Dilemma

I knew from the outset when I started knitting the Snowflake Sweater as my Olympic Project that I wouldn't do the entire long sleeves as called for in the pattern. I find that a full sleeved sweater is just too hot to wear indoors, so I like to knit short sleeves or none at all and layer with a nice burnout tee underneath the sweater.

I knit one sleeve, but had some problems sewing it onto the armhole. Somehow either my gauge changed drastically or the pattern wasn't quite right, because I had to gather the should quite tightly in order to get the sleeve to fit into the armhole.
This made the sleeve bunch up in an Anne-of-Green-Gables "puffed sleeve" sort of way that is all very well and good for Anne, but not me.

So, before going to the drastic effort of ripping the sleeve out, I decided to just knit a simple ribbing onto the other shoulder to see which shoulder I liked better. I'm glad I did this, because once I saw the effect in the mirror, I realized that going around wearing football pad shoulders isn't quite in my line of fashion.
I'll have pictures up soon of the finished project, hopefully taken with a clean, smudge-free camera lens!

Sick, but Still Knitting!

The kids quickly recovered from their bout of illness (they get over being sick so fast!), but now I've come down with a bad cold and sore throat. Saturday was the worst day for me, so the menfolk were very nice and helped out a bit around the house.

I always say, "There's nothin' so handsome as a man cleanin' house"!

Although I wasn't feeling well, I did manage to get some knitting done. However, I think I over-did it, because today my wrists are a bit sore. I think I'll put the knitting on hold for a day or two (no, really, I really will . . . . I can stop anytime I want to . . . . I'm not an addict . . .).

I finished knitting three lace angels from Angels, A Knitter's Dozen, which will be Christmas presents for - - - -. They were surprisingly quick to knit (well, not exactly "speedy", but still not nearly as difficult as I had envisioned). I still have to sew a little bell to their undersides, and sew their arms together so they look more like they're praying, instead of reaching for you in a menacing manner . . . .

I was even able to use some stash yarn, since I have about four balls of size 10 wt. cotton yarn. (I don't think all three angels even took up a quarter of one ball, but at least my stash is coming in handy!)

I can't believe how small these little things are! From the cover of the book, I figured they'd be larger, but wow, are they tiny! The hardest part was knitting the head and the skirt on four dpns. The tiny thread kept slipping off if I wasn't careful - ugh. It was like knitting with cobwebs (speaking of cobwebs, I must remember to dust today . . . enough of that, on to more knitting content!)

The second panel of Peter's birthday blanket is done and sewn onto the first one. I have to knit several more panels, but he's already using it as it is. It's nice to know that something I'm knitting for him will be used and loved!

Finally, I am SOOOOO pleased to show the simple cabled vest that's a Christmas present for - - - - -. I got the pattern from the book, Men in Knits, and the yarn was Plymouth Encore (I think). It wasn't actually the yarn called for in the pattern, but I was able to get gauge eventually by going down three needle sizes. Worsted weight yarn knitted on size 5 needles makes for a fairly dense fabric, so this will be nice and warm once the weather gets a bit more chilly.

I've taken a hefty chunk of out my Christmas knitting list, but I still have lots more to do. However, I think I'll give my wrist a rest (hmmm, that's actually rather hard to say - "wrist a rest" hee hee!) and catch up on other things around the house. I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day holiday!

Knitting Update

Just a quick reminder that it's not too late to participate in the contest I'm having for my blogiversary!

Awhile ago I started knitting a scarf that I designed called White Diamonds Lace Scarf, and I finally got around to finishing it. I found out that I was one skein too short, but thankfully my LYS still had ONE skein left, and 50% off (woo hoo for sales!).

I blocked it with pins, and that really did open the lace-work up beautifully. I've not done much with lace before, but I've seen on other blogs how much a difference blocking can make, and it was fun to get to see it myself.

The main body of the scarf is a repeated pattern of 28 rows, but the edges have a little more lace of a different pattern. I'm rather pleased with the result, and I'm debating whether I should try submitting it to either MagKnits or Knitty. Hmmm, we shall see. I'm also debating turning the pattern into a stole. That does mean more knitting, though!

(Oh, side note: sadly, I was told that the pattern I wrote called Maunawili Falls Vest was not chosen for the next edition of Knitty, but I'm going to try to submit it to MagKnits next. Keep your fingers crossed for me!)

I finished the first panel of Peter's birthday blanket, and he's already using the long strip to cuddle with. I think it will be a success (in his eyes, I mean), but it's going to take much longer than I had anticipated. There's a lot of cables, and for some reason I didn't realize how much knitting is actually required to make a blanket! Duh, me!

I started the second panel, which is in Peter's chosen color of cream. I'll have to make several panels just like this, because it is evenly interspersed with the green panels. Thankfully this one is knitting up faster, as the cables rows are less often.

And finally, I have the back done on the men's vest. I was anticipating this to be the biggest stretch for this project, and I'm glad the back is "behind me" (hee hee, couldn't resist the bad pun!) It's just simple stockinette, but knitted with size 5 needles, it did take a while.

It is some consolation, however, with how much I love the color of this yarn. It's just the nicest heather I've ever seen, and it took some searching for me to find it! I had originally planned to knit this with Wool-ease or Caron One Pound, but this is the best by far.

Well, I've gotten the scarf done for Christmas knitting, and am plugging away on the rest!