(Finally!) Finished: Cambridge Jacket

Pattern: Cambridge Jacket by Ann Budd (summer 2006 Interweave Knits)
Yarn: Cascade 220 (100% wool), color 8401, approximately 6.5 skeins
Needles: US 8 (5.0 mm) 32" Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: approximately January 20/March 18 (save sewing in of zipper, which was done last night)
Mods: only on the collar, which I fudged a bit to make the ribbing match up

This sweater was completed roughly two months ago, but I didn't get a chance to buy a zipper until last weekend, when I made the trip to Jo-Ann's to buy buttons for my Forecast. I bought two options -- one in white that was the full length of the sweater and one in light gray that was just a tad shorter. J selected the gray zipper, not only because it matched, but also because he did not want the neck to zip all the way up (he has sensitive skin and didn't want the wool rubbing against his skin right under his chin). This worked well with the front of the collar, which is angled just a bit at the top. Here you can see what it looks like zipped all the way up (and please excuse J's funny face):

From this view you can see the one part of the sweater with which I'm not 100% pleased -- the sleeves. They're a little big for my taste, but J tells me he likes them, so I'm not about to rip and reknit. The zipper is also still a little wavy, but I have faith it'll smooth out just fine with a little wear.

Here's the back view:

This still needs a good wet blocking to get all the stitches to relax and even out (I only did a spritz-and-pin blocking of the pieces prior to seaming), but then it will be going into storage with the rest of the sweaters until next fall.

The one element of this sweater of which I was unsure as I was knitting was the one edge stitch in garter stitch. It looked odd as it was knit, but look at how nice it looks next to the zipper:

I'm so proud of myself for sewing in the zipper successfully -- my fear of messing the sweater up at this stage was probably the top reason why I put off zipper shopping for so long (and why I waited a whole week after buying the zipper before sewing it in). All in all, it wasn't that hard, just time consuming. I think I still prefer buttons, but at least now I won't immediately discount a pattern that involves a zipper.

Meanwhile, I'm already planning for J's next sweater, which will be an Elizabeth Zimmermann Seamless Hybrid (you can see a great example of one here). Would you believe I already have the yarn for it? We stopped at Knit One today because I had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket and J picked out a gorgeous charcoal shade of Cascade 220 -- still in keeping with his usual palette of shades of gray and black. I'll use the leftover yarn from the Cambridge Jacket to do the facings of the hems.

The socks in progress continue. I'm past the heel of my second Grasshopper sock, so I expect to have those finished in a day or two. I've been getting more and more unhappy with the socks I've been knitting for my future MIL as I've gone along, however, so I'm going to rip them and do some Embossed Leaves Socks (from Favorite Socks/Interweave Knits) instead. Jenn tells me they're a fast knit, and I've long been wanting to knit them. An added bonus is that I'll learn the pattern to be able to knit myself a pair -- perhaps with the Koigu I picked up today as well?

Shocking!

Last night was the monthly meeting of the Hurricane Knitters at the Waterworks Barnes & Noble. We were a smaller group than usual, although Yvonne came to join us and Julia came back for a second time and we had a newcomer, Alice. Jenn and Betsy were there as usual, but we missed the company of Donna and Jen (although we suspect Jen was probably having a better time in England).

The real shocker of the evening? 40 GUY DID NOT SHOW UP! Although I left about 9 pm, Jenn told me that some of the group was there until closing and he never made an appearance. We may have to go on a non-Wednesday night and see if he's acutally gone or if he's on to us and is avoiding knit night.

Now, back to blog business. Donna has tagged me for a meme. Here are the rules:

1. Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
2. People who are tagged write a blog post about their own 8 random things and post these rules.
3. At the end of your blog you need to tag 8 people and post their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Alright, on to the eight weird facts ...

1. I hate to drive, but I love being a passenger on car trips (more knitting time!)
2. I have a scar just above my nose and next to one of my eyebrows from when I had chicken pox when I was four years old.
3. I sleep with a stuffed elephant just about every night (or at least when J isn't home). I use it as a pillow that I stuff under my chin.
4. I am perpetually early. It seems to run in my family, as my father is the same way. However, this works out, as J tends to run late -- so between the two of us, we're usually on time.
5. As far as music is concerned, I have a weakness for Italian pop. My favorite is Eros Ramazzotti, and I've bought his CDs in such far-off locations as Disney World, Canada, and Israel.
6. I eat cheese just about every day, including in the sandwich I take just about every day to work for lunch (hummus and swiss on a bagel).
7. I am allergic to lilies.
8. I once bit down on a crayon. I was in kindergarten and was coloring on a piece of paper taped to the blackboard. I guess I was really into it and must've had my mouth open and rather close to the crayon, because when the girl next to me bumped into me -- CHOMP. To this day, I can't stand the smell of crayons.

