Grace

Then Beauty?

pattern: Grace
size: 2 (38") - fits 38-40 bust
yarn: Fiddlesticks Zephyr DK in Marine - 8 balls & ~30 grams of the 9th (not including 2 swatches)
needles: Knitpicks size 5 & 6


Why no modelled shot? Because when a knitter ignores the narrow look of the sleeve pieces and fails to measure the width of her arm against the measurement shown in the pattern schematic, chances are the arms don't fit. A check on the few Grace sweaters on Ravelry revealed that the one other knitter that finished the sweater noted that the sleeves were a little tight and that in hindsight she should've knit the next size up for the sleeves.

I probably knew this in the back of my mind, but failed to pay attention to it or do the proper things one should do like re-measure myself and compare all the parameters, not just the body. While I was seaming this sweater, I kept thinking it would be better for my mom. And so now it will be.

But why not undo the seams and re-knit the sleeves, especially since I had a 10th ball virtually untouched? It is after all, a wonderfully charted pattern and thus very easy to knit. But by the time I tried it on, I had already woven in the innumerous ends and simply had no desire to start the sleeves over.

So gifting this to my mom is the change I'm affecting:

God, give us grace to accept with serenity
the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things
which should be changed,
and the Wisdom to distinguish
the one from the other.

The semi-monthly warning

That's right, it's time for my fellow Rockin' Sock Club members who do not like to be spoiled to stay away from the 'net or at least, don't scroll past the stinkin' cute Tulip sweater (in progress) pic. So instead, I will do a belated Wednesday WIP report.

The Grace sweater sleeves & body are slowly being seamed after I seamed the shoulders and knitted the collar. I'll need to re-block as I don't like how the bottom of the collar is pulling up the bodice, assuming the silk content will relax the fabric enough to counter this issue.

I started this project thinking I would be making this for me, but I'm considering passing this on to my mom. I think the silk content and the lace should keep it cool enough for winters in Hawaii.


Also on a slow pace are Monkey1's Lindy Hop front piece and my second Cleopatra's Stocking. I had a brief bout of Second Sock Syndrome 'cause I so didn't want to knit another short row toe.

There's some seriously small gauge stockinette stitch going on here.


And what's making those 2 WIP's even slower (aside from the small needle thing) is that I have been sucked into the utter cuteness that is the Tulip Sweater. The smaller Monkey2 size and the bigger size 9 needles makes for darn quick work too. Plus it's fun to change colors only every 10 rows. The only drawbacks are that I didn't read all the Rav notes (my bad!) recommending NOT slipping the seam stitch and for a superwash wool yarn, it's got some funky crunchiness/squeak to it.


So. Finally - my eagerly anticipated July RSC kit!


Not just one, but 2(!) patterns by a great teacher & BMFA's tech editor, JC Briar, and our totally fun Sockateer, Hot Flash! I love reading Tina's Dyer's Notes as they give a fascinating insight to her color aesthetic and news of the next color collection.

I think I'll do both patterns, but using the July yarn with JC's pattern and another lighter colored STR skein for the anklet pattern. I am tempted to use Hot Flash's colorway for her pattern. It's only fitting since Monkey1 chose the colorway on my last BMFA purchase and the anklets would be uber cute on her.

That is, after I finish that darn sweater of hers. Someone shoot me the next time I say okay to knitting a fingering weight sweater for anyone, even my darling Monkeys.

Officially off Sleeve Island

...for now. Gotta love long holiday weekends when I get 2-2.5 hours each way for some focus knitting time. While I'm almost at the end for Grace (blocking, sewing, collar), Monkey1's Lindy Hop is nowhere near done since I still have to do the front.


I also made some progress on my Cleopatra's Stocking. It took me awhile to get used to the pattern, but I'm still not used to the left twist as it's not the yarn over that I keep losing, but the regular stitch.


But I'm loving the quick knit that is the Spring Forward sock from a fellow sock camper, Linda Welch. The STR Motley Hue I'm using reminds me more of a SF Bay summer than a typical one, especially when the fog rolls in and the bay gets all choppy. Miserable as all get out if one was out there on a boat, but really cool looking in that moody Gothic novel kind of way.


The sock does go nicely with the new Namaste Newport bag I got in Charcoal from Woolgirl. I love this bag. Perfect size, classic color. Perfect. And it came with it's own little white cloth bag like those fancy high end bags do!


Of course, I can't just get a bag, so I finally ordered a couple little skeins of Pigeon Roof Studios in Pink Lady light (so cute!) and knitspot's fine cabled fingerless mitt pattern. ( I'd like to use some of my sock yarn for gift mitts.) And Jen threw in a couple wool wash samples (Soak being one) and lip balm. I always love those little extras Jen throws in.

