Audrey Cardi continuing

The Audrey Cardi is continuing. I've knit the body including the lace panels, and starting the top-down sleeves.

Here's the pre-lace progress pic:



Since the first pic I posted, I discovered I was on the wrong needle, I'd misread my project pages.
So, I had to frog back the 3" of twisted ribbing and re-cast on, on a US6. A bit of finagling later, I was on my way. I like doing the twisted rib, but it gets old after awhile..and I need to remember not to double-twist the stitches otherwise they end up being big and puffy, just like a stitch that isn't twisted properly.

Also, the bugga yarn on these skeins is stiffer..and I'm hoping it'll block out when I'm done.

My birthday came and went with lots of celebratory dinners out - Lao Ventiane for Laotian food, Lamb dinner and tiramisu at San Remo's, and a Large bowl of mussels at The Brentwood Pub. Also, since then, dinner at The Roost, recommended by Mandy, a gal in my knitting group. The roast beef was delicious and I kind of tripped down memory lane.

Some new yarn for my stash - (Happy Birthday to me! ... The lovely Coquette  in MCN Worsted-



and some new old yarn dyed over by my friend Emma as lovely teals:



The before pic below -  olive green (shown far right) and a mint green (2nd from right), both not my colors from a Pigeonroof Studios Grab Bag.  Both apparently were quite yellow - too much so for my complexion. The mint is some kind of fingering MCN very soft and I couldn't part with it. The Bacchus is a merino-silk blend with a lovely hand and bit of a sheen.

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Not sure what the dark teal will be, but I think the blue-green will be some kind of shawl.

Pas de Valse cardi in Blue Lobster Done

Project: Pas de Valse Cardi by Marnie Maclean
Yarn: 3 skeins The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga in Blue Lobster (~1236 yds);
Needle: US 6 Signature Needle
Gauge swatch was 22st per 4" on US 6, so I picked the 33.5" size for 35", and negative ease as the pattern has 2" of positive ease built-in. Post blocking, I measured several different points on the cardi, and ended up between 22st and 24st per 4" on US 6.
 
Notes: Adjusted for gauge, as I didn't want the collar to be wrapping me in 3. I decided for now, not to do the lettuce edge as I like the way the collar curls. Due to the difference in gauge, I ended up only doing the first 2 decreases on the back piece, and then, knitting up so the back and fronts were matched. Then, I did the short rows at the shoulder as called for, and joined the extension to the back at the back neck so they matched. Like others, I had holes in the back of the neck, but I ran a yarn through to close it up.  In the original pattern, the collar is so big and floppy it covers up the back neck and the front where the extension is joined. Since I didn't want such a big extension, the reverse stockinette on the front shows more, and blocking straightened out the wows from the increases along the left side of the cardi. I also had about 70 stitches picked up for the top of the sleeve, so I followed that set of numbers on the top-down short rows, until I had 4 stitches on each side, as per the size I was making. Seemed to work out. The back is a bit tight still after blocking, but the cardi is very flattering, and the yarn softened and bloomed after soaking, blocking, and air drying.

Pre-knitted pic of the yarn - a lovely blue-green teal:



Pas de Valse pre-block:



Post - block:



Better pics when I can find someone to take a better pic.
Seems like my self-pics are too blurry to post..without give you a headache to look at them.

and my new love - The Blue Caterpillar colorway (from the Verdant Gryphon), also bugga. It is the most brilliant of blues - close to tardis blue, I think they've referring to it as - see for yourself...kind of burns your eyeballs off it's so bright.



I've started the twisted rib of another sportweight cardi.