Finishing up Larch

ok, finished sleeve 2, now to do the collar. I'm itching to start a new project, but I want to finish this one first. I knit the sleeves to the same length as the pattern; even thought they're supposed to be long. They seem to fit me well.

ETA: I started on the collar, and there a royal math error in the collar section. Luckily, when I looked back at the project listing, she has listed the errata on her listing, but did not update the pattern file. I started the first few short rows, and realized after going back to look at others' projects that the collar pick-up forces the collar to turn outwards, which would be fine for a normal collar, but since it's a shawl-style collar, it's going to look stupid stupid at the base of the collar, so I will have to rip back 2-3 rows started and figure out how to re-jig the collar. The pattern has been a bit of ups and downs - ups because the stockinette is very smooth easy knitting, and downs when I look at the pattern, and think (what they hay?!) and adjust it to work better than written. A few people have commented that they had to fudge the collar because the pattern designer's notes left a lot to be desired.

sleeves and pics

As a follow-up from the last post..pics
Project - Larch Cardigan
Yarn: SG Bugga Blue Stink Bug

sleeve 1:





sleeve 2 - in progress - more than 1/2 way now, but a little less in this pic -



Sweet Georgia Yarn exchange/custom dye.
Returned 2 Raspberry Cashluxe Fine (left 2 in below photo):



Color ordered - Coastal - this is on the merino silk fine base (left)  and the merino silk aran base (right):
 
Estimated to complete by end of April; I contacted them in Mid-may only to be told the base had just arrived. Fast forward to the next week -  what arrived was a bleak blah blue gray, and not semi-solid at all, and just one tag. Just this tiny scrap remains:



Luckily, I was able to save the skeins from boredom or destash.

Emma of Everything Old (link to her shop here) was able to overdye them this lovely vibrant blue-green teal. Lovely, just lovely, and so soft. I'm very happy.

 

now to find the right project...

one sleeve down..

one to go..

It took a little over a week to do the first sleeve, and even though people have complained that the designer makes long sleeves, I think it's going to be just fine. I managed to rip back twice on the way to the top - once because I read the wrong line of the pattern for decreases, and a second because I managed to drop a stitch way down about 15 rows, and ended up not having enough yarn to pick it back. so, rip rip. The first sleeve is bound off, and waiting.

I also managed to snag another blue stink bug skein which is well-matched, so I'll be good to complete.

I cast-on sleeve 2 today at lunch. very pretty yarn this blue.

Other news, my Sweet Georgia yarn from Fibres west arrived. I had asked her for Coastal on Cashluxe Fine, and told her no pastel. Apparently that colour is already a pastel, but it was so dark inside at Fibres West that it was impossible to tell. It finally arrived after some prompting and a delay in the base arriving.  It came very blue gray and blah and with only one tag. Luckily, we have another dyer in our group Em who was willing to give it a shot on an overdye - and so it's come out a lovely blue-green colour, and the base has softened up so much - not sure what it'll be yet.  pics to follow.

Oh, and the coral interest was very short-lived. After I bought the coral gables traveller, the lady who sold it to me, sold the 2nd skein to someone else who contacted me to make a larger project. I've let it go. I think I just wanted the warmer weather to come.

Larch continued

Continuing with Larch which I started 2.5 weeks ago - I finished the body last night - did a 3-needle bind-off at the shoulders - ta da!



The colour is knitting up so nicely - I'm really enjoying the knitting-



Now, I've started knitting the sleeves.

Maaaay - it's may!

May is here. I set out and blocked my Hush Cardi, pinned the shoulders and took a pic. It'll do. No way i'm ripping back this one. It turned out so soft. Next > arms.



and the real colour, minus my yellow drapes in the background-



Also, I'm zipping along on my Larch Cardi in Bugga. It's a beautiful mix of blues. I knit the 15" to the arms, split for the front; have now knit the left front and right front, and have started on the back. It's lovely.

here's an earlier pic..prior to the 15".


and my madtosh order finally came - I had ordered this -


it's Madtosh Pashmina in Fathom, AND that was the weekend, they drew 3 names to win a Madtosh bag -and I won!


and signed by the owner.

Also, traded for these, more Skein Fingering Merino cashmere - in Spiced Chai.



yep, still into brown.

