My Jess jacket is finished, and it currently lies blocking on the dining room table.

I just need buttons!

The “not so shrunken” cardigan is almost complete as well.  I’m in the midst of sewing the hems, and then I have to make the button band etc, but it’s close!  I’m feeling much better about my ability to make sweaters now, as these two are coming out so nicely.  For awhile after the Hourglass fiasco I was unable to even contemplate making another sweater, but now I feel much better!

I’m also thinking about remaking my “rusted root” sweater.  The stitches are uneven (it was my first sweater) and I really should have made the XS instead of the small.

I think my next project will be Wicked , in the green Debbie Bliss merino aran I got from littleknits (the green is actually more to the yellow and less to the blue side than it looks in the photo.)

My Not so shrunken cardi has sleeves!

You have no idea how glad I am to have the sleeves on waste yarn. By the end there were so many stitches on the needle that it was taking at least 20 minutes per row (at least on the purl side.) The good news is that since it’s a cropped cardigan I only have 6 more inches to go on the body – I’m more than halfway there! The color of this yarn doesn’t photograph well… it’s actually darker and maybe a little less blue.

I’m so in love with this yarn… mmm, such lovely texture.

My latest yarn obsessions are cotton/silk blends. To that end, I finally received the yarn I ordered from WEBS.

Classic Elite Classic Silk, for Ms. Marigold. So soft, and with a texture very similar to the Silky Wool. And yes, it’s pink. I’ve discovered that salmony pinks look good with my red hair.

Cascade Pima Silk in pistachio. This is for Sahara, which I’m making with short sleeves. This yarn is also very soft, but it is not slubby the way the classic elite is. I’m happy with my choice, as it seems like it will be drapey enough to make a good sub.

Sweet Georgia superwash sock yarn in Slayer and Firefly, bought from the Loopy Ewe. Honestly, I only bought these because I’ve been searching for them, and this is the first time I’ve seen these colors in the superwash on a US site. Sock yarn is really not a priority right now. But won’t the firefly yarn be lovely in the autumn?

And… since the money for these yarns all came from the selling of stash, they’re all totally guilt free!

Tonight is our anniversary, so Marc is taking me to the Cuban restaurant we visited on our first date. I can’t wait!

 Since I can’t work on my Jess sweater and I’m not in the mood for socks I started something new.

This sad little bit of raglan is the beginning of the “Not so Shruken” cardigan.   I’m using Silky Wool for the first time, and so far I love it!  It’s slightly tweedy and textured with the stickiness of silk.  So far as I can tell this is a “love it or hate it” yarn, and I’m on the loving it side.  The only problem I have with it?  It doesn’t work as a sub in other patterns that call for DK weight yarn.  I’ve been trying to use it forever, and I finally had to get a sweater written for Silky tweed.  So I don’t suppose I’ll be buying any more.  I don’t care for the Elsbeth Lavold Patterns that are written for silky tweed.  Not my style.  Someone else write a cute pattern for this yarn please!
I do have one pattern question… maybe someone can help me?  The pattern says to keep doing the raglan increases until the “raglan portion of the sleeves” measures a certain amount.  Does this mean I should measure down the row of raglan increases?  The only other thing I can think of is measuring across the sleeve, but that doesn’t seem right.

I’m making the size XS, which the pattern says is for a 32″ bust.  My bust measurement is 33″.  I’m trying to avoid making a sweater that’s too big – apparently I tend to do that.  I measured my favorite sweater, and it measures 30″ across the bust, so I’ve decided to reject any pattern that makes a sweater without negative ease (unless it’s not fitted, of course.)  The other knit and tonic pattern I’ve made (the Ill-fated Something red) was turning out way too big in the 34″ size, so I hope I made the right decision!   This pattern doesn’t have actual finished garment  measurements, so I’m flying blind… but I figure better too small than too big… previous experience tells me that if the sweater is too big I won’t wear it.

I’ll tell you though… going from size 11 needles (for jess) down to size 5s makes you feel like your progress is glacial.  I’m a loose knitter (to avoid irritating the tendonitis) so I often have to go smaller (the pattern called for 6s.)

I’m glad to see that I’m enabling you all with the Phildar patterns.  Maybe if there’s enough demand they’ll start selling them in the US.

A few comment responses (I’m never sure where to put these – I can email back, but what if someone else has the same question? So I’m going to try this.)

1. high-strung Says: January 9th, 2007 at 5:04 pm ethese are gorgeous! which book(s) did these come from?!?!? i love the coat with the oversized buttons! They came from the three Phildar Tendances magazines on the Phildar Website.  Just click on catalogues and you can browse all the designs.  There is a knit along for the coat going on right now here.
2. Melissa Says: January 10th, 2007 at 10:27 am eI love that brown yoke sweater, and the fuchia one with the leaves on the side! Gorgeous.

   Funny, I thought I was the only one who’d skipped garments that are knit in pieces. When you’re picking up your stitches are you putting the needle through just one loop or two? The latter should give you hole-free results. The video here is helpful:
   http://www.knittinghelp.com/knitting/basic_techniques/misc.php
   (I just watched it yesterday.) I watched that video too, trying to see where I was going wrong.  But I’m picking up through two loops.  I think the problem is the way the shaping was done.  Those aren’t all regular bound off stitches, which are easy to pick up.  A lot of the stitches are longer, and so they leave a hole.  Oh well… I think it will be hidden anyway, perhaps it’s just a problem with my loose knitting.  Thanks for the suggestion (and you aren’t the only one!)

Last night I stayed up way later than I should have, trying to finish the Jess jacket so I could see the yarn situation.  My final determination?  I’m going to be about half a ball short.  Fortunately, the store I originally got the yarn from still has some, so I’ll be able to get a new ball.  Little knits has a $25 order minimum though, so I’ll have to get a few other things (oh darn – I have to buy yarn?) And last night I did manage to finish all the major knitting (except for half of the collar) and I even managed to successfully seam the shoulders.  Did I mention that this is my first real seamed sweater?  Because it is.  I’ve spent what seems like forever rejecting any pattern that calls for seaming, and I’ve finally decided that it’s time.  Basted together the sweater fits, so lets hope my seaming doesn’t mess that up!  I’m having some collar issues too… the pattern calls for picking up stitches, which is fine, but I can’t figure out how to do so without leaving a hole because of the way the stitches lie… oh well, it will be covered up anyway!  It’s still a lovely pattern.

I’m going to set it aside while I wait for my yarn, and I’ll go ahead and start my cardigan.  I’m getting a lot of good knitting time lately, and I don’t like to interrupt my flow!  Usually my end of session breaks (3 weeks) come with lots of FOs, but the holidays really threw me off this year… all I finished was a pair of socks!

I followed a link to Phildar’s website the other day, not realizing that this was going to lead to me ordering pattern books from France.  But ah – the patterns are so lovely and fashionable!  I can’t understand why these aren’t available in the us.  You can buy (some)Phildar yarn, but the patterns seem impossible.  Here are some of my favorites:

I would have felt better about my order if the dollar weren’t so weak right now, but ah well.  It was still cheaper than getting (for example) 3 Rowan mags… and these look to be mostly free of the crazy Rowan styling that makes it impossible to see the designs.  For reasons I dont understand it was cheaper to order from France than from one of the canadian websites that sells these.  I got the ones with the english inserts because 2 semesters of college French did not exactly make me fluent.  I have plenty to keep me busy until they arrive!