Becky's Knitting

I received some big news last night - I was selected as Editor-in-Chief of my law school journal - the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas & Energy Law.  This basically means I get to run the show next year, so that's pretty exciting.  I'm really looking forward to it - it'll mean a lot of work, but it's a great opportunity.

In other big news that those reading this blog will probably be more interested in, I finished the Dale Baby Roses Dress!  There hasn't been a FO in these parts in quite some time , so I am pleased to present to you the first big FO of 2008.

Pattern: Dale Baby Roses Dress (#13502) from Book #135 in 6 mo size
Yarn: Dale of Norway Baby Ull, <3 balls of cream, <1 of both pinks, and just about 1 ball of green
Needle: US 1 addi turbos
For: baby Georgia
Started: September 2007
Finished: March 2008 

Ravelry details

What's that, you want to see a picture of it being modeled?  Ok! 

It's a little big right now, but that's great so hopefully she can get some good wear out of before she grows too much.

I actually finished it (except for weaving in all the ends) on our anniversary which was last week.  Daniel and I celebrated by checking out the new Four Seasons Restaurant Trio.

Since our anniversary falls during spring break, we both had the day off so we went golfing.  Here's what my car said when we got back in - in the middle of March!!

Daniel loves to drink port, so I bought our present this year - a set of 4 Waterford cystal port glasses!  Turns out the 3rd anniversary gift is crystal, so I even followed the rules

Posted by Becky at 08:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I was very excited to get to attend my LSSK group's Austin meeting two months in a row.  I won't be able to go to the next few, though, which makes me sad.  Our leader, Vicki, got sick and wasn't able to be there yesterday, so I was told (through Laura) that I had better take pictures.  Our group picture didn't come out, but here are some candids.

Sue, Deb, Judy A., CJ, Laura, and Joan

Joan, Christie, and Pat

CJ, Laura, and Rita

Lydia, Sue, and Deb

Caroline and ??

I have been almost done the Dale baby dress since around the beginning of the year, but the finishing work requires the kind of attention I don't have for my knitting when school is in session.  I did most of the smocking at the January Borders meetup, but you can see here that I still have a mess of ends to weave in.

Laura was kind enough to teach me how to do the crochet border.  Here's what I have so far with 1.5 rounds of the border.  The third round will give it scallops.  This same border will be applied at the armholes. 

Laura is so awesome!  This is the second baby project that she has taught me the crochet for.  The other was the Dragon Hoodie.  I don't like crocheting b/c you have to actually look at what you're doing to figure out where to put the hook through, but I have to admit it is such a great trim as it adds just that little extra detail to a project.  Now I just have to find the time to finish the crochet and gift this, because the weather has gotten nice enough for the baby to start wearing it once I give it to her.

I did a demo of the Judy's magic cast-on that I've been using for my socks lately.  I really like the way it looks, especially how the colors work out as compared to a short-row toe. 

I also took an update picture of the Noro Rainbow sock that shows my latest progress turning the heel.  Gotta love the purple section!!

Posted by Becky at 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

I am past the waist decreases and have done two sets of increases.  These pictures are from when I finished the decreases. 

The sweater rolls like crazy so the pictures don't show the neckline very well.  And of course the fancy neckband should add quite a bit more coverage.

I am loving this easy, mindless knitting and find it hilarious how DK weight yarn seems to be going so wonderfully fast.  I will probably have the body done this week.  Then I will get to enter a land I've never been to before on an adult project - sleeve island.  And since they're knit on, I can't do them both at the same time so I'll need to be sure to take careful notes.  One thing I've learned on this project is to put coiless safety pins on as markers everytime I start a new section of the pattern.  This makes measuring super easy b/c I just measure from the safety pin.  I can also tell right away where I started the increases, decreases, joins, etc.

I've also decreased for the bodice on the Dale baby dress, but it requires knitting and purling, and I don't trust myself to count and keep up with my studying right now, so now I have an excuse to put it aside and work on Sahara.  I'll try to keep doing a bit now and then though.  It would be nice to have this ready as a Christmas present for the family whose baby is due in January. 

P.S. Sorry the blog is a little messy right now.  I figured out how to add a 3rd column, but I haven't quite figured out how to get the style sheet to mesh with that so my backgrounds are messed up.  Once I figure it out, it will be really nice b/c the blog entries will be wider and my columns will be better organized, but it might take me some time to totally figure it out.

Posted by Becky at 09:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So last post I was struggling b/c part of me really wanted to cast on a sweater for me that wouldn't be worked on size 3 or smaller needles since my 3 main projects right now are on size 1 (Dale baby dress), size 5 with sock weight yarns (Chevron Scarf), and size 2 or 3 (Mermaid), plus socks.  I went into the knitting room to see if I had any inspiration and saw the bag of Ultra Alpaca Light I won at the Knit Out.  Perfect!  I've been looking at the Sahara pattern for quite some time now, and there was never any doubt in my mind that I would make one. 

