She's Done!

I finished my Green Gable, and wore it on a yarn adventure on Saturday!

I went to two yarn stores on Saturday with my partner in crime, and in each store, a staff member commented on my sweater. What was curious, was that each of them asked what modifications I made, as though it were a given that I would make some. The only mods I made were to change the kfb increase in the raglan to a bar increase, and add three extra rows of ribbing to the bottom. I may have also changed a k2tog to a ssk in the waist shaping, but I can't quite remember. I used just about two balls of Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Candy Blue, and got gauge with a US5 needle. This sweater is officially the most comfortable thing in my closet. It's lightweight, and fits just right. I love it!

As for the yarn adventure (pictures will have to come later, since I'm a bad monkey and have not yet taken them off the camera), we went to the infamous WEBS! Amy was smart and brought a detailed list of projects she wants to make (for Christmas! Is this girl sick or what?!), with yarn requirements. I decided to fly by the seat of my pants, cavalierly ignoring Amy's post about being paralyzed by choice when she first went to the shop. I was completely shell-shocked. Everywhere I turned, yarn! Whenever I thought I had finally seen it all, there was more! There was yarn I had never seen in person before! There was an entire back room of yarn on sale! I got a bag of Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton in a deep chocolate hue, and a bag of Jaeger Matchmaker in pumpkin. I also picked up two pattern books (a Dale of Norway and an Elsebeth Lavold), some Dale Hauk for some badass fingerless gloves, two beautiful hanks of ArtYarns Supermerino for socks, and a ball of Meilenweit in a charcoal gray. The staff was great and the store is incredible! It was well worth getting up at 5 am on a Saturday!

After some sustenance, we were ready to hit Amy's LYS, Wild and Woolly. Now, you have to keep in mind that no store can possibly compare to WEBS, so I wasn't immediately taken aback by this store. In retrospect, however, I can safely say that I do wish Wild and Woolly were one of my local yarn stores. They have a nice selection, especially in the Debbie Bliss and Rowan lines. I didn't buy anything there, but I was kind of kicking myself for not picking up some Jaeger Siena while I was there. Now I will have to see if I can find it here.

The icing on the cake was when I went back to Amy's house and she GAVE me a hank of cherished Socks that Rock! I fondled it about fifteen times yesterday, but want to carefully consider my sock pattern options before winding it up.

I spent yesterday trying different borders on the afghan... three in all. One of them was... okay... but I'm having trouble with turning the corners on a patterned border. The short rows I tried were not working. Perhaps mitred corners would work better?

Frustration... but not really

So... I'm sure you expected to see a finished Green Gable by now, and, to be honest, so did I! There was the tiniest of issues, though, when I tried her on and she was just about two inches too short. Which is funny, because I knit the body of the sweater the same length as my favorite t-shirt. But, what can you do. I'm halfway through picking out the sewn bind-off so I can frog and knit again. I would be more than half through, but what with the birthday celebration and 4th of July barbecue, I haven't had much time for knitting. [insert sad face here.]

There has, however, been time for shopping! I don't have any photos of my haul, but suffice it to say, my pattern library is finally catching up with my yarn stash. On my birthday, I hit Patternworks, where they were having a terrific sale! I picked up a Rebecca magazine, a felted bunny pattern, a Jaeger book, and a booklet of Christmas stocking patterns. I believe there are twelve patterns. I also picked up some Patons Fresco because it was only $1.99 a ball and I think it'll make a fun top.

The week before my birthday, I checked out a new yarn shop that isn't exactly local, but it's close enough! It's called Purl Diva, and the owner has a blog too! Fun fact: before the store was a store, I considered it for an apartment! But it was just a little too run down, and the idea of dealing with traffic every morning when I had to go to work was too much. A visit to the store is well worth the traffic though, and the space is no longer dark and run down! She has ample seating both inside and out, and the chairs inside have the sweetest flowered pillows. I envisioned meeting up with my knitting pal for a nice afternoon of shopping and knitting. She has a nice selection of yarn, including Cherry Tree Hill, which I bought, and ArtYarns Regal Silk, which I did not. Added bonus: When I told her about Socks that Rock, she said she would look into it! I'm telling you, if I could find that yarn in the area, I would make a yarn shop owner one wealthy lass. So if you're ever in the area, make a visit. You can't miss it, there's a huge lavender sign on the front of the building that says YARN.

