Good News and Bad News

Everyone likes to start with the good news, right?

I finished the vest! I am so happy with it. I love the color, I love the texture, I love the fit. This is my second project from fitted knits. (Way back in 2007 I made the Puff Sleeved Feminine Cardigan.) I love Stefanie's use of texture in this book, especially in this vest.



In review: This is the Back to School U-Neck Vest by Stefanie Japel from her book Fitted Knits. I used Cascade 220 Superwash in color 819. I had three skeins, but only used a very small bit of the third one.

With the vest finished, I was ready to dive into my next project. Would I make a hat? Socks? Maybe some new mittens? I blacked out with all of the possibility before me and when I came to I had cast on for a sweater. A men's sweater. This from the girl who took three months to finish a vest. This also brings me to the bad news. It's not just a plain old men's sweater (Jared Flood's wonderful Cobblestone, which I've made before), but it's a plain old men's sweater in black. My apologies, and I completely understand if you skip over my photos until it's finished.



I didn't realize that I last made this sweater almost four years ago! As soon as my brother saw it, he started asking me for one. I didn't realize I'd kept him waiting for so long! Last year for Christmas, I gave him a hat I made using Mission Falls 1824 Wool. My brother is one of those people who likes to insist he's allergic to wool, so the hat was a little test. I didn't gloat about it, but he loved the hat and wore it all winter, no complaints! I figure, if he can wear wool against his forehead, surely he'll be fine in a sweater. I love this yarn. It feels heavenly and has great stitch definition.

10 Day YOU Challenge!

So my bloggy pal Adrienne is doing a 10 day blogging meme. I clearly need some motivation not just to blog but to write, so I decided to take part! Part 1: Photograph

I have roughly one million photographs in my possession. Some are digital, some are actual printouts from the '50's and '60's, some are scans. I wanted to choose one photo that meant a lot not just because the photo was nice to look at or evoked an emotion like calm or giddiness. I wanted to choose one where the subject matter itself was important to me. This made it a much easier choice.

I don't have a lot of pictures of my whole family together. I have lots of my brother and sister and I, but Daddy is an elusive subject. Sure, this isn't technically my whole family. I have a mom and cousins, and a gramma and aunt and uncle, etc... but to me, to all four of us, this is our family. We fight, we tease, we bitch about each other... but at the root of it all is the most true, deep love anyone could ever know. We are always there for each other, even if there's an eyeroll involved (I'm looking at my brother for that one), and we always come together at important moments. Like holidays... and graduations. This is my little sister graduating with her Respiratory Therapy degree (I think I already posted it). She just got a job in Virginia, which seems as far away from New England as India. But even though I will miss her tremendously, I am so happy and proud of her. (I only wish my nephews were in this photo. As spawn of my sister, they are naturally added to the fold!)

Want to play along? Guidelines are here! Let me know if you do it. If I don't already follow you, I will!

So, along with the meme, I have actual, factual knitting content! I'm so close to finishing the U-Neck Vest!



I have a half inch to go until I divide front and back, and then I'll pretty much be finished! Just in time for my summer class to start! Ha ha

(And PS: Happy Happy HAPPPPPPPPPPPPY Birthday to Purl Diva! My most cherished, favorite of yarn stores, and my most favorite job ever! Congratulations on five years, and here's to at least ten times as many more.)

Is This Really My Schedule?

Monthly? Really? Ha ha I really thought that once school was done I'd be posting at least weekly, but it seems like I've been so busy, I've hardly had time to write in my paper journal, much less blog. First, my BFF came to visit all the way from Texas!

She was here for almost a whole week! We went out for drinks, and tried some restaurants I've been wanting to go to and happened upon a street fair. This was taken in Chinatown, a place I'd had yet to explore. Holy hell! There are like five thousand bakeries tucked away in there, with the most delicious little tidbits! Totally rivals the North End. (Of course we made a stop at Mike's too!)




