September , where did you go?

Wow, it seems like just yesterday that I was at the knitters fair purchasing my fall's supply of yarn and know despite the weather October is almost here. For people who didn't hear we hit 40C with the humidex factored in (31.5 without) on Tuesday. It still is a beautiful day to be outside today.
I didn't start this blog post to talk about the weather - I had something else to share. Oh yeah some WIP photos.
First my yet to be named Cardigan. I am happy at how far I got with the first ball, and I am enjoying this project.
I may be tempted at some point to reknit this front. Still deciding - why you might ask? The order of the stripes. I have the warm rust at my side (under the armscye) and cooler blues at the front. It would be great if they were reversed (and I will pay more attention now).
Why should they be reversed? Cooler colours recede, warm colours come forward. So putting the cooler colours to the side you get a slimmer look, the opposite you add width to yourself. I am not someone who obsesses with my weight by I also don't want to look huge.
Although Keeper doesn't seem to have that problem.

Next work in project is the Chocolate Mountain Socks. The yarn is Mountain Bearfoot a wool, mohair, nylon blend - perfect for socks for Ali (who should get off of facebook and post to his blog). Seeing as he missed the last pair for him and Jenni tried to start an argument



I am knitting these socks toe up and using the heel in the diamond waffle socks. This heel puts the increases (or decreases) at the bottom of the gusset. I am loving this yarn.
Just another day left in September.

ETA: I just realized that I never posted my finished Krazy Stripes socks. They have been done for a couple of weeks. I am a bad bad blogger. I guess that will be in the next post.

Noro Cardigan

-I'll need a better name for this cardi

I have cast on for the cardigan,- I decided against the mitered corner and decided to knit from side to side. The right front was cast on last night and by the end of knit and chat I had a portion done, but I am concerned. My gauge on my swatch was 17 sts/10cm before washing after washing 16.25 sts/10 cm. (Noro Silk Garden blooms a lot). Why I am concerned - the front is currently 5 cm longer then I have designed. Now this in itself is not a fatal flaw but I am concerned for three reasons:

1. Will I have enough yarn - an extra 5 cm along the entire bottom is a lot of extra fabric and this is a discontinued colour
2. How far out is the rest of my design shaping - my calculations are not out - just that I thin the gauge swatch has lied
3. Is this going to stretch more and be even longer

To combat these insecurities I have decided to take the practical approach and continue to knit. I want to at least finish this ball of yarn -

1. since that will give me a good idea if I will have enough (I should have 2/3 of the right front done - if not I will have to rip)
2. I will be able to see if the shaping is somewhat correct when I hold it up to myself.
3. I can hang it from the shoulders for a few days and then measure it with the entire weight of the front. This is one place where gauge swatches lie, there is not enough mass to fully give the information on how the weight is going to affect the garment.

On a further design note, I am doing a seed stitch border as I knit along the bottom of the cardigan. I am thinking of doing all the edgings in seed stitch and was wondering about the front "button" bands (I will probably not be adding any fasteners - I like the open look). How does the stitch gauge change with seed stitch compared to stockinette? I know they both have the same row gauge (why I am knitting the bottom as I go along). But the stitch gauge is different - can I get away with switching to 1 needle size smaller - or will it be more complicated. I am not sure if I just want to knit and see do to the blooming issue.

Just a side note - I love The Twisted Sisters Knit Sweaters - A Knit to Fit Workshop

Knitters Fair

Spent a good chunk of time and money at the Knitters Fair on Saturday. I met up with Sarah and Vick saw them go into fibre overload as newbies at these types of events do. I haven't taken pictures of my purchases today (it actually rained !!!!), however I will let you in on one of the major purchases.



I got enough of Noro Silk Garden (col 239) for a cardigan. Different then the tweedy grey that I was thinking for the cardigan, however I had decided to find the yarn then choose the pattern from my narrowed down list.
Since this is very different then what I was envisioning I need to switch gears with the pattern, since I don't want horizontal stripes. I have decided on using mitered corners in the cardigan to get vertical stripes. Similar to the Blueberry/Marmalade cardigan by Maureen Mason Jamieson (without the slip stitches).

My gauge swatch is drying and then I have a bunch of measurements to do before starting a ton of calculations.

Some finished objects ...

..Almost.
I can't find my little case that keeps all my darning needles in so these will have to wait to be truly finished objects
This is the Oriel top. This tank has gone through several iterations to get to this stage.

