WIP Wednesday

I have quite a few WIPS at the moment - but only got a pic of one.

Here's the back of my Printed Silk Cardi (AKA Summer Cardigan).



I am loving this! I am almost done with the left front. Hopefully I will be able to focus on it enough to finish soon!

Dig the stitch pattern - I love it!

Casting on

I have been a very fickle knitter the past few days since I finished the Cityscape shawl. Nothing seems to satisfy me for very long! I tried a sock - nope... a new lace project... stalled out.... spinning has been keeping me occupied a bit - but I need my next knitting fix!!

I think I found it!

I cast on today for the Painted Silk Cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio, and I haven't been able to put it down!




I'm using Classic Elite Four Season and it's knitting up like a dream so far. It's a cotton/wool blend that should be perfect for summer.

The pattern called for DK weight, and this is worsted weight, but a little bit of knitty math later and I was ok to go! And get this - I'm knittin the smallest size! I never knit the smallest size. And no I haven't lost that much weight - I just get to cheat a little beacuse of the gauge I'm getting with the worsted weight.

So now I'll get to see how the skinny folks knit for a while :)

I have to say it's flying so far!

Wednesday's WIP update

I'm flying!




I just can't get enough of this sweater. I started it March 16th. Do you think I could actually finish it by the end of the month?

This is one of the patterns that Michelle put up as options in her March Sweater Madness in a month challenge. I never thought I'd finish a sweater in a month, much less in under a month!

Here's to hoping I can perform miracles!

WIP Wednesday

I'm not normally one who shares my WIPs regularly - but right now that's all I've got!! So here's a sneak peak at some of the things I'm working on...

Remember my night at Erin's studio? Well the kermit green yarn wasn't the only thing that got dyed. Erin dyed me some roving....

I spun it up and it's gorgeous!



I just love her merino-tencel. It's just so luscious! I'm calling this color "Lucky".

I couldn't resist starting a new sweater with it - so I immediately cast on for my "Lucky" top-down raglan!



I'm using Stephanie Japel's "Raglan from the top down" as my basis for the sweater, but I'm sure I've strayed from her basic raglan already. I decided to add yarn overs at the raglan shaping for a little extra interest.



I love the mindless nature of top-down raglans, because believe me, I've needed mindless this week!

I'm sure I'll grow bored with it eventually, but right now I can't get enough!

My other WIP at the moment is a test knit for Jolene. It's just a giant blob of lace-in-progress right now, but I know it will be amazing when it's done!



The yarn is from Yarn Pig - it's a merino tencel sock yarn called Sangria, - so for the moment this is my Sangria shawl!

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Long overdue Thanks!!

I have been a bad bad blogger and forgot to thank my lovely friends for some gifts I received for my birthday (back in December!)

I got Birthday presents!

Sarah made me this cute Velma purse from an Amy Butler pattern. I love the fabric she chose too.




Coleen gave me some cool roving from the beach! She also got me a bookmark.



Can you see what's on the bookmark? It's a tiny spinning wheel! How cute is that!



Nicol made me the cutest mittens out of Trekking:

Now they are mittens:



Now they are fingerless mitts:



Isn't that awesome? Convertible mitts!



Not only did she make me these awesome mitts, she included all these little treasures as well...



Look at this awesome fabric stack. It's from Nancy's Quilt shop that I got to visit in Las vegas - it has everything you could ever want in a fabric shop. Actually it was even featured in Quilt Sampler magazine.



She also sent me these awesome earrings that I have worn almost every day since I got them.



Happy Birthday to me - Thanks friends!




In other gifting news, I participated in the Handmade Ornament swap this year. My partner was Marti and she sent the most awesome package!


After a disaster where her dog ate the first package she had prepared, she recreated it and sent it a little after Christmas - but I still love it. The ornaments are too cute - and she even put in some Sea Silk! *Sigh* I'm spoiled :)




I know the knitting content has been sparse lately - but that doens't mean I'm not working on stuff!! Here's some of my WIP's.

Ariann is still eating yarn, but I swear it's almost done!


I started the Koolhaas hat with some Malabrigo - I love this pattern so much!


I'm also working on several pairs of socks. So hopefully some finished objects coming soon!

Silly

Get a bunch of knitting gals in a room together and there is bound to be silliness. Laughing, joking, sarcasm, and down right silliness. Here is an example of said silliness:





The reason this is such a bad blurry picture is because I was laughing way too hard to hold the camera still!

Last night I got together with Sarah, Jen, Coleen, Jolene and Erin for bit of knitting. We ate, we knitted, we shared stories and had a grand time!


In all seriousness - I am very lucky to have gotten to know such a great group of women. Thanks ladies!

Sarah made stitch markers for everyone too - aren't they cute?




I love the packaging - and the sheep stamp is just perfect.

While I was there last night - I worked more on my Central Park Hoodie. Over the weekend - I managed to finish the back, and now I'm not working on one of the front panels. I realized that I had somehow managed to put an extra row in every cable repeat in the back panel. I realized this because when I went to do the first cable on the front panel - it didn't look quite right. Why? When I pulled out the back to look at it and compare - I found that it didn't match! I went back and counted the rows in the cable chart and wouldn't you know it - I added a row (two actually - a knit and a purl row) to each repeat.

Well - I guess if I'm going to do the pattern wrong - I better be consistent! Because there is NO WAY I'm ripping out the entire back. I actually think I like it better the way I did it!





I also did some more spinning over the weekend. I worked on some of the silk roving Amie gave me. I am very proud of this yarn so far - it is much thinner and more consistent than my last batch.

I can't wait to spin some more! Even my hubby was interested in the spinning. (Which is more than I can say for his interest in my knitting!

And the winner is....

Congrats goes out to Knitty Mama!


She won a skein sock yarn hand dyed by me! She was chosen with my highly scientific process of me numbering everyone who added a comment and then asking Giants Knitter to pick a number between 1 and 15 :) She picked 12 and there we have it.


There will also be some other goodies in the package - but here's a look at the yarn.









I am calling this colorway "Dreamsicle" because it reminds me of those frosty treats I used to eat as a kid. (which I think were actually named Creamsicles - but we always called them Dreamsicles)


Man I could go for one now actually - it's always sweltering in my office!

In other news - I have been busily working on my Central Park Hoodie. I am more than halfway done with the back right now. Here are some pictures I took over the weekend - but I think I've done about 4 more repeats since these were taken.



I just love this yarn - it's working up very quickly and I am definitley not bored with it. The cables and the subtle variations in the yarn keep it interesting and fun.




I hope everyone has a great week - it's finally starting to warm up around here - so hopefully some of our ice will melt soon! I did wake up to the most beautiful sunrise this morning - I thought I'd share....