A-Recycling-we-will go!

Before I even knew what I was doing knitting-wise (I am now an expert, you see, with 3 months under my belt), I had already seen this wonderful page that shows you how to harvest yarn from existing sweaters. I popped in to the local GoodWill store one lunch break and bought three sweaters for $15. Here they are:

To be harvested

The one on the left has no tag, and looks hand-knitted itself. Its a pale sea-green heather, looking a bit gray in this shot. The one on the right is a JCrew XXL 100% lambswool, dark green with simple cabling. The balls in the center were another hand knit, 100% wool. I hacked this one up, as it took a while for the contruction method to dawn on me - the sleeves were picked up along the armholes, so knit from top-to-cuff. I didn't grasp this quite soon enough, and in my frustration and impatience lost a good amount of yardage to hungry scissors. Lovely husband created a board with nails 3 feet apart for me so that I can figure out my yardage when I get the motivation to sit and wind and count. Hoping the JCrew will give me enough to knit Mariah - don't want to spend too much on my first cabling project, as I know I will be prone to either dropping it in frustration or end up having guage issues.

More Klara

Are you bored yet? I am. I really like the end-effect of the striping Noro yarns, but I have to admit, the thrill loses some luster after 4+skeins. I have memorized the color sequence, so no more surprises (well, I did get that one skein that was knotted together in 4 different places). Honestly, I know I will love this when it is done, but I'm approaching the slogging stage. Maybe when I hit the extended garterstitch on the sleeves I'll perk up a bit. The good news is I will be done soon, and the anticipation of getting to wear it helps.

klara front and back

Needles!

Santa was good to me over the weekend! A tote for my knitting and set of Denise interchangeables from my parents - sweet! Almost done with 2nd front/back of Klara - didn't actually do much knitting, as I was having too much fun with my family.

gifties for me!

Klara Photo

Just a hasty shot of part 1 of Klaralund in the 213 colorway of Silk Garden. She's looking lopsided in this shot, but I'm pretty sure its the angle. Off to get ready for Christmas. Happy Holidays to all.

Klaralund back (or front?)

Progress

The trip to Maine provided a fair amount of knitting time, none in the car sadly - it was too dark, and I'm not that confident in my blind knitting skills yet. I've finished the back of Klara and am about 20 rows into the the front. Its been very fun to see the colors change, as I've not worked with this colorway before. I'm really liking it (photo up soon hopefully).

And a knitting surprise when I arrived - my sister-in-law (not the same one who's getting the scarf) has started knitting as well. She is a long-time crocheter, which I never knew, but recently started trying her hand at knitting. We had tons of fun chatting, she showed me how she crochets, as I'm hopeless at it, and I showed her how I knit, which she feels hopeless at. We even took a trip to Michaels together and fondled yarn.

Finally can Begin

The completion of my gift knitting means I was finally able to start Klaralund last night. Yipeee! I swatched first on size 8s, and I don't know why I ever bother to swatch with the recommended size, as I always need to go up one size. Even in my short career of knitting so far this has always been true. I suppose I must knit tight, even though I certainly don't feel like I do. Ah well, its good to know I'm consistent at least.

Here are her meager beginnings, all I could get done last night after starting the mad rush to get us all packed and out of town for the weekend tonight. Hoping I can make some good progress during the 3-hour drive to the in-laws.

Beginnings of Klaralund

Gift Knitting Complete!

The scarf is complete. I adore this pattern, it is simple but the finished product looks complicated, especially when done with a self-striping yarn like Noro. I see more of these in my future.

MultiDirectional Scarf
Pattern: MultiDirectional Diagonal Scarf
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden #37 (3 skeins)
Finished Dimensions: 6"x60"
Needles: size 9 straight

Jingle all the Way

These are my little jinglebell Christmas ornaments from this pattern. They're looking pink on my monitor, but they're in WoolEase color Cranberry. I hung little bells in them so they actually jingle. Quick and fun to make. They are little gift add-ons for my family.


