Knitting News

I am happy to say that Backward Cabled Pullover has finally been finished. That has been my longest FO yet, totalling about 2 months. It still needs to be washed and blocked, but I promise I'll get my FO pictures posted soon!

In other news, Ingenue is zipping along quite nicely. I had to frog back about 3-4 inches last night though because I had placed the decreasing markers in the wrong place after my mind stupidly read over the notes section and I should have been following directions more closely. Luckily, it was no biggie and here is what I have so far...



* Forgive the bleak, bathroom lighting.

* An accidental, "artistic" shot that shows the true color of the yarn better.

P.S. Oh, and that trip to the mall over the weekend, I did manage to score a grey, cabled sweater (totally hand-knit looking) for only $20! It was the last one in the store, but better yet, it had wool and alpaca content!!! It's pretty rare for me to find sweaters with alpaca content in department stores that don't cost $200+. :-)

Eyecandy and Shopping

Spring is my favorite season of the year. There is something comforting about the long winter days becoming lighter earlier and the weather easing up and becoming warmer, yet not too hot. It is also my favorite season for knitting. Well, either that or fall. I can't deny my love for wool sweaters. f only I had more hands and time!

As I was stalking the daily Elann.com specials the other day, I came across an European knitting magazine called Verena Knitting. I don't know too much about mags other than Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting, and the other usuals you would regularly find at your grocery store. These are the two patterns that caught my eye.

The thing I like most about knitting other than the decadent joy of running beautiful yarn through my fingers is the fact that you create a garment that is unique and that you can't find in stores anywhere. You'll rarely ever run into somebody wearing the same thing as you (unless you go to a yarn convention or LYS). If you know me, I take this approach with me when I go to the mall. "Hand-knit looking" is what my eyes automatically scan for while browsing the racks. And springtime unfortunately is when I tend to do the most damage at the mall.

Ever since I discovered my favorite sweater ever at Macy's, a beige INC number that bears a striking resemblance to Printed Silk Cardigan from Interweave Knits Spring 2008, I keep going back to Macy's looking for more. But, alas, that is probably the closest unique sweater I'll ever find. So I went to Macy's last week absently browsing the racks when a certain magenta sweater caught my eye on the rack. The cables reminded me of Tangled Yoke Cardigan, and I decided to try it on. Luckily, it was just my size and fit me perfectly. Even better, this $80 sweater was on clearance for $20, and armed with a coupon, the total price went down to $17! True, I rarely ever wear magenta, but it was a nice shade of magenta, nothing too horrifying. And $17 for a sweater that is made mostly of silk and angora? I say, bring it on! :-D

Afterwards, I bought a green, v-neck cardigan at H&M. It was another good deal at $20, and I was so bummed that they didn't have the bright orange version in stock in my size. Yet, there were 4 XS's left. Figures. I was really surprised by the amount of cute, work-appropriate and affordable clothes they had at H&M. Last time I went was to a H&M in San Francisco a year ago, and my impression was that all the clothes seemed to be black-colored and somber looking.

But not to worry, it looks like I will be going to the mall again tomorrow...*hangs head in shame*.

A Bad Habit

Lately, I've noticed that I am beginning to develop a habit of beginning a new project while I am in the home stretch of finishing another project. In my case, this translated to casting on for Ingenue from Custom Knits over the weekend. I'm going to use the 7 balls of stash RYC Soft Lux that I purchased from Elann.com a while back. I'm excited because it will hopefully be just enough! I decided to go with the Soft Lux because there are metallic strands shot through the yarn making it a bit shiny like the Karabella Marble called for in the pattern. However, it's a bit funny that I'm making two purple sweaters in a row. :-)



Even though I have finished the neckline, body, and one sleeve (which I will probably frog and re-do since the ribbing looks too tight) for Backward Cabled Pullover, I simply couldn't resist the call of Ingenue. I'm the type of person who usually works and completes projects one at a time, but at the moment I have 3 WIPs on the needles. The crocheted Companion Cube is also in the home stretch, but I'm not too worried as crochet goes by quickly. The harder part will be sewing/joining the pieces together and stuffing with fiberfill. But I am a little sad that Backward Cabled Pullover is one of my slowest sweaters yet and I'm not feeling the motivation to do the sleeves. Maybe I wore out my patience with the short rows fiasco that led to at least 10 restarts?

In any case, Ingenue is making me happy although I'm a bit worried about the collar. It came out narrower than the pattern, but hopefully I can just block the heck out of it. I am a major fan of Audrey Hepburn, and I can't wait to wear it like she did in Breakfast at Tiffany's. :-D

Progress Report

Here is what I have so far on the Backward (Frontward) Cabled Pullover. The going has been slower than usual compared to other sweaters due to mistakes, my work on the Companion Cube, and the fact that I was sick last week. I was very scared that it might be coming out too small, but so far it fits pretty well!

