Heartland Lace Shawl

I did manage to finish my Heartland Lace Shawl back in August.
Pattern is by Evelyn A. Clark
Yarn: 3 skeins of Knit Picks Gloss in Cocoa
Needles: US 6, / 4mm
Started May 26, 2008
Finished August 24, 2008

sewing

I've taken a break from knitting for the past few months. I've been sewing instead. I made this bag back towards the end of summer.
It's from Butterick See and Sew pattern B5172. I used stiff fusable interfacing so the bag holds it's shape well. It has two outer pockets on each side and one pocket on the inside. One of the outer pockets has a snap flap. The upper inside edge is done in the butterfly fabric and the lower inside lining is the black fabric used for the outer upper cuff. I'm really happy with how it turned out. It inspired me to do more sewing projects.

I also made this little outfit for a lawn goose. I embroidered the apple design with my embroidery machine.

Gypsy Mesh Pullover finished

It's done. I like the finished sweater. It fits well and looks good. I worked on it in bursts with long periods of setting it aside. I love how pretty the yarn is but I didn’t like knitting with it. I don’t know how many times my needle just slid right out from the stitches because the yarn has no stretch or grab at all. And I had to pay close attention to avoid splitting the yarn. I didn’t knit a gauge swatch. I just guessed on needle size and lengths and got really lucky.





Pattern: Gypsy Mesh Pullover by Norah Gaughan
from Interweave Knits , Sping 2004
Yarn: Reynolds Gypsy, colorway willow gold
needles: US size 6
blocked (5/12/08)
final ends woven in on 5/23/08

first sock done

One done...

One to go.

Sock knitting

I've never knitted socks before and thought I never would. I always thought why spend so much time knitting something at such a small gauge that's going to be worn on your feet where most people wouldn't see them and that will wear out pretty quickly (if you actually wear them). Well....the pretty Knit Picks felici yarn got to me and so here I am, knitting my first sock. And yes, it is slow going. But it's pretty simple knitting. It's a nice and easy, portable knit project. And I like knitting them for that reason. I can work on them on car rides, which is something I personally can't really do with straight needles. I'm using the Provence colorway and size 1 (2.25 mm) toothpicks, I mean double pointed needles. The needles are ones I bought with the yarn. It's the 6" nickel plated double pointed sock needle set from Knit Picks. I really like them.

I also started a cable pullover. I worked on it pretty steadily then set it aside to knit the socks. It's a pattern from an old 2002 issue of Knit It! magazine knitted in Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick and Quick. I'm knitting it in the round instead of flat. It's so stiff an bulky that I'm not too enthused about it. I couldn't bring my self to take a photo. I'm to the point where I've divided the front and backs for the armholes.

And...I knitted this little bird using the free pattern from Berroco. The beak doesn't seem quite right. I think he would look better in blue with a yellow beak as a blue bird like in the pattern. The red yarn is Paton's Classic Merino.

Seaman's Scarf

I finished this scarf last week
It's the Seaman's Scarf pattern free from KnitPicks. I used two skeins of Paton's Shetland Chunky yarn and size 10 needles. I added several repeats of the cable due to my gauge being smaller than what the pattern called for (and I like the look of the cable). The two halves are knit separately and then joined at the center with a kitchener stitch. Overall it was a pretty quick and easy knit.

My vogue cable cardigan is slowly progressing. It's basically finished except for sewing the side seams, the button loops and buttons. I also have a little more done on the gypsy mesh pullover. Here is a progress shot