I know what you're working on.

Nope, that's not creepy at all! That's what Mary said to Linda (who she hasn't seen for a while). She's been following Linda's sweater progress on the blog.

Linda is working on the side vents of her sweater, Knitting Pure & Simple # 9726 Neck Down Pullover Tunic - Women.  

Marjolijn finished her Chain Lace Big Fat Scarf  that she crocheted with Trendsetter Tonalita (Aran: 52% Wool, 48% Acrylic, 100 yards). It is so soft and squishy.  The colors are fabulous.  To give it some extra length, she crocheted a border on each end.

She's going to cast on for Plymouth Pattern #2350, Child’s Striped Jacket.  She recently took a Continental Knitting class with me and plans on employing it in this pattern.  The sweater is all knit.

Irene worked on her Colinette Better than the Rest, Vests kit; she's making minor modifications as she goes along if she doesn't like a stitch.  She doesn't love how all the yarns have such different textures.  We assured her that it was lovely like a tapestry or painting.

Diane gave me quite a fix-it proposition today.  In the middle of one section of her Linen Stitch scarf, Koigu PPPM (Fingering: 100% merino, 175 yards). She had a series mis-stitches.  I used the lace size fixastitch tool; the mistakes ran two rows deep in the same section and required some serious tinking (unknitting).

Mary had her linen stitch scarf as well.  She had one mis-stitch, otherwise it was fine.  She's knitting with dk weight yarn versus fingering.

She has also begun knitting my Destinations Top Down Sweater.  She's taking a class with me at Westport Yarns. The yarn is Tahki Rosa (Aran: 100% cotton, 93 yards).

Busy, Busy, Busy

There were 9 consecutive days of beautiful weather and I wanted to be outside for everyone of them.  It was the nicest stretch of true spring weather that I can remember since I was a kid. 

 

Most of my knitting time was occupied with the Not Just Plain Jane Mystery Knit-a-long. I'm knitting it with Be Sweet Cotton Candy (Worsted: 100% Cotton, 130 yards). I was desperately knitting to keep up with the clues (which came out once a week). Now that the fourth and final clue is out, I've taken a break from my "?".  Word on the street is that it is a poncho of sorts.  I still haven't seen a finished version. 

Everything kind of went on hold (i.e. the blog) while I knitted up a storm to keep up. I have about 200 rows to go.  I'm going to pace myself now.

I started the #26 Cropped Jacket.  I don't like the picture they have up, so check out some of the finished projects here. The yarn is Noro Silk Garden Sock (Sport: 40% Wool, 25% Silk, 25% Nylon (Polyamide), 10% Mohair, 328 yards).  It's fun to knit.  The color effects is achieved by alternating a main color with a contrast color and using short rows.   It's really engaging.  This is going to be a class at Westport Yarns this fall.

 My Jane "?" project was by no means a tv/talk project. I decided to knit another one of my Destinations Top Down Pullover. The yarn is Tahki Rosa (Aran: 100% cotton, 93 yards).  I happened to try it on after binding off the body.  The women I was knitting with suggested I leave it as a sleeveless tee.  I think I will.  My mother was trying to figure out how to make it so I could add back the sleeves when the season changes.  (Where do you think I got my habit of never leaving well enough alone?)  That was a boon, to leave it sleeveless. It's like I have found time on my hands. 

Time to do a stash diving and find yarn for a new project.  I have a few ideas noodling around.

Yes, that's Harry sitting on Tucker while Tucker (oblivious as usual) continues to gnaw on a log, not a stick, a log.

If it's Wednesday, then tomorrow is Thursday

OK, so it's neither of those. It's Saturday and I'm running behind. Good intentions and all that. I named the post "It it's Wednesday, then tomorrow is Thursday" because among us there was a bit of confusion as to what day of the week it was.  Never mind the fact that we only meet on Wednesdays. That's a mere technicality.

Michelle finished the Opal Infinity Scarf that she knit with Araucania Nuble (Fingering: 75% Merino, 25% Silk, 240 yards). It is a mistake rib infinity scarf that you graft in ribbing.  That was an adventure Michelle will soon not forget.  She did a great job though.  You're looking at the grafted section.



She is making progress with her Not Just Plain Jane Mystery KAL project.  I think of all the yarns I've seen it knit with, the Cascade Venezia Worsted is my favorite (Worsted: 70% Merino, 30% Silk, 218 yards).



Her mindless project is a pair of toe up socks for her granddaughter.

Elizabeth was really making time with the Brioche Rib Cardigan until she happened to meausure it against her grandson.  It was 5" too small.  Elizabeth's gauge is tighter than the pattern.  She liked this texture better than knit looser. 

She has reconciled herself with taking it out.  Now that she really understands the Brioche stitch, she doesn't mind as much.  Her only question is why she didn't measure it against him earlier.

On another note, look how beautifully her sleeve increases are.  Even though the sleeves are knit on the smaller gauge, she is going to leave them until it's time to knit the yoke.  If they don't fit nicely into the body, then she'll take them out.  Otherwise, she'll forge ahead.

Irene swatched twice, once with a #11 needle (top) and once with a #10.5 needle (bottom).  She much prefers the #10.5 swatch.  Thus she was swatched and ready to begin her Colinette Better than the Rest, Vests kit.

Linda only has a couple more inches till she finishes the body of her Knitting Pure & Simple # 9726 Neck Down Pullover Tunic - Women.  I think she has found her knitting niche, mindless stockinette.  It has been a good go to project for it's simplicity.

She was fascinated by the concept of the Mystery KAL.  Although Elizabeth likened us to Lemmings, Linda thought it was like going on a cross country trip with only part of the map at a time.  That's a pretty fair assessment.

