Thursday, July 19, 2007

FO-a-rama!

Wow! It has definitely been a while! I am finally back on day shift- thank god- so I've got a lot to show for my time away from the keyboard.

First up, the ugliest socks in the world:



Yes, they really are uglier in person. Lion Brand Magic Stripes yarn on size 2's. The legs are in the Jaywalker pattern and are WAY too big for my ankles. (I didn't try changing my needle size or the number of stitches in the pattern). They will be frogged or something, I'm not really sure. They definitely will NOT be worn, that's for sure.

Here, look at these instead:



Collinette Jitterbug socks! I love this yarn- it's as close to the STR that one can find in my town. Very tightly spun, bright colors, what's not to love? You can't really see it, but there is a cable on the side that runs all the way up. But I like this view, which is what I will see when wearing them this fall.

More prettiness:



Leftover Fleece Artist and STR yarns= new socks! I love working with the Fleece Artist yarns and if it weren't for the price and the fact I have to order them from far, far away, I would gladly trade most of my stash for more of it. The color, the hand, LOVE IT. These stockinette portion is a bit tighter than usual, as I refuse to knit on anything other than US 2's. I do not care.

Whoa nellie! We've hit the SOS 2007 socks finally!



These are my new favorite thing to look at. Just look at them! The pattern is from the Fair-Isle pattern book I purchased several months ago. My only thing I kind of dislike about the pattern is that there is a chevron that is incomplete- you see how there is an arrow on the bottom of the star, but not on the top? I feel like it should be squared up. But I'm also not willing to put in the work to fix the pattern to my needs (see a pattern here?), so they are slightly bugging me but the pretty, fancy colorwork makes it all go away.

Take another look at the heels. Surprise!



Another SOS 07 entrant, simple stockinette socks on STR from the stash:




These started out their life as the pink socks with the spiraling YO holes from the last Interweave. We won't talk about how that didn't work out, but just know that these are better. And lace socks look worse than lace shawls in progress, if you can believe it.

Hey, did someone say cardigan?



I forget the name of this pattern. It's from the Fall/Winter 2006 Knit Scene magazine. You'll find it as a bright macaroni-and-cheese orange color with flowers all over the neck and buttonband. That was not happening on my *ahem* generous chest, so I just went ahead and forgot it. I also added in a ribbed neckline, since I felt the v-neck was too wide as written. This was my first raglan sleeve experience, and I cannot wait to get back on the raglan shaping train! Raglan shirts are among the most flattering for my wide shoulders, so this is definitely my best option for sweaters in the future. Finally, I only did the twisted rib pattern on the sleeves. It was driving me nuts on row 2 of the hem, and I kept getting really, really confused. Also, I left out the button band, which is debateable as to if it will work out in the end. I may add in a zipper or something to keep it attached with for posterity. Yarn is Naturwolle Chunky, black-ish color. My row gauge is so off, that I have five extra skeins left over- enough for another one of these!

And, last but defintely not least... my FIRST SWEATER EVER!



Central Park Hoodie by the same Fall/Winter issue of Knitscene. There, it is green and made with a yarn I'll never find and is probably too expensive for me. Enter Cascade 220 and boom! Instant sweater! I really enjoyed kniting this the way that I made it. I didn't like the reverse stockinette around the cables (too much fiddling, high likelihood of mistakes carting it around on breaks at work), so I subbed in fisherman's rib (purl every side) instead. I think it looks just fine. The white things are snaps, which I managed to screw up putting them on. When hammering them together, I managed to flatten the posts and now only one of them snaps together. Luckily, its right above my chest, so it looks like I'm intentionally wearing that way.

I really fu-bared up the hood, however. I didn't do any of the decreasing as followed, and as a result it is quite different. To make up for it, I just seamed the ribbed parts together and called it good. This sweater also called into question my complete lack of seaming ability. Must work on that for next time! On the whole, I loved knitting this so much, it's propelled me into other garment patterns (see above) and hopes for the future.

Whew! Done, finally! That should hold me for a bit. Lesson one: blog frequently and the FO's won't take over the flickr update.