Becky's Knitting

As I mentioned on my last post, I decided to knit a second Christmas project this year.  In years past I have overwhelmed myself with Christmas knitting, but knowing that I need to focus on finals, I didn't plan much this year.  This present is for Daniel's sister, a big UT fan living in Michigan.  I sent Daniel a bunch of scarf patterns to choose from, and he selected Danica.  The yarn I'm using is a chunky weight, so I've made a few mods, but I think this will be a fun and very warm scarf which will get lots more wear in MI than it would here. 

Mods so far are that each square is 7 stitches instead of 10, and I used orange, which is technically the contrasting color, to do the foundation triangles instead of white.  I am using Size 11 addis and Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra in Salsa which is my favorite burnt orange yarn for both the color and the incredible softness and squishiness of the yarn.  I do wish I had the Harmony needles from Knit Picks already as I think they would help with the slipping occurring, but it's manageable, just a little annoying.

I have also reached the shirt-tail hemming part of Sahara meaning the body is basically done (I stopped short of what the pattern called for since I am sooo shortwaisted).  Because I don't have the Tilli Thomas yarn picked out yet for the trim, I will put the body on a holder and begin the sleeves.  I don't have the right size dpns, so I'm debating whether to try to do them on magic loop.  Will probably depend on whether or not I make it back to a yarn store before I start.

I did look at Tilli Thomas yarns at Hill Country Weavers yesterday, and they are looking into some ordering questions and getting back to me.  I'm thinking Salt and Pepper with pink or blue beads would be fun just to add a tiny bit of color.  However, I would only go this route if they can special order one skein for me b/c the store does not regularly carry it.  Otherwise, I'll probably go with Rock Star, but I'm torn whether to go with natural or to pick a color to add some contrast.  I'd probably go with a pale pink or blue if I did color so nothing too striking.  Or maybe hydrangea or dusty purple.  But doing natural without the contrast might be better as some of the Saharas I've seen on Ravelry had too much contrast, in my opinion.  And one other possibility would be Disco Lights with pink sequins.  Any thoughts?

Posted by Becky at 02:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | 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)

Since I last posted I have officially slacked off on the baby dress and worked on Sahara.  I'm really enjoying how quickly it is going so far.  I made the first join which connects the 2 front panels to the back under the armholes. 

This picture is from right before I did that.  Now I work down a bit more and start the waist shaping.  I am wondering whether I should work down a tad farther than called for before starting the waist shaping to account for my bustiness?  Not sure if that will help or look weird.  I may just do a few extra rows - I doubt it will hurt anything.  What I really need to figure out sometime is how to do short-rows for bust-shaping.  If anyone has any tips, I'd love to hear them.

On Ravelry, there is a forum for grad students and a current thread talking about how finals affect your knitting.  I posted that I get more reading done closer to finals because I knit while reading.  How do I do it?  Here's my normal setup:

Cat next to me, computer ready for notes, book propped up, knitting on top.  I'm under the black blanket.  Works for me unless I am outlining or writing in which case the typing unfortunately takes precedence over the knitting.  Sigh...

Posted by Becky at 04:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I was a good girl, and I blocked my swatch.  It grew and now the sz 5's gave me 20st and the 6's 18st, so I will be using the 5's for Sahara.  This actually makes sense because the two cabled sweaters I am doing for Daniel and my mom are DK weight and I had to go down to 4's to get 22st gauge for both of them.  It's weird b/c I didn't realize I am a loose knitter, but I always seem to need to go down for sweaters. 

Here's my start on Sahara. 

Not too exciting, but it is going pretty quickly (at least compared to the Dale dress).  The blue is a provisional cast-on and this is the start of the back.

Posted by Becky at 10:27 AM | 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)