An FO (sort of), and two UFOs

What's that "one step forward" thing? :)

I finished knitting my mom's felted hat. Haven't had the guts to felt it yet. The stripe on the brim seems too high by a row. I really don't want to reknit it, but it seems... uneven.

Then my son begged me to start on his Tigger sweater (like the Pooh tiger, not the Knitty sweater). So I cast on, and have about 3" knit already. The yarn is striping really nicely--sections will have a lot of black with some orange, then a lot of orange with some black. I knit while we watched "The Labyrinth," which I'd never seen but really enjoyed.

I knit on it at church and then it struck me that I'd wanted to start another Contrasto scarf, this time for a friend's upcoming birthday. I finished 1 of the 4 balls today and joined on the 2nd. I love that Mistake Rib!

I've decided to rip the Lang Yarns sweater, and redo it from the beginning, without the tummy-revealing vee in the front, and with the waist shaping. I've also decided to swatch the blue Tahki cotton sweater, doing the decreases as a test, as they are not clearly shown/explained in the pattern. I realized that the decreases not being clear were keeping me from working on it. They are one of the things that draw me to the sweater--making the shaping really sharp. So they need to be right.

Updates on scarf, sweater, hat, new UFO

I finally got my butt in gear and washed and blocked my sister's skinny scarf. It's 63", which I fooled myself into thinking was 6'3" (duh, it's 5'3") but should be fine. I hope to mail it tomorrow.

I've done some more rows on the Lang sweater and, musing on how the Sublime sweater is a bit nipped in at the waist and gets me so many compliments, I'm wondering if I should rip it out a bit and redo the waist with the same shaping. Here's the irritating thing: they do waist shaping on the XXS, XS, and S sizes, just not on the M size (which I am, apparently; who knew?). Hm.

I am powering forward on my mom's felted hat. I knit up to the brim flap and ran out of contrast yarn on row 8 of 16 rows. Called Mom and we decided to just do a stripe of the contrast amid rows of black, the main color. So I ripped back to the welt, picked up the stitches again, and have already started on the 8 contrast rows. I'm anxious to be done but there's that pesky sleeping thing.

I also started a lacy scarf from the 2007 Pattern-a-day [sic--only one pattern on weekends] calendar. Got to the 5th row and I'm off on stitch numbers. I think I'll restart it with stitch markers (probably yarn, as the needles are size 11). This is an orange/olive/red shiny yarn from Mom; no label or anything. Maybe I'll try the burn tests in Yarn Harlot's Rules book this weekend and see what they actually are.

Oh, and the kid and I finished a green 'snake' from his four-post knitting thimble thingy. He put on two eyes and a long red tongue and loves his 'rattlesnake.'

It occurred to me...

I haven't been updating much, as I am still pretty much slogging along on the same projects. Child's First Socks--finished the latest 10-row set, only to decide it's still not long enough, and started the next. Lang Yarns Viva sweater--still not up to the armholes. It is nice and soft and a pretty easy pattern so far. Still haven't blocked the skinny scarf; maybe I'll fit that in tonight.

I did knit a swatch of the to-be-felted hat; of course, I'd already finished it when I read that they recommend at least 20 rows of each color (I did about 6 of the main color, 4 of the contrast, and another 5-6 of the main color). I just went ahead and felted it. Bless its little heart, it only took 15 mins to felt up. I mailed it to Mom today, to see if she thinks they felted at the same rate. It's pretty close. The contrast is a tad looser, but I think it'll be OK. Cascade 220 sure felts easily. I shall have to WATCH IT with the sweaters I knit from it; otherwise, they'll end up on my son.

Anyway, it did occur to me that I don't always have to post about my knitting here. I can jot down patterns that appeal to me, etc. Like the Dollar and a Half Cardigan from the Spring IK 2007 issue. Well, it did appeal to me. Then I was redesigning it in my mind--first, the sleeves: how about making the stripes go *down* them rather than around? Shorter cuffs, and no bells? Then, the back--I need horizontal stripes like I need a mohawk. Make it like the front. So now, do I need to buy that pattern? I think not. I can certainly swatch the front, do some measurements, and make my own pattern up. Done.

I also like the Clementine Shawlette from the same issue, but it doesn't seem too complex to reproduce--it's nearly a rectangle, but with gently tapering ends. I like the foldy end parts.

And, in other news, Mom has said that although she doesn't want a shawl (I had bought 4 balls of lovely sand-colored cotton for something for her), she would love another wool sweater, a pullover maybe with a Scandinavian yoke. What fun! I'd nearly run out of folks for whom to knit sweaters (I still want to knit Chaos for G--upscaled, of course). Whee!

Moving the pointer forward

No FO's to report this time, but I am moving forward on many knitting fronts. Up to row 24 of 31 on my mom's to-be-felted hat, more than halfway through the last repeat on the leg of the Child's First Sock (on the way down, so I'm not halfway through the sock), and I'm within 2" of the armpit/v-neck on the Lang Viva sweater (and it still feels awesome--so incredibly soft).

I am itching to start & finish something fast, but I really need to block my sister's long & skinny scarf and just SEND it to her first.

And I may cast on a simple set of socks at some point--I certainly can't knit on the Child's First without some thinking (I can knit while walking, though, which was good at the Zoo this past weekend).

Oh, and I have resigned myself to having to knit a swatch for the felted hat, to ensure that both yarns felt at the same rate, argh. I was worried about having enough yarn, but I think these 31 rows are the largest part of the hat, and there is tons of yarn left. The 98 yds of contrast yarn should last well, too (God help me there)... and it sure is pretty.

Two more FOs and a new UFO

I think posting about my projects tends to give me a kick in the heinie. I finished the long, skinny scarf and also Odessa. Not my best work, but it is pretty. The beads keep wanting to disappear to the inside. Clearly, I never figured out the trick to that.















I also started a felted hat for my mom; she had bought the yarn for it 2 trips ago, and I located the pattern at my then-LYS. Of course, since its destiny is to be felted, it is on huge needles (10.5US) and is already going fast. The main yarn is black Cascade 220, and the contrast is Brown Sheep Handpaint Originals in Sara's Dress (color 20; curiously left off the list), a lovely conglomerate of black and jewel tones. This can be my mindless project for now, as I knit 31 rows even.