As promised...

Once again, the might of the Internet coerces me into actually doing the stuff I've been meaning to.

Exhibit A:

Finished the Luna Moth shawl (used total of 5.5 balls of Naturally Merino et Soie yarn). I was pretty chuffed with how this one came out, and it was pleasantly straightforward as well - not a single bit of weirdness in the pattern. Nice and easy to knit too, and the only markers I ended up using were to mark the centre stitch. I think that I'm now definitely quite firmly ensconced in the lace-with-thicker-yarn camp - I love the look of it. I've gushed about this a little on the Ravelry page for this project, but the thicker yarn gives this project a more substantial, more organic look that I think works really well. So in summary, still love the yarn, and highly recommend the pattern, especially if you're like me and haven't had very much experience with larger lace projects.

Exhibit B:

Please excuse the armpit weirdness - for all that it did end up fitting, and I'm happy enough with the way I look in it, it was disproportionately difficult to get a flattering photo of myself in this top. I think it might just be one of those garments that looks better in motion..

Anyway, this is the finished Askew tank (used about 2.7 balls of Noro Silk Garden - yes, you heard that quantity correctly). And yeah, it fits, but it was a bloody close run thing. I'm just glad I didn't end up making my usual size for this one - there's no way it would have fitted me. As it was, I eyed the ease recommended for the pattern, eyed the number of cast on stitches, and promptly made it bigger than I would have normally. I'm not sure why the fit issues were there - and Ravelry informs me that I'm not the only one to have them. If my gauge was off, it definitely wasn't that off... Might just come down to body shape, as well as size... Oh well, I'll take it on board for next time.

I ended up making it a halter style top instead of a tank - mainly for practicality reasons, and yes, for a few superficial ones as well. For a start, I think it might have been a struggle to sew the straps to the back and actually have them stay on. For some reason this batch of Silk Garden was breaking more than I'd experienced with any other batch (I really was at my wits end with this - and I don't even want to remember how many ends I had to weave in because of this), and I didn't want to put as much strain on the yarn as it would have taken for those straps to work as a tank. So, I'm didn't sew them at all (Anna = lazy bum). Instead I'm just tying them behind my neck.

Normally this wouldn't work of course, or at least not if you like your clothing to actually stay on, but the tightness of the top actually works in my favour for this. It's so tight that there is no danger whatsoever of this falling down by itself - I need to peel the thing off like a banana skin. So I think halter was definitely the way to go. And on superficial grounds, well... frankly the tightness of this top does my comparatively limited, erm, endowments no favours at all. It's simply not flattering. So the halter's emphasis on the shoulders takes the attention away from the fact that it squashes my chest into Silk Gardened oblivion...

All in all, I was happy enough with the way this one turned out - not ecstatic, but happy enough. I think next time (and there definitely will be a next time because my fit issues aside, this pattern has heaps going for it - insanely quick, easy, and a really interesting shape/design) I'll make a size with a lot more ease.

And, while this isn't part of the WIP purge, I love it anyway, so here's a picture...

That's my new hat! I made it to kill time while I waited for nice men to deliver my new bed. They didn't end up coming, which makes it all the better that I had a hat to console me! The pattern is Foliage (chunky version), which every man and his dog seems to have made, and I used a little over half of a skein of Noro Iro (yes, I'm very much feeling the Noro love lately now that I can afford to do so). This is a great pattern - though I had a bastard of a time knitting it, due mainly to needle woes. I had to start over three times because I just couldn't wrangle eight stitches over five needles. In the end I resorted to numbering the needles (embarrassing...). This was a bit dopey really - as was pointed out to me at SnB last night, I could have just started with fewer needles and then added them in. But you see, I have no common sense, and sensible things like that just don't occur to me (Anna = all kinds of dill).

I deliberately knitted the brim very loose. As you can see in the above picture, I have a lot of somewhat exuberant hair, and when I wear tight hats it, well... becomes very clear why I had the nickname of "lampshade" in the first few years of high school (kids can be so hilariously cruel). I was concerned that this would come out too tight, but thankfully there were no issues on that front. I love how this turned out. The pattern is a little lost in the thick yarn and colour changes, but who cares - look at those colours! I've been wearing it every chance I get.

