Springtime in the Rockies

It is that time of year again. . . SPRINGTIME! I always love this time of year, when everything seems so new and clean. We suffer from an air inversion here in SLC in the wintertime, so it is always great to fill your lungs with fresh, clean air.

The tulips and daffodils are popping up. There are egg hunts and new dresses.

And at our house, there is a lot of bubble blowing going on.

 

Although I finished Sweater #3 back in early April, it has taken until now to get it blocked and photographed. Here it is, Sweater #3 - "Little Wave" by Gudrun Johnston

Knit from KnitPicks City Tweed HW in the special promotion color: Kitten. The pattern was perfectly written and easy to understand. I learned some amazing techniques,

such as I-chord edged pockets, saddle shoulders knit right into the arms scythe, elbow patches knit right into the sleeves, and a great little wavy pattern. 

The sweater looks beautiful on my dressform . . . but not so much on me. Knitting is a continual learning process. After having such great success with sweaters #1 and #2, I think I was a little overconfident with this one. I wasn't sure how to do the body shaping within the stitches of the little wave pattern, so I decided to move all of the shaping to side panels. Big mistake, the buttons gap in the front and the back seems to be riding on a shelf, which is my ample backside. Since the sweater was knit all in one piece, the only way to fix it, would be to frog the entire thing. I had hoped this would be my great "go-to" sweater for dragging along to the cold movie theaters, or to go for a walk in the park, or to wear in the evenings around a campfire. But "no cigar"! I thought it important that I share my bad sweater knitting experiences, along with the good. Not everything always works out the way you had planned. Perhaps some day I'll have the gumption to rip it out and start over, but I'm guessing that won't happen until there is a huge shortage of yarn.

So, on to Sweater #4. . .

It is "Surface" by Norah Gauhan.  Which I originally saw on Pinterest.  It is a fitted, elbow sleeve, bobble collared sweater, which I am knitting in KnitPicks - Gloss.  A DK weight blend of Merino Wool and Silk in the color, Sea Spray.  These are the front pieces, which I'm starting the arms scythe and neck shaping on.

This is the back piece, which is finished and set to blocking. I hope this sweater is a bigger success than the last. I'm using the same Custom Fit Recipe from Sweater #1, so it should fit well.

I recently knit these Practical Baby Bibs for an auction to raise money for youth camps in our area.  I always forget how fast and fun these little bibs are to knit.  I have a free pattern, which can be downloaded on Ravelry.com.

Next week, our "Knit Night" group will be traveling to the Crooked Fence Alpaca Farm and Mill, which is where we have our alpaca fleece processed into yarn.  My next post will include pictures and commentary on our experiences there.  If you live in the SLC area, please come along with us, we would love to have you.  Contact me at knitzillaknits@gmail.com to get all of the particulars.  Happy Spring and Happy Knitting!

Easter Knit Night

We just held our April KNIT NIGHT. It was such a lot of fun!

 These springy banners were hung over the bar in the kitchen for the occasion.  They were made by my friend (Pam).  You can purchase your own at her website:  http://nowyours.com/ for less than $15 each.  But you must hurry . . . they are going fast!

Hats were knit for these little eggs, as a giveaway, along with the pattern: tete d'oeuf by Kristen Rettig (Knitionary).  Erica, Carolyn and Jeri were the lucky winners, and took a sixpack home with them.

Joan and Kathy were the winners of the child-sized egg hats. Kathy and Jennifer brought lots of yummy Easter treats, and we all enjoyed them, as we worked on our knitting projects and had a few laughs.

We finished up our "Poor Baby Sweater" KAL.  Many, darling, little, backzip baby sweaters were finished.

. . . and everyone's knitting skills bumped up a few notches.

We've spent the past 4 months working on these little sweaters. It was such fun!

They are all not finished yet, and some need pictures, but we've had such a fun time working on them together.

There were some other fun projects there too.

Carolyn made this Leaf and Lace Cardigan by Patons.  It is such a darling little sweater for a 3 month old baby.

Sharalee was crocheting a fluffy little border on a burp cloth.

