I DID IT!

It's finished! The Lace Tunic cover up is completed, ready to wear, available for the cruise. It even fits! I can't believe it. Actually, I finished it 2 days ago. Just took me some time to get it photographed. Here it is lying on the floor.


Pattern: Lacy Hooded Tunic from the Spring/Summer 2007 issue of Vogue Knitting Magazine.

Yarn: Tatamy Tweed DK in Oatmeal.

Needles: Size 6 circular.

Comments: This was a time consuming garment to make. Way more time consuming than I expected. The pattern is fraught with errors. The VK web site has corrections for some of them, but not all.

For instance, you are told to bind off all the stitches when you get to the end of the back piece. Later, when you're finishing the front, you are told to 3-needle bind off the front and back shoulder stitches together. Except, you have bound off the back. I had to undo the bind off, put the shoulder stitches on needles, bind off the center neck sts, then do the 3-needle bind off. Not hard, but a pain in the arse, if you know what I mean. A beginner would get to that part and wonder 'what the heck'?

I would not recommend this pattern for beginners for that reason. But experienced knitters should have no problems figuring out things along the way.

I changed the way the hood is constructed. Instead of picking up stitches around the neck, I knit it separate and attached it. I also used a needle 2 sizes larger for the band around the neck/hood and the edging on the side slits, mostly because I really blocked out the garment to open the lace.

Another finished project. I completed one of the bead crochet rope necklaces I've been working on. It goes with a bracelet I made last September. While I was digging in the stash for something I found a large yellow turquoise bead that I'd bought at a thrift store for a quarter, or something like that. Anyway, I was amazed at how well it went with the bracelet and decided to make a necklace to go with it using that turquoise bead.

Yellow Turquoise Necklace

Rope: Bead Crochet, 26 inches long, Size 8 seed beads in matte olive, matte silver lined pale yellow, matte iris green/brown
Bail: Peyote stitch, size 11 Japanese seed beads in matte olive and matte silver lined pale yellow
Fringe: Branch fringe using size 8 seed beads in matte olive, matte silver lined pale yellow, matte iris green/brown, size 11 seed beads in matte olive and matte silver lined pale yellow, 4mm crystals in topaz and olive green, 6mm crystals in topaz and olive green.

Yet another finished project. I had no time to knit socks this month for the SAM4KAL, or at least, I didn't think I did. I was lamenting about this on Ravelry cos I really want that D (for December) next to my name. Someone suggested I make baby socks. Now what a great idea. So after I finished up the lace tunic, I dug out some books and came up with Booty Socks. It's a combination of a booty pattern and a baby sock pattern. My own creation, if you will. I used some of the leftover Tatamy Tweed DK and some size 3 needles. They're actually knit flat, with a short row heel, then seamed up one side. (The last time I made socks that way was a Christmas stocking.) I put in a row of eyelets to string ribbon through so they can be tied on. Less chance of losing them off the little feet that way. I'm going to donate them to Knit Wits cos I don't know anyone who is preggers right now.


I am done with all the 'obligatory' knitting for this month. I can do whatever I want now. Margaret Tudor is calling me, and some socks I started for this month and never got to finish, and then there's the Honey Bee stole, and the Baby Pinwheel Sweater, and all those cable sweaters I'm dying to make ........

Have a great day.

Sock Mania Begins

I've joined Sock A Month Knit Along 4. This will be my very first hand knitting KAL. In a former life (before the shop) I used to host KAL's for an email discussion group devoted to machine knitting. They were a lot of fun and I kind of miss the camaraderie and fellowship one gets from an internet KAL. However, my KAL's didn't have nearly as many members as SAM4 does, nor did we have a blog. Blogs didn't exist back then. This will be an interesting experience. It will also help to encourage me to use up some of that huge sock yarn stash I've got.

For my first pair of socks, I intend to finish my Monkey Sock pair. I've got the second one cast on and started. In true obsessive tradition, I've already been thinking about what I'll make after it's done. I'm thinking about the manly yarn I bought Monday. I want to make a pair of socks for Christmas for a certain male in my life. But then again--there's all those dozens of other sock patterns I've been dying to try--and all that hand painted sock yarn, and the Opal I bought last month... I'm hopeless......

I've got Knitwits this afternoon, which brings me to my next story. The Knitwits depend on charity for our yarn. Most of the members are elderly folks on fixed incomes who can't afford to be buying a lot of yarn. The local drug store in Rathdrum has had a whole bunch of furry novelty yarns on clearance for well over a year. It hasn't been selling, and I know a lot of Knitwits who love to make scarves for the cause. So I approached the craft dept manager a few weeks ago and offered to buy the whole kit and kaboodle for a small, but I thought fair, price. I'd get yarn for Knitwits, and they'd get at least some for the yarn plus they could deduct the difference (between retail and what I bought it for) as a charitable deduction. However, the manager didn't see it that way. She saw it as losing a lot of money on that 'very expensive yarn'.

I know retail, and how it works. So I decided to just wait, bide my time. Let the yarn sit there for another year collecting dust and ask again. I did not need to wait that long. I popped into the store yesterday to pick up a prescription and all that scrumptious yarn was on clearance for 75% off the marked price-which was the original clearance price of half off. In other words, less than 50 cents a skein. The boss must have decided he was tired of seeing all the fuzz taking up valuable shelf space that could be devoted to stuff that actually sells. I got all that wonderful soft furry yarn for 20 bucks! That's way less than I offered for it originally. I ended up with a better deal, and got what I wanted. Heh heh....Talk about a great high! I am so excited about taking the yarn to the meeting today.

I will be working on the yellow Pea Pod cardigan.

Have a great day.