Farewell Summer

Hello Summer's End :-) Did a little photo shoot today to show off my Summer's End cardigan (despite the fact that it's still too warm to be wearing it right now). I took some pics inside then went out back too. You know how it is, you take about 50 shots and get about 4 good ones!!!

Specs:
Summer's End - by Heather Sapp
Yarn: Taki Yarns New Tweed - 8 balls
Size: 36"
Needles: US 6 and 8
Started: Sept 1 2009
Finished: Sept 14 2009

It's hard to see from the photos (unless you click on them to enlarge then study the edging!) but I made a HUGE mistake with this and I only realized it when I was adding the sleeves!! When I looked at the pattern again I realized that I was supposed to keep the edge in st st, but I had been keeping it in garter stitch. I wondered when it hadn't mentioned buttonholes by the time I was adding the sleeves. You think I was going to frog all of it? You bet I wasn't. I thought I could make it work by just keeping the edge in st st then doing a few rows of garter stitch around the neck. It worked out well, the only thing still missing was the button holes. Not to worry, I sewed on buttons and I just created a hole by pushing the button through, at least just for the photo shoot. When I wear this as it gets colder, I probably won't even button it up.

In hind sight it was just as well I knit it the way I did, otherwise I would have ran out of yarn for the band! All in all I'm pleased with how this turned out, and what I loved the most is no seams to sew. I've never really knit a cardigan or sweater this way before, but I liked it :-)

What next? Well I feel inspired to get on and finish 'Woodland' for myself (in between knitting a few small gifts). I only have a little of the second sleeve to do and then sew it up and knit a button band for it. And after that I'm thinking I will tackle Spook. It would be nice to get it finished for Fall or Winter this year.

Anyone bought the new IK 'Weekend' magazine? What did you think of it? I love IK and pick up just about every magazine they bring out, but I'm not sure there is much in this one that I would knit. Can't wait for their Christmas Gifts one though. There's always some lovely stuff in that, and I love looking at my older issues too.

Thank you Robin :-)

I did get this sorted out thanks to Robin. The funny thing was, before I saw her comment I had just been knitting away and continuing with the decreases then realized I would indeed end up with 60 stitches, I just still couldn't figure out how I could!

Thankfully it was just me not counting right, and not me making a huge mistake which is what I feared. I did not want to frog this at all. All that said, I am indeed finished Summer's End :-) I have to block her today and hopefully take pictures soon.

HELP! Can someone help me with the math?!

I was doing so well with Summer's End but I've got to the point of decreasing after joining the sleeves. Everything was going good until I decided to calculate how many stitches I'd have left after I'd finished my decreases!

The pattern says I should have 238 stitches once I've joined the sleeves. This was correct. I am decreasing 4 stitches every RS row at the armholes. It says to do this 20 times. That would mean 80 stitches decreased - right? I also have to decrease at the neck edge every other RS row, a total of nine times. I decrease 2 stitches on these rows, (one at either end) so a total of 9 times would mean a further 18 stitches decreased. That brings the total to 92 stitches decreased. Take 92 from 238 and you're left with 146 - but the pattern says at this point I should only have 60 stitches left??? It totally doesn't make sense to me?

I've looked for any errata on the pattern, looked at other finished projects on Ravelry, but there is no mention of an error here.

Can someone help. Am I missing something obvious? If anyone can look at the pattern and see if I am mis-reading it at all, I would SO appreciate it. For now I'm rather stuck?

Full speed ahead...

I'm making great progress on my Summer's End Cardi. I know if I don't keep at it I'll get sick of it before long and think I'm never going to finish it. When that starts to happen.... well there's no telling how long the poor 'wip' will stay on the needles... in a basket... forgotten for a while (just like Spook and Woodland!)

But that's not going to happen this time..... no it's not! Here's my progress so far. I have about 3 inches to knit in st st on the body, then I put it aside to start the sleeves on dpn's!

It's hard trying to get a good picture of this because the yarn is quite dark.... so this is the best I could do for now.

It's here...