Temporarily off Sleeve Island

But I am done with one Grace sleeve and finished the cuff of the second. I've got my marching orders for my secret project so that will be my focus for a couple weeks, leaving me without much blog fodder.

In the meantime, I'll share a little of my stash that hasn't made it to the blog yet. I believe I once mentioned I got a green skein of Handmaiden Casbah along with the Ruby Red that became my Cowl of Kindness. This green skein will definitely turn into a pair of socks, but I'm not sure yet. I recently purchased The Eclectic Sole from Purlescence, so I've got a candidate (Rivendell) or two for it.


But somehow showing just a skein of yarn isn't enough, so I'll veer into my previous (but still very current) thing for makeup. Just when I think my yarn addiction is OTT, I head over to my ole stomping grounds on the makeup boards and find that my yarn thing is reasonable compared to lengths some people will go to get a lipstick, even a free one, like the one below.


During my visit that resulted in my Eclectic Sole book purchase, I mentioned to IrishgirlieKnits that I had spent some of my yarn budget on MAC (Cosmetics, not computers) during their Friends and Family sale (15% - ended last week - sorry!), I was gently reprimanded for not sharing good deals on makeup.

So I'm going to make amends for it now. For all my knitting buddies in California, you can get an "exclusive" MAC lipstick called California Dreamin' for free by the end of the month. It's a Lustre finish, which in MAC-speak, means it's semi-sheer, but not as much as a lipgloss, thus making it more wearable for a wider range of skintones. If you do a google search, there are swatches on the makeup boards (not sure if non-members would be able to see the pics though) and some makeup addict blogs online.

The deal is that you print out this and present it to your local freestanding MAC store - not their counter at Nordies, Macy's, Saks, or any other department store, but the actual MAC store that stands alone either in the mall or your local trendy shopping area - and then they give you this cute lipstick for free. Really!

The crazy part? Apparently someone on eBay was supposedly selling a bunch of the actual paper postcards (on the East Coast!) to any buyer willing to fork over $10, when it was the same e-mail link posted that all the MAC Addicts could get for free. Then again, when MAC released their Barbie Collection (yes, that Barbie), there were eBay bidders vying for just the postcard promoting the event. When I last kept track of this craziness, the bids had gone as high as $50! For a postcard! It wasn't even any of the makeup collection itself.

So, see! Knitters are not the crazy ones in this world. Unless they're also a makeup addict like me. ;)

Sleeve Archipelago

I've been trying to satisfy the product knitter side of myself by focusing on the sleeves on my 2 sweater WIP's,


but it's hard to stay motivated and not get some knitting malaise.

Hopefully this totally fun Woolgirl Sock Club kit will help.


And this STR haul definitely will! I was so excited I didn't even bother finding the best lighting out in the yard to take a pic (northern backyard lighting kinda sucks anyway). I even went so far as ordering the same colorway in a different fiber.


And not only did I break this self-imposed rule when buying Blue Moon Fiber Arts yarn once, but I did it twice:


The Luscious Single Silk (LSS) on the left is intended for a Shetland Triangle made famous in knitter blogland by this gorgeous version. Shall I wind and cast on, away from the Sleeve Isles?

Green & teal

I don't have second sock syndrome with my Marilinda as I have cast on for the second sock, but I simply needed a break from the very thin strong BFL yarn. So back to my STR comfort knitting. The May STR sock club kit is being mailed out this week so I figure I should at least get one of my March kit socks done.

yarn: Socks that Rock medium weight in Lucky
pattern: Leafling by JC Briar based on Cat Bordhi's sock architechture (cuff down though)
pattern size: small
needle size: 2.50 mm KP circs

I have a gauge of 8 spi on the size 1.5's which is why the sizing confounded me. I should've been able to knit the "medium" since I thought my tighter gauge would compensate for the larger socks Cat's sock-itechture seems to produce, but I was wrong. The medium was still a bit too loose, especially the cuff, so I went down to the small size.

You can't tell since I'm not modelling the sock (still a wee bit too warm), but I also went for the shaped toe option in the pattern and so this the right sock.


But before I started (& finished) my first Leafling (gotta love STR medium weight for fast socks), I finished the front piece of my Grace sweater. I love how this pattern has all the shaping & decreases all charted out so there's no note-taking or thinking about balancing & reversing any shaping. So easy, but I haven't been motivated enough to focus on this sweater. I think if I did I would've been able to churn it out much faster than I have.

Am I blue?

I finally finished the back of my Grace sweater. It's not like it's a difficult knit at all as everything's charted well. But the poor sweater's has been getting low priority since I cast on.