Right after that, my little sister graduated! I can not express how proud I am of her, finishing school while raising two children by herself. Not only that, but her kids I don't think ever even really noticed she was in school. She never missed a game, a concert, a play.... She is amazing. (The cast is from foot surgery she had a couple of weeks before graduation.)




Then it finally got nice out! The changing seasons always bring on bouts of extreme homesickness, and this slow churn into summer has me constantly craving salt air and trees and clean air. The closest I can come to these things is hanging out on the Common. With views like this, there are worse places to spend an afternoon.




This past weekend, I finally got to breathe in some salty air! I've been traveling home more lately to help out my sister (still hobbling around), but have spent most of my time doing things like running errands and catching my nephews' baseball games. I could have hung out here all day.

I actually DO have a knitting project going, the Back to School U-Neck Vest by Stefanie Japel, but the only pictures I have of it are pretty crappy. Next post I promise. More knitting! I have one month before my summer class starts, and I'd LOVE to finish the vest (well over half finished) and a pair of socks or a hat or SOMEthing!

Out with the Old, in with the New!

I finished the baby sweater the other day, just in time for the end of the Quick-Fix Knitalong. I can't believe that April is already over! If you missed the knitalong, you can find all of us over at the Quick-Fix Flickr group. Join in and post all of your quick projects! It's an awesome place for inspiration, too.

Speaking of knitalongs, you may have noticed my fancy new button for the Fitted Knits Along. Seeing as I'm making the Puff Sleeve Feminine Cardigan right now, it seemed like fun to join in with everyone else. I actually watched the knitalong for a little while before I decided to join, and seeing all of the fabulous completed projects over there is making me look through the book in a different light. I now plan to make a couple of sweater in there that I hadn't really considered.

Moving on to pictures! Like I said, I finished the baby sweater the other day and blocked it yesterday (hand wash, machine dry). I went to Jo-Ann Fabric for buttons, and was beginning to despair on ever finding cute, appropriately sized bunny buttons when I found these!

Exactly the kind of buttons I was looking for! I love that these have an old-fashioned charm, much like the sweater. I planned to make matching booties, but as it happens, I used most of the Breeze on the sweater. I was surprised that I used so much, as I used less than two balls of this same yarn on a tank top for myself last summer.



I will so definitely be making this sweet little thing again! I love the clever construction of this sweater. I love the lace pattern. I love the vintage look. The only thing I wish I had done differently is knit a selvedge on the sleeves. Other than that, perfect. The pattern is from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac, which I recommend even as general reading.

Since I finished the baby sweater, I felt it was time to start the Puff Sleeve Cardigan with a clear conscience. Because I am such a good, welll-behaved knitter, I went ahead and swatched. And swatched. And swatched.



As I suspected, my gauge with US6 needles was way off. I was getting fewer than five stitches per inch, and I needed 5.5 stitches per inch. In the middle there, I tried US5 needles, and did a larger swatch because I thought I would get gauge. Nope. Five stitches per inch. I grumbled and complained and found my US4 needles. I only did a few rows with those before realizing that I did not like knitting dk weight yarn on US4 needles, nor did I like the resulting fabric. The nail in the coffin was discovering that I was stuck on 5 stitches per inch. I had to make a choice. I could either use this yarn for something else and choose new yarn for the cardigan, or I could try something new and modify the pattern for my gauge. I chose option two.



I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous. What if my math is wrong? What if I read the pattern wrong and I'm basing all of my math on the wrong measurements? I'm consoled by the fact that it's a top down sweater, so I don't have to finish it before realizing I've made an error, and the fact that the yarn I'm using is heaven to knit. I'm using Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed in Granary. Wish me luck!

I haven't done much knitting today. Actually, I've yet to do any. I finally got the gumption to haul out my sewing machine and sew up a skirt I've had cut out for weeks.



I got this far and directions said to let the skirt hang overnight. Who am I to argue? It's a perfect excuse to get back to that cardigan!