Not only do I feel like 'Summer's End is actually here (we had a lovely big storm here in TX last night, and lots of much needed rain) but my new yarn arrived a few days ago so I could start knitting 'Summer's End . . . . I LOVE it! New Tweed by Tahki Yarns is a mixture of wool, silk, cotton and rayon, although it's said that newer skeins (silver label) have this fiber composition: 60% Wool, 26% Viscose (rayon) and14% Silk.

The color I chose (for Fall) was brown/chocolate but it has lovely little flecks of red and cream (like oatmeal) in it. I think it will be perfect for the cooler weather , that we hopefully will be getting soon. I like the softness of this yarn too. Usually if yarn has too much wool content in it I find it 'scratchy' on my skin. The mixture of rayon and silk keeps this from feeling so 'rough' for me. It's a perfect combination.


I cast on the same day I got my yarn, I've already started on ball #2. The pattern calls for 8 balls, which is all I bought. Now I'm thinking I should have bought more! For one, I would like to make the sleeves full length and not 3/4, but I don't think I can do that without buying more yarn. And I think it's always wise to get a ball or two extra just incase - I just don't know why I didn't!

I'm hoping to knit this up fast so I will be able to tell, at least half way through if I need more yarn, and hopefully I can order from the same company and get the same dye lot without a problem? I'll take pics of my progress this weekend and post again soon.

Just For Me!

Since I last posted I've been knitting up a few 'small' things for Christmas gifts. And I've started on a little 'shower' gift for a friend. I've been thinking a lot about my knitting lately, and can I be honest with you (even though I know this is going to sound really awful) it's not really much fun when I'm knitting for someone else! I have a few 'wips' on the needles that are for me, but I never seem to get around to finishing them because I'm always coming up with ideas to knit things for others as gifts.

The socks I just knit for instance. OK, I HAD to knit the socks because I promised my friend I would make her a pair, but the other 'gifts' that I've started knitting (for Christmas) are already becoming a chore and once again puts stuff on the needles for me 'on the back burner' so to speak. I recently decided that after Christmas I was going to make 2010 the year for ME. Well I've changed my mind. 'For Me' starts RIGHT NOW! I sound selfish, but honesty there really isn't much fun in knitting right now when all I do is worry whether the recipient will really appreciate my efforts or not.

So today, I ordered some yarn on line and I've decided to start afresh (yes, the wip's can wait) and knit myself a cardi for Fall, (despite the fact that it's still 100 degrees here every day, I can dream of cooler weather).

I've chosen this...
and what a perfect name. It's 'Summer's End' and it's a free download HERE on Ravelry. I ordered the Tahki New Tweed online today in the color 'Chocolate'. I thought brown would be great for Fall. I can't wait to get it. I got an email to say it had already been shipped today too, so I'm hoping it comes pretty fast.

Of course, it doesn't mean I won't knit any more gifts. In fact I may still be able to do some while I'm knitting the cardigan. But I just want to feel like I'm doing something for me, and reap the rewards of the many hours I knit when I'm finished . . . . . at least for a little while.

A Knitted Gift

I'm back! Despite the fact that we are still in the throws of a very hot summer here in Texas, I have picked up my needles once again to get started on some gifts. Yes, I'm talking about Christmas gifts, and it's only July! I figure if I start now I might just have some things to send home this year.

But before I show you the Christmas gifts I've started on, I thought I would show you what I just finished working on this week.... yesterday was my neighbor's birthday and I decided to make her a pair of socks. Not something she needs in this heat, but she had hinted at getting some quite a few months ago, and well, that was about the time I started 'losing my knitting mojo'!

I picked up the needles a few weeks ago and started on these. . . .

And I finished them just in time on Thursday!

Specs: Curly Cuff Bedsocks, from Knitted Sock Sensations.
Yarn: Sublime Angora Merino (2 balls)
Needle size: US6 Clover dpns
Modifications: The pattern says knit on 2 needles and
sew up the back seam. Instead, I knit the cuff on 2 needles,
but then changed to dpn's and joined in the round
to finish off the socks.