Things that are hard...

... photographing one's own feet without a tripod.

I gotta get me one of them. Sigh.

Pattern: Canada from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road
Yarn: Bits and bobs lying about. The main color is Knit Picks Gloss in Woodland Sage left over from Thermal. The others are left over from various other socks - Dad's Gentleman's Shooting Socks and my Child's First Socks (incidentally, both Nancy Bush patterns)

What's that? You want a close up of the color work and Latvian twist?

Oh, fine. The Latvian twist is pretty darn cool. It's the kind of thing where you're pretty sure it's not going to work or if it does it's sure not going to look good, but you trust the pattern and you keep on going even when it looks like bollocks, and lo! it works! And looks freaking cool!
The only mods I made were to shorten the leg. I think that this is actualy more visually pleasing, plus even if I had left the leg long, I thought that it would probably collapse around my ankles under the extra weight of the colorwork. The original had this same colorwork chart with about 3 or 4 inches of extra stockinette with the clocks. Speaking of colorwork, did you know that it's supposed to be maple leaves? No maple leaves I've ever seen, that's for sure.

FO: Man's Vest

Ignore the funny red bubble behind my head. It's a lantern.

Pattern: Four Seasons "Man's" Vest by Pam Allen from CEY Summer book 1
Yarn: Four Seasons by Classic Elite in 7621 Pine Cone
Size: 43"
Needles: 4.5 mm
Mods: Lengthened the whole thing by 2 1/4 inches before waist shaping. This necessitated respacing the buttons.

Here's the thing. I think I should frog it and knit the smaller size. What a bummer, after waiting for buttons. I wore it today, and I couldn't get over how uncomfortably long the armholes are. I looked up the pattern on Ravelry, and it seems that this is the way the pattern is written, but I really don't like it (take a look at the photo below). Also, while it looks like it has a nice amount of positive ease in this photo, it really grew over the course of the day, and was kind of hanging off me by the end.

Initially, I chose to knit a size with positive ease, because I was factoring in wearing something under it (preferrably the girly blouse shown on the model, which I did not and do not own) and I figured that the intense amount of waist shaping would prevent it from looking too big. The waist shaping is nice, but I think it's still too big. Also, the width of the shoulders is on the verge of being too wide for me. I knit the back before Colorado, and the rest when I got back. I had reservations after I finished the back about the sizing, so I got out my trusty tape measure and measured the heck out of it when I returned. It seemed fine. This is one of those times the tape measure lies. I really do need to knit with negative ease most of the time, due to the generous nature of my boobs, even when I'm planning on wearing something under the garment. Live and learn.

I think that I may frog and reknit soon, since I think that this will be a super-wearable piece for the fall. I might just say screw it, but I love Four Seasons. It's a cotton/wool blend (so you might think I would have taken into account the stretching factor, but I didn't) and perfect for the fall-ish type weather we've been having lately. A great layer for chilly mornings.

When I redo this, I'll make the 39" size, and shorten the armholes by a lot. I think the reason they are so long is because Pam Allen was trying to take into account the wearing of another garment, but I think she over calculated a little, at least where I'm concerned. I can take a good 1" to 1 1/2" off and still comfortably wear a blouse underneath. I'm going to keep the extra length though. I think it's just right.

In other knitting news, I've ordered yarn for a vest for my dad for his birthday/Christmas present plus yarn for an Anais for me. I have to consider other Christmas presents too: mom, brother, and brother's fiancee are all going to need something under the tree!

Been awhile...

It's been awhile since I've had knitting progress to showcase here.... I did actually knit a darling little baby sweater back in May. It was a Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss in a dark navy blue for a pretend-nephew across the ocean. Alas, I finished it the night before I left for Colorado and didn't manage any pictures before I left for my flight at 4AM.

This here is the "Man's Vest" from CEY Summer book 1. All I need are some buttons and it's ready for a FO shot.

I rather predictably chose the Four Seasons yarn in the exact color as the sample. I feel the need to break out of my box, but on the other hand, brown is a good color for me, and it will coordinate with many things in my closet.
And then there's socks. There's always socks. These are the "Canada" socks from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road made with odds and ends left over from other socks. I felt the need for some colorwork, and these certainly fit the bill.
Wool sock weather will be upon us soon enough. Better start stocking up! Get it?