In Progress

Sometimes after a big project I just want to do a bunch of little things. Or relatively little things, like the EZ's Baby Sweaters on Two Needles aka the February Sweater from the Knitter's Almanac. Yes, I jumped on the bandwagon. This was the first one made with Laines Du Nord Maxi.



As everyone has already said, EZ's instructions aren't explicit. For example she assumes the knitter will start the button holes at the top of band, and not 2 or 3 inches down which is where they will appear if you follow her instructions. (Given my propensity not to follow instructions, you'd think I would have placed them at the top anyway!) I also didn't get that the body is knit all in one piece, so this version has side seams running from the end of the sleeve to the hem, creating odd little 1" extensions on each side under the armpit and on the inside of each sleeve. They're tucked in - you can't see them in the photo. Still I think the sweater came out fine. I will sew on snaps at the top and attach a button.

The second version is made from bulkier Jo-Ann Sensations Bellezza Collection Dolcetto, and therefore several sizes larger. Did the body in one piece this time. The knitter has to figure out how the seams should work as EZ doesn't tell you that either. I think I did it right since there are no little one inch extensions on this one!


Both sweaters need buttons and ends woven in. I love these sweaters and will knit more as gifts when I'm able to make them with fewer errors. They were fun to knit.

Since there's a bit of chill in the evening air, I'm beginning to think about Fall. Nona's I-Cord Gloves have been weighing heavily on my mind lately so I started a pair. You make the fingers first as you can see below.

I thought that making the fingers first would make knitting gloves less fidley, but maybe not. We'll see. I'm using some Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere I had stashed.

There's been a Ravelry-related blog death recently: Isis Rising is closing. Felicia said that the main purpose of her blog was keep a record of her WIPs and FOs, and that it's much easier to do that on Ravelry. It's the first one I've heard of. I'm sure it won't be the last. Have you heard others?

Woven Art Yarn and Fiber Art Gallery in East Lansing (Long Post)

I'd like to post a correction: Nancy McRay's Woven Art Yarn and Fiber Art Gallery is in East Lansing, Michigan. You can get the address, driving directions and phone number on her site. She has a blog too where she shows her hand dyed yarn and other creations. Here's a shot of her back room where knitting, weaving, spinning, and other fiber arts are taught.

and here's a couple of extra Habu shots from her shop just for me:


WIP
I did work on an Adrienne Vittadini sleeveless turtleneck while I was in Texas. I cast on with an Addi Turbo Lace circular I bought a few months ago. I love the sharp points and I think it will be excellent to use with laceweight yarn.
But the surface of the metal part was designed to avoid having slick yarn slip off so there was a little too much drag for the Adrienne Vittadini Miranda cotton yarn I'm using. I had expected that the Addi Turbo Lace circs would displace the regular Turbos, but there's still room for them in my needle collection. I switched to the regular ones after finishing the ribbing and I rapidly got this:
I decided to kitchener the shoulder seams rather than sew them and I really like the result. It's not invisible, but I expect that it will smooth out when it's blocked.

I bought these Japanese knitting pins at Nancy's and love them too. They're about 2.5 inches long and made entirely of wood.

I thought they were a frivolous purchase at the time, but they've turned out to be enormously useful. I used them to pin the side seams of the turtleneck to made sure they were the same length.

I've also started the Twinkle Marilyn jacket over the weekend. What a quick knit it is! I still have to finish the back. I wonder though if it's going to fit. I might have to ask Olga to model it when I'm done. Or frog and re-knit it in a larger size. There's dieting too, but I'm not going there...

Ravelry
I'm sure you all know about Ravelry. It's still in beta, but there's a link on the site to request a tester's invitation. It's cool place to organize your knitting and crochet projects: project notes and photos; needle and stash inventory; a "queue" section to record future projects with site linking capability (really cool!); linkage to your blog if you have one; discussion forums; links to KALs; interaction with other knitters, even e-mail. It's going to bring me to a new level of knitting obsession. It's hard enough to get stuff done around the house! Seriously, Jess and her husband Casey are great to do this. Here's my Ravelry page. There's not a lot on it yet, but I'll be adding stuff regularly. Now someone needs to make a Ravelry button.