It's also why the blog has been relatively silent for the past couple of weeks.  I've been doing my damnedest  to stay current as each new part of the project comes out.  The fourth (and final) piece came today.  Now that the pressure is off to be caught up before more parts arrive, I think I can settle down to my normal (harried) pace.

You could be a brioche savant.

Elizabeth brought her Brioche Rib Cardigan. Since her grandson never sees her working on it, he has been asking about it. This is the type of project that requires your full, undivided attention.  We all know this can be a tall order in a busy household.  When I saw Elizabeth last, she had just started the sleeve.  She had to factor in a double increase which were giving her a really hard time. Lining up the brioche stitches is tricky.

Hearing us talk about barks, burps, and sl one "yaddies", Lois exclaimed " I know what I'm never doing!" Then she added, "Unless it turns out that I'm a brioche savant".  You may have had to be there.  That was very funny.

Lois is working on All Wrapped up, a summer capelet design of mine knit with Berroco Versa (Bulky: 50% Acrylic, 50% Cotton, 81 yards).

Irene joined us for the first time today.  She brought a Colinette kit she bought years ago: Better than the Rest, Vests kit. It included 5 different yarns of Colinette in the colorway, Jay. She swatched with each type of yarn to get a feel for them.  Even though there are four different vest designs, she's going to modify it to her liking.  She's going to knit primarily in stockinette and have the bottom of the vest have a rolled edge. 

Barbara finished knitting the cabled front of her Cabled Pullover. She's knitting the sleeves two at a time.

She shared a sad yarn tale. She knit a swatch with Ella Rae Classic Superwash and decided to wash it (in warm water) and dried it. It shrunk a full inch in height.  When she looked the yarn up on Ravelry she found there were other complaints of the same issue.  I hate when that happens.

The Mystery Unfolds....

***************Spoiler Alert**************

This post contains pictures of the first part of the Not Just Plain Jane Mystery KAL. So if you don't want to know, turn back now!

I'm knitting with Be Sweet Cotton Candy (Worsted: 100% Cotton, 130 yards).  I love my color. No real surprise there.

I began knitting with gusto when the first part of the pattern arrived.  It was addicting as most Not Just Plain Jane patterns are. However, as I began to see the size and stitch definition of the other knitters at Westport Yarns, I began to have my doubts.

My first glimmer of doubt came when I saw Michelle's KAL.  She's knitting with Cascade Venezia Worsted (Worsted: 70% Merino, 30% Silk, 218 yards).  Her stitch definition is much crisper than mine.  Also, she is making the large and it was the same size as mine - I'm doing the small/medium.

When I started the project, I went down one needle size to a #5 figuring that would suffice.  The more I saw of other people's KAL's, the more misgivings I had.  Did that stop me from knitting onward?  No, of course not.  That would make sense.  It was only till the last 10 (out of 147) rows were in sight that I thought to cast on with a smaller needle and see if I liked it better.

You see, I don't want it to be ginormous.  I won't wear it then.  I went down to a #3 and knit about 20 rows last night.  Immediately I could see an improvement.  Here was the challenge before me. The next part of the pattern comes out tomorrow.  I did not want to be behind the proverbial 8 ball as I've offered to help out with the pattern when Jane can't be at the store.

I did the row math, I had 80 rows to do today.   I worked 20 rows at a time, taking breaks.  On the last 10 rows (again) I felt like I was trudging uphill in a blinding snowstorm.  Ok, so it wasn't that bad.  I was just tired.  The funny thing about doing it again was that it did seem to go faster.  I knew what all the stitches were going to look like.

 

The piece on the #3 needle is 1-2" narrower and shorter.  

The moral of the story is, sometimes you should listen to the little voices in your head. But only sometimes.

Crochet One Skein Wonders

If you're like me, you probably get lots of "junk" email.  For example, I get at least one email from Amazon a day.  The email I got today was because of things I've looked at/bought in the past.  So it was a "we thought you might like this" email.

They were certainly right.  I have a pattern that was published in this book.  What a funny way to find out it was released!

See!  There's my name right there!  I love how they styled the shrug on the model.  The pattern uses one skein (as the title of the book suggests) of Blue Heron Rayon Metallic (Worsted: 88% Rayon, 12% Metallic, 550 yards). 

It's a perfect project to show off the beauty of this yarn.  It's a reasonable project for an adventurous advanced beginner and a quick crochet project for an intermediate crocheter. So what are you waiting for?  Go get a copy and work one for yourself! In fairness to Amazon, here is the link to the book. There are 100 more terrific patterns in the book for all different weights of yarn.

Knitting to go.

I spent the weekend at my sister's house.  She's my knitterly comrade-in-arms.  She (like me) brings her knitting every where she goes too.  We went out to dinner at a Korean Restaurant called, Shira Kiku in Nashua.  It was delicious!  While waiting, she wound a skein of yarn.

My brother-in-law is a wine connoisseur and takes very good care of me.  I got my own personal wine tasting.  I'm no slacker, I rose to the occasion.

 

I cast on for the Not Just Plain Jane Mystery Knit-a-long. (Not while testing the wine!) I'm knitting with Be Sweet Cotton Candy (Worsted: 100% Cotton, 130 yards).

They have a cat.  He was respectfully interested in my knitting bag.

We had a cat growing up and it was a trip down memory lane

to spend time around a cat. 

I started swatching for the Noro Cropped Jacket from Noro Knitting Magazine, Fall 2012.  The yarn is Noro Silk Garden Sock (Sport: 40% Wool, 25% Nylon, 25% Silk, 10% Mohair, 328 yards).

The pattern calls for a #4 needle.  I automatically started with a #3, then #2, then #1.  In the final analysis the #2 was the closest to the gauge.  I'm looking forward to knitting this, it's "outside the box".  This will be a sample and a class at Westport Yarns.

In fairness, I must add puppy pictures.