I had also hoped to finish Monkey1's Lindy Hop back as well, but I got sidetracked into trying to re-start her Lorna's Laces Uptown Dublin Bay sock. The first time around I totally screwed up the simple 4 row lace pattern. (Apparently I pay better attention when a pattern is charted up the kazoo.) So what did I do this time? Use measurements that are over 6 months old for her feet. Yup, these are tad too small. I had hope to salvage this thing by finishing them w/Monkey1's old measurements and save the pair for Monkey2, but Monkey1 wants her yarn. So now I need to decide whether to buy more Lorna's Laces Uptown (wonders if any are on sale now) or frog what I have and start over. I feel like such a maroon.

Still in sweater land

I got my birthday present from my very talented college friend in the mail yesterday. Such Royal Plantinum Alpaca goodness! Who said non-knitters don't get it? But then she's very talented and artistic (I'll have to post the ring she made for one of my previous birthdays one of these days.) and has always had elegant taste. I think these DK skeins will be slated for an Argosy scarf/little shawl.


I also got a call from Purlescence Yarns yesterday that Monkey1's "Safety Pink" Jitterbug yarn had finally come in from Colinette. The Alizarine skeins (even toned down w/the photo software it's seriously bright) are slated for Monkey1's pullover, so I don't feel I'm cheating on my sweater only month w/buying sock yarn.

And while I was at Purlescence I managed to knit a few rows of the start of my Twist cardigan. I had gauge issues with the different needle sizes swatching my Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran. Either I had a terrible time correctly counting the stitches when I measured for gauge or I swear the swatch shrunk. (Not what I was expecting as I figured it would grow/bloom instead.) I finally decided to go with the slightly tighter gauge I got with size 8 needles with the hope that I'm not taking a big risk knitting the size I chose for the cardigan. When I'm a little further along I'll try to post to the KAL blog.

For some reason, all the issues I had with my Twist gauge swatch 'caused me to re-check my swatch for my Grace sweater. And I found that this swatch definitely shrunk. My only thought is that the swatch was not truly dry when I measured it after washing over a month ago. So now I've knitted another swatch another needle size up and am waiting for it to dry completely. In the meantime Grace is on time out. I expect to frog what I've done so far and start over. On the plus side, better to find out now than when I was much further along.

The one official Christmas gift

Technically, it's a thank you gift that I foolishly offered to my makeup board Secret Santa (SS) which she gladly accepted. Otherwise, I am officially wisely refusing to knit any x-mas gifts this year. If I make any, they'll be quick & very small (eg baby-sized).


Pattern: Rainy Day Socks
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in pale pink (my SS said she likes pink)
needles: size 3 KP circs
no mods

I went with relatively quick and fairly easy. I made Tapmouse laugh 'cause at the Monday lunch knitting group, I threw sock 1 to another knitter who wore the same size shoes as my SS to see if they would fit. Being a good knitter, she lined them up next to her foot to verify that the socks were long enough although I did already plan to wash them before sending.


I find it ironic that while I recently bought a bunch of brown yarn, I'm currently knitting in mostly blue.

Top left is Monkey2's sock. She picked the blue Crystal Palace Merino 5 while we were at the Purlescence Pajamarama sale. Yes, I dragged her cute little patootie with me at 6 am that morning and royal blue is very much her color.

Top right is the start of my Waterfall sock. Not too motivated still despite the fact that these are on size 3 dpns. While winding the skein, I found a knot approximately a third of the way through and not at a more convenient spot like smack halfway through or a quarter way through where I have a decent hope that I would finish with that quarter section to spare. Oh well, hopefully I won't need to get to that section 'til right at the toe.

At the bottom is the start of the back section of my Grace sweater. Most of this was knit at last week's Tea and Sympathy at Purlescence. This time w/o the monkeys in tow. I hope to get more of this sweater done this month as I'm going to do an experiment and not knit any socks this month...with the exception of Monkey2's second sock, of course. Which means that while I started the Waterfalls sock, it's going to go nowhere this month.

The other reason for the temporary sock knitting ban is that I joined another sweater KAL. I'll be redirecting the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran I bought at some online yarn store sale (sadly, I forget which one) that was slated for the Cardigan for Arwen. I find that I am way too lazy to do the math adjust the short row shaping on the sleeves since the pattern has the same sleeve for all sizes.

Last but not least, here's my birthday yarn from tapmouse. It's a superwash merino/mohair blend from Liisu Yarns with the lovely name of Waves of Memories. This like my other merino/mohair blends will be aquiring a fine ripening in my stash 'til I find a pattern that will befit its loveliness.