A walk in the woods...in 2007 and some FOs

I have no excuses for not blogging. But here it is 2008 and I have not blogged since last december and a pretty lame one at that. But Bob and I went for a woods walk last november and I have to say, I love my camera (Nikon D40X).


I also did complete a sweater, Mr GreenJeans (makes me think of Captain Kangaroo!). Here is a detail of the cables (love cabling without a needle-Thanks Grumperina!)

and here is my finished product before blocking:

Yarn-Dream in Color Classy in Chinatown Apple I think about 4 skeins on bamboo needles recommended by the pattern. I LOVED knitting this sweater! It was so much fun to knit and I think I got it done in about 2 weeks. This was my first topdown sweater and there were NO seams to sew up! I did make the 2nd to largest size and I left the sleeve length alone (not 3/4 on me--full length) and I made the torso section a little shorter. Instead of a button, I made buttonholes on both sides of the sweater and I fasten with some i-cord I made out of some similar sock yarn. All in all, a FUN project.

Fair Isle fun:
What you see below is the start of my ivy league vest from interweave winter 2007. I am using smith and jameson fingering weight on size 3 addi turbos. I have gotten a little further along but I need to take more progress pics.

But before I started the vest, I took a fair isle class from Fiddlehead Yarns shop (a great lys in Kenosha, WI). Mindy was a GREAT teacher and I loved the class. It was a two parter, and, overacheiver that I am, I finished this hat before the next class.

So I spent my time adding a lining. It was fun. but the shop is 26 miles from my house! However, Mindy is great and I would drive all that way again to shop and take another class. If anyone is in the Kenosha area, you MUST check it out!

A Sweater, a shawl and socks

Here it is! My first sweater. It is the Jawbreaker Cardigan from Interweave Knits Winter 2006. It was a VERY fast knit (size 11 needles!). In my last post, Lynn asked if I thought the collar felt like too many stitches. I have to admit...I am kind of a geek...so I actually sorta did the math and calculated at which stitches I could increase by two so that I would have the correct number of stitches needed for the collar without bunching. So that was the hard part. I had no problems w/mattress stitching up the seams. I love this sweater!

Finally! I finished, washed and blocked my Icarus:

Here is a close up of the edge:

And I also have a picture of a pair of socks that I finished last December, Conwy from Nancy Bush's Knitting on the Road:

I also started the Nantucket Jacket (also from Interweave Knits Winter 2006). I LOVE the stitch pattern and the berrocco pure merino wool! So soft! I will post some progress pics soon.

I also got the books Knit 2 Together by Tracy Ullman and Mel Clark and Sarah Dallas Knitting. I really like both these books and want to make almost everything from both books! I already made the baby cape in Knit 2 Together, which brings me to a question...the cape called for size 6 needles, 4 mm. But my size 6 clover needles are 4.25 mm. I didn't check the diameter when I first started, but as I went along (and needed way more yarn than I thought!) I checked the size. I had to use 1 whole more hank of cascade 220 than the pattern called for! But I made it work. Once I get buttons I will post a pic. But why is there a difference between what the book calls for and what size my needles actually are?

Anyway, I am having a blast knitting...when I can get away from the needles, I will post!