Yikes - I am running low on yarn!

Oh, this is just getting better. Okay, I KNOW I bought two extra balls for the Michael Kors Cabled Tunic. KNOW it, because I was substituting yarn, although the yarn was the exact same weight and knit to the correct gauge on the same size needles as the original yarn. Now I'm coming to the end of one ball for each sleeve, I'm about 65% done with the sleeves, and I have four balls of yarn left. I'm estimating that the collar will take two, so that leaves two balls to finish the sleeves. And I'm not done increasing on the sleeves yet. Sigh. I guess I'll just see how far I get before going to the trouble of contacting Webs to see if they still have the same dye lot that they sold me SIX MONTHS AGO!!!!! Argh. Maybe I can make up the sweater with a different white yarn.

Why does running out of yarn make you knit faster, like you're trying to outrun the end of the ball and beat it to the finish line?

Sleeve Slipup - Michael Kors Cabled Tunic

So I've started the sleeves for the never-ending OH MY GOSH I AM SICK OF THIS Michael Kors cabled tunic. Zipped through the twisted-stitch ribbing. Sailed through the WS chart setup row like the old, weary pro at this that I now am. Knitted along the beginning of the first diamond -- hold it, what the heck is going on?!?! Tink back to beginning of row, turn over to the previous row. Yes, yes, yes, all there. Oh no, there must be more errata for the sleeve that I've missed. Surf to Vogue Knitting Magazine errata . Nope, nothing there. It must be me. After checking and checking, nope. The directions are wrong. However, all those twisted stitches are murder to frog, so I fixed mine by doing a m1 purlwise before the start of the diamond, change the first crossed stitch from a purl back to the twisted-knit that it should have been, finished the diamond, then p2tog right after the diamonds to keep the count straight, then repeat for the next set of diamonds.

Body of Tunic


It worked, and now the diamonds gracefully extend up from the ribbing rather than abruptly starting from nowwhere one stitch over. Yay me! A year ago I would have blindly followed the pattern without thinking it through and then been unhappy after making up the sweater when I noticed that the sleeve cuffs didn't mimic the lower hem treatment.

Front finished of Michael Kors cabled tunic

Finished the front of the Michael Kors Cabled Tunic (VK Fall 06) last night at 11:30pm. I wasn't going to bed until it was cast off! I have reached the "I'm tired of this project I want to cast on something else" stage. I am going to cast on both sleeves together on the same circ so that I don't end up on different pattern rows. I kept detailed notes on the back so that the front would match exactly.

FO: Wonderful Wallaby

Everyone should knit at least one Wonderful Wallaby. They are fun to knit because there are many detailed (but easy) steps to follow, so you never get bored or face miles of stockinette while waiting to get to the armscye. I bought my pattern from Lionbrand.com, but it's published by Cottage Creations. Yarn used was Plymouth Encore in a denim colorway, bought at The Gourmet Yarn Company.

This was my first attempt at grafting, I think it turned out pretty well and it wasn't nearly as hard as I feared. Of course, the mottled colorway hides a multitude of sins. I wouldn't want my first attempt to have been on solid cotton yarn!

Celtic sweater for Cael from the Stash!

Finally finished Cael's Celtic Sweater. I used Ann Budd's Book of Sweater Patterns for the basic raglan in the round design, then used a K5P3 stitch pattern and added a celtic motif from Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Knits Collection book (Absolutely love the patterns, HATE the yarn). Yarn used was Dale of Norway Sisik that I caught on sale at SWAK a few years back.

Rambling Rows Afghan - finished!

I finally finished the Rambling Rows Afghan last night. I really enjoyed knitting it because you get to change yarn colors and block sizes often.
By the time you get to the last row, it does get a little tedious, though. In the second pic you can see the decrease lines, which is what keeps it interesting, you're not just knitting squares and rectangles, you're starting out with a multiple of 12 stitches and decreasing down to 2 or 4 stitches to create the shapes. I added an I-cord edging to neaten up the garter stitch edges.
I was trying to do the EZ I-cord out of Opinionated Knitter, but just couldn't get it started, so I switched back to an I-cord pattern I did in the past, the pattern was Seamus from Knitty.com. (The sweater failed miserably because I was unhappy with the way my picked-up stitches looked along the celtic cable edge at the bottom.) I have gotten really fast at picking up stitches now, so it was a good skill improving pattern.

Rambling Rows Afghan - half finished!

The Rambling Rows Afghan from Cottage Creations is half finished! Like every piece I've knit, it's taken longer than I anticipated. However, I feel like I've really gained more mastery over picking up stitches and now I think my necklines are going to look much neater. The garter stitch has been great mindless knitting during football games, soccer practice...etc. I'm using Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn in hopes that it will be low maintenance for my Dad (or, more realistically, for his wife! ;) ).