Saturday, August 06, 2005

Like A Broken Record But Without Sharp Edges

I can feel my knitting mojo coming back to me, but the last couple of weeks it was worrisomely absent. Work continues on the lamb all-in-one:


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The funny thing about this all-in-one is that my friend's doctor told her that her baby will weigh between seven and ten pounds when he's born. Yay for big babies, but boo for too small baby clothes. Fortunately, she plans on having more children, so I will still send this along, but the news took a little bit of wind out of my sails.



I had a swatch I'd done with Berocco Suede in my knitting basket for the longest time, and I finally decided it was time to make something with this yarn. I couldn't find any tank top patterns I wanted to use it for, so I'm making one up. This is my first time making something with no guidance. I've made sweaters in the past that didn't have a pattern, per se, but I followed the guidelines in Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns (highly recommended, by the way). I'm kind of excited to see how it turns out.

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I'm about halfway through the waist shaping.



I love how this yarn feels knitted up, and it looks great, but it's hard to knit with. It has zero give, so I feel like every stitch is a struggle. I'm also trying out the much revered Addi-Turbos with this project. I have a feeling I'd be more impressed with them if I were using normal yarn. The struggle is worth the effort though.

Finally, I've decided what I'm going to start after these projects are done (aside from finishing up some projects that have languished all summer). I bought two patterns last weekend, both shawls. One is a cape kind of thing with a feather and fan trim and simple stockinette/reverse stockinette body. It's perfect for my grandmother, who asked me to make her a worsted weight shawl. I stash dove for the Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece I'm using for it. The second is a Fiddlesticks pattern that uses lace weight yarn. This will be my first foray into actual lace. Wish me luck!

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I'm using Zephyr for the laceweight shawl. It feels so soft and kittenish. The worsted weight shawl is Sonoma by Oat Couture. The lace weight shawl is Creatures of the Reef, by Fiddlesticks.



It's an absolutely gorgeous day outside today, so I'm going to run off and enjoy it. Let's see if the camera batteries will last for a few photos that I can share later.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your knitting mojo went bye-bye too? Feels good when it comes back, huh?

I'm not telling about the yarn I used in the Catharsis sweater except that it's (*whispers* Lion Brand wool-ease in "Pine")... Don't tell all the yarn snobs *huge grin*

I love the "Handy Book of Patterns" books - I based the rune sweater out of another in that series, and the lifesaver gloves. Can't wait to see how the suede works up! I have some in my stash and no designated project for it...

Anonymous said...

That little sheep outfit is going to be so cute! I can't wait to see it.

I've made a couple things with berocco suede too and it's a huge pain to knit with. I've found that I have to use more blunt needles. If I use pointy ones they pierce the yarn and it snags.