Leslie was working on the back of The Snuggly Duffle Coat by Sirdar Baby Bamboo Knits.  And Tiffany was crocheting a beautiful little yellow Easter dress.  I didn't get any pictures of it yet, but I hope to have some soon.  All in all, it was a fun evening.  Next month we plan to visit the The Crooked Fence Alpaca Farm and Mill, in Mona, Utah. 

I just finished F2F #3!  Watch for my next post, where I'll have pictures and all the particulars.  Happy Knitting!

Sweater #2 - Afterlight Custom Fit

Introducing . . . . Sweater #2, of my 2014 "Knitting only for Me" series.

The pattern is:   "Afterlight" by Amy Herzog.  The yarn is "Soulmate" by Lorna's Laces, in the color:  Harrison.  The needles size is US2.

It was supposed to be finished by February 28, but size US 2 needles and hand-dyed yarn make for some challenges. I had to alternate the yarn skeins every 2 rows, to prevent color pooling (there is nothing worse than two solid colored circles on your chest). And such small needles make a beautifully, lightweight fabric, but it takes some TIME . . .

I used Amy's Custom Fit Sweater Generator to get the perfect fitting version of her pattern, that is "perfect for me".  A knitting option that I would recommend for all knitters.  You plug in the yarn of your choice and your measurements, and wala out comes the perfect pattern for you (no math required).

No need for a perfect body, to get a perfect fit. This sweater fits every lump, curve and bump of my body, even if they aren't in exactly the correct spots. I lengthened the sleeves from the original pattern, and I wish I had lengthened the body a bit too, but overall, I am quite happy with the finished product. Amy has taught me that the most important body feature to fit, is your shoulders. Most patterns are sized for the bust measurement, which even if it fits perfectly through the bust, will look terrible if the shoulders are too tight, or too droopy. You can see that my sweater fits perfectly in the shoulders.

Those of you who have been following me, know that I have a devoted an entire year (2014) to knitting just to fit my body. I'm hoping to have 12 perfectly fitting sweaters by the end of the year. I'm going to have to knit a few in chunky yarn and larger needles to get back on schedule, and there may need to be a few accessories in there too. I found a pattern for a beautiful shawl, and a scarf, that have my name written all over them. These items won't need a custom fit, so I'll just have to knit a little FASTER!!

Now on to Sweater #3, which is knit in a chunky yarn (KnitPicks City Tweed HW) in the colorway: Kitten. Knit in US8 needles, it was cast on on March 10, and literally flying off the needles.

The pattern is: "Little Wave" by Gundrun Johnston from Brooklyn Tweed's Wool People Series.  I'm having a lot of fun knitting it, as the construction is different than I have ever done before.  It is knit from the bottom-up in one piece to the underarms.  The arms are then knit separately on dpn's, and the upper body then incorporates the sleeves into a saddle shoulder.  The pattern is so well written that I've had no questions or confusion on what to do next. I'm currently finishing up the shoulders and just have the collar, buttonbands and pockets to finish. I know it is April, but I just might have a chance to get caught up to my goal (1 sweater per month).

This is my swatch for #3. You can see the "little wave" pattern. I did have a Custom Fit Pattern generated, which helped me to know that perfect number of stitches to cast on for the body and sleeves, but I found it difficult to do the body shaping and still maintain the "little wave" pattern. There was some garter stitching at the sides, so I placed all of the body shaping there. It looks really good at this point, and I hope to be wearing it soon. I'm hoping for at least a few wearings before the warmer weather sets in.

My knitting group will be meeting this week, and I've knit a bunch of these little Easter egg hats as prizes. I used: "tet d'oeuf" by Kristen Rettig.  Kristen's blog:  "Knitionary" is my favorite knitting blog.  I pretty much stalk her posts.  She loves to entertain, and cook, and garden, and knit, and she is so willing to share it all on her blog.  Be sure to check it out.  The picture above, is her's and I hope to post one of my own next week.

Thanks so much for stopping by . . . . . and Happy Knitting!!