Jingle Bells

Wearing my sweater

I'm wearing my cardigan today at work. It feels to neat to be wearing something I made. The few people with whom I've shared my "secret" can't believe I made it myself. I was able to wet block it so it fit better around the chest, but that shortened it up considerably. Think I'm going to take a bit of advice I got on the knittyboard and pick up stitches along the open edges and widen the front. I hate the thought of not really being done with it, but I will get more wear out of it if I do that, and that is the goal.

I am almost done with the multidirectional scarf, and I have to say, I love this pattern. Its really fun to do, not boring, but not demanding enough that I have to pay close attention to it. However, because I am dying to get into Klara, I feel like I'm slogging through to the end on it. Some would say, "well then just start the sweater, nothing wrong with having two projects going at once", and I normally would agree. However, I think once I start on Klaralund, I will forsake all others for it. So, I'm being a good little knitter and getting my "must-finish" projects out of the way first.

Also finished a handfull of little ornament bells - they're quite cute. I'll have photos up soon of those and the scarf, and an update to the FOs and WIPS.

Drooling

I fell in love with Klaralund when I saw it, but knew I couldn't justify the $$ of the yarn. Lucky for me, Christmas is coming, and DH asked for gift ideas for me. So.....here it is! I got 11 skeins and the book. I was forcing myself to keep my paws off until I finished the Hip to Knit cardigan and the multidirectional scarf I'm making for SIL as part of her Xmas gift. But now that the sweater is done.........


Silk Garden #213 for Klaralund

Cardigan: It is done!

My first sweater in the bag. I set the sleeves and put on the buttons last night while watching Fellowship of the Rings on TV. It has the sizing issue I spoke of earlier but I still love it and am very proud of my first baby.


Must-Have Cardigan
Pattern: "A Must Have Cardigan" Hip to Knit by Judith Swartz
Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Chunky, Color 112, 6 skeins
Needles: 10.5 straight

I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed the assembly process. I'm the type who hates the "work" part of any project - when I was quilting it was the fun of choosing fabrics, patterns and then the piecing of the top that thrilled me. I always stalled on the construction of the the actual quilt: putting the top, batting and backing together and quilting them - ugh, nightmare. I was expecting similar completion dread with this, but no: I enjoyed seaming and setting almost as much as knitting it. This could just be first sweater honeymoon, what do you experienced knitters think? We'll find out for sure as I go along I suppose.

Must Have Cardigan

This is my first sweater: Pattern is from Hip to Knit, called "A Must-have Cardigan". Its in Nature Wool Chunky, color 112, a nice mellow lavender. I've now finished both sleeves, they are blocking on my makeshift board (foam insulation panels I found in the basement!) and I seamed the body last night - what fun - the mattess stitch is truly magic!

My only problem is the size: when I started this a month ago, I really just looked at the pattern sizes and said "Oh a 38 will be perfect and give me a little roominess". However, when I started ordering my yarn for Klaralund, I needed to be positive about the sizing so I measured my bust for the first time and I'm a 40! You see, pre-child I was around a 35 and that is still the mental image I have of myself, but as DH said last night when I tried it on for the first time "you have forgotton that you've grown quite the rack since [The PumpkinMan] was born!" Silly me. I don't have enough yarn to make a bigger size, and even if I did it would crush me to redo it all, so I'll wear it unbuttoned until I deflate when I stop nursing the PumpkinMan!


Cardigan Blocking

Inaugural

My inaugural knit-blog post - wheee! I've been knitting for, oh-lets-see, 2 months? I learned to knit as a child but never did more than produce half-finished plain stockingette scarves. But I have an innate need to create things, and have over the years spawned various hobbies, the longest-lived being quilting. However, with a little one at home now, those have gone by the wayside. I needed something to do that I could drop at a moment's notice, something I could put away easily to keep little hands out of, and something that I could do with half my attention on it (at least for parts of it). Knitting has been a revalation - it fits that bill entirely, and I love it! I've been moderately productive in my 2-month career, and I'll be posting my FOs and WIPs over the next few entries to get this place caught up.

My first FO!

ChickKnits Felted Bucket Hat in Patons Classic Merino, Peacock. This image makes it look very blue, but peacock is really the best color description (greeny-bluey) I rolled the brim, as that looks better on my long oval face!


Felted Bucket Hat