The Trouble With Bristol

I'm having doubts. I should've trusted my instincts with the ribbed hem of 5 fewer sts than the body. Though it's worked on the same needles, it pulls in, which might be ok for tunic length, but I have a feeling it will fit funny right on my hips.

My instinct is to rip it and start over, because another issue is with lace pattern repeats on the neck shaping. If I leave out stitches and maintain the lace pattern when possible, it looks weird. No wonder the model in the magazine is wearing a huge flower, in the exact area where I'm having trouble!

I plan to rip back to where the armholes begin and rework the neck line to accommodate the lace repeats. This will probably require a chart. Also, I'm contemplating how to cut the ribbing - yes, that's right CUT - then pick up the open stitches an knit a different hem.

Azalea Bristol from Verena Knitting Summer 2010

For the first time in a long time, I'm knitting a project from a pattern. Verena Knitting has some beautiful lace tops in their Summer 2010 issue. I want to knit almost every single one!

Sticking with my own knitting traditions, I'm making heavy modifications to tailor this pattern to my liking, and to Arkansas' climate: shorten length by 3 inches, make it short-sleeved, add waist shaping, knit the smallest size instructions but at a gauge that’ll give me a medium size.

The schematics show a boxy sweater, but on the model, I detect a little waist shaping! Is this one of those styling tricks, where they pin the models clothes in the back, to give the illusion of perfect fit? Is it in the blocking? When I wear a boxy tunic, I look like I'm wearing a boxy tunic, but in the magazine, the model looks like she's wearing a tailored form-fitting tunic.

With my experience, I know to create this hourglass silhouette, I need to nip the waist. Starting w/ lace row #8, and every 8 rows, I dec’ed 1 st at each edge, down to 7 sts less each edge, so I had to accommodate a little on the lace pattern, but only at the sides. In the 3rd lace rep, row #8 is the last dec row. Then row #16 will be the first inc, and then every 4th row until #24. Then on #6, every 6 rows until I’m back to 91 sts.

Knitting Here and There

School, work, and family take priorty over yarn crafting. Still, I do try to carve out few moments here and there for knitting or crochet time. Sometimes I even forsake higher priority tasks to play with yarn. I once worked on a hat instead of studying for a physics test. I made a "C" on the test, but IMHO, the knitting deserved an "A."

I wanted a lacy beret that looked difficult, but was relatively easy to knit. This cascading leaves pattern was just the ticket. Stay tuned for the pattern!


I've been working on a few designs: two berets and one top-down raglan. The berets are cute, but I've only photographed one. The top was cute in theory, but my formula was all wrong, and it looked like a ruffled clown top. It has since been frogged, and I've re-worked the formula with less frequent raglan increases, and a better neckline. When I have more free time, I will design a truly reversible top!

A Lot of Knitting

February was a good month for knitting, because it was a slow month for working. I made lots of progress on my sock blank, and also completed two small projects - a pair of mittens, using my top-down pattern, and another Lily bath mitt.

 

I finally finished the SWS striped scarf. I alternated two colorways, Navy & Russet, inspired by Jared Flood's Noro Striped Scarf. Though it should've been a bore with endless 1x1 ribbing, the color changes continuously kept me interested. My honey likes it, too, although he has yet to wear it, but I'm not hurt, because I know he doesn't wear scarves. I was more interesting in knitting it than gifting it. Next winter, I'll make one for myself in more feminine colors.



I started an Ernie sweater for my nephew - a striped raglan, knit it pieces, so I can sew it up to perfectly match the stripes. It's based upon the construction of the pattern in Son of Stitch 'n Bitch, only much smaller. It's bigger than he is, though, and hopefully I can give it as a birthday gift, that he can wear when the weather turns cold in the fall.

For March, I will focus on finishing all UFO's before I start anything new, other than another small simple on-the-go-stuff-in-my-purse project. It keeps me sane whenever I'm out and about running errands and have to wait for something or someone.

Mossy Border Tank Top

I finished it long ago, but have been too busy to even think about a photo shoot, much less noting the details. Since Ravelry automates the noting of project details, I use their database instead of typing everything out here. I suggest y'all go sign up for Ravelry. It's free, and it's like MySpace for knitters and crocheters.

I used humble Sugar'n Cream yarn, in sage heather, a Bond knitting machine, and then handknit the borders. For the moss panel in the middle, I actually dropped down those stitches after working them on the machine, and then worked them back up in moss stitch - something easily done with a 10" double-ended crochet hook.


My cake decorator training has been keeping me from my needlework - sometimes for days at a time! Now I'm an official Wilton Method Instructor. I started my first cake decorating class this month, Course 1, where I teach a beginner class the essentials of cake decorating. So far, everything's been great fun. In the meantime, I leave you with the photos of my latest cake creations.

Seed Stitch Accent Tank Top on a Knitting Machine

I worked the body on my Bond knitting machine, and the borders by hand. In the process, I experimented with working short rows on the machine to make bust darts, and so far, they look good. Afterwards, I noticed a very obvious split stitch halfway down the middle of the front, so I decided the best thing was to drop the stitches down and rework them back up. In the process, I though, "why not work them back up in seed stitch?" It was painstaking, but halfway up the column, I got into the rhythm of it, and then worked three more. I think I'll also add another two columns of seed st on each side, to to balance it a bit more. Now all it needs is a proper neckline and some sleeve borders. Only time will tell....

Basketweave Baby Cardigan FO!

Happy New Year!

The last FO of 2007, became the first handknit sweater for my newphew in 2008. I used 2.25 skeins of Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece yarn on 3.5 mm Addi Turbo's, at 6 sts x 9 rows per inch, in a simple baskeweave cardigan. I roughly followed the formula to Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top Seamless Set-in Sleeve, Simultaneous Method. This has become my favorite sweater pattern formula. All in all, it was both a challenge and pleasure to knit. Too bad they don't stay small enough for very long. Maybe sis will have another, and we can hand it down to the next little one.