January 2008 Archives

I first saw a work-in-progress Wednesday post on TurtleGirl's blog, and it seems to be a popular blog topic. So here's my first attempt. Perhaps it'll make me actually post on a regular basis, and make me take pics of WIPs instead of just FOs for Ravelry.

1. I'm nearing the finish line for Jason's Cobblestone. The best thing I did in knitting this was to start with the sleeves. Now I only have the yoke left to go!.

The Syncopated Cap continues as my second-ever stranded knitting project. The long-ish floats are cumbersome, but I think I'm leaving enough slack that the hat will block nicely. I'm through two pattern repeats, and I plan to add one or two to the four total in the pattern, since this looks really, really short.

I finally started Silver Belle. This is the start of one sleeve. I added a few rows of seed stitch at the beginning because I didn't like how it started right in to the cable pattern.

The k3tog for the popcorn stitch is annoying but doable with my new Knit Picks Options needles. You can see that the cables are already showing nicely here:

I had intended to make this bunny hat in a newborn size, but accidentally used the wrong needles (8s instead of 6s), so it probably fits a one-year-old. I'll add ribbons around the base of the ears, probably in pink.

I just finished my second February baby sweater, this time with a matching hat. The first was blogged here.

Sorry about the funny color. It's really a lovely peach. The yarn is Dale of Norway Dalegarn Falk, which is a dk weight washable wool. I got about 5.5 stitches per inch using size 3 needles, so the sweater came out at newborn to 6 month size, I'd guess. I did the hat with a few rows of garter stitch and then the gull lace pattern, and decreased using a vertical double decrease (sl2tog knitwise, k1, psso) within every other repeat to continue the lace in pattern as far as possible.

And these buttons! Aren't they wonderful? They're from Buttons and Bows, a little shop in Marin that has since gone out of business.

My next sweater project for myself is Silver Belle from Vogue Knitting. The model in the picture is shaped nothing like me, so I need to make some modifications, more than I've done on any of my other projects.

First, the yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL in teal, that I got on sale at Webs.

Next, the plan:

• Knit the peplum in small and lengthen it


• Make the sleeves narrower and longer (I'm unsure how to do this part, but I know I want thinner sleeves that will end closer to the armpit -- advice welcome!)


• Lengthen the torso to accommodate the bust (maybe CO an extra 10 or so stitches on each end, or more to compensate for narrower sleeves -- any thoughts here?)


• Put top of peplum on stitch holder instead of binding off, to do a three-needle BO to attach the torso


• * Change the collar (applied i-cord or cable, like ladysmithknitter's and LilySmuul's Silver Belles, respectively)

I've swatched and gotten gauge with size 7s. Wish me luck!