Molly's Matinee Coat

On Wednesday, April 18th, I became an aunt .... for the eighth time. (gasp) It's so strange for me to realize that my 4 siblings have all had children and I'm the eldest with none. Obviously this gift is a bit delayed, but it won't fit Molly until she's 3 months old, so maybe I'm early?

Molly's Matinee Coat

Pattern: Matinee Coat

Pattern Source: Debbie Bliss Simply Baby
Yarn: Sidar Snuggly DK; white
Needles: Knit Picks Options and Circulars size 6, 5, 3 and 2 US
Modifications: I added a picot edge around the neckline.

Notes about the pattern: Although I really do like the finished object, you couldn't pay me to knit another item in this book. I never understood why people didn't like knitting patterns that don't have a schematic ... until now. None of the patterns in this book or the Debbie Bliss Special Knits book for that matter, have schematics. This made blocking the 5 pieces of this sweater a pain in the arse. I finished knitting all the pieces on April 11th and attempted to start blocking that same day. However, when I discovered there were no schematics, and I'd spent an hour of frustration trying to figure out what measurements to block everything, I gave up. A week later, when my sister called to announce that her daughter had been born, I resolved to tackle the sweater once and for all. I struggled through two hours of calculating, measuring and pinning and crossed my fingers that when I started assembly, it would all come together perfectly. It did all match up fairly well although I discovered that I really dislike seaming. I see top-down sweater patterns in the future.

Notes about the yarn: I originally purchased 5 skeins of this yarn, and today returned the 3 unused skeins to my LYS. Even *I* was surprised that I'd returned the yarn, but to be honest with you, knitting with white yarn was boring and I'm also not a big fan of the nylon/acrylic blend. Although, I'm sure my sister will appreciate that it is washable and I appreciated that it was economical.

Final thoughts: If you are the type of person that can block many pieces of a project successfully without schematics, then I'd highly recommend this book, but if you are like me and don't have enough experience under your belt to block with schematics, stay away. I've also discovered that instead of asking the mother (or picky sister) what they would like me to knit for their baby, I'll just pick a pattern and yarn I'll enjoy working with and hope they like it in the end. After all, if I like what I knit, I'll finish it quickly and be more inclined to not mutter profanities under my breath.

Monday Mish Mash

For those of you who live under the rock next door to my rock, you've got to check out Ravelry . For those of you who have an invite left .. can you please invite me? I'm DYING to try this out since I'm an anal-retentive organizing nut and this looks like it's right up my alley! I don't know if I'm patient enough to wait for it's full release.

Although I have no socks on the needles and haven't had for a week (gasp), I've signed up for the Summer of Socks 2007 KAL. I've thankfully fulfilled my SAM 3 KAL requirements for May and have forbid myself to cast-on for another pair of socks until I finish the Debbie Bliss Matinee Coat for my new neice Molly. You would think this would be HUGE motivation for a sock fiend like me, but even though this was off the needles and blocking last month, so far I've only managed to seam it. To officially complete it, I still need to knit the edging around the neckline and then put it in the mail to my sister. Thank goodness it's knit for a 6 month old!

And if having one project on the needles for a neice wasn't enough, I'm also working on a purse for my eldest neices birthday. I've knit this bag once before for another neice and this neice saw it and said she *had* to have one too. This has been a really quick knit and all I have left are the i-cord handles and felting. She'll be visiting me the last week of this month, a few days after her birthday, so it will be fun to give her this in person instead of sending it off in the mail.

The VLT shawl (which looks like a blog) is still in progress and I think I'm on track to have it complete by my mother-in-laws birthday next month. I'm not sure I'm going to use the edging shown in the book, but I'm not sure what else would look nice. Any suggestions?

For those of you who love podcasts and/or love scrapbooking, you absolutely must check out my friend Lain's ScrapHappy Podcast. Currently, I'm not into making scrapbooks (which is the main focus of this podcast), but I just love that her podcast. Last episode she was stating that if a scrapbooking tool doesn't have mutliple uses, she doesn't keep it around, so she had taken her ribbon straightening iron into her bathroom to see if it would also straighten her hair! Her last 4 podcasts are all in the 15-20 minute range, so if you want a treat, go subscribe. Oh, and if you do.. please tell her I sent you.

Socks, Sweaters and Stitch Markers

I'm slowly but steadily working on the Baudelaire's by Cookie. I had the most surreal moment the other day. I sat down in my favorite chair with these socks, turned on TIVO and discovered a new episode of Knitty Gritty had recorded. Since this show can be a hit or miss, I wasn't too excited until I started watching the episode and realized that not only was the featured guest the designer of the socks I am knitting, but she was demonstrating the socks I am knitting. It was so surreal. This pattern was thankfully written toe-up and although I'm not using the figure 8 cast on she uses, because I prefer Judy's magic cast-on, I really like the method she uses on her short row heel. She doesn't wrap & turn, she turns and then does a wrap in the form of a yarn over. It works very well and there is no ridge on the heel with typical short rows, which is especially nice. I'm actually a bit further up the leg than what this photo shows, so by next week, they will be complete.

Time to block! I honestly didn't enjoy knitting this Matinee Coat very much, and it's probably because it has quite a bit of acrylic in the yarn. I'm also frustrated with the sister I'm knitting this for, so that could be part of it too. The pattern was easy to follow, but what's with no schematics? Figuring out the finished dimensions will definitely be interesting.

I'm not sure where I saw these originally, but I'm sure glad I did. These are stitch markers from Team Entrelac. When I worked on my shawl (that is still in time-out), I used pieces of sock yarn as stitch markers. It worked okay, but I really wanted to find some very small, lightweight stitch markers with no rough edges and no openings that the lightweight lace yarn could escape through. After looking over these markers with my critical eye, I know they are going to be ideal for my next laceweight project. In fact, I think they are going to be so perfect that I've just placed my second order for another set of 10.

By the way, you've got to take a look at the new yarns that The Loopy Ewe added to her site yesterday. I placed my first order with her and will be receiving sock yarn I've NEVER tried before - Lorna's Laces, Cider Moon and Fleece Artist. YUMMY!

The So-So Spartan

When reading this & viewing the photos keep this in mind:

1. This is my very first adult knit sweater.
   
2. I knit this in secret very late at night while DH was sleeping.
3. I knit this without ever taking his measurements.
4. I learned my lesson.
   

Pattern: Spartan Pullover by Kristin Nicholas

Pattern Source: Interweave Knits Fall 2006

Yarn: Tahki Kerry; 10 skeins #5011 black, 1 skein #5012 charcoal

Yarn Source: Webs

Needles: KnitPicks Options size 7 & 9 US 24" circulars

Notes: The pattern instructs you to work the sweater in the round from the base to the neckline, so I also decided to work the sleeves in the round using the 2 circulars technique. I'm not a huge fan of seaming, so this worked out very well for me. I worked on this sweater secretly while DH was either sleeping or at work since I gave it to him for Christmas ... BUT since I took no measurements, it was too small when he put it on (of course), so I had to block the hell out of it again, stretching it in ways that it didn't want to be nor should have been stretched. It fits him okay now, but it really didn't turn out as nice as I'd hoped.

I absolutely love the fair isle detail at the bottom and since it was my very first attempt at fair isle, it was very rewarding. The yarn was nice to work with, although I found out after I purchased it that this company (Tahki Stacy Charles) is not consumer friendly. I'm trying to be more concious of purchasing consumer friendly yarn, so even though Webs has it on closeout for almost half the price I paid for it, I've decided not to purchase it again. I've also decided to NOT knit anymore adult sweaters until I practice on a few kids sweaters first. Maybe Starsky Jr?