Bright enough for ya'?

I finally finished weaving in all of the ends of this small throw rug. (I started this thing about 2 years ago when our group of friends takes our annual weekend at the beach. 2 of us "grown-ups" are sisters, and the other 2 grown-up women are friends from grade school and jr. high school. Along with husbands, boyfriends, grown children, their respective husbands/wives/boyfriends/girlfriends and one grandson! We all troop down to the Washington coast like some 70s hippie commune for a wonderful relaxing weekend.) The pattern was a download from an Interweave Knits a couple years back. The model rug was nice subtle colors and I loved it. However, I chose to make it in the bright Provencal colors of my favorite dinnerware. (I think it picks up the colors nicely, don't you?) I still need to open a can of latex rug backing goo and slather it all over the back. The latex goo then dries and makes a dandy non-slip backing.

Thank you, Danke, Merci, Grazie!

Rachel rocks!

I received my DYE-O-RAMA yarn over the weekend and it is so fantastic! She dyed yarn in my favorite colors of blue, purple and green. I couldn't be happier. She named it "RAINFOREST". Eventhough I have 3000 projects on the needles right now, I may have to cast on for socks...MY SOCKS!

Other casting on includes Tempting II for the KAL with Sexy Knitters Club. The KAL isn't supposed to be until July but I couldn't wait and cast on last night. I have knit about 3" of k1p1 ribbing. The Heirloom Breeze yarn is so soft and it has .4% lycra in it so it is nice and clingy.

A few words about the Crest of the Wave top in Sonata. I had my doubts, as I was knitting happily along, that the opaque section of the pattern covering the bra area was going to be sufficient. Lucia, you were right. It isn't going to be up to the task. The mannequin's body is not affected by gravity as mature as mine and I am afraid that there will have to be a major overhaul. I am talking about frogging the entire thing back to the first 4 rows of the shoulders. I don't have the strength in me right now so that will go back into the to-be-considered pile.

C'est la vie.

Swatching for Tempting II

The July KAL for the Sexy Knitters Club has been voted on and the winner is Tempting II by Jenna Adorno. The pattern calls for Rowan Calmer yarn. I dug through my stash and nothing came close to the gauge or fiber content that I was looking for to knit this sexy little top. So, off to my LYS for the thrill of the kill to hunt for suitable yarn.

I found this. Breeze by Heirloom, The Australian Yarn Company. The color is soft baby pink and it is slightly springy due in part to 0.4% lycra. The other fiber content is 30% wool and 69.6% cotton. It should do nicely. My gauge is knitting up at close to 5 st per inch when slightly stretched. More if pulled out. Considering that this top is supposed to cling, the stretchiness should be perfect.

I am almost finished with my Crest of the Wave top. I am down to the final series of lace pattern. I have gone up to a 5.00mm needle and the pattern is very open and lacy. It has also taken a lot less yarn than I ordered so I may be making a small evening bag from the rest of it. I suppose I should add beads for that...

Happy Birthday Rachel!

As promised, here is a photo of my niece Rachel with her birthday bag. Actually, her birthday was in April but I am kinda slow about getting photos on my blog when they were taken by someone else. (Thanks, Chuck!) It takes a fun and unique personality to pull off a bag with these colors and Rachel is definitely up to the task!

Here is a photo of the progress I am making on my Crest of the Wave top.I knitted the entire top with 3.5mm Suzanne's Ebony circulars (my favorites). After knitting the opaque lace section that theoretically covers boobage, I switched to a larger 4.00mm as instructed, and went back to the open lace pattern. I am making each of the remaining sections a bit longer to compensate for being a little long waisted.

Knitting lots of holes

I am finally posting a photo of my progress with my Amazing Lace project. This is the back of my Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend cardigan. I staked it out on my cutting board that I use for cutting out sewing patterns so the contrast is isn't fantastic. However, I think you get the drift. The bottom panel is a repeating diamond pattern and the top part is just a simple (k2tog, yo, k1, yo, sl 2 knitwise, k both st thru back loops, k5) repeat. The sleeves will be the vertical repeat all the way up, no diamonds. I have gotten pretty far and now it is just getting a bit tedious.

Which brings me to my next project. Although the Sexy Knitters Club has voted on the Tempting II pattern for the July KAL, I fell in love with the Crest of the Wave top that is a free pattern on knitty.com. I ordered the Sonata yarn from elann.com in the charcoal color. I have so many black tops and the thought of knitting on another black yarn didn't appeal to me. The charcoal is very elegant and the Sonata feels so nice to knit with. I highly recommend it. I also ordered some in Pink Lavender to make the Eyelet Chemise in the Summer 2006 edition of Interweave Knits magazine.

I really like the Crest of the Wave pattern. It is easily memorized and goes very quickly. I started it about 5 days ago and have already knit the front and back bodice tops and joined in the round for 2 sets of the pattern. More photos when I have finished and blocked it.

I dyed a little...

After much mulling over techniques and colors, I finally got down to the knitty gritty of dyeing yarn for the DYE-O-RAMA. As you can see in the first photo, I made one full skein of self-striping sock yarn in my dye buddy's favorite colors. I used Wilton icing colors and they came out pretty vibrant.

The next photo is of the self-striping in an oven bag, ready to go into the oven at 225 degrees for 1 1/2 hours.

The third photo shows the finished self-striping on the left.

The 2 smaller skeins on the right and center are a technique I read about on the web called Knit-Dye-Reknit.

It was fun and I will certainly be dyeing more yarn again. I have a few color combinations in mind I want to make for my own use, not to mention combos for friends and family.

Last today, but certainly not least is a photo of my finished Somewhat Cowl. It has taken me 2 long months to complete and as much as I like it, I don't think I feel the need to make another one. I frogged the equivalent of 5 skeins total on this project. 5 fairly large skeins, mind you. I now have time to work on my Amazing Lace cardigan and perhaps start another Sexy Knitters Club KAL in July.