So, who to tag? I'm not sure I have eight people to tag, since so many of the bloggers I know have already done this meme. I guess I'll tag Becky, Rebecca, Jen, Amy, Amanda, and you (if you haven't done this one already).

On tap tonight: watching the season finales (The Office, Grey's, and ER), finishing the first Grasshopper sock and casting on for the second, and downloading some podcasts.

Come Join Us!

Thank you for all of your extremely nice comments about my Forecast. I'm so, so pleased with how it turned out and I'm a huge fan of the pattern. I highly recommend it, especially to those of you who (like me) may not be such a fan of knitting sweaters in pieces and sewing them together. This pattern is easy to follow and is easily adaptable to your own modifications, and the top-down construction eliminates finishing and allows you to try it on as you go. An added bonus is that the yarn the pattern calls for -- Cascade 220 -- is very affordable (as yarns go), comes in numerous shades, and has fantastic yardage. Holly had asked me how much I used in my Forecast, and I'm still amazed that I used only about four and a half skeins, or roughly 990 yards. I think that's probably a pretty conservative estimate, too. This yarn is a great basic wool yarn and is one of my favorites; I have two sweaters' worth in my stash now, iintended for two other Stefanie Japel designs.

If anyone out there is currently knitting or planning to knit Forecast, I'm happy to help you if you encounter any tricky bits or just need another knitter's perspective.

I'm dying to start one of those other sweaters right now (still high from the success of the last one), but for now I'm focusing on socks. I started a pair Sunday night for my future MIL for her birthday (June 17) and I'll soon be starting a pair for my mother's birthday (June 18 -- Mom, if you're reading this, this is your notice that once your socks are started, you will be banned from the blog until after your birthday!), plus I'm still working on my first Knee High to a Grasshopper sock (just into the leg).

I'll be bringing at least one of these socks to the monthy meeting of the Hurricane Knitters tomorrow night, 7-ish at the Waterworks Barnes & Noble. All of you in the greater Pittsburgh area are welcome to join us for knitting and 40 guy watching -- and any of you not from the greater Pittsburgh area who'd like to join us are certainly welcome as well!

I am off to work on one of the aforementioned socks and probably cry my eyes out during the final episode of Gilmore Girls. (Feeling sad already? This will make you nostalgic.)

Finished: Forecast

Pattern: Forecast by Stefanie Japel (winter '05 Knitty)
Yarn: Cascade 220 (100% wool), color 8339, approximately 4.5 skeins
Needles: US 8 (5.0 mm) and US 6 (4.0 mm) Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: April 13/May 10
Mods: a few; I'll get to them below

This sweater was a long time in the making. The yarn was purchased a year ago, but for some reason it lay dormant in the stash for months. The pattern that had so excited me when I first found it kept getting pushed down further and further in the project queue and the yarn got pushed deeper into the stash. Then I bought Fitted Knits and saw two sweaters I was dying to knit -- but I decided that I could not knit either one until I knit Forecast; it had been on hold much too long. I was also inspired by the other versions I saw appearing over on the knitalong blog, so I signed up and cast on.

I made a few modifications to the pattern, the most obvious of which was changing the cable panels. I did not care for the bobbles much, and I thought that the cable as charted in the pattern might look empty without them. I was uncertain about what to do until I saw Carrioke's finished Forecast, and I'll readily admit that I completely ripped off her idea of a braid cable. It perfectly fit the nine stitches used in the cable as written and it's always been among my favorite cables.

I also lengthened the body a bit and started the arm ribbing at the elbow, and I expanded the button bands to have three "stripes" of reverse stockinette to match the areas of reverse stockinette on the rest of the sweater.

The final touch that completed the sweater was the buttons. I spent quite a while in the button aisle at Jo-Ann's, but I think in the end I found the right ones:

So, after sitting on the yarn for a year, having a slight miscabling mishap requiring surgery, and having to sew some buttons on twice (due to my not marking the locations very well the first time around), the result is what J has proclaimed my Best Sweater Yet. I'm extremely pleased with how it turned out. It fits like a glove and matches so many things in my wardrobe. Most importantly, it's restored my faith in my ability to knit a garment (other than socks, of course) that actually fits!

