FO: Gathered Pullover II

* Presenting Gathered Pullover II!

* Back

* Baby cable rib detailing on sleeves

* Cabled detail

I know, I know, I'm a very bad girl. This sweater was finished about 2.5 months ago, but I never seemed to get around to blogging about it although it is up on Ravelry. I haven't been knitting as feverishly as usual lately, although I'm merely hours away from finishing Printed Silk Cardigan. Right now, I'm plugging on the buttonband and then comes the sewing. Ugh. My goal is to finish it by 7/2, so hopefully it should be up by next month. I also have another Anthro-inspired Scarflet on the needles for my mom which should debut soon. :-)

Pattern: Gathered Pullover

Yarn: Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette in Pebble

Needles: US 5 and US 7

Amount: 6 balls

Mods: I mainly used Tweedy's mods on Ravelry and added some of my own.

Cast on for the 36.25” size, but decreased down to 32” for bust
Instead of a rolled hem, I did 2 repeats of the Baby Cable Rib from Backward Cabled Pullover
Added waist shaping
Longer body
Short rows and 3 needle bind-off for shoulders

Worked another inch before splitting fronts and back
Left 5 extra stitches at each shoulder to make the V less wide
Followed XS directions for the sleeves and gradually switched to S directions for the upper arms
Did one repeat of the Baby Cable Rib for the neckline in the round

FO: Anthro-Inspired scarflets & Anthropologie-Inspired Bobble Cable Ascot

* First scarflet, unblocked. Darn it, I forgot to get my photographer to take an official FO pic last week!



* Second scarflet, fully blocked, atop a Gathered Pullover

Pattern: Anthro-Inspired Scarflet by Kim Seio

Yarn: Uruguay Chunky in colorways Sage and Red

Needles: US 8

Amount: ~ 150 yds

Mods: None for the green, added an extra inch or two in length for the red, ultimately I prefer the green scarflet's length

I love looking at Anthropologie sweaters and cardigans, but I know I will never afford that kind of stuff unless I win the lotto one day. And so I happened to stumble upon this scarflet on Ravelry that could afford me the Anthro look without the Anthro price. I finished this in mid January, but I'm not sure why it took me this long to blog about...

I love this yarn deeply, and I'm sad that it has been discontinued. The green was left over from my first Shalom Cardigan, and I ended up buying the red from a fellow Raveler.



And here is Anthropologie-Inspired Bobble Cable Ascot. Try saying that three times fast!

* Unblocked at night...


Pattern: Anthropologie-Inspired Bobble Cable Ascot by Kayla K's Thrifty Ways
Yarn: Chuckanut Bay Yarns 10 Ply in colorway Orange Red
Needles: US 10
Amount: ~ 170 yds
Mods: None

I love how similar this looks to the actual Anthropologie ascot seen here. I think Anthropologie even made one in this color too! It was a fun knit, but it came out a bit loose and big for me. :-( Most likely, I won't be wearing this out that much since the looseness really bothers me. If I ever make it again, I'll be sure to decrease the length so that it will fit more snugly around my neck.

FO: Man Paws

Pattern: Man Paws by The Running Biology of a Knitter

Yarn: Oh gosh, where to start? Patons Classic Merino Wool in brown, Ella Rae Classic in cinnamon heather, Cascade 220 in burgundy, and Dream in Color Classy in Black Parade.

Needles: US 4

Amount: ~ 150 yds

Mods: None really, maybe except for increasing the cuff length a bit

When I saw this pattern come out, I was drawn by the simplistic, manliness of it - something that I think my dad would appreciate. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough worsted weight wool in a manly color, therefore I had to resort to using up my bits and ends. Yay for stashbusting though! And my dad has since received this in the mail and loves the multi-colored aspect. He also seems geniunely surprised that I would "know his hand size". :-P He has pretty big hands, and at first I was a bit worried they wouldn't fit. But they were loose on me which was a good sign.

FO: Ishbel (IV) for Mom

Eek! It's been so long since I updated. But I assure you there has been knitting going on. It's just so much harder now that my photographer is off at grad school to get FO pics. He always takes such care and is so patient with me knowing how much I care about getting the right pics to capture my FOs.

Starting the FO parade will be Ishbel IV. This went to my Mom for Chinese New Year's which was coincidentally also Valentine's Day this year.

Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in colorway Pearl Ten
Needles: US 6
Amount: ~ 1 ball with a little left over
Mods: Made a size medium by doing large stockinette and small lace

Happenings

I feel like I haven't updated in a while, although there is still knitting going on! I finished another Ishbel for my mom the other day, and I have a couple scarflets laying around that still need to be photographed. I even forgot to post one of them on Ravelry, which is unheard of for me! :-O

* Ishbel waiting to dry

In the meantime, look at what I started two nights ago...

