FOs, weekend, overdue and LONG overdue

Weekend: Hey, Sugared Almonds!



Pattern: Hey Teach from Knitty (really, it was written in the stars I would knit this, since it was designed for a high school History teacher)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Worsted in Love Potion (Feb '10 ltd edn colour from Jimmy Beans), about 1m less than 3 skeins. It reminds me of tyhe sugared almonds my gran used to buy me at the Venetian Fete when I visited her in the summer holidays.
Needle: 5mm
Mods: I made the sleeves a little longer and did them in the round on 5.5mm DPNs, ostensibly to make them wider for my chubby arms but actually because I could only find 3 5mm DPNs (bah). I also did i-cord bind off on the neckline, and instead of the button band. You know I love an i-cord bind off, and it looks even better in variegated yarn.

The edges are not as wobbly as in the picture, I promise. I was just hasty in photographing it.

Instead of buttons I am using this buckle -



Poor picture, I know, but I took it up to the bead shop on Clifton Triangle today to get the missing rhinestones replaced and the very helpful woman is doing it for me and had kept it, so I had to crop one out of the big picture. I bought it at the Bristol Vintage Fashion Fair a couple of months back, and it is a really good match. I just need to work out how to attach it. I could sew it on, but I don't think it is washable and it would be difficult to remove when I did want to wash the garment. I am thinking velcro, but not sure how I would attach it without it showing. Hmm, hmm.....


Overdue: Eyelet cowl



Pattern: Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2009
Yarn: Colinette Art, 1 skein
Needle: 5.5mm
Mods: I knitted up a needle size and cast on 15 less stitches, to try and squeeze it out of one skein. I like the result a lot, though it's not as opulently cowlish as the one in the magazine. I also got this ribbon for it, instead of knitting an i-cord.
Really simple pattern and should have been superquick but, as usual, I was distracted by other things (this was meant to be worn whilst skiing).



Also, if I pull the ribbon tight and turn up the bottom, it make a good hat.

LONG overdue: Central Park Hoody button bands
Yes, a full 26 months after I officially FO'd the garment, I have finally picked up and knit the button bands. It was a fraught task, especially picking up with a 1.5mm needle and then doing P2togs on those stitches with a 5mm needle. But it is DONE. Now I just have to sew on 10 buttons...pictures when I do that (roughly 2012, if past experience is anything to go by).

Very belated button bands

Long time readers of my blog might remember the Central Park Hoody. It was my first attempt at a garment and I was ever so pleased when I finally finished it....oh yeah, except I didn't ever finish it. I just started wearing it without any sort of button band, fastening instead with an old stitch holder I acquired somewhere, and tried to ignore the fact that the hood wasn't quite wide enough to cover my whole head comfortably.

At first, I convinced myself it was a problem of finding buttons. I managed to make this excuse last over a year, until UK Rav day when the perfect buttons presented themselves, and Liz Lovick armed me with teh skillz. Since then it's just been laziness.

But today, I finally bit the bullet!



That's 157 stitches, down from the 221 I picked up with a 1.5mm needle and then decreased with a 5mm. It is so neat and perfect, I love how it looks.

BUT MY HANDS ARE KILLING ME. The worst part is, I have to do the other side at some point. It will be like second sock syndrome - except, I have already had it as a wearable garment (unlike a single sock) and I can't wear it with one button band, so if I want this to be a wearable cardigan I will have to man up and do it.

Do not want.

In other knitting news, the Hey Teach is done. It needs washing and blocking, and the buckle sewing on, and pictures taken, but it is done. Three weeks, from start to finish - not bad at all.

Weekend FO

A recent FO and a month old one I haven't blogged about yet....



Pattern: Versatility
Yarn: Araucania Azapa (the yarn with the dodgy yardage), about 2 and a half skeins
Needle: 7mm
Mods: I knitted a cable twist instead of the bobbles. I didn't want bobbles.

I got some amazing hessian covered buttons to go along the edge and it is soft and lovely. I don't know if I'll ever wear it as a bodywarmer, but I love it as a shrug and a scarf. It would have been super quick if I hadn't kept putting it aside.
Of course, it's too hot for it now. It was too hot to hold in my lap as I sewed the buttons on yesterday.



Pattern: Improvised from a stitch pattern in Vogue Stitchionary - it's a modified counterpane cable
Yarn: Sublime Cashmere Silk Merino, off-white, just under 2 skeins
Needle: 3.75 and 4.5mm

I like this hat, but it isn't as awesome as I had imagine. I wanted a really chunky band of ribbing at the bottom but was impatient to get on with the cabling so it's not as wide as I'd imagined. Also, even though I went up 2 needle sizes for the cabling, it is tight around the bottom and the cable is slightly deformed. I mean, in the scheme of things it doesn't matter because that is covered by the ribbing - which in turn makes the ribbed band look wider....so, meh. I would still put this in my 'Could do better' category. Either a bigger needle, or a yarn with more stretch.

The cable is beautiful, though. I am back in cable love again, which is ironic since I have just started my second lacy top. It's a Hey Teach and it's flying off the needles - back and both fronts done in under 2 weeks, and 3NBO'd to each other. Just the collar and sleeves to go now. I am supremely motivated because I want to start a shawl, and I wound the yarn and everything, only to find I need the 5mm needle tips I am using on the Hey Teach. BAH.

Half term next week though, and since I am carless and have no plans and will be all up to date with my work by then, I will have ample time for knitting. I can't wait to start the shawl. It is a Chinook Shawl Kit from Knitpicks I bought last year: 6 shades of sea blues that phase into each other.