I'm really quite sorry it's too warm to wear this and that I'll have to put it away until the fall!

Finished: Another Pair of Jaywalkers

As it turns out, I may have been just a tad bit off in my estimate of how much yarn I had left for my second sock. Just a bit.


Pattern: Jaywalker by Grumperina (September 2005 MagKnits)
Yarn: Socks That Rock lightweight (100% superwash merino), colorway Lucy, one skein
Needles: two US 1 (2.5 mm*) 12" Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: April 28/May 11

I know you're wondering just how much yarn was really left in the end. The answer? This much:

This is about the size of the "emergency sock yarn" you get in each Rockin' Sock Club shipment -- in other words, not very much. But it was enough, and now at least I know that one skein of STR is enough to make a pair of Jaywalkers to feet my enormous feet.

There's not much to say about the pattern. Obviously it's genious and it fits me perfectly and it's one of my favorites (or else I wouldn't have knitted it so many times already). This won't be my last pair, I can promise you that.

The yarn? There's plenty to say about this yarn. It is FANTASTIC. Soft, luxurious, and fabulous color. I'm glad I have four skeins still in the stash and several more to come in club shipments. STR now ranks up there with Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock as one of my favorite sock yarns.


*It was recently pointed out to me that I've been posting the wrong size (in mm) of my Addis. I had assumed that my US 1s were the standard 2.25 mm, but on closer inspection of my needles I discovered that they're actually 2.5 mm. Leave it to the Addi folks to be different!

A Quick Update

I just got home and we have friends coming over for dinner soon, but I wanted to post a quick update a couple WIPs that you might see finished over the weekend.

First of all, Forecast is finished. It's still a tad bit damp, and it's still sans buttons, but it's done and it fits and it's wonderful. J had proclaimed it my Best Sweater Yet. Three cheers for seamless construction!

I'm also almost done with my latest pair of Jaywalkers, although I'm convinced that I'm going to run out of yarn. There's very little left and I still have an inch and a half of foot before starting the toe. Damn my big feet! I guess this pair will be one of a kind, as one sock will have a contrasting toe -- or maybe I ought to rip out the toe of the first one and make them both contrasting? Opinions, please!

Watch this space for some FO reports this weekend. Happy Friday!

80 degrees? Bring on the wool!

Spring appears to be in full force and it is HOT, especially on the third floor of my house, from which I'm blogging. It's not really the ideal condition in which to be working with wool -- but I just can't help myself. Last night I finished the second sleeve of my Forecast. All that's left is to weave in the ends (a couple of which you can see in this picture) and knit the button bands.

I'm aware that the ribbing at the bottom of the body and sleeves makes this sweater look quite mishapen; I'm planning on giving this garment a severe blocking when it's all done. I've planned for this to be a very fitted sweater, but I also want it to be able to button in front and not flare in strange places. If J is amenable, we may make a trip to Jo-Ann's this weekend to buy buttons and perhaps a zipper to finally finish off his sweater!

The two pairs of socks I have on the needles are progressing, though at drastically different rates. I don't think I've mentioned my latest pair of Jaywalkers, done in Socks That Rock. The first sock was finished shortly after returning from Chicago and the second is only a few rows away from the heel. Meanwhile, my Grasshopper socks, which I'd only just started before we went away, were frogged and restarted while waiting to board the plane because I thought they were working out too large. I did several repeats of the stitch pattern before putting it down; I'm a nervous flyer, and the p2togs are hard enough without my hands being shaky and sweaty and the plane moving around. I'll pick the sock up again once the second Jaywalker is done.

Today I had a nice surprise waiting for me when I got home, besides the gorgeous weather for the ride.

I'd ordered these on Amazon last week and received an e-mail that the box had shipped on Monday. Despite Amazon's tracking function predicting I'd receive the package next Monday, it was sitting on my doorstep today. Do you think they purposely overestimate their shipping time so that you'll be extra pleased with their service when it arrives earlier? I wonder ...

I'm taking my knitting down at least one floor, where it's cool enough to work on it.

Finished: Baby Baby Ribs

Pattern: Baby Ribs, modified for infant size
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon), colorway Dusk, less than one skein
Needles: US 0 (2 mm) dpns
Started/Completed: May 2/May 3
Recipient: baby Aidan
Mods: went down a needle size to make them smaller; pick up an extra stitch on each side of heel flap and knitted an extra couple gusset decrease rows to make them longer (Aidan is taking after his father and will likely have big feet!)

