Leopard Print Vest

I know I've been talking about it for ages, but it's finally here!  It's finished, pressed, and delivered to its recipient.  No action shots yet--still too hot for wearing a vest, even if it is cotton, but here's a photo of the completed vest:

For the shape, I used the Geek Chic Argyle Vest from Picture Perfect Knits.  Rather than knit the front and the back separately, I knit the vest in the round to the armpit and the knit the front and back separately, ending with the 3-needle bind-off.  I have to say, avoid stranding when knitting flat.  It's doable, but such a pain that I would really rather steek. Unfortunately, cotton doesn't hold up to steeking, so I was stuck purling.

Intarsia's kind of a pain in the bum, though, so I used the "Tarzan" pattern from Vogue Knitting's Stitchionary of color motifs.

Here's a close-up of the leopard pattern:

This photo is a little truer to color.  We really need to move into an apartment with more light for better knitting photos!  (Might be happening fairly soon--stay posted!)

I'm really really pleased with the way this turned out.  It was a little tight on Vicki when she first tried it on, but that was before blocking and since it's cotton, it should stretch some.  The cotton will also make it easier to care for, even if it's not my favorite fiber.

Unfortunately because I changes the color pattern around so much, it was difficult to estimate how much yarn to order and I had a lot of the cashew color left.  So I searched through my library (Man, I sure do love Ravelry) and dug up this little number, the Citrine Socklets by Marylin Webster from Interweave Knits Holiday 2007.

I had just the right amount to whip out a pair of cute little socks.  I had to make the leg section a couple of pattern repeats shorter, but they'll make great little slipper socks for Vicki, whose yarn it is in the first place.

Right now I'm having a very hard time being faithful to one project.  I'm working simultaneously on the Goddess Top by StitchDiva and the Ivy Sweater from Knitty.  Not making much project on either since I can't decide which one I like better.  And then to make the sluttiness worse, I've got about 300 yards of the yarn left from the Myrtle Sweater and cannot for the life of me find a pair of socks this yarn wants to be.  I tried Bayerische by Eunny Jang, which has a 7-stitch cable I couldn't wrap my head around, and the Cablenet Socks from Knitty, whose teeny-tiny cables don't show up well in the heathered yarn.  I'm thinking I'll have to find something ribbed or lacy...wish me luck...

In non-knitting related news, I have made the all-important decision to dye my hair red.  I have always admired auburn hair, but have never dyed my own.  This changes now.  As soon as I can fit in an appointment, I am going to show up at my hairdresser and demand that she imbue my locks with my alltime favorite color.  Hopefully by this time next week, I'll have some photos for you of my new tresses!

Next time: Knotty but Nice patterns, new hair?

Cheers,

-Allie

Ivy League Vest

It's here! It's done! My first *successful* steek project, yay!

It fits great, too. The pattern I used is called Ivy League and was written by Eunny Jang. I just love her--she has the greatest patterns. In fact, three of the projects in my queue were written by her: Venezia, entrelac socks, and the Autumn Rose pullover. I guess she is my knitting role model *sigh*
Anyway, I knit it on size 4 needles and used Knit Picks Palette for most of the vest. The dark green is Berroco Alpaca Fine from an earlier project that I frogged because I just don't ever wear it. Although it doesn't feel very soft when you first touch it, Palette knits up so well, especially in fair isle projects. It's soft and it clings to itself just enough to make it a great choice for steeking. Love it.
For once, I didn't make any modifications to the pattern. It was just that perfect. I have nothing at all to complain about this project. Really. It was definitely the hardest thing I've ever completed, what with fair isle shaping and steeks, but it came out great and the instructions explained it all so well. Great project and I'm really looking forward to knitting the rest of Eunny's oeuvre in my queue.

Etsy news: Get excited! It's coming really soon. I now have 9 finished items for sale and have been noodling around with writing welcome messages, policies, etc. Mom gave me a deadline of May 1st since she'll be attending a baby shower then and so it needs to be up and have a bunch of baby things in it by that time.

I have a great idea for a baby hat for project no. 10 and then all that's left is making some graphics to make the site look *professional.* Charlotte has volunteered to help me with the graphics so I'll have to make her a little something special as a thank-you once the place is up and running. After talking about it for so long, it's almost here! I'm almost giddy with excitement :)

Cheers,

-Allie

At Last!

The Cleopatra Wrap is finally finished and blocked! I am extremely pleased with the results and was pleasantly surprised with how well bamboo holds a shape after blocking.
Those points came out rather nicely, don't you think? The finished measurements are 75" x 16", which is a lot more than I thought I would get out of one skein, but it'll make a lovely shawl when/if fall comes to Philly.

I'm not quite sure what I'll do with the other skein of bamboo yarn I bought when I was panicking about the length of this shawl. Maybe I'll turn it into the Clapotis Wrap, which will make a lovely shawl, but will be somewhat less taxing than Cleopatra. Maybe Miss Christina would like it as a transition piece into the lovely world of shawls?

I also took some pictures of me in the seed-cabled cardigan for your viewing pleasure:

(That little black spot is actually a snap, since the pattern didn't allow for any closing device--it's not a bug or anything) And here it is from behind:

A few days ago I came to the conclusion that I no longer liked that wine-colored sweater I made back in December, so rather than waste the yarn, I took the thing apart and turned some of it into the Talia Vest:

I'm not as keen as I thought I would be on the finished product. Perhaps part of it is because I couldn't find any silver-colored buttons and had to settle for white, but it still looks pretty good so I think I'll hang onto it for a while. It looks better from behind, in my opinion:

This vest leaves me with about 300 yards of both this color and the dark purple, so they might be transformed into the Danica Scarf, which, while cool, doesn't entirely suit me, so if you'd like that scarf or want something in those colors but in a different style, speak up. I want to use the contents of my knitting bag (except for that little bit of fingering weight yarn) so that I can order the yarn for the goddess top without feeling bad about it.

Hope you all have a wonderful end of summer!

-Allie