Vine Yoke Blocking

Good Sunday morning to you! After some stressful swatching at 11 pm last night for some Christmas presents, I made the conscious decision to put down the needles, and go to bed. I promised myself to get up and finish something - I was determined to block out my Vine Yoke Cardigan.

Soaked, blocking mats, measurements and pins.

So, I did:

8-8:30 am - last 3 rows and cast off of the final button band.

8:30 - 8:50 - she's having a bath

8:50-9:20 - she is on the mats

I am very worried about the width of the sweater, the end length, and if the yoke pattern will be laying flat.

And I was right to worry - it is now huge! Crap. So, I'm just going to hope it dries perfectly, shrinks a little, and if not, maybe try throwing it in the dryer.

Or cry and let it hang in my closet as a sign of my knitting unworthiness.

Stress....

I am very excited about the buttons though, from ButtonButton:

I'll be knitting this morning with the girls, and I'm going to keep churning out lace repeats for my Orchid Multnomah:

Also, I'm going to prioritize my knitting projects today so I can just focus and do.

Baby Sorels!

Last weekend I got to see my favorite baby, Evan - now 3.5 months old! So I decided to knit him some booties that morning - these took me about 3 hours, but this is with distracting tv shows going on at the same time.

The pattern, Lovebug Booties, looked so cute, but they looked like a newborn size, so I upped the yarn to Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, and they are now Baby Sorels, perfect for a Canadian winter.

Size is approx. 3" x 3" - so cute!



The ankle width is about twice as thick as his legs are now, so these might be 1 year old booties, but they are so cute to just look at.

I could have blocked these so the top didn't roll, but I actually like the little roll. And of course, blue and brown are one of my fave colour combos. I have lots of yarn left for each colour.

Check out my Ravelry project page for more details.

I found a new cool blog last night through the Knit Circus magazine: Falling Stitches.

She is a knitter and designer, and I really like her following patterns (her photos):

Emilien

Cybelle


My current works in progress to finish up this week (hopefully!):

1) My Vine Yoke Cardigan - 2 more rows of button band, blocking, and finishing
2) The Orchid Multnomah for a family friend - I would never pick this bright of a pink, so it's actually fun to knit with.

This weekend I'm going to figure out my Christmas knits - fun!

BeHolden

It has been a while since I last blogged, and I have been busy knitting. Knitting and knitting and knitting.

I am pleased to produce my 8th shawl of 11 for this year: the Holden Shawlette.

I am in love. Love love love. This is by far my favorite shawl of all time. The yarn, the gorgeous Springtree Road Muscadine Sock yarn in Grey Flannel is a beautiful colour (the colour is mostly like the following photo):

 

Gorgeous! Like blue jeans put into yarn.

The pattern is fun but easy, and there are numerous checks along the way (the k2tog and the skp all line up) so you can visually see that you are off a stitch in the lace.

I was really hoping my yarn would last for the whole pattern, but after doing the 4th repeat I had the instinct - the instinct that every knitter has at one point in their career; the instinct that is always ignored: I am going to run out of yarn. Hope gets in the way, because it just would not be good enough to only have 4 repeats of the lace - so you keep knitting.

Ripping out occurred on Saturday, taking about 1/2 hr to put the stitches back on. The picot edging really gives this shawl most of it's character, even though it did take me 3 hours.



I love it though, and I think everyone who is a shawl knitter should knit one.

Is it bad to wear the same shawl every day?

Gramps....

Here's what I have this week that you need! The pattern to the CUTEST baby cardigan you have ever seen - Gramps, by Tin Can Knits.

Boy's cardigans that are actually cute are few and far between - especially as colours are usually limited. But this pattern with the little elbow pads just melts my heart.

What's even better: this is only one pattern in a WHOLE BOOK that was just released this week:        9 Months of Knitting.

You can buy individual patterns on Ravelry, of course, but this is one of those books where I know I will make at least 3 things in it - my standard for buying a knitting book. Those patterns I know I will cast on are:

I Heart Rainbows Sweater and Hat: (the hat is FREE!)



lumberjack:
 

Waffles baby blanket:



Tic Tac Toe Baby Legwarmers!!!:



 Really, I'm going to knit everything in this book - these are just the ones I'm going to start with.

Check it out! Copies are available in print too - it's a great looking book. Babies of my life, WATCH OUT! You soon will be decked out in the latest and greatest baby fashions by Tin Can Knits!

Blocking...

My Earth and Sky Stephen West Mystery KAL Shawl is blocking....

More blogging when I'm done...