I don't yet have any pictures of Aidan wearing his sweater or his socks, as he is tiny! He weighs less than a sack of flour (less than 6 pounds!). His mother loved them all, though, so I'm sure one day in the not-too-distant future I'll get pictures of him in handknits.

For now, will you settle for a too-cute baby picture?

Hmmm, she seems to like me. I wonder what else I can get her to knit ... Perhaps something to help me achieve world domination? Yes, yes.

What now?

Now that the Baby Surprise Jacket is done and ready to go, and it's too hot to sit with Forecast in my lap to finish it, there was nothing left to do but go back to my old standby: socks.

Last night I started the first of my Knee High to a Grasshopper socks (the pattern for the most recent Rockin' Sock Club shipment):

The ball 'o yarn might look a little small, but that's only because I split the skein into two center-pull balls. This pattern is another toe-up, so I thought this would be the way to maximize the length of each sock. Even though I did some calculations to try to get two balls of roughly the same size, one is noticeably larger than the other; I'm starting with the smaller of the two, so we'll see how far this gets me.

For tonight, however, my main goal is to finish up the mate to this little cutie:

You may recognize the pattern -- it's my own Baby Ribs, but sized down for a newborn. I'm into the heel flap of the second sock and will be knitting furiously through Grey's tonight.

We're headed to Chicago for the weekend tomorrow -- keep your fingers crossed for cute pictures of a baby in handknits when I get back!

Finished: Baby Surprise Jacket

Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Bellezza Collection Tesoro (100% wool), color 8001/Lime, three skeins (87 yards each) with stripes in Cascade 220, color 8401, leftover from J's sweater
Needles: US 5 (3.75 mm) 32" Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: sometime in late March?/May 1
Recipient: baby Aidan
Mods: I added a few rows on to the end to accommodate the second stripe and what I felt was a sufficient border of the main color before binding off.

There's not much to say about this sweater, is there? If you've ever knit any EZ patterns, then you surely know the genius of her work. It's true that an oddly shaped blob becomes this adorable sweater with the sewing of just two seams (which, incidentally, I just did in whipstitch because I couldn't figure out how to do mattress stitch with garter stitch going in two different directions).

The buttons don't show up very well in the picture; they're a very neutral pearlized white. If I'd had more time, I would have gone button shopping for something cuter, but baby Aidan didn't give me much notice!

This is off for a good soak and then a lay out to block. On to tee-tiny baby socks!

Yarn Diet? What Yarn Diet?

Oops, I did it again. I managed to convince J to head out to Washington County on Saturday in order to visit the newest yarn store in Southwestern Pennsylvania, Bloomin Yarns (located at 3920 Washington Road/Route 19 in McMurray, for those of you in the area -- it's across from Donaldson's Crossroads). In the interest of full disclosure, I must tell you that we also visited two car dealerships, but I think that was well worth it for this haul:

Louet Gems 100% superwash merino, light/sport weight, in colorways (left to right) Bluebird, Cherry Red, Pink Panther, Caribbean Blue, and Fern Green.

The store was very sweet -- it's an old house that's been converted to a store, so there are several little rooms with shelves full of yarn in each. They carry basics like Cascade as well as Berocco and Dale of Norway, and they have a great selection of Claudia's Handpaint and Cherry Tree Hill sock yarns. But I went straight for the Louet, simply because I've never tried it before but have heard great things about it. And before you make any comments about the amount of sock yarn going into the stash, let me tell you that only two of these skeins are intended for socks for me. J will be getting socks from the two skeins on the left (can you believe it? -- colors!) and the green is for socks for my future mother-in-law.

No sock knitting for a little while, though, because for the moment my top priority is finishing the Baby Surprise Jacket for my new cousin, baby Aidan (isn't that the cutest name ever?). We -- and by "we" I mean me, J, my parents, and my brother -- bought plane tickets today to go to Chicago this weekend for Aidan's bris, and I want to have a finished sweater to give him. Here is the latest progress photo:

I have roughly 10 rows left to knit, two seams to sew, and five buttons to sew on. Think I can finish tonight?

Finished: Most Boring Socks

Pattern: Stockinette with 2x2 ribbed cuffs and short row heels and toes
Yarn: Greenwood Fiberworks handpainted cotton/lycra sock yarn, colorway Winter Sky, one skein
Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) 12" Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: April 12/April 27*

I am so relieved that these are finally done. As I mentioned before, this yarn is less than exciting to knit with; fortunately this skein didn't shed the way the first skein did. The real reason for knitting this yarn was that I knew these socks would soon become among my favorites once I finally finished them. I throw these in the washing machine and the dryer; they shrink up a bit but them stretch nicely to hug the foot, and they're the most cushion-y, squishy socks to wear.

