FO Friday: Bucket List Review

It's pretty much the middle of the year and after finishing my Salacia I decided to take a look at my 2013 goals, since I know the Salacia was on it. Turns out that I actually have more done from that list then I thought.

First of all, I was able to finish the very first thing on my list, knit an in-the-round pullover, Dragonflies. I am not going to go into detail here, but if you want more information, you can read my post about it.

What I really wanted to talk about was my recent completed project.

SALACIA.

(huge thanks to my amazing sister for the photos!)

I successfully finished her up last Saturday and proudly walked into my LYS wearing her, only to be met with great enthusiasm. Kennita and all my knitting friends were so proud of me and all agree this pattern was definitely made for me. :)

When I first saw this pattern in the Spring issue of Knitscene I knew it was going to be the first of many that I knitted out of it. I quickly rushed off to Wildflower where I had some amazing help picking the perfect yarn -- Nashua Natural Focus Ecologie Cotton.  A lovely 100% Cotton worsted weight yarn, I fell in love the second I started knitting. It's so easy to hand and so easy to wash that I wish it wasn't going to be discontinued.

Starting out I was a bit worried. This pattern is intense lace and also in parts, which meant SEAMING. I have never seamed anything before so the idea scared me. The lace did too, but I quickly had the pattern memorized and ended up with very few mistakes on all 3 body pieces. (And the ones I do have you can't notice.) The sleeves however are loaded. There is something about the cellular lace stitch that always messes me up (See - Make up your mind tank).

Well I quickly worked through all the parts and was ready to seam. Once again, I am eternally grateful to have such an amazing LYS and people there to help me. Kennita walked me through the basic seaming process at knit night last week and before I knew it I was seaming like crazy. And you know what? It wasn't even that hard! That's right, seaming will no longer scare me when it comes to knitting. That's something I never thought I'd say!

Overall, this will be my favorite summer cardigan, I seriously think it is going to get it's money's worth and then some in wear. Besides my friend's wedding next week, I just see myself wearing it over any and everything. I am just too proud of it not to :)

And with that, another item is crossed off my bucket list:

Last year I wanted to conquer lace and I feel like I did. Well this year I want to FINISH something lace, with very few mistakes. I have some amazing bison blend yarn that would make a lovely lace scarf! - Although the lace scarf didn't happen, this is even better! (And as a bonus I can add seaming to that list!)

Finally, I wanted to do a quick recap of my knitting progression on tops. When I started 4 years ago I never thought I'd be knitting sweaters, and now it's all I want to knit!

Date refers to finishing date :)

I hope everyone had a great week! I sure have. I spent all day yesterday at the cutest little coffee and book shop knitting away. It was amazing!

~Lisa

And its FO Friday over at Tami's Amis!

I wish...

Getting There...

Anyone else notice that Blogger made it so you had to click "read more" to see the rest of my last, super long, post? Oh well.

I wanted to share this with you on WIP Wednesday, but time just slipped away.

I finished the back panel of my Salacia last night, and started the left front panel. Hopefully the worst is behind me, as the back was the biggest piece. My June 1st goal is looking more and more realistic as I progress. I am still not sure how I will go about sewing and blocking, but that's a bridge I will cross when the time comes. For now, I am going to just keep on enjoying knitting!

In other news, I am a bit worried. I submitted my hat design to a Knitpicks Call and haven't heard anything back, while apparently most everyone else had. Should I be worried? Or maybe I'm reading too much into it...

I've had a pretty good week. I've had some rough patches with my art, but I think I may finally have a few things figured out and now I'm just being productive, which is always good!

Finally...has anyone seen Pitch Perfect? I just got it from Netflix this past weekend and fell in love. Maybe it's the music, which is really fun. There's just something about it...

Pitch Perfect! I've watched it twice in a 4 day span. 

1 week until Relay for Life, 2 weeks until I set up my BFA Show. YIKES! Wish me luck :)

~Lisa

Going Green

I bet you weren't expecting a new post so soon! Well let me say, neither did I! But I really wanted to share my FO with you guys, as well as my next project.