It is just so me!  It calls for worsted weight knit at a gauge of 20 st/4".  But when I got on Ravelry, I saw that several people had made it in a DK weight.  So I knit up a gauge swatch of the Ultra Alpaca Dk on size 6 and 5's.  With the 5's I got about 22st /4".  On the 6's, I am getting 20 st/ 4" and I think I am happy with the fabric.  You want it to be a little flowy, plus Alpaca can be so hot that I think having it a little more open will be good.  I'm sure this will require a tank top underneath, but that seems to be part of the deal with this pattern, especially if you are on the bustier side (which clearly the models are not).

I do plan to get some fancy yarn for the edgings, probably one of the Tilli Thomas yarns, but I won't need that for awhile so I'm not worried about it.  HCW carries a small selection so hopefully I can find something there.  And since I don't need it right away, I will probably wait a few months to see if any of their sales include it.  No idea what color I will go for. 

Now, before casting on, I need to figure out the sizing.  I'm thinking I will be making a large, but probably go with some of the medium length measurements.  The tricky part with the sizing is the 3" of negative ease in the pattern.  A large hsa a suggested bust measurement of 41".  This would make the garment bust measure 38", although the schematic looks to me like it is really 37".  This should work for me.  But then you have to add in the gauge issue.  The pattern used silk yarn which it says was knit at a gauge of 22st, but b/c it stretched, became 20st after blocking.  My yarn will likely not stretch very much, I don't think.  But honestly, even if I did block my swatch, it wouldn't tell me very much because the stretching will really occur when the whole garment is done and the weight makes it stretch.  See how confusing this is!?!  I've emailed a few people who have completed a Sahara that look to maybe be around my size to get their thoughts on sizing.  But I think I'm just going to have to cast on and see how it goes.  Since it is knit top down without seams (yippee), I will just try it on as I go, and I think (hope) I will be ok.  Should be fun!

But I will also keep working on the Dale baby dress as the due date is quickly approaching.  I am almost done with the skirt and then I can start on the bodice. 

Posted by Becky at 08:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Here's a status report on the projects I've been working on lately:

Dale of Norway baby dress for baby Georgia due in January.  See page 2 and 3 of this page for what it will look like.  Now that I have the colorwork section done, I am planning to do the long, plain stockinette portion while studying.  Then I can do the fancy crochet and smocking and finishing work during winter break.  Just need to find someone to show me how to do the crochet part. 

Here's my first Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.  When I first saw Courtney's gorgeous scarf, I loved it.  Then I got on Ravelry and saw lots of other pretty ones people had made.  And then an online yarn store had a going out of business sale with super cheap Lorna's Laces.  I bought 4 skeins, enough to make two scarves.  Unfortunately, all the colors didn't go together the way I hoped they would, but these two did.  The colorways are Lakeview and Somerset and I love the way this is coming together.  It does go slowly though knitting a scarf with sock weight yarn.

Lastly, this is Daniel's sweater which I worked on quite a bit at the Knit Out.  This is a VERY long term project as I can only work on it when I can concentrate on the pattern and cabling - no study knitting here!  The pattern is Sebastian - a unisex sweater in Rowan's Classic Summer book.  The yarn is Elsebeth Lavold's Silky Tweed.  It took us about a year just to pick out the yarn and pattern.  Daniel really wanted a light grey color, but he's allergic to wool, and most grey yarn is either wool or alpaca which is too hot.  Silky Tweed is only 20% wool so it was an excellent choice and will make a lighter sweater which is more appropriate for Austin weather.  This is going to be a gorgeous sweater when it is finished, but unless I suddenly find lots of time to work on it, it will be quite awhile.  And that is ok by me because I am enjoying the process quite a bit on this one.

I've also been working on the FIL socks as I plan to gift them for Christmas.  I am to the top ribbing of the second one, and once I finish that I need to go back and redo the top of the first because I didn't make it long enough.  Good thing it is toe-up!  These are my purse knitting, but a row here and a row there can really get you somewhere over time.  I just hope they fit!

All of these projects are knit on size 4 or smaller needles with thin yarn, so I'm thinking I need to intersperse a larger gauge project into the mix.  First of all, because I think that will be easier with my broken finger (surgery was today, went well so far).  Second, the whole reason I knit lots of different things at the same time is to have variety.  So who knows, maybe there will be a new WIP soon.  I have a few ideas in mind. 

Posted by Becky at 06:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)