One thing I did love about this yarn is that it behaved extremely well for a variegated colorway. It's hard to capture the full range of color on camera -- there are shades of pinkish purple, periwinkle, turquoise-y blue, and very pale blue -- but there was absolutely no pooling with this yarn. You can see that the overall tone is purple, and I have to say that the color does remind me of a winter sky (ever notice that in the winter, when it's been snowing, the light is kind of purplish?). These are ready to go in the wash in anticipation of their first wearing.

I took a day off yesterday and got half of the second sleeve of my Forecast done after finishing these socks. I was planning to try to finish it this weekend, but it looks like I'll be turning all my attention (for the time being) to the Baby Surprise Jacket -- we heard this morning that my cousins had a baby boy! I'm glad I put the BSJ aside for a bit; now I'll know which side to put the buttonholes on and I can make some boyish accessories to go with it. I have a new cousin, yay!


*Further evidence that these socks were the equivalent of a black hole of knitting -- since when does it take me more than two weeks to finish a pair of simple stockinette socks?!

Quelle Surprise!

***** Warning! Rockin' Sock Club Spoiler Alert! *****

This evening I arrived home much later than usual and utterly exhausted, having worked a full day, run an errand, and gone to a meeting. I was preparing to wolf down my leftovers from last night's stir fry, put on my pajamas, and make like a couch potato -- except there was a little pick-me-up waiting for me: my April Rockin' Sock Club shipment!

For the sake of those of you who have not yet received your shipment and want to be surprised, I won't say anymore. Those of you who would like to see it and hear about it, bear with me for a moment.

C'mon, scroll down!

Still with me? Good. May I present to you (drumroll, please) ...

Walking on the Wild Tide! This is Socks That Rock Silkie, a blend of 89% superwash merino and 19% silk, which apparently yield a 108% wonderful and delicious sock yarn.

I'll admit that I had peeked at photos posted on blogs of those who had already received their yarn, but this skein is even more beautiful in person. What looked like plies of white mixed with the color is actually plies of a lighter shade of each color, and the colors themselves are classic Blue Moon -- rich and vibrant. I can't wait to see how this knits up.

I guess I really have to finish the Most Boring Socks Ever now, don't I?

Filler

Knitting progress is being made here in the Knit/Wit house, although knitting time is competing with walking time now that the weather is cooperating again. J and I went down to the "jail trail" (a paved trail that begins at the county jail and runs between Second Avenue and the Parkway East) on Saturday. He rollerbladed while I walked the equivalent of a 5K and tried to ignore the catcalls coming from clearly bored drivers sitting in construction traffic on the parkway (listening to episodes of Lime and Violet helped). I went out to walk again after J left on Sunday evening, this time through the hilly terrain of the cemetery across the street, with soundtrack provided by the latest episode of Cast On.

If anything, the warmer weather has been serving as good motivation to finish knitting a heavy, 100% wool sweater. Forecast is moving along; we've now got half a sleeve, which will see lots of ribbing action tonight.

It's a little hard to see, but I've made a mod that seems to be pretty popular among participants in the knitalong -- starting the ribbing a little higher on the arm than called for in the pattern. In my case, I'm starting it roughly at the elbow.

As usual, I also have a pair of traveling socks going (as I do at all times). Unfortunately my current socks have seem to have become Most Boring Socks Ever. They're a basic stockinette with short-row heels and toes, which usually isn't an issue for me, since I can knit stockinette very quickly without looking.

I think the problem with these might be the yarn. This is Greenwood Fiberworks cotton/lycra blend, which is my absolute favorite to wear (you may recall that I wore out my first pair knitted with this yarn). While I love how soft and squishy these socks are once they're done and on my feet, I've come to realize that I just don't care for knitting with this yarn. It's a tad bit fussy (especially when you try grafting with it or trying to weave in the ends) and because of the elasticity of the lycra the stitches squinch down on themselves, meaning that the number of rows per inch is a lot higher than I'm used to, meaning these are taking forEVer to knit. I am determined to finish these in the next few days, if only to be done with them once and for all, but also because my next Rockin' Sock Club shipment should be on its way this week.