I started off with the W pattern from Knitty. However I realized when I was almost through one ball of yarn that I was not going to have enough yarn. So it visited the frog pond. I then decided to knit a top down tank but couldn't find a pattern that I liked for this yarn so I thought I would make one myself. This also had to visit the frog pond as I was having massive problems with the neck shaping and the realization that I don't have a 40" bust (maybe that was more gauge issues).
I liked the Lotus blossom tank in the summers IK, but wasn't sure I had enough yarn. What to do I didn't want to skip on length then end up with yarn left over.
Provisional cast on to the rescue. I knit the top of the tank (twice - gauge issues) following some of the shaping of the Shapely tank. The cast on was then taken out and I started the lace pattern working down. After a couple of different patterns Oriel was chosen. A picot bindoff along the neckline and hem was used.

Yarn: Darling by Filati Yarns in colour 347 50% cotton 50% acrylic 375 m
Needles : 3.75 mm (3.5 mm for edges)
Pattern: A little bit of several patterns

This yarn being a cotton acrylic blend was pleasant to knit with and I would use it again.

The second almost finished object
The Spey Valley socks



These socks are knit out of Trekking XXL and has reaffirmed that I am not a fan of this yarn. I don't think it gives a firm fabric for wear unless it is knit on tiny 1.75 mm needles.

These socks were meant to be for Ali but unfortunately when I was trying them on to judge their length they felt nice and tight to my feet. There is no way they would fit Ali's feet. I guess I just got another pair of socks for my drawer.

I do need something to knit



I still haven't decided on a sweater, I have added a few more to the potential list (I would like a basic grey cardigan that I could wear almost everyday) since I think Jenni was right about some of the other selections. I haven't found the yarn that I want for the cardigan so that will be part of the mission this Saturday at the Knitters Fair.

Raverly update

• You signed up on July 3, 2007
• You are #12938 on the list.
• 1907 people are ahead of you in line.
• 17478 people are behind you in line.
• 36% of the list has been invited so far

ETA: I found my case and needles (top of a book shelf by the cook books if any wants to know)
So here are some real FO's

Decisions

I have been thinking on what my next major project is going to be. Seeing as my knitting has drastically slowed down lately - I need to get the materials for a major project - makes sense doesn't it. I have been thinking about a cardigan and am torn between three different ones.

Option #1 Jenna's Eris
A mostly stockinette cardigan with some cabling around the top and the bottom moves this from basic to elegant.

Option #2 Bonne Marie's Twist
Two panels of cabling going up the fronts with some side shaping. I am not sure about such a large collar though.

Option #3 Kate's Cinnabar Pullover
Okay not a cardigan but something is drawing me to this sweater. I like the linen stitch touches for the collar and the hems.

So what do you think? I have no yarn for any of these sweaters currently, purchases will have to be made. There are some sales on, and the Knitters Fair is coming up so lots of opportunities to purchase the require yarn.

I have also not been able to get on Raverly yet - still in the queue, which I don't think has moved at all in the past week.

Keeper's Scarf

I finished Keeper's scarf



This was a fun project, my first attempt at shadow knitting and enjoyed watching the pattern slowly emerge.
Project Specs:
Needles: 5mm Boye straights
Yarn: Diamond Tempo yarn (75% acrylic: 25% wool) 100g/200m in one ball
Little more than one ball each of black (col 217) and tan (col 1203)
Pattern : My own with help from Vivian Høxbro's book Shadow Knitting



Did you notice a brindle dog in the above photos. Keeper hasn't changed colours or markings but we are having a house guest for a couple of weeks. His name is Tomax and his owners went on vacation so we are looking after him.

This is what the two of them do most of the day. They are currently sleeping now (but inside on their beds).

Weekend

Here in Ontario we celebrate Civic Holiday, a day to celebrate the summer (most of the other provinces celebrate it with different names). How did I spend this weekend:
Friends from Philly came up



We went to the cottage



Keeper went for his first swim. It was hot on Saturday, and he had spent a chunk of time in the car before we got to the beach (not locked in the car but we didn't go straight to the cottage). I decided to take him down to the water and see if he wanted to swim. My plan was to walk out until he stopped and wasn't comfortable.

We walked out

We hit the sand bar

After that it wss deep enough for him to swim

He just wanted to keep going.

Keeper loves the beach and the water. I let him swim around for a little while and then would take him back to the sandbar where he could stand. Then back out for a swim.

Monday morning, Ali had him and allowed me to get these shots. Keeper just wanted to jump all over the place in the water and run through the waves. I guess I have a beach bum/couch potato for a dog.




At the end of the day though, he wants to sleep.


(Apparently we only took pictures at the beach during the weekend.)