Flashy Back to School Vest!

Vests rock!

This one, I think, has a bit of pizzazz - thanks in large part to the semi-sparkly yarn! I'm not sure how well the pics point it out, but there are little sparkly bits in the yarn.

Specs:
- pattern: modified from the Back to School Vest, Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel
- size: 35 1/2" (second size in the pattern)
- yarn = Colinette Lasso, 100% polyamide 2 skeins (100g each) in Forest colourway
- needle size = 4.5mm and 3.75mm
- started: 29 September
- finished: 1 October
- made for: my mother

Thanks to Natalie, who sent me this yarn in a swap!


Notes:
- I didn't think the waffle stitch in the pattern would be too noticeable with the variegated yarn, so I did stockinette stitch instead above the ribbed waistline. I like the result together with the fancy yarn.
- WARNING: if you buy this yarn, buy a yarn winder and/or swift to go with it. It took me quite some time to wind this by hand as it tangles easily and sticks to itself!

Now for some more pics:

Waist Detail


Neckline Detail:


Best thing is that I have enough left for a small tank or T for ME. Because that's who it's all about, isn't it?

Well, maybe not. I'm proving to have an altruistic streak after all (sort of). I offered to make JJ a vest for the big trip to the UK this December. He could have had the fancy tweed vest from No Sheep for You but due to his classic (read: pedestrian) tastes, has chosen this one instead:



(the white one in the bottom left corner. What is it about 80s patterns, anyway, that compelled everyone to put in 4" of ribbing knitted 2 sizes smaller than the rest of the sweater! Is this supposed to be some kind of slimming feature? Sheesh! JJ has been advised that the ribbing and trim will not have this time-dishonoured shrunken look.)

Don't you love the half-eaten Jersey Milk bar in the right corner of the picture? The pattern should come with a warning: "Do not eat chocolate while knitting with white Paton's Astra!"

But I digress, surprisingly enough - I'm usually so pithy! ;-)

After long deliberation over the appropriate material, I decided that Knitpicks CotLin was in order - price is right, and it is the desired fineness and softness for HRH JJ. So, in my typical altruistic spirit I checked out Knitpicks and allowed JJ to pick out his colour. He wanted two colours, so I even offered to knit him a matched set - eventually. But not before I knit something with the lime green I managed to order for myself, of course - together with two books, A Gathering of Lace by Meg Swansen and The Natural Knitter by Barbara Albright. As I told JJ, with the Canadian dollar as high as it is, it's almost like Knitpicks are giving him money! (His response was "Don't push it". Sometimes I do know when to shut up).

Here are the colours:

CotLin

13 skeins Nightfall
13 Skeins Linen
10 skeins Key Lime (for - guess who!)

All in all, a good start to the week.

Spicy Fitted V-neck Tee - done!

Well, it's been another long weekend of the tank for me. This one was started and finished yesterday!

Specs:

Pattern: Spicy Fitted V-neck Tee in Fitted Knits (Stefanie Japel)
Yarn: Lana Gatto Summer (50% cotton, 50% acrylic, bulky weight) - 6.5 50g skeins
Needles: 6.5 mm

Notes: quick to knit, but the pattern contained some errata and was rather hard to read. Will try to get it together to post the errata. For now, be careful of where you are told to place stitch markers for the increases and decreases. I ended up having to rip several rows, which did not make me happy.

It's also perhaps a tad *too* fitted. I probably should have gone with 7 mm needles but wanted to start right away and the shops were closed yesterday for the civic holiday. Oh well!

Next up: another Tomato; the Goddess top from Stitch Diva

name change, etc.

Hi all:

The few of you who visit here will note that I have undergone a name change. Otherwise, same old same old!

My other news:

(a) Progress is being made on the
Sahara for my co-worker... I have started the waist shaping and will hopefully have something to show you next week!

(b) Next up: Another coworker has asked me to knit her the
Goddess. We hit the LYS the other day and picked out Opal Maxi (on sale!) - a lovely chestnut colour similar to the one shown in the link.

