pattern, schmattern.

I've been working away on my Front and Back Cable Sweater. (Did I mention that I am also super creative at naming things?) Using Rowan Cashsoft DK is dreamy, especially after working with Elann Sonata for so long on my Summertime Tunic. I've tried the sweater on several times and I'm pretty excited about how it's turning out. The cable chart is easy to memorize and I'm just working out the shaping as I go along. It's making me wonder why I'd ever knit a sweater any other way.

Edit: The pattern is from Gedifra Highlights 033, but it was a mess, so I'm knitting top-down. The only thing I'm using from the pattern is the cable chart.

summertime tunic

The Summertime Tunic has been done for a while, just waiting for ribbon to finish it off. I wound up using 6 skeins on Elann Sonata. Toward the end of this project, I decided that I didn't really like the orange after all, and I could kind of tell that I wasn't going to be in love with the tunic, anyway, so I decided to overdye it after all the knitting was done. One package of black Rit dye in the washing machine turned it a nice rich brown. (The uneven coloring in the photo is due to shooting the photo in the mirror, not the dye.) The ribbon I found actually matches quite nicely, but I don't know if I'll really wear this one. I like the length, and it's comfy, but I did something strange where I wound up with way too many stitches on the front, so it's bunchier than it should be. I don't mind it too much, but even after washing, the yarn is a little stiff, so it doesn't drape as nicely as it could. Really, it's just not very flattering and has that homemade (and not in a good way) quality about it. Maybe I'll try wearing it. But I'm sure there a more than a few mass-produced items in my closet that would look much better on me. I think I'll wear it around the house today and then see how I feel.

sexyback

I'm sure you're wondering why my blog looks so alluring (even in Internet Explorer) and it's all thanks to Steph! She offered to help me fix my banner, but it turns out that I super-stink at performing HTML CPR via e-mail, so I relinquished control of my blog and she had it looking hott in about 30 seconds, since she's the Jedi Master of blog repair. While Steph was busy working under the hood here, I just sat around weaving in ends on my Summertime Tunic and eating bon bons. Thank you, thank you, thank you, Steph! It looks fab. :)

girl bloggers

Wow. Lilybeth tagged me as a...

This may be the first time I've been tagged for anything, so I humbly accept! :) I found it difficult to pick just 5 girl bloggers I admire, but here they are:

1. knit lit - Kate is so creative and cool. I mean really. I want to enroll in Kate Lessons whenever the next semester begins.

2. a Friend to knit with - I think I might want to have her life...or at least her bike. :)

3. Fig & Plum - I've been reading Jess's blog since I started reading knitting blogs. I've always been inspired by her knitting and entertained by her writing.

4. let's go on a holiday - She has such fantastic taste in patterns and she finishes things. LOTS of beautiful things. And then she posts beautiful photos of them.

5. Anything Indie - As if I wasn't already completely addicted to Etsy, she regularly posts the most amazing finds from all over the Indie craft world.

Thanks for all the great blogging, girls!

moss stitch beret

I couldn't resist the beautiful photo of Kent's Moss Stitch Beret when I first saw it on Ravelry, and decided it would make a nice little travel project. Kent has indeed made updates to the pattern and assures me that the new version works for real. :) But even a perfectly written pattern cannot stop me from making my own knitting blunders! For starters, I used the wrong stitch. I looked up moss stitch on the good old internets and found British Moss Stitch and American Moss Stitch. So I used British Moss Stitch. Which is what I would normally refer to as seed stitch. Why I chose the British version, I do not know. I'm not British. Maybe I thought it would look better with some British flava. Maybe I thought that Kent thought that it would look better with some British flava. But I was evidently supposed to use American Moss Stitch, also known as...moss stitch. Right. Anyway.

I used one skein of Cascade 220 Wool, and I checked my gauge, but this thing must have mutated to gargantuan proportions after blocking. It. is. huge. It's bobby pinned into place in the picture, to show what it should look like. I really like the would-be result, so I think I'll rip it and try again with much fewer stitches. When I re-knit, I think I'll use ---hey!---American Moss Stitch! This will also give me a chance to do a fancy contrasting lining inside the brim like Kent's second beret. I don't think I'm much of a beret-type girl, so this will probably be a gift.

What I like best about this pattern is the construction of the brim. No, let me clarify. I LOVE the construction of the brim. The brim is sort of hemmed. (Do we have a different name for that in knitting?) You knit 3" of stockinette then fold it under and knit the CO edge into the rest of the hat. I forced two of my knitting pals to look at it, and one of them was moved to exclaim, "Wow, it's like a real hat!" Now that's a compliment.

gretel

Ysolda posted a pattern update, and my Gretel beret is finished! (More pictures on Flickr and Ravelry.) I knit the "slouchy" version, and I'm quite happy with it. Ysolda gave this hat just the right amount of slouch, and I love the all-over lattice cable pattern. Although the pattern calls for 230 yards of worsted weight yarn, I got away with one skein of Cascade 220, in heathered gray. Even though I checked my gauge, I wish the brim was just a teensy bit tighter. However, I may just knit this pattern again, so perhaps I'll go down a needle size or two. I see myself getting a lot of use out of this hat when the cooler weather finally hits, but I'm in no rush! :)

P.S. Anyone know what I need to do to get my blog banner to stretch all the way across my page?

P.P.S. I changed the dimensions like Ann said. (Thanks Ann!) It looks great in the Blogger preview, but it's shifted to the right on the real live internet...any more suggestions?

flying by the seat of my pants

I have been traveling and knitting. And with both activities, just getting there was the hard part! I did most of my knitting during several delayed flights, but the patterns I chose to bring with me didn't exactly make things any easier.

I first attempted the moss stitch beret, using Kent's pattern, which I came across on Ravelry. It looks like the pattern has been updated more than once since I first printed it out, so I won't bother saying anything about the issues I ran into. But it was nice of Kent to post the pattern and it was fun to knit. Here you can see the beret, before blocking, with the remainder of my skein of Cascade 220. (It was a close call.)

Then I began working on Ysolda's Gretel pattern. I got about 3" into it before coming to the conclusion that something was wrong and ripping most of it back out. Unless I did something very strange, it looks like the directions for T3F and/or T3B are incorrect. So I used the pattern to help me do the increases, and other than that, just followed the picture rather than the instructions to do the cables. I'm glad I ripped it back, though, because I think I might love this hat when it's done!

Oh, and where was I flying to? A variety of destinations Out West.

Top two photos courtesy of Kelly.