One By One

Finally done!

After spending the last few evenings sewing in zippers (yes, plural), the Homme sweater for DH is finally done!

And let's not forget the model shots:

   

It is a perfect fit and he just loves it! Yeah! Too bad it is still quite warm in San Diego... we are not sure when he will have the opportunity to wear it out-and-about.

Pattern: Phildar's #418, Homme #77

Yarn: Phildar Sport Laine in Black.

Needles: Addi Turbos, US7s.

Alterations: I added a single crochet edge to the zipper openings prior to sewing in the zippers. Other than that, I made no other changes.

Impressions: The resulting sweater turned out fantastic, and I couldn't be happier or more proud of myself. DH is a very happy recipient and just loves the cut and style. On the flip side, I discovered that I am not a fan of knitting black garments.... especially in a wool and acrylic blend yarn. I am especially not a fan of knitting stitch patterns that do not show up well with the yarn used (the ribbing in this sweater is actually a twisted rib, it's just really difficult to tell). Hence it took me over a year to finish (I started this sweater in October 2005).

I told DH that I would knit him another sweater... but that he has to give me a year to get it done :)

Zippers too short!

How much of a bummer is this?!?

I got DH's Homme #77 sweater all seamed up, weaved in 99% of the ends, did a crochet edge around one of the areas where a zipper is installed, started pinning the zipper in, and discovered it was too short!!

Gulp!

Two and a half inches too short! Not even fudge-able!

I reallyreally wanted this one done for him before Thanksgiving... And so did he.

Oh well. He totally understands, of course. I think I'm more heartbroken over it than he is.

So, I've ordered two more zippers. They will probably be here next week. I'm thinking that I'm going to do what Knitzalot is going to do, and take it somewhere and have someone else sew in the zipper. I'm so over this project, ready for it to be done :)

So, to not be entirely picture-less, here it is all seamed up and very sweater-looking... I still have the other opening to crochet while we wait for those zippers:

More Homme

Well, the sleeves are blocking:

And the neckband is done:

DH did a try-on last night, and it fits! I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not because it means I actually need to finish this thing :)

I see lots of seaming in my future

I finished up the second sleeve to DH's sweater last night....

And since the pieces are *gigantic* (this is a "boy" sweater...), I am going to have to do the blocking in stages because the blocking board just isn't quite big enough. First up - the front and back drying away:

Phew.... This took an hour to wire and pin while watching ER last night! Boy knits are so big! It doesn't help that there are two (yes, two!) zipper-seams on the front that needed to be lined up properly.

Over the weeekend I hope to get the sleeves on the blocking board, seam the shoulders, get the stitches for the neck picked up and the knitting done on the neck band. The jury is out to whether or not I'll have the patience to seam the rest of it (oh soooo much seaming...) and sew in the two zippers..... boy, oh boy!

It is motivating to see DH so excited though - he came home last night to me sitting on the floor with the wet pieces and said - "Oh is that my sweater?!" - yes - "It's almost done?!" - not quite - "I can't wait" - oh sooo much seaming....

I must really love him or something!

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!

Fun Night

Miyon came over last night and we had ourselves a good meal and some good knitting! Guess what she brought for me?!?

My kool-aid dyed yarn! Can't wait to swatch these bad-boys. I think I may have overly-abused my yarn while dyeing it - it's a bit felt-y. But this gave me an idea - what if I make a felted bag out of the yarn on the left?? This could be a really interesting experiment - 100% designed by me even down to using my own hand-dyed yarn!

Anyway - last night - Initially I worked on one of the sleeves to Andy's sweater:

But then bribed myself that after one more six row repeat I would move onto...

Jaywalkers!

I picked up the gusset stitches and proceeded with the gusset decreases. After Miyon left, and before heading to bed, I made it to the foot portion of the pattern. Woohoo! After measuring my foot, I've determined that I have four inches to go - then I'm at the toe section! Not too far to go, and my first sock will be finished :)

Randomness

First off, I owe a couple of shots of our new table:

Just too cute, isn't it? And so versatile.

I feel like I'm all over the place with my knitting, too many projects and not enough time!

Jaywalker "zebra" socks, heel flap and turning of heel completed on the first sock. Now I need to pick up stitches and start that gusset.

The start of one of the sleeves for Homme #77.

One and a half wedges completed on the second half of W. I love that this is a bit of a quick knit - it makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something.

In the wings are Betty and the self-control I'm exerting to not start Marcella or the Mountain Peaks Shawl, Peacock Feathers or the Adamas Shawl!

Oh, and guess what I got???

Doesn't the suspense just kill 'ya??

Saturday Fun

Erika came down on Friday night so we could have a girlie day on Saturday!

Our day started with a trip to Carlsbad to go to Sowing Sisters - the only store we could find in San Diego that carries Amy Butler and a large selection of Free Spirit fabrics. What an awesome (and dangerous) find! The ladies in the shop were so friendly and helpful (they were so kind to recommend that Erika and I meet each other at their store every once in awhile on the weekend as a half-way point - that could have nothing to do with the amount of money we spent there!). We were both saddened that just moments before our arrival someone had snatched up their last Swing Bag pattern - but they had quite a selection of other patterns that caught our fancy - and let's not forget about the fabric!! I walked away with:

Pocket Perfect pattern by Indygo Junction and some Kaffe Fassett fabric.... and....

