Dum dum da dum...

Only 7 more weeks left, yikes! We've actually got almost everything under control. We're in the middle of a month-long lull, waiting for my dress to come in and for everyone to RSVP (hint hint). Once September hits, things will start getting crazy, but for now, I'm enjoying the extra knitting time!

Firstly, Dad's birthday is coming up on Monday and I had no idea what to get him. So I decided to find something obnoxious to knit him and I found some patterns for some patterned golf club covers!

What guy wouldn't want pink argyle protecting his driver? Actually, I enjoyed knitting the Dots and Spots one better. Slip stitch is a lot easier than argyle--there are fewer strands in the way and the argyle one is pretty scrunched, which is a shame. I think he'll enjoy them all the same. I knit them with two different Knitpicks yarns: Maine Line (pink and green) and Shine (ivory). I have to say that the Main Line was a lot easier to knit than the Shine; cotton is not my favorite material.

I cannot say the same thing about alpaca, however, for the shrug I designed myself for the rehearsal dinner is finished, a vision in Knitpicks' Elegance, a silk and alpaca blend. I’m VERY pleased with the way this project came out. This was a totally improvised project and it fits and looks exactly the way I had imagined it, yay! I love love love the yarn, too. Knitpicks’ Elegance is so soft, I didn’t want to put the project down!

The only problem is that I didn’t keep meticulous notes while I was knitting it, so I only have a vague idea of what I did. Basically, it’s a cropped raglan with seed stitch trim on the sides and bottom. I added a picot edge to the neckline and a lace edging from Knitted Lace of Estonia, I forget from which project.

Unfortunately, I didn’t account for how much it would ‘swing’ in the back, resulting in a lot of curling, so I pulled out the needle and thread and nipped it in on the sides. So now it fits great, but you can’t close it at the bottom, which was not what I made it for, anyway. I’m so excited to wear this to our rehearsal dinner in October. I think it’ll look great over the pink floral dress I got the for the occasion. Yay!

Here's the picot edge:

And the lace cuff:

I've also had some time to work on the Venezia Sweater, which is not progressing very quickly. I have, however, finished knitting the bulk of the torso. Here it is with the steeks uncut:

Looks funny, doesn't it? Since I took that picture, I have cut the neck steeks and have been working on the neckline, but I don't like the way it's turning out, so no pictures yet. I might have to rip out what I've done on the neckline and try again, but that's irritating me, so I've started the left sleeve (pictures of that when I've made more progress).

Here's a close-up of the pattern stitch. I'm very pleased with the color selection I spent so long making. Totally worth the deliberation.

I still can't predict how this sweater will turn out, since I can't try it on until I cut the arm steeks and I'm afraid to do that until I have a sleeve to put there. I love the pattern, though, and I really really hope it turns out well, especially since it's taken so much time to get to this point. I want to finish it before the wedding, which may or may not happen, depending on how busy September gets. I really don't know why I gave myself that deadline--maybe because I want to show it to people coming into town? Maybe I just can't wrap my head around any date after October 10th? We'll see. Apologies in advance if this is my last post before the wedding. It's not because I don't love you guys, but because I'm too busy preparing things for when I see you in October!

Oh, here's a silly Jericho picture to wrap things up:Cheers,

-Allie

Happy Independence Day!

Yeah, I know I'm a day late, but I've got some fun projects (and one really great picture) to share with you, so I hope you'll forgive me.

As you all know, we've been very busy with wedding plans lately and we just got back from visiting my mother's parents, who are very old and will not be able to make it to the wedding. They were thrilled to see us and helped us make a couple of important plans, but by now we've got most of the big decisions squared away. We have new bridesmaid dresses on the way (if you haven't heard that story, ask me about it) and they should be arriving in a couple of weeks! We've finalized the menu and readings, the tuxes and my accessories, and have ordered bridal party gifts.

Big decisions left: ceremony music/whether or not we'll hire a trumpeter, finalizing the flower order, picking one more reader, "important dance" songs, and addressing and getting invitations out (which I'm sure you've already heard about from me). All of these are in the works and I'm feeling very on top of things right now. Tomorrow we're doing an engagement photo shoot, mostly for a newspaper announcement, but I'll be sure to share the pictures with all of you :)

Now, knitting:

Finally, after three months of knitting, I finished Vicki's Balloon-Sleeve Jacket. I blame wedding planning and not being able to find an appropriate buckle for the delay ;)
She seems to like it a lot and I am very glad :). I like the way it came out, even though she has to tie the belt and the sleeves look a little bit long on her. That could be my fault or she may have to pull them up a little--the body fits her well at least. I was worried that Knitpicks Comfy wouldn't be springy enough of a texture for a jacket like this, but it worked surprisingly well! And, shockingly, it's very soft and comfortable.

