Monday, May 30, 2011

In which the sweater almost takes shape

So I was good and blocked the cardigan pieces before seaming, but after seaming it seemed a little bit small... Rather than being impatient and immediately moving onto cuffs and hems (well, I did knit the collar, i can't be expected to wait for everything, can I?), I was good and gave the whole shebang a long wet soak and have laid it out to dry, blocked fairly strictly to measurement. This way I figure I should get a decent idea of whether the perceived shrinking was due to my lazy blocking job, or an unexpected spring back in the knit fabric. If I feel that it's going to be too small, at this point I could still pull out the underarm and side seams (the raglan seams should be fine) and add in spacer panels if need be. I really don't want to, but it's better to know now rather than knit the whole damn thing and have to rip out the hems and reknit everything.

IMG_1556

I think it's starting to look like a real sweater now! and I can't wait to knit the hems, cuffs, and work in all the last secret details...

IMG_1559

There's more left to go than I care to admit, and the blocking has set me behind a few days, but it's The Right Thing to do.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

In which our wandering hero returns

Well we made it back from New York in one piece.

I blocked the sweater pieces before I left, so now I have a nice stack of parts waiting to be seamed.

Welcome Home

And I indulged in a little bit of yarn whilst abroad. I've got a bit of a design idea for this yarn, so we shall see what happens.

Shelter

Now to get back to knitting, and time to start looking for a house in Vancouver!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

In which Shelter is found

Just a super quick mid-trip update. I could talk about New York, but for now, I will just say that Purl Soho is ADORABLE, and I found and purchased some Shelter yarn! (I plan to go back and get a few more skeins in fact...)

Any knitterly suggestions/requests for/from NYC? I'm here for 5 more nights.

Friday, May 13, 2011

In which bags are finally packed

What's this?

Urban Yarns

A little tease of a surprise.

Peek-a-boo

I got myself a madelinetosh treat to take on the trip with me :D

Antler

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

In which I present 'Bridgewater'

Well, the big shawl is knit and blocked and done! Loosely based on Jared Flood's Bridgewater, I took the general design (garter square + lace) and substituted a modified version of 'Chinese Lace' from Barbara Walker's 2nd treasury, and a modified wave chart from Eunny Jang's Print O' the Wave pattern. Yarn is Zitron Filigran lace weight (just over 2 skeins, so lots leftover to do something with), knit on my long-suffering Addis. Finished size is just about 48" per side, so... 65" on the diagonal or so?
Enough chitchat, have some photos while I go pack for a trip to New York! (yes, I will visit yarn stores if I can find them)

Folds

Layers

White on White

Border

Silken

Edging and Border

Corner

Mmm Lace

Sunday, May 8, 2011

In which there is blocking! Finally!

I finally picked up some foam mats with which to block the shawl!

So, hopefully blocked photos soon.

Soaking

Blocking

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

In which I am ready to block

Took a hiatus from cabling to finish off the shawl.
It just needs a good wash and block. And I need somewhere to block it...

Lace
Edging

Lace
Border

And miles of garter.
Garter