* Side

* Front

Casting on for Backward Cabled Pullover

After many false starts (I counted at least 8) due to not knowing how to do short rows, I have finally got going on the Backward Cabled Pullover from Custom Knits. I'm glad I learned a new skill though although those short rows were making me very frustrated for a while. This was the pattern that made me decide to purchase Custom Knits. However, I'll be making the alternate version they show in the book with the scoop in the front. I guess it'll be like Opulent Raglan. I'm using Karabella Margrite (3 balls which were graciously gifted upon me by my cousin during Christmas) and I have bought 2 more balls. I get the feeling I'll have to buy another ball for the sleeves so I'm a bit wary that this sweater will be made from yarn from 3 different dye lots. Oh well, hopefully it won't be too noticeable.

Here's what I have so far...


* Don't they look luscious and plump?


* Slowly growing

The yarn is supposed to be worsted weight, but it appears to be more along the lines of DK. It looks pretty thin to me but it's still so soft and luxurious. This is the first time I've used the actual yarn suggested for a pattern. (Not counting Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece.) :-)

FO: Woodland Collar

Here's a second "scarf" for my cousin.

Originally, it was supposed to look like this...

This is the St. Brigid's Scarf pattern that they sell at Imagiknit in San Francisco. However halfway through, I realized that what I have above constituted 2 complete balls of the Bingo Mouline. And I only had 4 balls total. And it's a discontinued yarn that I cannot find for sale anywhere online. A few months ago, I won a free pattern in a knitting blog contest that I was intrigued to try.

Enter Woodland Collar!

* This shows the truer color of the yarn.

* Hmm...cables.

* Quick bathroom shot.

It wasn't until after I sent off the neckwarmer to her yesterday that I realized I forgot to take a close-up picture of the button. I bought the button in downtown La Jolla at a sewing/fabric store that carries hundreds of buttons. Good thing I did buy an extra button. There was a really gorgeous button that caught my eye. It looked more like a butterfly shawl pin than a button, but it cost $25! Nonetheless, it was very beautiful and I probably would have bought it if it had been more affordable.

Pattern: Woodland Collar by Hanna Breetz

Yarn: Lana Grossa Bingo Mouline in colorway 815 (Green-Purple)

Amount: 2 balls

Needles: US 9

Mods: None

FO: Reversible Cabled Scarf

My cousin (who feels more like an aunt since she's the same age as my mother) was very generous and added many, many luxurious balls of yarn to my stash recently during my trip to San Francisco. Most of the yarn I have never had a chance to knit with before since they're expensive and very Italian/European and buttery soft.

I'm too lazy to photograph all my additions, but they were 3 balls of Karabella Margrite in Plum, 3 balls of Rowan Scottish Tweed Aran in Gray, 1 skein of Dream in Color Classy in Black Parade, 2 balls of Cascade 220 Heathers in Brown, 4 balls of Lana Grossa Bingo Mouline in Green-Purple, and 3 balls of Cascade 220 Superwash in Black. Needless to say, I was very touched and speechless by her generousity. I love the Karabella Margrite and I plan to buy a couple more balls to make Backward Cabled Pullover from Custom Knits which actually calls for the Margrite!

So this was made for my cousin. She loves cables and the color black. I have never used Cascade 220 Superwash before, but thought it looked really beautiful and soft in the ball. However, it bled a lot and grew disappointingly longer than I had expected so I probably won't use this again in the future.

Pattern: Reversible Cabled Scarf by Lion Brand
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in Black
Amount: 2 balls
Needles: US 8 and 7
Size: 72" ?
Mods: None

* Folded in half

* Black cables are so hard to photograph

* Cabley goodness

Pictures from San Francisco

I know I promised pictures of my Christmas trip to San Francisco, and here they are!





* The Ferry Building was really amazing and teeming with tons of fresh, food vendors.

* Inside the Ferry Building.

* The mushroom shop.

* Another shop.

* Outdoor skating rink across from the Ferry Building.


* The most awesome yarn store in San Francisco! It was so hard for me to leave the store...sob. (Also, I am wearing a brand-new, grey Gretel that I furiously knit before the trip and the red scarf I made last year.)

* Imagiknit was huge (for a LYS). This is just one room. The store is composed of 2 main rooms. I literally stood in awe for a couple minutes staring at all the yarn lining the walls.

* More yarn. I forgot to take a picture of the second room, but it was basically filled with springtime and novelty yarns. They also had a huge table heaping with handknit pattern models for sale too.

* I loved the Castro District! They had many really distinct and unique shops everywhere. Too bad I didn't have time to go into the chocolate store. This shot is taken near 18th Street, near one of the yarn stores I visited.

* Chocolate!

* Teeheeheh. Giggle giggle.

* Crepes! We had strawberry nutella crepes and a turkey artichoke. They were yummy. That's my mom on the left wearing the Gretel I had initially made for an aunt. (Mom loved it upon first sight and decided to steal it. The aunt ended up getting chocolates instead. Hehe.)

* Entering the indoor mall at JapanTown. That's my mom and dad. Dad wearing one of the first crochet caps I ever made him, and Mom with her Gretel.

* Cool, tall buildings near downtown.

* A yarn store in the Castro.

* Inside Noe Knit.