Aside from this knitting, I've been enjoying another pasttime. Can you keep a secret? I've been reading again. If you've been reading this blog from the beginning (or perhaps gone back and read old entries), you'll know that I used to read all the time for pleasure. Then I started my new job, for which I read all day. And for about the first year, the last thing I wanted to do was read; that's probably one reason why I started knitting so obsessively. In the past few months, however, I've been able to read for a little bit each night. At first it was Elizabeth Zimmermann and Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. Then, lately, I've been moving back into more serious (read: non-knitting) books. I finished Mockingbird, a biography of Harper Lee, the other night. To Kill a Mockingbird has long been one of my favorite books, and I loved getting an inside view of the woman behind it.

Inside the Sweater ER

*****Warning: Picture heavy post ahead!*****

You will remember that at knit night on Wednesday I made a most unfortunate discovery -- a mis-crossed cable near the top of my Forecast. Frogging was not an option, as far as I was concerned, nor was unraveling/dropping the stitches in the cable and reknitting them the Weirdy Pants way. The only option was the take out the scissors and do some sweater surgery.

To prepare, I studied Cara's post in which she performed a similar procedure, then I practiced on a swatch. This practice procedure was, in my eyes, completely successful. I challenge you to find the cable that was fixed in this after picture:

Need a hint? I knit both cables in this swatch with the same mistake, but only fixed one of them. Here was the before picture:

Having successfully repaired my swatch, I prepared to do the real deal on my Forecast. I set up for the surgery as follows:

I isolated the row of stitches that would be unraveled by putting a spare dpn underneath it. Using some smooth scrap yarn (in this case some discloth cotton), I installed some lifelines through the stitches in the rows directly above and below the row to be unravled. I had at the ready my embroidery scissors (small, exact blades to ensure I only cut what I wanted to cut) and a length of sweater yarn on a yarn needle.

Next, I cut exactly one leg of the center stitch of the row to be unraveled ...

... and unraveled the three stitches in this row. The stitches in the row above and below remained safe on the scrap yarn.

I placed the stitches on the scrap yarn onto two size 6 dpns (smaller than what I'd used to knit this portion of the sweater). Then, carefully, I eased the dpns under the band of stitches that were previously the bottom part of the cable.

Essentially what you're doing here is taking the stitches that were in the front of the cable cross and pulling them behind to the back.

Here you see the two dps and the tails of the yarn that was cut are all pulled to the wrong side of the fabric:

Now came time to suture the wound. I picked up my yarn needle with the length of sweater yarn and grafted the stitches on the dpns together ...

... and finally wove in all the ends. I turned the sweater to the right side again to admire my handiwork:

Success! Many thanks to Cara for her very helpful tutorial; I followed her instructions to the letter, and you can see they worked beautifully.

Now that that is behind me, I am ready to pick up on this baby where I left off. I finished the body Thursday night and am now ready to begin the sleeves -- you can bet I'll be watching my cables closely from now on!

Gah!

I was planning a really happy post this evening about how wonderfully my Forecast was knitting up and how gnomes must be at work because it was knitting up so quickly. I was planning to be all sunshine and daisies and Ain't Life Grand, waxing poetic about how fabulous this sweater was and what a genius I was for making the modifications.

That's what I was planning. That is not what this post is going to be like.

Why the change, you ask? Well, last night at knitting, I made the fatal error of laying out the sweater for a big-picture look at my progress before packing the thing up to go home. And that's when I saw it:

Looks fine to you? Let's just zoom in a bit at the offending part:

NOOOOOOOOOOO! You would think I would have missed crossed a cable further down (keep in mind this is a top-down construction), when I was supposedly so used to the pattern that I didn't need to pay attention. Apparently not. Apparently my brain decided to shut off right as I was starting the cabling and fail me on my third cable turn -- and then apparently fail again and again to the point that I didn't even notice this mis-crossed cable every time I came to it.

Fortunately this discovery was made in the presence of Jenn, Fixer of Mis-Crossed Cables Extraordinaire. She reminded me of how she had documented the fix she performed on an errant cable cross in The MWP's sweater, a post that later wound up in an issue of Yarnival. When I expressed concern that I couldn't unravel and reknit the way she did on account of the cable being right along the edge, she reminded me that the very talented Cara had actually taken scissors to her cable and had documented it on her blog.

So, tonight there will be swatching and practice surgery in preparation for the real thing (kind of like how Christina had Burke practice surgery on chickens on Grey's). I will be documenting the whole process here, so all you faint of heart, be prepared.

Your Monthly Reminder

Here's your friendly monthly reminder that tomorrow is the third Wednesday of the month, which means it's the monthly meeting of the Hurricane Knitters at the Waterworks Barnes & Noble. Come one, come all, come see 40 Guy. (One of these days we will have a button!)