Thanks to everyone for the opinions about Knitpicks, I liked seeing what everyone had to say about them. I also want to thank you all for the opinions about my Abalone Sweater. In the end I decided to use the Sari Silk and boy am I glad I did!

(Does no justice for how pretty this is)

I know a lot of you are considering knitting this sweater also, so I am going to give an honest review of the pattern.

1) I really liked how easy it was to knit, as well as how it was adjustable to your gauge and yarn,. I wish there was a bit more shaping, but overall I loved how easy it was. If I had to do it again, I'd probably make it go to a little bit further on my chest.  So I give the construction a 9.

2) The pattern was a bit vague in spots, probably because it's not written in the USA. I had to re-read a few things quite a bit before I comprehended what they required. I am still not sure if I did it exactly right, but it worked out. The major dilemma I found was separating for sleeves, but that may just be because I am a novice sweater knitter.  I give the writing a 6.

3) Finishing, which was also a bit vague, I really liked because I didn't have to block it! I could if I wanted to, but I probably wont. So I give that a 9 also, just for being a little confusing. 

Overall this pattern is getting a solid 8 from me, I would definitely make it again or adapt it into another pattern. Can't you just see something with cables or a design? The yarn here is Manos del Uruguay silk blend in the Mermaid colorway. I know you can't see it well above, but each skein pooled differently, so it is a bit striped, but I love it! And the sari makes it very unique! I have no clue how I will wash it when the time comes, but I'll figure something out.

Finally, do you guys think I should put a tie in the front? I have a bit of Manos left and was thinking of making a crochet chain and using it to close the front (with a bow) when I want to? What do you all think???

I also want to share my next endeavor. I am going back to spring socks, with Yukon by Pagewood Farms that I purchased at Wildflower back in November. The sock pattern I am knitting is Pyroclastic, a pattern that looks perfect for this color. :)

I hope everyone has a great weekend. Relay is this weekend (tomorrow!) and I am all busy getting ready for that. I will keep you posted on how it goes.

~Lisa

Oh and just for fun, here is Muffin hanging out in the Catnip plant we have in the back yard!

What Would You Do?

Hey guys.

As you probably know, I have been working on my second 'sweater', the Abalone, in Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend. I am really close to finishing it up, but I've run into a snag.

All that I have left to do is the borders, which require you pick up all the stitches around the entire sweater and then knit 8 rows of garter stitch.  This is where the problem comes in, because I am very sure I do not have enough yarn left to complete this task; I could probably do 1 row at most.

For most people, they'd just go buy more yarn. But this yarn already has 2 different dye lots (even though there really isn't a dye lot for this type of yarn), because I got some for Christmas and then some a month ago. There's also the fact that I cannot buy it around here, so I would have to get my buddy Ivy to go buy me yet another skein. Also, money is kinda tight right now, so it's not like I can really afford ANOTHER skein.

So I went searching through my stash in hopes of finding SOMETHING that would match and maybe work as a border. I found this:

It's recycled sari silk I won at a festival last year. The color of the sari also occurs in the somepart of the the Manos yarn I am using, see?

So, if you were me, what would you do? Would you get another skein of Manos? Or use the Sari? Any other suggestions? I will take whatever advice I can get, because I really want to finish this and make it look good (and not thrown together randomly).

Also, isn't the pooling interesting? I think it's so weird how all four skeins ended up having their own pattern to them.

I hope everyone is having a great start to April, I know I am. I can't wait to hear all your ideas!

~Lisa

Happy Spring!

Well Spring has just begun here, even though Spring Break has just ended. I spent the last week at home, enjoying the much needed break from the crazyness that is college. Most of my time was spent knitting, and I managed to get quite a bit of work done on my newest project, Spring Green Abalone. I'm already in love with the color changes and I bet I'll have this done by the end of March. (Don't want to give myself a deadline, I have A LOT of school work to catch up on this week, plus Relay stuff...).

All that's left is the back, other side and then sleeves and border!

