On the needles

I've been trying to squeeze in some knitting this winter break. Knitting is great for those times when I'm with the boys and have a little free time, but can't get to my sewing machine or the cutting table.

This is Traveller's End, a cardigan pattern by Stolen Stitches. It's knitted top-down, my favorite method of construction. The collar and button band are knitted on at the end, so it's also seamless. The yarn is also lovely to work with (as with all Debbie Bliss yarn) and has a soft but substantial feel.

Happy New Year!

Autumnal Knitting: Rocky Coast Cardigan

The rain held off for morning soccer (#2 made his first goal, yay!), but now it's coming down in buckets. So just in time for the wet weather, I have a knitting finish to share!

This is my version of the Rocky Coast Cardigan. Looking through my Ravelry page, I figure it took me almost two years to knit this thing!! My last finished sweater was in September 2011. As the primary incentive for finishing a project is to start something new, I'm pretty sure I started this one fairly soon after I finished my Leaflet Cardi.

For the longest time (yes, months!) this sweater sat with just one cuff to be knitted. For some reason, I could not force myself to do it. There's something about an un-blocked, mushy bunch of knitting, with all those loose threads hanging about, that is immensely unappealing to me. I finally picked it up the other day, and it took me all of a few minutes to knit the few rows required, and maybe 20 more minutes to weave in all the loose ends.

Now I'm happy. I like having a new sweater. My 6-year-old wonders why I always make cardigans with no buttons (what's the use in that, he says). He asks next time, will I just make the buttons, please. I say yes, but I know that I won't, because I hate making buttonholes and sewing buttons.

So this, the Blank Canvas, is going to be next project.  Or maybe Shift of Focus? I like them both.  What do you think?

The yarn, by the way, is Malabrigo Worsted, in Emerald (although it looks teal to me).  It's a lovely yarn to work with, and I previously made a hat out of the same yarn for Mr. Elvy.  With wear, the yarn tends to felt up a bit, which gives it a little more strength, IMHO.

Leaflet Cardi in Eco Wool

With the cooler weather setting in, I've gotten back into knitting. There are several things I love about knitting. First, the yarn: I.LOVE.YARN. Wool yarn. Almost as much as I love fabric. Second, the portability of knitting is a big plus, especially when you're following two boys around pretty much everywhere. I have a framed knitting bag that holds all my knitting supplies, including needles of every possible size, all in one location. Third, I love the process -- there's something rhythmic and relaxing to knitting, but it requires just enough concentration to occupy one's mind to be an absorbing past time.

Now, to the project. This is Leaflet, from Knitty.  If you have never heard of Knitty, it is an on-line knitting magazine that offers free patterns from independent (a lot of them very commercially successful) knit-wear designers.  This cardi is my fourth or fifth Knitty project, and I've liked all of them.

I knit this cardi in record time, based on a combination of a fairly simple pattern and big aran-weight wool yarn.  I think it took me about two to three weeks of sporadic knitting in the evenings.

When I asked my boys if they liked the leaflet pattern in the back, they told me the top one looked like a Clone trooper helmet, so this is also nicknamed my Star Wars tribute sweater.  I'm not sure I see it, but I'll take their word for it.

The yarn is a 100% Peruvian Highland wool called Eco+ Wool by Cascade Yarns. It was actually frogged from another (very complicated) project that was two-thirds completed, then I put it away for a while and was hopelessly lost when I tried to figure out where I was in the pattern.

I think I might knit this again as a long-sleeved cardi without the motif in the back.  That's how much I like it!

Spring Ribbed Cardigan by Knitbot

I love this cardigan and am glad I was able to finish it in time for the early fall.  Ironically, we are having our first heatwave of the summer here in Portland with multiple 90-plus degree days in a row. 

The pattern is by Knitbot and is called Spring Ribbed Cardigan.  I used a Jo Sharp alpaca, dk weight yarn frogged from an ill-fated project started way back when.  The pattern is super easy, but I had to make some modifications because I was running out of yarn (shortened sleeve and shallower front band).  I might try to make this cardigan again in a less textured yarn without any modifications so that the rib pattern shows up more too.

I like how the ribbed pattern echos through the sleeves.