See you and your knitting there!

Weekend Forecast: Cloudy with a Chance of Wool

We are back from a super-speedy trip to Cleveland (we left at about 11:30 on Saturday morning and were back by 2 on Sunday) for J's cousin's Bat Mitzvah. It was a fun, somewhat crazy weekend, including such good times as me trying to walk in about an inch of slushy snow in heels.

The plus side of all the driving -- which, I should add, was done by J -- is that I had between four and five solid hours of knitting time. I decided to forgo the remaining WIPs in favor of starting a new project that has long been in the queue. On Friday night, I finally cast on for Forecast. I completed all of the yoke during the trip and divided for the sleeves last night. Here is the progress thus far:

As you can see, I've already modified the cable pattern. I decided that bobbles just weren't for me (too nipply for my taste) and I thought the cable would look empty without them, so I substituted a braid cable instead and am very please with how it's working.

My one concern right now is that it looks rather small. I've remeasured and I am getting stitch gauge, so I'm hoping it will open up with blocking and the stretchiness of the fabric in general. I also keep reminding myself that the button bands are yet to be knitted on, which will give me another inch or so in width.

I'm going to knit away on this tonight while watching my latest Netflix DVD. There's still snow in the forecast for at least the next day, so I may even be able to wear this baby once this year if I can finish it quickly enough.

Twofer

Tonight, for your reading pleasure, you get two finished objects for the price of one! First up, literally just off the needles (and therefore not yet blocked), J's wild and crazy technicolor dreamsocks (with all apologies to Andrew Lloyd Webber):

He'll look handsome, he'll look smart,
He'll be a walking work of art,
In his dazzling socks of many colors,
How he'll love his socks of many colors!*

Pattern: 2x2 rib leg, slip stitch heel, stockinette foot, and wedge toe, worked over 72 sts.
Yarn: ONline Supersocke Cotton Beach Color (45% cotton, 40% superwash wool, 15% nylon), color 942, one 100 g skein, purchased at Knit One
Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) 12" Addi Turbo circs
Started/Completed: April 2/April 12
Recipient: He of the Gray and Black Socks

Can you believe J would have picked such a bright colorway? But it's true -- I had no say in the selection of this particular skein of yarn. I found the yarn in a box (that's right, it wasn't even unpacked and on the shelves yet!), but the colorway I picked out was shades of blues and tans and browns. Much more mellow. But the manager, ever the enthusiastic yarn-pusher, insisted that J look through the colorways and even take the unopened bags of yarn outside to look at them in natural light before making a selection. And this is what he settled on. Needless to say, they're a bit baggy on me, but you've seen that they fit J perfectly.

Although I followed my basic sock pattern for these, I enlarged them to 72 sts to account for the cotton content of the yarn (i.e., it's not as stretchy as wool, and it may shrink a bit in the wash). I did notice a definite difference knitting with cotton as opposed to wool, but the yarn itself is soft and comfortable. There's another skein of similar fiber content that was purchased at the same time that's in a more J-friendly shade that is more likely to become part of J's regular wardrobe; these are a bit loud for him and are likely to be house socks only. With me in my Inside Out socks, won't we be a fashionable pair?

Finally, I can also show you these, which have been finished for a little bit but were awaiting their delivery to their recipient:

Pattern: Child's First Sock in Shell Pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Knit Picks Essential (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon), colorway Gulfstream, two skeins
Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) 12" Addi Turbo circs
Mods: Shorted the cuff to 10 rows of ribbing (pattern calls for 20 rows)
Recipient: Becky, who was my Sockret Pal spoiler

Becky had been so kind to me throughout the Sockret Pal swap period that I knew I wanted to send her a pair of socks as a thank-you. Of course, I didn't know who she was or how long her foot was, so I knit these through the gussets and then let them sit until she revealed her identity. Then I was able to do the last bit of detective work to find her measurements, finish the socks, and send them off. She received them in the last day or two; she told me she was wearing the socks that moment, so I can only assume they fit!

I don't know if I've gotten this pattern out of my system for good, as I know I will inevitably come back to it. But now I am ready to move on to some other Nancy Bush patterns so I can use up the copious amounts of sock yarn in the stash. Up next, however, is a pair of basic socks in the Greenwood Fiberworks cotton/lycra sock yarn to replace my beloved Mata Haris. And I think I may start a sweater for the car trip to Cleveland -- can you hear the siren call of the yarn for Forecast from within the stash?

*Yes, I do know all the lyrics to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. You got a problem with that?