However, before I start the Goddess I may have to sneak in another Tomato (NSFY) or Spicy Fitted T (Fitted Knits)... depending upon which will work better with the yarn. I have some very loud orange Super 3 left over from my Samus. The Super 3 is discontinued but I think I'll try to find some Mission Falls 1824 Cotton in a complementary colour (!) or else check out the sale room at the LYS today for more mercerised cotton.

Nothing else new, really. Looking forward to a long weekend. Nothing much planned other than knitting and perhaps a movie or two (I hope Shrek 3 is still playing!)

Cheers,

Kristina

Tuesday-on-the Balcony Perfect Dress - done!

And I even get to wear my red suede shoes! Now all I need is the Royal family-style wide brimmed red hat! ;-)

I *love* this dress. Although it's 50 million degress with the humidex up here, I don't care - I'm wearing it tomorrow to work!

Specs:
Yarn: Romni (work-handy LYS) Linen - 100% linen tape (worsted weight) - 12 50g balls.
Needles: 5 mm
Pattern: Saturday-in-the-park Perfect Fitted Dress - Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel (with some adaptations) - smallest size
Time spent: 30 hours approx.
Finished length: 35" approx.

Detail from Centre Panel:


Notes:
- I really like Stefanie's patterns but the book has quite a few errata. This pattern started off with one!
- original dress length in the pattern was 42" (for all sizes!). This on me would come down to about mid calf, so I made adjustments to the length of both top and bottom, comparing the length to the longest dress I own ;-)
- the linen is simply lovely. It is my first time working with linen but will definetely not be my last. I was amazed at how well it blocked.



Currently on the needles: the Sahara by Stitch Diva (www.stitchdiva.com).

"perfect dress" in progress...

(edited on 29 July after apparently way too much knitting time spent on 28 July, to show progress report:





Looking decent so far... although the neckline is a tad low. Oh well! ;-)

I am loving working with this linen (it is the LYS brand) - and the colour (which photographed here somewhat lighter than in "real life") reminds me of that of my first fancy dress in high school (which I held onto for another 10 years after!). I just realised this halfway through where I'm at now!

It is really difficult to see how the dress might look when done right now due to the mock cable pattern...

This is approximately 8 hours in.

Spicy fitted t-shirt - done!

The photo I like (more or less):



the photo DH likes


Specs:
PatterN; a variation on Spicy Fitted V-neck t-shirt in Fitted Knits (Stefanie Japel)
Yarn: Sari-Rainbow-Mix (Infiknit), cotton and rayon - 3 200g skeins (approx 600 yds)
Needles: 6mm bamboo and 6.5mm plastic
Start Date: 22 July
Finish Date: 25 July
Time spent: 13-14 hours approx

Notes:

This did not really turn out as I expected, but I like it anyway. My gauge was off for some reason (although I did a large swatch - but not in the round). Note the "design feature" on the left neck... I couldn't get it on otherwise (I've stretched it in blocking).

I was put of initially by some errata in the pattern... some of them were probably just me being obtuse! Due to the nature of the yarn, I gave up on the eyelet pattern as it wasn't showing anyway.

I enjoyed working with the sari silk (although I would suggest washing before knitting, at least this version. There is a finer worsted weight one that feels softer to the touch). I would not, however, recommend it for this particular pattern for others... although maybe going up a needle size would work.

I am hopeful that blocking will fix the neck a bit:


This (because I can't resist) is a close-up of the lovely fabric, but my camera does not do the colours justice...





Next up: the Saturday in the Park Perfect Dress in red linen (I think, anyway).

Victoria's Secret...

...or, What I Did Over the May two-four weekend! a work in progress:




This is a dress I'm trying to make based on the Rectangular fitted tunic from Fitted Knits by Stefanie Japel. I know, I know - it's looking a bit rough! Rather overzealously, I thought I might actually finish the dress. I did, however, have a few other things to do! (sigh).

It is fun for me to see how it is coming together although I'm not quite sure how the finished product will look. Colourful, at any rate. ;-) The working title is either "Muppet Explosion" or "Pride Dress". At this point the length is 26" approx so I will have to add some more short rows along the bottom (and another sleeve, I guess).

Oh... and due to the work on this, I did not manage to drink a twofer on the long weekend - only a 6. I did however watch the Bob and Doug reunion which was worth a laugh ("take off, eh?")