Next Up

I have never knit anything for a man. My husband claims that sweaters are "too hot". Thank goodness, because he is 6'3", 220 lbs. I don't really want to knit anything that size, so it alleviates any knitting guilt. But Christmas is coming, and I thought it might be nice to make my dear old dad something. So, here it is, the beginning of a vest. The pattern comes from Elsebeth Levold, viking knits book 9. I'm doing it in her Classic Al reather than pure cashmere, for obvious reasons. It seems to be moving right along and again: no sleeves~!! The actual color is midnight blue. If I can pump this thing out, I can start diving into my loooong list of things I am DYING to start. Stay focused, stay focused.....

FO alert

Okay, drumroll please....I have two finished objects to show off.

OK, on the top is the first one. I finished this at the end of Spring, but am just now showing it off. This is Femme Fatale from Alchemy Yarns. I did it in Alchemy Haiku and edged it with their Bamboo yarn. I LOVE this sweater. It is light as air, but warm, and just flows. And the colors are divine. The only mods I made were shortening the total lenght by a couple of inches, and the length of the sleeves by...wait for it...3.5 inches!!! Mohair, as you all may or may not know, is notorious for stretching. So I way shortened the sleeves so that I didn't look like a gorilla after wearing it once or twice. Otherwise, I loved this knit. it was also my first time using Bryspun needles, which were great with the thin mohair/silk blend.

Next is the sort of "Fair Isle" number I've been working on from that Knit 2 Together book by Tracey Ullmann and Mel Clark. The photo is crap, I see now, my apologies for the Hub's picture taking. But hopefully you get the gist....don't know if I'll actually wear this thing or not, but it was a fun project. I had to block the you know what out of it, and it seems to have settled down...

Lookie!

Look what I got in the mail yesterday! It's Issue One of Teva Durham's Loop-d-loop collection, which I ordered from kpixie.com. I will confess that in the past I had a little trouble with the whole loop-d-loop concept. Okay, I loved the designs from a purely creative and interesting standpoint. But I didn't fine them to be wearable for me. (Me being your basic suburban housewife......) BUT.....I love almost every single thing in this leaflet!! Here are two of my favorites, but there are a couple more that I would make besides these. Plus, imagine my thrilled suprised when I discovered that the kpixie girls sent me an autographed copy. Yay!

You May Be Right......

I might be crazy. So here is the project I'm working on:

It is the "Fair Isle" vest from Knit 2 Together by Tracey Ullman and Mel Clark. I had been thinking about doing some stranded colorwork, and I loved the bright retro colors in this design. HOWEVER....notice it is not knit in the round. So, my friends, there is the whole purling while stranding thing. Also, in a few rows they had the audacity to have three colors. Yikes. As if my newbie colorwork attempt isn't ripply and uneven enough! After trying it a couple of time, I have decided to omit the third color and I'll Swiss darn it in later. The good news: it's a vest, so no damn sleeves. Seems like it is the season of the vest....Check out Cathi's sexy and fabulous number!!

Don't you love Fall?

If you live in the Pacific Northwest, I hope so, because apparently Summer has ended early. We've had gray, drab moist weather for several days now. I could continue to whine, because I have two youngish children and we are all getting CABIN FEVER..................

However, it certainly does get you in the Fall wardrobe mood. How lucky that all the knitting mags are arriving!! It feels like Christmas to me. I am a book and magazine junkie, so when the stuff starts arriving in my mailbox, I get very very happy.

So, I saw the new Rowan yesterday. IMHO, it is the best one I've seen in a while, certainly better than the last two. It is beautiful, has lots of inspiration as well as actual items I would want to make.

Seeing Double

Do these designs look familiar to you? The one on the bottom is from Rebecca No. 29, which came for Winter 2005, I believe. On the top left you'll find a design from the brand new IK for Fall 2007, and on the top right is a design from the new Fall 2007 Vogue Knitting.

Fascinating, no? Actually, I really like the one from Vogue. It looks streamlined, and the pattern seems like it would be okay to follow. When the first one came out in Rebecca, I liked it as well, except it has a batwing silhouette which I don't think would be flattering on everyone. Well, okay, me. The IK version looks a little bulky.

So does this confirm that Europe is at least two years ahead of us in fashion?