I'm hoping that the next time I post I'll be wearing Green Gable. I've been told that except for the length, it looks very pretty.

I'm so excited!

I'm in the home stretch of Green Gable. I passed the waist shaping last night, and really thought I could even get it finished for today, but it wasn't meant to be. I was meant to play with rats and bunnies instead, and make a file of ISBNs for my new obsession, Library Thing. It's so cool! You input all the books you own, and Library Thing shows you who else in the database has the books you have, how many of your books are shared with other people, and let's you tag and rate your books. My favorite feature so far is the one that shows you books that only you and one other person have. It's going to take me awhile to input all of my books, especially since I'll have to create a file at home to upload at work, but I think it's worth it.

Anyway, this is a knitting blog, and I'm sure you're all dying to see the progress on Green Gable.

Can you believe all of that was knit using one ball of yarn? I love summer knits! I'm hoping to finish this tonight so I can wear it tomorrow on my birthday roadtrip. That's right, tomorrow I turn the big 3-1, or, as I like to call it, twenty-eleven.

I'm a dirty cheater....

As the afghan quietly blocked on Saturday, I decided I should swatch some of the KnitPicks Merino Style that I picked up some time ago for a sweater. My initial reaction to the yarn is a resounding "okay." It's not horrible. It's not scratchy or pilly or splitty. The color is nice, and the stitch definition is good. But it's not as soft as other merino wool I've felt. Of course, it's also dirt cheap! As the sweater recipient likes the color and the feel of the yarn, I will be ordering more. I think at the same time I'll order a ball of their Shine cotton to try. I bought a color card when I ordered the merino, and the wee pieces on the card feel soft and look pretty. Wanna see a swatch of the Merino Style? I know you do!

So, you're probably thinking, "Surely she doesn't think a measley swatch constitutes cheating? What's up with the subject line?" Well, my digressions do not end with the swatch. I also swatched for something else.

Green Gable.

The trouble is, the yarn knit up so nicely... and the color was so nice... you can see why I just had to jump right in! I mean, I got gauge on the first try! If that's not a sign, I don't know what is! So while the afghan sat in a pathetic, folded heap, I knitted yesterday away with my new love.




That's good ol' Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Candy Blue. I totally forgot that I had this shade until I ransacked the stash for my orange Cotton Ease. As it turns out, I don't think that shade of orange becomes me. It's a little, uh, vibrant. But this blue was just the ticket, AND I have just enough (with maybe a ball to spare) for this cute little tee. I can't wait to wear it.

I did take another look through Knitting on the Edge for edging options for the afghan. Since it turned out a little smaller than I anticipated (four feet by five feet sounds big), I'm going to choose a fairly wide edging. Especially since I have so much yarn left. I hereby solemnly swear to get cracking on the afghan, it would such a waste of momentum to let it sit.

Right after I finish Green Gable.

Sick of Squares Yet?

I’ve got 1.5 squares to go! I’m not sure who will be happier when this blanket is finished; will it be me, or the readers of this blog who have been subjected to ecru squares for the past however many weeks? Here are two more squares, my next entry should show the last two. I really, really hope to have the whole thing at least stitched together by next weekend. I’m not holding out much hope for having the border knit on by then. Ah, well. That means I can take my time with it (somewhat), and maybe even throw a new project into the mix!

The big question will be, what will I cast on next. All I know for sure is that it won’t be anything square! I was pretty sure my next project would be Jaywalkers, but on Friday I went ahead and purchased Green Gables. After seeing Carrieoke’s version, I couldn’t resist buying the pattern straight away. I know I have many options in my stash that would work for this top, and I love that it’s fun, but also work appropriate. I also love that it’s worked in the round, which will be a welcome change. I’ve used straight needles for the first time in a long time on the afghan, and it’s made me remember why I don’t like using them anymore. They hit against everything! I have to sit in the center of the couch, or at an angle so as not to interrupt my knitting with constant knocks and catches.

My copy of Knitting on the Edge is due to arrrive this week. I’m anxious to check out the lace options.