Finished: Inside Out! Socks

Here is the obligatory one-right-side-out, one-wrong-side-out photo of these socks:

Pattern: Inside Out! by Kaci Kyler Hays (February socks for Blue Moon Fiber Arts' Rockin' Sock Club)
Yarn: Socks That Rock Mediumweight (100% superwash merino), colorway Monsoon, one skein
Needles: US 1 (2.25 mm) dpns and a US 2 (2.75 mm) to bind off
Started/Completed: March 9/April 11
Mods: Finished cuff by working 10 rows after last cable and then binding off

I used the same size needles throughout these socks, but I maintained a tighter tension for the foot. This meant that the knitting was rather rough on the hands and wrists, which probably explains why it took me so long to knit them -- I had to have a rest in between sock one and sock two.

These were my first Socks That Rock. Although I wasn't exactly wild about the colorway or the pattern when I started, I kept reminding myself of the reason I signed up for the club in the first place -- to try something new. These turned out rather thick, so they will probably be house/bed socks. My favorite feature is the ribbing on the sole of the foot. It mystified when when I knit it -- until I finished the first sock, put it on, and walked around a bit. Pure genius. So cushy and comfy.

This was all the yarn I had left. Not bad, considering my foot is 9.75" long and I worked five cables plus 10 additional rows (60 rows total) on the leg.

J's crazy socks are the next WIP that will get attention. They have only about four inches of stockinette left on the foot. To answer your question, Ruth, the yarn is Online Supersocke Cotton Beach Color (frankly this colorway doesn't scream "beach" to me, but that's what it's called). They will see significant attention tonight and tomorrow, and with any luck there will be another object finished here tomorrow.

My yarn arrived from WEBS this afternoon (thank you, UPS, for allowing me to track my package and also for not sending it through Leetsdale!), and you know what that means -- winding party! Off to get out the swift ...

WIPage

There have been no exciting knitterly goings-on here in the past few days, so in an effort to keep you entertained (all two or three of you who are still reading), I've decided a run-down of the WIPs is in order.

First up are the wild 'n crazy socks for J. Sock #2 is now into its gussets. The leg of this one went much faster than the leg of sock #1, but I seem to be losing momentum (not helped by the fact that I did not take lunch today). My goal is to finish this one up by the end of the week, as we are taking a quick trip to Cleveland and I'd like to take something new for car knitting.

Next up is the second Inside Out sock, aka the February sock from the Rockin' Sock Club, aka the phallic sock. I'm ready for my second (of five) cable rounds, which means I have roughly 30 rows left to knit. I'm going to do my darnedest to finish this baby up tonight.

Here comes perennial Elizabeth Zimmermann favorite, the Baby Surprise Jacket. (That blue lump it's sitting atop is my French Market Bag, which is finally being used to hold yarn instead of just looking pretty.) I haven't touched this in at least a week, but really I haven't felt any urgency to work on it. The recipient-to-be isn't due to make his/her arrival until mid-May when, with any luck, it will finally be spring in the greater Chicago area, meaning baby cousin will not be in desperate need of wool sweater.

Shedir. Did you forget I was knitting this? So did I. I probably could have used a new hat in the past week, but it looks like it's finally going to be getting back to normal spring temperatures in the next few days. Again, no real urgency for wool. I'll finish it eventually.

What is this? It's the tube scarf I started for my mother -- on or around Christmas of 2006. The yarn was purchased Thanksgiving weekend of 2006. Mom hasn't asked about it since I started it (although she'll probably see it now and want to know where it is, which will be just the kick in the pants I'll need to finish this).

WEBS and UPS have informed me that my yarn has been shipped and is due to deliver tomorrow, so there will be a little winding party here tomorrow evening. Perhaps I'll have a finished object report for you as well -- watch this space!

Sidney Crosby Enjoys Hand-Knit Socks

Last night J, the sock, and I (along with my dad and a friend of mine) headed downtown to the Igloo for the last regular-season Penguins game. A good time was had by all. Here are a few highlights of the evening.

The sock and the Pens warm up before the game.

We watch Sidney Crosby (#87) and Colby Armstrong (#20, who we decided looks like Tommy from the Rugrats) stretch. We're a bit disturbed that they're more flexible than we are.

Sid receives yet another award before the start of the game -- d'you think this guy is tired of hearing chants of "MVP" yet?

The sock celebrates a win -- Pens 2, Rangers 1!

And as of this morning, sock one is done and awaiting its mate. (See what I mean about crazy? Have you ever seen this much color on J's foot?)