Thursday, May 3, 2007

Summer! Yarn! Lace! FOs!!!

Okay, so it's been a while since my last blog and even LONGER since I've had pictures and such pretty things. Since I last blogged: I finished Elfine, wrote three papers, and took all my finals. I'm done!!! So, I'm here to make you happy with pictures!!! Yay.

Here, at long last, pictures of my first sweater, Arwen. *gasp!*

Arwen
pattern: Cardigan for Arwen by Kate Gilbert in Winter '06 IK
needles: 4.00 mm (US 6) Addi circ and 4.50 mm (US 7) straights. I had to go down a needle size to get gauge.
yarn: Elann Peruvian Wool in Victorian Violet.


A shot of the back. Huh. You can see my imperfect grafting and and the seam down the middle of the hood. Clearly, I opted not to knit it in one piece. No regrets though! I really enjoyed seaming the sweater together. It actually left me hungry to knit another sweater just so I could seam some more. Is that weird or what?


(If I look exhausted it's because I AM! I took my last two finals this morning and goodness, I'm so worn out.)

Everything (almost) is perfect about this sweater. Well, the pattern itself is great. It fits perfectly. My only complaint is the yarn. The cheapness is brutally apparent. It still looks quite nice, but it's getting pilly after a couple of wears. But for a first sweater, I wasn't exactly jumping to dump over $100 on yarn.

I've worn Arwen a couple times now. I told my friend Michelle that I was knitting a sweater, so she told me to show it to her when I finished. When I told her it was this one, she gave me a critical look and finally said, "You're going a really good mom one day."

I'm not sure how to take that.

When I started Elfine the weater was cold as hell. I knit these to encourage spring along. By the time I finished the first one and cast on for the second, the cold weather had completely vanished.


Elfine
pattern: Elfine by Anna Bell
needles: 2.25 mm (US 1) Clover dpns
yarn: Koigu... oh geez I never remember the color names.


I love them. They fit perfectly and look lovely. I was apprehensive at first. The color isn't one I usually choose, and I wasn't sure about the pattern, but as I kept knitting, the subtle variegation really helped bring out the beautiful lace.

Funny story. Or not so funny. Anyway, I was so fixated on the yarn, things were starting to look green to me. My needles, especially, appeared to have a greenish tint. At first I thought it was just due to the yarn making everything look green, but after a while, I realized... no! My needles really WERE turning green! I guess the dye from the yarn was rubbing off? But anyway. I don't have a picture, but it's quite funny.

With the completion of Elfine, I was without a project. I don't have much of a stash to speak of, so I couldn't even resort to that. Besides, what I really wanted to knit was some lace. So. After I struggled through my papers and finals, I decided to treat myself to some yarn.


JaggerSpun Zephyr Silk/Wool in Juniper. I had initally wanted something deep red, but this teal caught my eye and I knew it was just crying to be knit into Eunny's Print o' the Wave. My first real lace project! *is excited*


Rowan kid silk in pink. Super soft, super pretty. Which is why I bought it. Hahaha! I just really liked the pink color. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it. I reckon I wanted to knit a Branching Out, but we'll see if I actually do.

2 comments:

Amy said...

It amazes me that your needles turned green.

Leila said...

You should knit something to keep your oranges warm. But all oranges aside, you are teh talentz.