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Monday, January 16, 2006

The Joys of a Long Weekend

I had a very productive knitting weekend, as you will see here:

Pattern: Seamless Raglan Baby Cardigan Sweater by Carole Barenys
Yarn: icky acrylic (baby friendly!) from the stash - worsted weight
Needles: US 7 29" circular and dpns
Mods: I knit this in a heavier yarn than the pattern called for to end up with a larger sweater. (I always like to give clothing in larger-than-infant sizes as baby gifts, since it seems that everyone always gets a lot of really small stuff that the kid outgrows rather quickly.) I finished the knitting Saturday morning before I went to work, and wove in all the ends and sewed on the buttons during the Steelers' amazing upset victory on Sunday. You're seeing it blocking here, still pretty wet, so the green appears darker than it actually is. I still have some yarn left over, so I'm thinking of making an umbilical cord hat (from SnB) or booties to go with the sweater.

As soon as I finished this adorable item, I immediately cast on for my first foray into lace knitting -- an Adamas shawl (from Knit Picks) in Knit Picks Shadow. I've gotten through the first chart and through one repeat of the body chart, and so far it seems to be going pretty well. The charts are a bit of a headache, but since the pattern is symmetrical, I really only need to pay attention to one half of it. The next challenge is seeing exactly how the chart works with repeats; keep your fingers crossed! I would have posted a picture of my progress so far, but my camera batteries just died on me. They're charging now, so I'll take a picture once I've made some more progress.

I'm still making slow progress on my Jaywalkers, after having to frog back to the cuff and restart the zigzag pattern for a third time. We won't go into details -- let's just say I'm a complete idiot and don't read patterns carefully enough. (Ironic, since my day job is to read carefully!)

To all of you in the Pittsburgh area, I hope you'll make it out to the knitting meet up at the Waterworks Barnes & Noble on Wednesday evening! My Adamas shawl and I will be there, unless it refuses to cooperate between now and then and has to take a trip to the frog pond.

5 comments:

  1. That sweater is adorable! I'm knitting acrylic for a baby right now too and I don't like it at all. But I'm sure "mom" will appreciate the easy care.

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  2. Huzzah for the baby sweater- was that pattern as easy to follow as her other one? I'll have to try it out since I have a new nephew on the way this month (who obviously won't get the sweater right when he's born)!

    Looking forward to seeing you and your shawl on Wednesday.

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  3. I wish I lived closer to Pittsburgh!! You know, not that BUTLER is all that far away...but when you count driving home late in the evening after knitting for several hours...ugh!

    The sweater looks great...can't wait to see the shawl pics!

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  4. I've been told people found it easier to knit without the repeat stitch markers, just the markers for the edge and center stitches.

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  5. Love the sweater!! Looking forward to seeing the shawl. Lace knitting is fun; however, concentration is required for some.

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