Thursday, September 30, 2004

I started the tank but I'm really dissapointed. I forgot how short the colour sections are in veregated handicrafter cotton. You don't get stripes or pools of colour, just a random mess. The colours also hide the cabling, so it's wasted effort doing the facy stitches.


I'm hesitant to rip though, I don't like ripping and don't know what I'll do with this almopst one pound skein!

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

It's finished, washed and blocked! Now the baby just has to get here, so I can give this gift!



I got smart this time, and put all the buttons on and wove in the ends before knitting the sleeves. Then when I finished the sleeves. I had only a little finishing to do! I hate finishing, and this made the project seem faster.

Monday, September 27, 2004

I'm so close to finishing the purple baby set. I ended up making a hat to match, since I had some yarn left over. I also got smart and did the buttons BEFORE the sleeves. I hate finishing, it's the main reason I choose projects knit in the round, and it seems a tedious way to end a project. This way, I only have to do the sleeve finishing at the end, which won't take much time!

Photos once I finish up and wash the items.

Monday, September 20, 2004

I couldn't help swatching up a bit of the Handicrafter yarn to see how the colours looked. They are gorgeous, and I think it will turn into a really pretty top.

Thursday, September 16, 2004

I picked up a large skein of Bernat Handicrafter yarn in Jewels today. It's the top right colourway on This Page
I'm going to make the tank pictured HERE with it, the guage seems right, and I think the veregated yarn will look nice. Plus it will be cheap.

Wednesday, September 15, 2004

The purple baby sweater is moving right along. I just finished off the first skein of Patons Look At Me, and am just about to start the bottom ribbing. Then just the arms to do. I think the second skein will finish it off and let me make matching socks if I feel like it. Here's a photo of my progress:

I swatched some Lion Brand Woolease for the poncho. I'm not sure if I should use it as a single strand: Or double it up: The second way will make it thicker and warmer, and it will knit up faster, but the first will make a "finer" fabric and will use less yarn. The colours come out about the same, which is what I was mainly checking with the swatching.

Sunday, September 12, 2004

Making progress on the purple baby sweater for my friend. That pattern knits up quickly, and it is a nice portable project.

Finished Haiku the other day, and am just sewing the buttons on now. Photo when they're all one, the buttons I found MAKE the sweater so there is no sense taking a pic now. I also got the buttons sewn on a sweater knit in Patons Pixie, Pattern here, that I knit a while ago.

Thinking about that poncho for my sister. I came accross a sample of THIS at the yarn shop the other day, and it's just stunning. Unfortunately, the yarn used and called for int he pattern was over $35 a hank. One hank would make the whole thing, but I'm not even sure she'd wear it, so I couldn't justify the purchase. I'm trying out swatching some Lion Brand Woolease veregated yarn, to see if I can't just work something out on my own. I'm trying to think of how to do the decreases: matched up along "seams" would look nice, but I might want to avoid that so it can be the same all the way around....

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

More baby projects in the works. I'm making a baby sweater for a friend who is due in about a month. She's having a little boy, and I found some great BRIGHT purple Patons Look at Me yarn on clearance. I'm making This Pattern and here is my progress so far:

It's a touch more purple than it appears in the photo, but about that bright.

I also did some dying. I have a felting project in mind, so I attacked some of the Patons Classic wool I have with the koolaid:
Both photos show the before and after yarns. I'm really happy with how the veregated stuff turned out. They grey was kind of dark to start with, so I don't know if I will use that one. I was leery of buying white, I've heard the bleaching process affects feltability, so I stuck with darker colours.