Sugar on Snow done

A friend showed me the Sugar on Snow hat/neckwarmer she had made, and I decided I had to make one, too. Here are pictures of it both ways. It is knit from Baby Alpaca Grande, and the i-cord with leaves is made from Suri Merino. Deliciously soft! I wasn't sure if I'd really like the leaf decorations, but they aren't bad at all. And it helps that they are knit in green for this project.

Yesterday I received the November issue of Creative Knitting. I resumed my subscription with some trepidation, as I don't usually see much in this magazine that I'd think of making. But several items in this issue called to me: the Three Squares and Two Sleeves sweater (it took a couple of read-throughs of the pattern to see what was going on with this one), the Sugar Plum Wrap sweater, and the Arm Snuggies. For this last, my LYS, The Spinning Room, just got in some Baby Llama yarn in three colors that I hope will be delicious looking together.

Currently on the needles and getting the most attention: the second of a pair of fingerless mitts for my husband, in a lovely forest green shade.

Finished Textured Tunic from Fitted Knits

Finished!

I actually finished this earlier in the week, but it took a couple of tries in different light to get the color to come through accurately. As you can see, I modified the neckline (though I see that didn't keep my bra strap from showing!). I also only did side slits, no buttons. I did a lot of waist shaping, so much so that when it is off of me, the shaping looks oddly exaggerated. I mostly worked to the smallest size, but did the next size up for the arm openings. I then stayed with 40 stitches for the sleeve until below the second section of purls, then added 4 stitches over 4 rows, rather than decreasing in the top section. That wouldn't have fit my arms at all. I thank the posters on Fitted Knits Along for sharing how they made many of the modifications, that helped a great deal. This is the first project on which I deviated so far from the pattern, and I must have tried it on 30 times as I was working on it.

The yarn is Adrienne Vittadini Donata (70% alpaca, 30% acrylic), and the sweater feels a bit scratchy on. I am hoping that washing will take care of that. I've also read that soaking an itchy garment in a tablespoon of hair conditioner before washing really helps. The garment looks a bit see-through in the box stitch section, though I didn't notice it looking that way when I tried it on. Maybe the flash had something to do with it. I am still puzzling over how much yarn I had left. Based on the yardage, I needed 11 full balls of this yarn. Since I bought it at an out-of-town store, I got 12 balls, just to be safe. And in the end, would you believe I only used 6?!? (73 yards per ball).

I am taking a short break from bigger garments, making the convertible hat/neck warmer Sugar on Snow from knitty.com, but I think I'll make the cropped cardigan with leaf ties next. Though the weather here in upstate NY is getting so chilly so quickly I might not be able to wear the cropped cardigan till next spring.

My husband seems to be open to the idea of my making him some fingerless mitts (see item above about chilly weather). I've found a nice sedate dark green color in Lamb's Pride Worsted in my stash, so as soon as Sugar on Snow is done (only the I-cord and leaf shapes need to be finished), I'll start on that.

My Converted Mitts are progressing not at all. I have to say I much prefer to do stranded knitting on circular needles, rather than dpns. But I have to get back to those mitts soon. The yarn is a delight to work with, so why do I have this mental block?

I am getting there on the textured tunic

I've been working on the Textured Tunic from Fitted Knits for a few weeks now. The first two projects I made from the book seemed to go very quickly. This one has needed a lot more decision-making on my part, and lots of days after work I feel a bit too tired to be making decisions I am not sure about. The advice from many knitters on Fitted Knits Along has been extremely helpful. Without it, I wouldn't have realized I need to do decreases near the waist to pull it in (the way it looks in the book, but no decreases are written into the pattern). A couple of people also mentioned it was too long for them, and I am shortening it by 20 (!) rows as a result, but I think it will be quite long enough. There is lots of advice for knitting the sleeves, which I'll take a closer look at once I get to that point. I only have about 8 more rows to do on the front, and about 15 on the back, then I do get to go onto the sleeves. The yarn is Adrienne Vittadini's Donata (and it is more purple than this picture shows). I've tried it on a million times as I tried to get the shaping right, and I have to say it is a bit scratchy. I read about a trick of soaking such garments for a brief time with hair conditioner. I'm going to have to try that.