In other news, as I mentioned, Spring Break was last week. One of the highlights of my week was getting a chance to stitch and bitch with an old high school friend, Ashley. She is very new to knitting, still just doing garter stitch scarves with Hobby Lobby yarn, but it was so much fun to pop in a chick flick and knit and talk about life. I officially am in love with the idea of knitting with my friends.

Ashley is super excited because she finished the first section of color on her scarf!

My family also took a much needed break by taking a weekend break to Wichita, Ks and visiting the zoo. It was really nice because it was such a beautiful day and also a place we used to go every year growing up, but I haven't personally been there in years. It's amazing how many of the things came back to me as we explored, yet many things have changed. I really enjoy visiting zoos and seeing all the animals. It's such a nice way to spend time outside.

Aren't penguins awesome?

In fact, I wish I had gotten a chance to spend more time outside, but the weather had other plans. It rained all week, up until this previous Friday. I finally went outside yesterday and did a bit of knitting while watching my kitties play and chase birds. Sasha makes me laugh so much with her antics. Did I mention she liked to get into my suitcase and leave trails of my underwear from my room to the litter box while I was sleeping? I think it's really cute.

Sasha watching the birds!

With Spring Break coming to a close, I plan to conquer some of my homework, as well as many Relay things (3 weeks till Relay!) this week. Hopefully I'll get some work done on my Abalone, I really want to wear it this spring!

I wanted to thank everyone for the amazing comments on my last post, I have never received that many and I loved reading and responding to them all! I hope you are all having a great start to your Spring!

~Lisa

First FO's of Spring

I feel like it has been forever since I have shared a finished project with you guys. But I am proud to say that today I have TWO to share!

First up is my Effortless Cardigan, which many of you probably remember me talking and blogging about. I have been working on this since November, 2011 and I probably could have had it done sooner, but I lost interest quite a bit with other projects. But, I still finished it in a decent amount of time, given that it is my first large sweater type project. 

If you look close enough, it is a little bit big on me,but the size choices were weird on the pattern and I was not about to alter it on my first big project.  Overall, I think this will be more of a lounge around the house sweater than anything else, but maybe once fall comes again I will wear it out more; the color doesn't really shout "Spring!" to me.  I wish I could show you guys better pictures, but it was hard to get good pictures with out zooming in too much.

Did I mention that I can now cross something off my 2012 Fiber Resolutions? I have finished my first full sweater successfully!

The next project I want to share is something I casted on right after I finished up the cardigan. Everything But Vintage Socks.  I have had a ton of Berroco Vintage scraps in my stash and needed to use them up. Since Vintage is my go to worsted weight sock yarn anyways, why not make socks? I decided I wanted to use it all up in one pair, so I went for it and made knee highs! They tend to fall down when I walk, but that's probably because I increased a little too much. Either way, they're very warm and are full of memories. There are 4 pairs of socks, a hat, a pair of mittens and my sweater all knitted into a striped pair of socks! Oh and I forgot to mention that my kitties like them too :)

Since I can't NOT be knitting something, I began work on my next project last night. Using some Manos del Uruguay that Ivy sent me for Christmas, I began swatching this very cute and simple cardigan, Abalone. Although the knitting will be simple, it has a bit of seaming and shaping I haven't had any experience with, so that will be a bit of a challenge when I get there. But after the last cardigan, I am up for the challenge!

I hope everyone is having a great start to Spring! The sun here has disappeared and probably won't come out for the rest of the week. It's so sad, because I really want to sit outside and knit, but I can't in the rain. 

~Lisa

Slowly But Surely Effortless

I just realized that it has been over a week since I updated, but I honestly have had nothing to say about my knitting/spinning/artsy life.  I've been increasingly busy with school, especially my drawing class (you can see an image of my first drawing of the semester on the "my art" page). My teacher is expecting a lot and in return it has given me next to no time to actually knit.

I did manage to get some progress on my Effortless Cardigan. In fact, even without knit nights due to Relay meetings, I managed to finish the body of it and bind it off today.  I 'tried it on' to see how it was looking and that in turn made me very excited for finishing this thing!

If I could, I'd take a picture of me wearing it, but that's difficult and it isn't done yet anyways. My only concern at the moment is that it is a bit big, especially around the sleeves. Going down a size would have led to it being too small though, so I didn't have much choice. At least I know it will fit over other things when I wear it!