And then to finish off the yarn from that project, I made a Foliage Hat for Mel. I should have done a gauge swatch because it came out a little wide, but I brought it as a project for our trip to Santa Fe and did not have my tape measure, which is now broken anyway. :(Still, an effective use of the last bits of a sweater and it'll look cute on Mel.

Once I finished with those and finally figured out the color combination I wanted, I was able to start on the Venezia Pullover for myself, woo! I'm not very far into it and this sweater is going to take me forever, but you can already see the pattern starting to emerge. I'm so proud! This is my most ambitious project to date, what with its teeny-tiny fair isle all the way up and steeks at the armholes, yikes! Hopefully I will be able to pull the thing off and have something amazing to show you all later.

And now the picture I promised you last time, better than I could have anticipated, Jericho in all his debonaire glory:

How adorable is he?? You will be seeing this cute face at the wedding. I haven't decided where yet, but way too cute to pass up :)

Wish me luck with all my other planning!

Cheers,

-Allie

Planning in Full Swing!

Hey Everyone!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I've been rather preoccupied with wedding planning details, which are coming along very nicely! Just yesterday we ordered the wedding favors and booked flights and a hotel for our honeymoon in Paris! I am so excited about this!

The other reason I haven't posted is because I signed up for a shop on Etsy and was trying to postpone this until I had that all set up, but I still don't have a very strong idea of how to get that going and I have a bunch of things to show you (!), so here's my update.

You might have noticed that I've changed the name of the blog from Unraveled to Bad Cats, Good Knits. This is because I've also signed up for Ravelry, whose blog is also called Unraveled. Bad Cats, Good Knits is what I've decided to call my Etsy shop and I thought it might be a good idea if they matched. My username on both sites is ReineduMonde, so check me out!

Now the knitting!

Firstly, I finally got around to blocking the Forest Park Scarf:
To be honest, I was a little bored with it after the Cleopatra wrap. I kind of regret buying so much of the orange bamboo yarn--not my favorite color. My coworker, Vicki, on the other hand, loves orange, so I passed the scarf on to her. She seems to like it since she was very excited about wearing it yesterday :).

Secondly, I finished the Nautical Baby Sweater:
I'm worried the collar might be a little too tight, so I probably shouldn't sell try to sell the thing (or really any of it because the yarn is acrylic). Other than that, I think it came out nicely.
And a couple of cute hats to finish off the acrylic yarn!
Now that that junk is out of my basket for good, I can concentrate on using quality materials next time so I won't be so ashamed about putting them up for sale. Maybe I'll wait until I have some good products before really opening the Etsy shop and I can stop worrying about that so much!

My latest project has been a sweater commissioned by Vicki from the Sensual Knits book by Olga Buraya- Kefelian, called the Balloon Sleeve Cardigan:
I'm almost done with it now. I've got everything all knit except for the belt, for which I am waiting on the buckle so I can size the width accurately. I've sewn the hems up, the pieces of the body together and set in one of the sleeves. I just need to set in the other sleeve, sew on the collar and the buttons and make that pesky belt. Then Vicki can enjoy her new sweater! :) The pattern calls for a wool-cashmere blend, which was prohibitively expensive, and Vicki wants it to be a summer cardigan, so I picked Knitpicks Comfy Worsted. It's extremely soft and (shocker!) comfortable. Unlike a lot of cotton yarns I've worked with, it doesn't stick to the needles at all. I am very pleased with the way this cardigan is working out and hopefully Vicki will be too!

Lined up after that, I have the Venezia Pullover by Eunny Jang. I've substituted pinks for the yellows, but I'm not entirely sure about the arrangement of the colors yet. I'll have to play around with some swatches before I really get into it. I'll certainly keep you guys posted here, but might be posting on Ravelry more often, so sign up for it! It's got some really cool programs for logging projects and checking out member patterns.

(I owe you a kitty picture in the next post, I promise)

I hope all of you are having a wonderful spring and that your summer will be as fun-filled as mine is promising to be!

Cheers,

-Allie