I also frogged a bunch of stuff as part of aforementioned WIP purge. Among the casualties were a bamboo tank I'd abandoned a while ago, and the Honeymoon cardigan - both self designed things. I was a little bummed about the cardigan - it was actually finished bar sewing the zip in, but gauge issues and weight loss conspired against me, and the thing just ended up too big, and not in a good way. Also, I had to tackle the ridiculous irony of the fact that even though the Honeymoon cardigan didn't last, it lasted longer than the marriage that the honeymoon in question was following did...

Yep. The reason for the sudden total change in FO photo locations becomes clear. In a nutshell - stuff kind of went to hell in a handbasket: I wasn't being treated well at all, and as a result of this I stopped being able to handle even basic things like work and uni, and generally crashed and burned a lot. Attempts to rectify these things were not met constructively. So, I left. The last few months have NOT been fun to say the least - there were some very, very bad patches. But I believe I made the right choice (as do my friends, family, and the counsellor I've been seeing to try and get my head on straight again), and even though it's still incredibly difficult and ugly at times, I don't regret leaving.

Oh - this possibly helps to explain why I've suddenly turned into a one-woman knitwear factory (escapism anyone?). Anyway, that's all there'll be on that particular topic on this blog - I have other places to rant. But yeah, I'm just trying to get it all clear in all areas of my life, and since I had made reference to my marriage/husband here, I thought it was worth a mention. And here's the part where I am inappropriately flippant to dispel the melancholy of the last paragraph or so: Now I can knit more - he never liked the knitting, got annoyed when I tried to talk to him about it, and usually complained whenever I knitted when he was around. So, there shall be no more of that...

Anyway, I've blathered on for long enough. In conclusion, my Yarn and Fibre Company package came, so now I have more Noro than you can poke a stick at. This pleases me greatly. But I have to finish my bag before I can start knitting with it. Those are the rules...

Isn't it awesome when stuff works for a change?

Have corn chips, guacamole and beer = good. Just the thing to dispel the tedious remnants of this morning's Remedies class (unless unjust enrichment cases really float your boat, for some perverse reason).

I've been knitting away like a mad thing the past few days - somewhat obsessively, I'll admit ("mustn't...sleep...until... knitting... blocked")- and I have shiny nice things to show for it as well!

First thing's first - after I knit the thing in under a week, nearly a month went by while the Bevin tank lay neglected on one of my many to-do piles. Poor Bevin. But it's all good now, because Bevin is finished, complete with armhole alterations (which ended up doing the trick quite nicely). I had to weave in a highly implausible amount of ends to get there (though I'm under the weather at the moment, and was slightly feverish at the time, so maybe it only felt like 800,000 ends), but get there I did. Here is me, in said tank (which for some reason makes me look a lot blonder than I am, and like I have really buff arms - valkyrie channelling tanks ftw!):




I really like the way that this turned out; it was a little on the skimpy side at first (not that that's a problem, but there are times/places for skimpy and in those times and places, I'm usually less likely to opt for knitwear), but a good blocking worked wonders. I really like the colour; a dark and slightly shiny red. I'd definitely make another one of these too; perhaps in a lighter colour - could look nice in a medium grey (I don't/can't really do white). I like the lace pattern, and it was a ridiculously easy one. I especially like the subtle shaping it gives to the bottom and neckline. It's just a shame I'm a little on the boyish side up top - I think this top would look amazing on someone a little further north of a B-cup.


I love this - more photos on Ravelry if anyone is masochistically curious. One thing though - there are a few errors in the pattern. Aside from the armholes being too big (someone else on Ravelry said they had the same problem with that, so I don't think it's just me), there lace pattern is incorrect - I think there's errata on the designer's blog. It's common sense to fix though - you just need to make sure your yarn overs match your decreases.

Anyway, and yesterday I also finished the raglan jumper I've been working on. This went so quickly - a week and a day to be precise, and I would have finished it earlier if my weekend hadn't been so busy. And I love it. Absolutely love it. I didn't use a pattern, just cast on 40 sts and went from there. Did yarn over increases because they look fun, a little bit of waist shaping (decreased 6 sts, from memory, and then increased the same amount), and added a moss stitch neckband and similar edging. Just used cheapo yarn that I had obsessively stashed in my excitement to find Lion Brand yarn in Spotlight (turns out it isn't that exciting at all... meh) - managed to get an entire jumper out of three skeins, which I was pretty proud of (knitted at a pretty loose gauge).