I started sleeve 1, and I think I'm going to finish those fast, working in the round with stockinette always makes things go by fast. I am a bit scared to pick up the side stitches and make the ribbed bands, as I have never picked up stitches like that before.  Any pointers?

I'm sorry if this was a bland post, but I've been so busy lately that I felt like I had to post SOMETHING even if it wasn't much.  Well, time to get back to the drawing board, literally!

~Lisa

Well, That's a First!

I like puns :)

In case you are wondering, this post is all about the "firsts" I am acheiving this month in the world of knitting and spinning.

First on the list is a project I am making with some wool I got at K1 knitting boutique in Edinburgh, Scotland. It's going to be a set of fingerless gloves. Why a first? Well 1, I've never made fingerless gloves, and 2, I am improvising the pattern. I am taking the construction from a basic gloves pattern, using the math of another fingerless pattern to know when to cut off the fingers, and creating my own cable design to go on the outside of the hand. The cable shown in that pattern is not the design I am creating, but it is the chart I am basically working from. When they're done they should have an X across the front of them.

Second on the list is my first handspun with my new spindle. I am not sure of the weight (The owner of Wicked Stitch didn't tell me...) but it's heavier, which means thicker plys. It's also being spun with my FIRST (Sensing a pattern here?) Wilton Food Dye dyed roving, and I really love how it turned out! It's various shades of blues, greens and yellow and it looks so pretty! And the thicker plys make it softer too.

And that leads us to the next first, my FIRST sweater! Ok, it's actually a cardigan, but what's the difference? I am using this very pretty shade of Berocco Vintage (My old standby for worsted socks) and so far it really is effortless, hense the name "Effortless Cardigan". I am only 6 rows in, and it seems like it may take awhile, but I am up for the challenge.

No I did not take this picture, it's a very nice picture taken by one of my test knitters for my first published (and for sale) pattern! I'm so excited about these because they are super basic and cheap and all proceeds go to Relay For Life. Here we go again with that, but I am really passionate about that cause.

The next 5-6 weeks are going to be torture. My teachers are pushing me so hard, and I'm grateful for it, but also burned out. I don't really feel like doing anything, but I have no choice. School should come first, but I'm having a hard time lately remembering that. Wish me luck as the next weeks speed by.

~Lisa

Things to Finish Before New Years (Yea Right)

So, I've been crazy busy with studio stuff lately, spending literally every night until at least 11 (last night it was 12:30) there, trying to get stuff done. It's the only time I have to do it so I don't have much choice in the matter. None the less, I am still finding time to knit, both at Knit Nights at Wildflowers, and at home (wish more basic, non-Wildflower purchased yarns). I have come to the conclusion that there are a few things I'd love to get done before the first of the year, just so I can start fresh with new stuff in January. Here is my list:

Twilight Curls Scarf: This thing is actually knitting up really fast. It's my knit-night exclusive project, simply because it's with Wildflower purchased yarn, and I therefore want to use it at her shop. It should be done by the end of knit night tonight, and if not I'll probably finish it later this weekend so I can start...

Effortless Cardigan. Yes, I want to make a cardigan. I don't have the yarn for it yet, but I plan to purchase it this weekend. I don't know if I really have the time with school, but hopefully I can find time here and there to work on it and finish it for the new year!

Rick Socks As you've already seen on this blog, I have these socks going. I haven't picked them up in a while, so they aren't very far along, and they take awhile to get very far on. This will probably be the one project I DON'T finish before January. There's something about socks: I love making them, but can never finish a pair without stopping to do other things in between.

Lost in Transit Lustra Scarf As of the middle of December, it will have been a good year since I picked up this scarf to work on. That's a sign it needs to get finished. I want it done, but it's not high priority right now. It would have been done last year, but I had to stop to make IOU Christmas gifts.

I also have a couple of gifts on my needles right now,but I'm not going to talk about them until they are and given.

Happy November everyone! I hope life doesn't get more stressful as the weather turns colder.

~Lisa