Don't think I've been here before...

Okay, I have a confession to make - I have NEVER blocked a project before seaming it. I should also point out that I have only seamed one other project, but the fact still remains. So, am I doing this right?

I pinned everything out to measurements (and noticed a few mistakes while I was at it), then lightly misted it with water before leaving it sit overnight. I checked it in the morning, and decided to remove the pins despite some slight curling.

I have since seamed the shoulders, picked up and knit the neckline ribbing, and seamed the sides. Also, the shoulders were VERY wide, so I decided to do some tricky sewing instead of ripping back all four shoulders. I folded the shoulder edge over and sewed it down, then folded the flat edge back over again and sewed it down. It looks so good that I've decided to skip the I-cord on the armhole edging, especially since I definately do not want to make it wider again.

Now I have to pick up and knit the icord on the lower and front edges, then add buttons. Hmmm... I guess I need to go button shopping!

Oh, if I had known then what I know now, I would have cast on fewer stitches for the back front and done fewer waist decreases. I also would have decreased a lot more around the front of the armhole openings and a little more at the back armhole openings. I think that would have provided the room I need for my bust without giving too much room in the lower back and the tummy area. It would also have narrowed the shoulders for me.

Are we there yet?

I'm almost done with my Hills Vest! I'm starting on the front pockets, then I have seaming, weaving in ends, and the i-cord edging to do.


I like how the pocket trim looks with the turning row. It is so clean and easy to fold.

I still have to sew it to the edges after I knit the pockets. I'm planning to make them as deep as is reasonably possible - deeper than the pattern calls for.

Karen's Shawl is coming along nicely too. I finished the second repeat of six total. It's going to start taking a LOT longer though - last night I spent nearly half and hour on two rows!

It looks beter now that I stretched it out a bit. I'm sure blocking it will work miracles, as always. Pretty soon I won't be able to stretch it out the length of my circluars... It almost doesn't fit now. but it is getting easier to knit because the stitches are getting pushed around instead of me constantly having to readjust them.

On the other needles

I got my yarn for Karen's shawl yesterday, and started knitting to see what would happen. I did switch the decreases to slant the opposite direction.


If you look at the left side here, there is a line of "openness" that follows the outside of the k3tog that is not visible on the right side outside of to sk2p. It seems that the k3tog pulls the stitches next to it out of shape. I'm thinking this is the nature of the k3tog, and not a fault of left-handed knitting.

I don't have another picture, but I did go into the next chart, where the k3tog is on the right side instead with the slant leaning a different direction. There the stitches aren't stretched. I've decided to just leave it and know that it won't be a perfect mirror image. I'll have to see if after a few repeats it looks okay or if I just can't stand it.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood..

Well, my friends, I have reached a crucial juncture on my Estes Vest. This is the point at which I would typically begin making accomodations for my "assets." I deliberated over the weekend, pondering the best coarse of action. The size I choose has a scant 0.5" positive ease. However, because of the cables and because of the stretchy Lamb's Pride, I'm thinking there is more give in this fabric than than is necessary to adequately cover my chest.

Hmm. Yes. Definately. This is just the back....

On another note, guess what?

I'm going to have to get started on Karen's shawl soon!

5 skeins of Elann Callista in Morrocan Blue. It's not as bright as I envisioned, but it has this great shiny ply in with the cottony plys.. (plies?) The color is reminicent of my favorite boyfriend jeans. I hope the finds she finished shawl just as comfortable and comforting.

From a Distance

It looks like a vest! Well, the back of one, anyway. I tried to pin it to my back to see what it will look like, but my FIL had to point out that it's a little difficult to wear half a vest.


This picture shows the color better, but it's harder to see the pattern...

Traveling Stitches

DSC03754
Originally uploaded by andreatoman

I used my new Lamb's Pride to cast on for the Estes Vest frm the Fall 08 Interweave Knits. It has a gorgous honeycomb pattern with traveling stitches that was pretty easy to follow once I got started. I spent a lot of time knitting over the weekend, especially the long trip back from Rapid City.
I made a few discoveries when working on this pattern. First, knitting left-handed truely is knitting backwards. I have to look at the charts backwards, and if I'm knitting the "left-front" according to the pattern, I'm actually knitting the "right-front" for my project. I haven't had to make any major modifications to this pattern because of it, but it has been floating around in the back of my head.
The most important difference this makes is in the slant of decreases - they're opposite, so I have to be careful to switch them to make them slant the right way. I'm considering how that will play out in the shawl I'm knitting, and I'm going to have to swatch it to test the slant-layout and see if I need to change it to make it look good.

My stash hunt

I took my family down to Rapid City last weekend to visit Neil's aunt, who was just diagnosed with cancer. It was a good ttrip, with lots of time to visit and go exploring. I stopped at 3 yarn shops, and drove past another that was closed for the holiday weekend.
The first stop was Dakota Treasures on Rushmore road. About half of the store was beads and such, and the other half was yarn. There were lots of nice choices, but not what I was looking for. She was very helpful though, and helped me find the address for the yarn store in Hill City, my next stop (Let it be known that I had to go to Hill City anyway, so I didn't drag my DH 45 miles out of our way just to visit a LYS).
Wool N' Stuff in Hill City had a large seclection of wool items, including finished garments, roving, and the exact yarn I was looking for. The yarn manager was not in, but the guy at the counter was nice enough. I think it might have just been the day, but it didn't have a LYS feel - more like a dark wool market feel.
Finally, I did stop at Yvonne's Yarn Shop in Spearfish. She was super nice and had lots of sock yarn on hand, but nothing for the shawl that I want to make for aunt Karen. She kindof profiled me a bit, thinking I had only done small projects with big cheap yarn and was looking for more of the same. Hmm... not really me, but that's okay.

Oh, here's the yarn I was looking for:

Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky, 8 skeins of Blue Boy
Purchased 8-30-2008