Golden.

LALALALALAAAAAAAAA!

My Road to Golden sweater is done! And I've got a big huge crush on it!

MMMMMMMMmmmmmmm! I can't even wait for the weather to get a bit cooler so I can wear this thing 24-7.

(Okay, so last night it was my awesome friend's awesome birthday party & she celebrated with a keg & I'm feeling pretty rough today which is why these pictures of me look so.....scowly/weird)

I changed the colour a tiny bit. I took out the red & used some dark purple instead. I'm really happy with how these colours look together.

I used mostly ella rae classic wool, the yellow bits are paton classic merino & the light purple is Galway. I have about 3 unused balls of yarn which is good because I can take them back & get yarn for my next project.

this was a super fun knit, however there is an error in the pattern as it is written when it comes to the final neck stitch count. Apparently this will be posted on the Knitscene website. (The wonder that is Ravelry allowed me to check up on this pattern & that's how I know. Thanks Ravelry!)

Now back to those Thermal sleeves...

Sea Storm.

A bunch of things have been going on that have made me not want to/unable to blog, but I'm here with a smidge of an update.

I'm still knitting the Thermal sleeve. Or, rather, I am still knitting the first Thermal sleeve. And it is still only at the elbow. It doesn't seem to get any longer no matter how much I knit it. I've switched from the dpns to magic loop in hopes that it'll go a little bit faster.

With my dpns freed up, I was able to bring along Gord's second Fleece Artist sock when we went away last weekend to visit some folks. I started while we were waiting for the train on Saturday afternoon and was decreasing for the toe on the bus ride home the next day. One thing is for sure, making an adult sized sweater on size 2 needles with fingering weight yarn certainly has sped up my fingers.

This isn't the best picture, but it's what I got to show. It was damp & humid yesterday & Gord wasn't really super eager to slap on a pair of merino socks. He says he loves them though, so that's enough for me. I think the colourway is 'Sea Storm'. The pattern is pretty simple, I cast on 68 stitches, made about an inch & a half of 1x1 twisted rib, tossed in some simple cables on the side, did an eye of the partridge heel & then slid into homebase with some every other row toe decreases.

And what's that? In the background there?

It's my 'Road to Golden'! In all honesty, my Thermal would probably be going much quicker if I just put down all the other sweater projects I got going on. But Road to Golden is just so.... pretty. I'm done the body, I just need one more sleeve so that I can join for the yoke. I haven't made many alterations to the pattern except for some colour changes and I added a whole chart repeat before I began the gusset increases since it was looking a little short when I put it on. I'm using mostly Ella Rae Classic for this, with some Brown Sheep worsted, some Galway & some Patons Classic Merino. The whole thing is soft & sproingy & I think I'll end up wearing this sweater into the ground.

So that's that. I still got my Demi sweater on the needles, and I've got my yarn all ready to go for my Katherine Hepburn cardigan waiting patiently for me. And last night I accidentally ordered some stuff to make this:

Most of the new patterns from Drops Design are crazy great this season! I couldn't stop thinking about this little jacket so I bit the bullet & I'm going to knit it. It's knit in bulky weight yarn, so I think it should be a pretty quick knit. Which is good - because I also just got the new Interweave & wouldn't you know it? There's about 4 things I'd like to knit ASAP.

Scoop, there it is.

As much as I just wanted to forget about the crap-ass neckline of my Thermal sweater & move on, I knew that I *had* to fix it. After all "Whatever can be fixed, must be fixed" right?

And thank God I did. The neckline now is the stuff dreams are made of (for people like me, anyway). I think my initial mistake was that I didn't pick up nearly enough stitches. Especially around the curvy scoopy corners. Now - if only the knit faerie would visit while I'm sleeping & finish off those pesky sleeves.

And here, just because I'm mass suffering from craft ADD & I can't seem to stop buying yarn & then if that yarn is sitting in a box or a bag, I can't seem to not cast it on my needles for the intended project -- here is my progress on my Road to Golden sweater. I switched up some of the colours & I'm pretty excited about it. I took this picture quickly before I left for work this morning, but you get the idea. The delicious, delicious idea.

Electric Eclectics

I'm not much in the mood to type a lot, but I do want to share my photos from this past weekend. We went to Meaford for the Electric Eclectics festival & here is what it looked like...
(**note: lots of these pictures are wicked bad, and I didn't even take photos of half the stuff - it was a super fun time - you'll have to take my word & go next year to see for yourself)

I'll get the knitting report out of the way first, I wanted something simple, since I would be in the backseat of a car for a long time & then camping - so nothing fussy. I chose to begin a sleeve of the Road to Golden sweater. I bought all the yarn for this sweater last week, during Romini's sale.
I was practically done by the time we got to meaford. I don't know how it happened, it wasn't even a long drive! I ain't complaining though.

The rest of the weekend involved, but by no means was limited to:
Awesome Architecture!

vast, rolling hills!



The Nihilist Spasm Band!


Silo projections!

Mary Margaret O'Hara!

LLLLLLLLots of LLLLLLLLLLLasers! (courtesy of Edwin Van Der Heide)


A trip to the beach!

Clockdin!



A Tesla Coil!


Superfun!

Secret Project, revealed!

Phew! Courtney has received her package, so I can now blog about it!

A little while ago, I got a fabulous little ring in the mail from Courtney - she made it & sent it to me as a complete surprise & I was so very touched. I have been wearing the ring practically everyday since then, so I wanted to make her something that hopefully, she would love just as much as I love the ring.

I chose the 'Swallowtail Shawl' from Interweave Knits Fall 2006. I enjoyed making this so much the first time, and was so pleased with the final results, that I knew it'd be a great gift.

I can't remember when I started it exactly, but I think it took me about a month of casual knitting. I used Fleece Artist 'Suri Blue' in the 'Blackberry' colourway. This stuff is an absolute dream to work with. I think I'll need to make myself something out of it, since it was love at first stitch.

The only thing I did differently this time, was increase the number of repeats for the first chart to make it a bit bigger. I got these directions from pepperknit - I'm glad I did, too, since I think it turned out to be just the right size.

It was waiting for Courtney when she got home from holidays & she's reported to me that she loves it. And I loved making it, so we're all even.

I have so many great pictures to share from my awesome weekend at the electric eclectics festival, I'll be back soon to tell all y'all all abouts it.

hot in the city....so hot in the city tonight...

Just in time for this awesome heatwave we got going on! A wool vest!!

mmmmmmmMMMMMMMMMM.

My 'Back to school U-Neck Vest' from Fitted Knits is complete!

I started this about 2 weeks ago & knit it when I was in need of something that was chunkier than my Thermal, and less complicated than my secret project (which has been mailed off & hopefully I can blog about it soon) I really like it & I think this will get a lot of wear once the mercury drops.

And it's comforting to know that if I ever go down about 20 sizes, it'll still look good. I was sweating like Chris Farley(RIP) while I was trying to get a good shot of the sweater, so I put it on Judy since she doesn't feel temperature.

I used KnitPicks Wool of the Andes, which was a pleasant yarn to work with, at at $1.99US per ball, a very economical option. I was ordering books from them during their 40% off sale and thought I'd be crazy not to throw in some wool as well. I used 7 balls & a bit for this vest, and I added 2" to the length since as written, it would have been a smidge too short for my tastes.

This was my first time doing any sort of boob shaping & I am a great fan! The pattern is easy & fast & enjoyable, but beware - check the pattern errata as there is an error in the back neck shaping as it is written in the book.

Now, what shall I bring to knit at the electric eclectrics festival this weekend?