October 2012

I think October was a pretty productive knitting month... 

First, I did it; 100", give it a twist and sew a seam and I LOVE it.  The Mobius sweater.  It is so easy and comfortable to wear.  I'd make more of them, but there is that 100" and how many of these can you have in your wardrobe before people start to wonder about you (maybe they already are...)  Anyway, it was worth the 100", I'll get alot of use out of it.

There was lots cast on last month and a few things to show for it this month and some things that weren't even cast on yet, that came up along the way.
First the jacket.  Done!  I used Mirasol's Tuhu and it has a fair amout of angora in it.  It gives the bright colors a nice softness and is really pretty.  I am pleased with the way this turned out. It will be a nice warm jacket for the winter.

The other cast on sweater has the ribbing done.  And I am sad to say that's it so far.  It will be a cardigan with a fabric lace ruffle (scarf yarn) one of these days.

And now to the distractions... I don't know why but I thought a sparkley side to side sweater would be nice for the holidays.  Tahki's Adele has little sequins that just pick up the light, but don't look over the top.  So, I swatched, I sketched and I knit. Twice.  I finished this sweater, went to block it and thought, hmmm, something's wrong. I had not centered the neck correctly and it was hanging really weird. Ugh, so, I ripped it out to the 1st sleeve, confirmed my mistake and put it back on the needles.  They I barreled through and did it again.  I knew if I put it down, I'd never finish it, so I did it.  All that's left now is to finish writing the pattern.  If you do it right it's actually very easy to knit and you can use other light yarns without the sequins too.

Then a new magazine came out,  it was so good it sold out already.  Knitwear, from Interweave Press.  I got the pattern for the mobius sweater from the spring issue and this sweater caught my eye from the fall issue.  Here are the before and after pictures.  This is a great pattern.  If you know me, you know that I rarely knit a pattern as written (the pattern is merely a suggestion), but I am very impressed by this pattern.  It is very well engineered pattern.  It is knit from the neck down and starts with a cabling at the neck, you then increase sts to give it the fullness in the front and sleeves and use raglan increasing to shape the back.  It also uses short rows to shape the neck.  You can't see it here but there is a little strip of cabling in the back at the waist too pull it in a bit.  Very clever.  I am really enjoying the knit!

One of the swatches on my desk is for a winter jacket.  I am thinking casual coat/jacket.  I want it to have a zipper and drawstring and hood and pockets.  I am still working out some of the details in my head, but, I knit the drawstring (This comes first, because it gets encased in the jacket as I knit it rather than threading it through after).

I am holding a class on the earflap hat, over the years you have seen a lot of these, well, here comes one more.  My daughter's boyfriend is in the army and has a very short haircut.  I think he'll be cold this winter, so I decided to knit a hat along with the class and will put it in his Christmas stocking.  Homework is to knit 2", almost there.  (The purple is just a provisional cast on and will not stay on the hat, don't worry!)

I think that's it... almost.  I saw an ad (not a pattern) and the model was wearing a cabled dress.  Hmmm, wouldn't that look pretty on my daughter?  Yes, it would and she even liked it.  So I am ordering the yarn and planning the dress.  I have a swatch made and the cables picked out.  Hopefully that will get started this month, watch for the progress. 

Now, I think that's it.  I hope your November is filled with finished knitting projects and wonderful times spent with family and friends for Thanksgiving.  I am grateful that I am surrounded by things I love to do and people I love to be with every day.  How lucky am I?  Happy Thankgiving!

Until next month, Happy Knitting!  Nancy