One By One

Gatsby is done!

Yes, I did it! Gatsby Girl is complete:

Pattern: Gatsby Girl, by Jodi Green. Published in Interweave Knits Fall 2006.

Yarn: Rowan RYC Cashsoft DK in opulence (#521). I used 10 balls leaving almost three left over.

Needles: Addi Turbos, US3s and US2s. I had to decrease my needle size due to gauge.

Alterations: I changed the buttonhole size because they were too large when crochet'd as indicated. I also crochet'd on the buttons instead of sewing them on, this was really-really easy!

Impressions: I loved knitting Gatsby Girl! The yarn is super plush and comfy. I had the plys split on me here and there, but this was really quite ignorable because of the yarn's loveliness. The pattern is well written, easy to follow, and was interesting enough to keep my attention. Seaming and finishing did seem to take forever, but well worth it. I'm a bit sad that the neckline on mine is not as form fitting or tall as shown in the pattern picture, but I'm over it because I really do love this top! AND I got it done before heading to Stitches West - Woohoo!

Seaming Along

I've been plugging along on Gatsby Girl, little bits here and there to break up the monotony of all that seaming:

Sewing down the hem facings along the bottom, sleeve cuffs and neck are left, as well as the crochet portion at the left shoulder and the sewing in of buttons. I have not decided if I'm going to use the project yarn to sew down the hem facings... or if it would be easier to use a coordinating sewing thread. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but so far it looks like I'll have this one finished in time for Stitches West!

Seaming Progress

The last few days have been filled with finishing up the last sleeve for Gatsby Girl, blocking the pieces and starting the finishing process. I don't think I'm even half way done with all the seaming, good thing I have about two weeks before leaving for Stitches:

It certainly doesn't help that I was thoroughly distracted by a yarn sale at The Grove. Rowan yarns were 50-70% off... I'm certainly glad DH and I were near by when they opened! After a quick phone call to Kris to get the yarn requirements for Pandora (it amazes me that she has most of these things to memory - you're awesome Kris!), I walked away with the 4-ply soft needed at half price! I'm too lazy to take a picture at the moment, but I have Sooty (#372) as the main color and Irish Cream (#386) as the contrast color (in person it seems to have a lavendar haze to it).

Needless to say I could not wait to start Pandora as this pattern has been on my mind since the release of the pattern... so as soon as I needed a seaming break, I did some swatching. The stitch pattern is a bit more "hole-y" than I expected, but it will still be lovely. I've also casted on for the back piece and completed a whole two rows of ribbing. I have a bit to go, to say the least :)

One piece to go

I'm making some pretty good progress on Gatsby Girl! I finished up the front piece and it matches the back piece, which is always a good thing:

And after an endless amount of 1x1 ribbing, I wrapped up one sleeve last night:

Phew... now to just get crackin' on that last sleeve!

Finished Back and Onto the Front

I wrapped up the back piece to Gatsby Girl last week:

And consequently casted on for the front piece. I made quite a bit of progress at Disentangled's frogging party and on Sunday afternoon:

My hope is to have Gatsby completed in time for Stitches West. I think I might be aiming a little too high, but I can definitely give it a shot :)

New and Re-Visited

New!

I started Gatsby Girl on Sunday evening and worked on it a bit last night. Considering this is my first cable project after learning how to cable without a cable needle, it's moving along quite nicely:

The Rowan Cashsoft is just loverly - it's wonderful to work with!

Re-Visited!

Remember me???

Oh yes - the unfinished second sleeve to DH's Homme sweater!! Did I mention that all the other pieces are all knit-up and ready to go.... just waiting for that second sleeve?! Well, I've been plugging away here and there:

Just some thirty rows from starting the sleeve cap. I'll be bribing myself along with Gastby-Girl-reward-knitting-time on this one just to get it done - it has dragged on forever!

Yarn Yum-i-ness!

Andy and I spent the day out and about yesterday, and randomly decided to go to Encinitas. A trip to Encinitas in not complete without a stop by one of the two yarn stores. After lunch at Via Italia, we popped into Common Threads. It was my lucky day as they were having a discount sale - the discount you received off your purchase was randomly determined by the card in a selected balloon that you got to pop!

I figured that the lowest possible discount would be 10% off - that definitely made a purchase of twelve balls of this worth-while:

Rowan Cashsoft DK in Opulence (it's a beetrooty wine color, the picture throws ithe color off) for IK's Gatsby Girl! I did get a balloon with 10% off inside, so each ball was $7.97 - just about the same price I would have paid online, minus the shipping - Sweet :)