A couple of lingering winter birds

On the needles, a wool aran pullover and a cabled sock.



The sweater is yet another Kim Hargreaves pattern, Demi from Vintage Knits. I bought the yarn for super-cheap on eBay a couple years ago with this pattern in mind, I don't know why it's taken me so long to start this.

The sock is an even weirder story. I started making a pair of Spindle socks a few years ago. Then I unravelled them. Now I am knitting them again using the same yarn. I decided to make the heel flap longer this time.

Even though the weather has turned warm, there are still those chilly evenings when it's nice to have some fuzzy wool to knit.

First sweater of the year

Okay, I actually finished this last year (meaning last week) but since I'm posting today, I'm calling it the first of the year.



Pattern: Kaari from Norah Gaughan Vol. 1
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in black, 12 balls
Needles: size 8 and 6

This sweater was easy to make and is easy to wear also. Due to the front utility pockets and slightly weird neck, it has that 1960's futuristic space-sweater feeling that I quite enjoy. It is also very cosy. Probably the Cashmerino Aran is going to pill, but oh well, it's so soft and pretty, I will forgive it.

Shiny black cats like shiny black yarn

Still chugging away on my Kaari pullover. I have the front, back, and sleeves done and am currently working on the pocket piece that goes on the front. Here's a terrifying view of some ends:



Really, though, it's not bad at all. Other than some horrible felted tangles in a couple balls of the Cashmerino Aran (grrrr), which Betsy was kind enough to help me untangle when she was visiting me, and the time when I was knitting from one end of the yarn and my black cat Inky was eating the other end. I had to pull about 5 inches of slimy yarn out of his mouth. . .


Inky dreaming of delicious yarn?!?

Sweater time

I'm trying to use up my stash yarn (because I want to buy more yarn, of course). I bought a bunch of Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in black a while ago and never got around to knitting it up.

I've read that black is the worst color to knit with, but I have to disagree, especially when it's Cashmerino Aran. This stuff is soft and springy, and knits up really fast. I think I make myself slightly motion-sick when I work on this project, due to the speed of my stitching, ha ha ha.



Kaari from Berroco/Norah Gaughan Volume 1

That's the back piece of the pullover. A big blob of black stockinette is not the most exciting thing to photograph, so I added the picture of the finished product in the background for you to enjoy.

fini finito finished

After I won the battle of the sleeves, ma Pluie Pullover turned out pretty well:



Pattern: Pluie Pullover by Teva Durham from Knitscene Winter/Spring 2009, mostly followed the directions for the 38 1/2" bust size
Yarn: Rowan Cotton Tape in Electric, approx 7 50g balls
Needles: size 15 Knitpicks Options wood 40" circ, size 17 to bind off

The yarn was resurrected from a sweater that I knit a couple years ago and never wore. I learned from that fail that Cotton Tape stretches out really fast. I think this pullover can handle it, though.

Other than my yarn substitution, my biggest change was in the sleeves, worked out through a great deal of trial and error and quite a few episodes of the original Star Trek series. . . To start each sleeve, I ended up picking up and knitting 12 stitches for the underarm instead of 6. Then, I did not do any increases and just knit until I got to the length I wanted. I only made three eyelets per sleeve and ended with 4 rounds in stockinette.

more in progress

1. Loving this pattern from Cookie A, the Marlene Sock from Knit.1 magazine in Brooklyn Handspun Soft Spun Plus
2. Experimenting with Pluie Pullover by Teva Durham from Knitscene magazine in Rowan Cotton Tape
3. Yikes!!!