How About That? Reid Does Fit

I'm modeling my New Tweed Reid. Finally. I had finished this project back in September of last year. This tunic was meant to be worn sometime in the Fall. It took me only 3 weeks to knit and it took me 4 months to get it blocked. What can I say? Hand washing is a chore for me. I tend to wait until I have several things that need hand washing. Then I do it all at once.

I will end up wearing this with a black long sleeve t-shirt underneath. After all, it's cold now.

After blocking, I finally got the chance to model this tunic. It fits beautifully I must add. When I blocked this top, I just laid it out on my blocking mats and gently reshaped the garment. No pins were used. I think that was the key for me. I had tried this top on right off the needles last year and it was quite loose. Maybe that's why it took me so long to hand wash and block. I think I lost interest in it.



Now, I'm back to loving this top.

Trying to Be Good

I've been wearing a lot of the cowls I've knitted. I like them better than wearing scarves. Plus, I enjoy knitting cowls. So, what do I do? I found another cowl pattern on Ravelry. So, instead of knitting and wearing the same lace pattern (e.g. Noble and Listado), I opted to look for another different lace pattern. I have now collected three new cowl patterns to try. The first one is called a basic lace cowl and the pattern includes CO instructions for different weights of yarn. That's a plus.

I've pulled out from my stash the Plymouth Happy Feet DK yarn in bright blue tones. I've been saving this for something special (other than socks) and finally matched a perfect project to go with it.

I've started this basic lace cowl and finished the first lace repeat pattern. I had to knit the first few rows to see if I would like it. The lace pattern is gorgeous. The yarn is knitting up beautifully. Now...I have to stop and put this knitting project aside as I'm taking this with me on vacation. Pure torture for me not to finish this. I have two small WIPs that I should be working on now, but it's not as exciting as when I start a brand new project that I can't seem to put down. Like this cowl.

I guess I need to put this away. Like in my luggage. What's that saying? "What you don't see, you don't knit"...that might be my new saying for this week.

Some Pics

Here's some pictures I mentioned I would post. Here is the Listado Cowl:



I'm trying to figure out where did all that white hair come from?



Here are my blocking projects from the weekend:

Winding Down?

I've been on a knitting frenzy. Trying to finish some small projects. Get them off my needles so I can start thinking about my next big knitting project to start sometime in February. I finished my Listado cowl. I stopped knitting way before the 21 lace repeat pattern per instruction. I'll admit, I lost track of the number of repeats that I knitted. I just kept knitting and then decided to stop short and wear the Listado as a cowl and not as a head covering. I'm not a hat person, so I didn't think I'd wear Listado over my head. I hand washed and blocked the cowl. Took less than a day to dry. I managed to take some quick pics of me modeling the cowl. Now, it's getting late and will have to post a pic later this week when I get some computer time.

I've started another Watch Cap for my hubby. Still using Berroco Vintage, but in an olive green color. I've gone down a needle size to #7 on 16" circs. Hubby had given his feedback on my first version...the stitches are a bit loose and so the cap doesn't fit as snug as his Yankees RTW knitted cap. *Sigh* So, back to the drawing board with the smaller needle size. Just like the first version, I'm knitting this cap using the Continental method. Practice, practice, and more practice. I've finished the 3 inches of 1x1 ribbing and now knitting the main body of the cap in St st. I really enjoy knitting the ribbing. I noticed my knitting is much more contained and consistent. I also noticed, I'm knitting a bit faster.

I still have my 4th set of fingerless gloves to finish...the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran version. Just need to finish the cable at the knuckles and then I can start the right glove.

I hope to finish these projects within the next two weeks. If not, I'll end up taking them with me on vacation.

I did mention February. I hope to come back from vacation rested and ready to go with a new outlook on knitting. More challenges on the horizon. I'm anxious to start knitting a project with two colors. I do have a few projects in mind, at least one of them is a cute sweater by Jared Flood. I anticipate the next project will be time consuming and may take me to the end of winter to finish.

That's all for now. I'll be back to post pictures and maybe a book review or two.

Tub, Water, & J&J Shampoo Day

Yesterday, I spent some time with my designated dish tub, water, and Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo. What are on earth was I up to? Getting ready to block some garments. I have a dish tub that I use solely for soaking/hand washing my knitting projects. Once I add the cool water, I throw in a few drops of J&J baby shampoo and swish the water around to produce some bubbles.

If I have a wool or wool blend project, I simple dunk it in the water with very minimal movement. I then change out the water and give the wool project a final rinse in the tub...again with very minimal movement. I gently push my project to one side of the tub and dump the rinse water out of the tub. Still holding my project against the side of the tub, I continue to apply a bit more pressure to get most of the water out of my knitted project. I then lay my wool project out on a flat thick bath towel and stretch out the project flat, but not too much stretching. I take another thick bath towel and lay it over my wool project that's already laying on the first towel. I start at one end of the towels and gently start to roll, keeping my wool project sandwiched between the two towels. At this point, I let rolled towels sit for a few minutes. Note: I've been known to step on the rolled towels to put a little pressure and get the towels to pull the excess water from the wool project.

I lay out my KnitPicks blocking mats. I actually used two sets as I was blocking three garments. I place thick bath towels over the mats. I unroll the wet towels and gently place my wool garment on my towel covered blocking mats. I rearrange my project to the size I need, flatten edges, etc. Sometimes, I will pin my project in place or just leave it flat to dry.

For my non-wool projects, I don't have to be as gentle when hand washing and I tend to do a bit more squeezing to get most of the water out of my non-wool projects. I still do the towel rolling method and will still lay my projects out flat on my blocking mat.

I will be back to post of a picture of my projects on my block mats.

Happy Knitting!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year to all my fellow knitters and fiber artists! I hope 2011 brings you more yarn and fiber and many more knitting hours. Have a wonderful year and remember...to make time for your self and do something fun.

Happy Knitting!