WIP Wednesday – 1/7/09

It’s hard to believe it’s already almost the second week in January – time has gotten a bit away from me while I’ve been buried under blankets and beat down by sinus pressure.

I’m pretty close to finishing my first real sweater (for me), so I’m using the last pic of that I took for WIP Wednesday.

It’s a bottom-up baseball style raglan.  This pic doesn’t show it, but one sleeve has stripes in the same color as the body because I was not going to have enough yarn otherwise.  All that’s left is to seam it – I haven’t been up to that this week, but I’m hoping I can finish it off this weekend.  After that, I’ll be showing off my first FO of the year!

It’s A Sign…

Normally, I’m not a fan of the “What kind of <insert random object> are you?” quizzes that the Internets seem to propogate. I took a “What Animal Are You” quiz recently, and ended up with this:

You’re a Sowbug!

You go by many different names and wear many different hats, but
you still have a strange universal sort of appeal. You were extremely popular in
grade school and while your popularity has slid downhill ever since, many still
have fond memories of playing with you. These days it seems you find yourself
between a rock and a hard place, but you know you’ll do fine as long as you can
procure some water. No one should try to make a silk purse out of your
ear.

Take the Animal Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I mean, really? A sowbug? I could think of several animals I would choose before a sowbug, people. In any case, it makes my point about why I generally don’t bother.

But then I saw this one and made an exception – it’s about yarn and all – and I think the answer is a sign.

What kind of yarn are you?

You are Mohair.You are a warm and fuzzy type who works well with others, doing your share without being too weighty. You can be stubborn and absolutely refuse to change your position once it is set, but that’s okay since you are good at covering up your mistakes. Take this quiz! Quizilla | Join | Make A Quiz | More Quizzes | Grab Code

See, I’m about 20 rows and some seaming away from finishing Ester (and hopefully just in time for some kinda-sorta-autumnal mornings and evenings), and I was having a bit of trouble deciding which sweater project to cast on next. So many options, you know. Notre Dame de Grace? Sesame? Nordic Wrap (cover pattern) to learn stranding?

But then I took the quiz, and I’m taking the answer as a sign. I ordered some of this (in a charcoal gray that’s sold out now) from the summer sale at Webs, and I’m hoping it will work for Ariann. I need a fall sweater I can wear to work, because none of my old clothes fit me anymore. Which is a good thing, but still leaves me in a bit of a predicament. I’m loving the “minimal finishing” part, and think I’ll probably go with the long-sleeve option. Swatching to commence at some point this week – I’m going to try and be good and actually finish Ester first, but maybe while she’s blocking and drying…

WIP Update: Ester

Ester update here…

FO: Ribs & Lace Tank

Here we go with the first of the FO’s from vacation…

This is the first garment I’ve made for myself, and the second altogether (after Peter for Dad). My goal was to finish it to wear to dinner at the beach, and while successful timing wise, it was 25 degrees the night we went out to eat. (Ok, it wasn’t 25 degrees. It was probably 65. But it was windy, and too cold for just the tank nonetheless.) I am very happy with it though, and can’t wait to wear it in the 90+ heat Atlanta seems to be so fond of these days.

So, without further delay, I give you the back:

and the front:

The Deets:

Pattern: Ribs & Lace Tank by Jodi Green, Interweave Knits Spring 2007, 36″ bust size
Needles: Size 9, 24″ Addi Turbo Circs & Size 3, 24″ Clover Bamboo Circs
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, Color 110 (Lake), about 3-3.5 skeins, ordered from Discount Yarn Sale
Mods: Went down a needle size
Notes: Love the pattern – I found it to be well written and fairly quick going, especially the lace pattern on the larger needles. (Not to mention, Jodi Green is a Bulldog, which makes her a winner.) I kitchenered (is that a word?) the straps on the wrong side, so the bump shows, but that’s my fault. Doesn’t really bother me either. Overall, I couldn’t be more pleased!

Good News and An FO…and Sadly, Frogging.

The good news? I almost have a sock that fits!

Here’s the sock at the Atlanta Jazz Festival last Saturday…

…where it was inspired by great weather and great music and has grown and grown so much since then – I think I have 2-3 more inches on the foot and then I’ll be able to start my first toe! W00t!

The FO: Monica #1 is finished…

I decided not to continue the ruffle on the back – I think this is already going to be a smidge big for it’s intended recipient and didn’t want to overwhelm the poor child with quite so much ruffle. Hopefully I’ll get it in the mail soon and then get some pictures of a human model, although the bear was quite cooperative. I think I’m going to do Monica #2 in the round – no seams sounds like a grand idea to me. I’m torn between using the same color combo as Monica #1 or doing the reverse – the variegated for the body and pink for the ruffle. The pink is a little more lightweight and might make a softer accent – what do YOU think? (Also? Does anyone have another word for ruffle? I’ve said it 124 times in the last three sentences…)

The Deets:
Pattern: Monica from Knitty, Spring ‘07
Needles: Addi Turbo Circs, size, 32″
Yarn: Bernat Softee Baby in Pink and Pink Parade

What else?

Oh. The frogging. I made an executive decision to rip Ester and cast on again for the next largest size – there seems to be an emerging sizing problem with it coming out just a bit smaller than expected, and I am so in love with the pattern and the yarn that I couldn’t bear to not have it fit in the end. More on that at the KAL.

Introducing Peter…

…the Top Secret Graduation Gift.

My Dad just graduated with his Doctoral degree and had a birthday last weekend, and this was my gift in celebration of both of those things. I think it came out nicely, since it was my first garment and I had to learn to seam and pick up stitches the right way and blocking all of that – which, by the way, I owe a huge thank you to Nell at Knitch! I was worried about it being long enough (my Dad is 6′6″), and thankfully that ended up not being a problem – however, it is too big around. Mom is going to help me try to seam up the sides on the sewing machine and pull some of the excess in. All in all, though, I think it came out better than I expected. Love you Dad and congrats again!

Pattern: Peter Easy from Berroco
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease, Colorway 110 (Lake), Just under 5 skeins
Needles: Size 8 Clover Bamboo Circs, 29″ for the ribbing; Addi Turbo Size 9 Circs, 32″ for the body

P.S. Check out the Ester KAL for what I’ve been working on this week…