to Detroit now. That's almost double what it was when I first moved down here! I mean, it's only Detroit, right?!

firsts...

Despite being sick with a cold that seems to not want to go away, Virginia Beach was a lot of fun and full of firsts for me. One was the first sunrise over water. That same morning I also saw dolphins in the wild for the first time. (Sadly no pictures... silly me and my camnesia.)

But possibly the best first was the first highway / road sign I have ever taken a picture of:



Which made my roommate and I burst into a recitation of this:

BEDEVERE:
What also floats in water?
VILLAGER #1:
Bread!
VILLAGER #2:
Apples!
VILLAGER #3:
Uh, very small rocks!
VILLAGER #1:
Cider!
VILLAGER #2:
Uh, gra-- gravy!
VILLAGER #1:
Cherries!
VILLAGER #2:
Mud!
VILLAGER #3:
Uh, churches! Churches!
VILLAGER #2:
Lead! Lead!
ARTHUR:
A duck!
CROWD:
Oooh.
BEDEVERE:
Exactly. So, logically...
VILLAGER #1:
If... she... weighs... the same as a duck,... she's made of wood.
BEDEVERE:
And therefore?
VILLAGER #2:
A witch!
VILLAGER #1:
A witch!
CROWD:
A witch! A witch!...
VILLAGER #4:
Here is a duck. Use this duck.
[quack quack quack]
BEDEVERE:
Very good. We shall use my largest scales.

(for the transcription of the whole scene see this.)

It pays to get up early

My roommate wanted to head to Virginia Beach for his birthday, so we got here late last night. We have an awesome hotel room (ok the room itself isn't anything fantabulous buuut...) on the top floor of the Ramada with a direct view onto the beach. I, stupidly, forgot my camera and his is recharging it's batteries, but, MAC TO THE RESCUE! I still got some pictures of my first sunrise over water sighting:




Not the greatest pictures... but they'll have to do. It's a lot brighter and just before the sun came out from under the horizon there was an almost-rainbow-like line above it. From yellow right down to purple. I'll try and wake up again tomorrow around the same time to see if I can get a "real" picture!

finished!

cabled vest, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

So it's all done. Only that last cable is going the wrong way. As specified in the pattern, but not pictured in the magazine. Boo. Oh well, I'm going to see if I can ignore it and if not then I might try to fix it. I'm just worried the fixing will look worse than leaving it as is.

It's super sunny out so the colour should actually look a lot more like it does in this picture:



but I wanted to show the whole thing and since my roommate has already left for the day I had to find ways to take pictures of myself!

Notes:

Pattern: Debbie Bliss Cabled V-Neck Vest from the Fall 2008 Debbie Bliss Knitting Magazine
Size: 32-34 (S)
Yarn: Berroco Peruvia Quick
Needles: US 13 and 11 straights
Mods: Accidentally used the measurements for picking up sleeves from second size up, but it was a happy accident, I think. Grafted the collar at the back rather than binding off and sewing together.

All in all I'm really happy with this garment. I am mad at the magazine for very clearly (italics were used!) indicating the change in cables when, upon close inspection, the garment pictured does not change cable directions at all. But I'll get over it, and I do LOVE the hand and warmth of the Berroco Peruvia Quick. I would definitely recommend it for a bulky/super bulky project.

almost there...

cabled vest, originally uploaded by gradschoolknitter.

OK, so it's been a lot longer than a day. But hey, I have to have a life and go to school too, right?

I have a few beefs with the pattern, namely that the cables don't match the picture. In the picture (Ravelry users can see it here, non-ravelers can try her site) all of the cables are going the same way. I.E. the one at the neckline crosses the same way as the rest of them. Not so for my sweater - which, as I was working the last cable I thought, hmmm... now why wouldn't they make them all cross the same way... but I followed the pattern blindly anyway. And yes, the pattern specifies very clearly that this cable IS different than the rest.

But all in all I'm loving this sweater. this picture was taken about 1/2 an hour ago and I already have one little cap sleeve finished since then. Now I just have to finish the second sleeve and seam up the sides. Too bad that whole pesky school thing has to go and get in the way...