April

Wow, April has blown by. Notable events, Easter holidays from work, my birthday, cake (ok, birthday cake) , and a few projects started, and mid-progress.

Mmmmm birthday cake - It was a Raspberry Mousse cake from Murchie's - well, mostly it was a chocolate mousse housed in a chocolate shell, with a raspberry core.

and also this Lemon Cheesecake to celebrate Robin's birthday coinciding in the same time frame.
sooo yummy - one of those whipped cream ones, soft and lemony.

I think it's been awhile since I bought a Murchie's cake - it was quite a treat!

Add to that one of the first sunny days in spring, friends, good conversation and knitting - it was relaxing and fun.  Robin and I had joked about having a six-year old's party where I gave out goody-bags.  Instead, I brought ~60 skeins of yarn, and gave it away - pink and reds, a few blue - indie sock yarn, handspun, wollmeise, silk-wool, and merino, merino blends, and silk. Aftermath shown below, mid-right.

Haappy Birrrthdaaaaay...

 

to YOUUUU!

 Finally took a pic of my Herbivore...unblocked..but off the needles..

I started the lace of the Little Colonnade then, decided I didn't like how the yarn was looking..so I frogged it back and am trying to just finish up with a bit of simple eyelets with the Brass and Steam-

Lovely how the stockinette shows off the blue and  brown...

Yes, I'm still appreciating browns, and I'm somewhat on a coral kick these days..and blue - 

Coral Gables Traveller shown far right, I purchased on a destash, and left and right is Kathmandu, a bright orange which I hope to pair one day with St. Tropez (middle) for Octopus Mittens-

and with this blue - Blue Stink bug, I've stared the Larch Cardi - 

knit straight up from the bottom to the shoulders, and then, split for the arms. The bottom is a twisted rib, which is cast-off and then, re-picked up for a nice finished edge. Seemed like a waste of time when I was reading it, but the finish is really lovely, and it can't be achieved just by fudging.

Work's been pleasantly busy, and a few other adventures....it'll be May in a few days..and I can't wait. I'm planning to layout and block and pin my Hush when I have some peace and quiet and can focus on it properly without distraction. The instructions indicate blocking the body before picking up for the sleeves.

ETA: If I haven't enabled you yet personally - the Madelinetosh group on Rav has a Sales & Promos thread as they're getting ready for Mad May - a big knitting stashdown event for the month of May. Several knit designers are offering discounts on patterns through end of April and some end of May. Happy Knits is offering 20% off all Madtosh yarns through April 30th with the code from the thread.

April Fool's Day

Today was good day sunny and I got a lot done.

I also discovered a huge boo-boo with my hush cardi. somehow the fronts are not the same size..one is definitely smaller than the other. so, i'm debating now to finish the ribbon on the front i'm on and then, try to pin it together to see what it'll look like. I'm pretty sure that the 6 stitches that are missing on the left are in the right. That means, I might be ripping back the entire section of woven stitch which is 2 strands held together. Fun, fun.

Anyway, tomorrow is a new week, and it's a new month.

I did finish off the 12" of my herbivore and bound it off on Saturday, so that is done - yay!

End of March Progress

1. Little Colonnade Shawl in SG Blue Morpho (40%):



Status: Still waiting to start lace;

2. Herbivore Shawl in Cephalopod Yarns Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz (80%):



Status: 9.5" of 12" high; and hoping to bind-off soon.

3. Hush Cardi (60%) -



Status: Finished the back, and left front, working on right front, in the woven stitch section on small needles held doubled.

Recent Reads - Caught up with the Hunger Games series (Friday to Tuesday); hope to see the movie.

San Antonio

The weather was rainy when I arrived, and the River Walk was covered in puddles and not so nice to walk in; but, the next day it cleared up and it was oh so lovely and warm in the 70s the next day.

The Alamo:

Sunny courtyard at The Menger Hotel (not where we stayed)



and a night view from the Hyatt Regency (where we stayed)



View of the Hotel from the Tower of Americas - it's the squarish building about 1 o'clock in relation to the red tree-ish structure in the bottom middle of the picture.