(hehe, I'm in the exact same pose, in the exact same place... weird... It's just that there's a convinient bookshelf there on which to place a camera with a timer set).

I was so irrationally pleased with how this worked out - it's so satisfying when you totally wing it and everything works out as perfectly as if you'd planned it meticulously (especially when you're like me, and half the time when you do plan meticulously it still gets all arsed up). It's surprisingly warm too, given the comparatively low proportion of wool.

Anyway, I was so happy that it went straight from blocking onto my body, and got worn to uni for my first Constitutional Law class (hmmm, that sounds like I'm punishing the poor thing, doesn't it). I wore it with my Argosy scarf, so I was very bright and very happy. Seriously, I was so pleased with this outfit, in all its handknit glory, that even stepping in cat vomit when I was in a hurry to leave didn't get me down...


Okay, I know I don't look happy in the photo, but I hate having photos taken, even when I'm the one taking them...

Sigh. The guacamole is nearly all gone... Shall distract self with more knitting. I have to weave in the ends on my Askew tank... it would have been done by now if the BLOODY YARN WOULD STOP BREAKING FOR FIVE MINUTES!!!! Um, sorry. I love Silk Garden dearly, but this batch is frustrating the hell out of me. I've never had this problem with it before - maybe these balls are a bit dippy...

Constructiveness

Well, I'm knitting away furiously. Been staying at my Dad's place, and since he has a heated floor (best winter time type thing ever!), I've been attempting to make the most of having the best blocking surface ever...

I'm still working away on the Bevin tank (nearly done now), and it's coming along okay. I've picked up stitches around one of the armholes, and it does fix the problems I had with it, albeit while not looking like the neatest piece of knitwear in the world. Still, I think I'm happier with it this way. Just one more armhole to go... I even bit the bullet and crocheted the other edgings.

I also indulged and made myself a Silk Garden Askew:

It's nearly finished now; I just need to sew the straps onto the back - haven't done this yet because there's a little voice in my head telling me that this one wants to be a halter top rather than a tank, and I'm not sure whether to listen to it or not... My decision may end up being made for me though, because this is not a flattering top when worn with my strapless bra...

Two things really defined this project for me: it was quick (insanely so), and it came out SMALL. While I'm not a petite build, I'm pretty skinny up top, and I could still barely struggle into it, even after a good solid blocking. My gauge was ever so slightly off, so I cast on a few more stitches to compensate, and it still came out small. It fits (just), but wow it was a close run thing, and I think I can abandon any hope of ever wearing it over a shirt like I was planning on doing. Still, I like this pattern, and I definitely want to make it again. I'll just make sure that I make a size that'll have a lot less negative ease for me. And I love Silk Garden... at least the size of this one meant that it was (sort of) in my price range; only took 2 1/2 balls to make.

I made some ugly socks with some cheap and nasty yarn:

They're not the most attractive socks in the world, but if they're ugly, than they're endearingly ugly. They're also warm and comfy; I'm wearing them as I type this. Dad assures me that they're quite 70s coloured... I guess I'll take his word for it since I wasn't born then to appreciate it all...

I've also finished the Ugly Mohair Shawl, but I haven't taken any pictures of it yet (it's a gloomy day here in Melbourne, so there's been bugger all natural light to take a decent photo in). It didn't end up all that large because of my short attention span (yeah yeah, I got bored, it happens to the best of us), and I'm still not entirely sure that I'd ever wear it in public, but for chucking over my shoulders when it gets too cold in front of the computer, you can't really go wrong... It's cute in an obnoxiously fuzzy rainbow way, and I'm very pleased to have that yarn finally used for something (it was itching at my brain).

Oh, and Dad and I made the nicest looking salad ever. I can't normally get excited about salad (I am a bad vegetarian who generally needs to have vegetables shoe-horned into my mouth), but I wanted to eat all of this. It was so pretty that I had to take a (blurry) photo...

Nom nom nom...