Carnival Time ( Albeit a bit late for Mardi Gras)

Success at last! All that remains to be done on the Carnival Cardigan/Jacket is the weaving in of ends and locating the clasp for the front. I used EZ's percentage system to design this sweater and with a little tweaking here and there it worked out perfectly.

It was a pleasant journey in which I learned quite a bit. I don't think I'll be as hesitant to step out and try my hand at designing sweaters in the future. This was a terrific confidence booster after the debacle with The Promise of Spring Sweater. The next stop on the sweater design train is set-in sleeves.

I'll give the full specs on the sweater once I've blocked it. Mom is very pleased even though she may not get to wear it until the fall since the weather here has taken a delicious turn toward spring.


I also managed to finish one of the many pairs of socks that are on the needles. This is my first pair of CTH socks and I'm anxious to see how they hold up. Mom's pair has already fuzzed and shrunk some, but she treats hers a lot more harshly than I do so I'll reserve judgement.


Specs:

Pattern: Easy Toe, YO Short-Row Heel Toe-Up Socks (Isn't that a mouthful!)
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in Champlain Sunset
Needles: 1 US Inox dpn's for body of sock, 0 US Inox dpn's for ribbing
Size: Women's size 9 1/2
Started: November 1, 2006 Finished: February 26, 2007

Happy, happy day

It was a very slow knitting weekend. There was way too much entertainment in the house.


How can you knit when you're surrounded by such sweetness!

Sunday evening I started a sock for Isaiah. This boy has some huge legs, so I've knitted my first shaped sock. The pattern is a basic 2x2 rib with a Twisted German (English) Cast-On and no-wrap short-row heel (another new technique learned). I'm not sure about the size even though he was very patient when I measured him, therefore the little green sock chimney. His hoodie is about 2 sizes too big and headed for the frog pile.


Isaiah's Rib and Laburnum from SKS
These socks are samples for the sock class that starts Monday. I'm working a couple more to try some of the techniques I'll be teaching. If you haven't tried the Combination Cast-On check it out. It's the Longtail & English Cast-On alternated and works fantasticly with ribbing. No purl bumps on your knit stitches.


This picture was taken earlier this evening before I attached the sleeves to the body. Carnival is now on its way to becoming a raglan cardigan. Mom tried it on and it looks like the fit is dead on. I'm itching to get this finished after putting it aside for over a week.

Things are going to be very sock heavy around for a while or at least until I've finished a sample of every technique for the "Sockploration".

Mindless Knitting

I've said before that there is a certain magic in letting Noro "do its' thing." I made that decision when knitting Rosedale and I'm sticking to it for the Carnival cardigan/jacket. The only concession I'm not willing to give up is that the balls must flow from the same direction. (No need to go completely overboard.)

The result. Row upon row of hypnotically colored stockinette stitch keeps me mesmerized. The changes and surprises, the forced randomness - there's a method to the madness of the knots, make me want to see what's going to happen on the next row and the row after that and the row after that, and so it continues. I'm using EZ's percentage formula as a guide for knitting this sweater. So far, I'm almost finished with the body section and will soon cast-on for the first sleeve.


The stack of books on the bed represents the other knitting-related task currenly occupying the remainder of my free time. The Palmetto Purlers Knitting Guild's upcoming program is a comprehensive sock class. The class will be taught over the next 3, possibly for months and will include something for all levels of sock knitters. To that end, I've hauled out the research materials and have begun getting the topics and lessons together.

So even though there are some calculations involved in making the Carnival sweater, they are relatively simple and the rows of endless stockinette a welcome relief when taking a break from planning and writing the lessons for the class. Nothing like "mindless knitting" to take you away from it all.

Old Habits

Often I'm a creature of habit. Good habits, bad habits, annoying habits, but habits none the less. One of them is that I must have a sweater, a sock and a lace project concurrently on the needles. I don't remember when or why but it must have occurred shortly after I started lace knitting.

After swatching and a few measurements and calculations, I cast-on a sweater for mom tentatively named "Carnival". It's Noro Silver Thaw Color #5. Mom picked this out as the lesser of evils last year as she was not really pleased with the choices available. The stripes are only about a row or two wide. The coloring however is wonderful and I think the planned project will work out okay.


This afternoon I visited Columbia's newests lys "In the Loop". It was very nice to meet Lara since we only got to say hi at the Palmetto Purlers Guild meeting last night. I was running late and she had to leave when I was coming in the door. It's always nice to meet new knitters, especially those with yarn and tools.
I'm sure there are exciting things to come from this shop. I've been to the sister shop "Knit" and even though the shop here is much smaller it carries some unique items not available anywhere else in Columbia. Thanks Vera for giving both of us the "heads up".

I started working on the plans and course material for an extensive sock class the Guild will conduct over the course of the next 3-4 months. There may not be much knitting with the exception of heel and toe swatches, but I'll be sure to sneak in some time for the new sweater and finish the hoodie for my nephew and lest I forgot mom's Xmas present. I ran into a few complications with the hood last night, mainly a running out of yarn complication, which I hope can be resolved by doing the hood in another color as originally planned.

Tomorrow marks my 1-year anniversary since I quit smoking!!! (I actually stopped at 9:15 pm on the 24th, but my program quit date is 1/25/2006.)

Hip-hip-hooray!!!