Summer Knitting Round Up (Part 2)

Shawls weren't all I knit this summer... I also did some sweater damage! I finished a sweater that I have been working on since... um... February.

Name: All purpose sweater

Pattern: Fresco Lace Bodice Cardigan

Yarn:Classic Elite classic 150

Needles: knit picks options 3,4,and 5

Notes: Dude. I cabled. You know I HAD to have a sweater if I was willing to CABLE for it. I also bought yarn SPECIFICALLY for it. This adds up to some serious love on my part.

The sleeves are a little long - which is crazy with my monkey arms. They aren't long enough for it to bother me, but it is odd for anything to be long on my arms. Long story short, the cables were totally worth it, and so was begging yarn off people on ravelry to finish it, since I ran out of yarn. I plan to wear it all the time this winter!

I also knit a tank top this summer:

Name: Red Raspberry Swirl

Pattern: Orange Smoothie

Yarn: Ella Rae Bamboo Silk

Needles: Inox size 5

Notes: I started this as a companion project for my "Thursday Night New Haven SnB Chuck Norris Shawl a Long" Shawl. It also happens to be from my book list. It is a fun little pattern, and it easily adaptable to fit a range of shapes and curves. The most challenging part is figuring out what changes you, personally, need to make.

When it was all said and done, I did two sets of short rows at the bust, and made the straps to inches shorter. I also single crocheted the center back cast off, since the pattern didn't call for any kind of finishing, and it wanted to roll like whoa. I wore it a few times, I like wearing it, but the yarn pills up pretty quickly. I'm still happy with it though!

p.s. the saggy boob thing is because my dress form isn't nearly as endowed as I am in the boobage department.

Then, just when you thought I'd be sweatered out, I started another one!

It is based off of a 1910's pattern. I call it "Rose Ate My Sweater". It is currently my "in the dark" project.

and a pair of socks:

Which I decided to knit upside down and without enough yarn. (eyeroll)

Lastly, I made a little cute baby hat.

Aww.

I have to admit, I didn't feel like I was knitting much this summer, but I guess I was wrong!

companion projects keep me sane(ish)

Those that know me in real life know that I definitely skirt the line of sanity most times. Granted, I'm not a pyromaniac, or anything, but I have a habit of doing things that make others question my sanity in a big way. For instance, designing 4 shows at the same time. Sane people just don't do that.
When knitting, I often find myself working on ill-advised projects (cough. mohair in July cough.) or way too many complicated projects at once. For my own sanity, I really should try to keep it to one or two WIPs at any one time, but it never happens that way. never.

What I found does work is knitting a simple project along side a complicated one. Some days, following a chart takes too much brain power, or a project is too cumbersome for the situation, or I can't do it in the dark. Those instances call for a "companion project". A project that allows for "brain rest" and ease of knitting.

I am currently floating two:

Red Raspberry Swirl Sweater. I just need to put in ends and do a little crocheting around the neckline. I started this companion project along with my Lava Shawl. Up until the bust section started, it was really mindless, and totally easy to do just about anywhere. It was taken off "easy" status with the bust shaping. Paying attention negates the purpose. But, it is almost finished!

This is my current one:

I call it "Little Blue". It is not only exceedingly portable, but also totally awesome because it will knock another book off of my "to knit from" list. Unfortunately, it might take me twelve weeks to knit this little thing, since it is only worked on at the movies, or in line, and late at night when I'm too tired to do anything complicated. Most of the time, I end up not entering these types of projects into Ravelry because they are so small, and I finish them before I feel like I have enough "project" to take a picture of. Silly,I know.

What, you might ask, is the little hat a companion to? Currently, it is Maia, the next shawl in the Seven Sisters Series. I am almost finished already! Evidently, I am no better at posting about big projects than I am at small ones!

knitting lately? Not so much.

I had a crisis in crafting three days ago. It was over a hundred degrees, I was knitting mohair, and it kept touching me.

Fuck that right in the head.
I switched to my sweater. It's cotton, it'll be fine!

So wrong. It was just as bad.
I decided to work up some squares for the Schuyler Blanket project. I looked through the “ends” bin and found two partials of Cotton ease, and had two more I just got from a yarn swap at SnB. woo!
I thought about knitting them, but had recently been thinking that I hadn’t crocheted anything in, like, 6 years. I didn’t want to totally lose the skill, ya’ know? I looked up an easy granny square pattern and went all Chuck Norris on 'em. 6 granny squares later… I decided I needed a change.

As luck would have it, my crochet stitch pattern book was at work. So I bought the pattern book for the "non granny squares" at AC Moore, along with another skein of yarn. I might have calmed the crochet bug for a while. 14 squares is pretty respectable!

The yarn is all cotton-ease except the orange yarn. The orange is Red Heart eco-ways. I hadn't used the eco-ways yarn before, and I can't say i cared for it. It was irritatingly splitty. It was kind of a let down after the cotton-ease, which i love.
I'm glad the tempurature has finally gone down. I want to knit my shawl again!