I really wanted to make my Dad solid-colored, fingerless gloves, but I couldn't find enough random (read: not earmarked for sweaters/shawls) manly-colored wool lying around, hence the stripes. I really hope I don't run out of yarn. In a "doh!" type of moment, I realized that I might not have enough brown yarn to do the cuff ribbing for the second glove. Most likely, I will have to supplement with some black and pray it will be taken for a "design element". Knowing my Dad, he probably won't mind since he wears everything I make him. :-D I'm procrastinating pretty badly on the Gathered Pullover 2. :-( I've reached the part where I need to short row the shoulders, and I guess I'm too lazy to pull out my previous notes and get it over with. It makes me a bit sad that I am not knitting and producing FOs as quickly as I used to be. Perhaps, all this shawl knitting has slowed my pace down?

Holiday FOs

Pattern: Gretel by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in colorway Black Parade

Needles: US 5 and 7

Amount: less than 1 ball

Mods: None

I whipped this up for myself before heading north for my vacation. It came in handy too as it was pretty cold at home. The only thing I didn't like was that the yarn bled onto my needles, turning them black, before I even washed the FO! It's a beautiful yarn, but I don't think I will ever want to use it again. I always get sad when my bamboo needles get stained.

* Can you spot Audrey in the background?

* Miles of lace

Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague

Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in colorway Polar Morn

Needles: US 6

Amount: ~ 360 yards

Mods: None

This was made with the same yarn and size (small) as my first Ishbel, but somehow it came out bigger, especially the lace section. When I made the pink Ishbel for my Mom's Christmas gift, I had to sacrifice my US 6 circulars due to knitting too tightly and the stitches not being able to slip over the join where the needles meet the plastic. Ever since that experience, I have been paranoid about knitting more loosely and so I most likely overcompensated by knitting too loosely on this one. I think it actually "blooms" more with the open lace. Also, my bind-off was a bit too tight as I was unable to create much of the "points" with my blocking pins. But I still love this Ishbel as I feel like it gives off a different look/vibe than the first one. Isn't it strange that knitting can rarely be identical even when using the same materials as before?

In other knitting news, I am still chugging along on my second Gathered Pullover. I also bought more Malabrigo Lace last week from Little Knits when they finally had some shipments in of the darker shades such as Paris Night and Pearl Ten. I've never seen those colorways in person, but I really want to make my mom a dark-colored Ishbel that could go well with more of her outfits. I really should diversify my shawl knitting (maybe go for that infamous Swallowtail), but I can't seem to stop knitting Ishbels. :-D The thing I love most about Ishbel is the fact that it's wider than it is deep, making it easier to wear as a scarf. Can anybody recommend similar shawl patterns with that feature?

FO: Gathered Pullover

* Gathered Pullover (the sleeves came out a bit long so I had to roll them :-( )



* Cables!



* Gathered Pullover trying to fit in with the scholarly statues at Stanford



* Another front view


* Climbing the stairs to a Stanford library


Pattern: Gathered Pullover by Hana Jason
Yarn: Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette in Quince
Needles: US 5 and 7
Amount: 6 balls
Mods: I mainly used Tweedy’s modifications on Ravelry and added some of my own.

Cast on for the 36.25” size, but decreased down to 32” for bust
Instead of a rolled hem, I did 2 repeats of the Baby Cable Rib from Backward Cabled Pullover
Added waist shaping
Longer body
Short rows and 3 needle bind-off for shoulders
Worked another inch before splitting fronts and back
Left 5 extra stitches at each shoulder to make the V less wide
Followed XS directions for the sleeves and gradually switched to S directions for the upper arms
Did one repeat of the Baby Cable Rib for the neckline in the round

I love this sweater! The yarn is perfect, and the cables in the middle pull in perfectly. This sweater also marked a milestone for me as this is the first project that I learned how to sew in sleeves. And it only took me 2 years to get over this fear! Mattress stitch, here I come!

I love it so much that I already started a second one with the same yarn but in a different color. It only occurred to me the other day that I tend to knit lots of multiples of the same sweater.

I am currently on vacation now which explains the different backgrounds for my FO pictures. They were taken at Stanford where my bf/photographer is currently studying. I love how their buildings have such history. Maybe I'll post more scenic pics when I get home.

Christmas FO's!

And the FO parade continues...

First up, we have an Ishbel for my Mom. (I don't even know what to make my Dad yet!)


Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace in Colorway Pink Frost
Needles: US 6
Amount: ~ 395 yards
Mods: I decided to go for a medium-sized version with large stockinette and small lace.




* I haz wings

And a thick scarf for my bf's father...

Pattern: Shale Pleated Scarf by Kristen Hipsky

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca in Colorway Woodland Mix

Needles: US 9

Amount: 2 balls exactly

Mods: None

* Shale close-up

And finally a lace scarf for my bf's mother...

Pattern: Falling Water by Bonnie Sennott

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Lace in Colorway 8127

Needles: US 5

Amount: ~ 280 yards

Mods: None