In the meantime, my Composed Mitts languish. But I am making very good progress on another ribwarmer vest!

Yarn of the Month Selections

I've been a member of the Yarn of the Month Club for a bit over a year now. Each shipment includes enough of four different yarns to knit up into a swatch. The idea is to learn about various yarns and to see if one likes knitting with them. I have to admit I've only knit two up so far, but I like the idea of being able to if I want to! Sometimes there is a theme to the mailing, other times not. This month, the four are billed as being innovative: Rowan's Calmer, GGH Yarns Bel Air, Crystal Palace's Puffin, and Habu's Shosenshi. The accompanying newsletter, Knit Dish, gives a description of each of these yarns, and explains why each is innovative. I really liked this detailed write-up. Most of the time the newsletter doesn't go into this much depth about each of the yarns. I did realize, the minute I opened the package, that Shosenshi is innovative. After all, it made crinkly noises! It is actually linen paper, but then, one wouldn't expect anything that wasn't innovative from Habu. I've been seeing a number of patterns lately made with Rowan's Calmer, and I've actually been interested in trying it out. I don't usually like knitting with cotton, but I am hoping this will be different. It is 75% cotton and 25% acrylic microfiber, and it is described as being exceptionally soft. Knitting a swatch of this might be a good way to relax after working on my Composed Mitts--I'm into a section with three colors per row, and it is taking all my concentration to catch the floats.

Successful trip to Webs

On Saturday I went to Webs in Northampton, MA with my mom, a friend, and her mom. All of us except for my friend are knitters, and she's a very patient person. She had to be, since none of the rest of us wanted to leave the store. This is my 4th or 5th time there, but I never cease to be amazed at all they have.

This time they surprised me by having a Fitted Knits trunk show! I'm in the middle of knitting my third project from this book, so I was tickled pink to see these items. I had a chance to try on several items that I had been thinking about making: the Cozy V-Neck Cardigan, the Two-Toned Ribbed Shrug, and the Cropped Cardigan with Leaf Ties. I was especially hopeful that the last would look nice, as last week I bought some yarn to make it: Classic AL by Elsebeth Lavold, so it won't be as fancy as the one in the book, but I think it will get a lot of wear. The Two-Toned Ribbed Shrug wasn't my favorite, so I am glad I never did buy yarn for it. (It may also have been that the one on show was a bit snug for me.) I also didn't really have any plans to make the Elizabeth Bennett Cabled Cardigan, but it looked very nice on. The sleeves in whatever size it was (if only they'd mark the size on trunk show garments more often!) was a bit too long, so I'd have to watch out for that if I do make it. There were also several other items from the book: the Turtleneck Tube Vest (couldn't exactly try this one on in the middle of the store), the Saturday in the Park dress (ditto), and the U-Neck Back to School Vest (which I've already made). I really wish they'd had the Carrie Cropped Cardigan.

I bought yarn for three projects. Two shouldn't be named or pictured, as they are for holiday presents for people who might read this. The third is the sweater Manon from Norah Gaughan's collection No. 1. I had tried it on at her trunk show at Colorful Stitches in Lenox, and fell in love with it. Webs didn't have enough of the Pure Merino in the color I liked (i.e., the color in the pattern book), so I ended up with Ultra Alpaca in a lovely green tweedy shade. It is a slightly lighter yarn, but since I am a very loose knitter, I think it will work out. So did the very helpful sales clerk.

Then, when I got home from Webs, I found my copy of Folk Knits had arrived, and I started drooling over several of the projects. But I really have to finish some others first, before buying yet more yarn.

The Textured Tunic from Fitted Knits is coming along quite well, although I've been trying it on every inch or two. I've been doing lots of decreases below the bust, but soon I'll hit my waist, and will have to start increasing for the hips. This means this is not a transportable project, nor are the Composed Mitts with their 6 balls of yarn, so I cast on for another Elizabeth Zimmermann Ribwarmer Vest, this time in two-toned gray Wool of the Andes from Knit Picks.