Some beautiful fabric for that inspiration skirt.... and....

A pattern for Bon Appetit Aprons, another Indygo Junction pattern!

We then jaunted back to the San Diego area, and made a stop at Pat's Corner - a "flea market finds" sort of store on 30th and Upas in North Park. I immediately snatched up a re-furbished drop-leaf table with two chairs that will grace our tinny-tiny kitchen (Picture to follow - Andy needs to help me pick it up with his truck).

Then it was off to Rebecca's, down the street in South Park, for a knit-together with other San Diego area knitters (please forgive me if I miss anyone): Jessica, Krys, Jennifer, Allison, Kristen and Cora. It was fun - and it looks like it might be a weekly event! I worked on my Jaywalkers - I'm at the point of starting the heel flap:

The striping is coming out wonderfully - although I think I should be nicknaming these my zebra socks!

We headed back to the house at about five - and Erika departed for home shortly after. I worked on Andy's sweater as I waited for him to come home... and I finished the front piece!

It looks a little wonky - nothing that weaving in of ends and blocking won't cure! Now I just need to start those sleeves :)

A little bit of this, a little bit of that

Every once in a while, I have one of those, you know, blonde moments. I had one of these on Thursday. Remember how I wanted to swatch for Jaywalkers during knit-night? Well, it's kinda hard to do that if you leave the yarn AT HOME! I was so disappointed! So, instead, I worked on Andy's sweater as well as Betty:

Only about two inches into the back piece. This one is definitely going to be a slow-mover.

So, over the weekend, I was determined to start those socks! Isn't the yarn pretty??

So, I swatched away... on the zero's and two's Miyon gave me on Thursday. And, well, my gauge was off - way off - I think it's probably the yarn :) Anyway - I wasn't getting enough stitches per four inches (I was getting 29 instead of 31), and the thought of knitting socks on double zero's is just frightening to me! So, I did a little math and cast on a multiple of eight less than the smallest size. Since the larger size is a multiple of eight bigger than the smallest size, I think that if I decrease it by a multiple of eight on the cast on and decrease the pattern accordingly throughout by the proper multiple (sometimes two, sometimes four) I will be alright. (What do you all you expert sock knitters think?) So, after working on it for a bit:

Houston - we have the ribbing done and have started the zig-zag pattern! I think after a couple more inches I'll give it a try-on... just to make sure it fits properly.

The rest of the weekend was good. Saturday DH and I went to the movies - saw Failure to Launch. It was a really cute and entertaining movie - I recommend it for anytime you just want to see a fun movie! We also spent some home-time together and watched a few episodes from the Sports Night DVDs we borrowed from the SIL (what a great show - I'm so sad it was canceled after only two seasons!) Yesterday DH had to work all day, so I worked on his sweater :)

Yep - the middle panel is done on the front piece! Woohoo! I hope to get the three pieces connected and have the front piece completely done this week.... and get one of those sleeves started!

Much of the Same

Yep - me - not a whole lot new going on around here. I should probably be posting about Stitches West, and all the stash I gained, but since it was like a month ago, I think it's kinda a mute point now. Don't fret - there's many projects planned with what was acquired, and it will all be shown in due time.

Anyhoos, I've been plugging away at Andy's sweater... imagine this, just six inches longer. So, I have some ten inches to go until I can attach the other two front pieces. Not much progress, I know. The remainder of my knitting time has been swatching and struggling with Betty. The stitch pattern is really a pain. I've experimented with different stitch patterns, trying to avoid the k1f&b of each stitch every other row and then the k2tog, p2tog on the alternating rows. Since the yarn is so dark, I thought I might be able to get away with k1p1 ribbing or maybe moss stitch. Guess what - I can't. My SIL probably couldn't tell the difference, as she probably picked this pattern because of the style of the garment, but I can. Darn that perfectionist attitude! If anyone has any other thoughts on stitch patterns that would kinda look like this, I'll take 'em! Otherwise this sweater is going to take me a year to make!

In Marcella news, after a week of consulting Kris, Miyon and Erika, I've decided to go with Knit Pick's Main Line in Dusty Lavender. I paired up the ribbon with some Lion Brand Cotton Ease in Sugar Plum that I have in the stash, and they looked really nice together. Kris and Miyon indicating that Jessica had a colorcard for Main Line with her during their knitting meetup last weekend - and they both have confidence that the Dusty Lavender will be perfect for my Marcella (sorry no picture up on the White Lies site yet). So, I think I will try and place an order with Knit Picks today... I plan on throwing in some yarn for a shawl and maybe, just maybe, some solid sock yarn! (gasp! read on...)

I'm meeting with Kris and Miyon tonight. Yeah! I really look forward to it every week. I figured I would get a couple of rows in on Andy's sweater and then swatch for Jaywalkers - yes you heard right - swatch for socks!! Hard to believe, huh? I'll be using some sock yarn I picked up at Stitches West - Tess's Supersocks, and some needles that Miyon has for me from a purchase we went in on together a couple of weeks ago. I'll post a picture of the yarn tomorrow, and my progress... if I have any!