Knitting by "The Bean"

So J and I went to Chicago last weekend for a "grown-ups" only getaway- fun! We flew in on Saturday morning and stayed until Monday evening. We did a ton of walking, ate great food (deep dish pizza at Exchequer and more high-end fare at fabulous MK in the River North area), had a drink at the top of the John Hancock Building at night, went to the Art Institute, the Field Museum, and did one of the Chicago Architecture Foundation's architectural boat tours- highly recommended! Our hotel was in a great location, just a block off of Michigan Avenue directly West of Millenium Park. We got some great photos in front of Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate (aka "The Bean") sculpture. Check out this one with a girl in a very fancy Quiñceanera dress swirling behind me.

For a "trip" project I started a sweet little lace scarf. This is going to be a raffle prize for our Community Fund Drive at work. It's very basic, a feather and fan pattern done up in sock yarn- in this case Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in "Spring Frost."

Nothin' But Trouble

So I started a winter hat for E, the 6-year old and he really wants something "skateboarderish" and so I think Struan by Ysolda will fit the bill. It's a great cabled hat with a small visor- super cute. Man, I'm having trouble! Nothing to do with the pattern, it's all me. First, I cannot figure out this cast-on method that she recommends for the life of me! I finally gave up on that and just cast on in the normal way- not perfect, but I think it will do. So then my next mistake was not measuring the kids' head- dumb! I just sort of assumed he was actually smaller than the smallest size (I guess I thought the pattern was written for adults or something?) So I went down a needle size. Needless so say the hat looks like a slightly (only slightly) oversize condom. Nice! Sensing this probably would not fit on his head, I decided to actually measure it. Lo and behold! The next size up in the pattern (with proper needle size!) should fit fine. Back to square one...

Meanwhile, my current "commuting project" is the Snicket Socks. This is a great free pattern by Sabine Reifler (originally posted on the now defunct Mag Knits, but now easily gotten through Ravelry). I'm using Araucania Ranco in a green colorway that shifts subtly from sort of lime green to yellow to a more grassy color- gorgeous. Socks with cables is a bit time consuming, but I'm enjoying seeing the pattern emerge.

Projects Started and Projects To Do

I just got my Webs catalog in the mail- always a fun thing to peruse. One pattern really caught my eye, the Grey Cables Jacket by Debbie Bliss (photo below). It's done with Debbie Bliss Rialto yarn and in a booklet called Ritalto Classics. Unfortunately, Webs is out of stock of the booklet, and when I went to my LYS they didn't have it either. I'll have to keep searching.

In the meantime, it's not like I really need a new project as I have several other things going, including the Tangled Yoke Cardigan and another version of the February Baby Sweater (a gift for my cousin and his wife's new baby, see photo above). I'm using some stash yarn- Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted, not the best for baby clothes since it needs to be handwashed, but the color is gorgeous.
I've also cast on for the Snicket socks with a lovely Araucania Ranco yarn in a slightly varigated green colorway. I'm excited about these.

Finished Object- Turn a Square

While Jason was in Oregon having a "guys weekend" I knit up this winter hat for him. It's the Turn a Square Hat by Brooklyntweed. Its a great basic hat with raglan decreases for the top shaping- making the stripes form these cool squares on top. I used some Elann Peruvian Highland Chunky from the stash (leftover from the Urban Aran Cardigan- hey another Brooklyntweed project!) and some Noro Kuryon. I've been wanting to try Noro yarn for a while but haven't found the right project. This was a nice small one to start with. I like the stripes here, but since I used pretty neutral colors it doesn't have quite the dramatic effect as say something like this. Next up: a hat for the 6-year old and some more socks.

Great Bag!

For my birthday my mother in law Vivien made me this great shopping bag. I'm not sure what pattern she used, but its alot like this. I'm really into reusable shopping bags and so this will really come in handy. I could also see this as a great bag to throw stuff in for the beach or pool in the summer. Nice.

Finally!

I finally finished these socks for the 6-year old. This was a long time coming. The primary issue was my attempt to infuse these with a pirate vibe through a skull and crossbones intarsia design- failure! Read more about that if you wish. Finally, I decided on just some cute basic kids' socks with contrast cuff, heel, and toe. Now I am happy with them, and so is son #1. Here's another photo of him on the first day of first grade-eeks (and showing off his support to boot!)

One Measly Sock

I haven't posted in a while, but alas, have not much to show. I started a pair of socks for 6-year old Emerson a while back. I had grand plans to do an intarsia skull and crossbones in each cuff. I finished one, but thought it looked pretty wonky. Ok, next idea- just do the sock plain and then duplicate stitch the design on later. Um, no. Apparently I don't "get" duplicate stitch because it did not come out at all. Ok, next plan, just a plain old pair of socks. I'm sure he'll wish they had some cool design, but to be honest, I doubt he even remembers I'm making these anymore.

I have done more of my TKGA swatches, so that is some progress- I believe I've done 7 out of the 15 required for Level 1. I've also made some teeny progress on the Tangled Yoke Cardigan (photo tomorrow). I'm enjoying working on it, but have kept it at work for my lunch hour project, so haven't spent much time, mostly just a row here, a row there.

Another Swatch and Another New Project

I've finished my 3rd swatch for the Knitting Guild Master Knitter Program-voila, see it blocking.

Now that I've finished my EZ Baby Sweater (and although I still have a few other things on the needles) I have cast on for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang. This is a fairly intimidating project- a complicated horizontal cable across the yoke, along with lots of stockinette done on fairly small needles. However, I do adore cardigans and I've seen lots of beautiful versions of this sweater on the web (like this one from Stash, Knit, Repeat). I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Although the pattern calls for Rowan Felted Tweed, lots of people have also used Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool and found it knits up to the same gauge. My local yarn store (at least the one by my work that I frequent over the lunch hour) doesn't carry Rowan, but they did have the silky wool. I picked up skeins of a beautiful dark blue-green...and away we go!

My First EZ Knit

I have been really intrigued by Elizabeth Zimmermann and have looked at lots of her books and patterns, and projects people have made from her work, but haven't yet had the chance to make something. I just finished my first "EZ" project, the February Baby Sweater on Two Needles. This was a really fun pattern and I love the finished project. Like so many of her patterns, it's knit from the top down with no seaming. This one is a yoked cardigan with a lovely "gull" lace pattern. The lace pattern is super easy to memorize and goes along quite quickly.

I did find her instructions for the sleeves a bit confusing, but using Ravelry (wonderful Ravelry!) I came across Lilomy's revised sleeve instructions (much clearer and easier). For this project I used yarn in my stash (yea!) as well as buttons I had (another yea!). The pattern is a bit of a challenge, sizing-wise, as there are no specific sizes given. I just used the yarn I had and sort of guessed on needle size. This is a gift for my niece's 1st birthday. Hope it fits!

The Nitty Gritty Details
Pattern: February Baby Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Rowan Cashcotton DK in Colorway Cashew (619)
Needles: US 6
Started: July 7, 2008
Finished: August 3, 2008