Whoa!

I didn’t realize it had been so long since I’d blogged. Well, I have a lot to show for it.

First though I need to vent…

I hate seaming. I especially hate seeming knits to purls. As per usual, I learned a lot from this project. I already knew I shouldn’t decrease on the edge. The thing is, on the back, I didn’t listen to this advice. At least, not on the first decrease. When it came time to do the seam, I really wished I had frogged and started over with my decreases.

After the first decrease I started doing my decreases in the first 6 stitch rib. Hmmm, does anyone really care? Probably not. But my advice is always do you decreases and increases at least a few stitches into the row. It makes seaming easier.

Anyway,

Here’s my first vest. I love the colors! The only problem is I think it may be too big.



I’m going to wear it tomorrow and will get a couple of shots in it. I’m going to a yarn shop opening.

And here’s my second vest, in progress. The pattern is the Boogie vest
from knitty. I’m using Noro’s Big Kureyon. And I’m loving it!



It would longer but I when I started my increases in the waist, I realized I cast on the wrong number of stitches. This is a bit of an experiment for me. The pattern doesn’t call for waist shaping. I am taking the shaping from the Vogue vest pattern (minus one decrease) and using it here. This will be my first cable pattern.

Sheba decides she needs to inspect my handy work.

Endings and Beginings

There’s been a whole lot of knitting go on lately. Last week I finished my shawl. It’s beautiful (thanks to the wonderful yarn I used). I will post photos soon.

You see, I have a trouble with blocking. We have no carpeting in the house. The only surface I have to really block on is the bed. The problem is, I can’t really block anything using the bed. By this I mean soaking it in water and letting it dry. First of all, I’m worried about the bed getting that wet. Second, I’m not sure it’ll only take one day to dry. So, I’m waiting to block it until my mom and I go the beach in a couple of weeks. There’s plenty of carpeting there.

I love my new shawl. The yarn was amazing. The colors are wonderful. But the pattern was so boring. The excitement of wondering what color was next only lasted so long. It was all knit with 4 yarn-overs every other row. By the time I was done, I had 217 stitches on my needles.

So it was with lots of excitement that I started my next project. I have a problem where several of my button-down shirts pull along the chest and cause gaps in the buttons. This can be embarrassing at work. I really like these shirts and don’t want to get rid of them. That’s when it struck me, sweater vest! I immediately started looking through my patterns for the right vest. There’s nothing like the hunt for a new pattern to get the blood pumping!

I found three that I want to try. I decided to start with the U-Neck Vest from the Winter 04/05 Vogue Magazine (pattern #10). It has stripes and ribbing. And best of all, it calls for Noro Silk Garden. I’ve been seeing this yarn everywhere and was itching to try it out.

After a couple of gauge swatches, I casted on Friday night. First I have to say, it’s kind of hard to switch from yarn overs to purls. The fact that they start the same really confused my brain. Not to mention that I had forgotten all about purls. Eventually I was able to get in the grove of it. I managed to finish the back on Sunday. And since I was let off the hook to tile (at least until tonight) I was able to start on the front.



And the best part is that there are only two seams! How much better can it get?