Monday, July 27, 2009

I Love Lucy (I Mean - Ricky!)

I just started the July sock for Cookie A's Sock Innovation KAL. It's Rick, one of my favorites from the book. But, because I cast on on the 26th, I doubt I will finish by the 31st. Oh, well, I'll just tag a long the side lines quietly. I'm using Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock, medium weight, Bella Coola.

Blocking Bolero

My Fiery Bolero is finished and now blocking. I really enjoyed this knit and will probably make another one. I didn't even mind all the picking up of stitches.









Friday, July 10, 2009

Big Bad Bolero

I'm going to a wedding in August so decided to knit a cute little bolero for my "little black dress" that I am going to wear. I chose Fiery Bolero from the Summer 2005 issue of Interweave Knits. It's a pattern by Debbie Bliss.

I was really, really good and swatched, swatched, swatched. The pattern calls for size 5 US needles & DK weight yarn. I am knitting this with Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Silk DK in black. Well, this so called DK weight yarn is more like sport weight, so I couldn't get gauge until I went up to size 7 US. This made the fabric a little too loose for my taste, but I decided to go ahead with it anyway.

I knit the entire thing except for the ribbed border. As I was knitting this, I could not help but notice that the sleeves looked too wide. I kept going anyway. I finished it and pinned it together to try it on. Yup - sleeves are way toooooo big. The fit itself is good (without the border), but, once I add the ribbed border, well, can we say FROG POND????????.

Needless to say, I have begun this all over again on size 5 needles. I'm not sure if this will now be a little too small, but I really liked the fabric knit on size 5's. And, if it is a little small, I can always block it to the right dimensions (I hope). So, here we go again. It's a good thing I'm a process knitter, because I don't mind at all that I have to start over, even though I was almost finished with the first attempt.

Here are some pictures of the first go round. I'll post new pics with the new & improved smaller size once it's complete. I just hope I can complete this by the wedding which is August 8...







To Dream a Dream - Reverie

I had some yarn that I had initially intended to knit for socks, but it was a bit too thick for my taste so I decided to make a beret instead. This is Reverie, a free pattern on Ravelry. I'm not a big hat wearer, so I may only wear this at home.

Catching-Up on some Sunshine

Here's some pictures of my Sunshine socks from Cookie A's book Sock Innovation. It's for the June KAL.