Project Spectrum: Earth

Ok, the real truth is that I finished these last week, while still in the Fire element of Project Spectrum. But I'm blogging them now, so I'm counting them towards my Earth quota. And as Lolly said, there are no deadlines for this, which makes it just the no-pressure kind of thing I need right now. Pattern: Evangeline Mitts by Michelle Szeghalmi
Yarn: Berrocco Ultra Alpaca in Peat Mix (leftovers from Gretel)
Needles: US 7
Mods: Added an extra pattern repeat before the thumb to lengthen them. Total 4 repeats. Also, didn't do the thumb as directed. Instead, I knit the four stitches to be held for the thumb on a bit of waste yarn, slid those stitches back to the left needle and knit them again with the main yarn, continuing on as usual. Then, just unstitched the waste yarn and picked up the proper number of stitches to complete the thumb.

I am completely in love with these mitts. My love of Ultra Alpaca is well documented, but equal to that love is my love of this cable pattern. Unfortunately, lighting being what it is, and my photography skills being what they are, I was not able to get a really good shot of the cable pattern or the color. The color is very much an evergreen kind of heather. Not spring-y per se, but green and conviently located in my stash. I think I even have enough yarn left to make another pair to gift. How nice! You may wish to look at the pattern or this version for a better look at the cabling.

Love, love, love!

Can you tell from this pic that my poor hands are tired and in need of some Ultra Alpaca love? I have a half recital coming up next Friday, and things are certainly cracking along this semester. Hang in there, hands. You can do it!

Where has the time gone?

March 12th already? I feel like it's been ages since my last post. But I can't say I'm sorry that March is almost half over. I really dislike the month of March. By this time I'm usually about done with winter, and it's so grey and stormy and it seems like March just hangs around forever. I have, however, quite the little back-log of projects to show you.

First off, the striped yoke is done. Has been for more than a week yet, but I haven't blocked it. Honestly, I probably won't until next winter. I'm not likely to wear it in what's left of this winter. The fit is ok. It's kind of big, which I sort of planned and sort of didn't. Anyway, it satisfies my need for a weekend-y kind of sweater.

Yarn: Patons Classic Merino in Olive and Rich Red
Needles: US 7
Pattern: EZ Seamless Yoke

Last week, I was able to make use of my mom's sewing machine. I made this super cute tote bag with fabric I bought back in December. The dahlia print is a Liz Claibourne decorator fabric I got on clearance. The patter was from SEW: Sew Everything Workshop. I did some modifying to make sure I could use it for what I wanted, which was as a bag to hold all my teaching supplies: etude books, pencils, schedule, ect. It's really perfect, and I love the print. It's so retro and just speaks to me for some reason. The inside is a contrasting fabric in red-orange and I added an internal pocket in the dahlia print. I have a bunch of fabric left over, which has no particular plan. I bought way more than I needed because it was such a deal. I really want to use it. This print just makes me so happy!

The only thing I don't like about this tote is that the lining is too big. The pattern has you cut the lining and outside the exact same size. For me, this made a sloppy lining. It is settling into place now, but it's not perfect. I've found, having made three projects from this book, that I love the ideas, but the execution is not the best. First off, you need to be careful and check that seam allowances are included in the sizes you're told to cut so you end up with the size it says the project should be. This tote pattern has three options, and for one of the three, seam allowances are not included. Second, the styling on the projects makes them out to be more than they really are. Scale is an issue. Many objects look bigger or smaller than they actually are. And depsite what the finished object size says, it is hard to reconcile what you see with what the pattern says. I don't think I will be making any more projects directly out of this book. I will, however, take the suggested projects into consideration when buying patterns as a beginning sewer.

And last, I received my ATCs from the Project Spectrum swap.
Thanks a lot Kristen and Chandler!

Making the Hard Decisions

So I decided against the black yarn. The contrast between the black and the brick-y red-orange was just too great. Originally I had thought to use the rest of the olive Patons Classic Merino left over from the Aran Accent Vest. That project seriously over estimated yardage. I think I bought six balls and I had two and a half left over. But the thing about the olive is that I didn't want it the sweater to have a Christmas vibe, you know red and green. I swatched and decided to risk it. Luckily, the olive is a very changeable color - sometimes looking very green and sometimes very brown - and the contrast is not so high with the red. It's exactly what I wanted. The sweater makes me think of cottages in the woods, hikes in the fall, and snuggly sofas that are so old you nearly sink to the floor in them.

I'm hoping against hope that this works out the way I want. I don't have much good luck with things I "design" myself. I think it might break me if I had to frog it. The blue shirt yoke ran into a snag. Namely, that I put the sleeves on crooked and got to within one night's knitting of finishing before I discovered it. Frogged to the underarms. It's now sitting in time out until I can look at it again. I tried it on before frogging, and it was obvious that the yoke was going to be too deep, so it's probably all for the best. I may opt for the saddle shoulder treatment this time, since it will be more shapely and customizable.

P. S. - Holy WOW does my apartment smell FANTASTIC. I'm baking No Knead Bread again. It turns out that in spite of my fantastic results last time, I misread the recipe, so I hope it's equally good this time.

Project Spectrum

I decided to join in on Project Spectrum this time. I really liked the idea of basing the colors on the elements - so much freedom while still being contained.

I've been sort of wracking my brain trying to think up things to do for it. I mean, I love the colors for Fire, which is the first element, and in spite of recently purchasing a box full of yarn in fire colors (orange, yellow, pinky-red) I wasn't inspired. I couldn't think of one thing I wanted, really wanted to make with that yarn. And then there was the whole matter of the ATC swap, which I signed up for. I've never made an ATC before, and I really wasn't at all sure I was going to have the time for it, but I decided that you have time if you make time. So I'm making time.

This weekend I went to a local big box store for inspiration. I had some ideas of projects I wanted to do (both for PS and not) but I wanted to see what was available and what it was going to cost. And there was no inspiration there either. Not to mention it was an experience I am not anxious to repeat. The customers were rude (such as cutting in line) and the employees were clueless (inhibiting the customers' ability to purchase things, closing a cash register the second I got to the front of the line, and forcing the customers to move out of the employees' way not the other way around). And the store didn't have any of the things I was looking for, though I did stumble on a fire theme for my ATCs, but that was all me, not them. Oh, and down the clearance aisle I found four balls of Patons Classic Merino in a beautiful, firey red.
You can't go wrong with 100% wool at $2.00 a ball. It's not enough for a sweater, but paired with some black yarn left over from my Dollar and a Half Cardigan, it will be perfect. I'm thinking a seamless yoke EZ sweater with some sort of striped pattern on the yoke, maybe a bit of stranding. We'll see how it goes. This is the first sweater I've been truly excited about for a while now. And I love the rich red-orange color.

P.S. - "... a few italics really do relieve your feelings." -- Anne of Windy Poplars by L.M. Montgomery.

She's right, you know.