Monday, December 08, 2008

FO: Just Enough Ruffles

Other than knitting feverishly on the Ribby Pulli, I managed to start and finish a project in less than 48 hours. While it was not big needle knitting, the Just Enough Ruffles Scarf is knit up in some lovely Malabrigo, which feels like butter when you're knitting it. I started it a week ago on Sunday and knit all day Sunday, then came home on Monday and finished up the scarf. I want to knit a couple more. They go so quickly and so much fun to make! I love the ruffles, which make me feel all girly, but not too twee, just right.

Pattern Specifications:
Pattern: Just Enough Ruffles by Laura Chau
Yarn: Malabrigo yarn in Chestnut colorway, 2 skeins (used about 1.5 skeins)
Needle Size: US 9 (5.5 mm)
Modifications: None, knit as written, including short rows. I guess it's true, if you (read: me) do short rows and it hasn't been a year, it's a lot easier for me to work them. Although I did have to make an emergency call to my friend Susan for so some short-row help.

Friday, December 05, 2008

December Knitting Goals

Yes, it is that time again. I do find that having knitting goals helps to keep me more focused, as opposed to just knitting willy-nilly and casting on for tons of projects.

1) To finish the Ribby Pulli- should be doable. I'm fairly close .

2) Finish my sister's scarf. I finally cast on for the black scarf of doom for my sister, as a replacement for the scarf my sister lost last year. I'm about halfway through, so I really should get crackin' on this thing. I sort of hit a lull, but it's about time this scarf accompanied me to work again for my lunchtime knitting breaks. I'm using the Tipsy Rib scarf pattern (pdf) by Flint Knits and I love how it's working up. I gave my sister a choice of patterns and the Tipsy Rib was my favorite and she picked it as her scarf-to-be.


3)  Finish the Good Luck Cowl . Should be very do-able.

4) Possibly knit a hat out of the leftovers from fingering weight yarn I used to knit the cowl.

With Christmas coming, I don't think I will tax myself with too many goals for December.

Happy knitting all.

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

NaKniSweMo Wrap-up

NaKniSweMo came and went. And while I was "unofficially" participating, I did try very hard to finish my Ribby Pulli, but I did not complete the sweater. I did get much further along than I started and I'm pretty happy about that. I finished both sleeves, attached the sleeves to the body and began working the body back and forth and split for the neckline.

I'm assuming that my row gauge is different or I am not completely following the pattern correctly regarding the decreases, because I have still have about 4 inches left of the body to go. All in all though, it's not a bad go.
There's been a lot of progress since the picture above and I feel like I am in the home stretch. I'm really loving the Silky Wool . This yarn knits up so wonderfully and the garment is very lightweight, but has a nice amount of warmth. Not too hot, just right. I can't wait to wear it.
Now, that NaKniSweMo is over, I will still be working on finishing the Ribby Pulli. I also cast on for a new cardigan, but I haven't made much progress on it. For December, I really want to focus on some accessories. A cowl has been cast on using fingering weight yarn and it's going pretty nicely. I'm pleased as punch to work on a pattern that my friend, Chris , designed. It is the Good Luck Cowl and I love how it's turning out. I'm about halfway through, but I do hope it fits. I am wondering if I should have added an additional 10-20 stitches, but we'll see what size it turns out when completed and blocked.


I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure did here. I cooked most of the dinner and my favorite part of the meal was sweet potato pie. It took a good amount of time to prepare, but oh, so worth it.

And that is all for me tonight. Talk to you soon. . .