In 10 Days, I finished this sweater. Gung Ho knitting, people. Women on a mission, gung ho knitting! I meant to write a FO post on Thanksgiving, but well, 12:30 Lions game, alcohol, and well, you can imagine what happened to that post!

Specs:

Pattern: Drops Jacket, free online pattern.
Yarn: Rowan, Rowanspun DK, doubled to get gauge. 11 Skeins, and just yards to spare!!
Needles: 5mm, US8.
Mods: Instead of knitting the border as written, which is a couple of rows of Garter St, then some 2×2 ribbing which
I didn’t like, I knit the border in double moss, just like the front and collar. I thought that would be much better, and I’m very happy I changed it.
Also, I knit the body decreases as given, the jacket is very swingy, but the flare shape came out with these stupid points at the bottom of the side seams. This made me fustrated. So I sewed the points of the hem in a little bit more, a few stitches in, and it was perfect.

I’ve worn it a bunch of times since I finished it last Tuesday. I like it so much I want to knit another!
First things first though, I started a new boy sweater. Also in Felted Tweed, this one will be a zippered cardigan. He loves the first one so much, and wears it all the time. He definitely needs a second!

I also seriously love Lolly’s just finished fairisle yoke pullover. I want. So these are the two wips at the moment, beside a couple of small things, you know how it is!

Filed by Julia at 8:59 pm under Drops Jacket,Knitting
12 Comments

Knitting at S*Bucks while my tires get rotated.

After finishing Brandt’s sweater, I was totally excited to get started on something new, something for me! I had wanted to knit the Drops Jacket (you know, the one 2/3′s of blogland is knitting?), since the beginning of October. I had swatched a couple of yarns, and I decided I wanted to use some stashed, (and now sadly discontinued) Rowanspun DK, in Chili (shakes fist in air at Rowan). However. I had to double strand to get gauge, and I only have 11 skeins. Scary, I know. But you know how when you don’t think you have enough yarn, it makes you knit faster? Like some sort of sick mental race that you might outrun, or in this case, out knit, the yarn? Yup. That’s how, 9 days after I started, I’m about to cast off the last piece. Oh, and I really want to wear this for Thanksgiving!

Funny, how a knitting a short sweater at 4 st/inch goes way faster than a man’s sweater at 6 st/inch. Tomorrow I’ll be knitting the collar and seaming this beast!

Filed by Julia at 8:16 pm under Drops Jacket,Knitting,New Project
9 Comments

I do!
And now you can too.

Click for more!

Filed by Julia at 9:49 pm under Get Your Yarn!!
1 Comment

I have a finished object for you!
It’s a good one, and one I’m very proud of.

Specs:
Started: October 1st 2007
Finished: November 8th 2007

Yarn: Rowan’s Felted Tweed. 7 balls in color Treacle, and not too much of one ball in Ginger. If I hadn’t knit the thing too wide for 13 inches, I might have gotten away with 6 balls of the main color. Live and learn.

Needles: 3.75mm (us5) for the body, and 3.25mm (us3) for the ribbing.

Pattern: None! This one is all me. Knit from the bottom up, in the round to the armholes, then divided and worked back and forth to the shoulders. This one is drop shoulder, so it was easy enough to just pick up stitches and figure out decreases down to the wrists.
The only part that I had anticipated trouble with was the crew neck, and I wasn’t wrong. I wanted it to fit very close to the neck. I don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but all the crew necks in the patterns I’ve looked at, seem to be cast off way far away from the neck, which I don’t understand. So when I planned this one, I knew I wanted it to be much closer fitting. I reknit the ribbing twice, the first time it wasn’t pulling in close enough. Then, after it was done, and Brandt had worn it once, he asked if I could even bring it in more. So I undid the bind off, knit a few more rows, decreasing a third of the stitches on the last row, then I bound off again, with with needles 5 times bigger (5mm,US8), than I had knit the ribbing with (3.25mm, US3), holding one strand of elastic with the yarn. Worked like a charm. Surprisingly enough, I winged the shaping for the collar, and nailed it the first time round.

Of course, it helps alot when the recipient of the sweater is available for fittings pretty much around the clock. One of my favorite parts was knitting the stripes. Especially on the cuffs, it was totally satisfying to knit with orange after all the plumy main color. Thanks to the boxy-ness of this sweater, it was a great mindless knit for awhile, just around and around in stockinette, which is one of the reasons I knit it so quickly. Also, I couldn’t wait to see it finished and on my handsome man.

He loves this sweater and wears it all the time since I officially finished it last Thursday. I am going to extend the sleeve cuffs just a little bit though, they end right at the wrists now, so just a little bit more and they’ll be perfect. I love custom knits! So. Much. Fun.

I think that he’ll wear this as much as possible, so I’m already planning man sweater #2, also in Felted Tweed, gotta have more than one hand knit sweater in rotation you know.

Filed by Julia at 10:21 pm under Brandt's Sweater,FO!,Knitting
21 Comments

I bought this yarn in Philly Last weekend, from Loop. Is this not the most brilliantly perfect shade of Koigu you’ve ever seen? I think it is. Shade 2330, for those interested. Loop? By the way, was everything I had anticipated. Beautiful shop, beautiful yarns, I would have lived there all weekend if I could have.

But that’s not all-
I also bought some Louet Gems fingering weight, which I have wanted to knit with for awhile. In a very nice olivey color.

I don’t know what these might be yet, but I’m very happy to have more green yarn!!

Most of October, my knitting time has been devoted to working on the felted tweed pullover, and I cast of on Thursday in a record 39 days. Man sized sweater. 39 days. Dude.

Modeled photos coming soon!!

Filed by Julia at 8:50 pm under Brandt's Sweater,Stash Enhancement
5 Comments

As of this morning, at 8:27 am, I’ve updated the shop with lots of yarnie goodness! Plenty of Vesper Sock Yarn, including two new colorways. In the next update, look for Merino/Silk to spin!

Click for more!

Filed by Julia at 9:44 am under General
8 Comments

People, I’ll be in Philly this weekend for the first time ever, and I need the skinny on your LYS. I’ve found out about a few through google, but really, what’s up over there? I’m defininately not missing Loop, or Rosie’s, so what else?

Oh, and here’s some yarn-

Mmm, Fleece Artist.

Filed by Julia at 10:31 pm under General
4 Comments