We had a lovely dinner  (Quail; Short rib; and a Coconut Flan) at Boudro's on the River Walk, and seafood at Ostra, and Swordfish at the Chart House Restaurant, at the top of the Tower of Americas,  with 360 view of the city, and a lovely sunset:

Knitting away

Still knitting away on two of the three projects I wanted to start in February - the Hush cardi (Austin Hoodie pattern) in Skein Fingering Merino cashmere. It's knitting up so lovely and it's very soft. I measured one of my jackets the other day and realized the length is fine without any mods (oh no! No Mods!) haha - those of you who know me well will realize what a shock that will be for to not make any mods...if I end up doing so. So far so good. It's fingering weight and I'm really enjoying knitting with it.

Also want to say that my exchange of yarn from Skein yarns was successful. I had done a custom order in the fall and received 2 skeins which were really not my colour and so unexpectedly not close to the yarn company's photos. I was able to return them and exchange them for some hand-dyed fingering merino cashmere in thistle. Kristen (the owner) is really a genius with the mottled pastels. Just beautiful yarns, and I really love the way the base knits up. Hard to believe my arm was out of commission just a little more than a month ago.

What I returned -

Merino Silk Sport colorway Envy - Pics at left published by Skein Yarns. Pics on right what I received - Rouge - a pinkish red came looking more like copper; and Envy - a complex mix of forest greens and olives, came looking unexpectedly flat:

 

Here's what I applied my return credit to 4 skeins Fingering Merino Cashmere in Thistle  - much closer to the expected picture (skein pic shown on left), and well-matched as requested.




She apparently dyes the skeins in batches of 6, but I think you do have to request the skeins to be well-matched, otherwise, it does not appear to be done. Kristen also mentioned that she has someone helping her now with packaging so for whatever reason she wasn't able to provide a photo prior to mailing the yarn, even though the yarn was dyed Friday, and she didn't ship until Wednesday. i.e. you have to be willing to suspend your expectations based on her photos on what you will expect to actually receive when making a custom order. I would recommend going with one of the more pastel with cream colorways if you do a custom order,  as she is definitely a genius when making those, as compared to the darker more saturated tones.

Also, stay away from custom orders of colors she's made on merino or bfl sock bases where she doesn't have a stock photo for the merino-silk sport. Even with that, as indicated, there is a range of what she says accepts as being that colorway.

Shown Below - The Orient - a gorgeous enriching colorway on BFL sock. I requested this colorway on Merino-silk sport and received the yarn shown at right - a dark brooding colorway closer to brown and burgundy.  Although supposedly dyed together, only one of the skeins had more of the apricot color shown. I was trying to break out of my "norm". I'm ok with the colorway and didn't want to pay to return the skeins, but it was not what I expected based on the photo, and based on the way the colors appear to look on the different bases (see skeinyarn.com and user: skeinyarns on flickr to see how close her photos show the colorways between merno silk sport, and fingering merino cashmere bases.

 


Similarly, here is what Hush looks like on her Flickr (left), and in my hand (right) - just a hair on the continuum of colorway different than what one expects... ok, hard to see in my comparison - but the left picture is much more of a chestnut brown large and lively on my monitor from the skein yarn website, whereas, in my hand, it's a much more muted brown...but still lovely, if you can handle the unexpected change:

The second project was one I started on a whim - Little Colonnade, another shawl from Stephen West. I'm using a skein of bugga that I bought on destash in the colorway Blue Morpho - a mix of royal blue, a light sky blue, and chocolate brown. very soft and lovely. I'm about 40% in; finished the stockinette part and ready to start the lace columns part.

As for breakwater, which I wanted to start, I am holding off to start that one until I get more done on these other 2 projects. The reason being, that I guess I can't split my attention 3 ways, as evidenced by my starting the neck and knitting oddly the first time, and knitting a moebius mid-way through the first rows, on the second time. Hoping that will be a March or perhaps April project. I'm interested to see how the Traveller DK yarn knits up and handles long-term. Many are enamoured with it. I hope it will be as soft as the swatch seems to be.

More pics to come when I feel like I have knit a bit more to show.

Destashing some yarns

Posted some yarns to my destash page here.

More available on my trade/sell page on Ravelry.

My tastes are definitely changing towards earthy colors - gold, green, brown, and blue, and away from hot pink (oh no!) and red. So, I have lots of pink and red to destash there. Mostly Fingering to Worsted weight; not much lace. If anyone locally, would like the one skein of Mal Lace in Hot pink, pm me and I'll bring it to knit night. Thanks.