Mithril almost complete

Just a quick update today. I will write more when I have more time.

The Mithril vest is almost complete. As I write, it is on the blocking wires. All that needs to be done for it to be complete is the back neckband. It was a relatively fast knit, but it was also hard to put down. This allows some time for me to complete my craziness.

Until next time, keep on knitting and learning.

Progress and some craziness

Prana Socks

Now that the birthday’s I was knitting for have come and gone, I can share what I made for the girls. The first birthday gift was a pair of Flutterby socks by Cat Bordhi. They used her new sweet tomato heel. I like how the heel was made and will probably use it again in the future. Sorry I did not get a picture before I gifted them, but they were made of a lime green yarn that you can see here. The second birthday gift was a pair of Prana socks from the Knitter’s Book of Socks. I enjoyed knitting these and since they had no heels or toes the knitting went faster than normal. 

 

The lovely silk and merino Blackened Mithril vest.

 I have made some progress on the Blackened Mithril vest. The pattern calls for beading but I could not find any beads that I liked so I am just knitting it plain. The yarn is Knit Picks Gloss fingering weight in Black. Knitting with the silk and merino mix is lovely. I have to stop occasionally to pet the vest. I am nearing the part of the pattern where it makes its first deviation from straightforward. However, the vest itself is lovely to knit. It is a challenge and because of the complexity of the charts, it is a home project. I learned this the hard way. I unexpectedly was able to go to a football game and thankfully had brought my knitting bag along. However, the only thing I had with me was the Mithril vest and it is not conductive to sitting in the bleachers with a big binder holding the pattern. I had to settle for knitting on the sock I keep in my purse. Live and learn.

Today ,I am borrowing a segment from the Knitmore Girls. My knitting attacked me. Actually I did not pay attention to the chart and therefore made several mistakes. I was able to use a couple of double point needles (DPNs) to drop down and fix the problems in just the affected areas. The fix is unnoticeable and is much easier than ripping out a couple rows and then trying to pick up the stitches hoping and praying that you will not lose any. 

My bit of craziness.

And now for some craziness. As if I did not have enough going on this year with planning my furlough, ministry here and the year of knitting selfishly, I decided to cast on something extra. Here it is, the EZ 100th Anniversary CampingHalf-circle shawl. Yes, this is my bit of craziness in the midst of all the normality. I have named it Crazy for casting this on. It is made from Lorna’sLaces Shepherd sock multi in the Devon colorway. I have had these two skeins of yarn for almost 6 years. I just could not find a sock that it wanted to be. Therefore, I finally pulled them out and said this year I will make something with these. Voila, the half-circle shawl idea was born. I wanted to wear these next to my face and since I am planning my furlough wardrobe to revolve around peach and teal, this would satisfy both. I have no set schedule for when this will be done so you may see it for a while or I just may surprise myself and whip through it. 

This last week has taught me that a bit of craziness now and then is a good thing. To be thankful for double points that can fix mistakes in the middle of knitting without ripping back. To have two projects on hand, one of them simple. I also learned that masking tape makes a good chart marker when you use it in combination with plastic sheet protectors. So having learned a lot in the last week, I admonish you to keep knitting and learning.

Dreaming and Planning

I have started the Mithril vest. In honor of knitting this pattern, I watched thefirst Lord of the Rings movie. I thought it was apropos. The vest is about an inch and a half long but so far I am enjoying the pattern. At this stage, I am finding that it is less complicated than the In Dreams shawl that Susan designed at the beginning of last year. However, I think that it will complicate itself soon. 

The first inch of the Mithril vest

In addition to the Mithril vest, I am still working on the last part of the second gift. I must finish it this week as it is for a birthday in the early part of May. I think that I will be able to finish in time, but who knows the future … only God and I am not Him.

Corrie Vest pattern

I have also been plotting and planning a sweater that I will be knitting in September. I will be using Palette yarn from Knit Picks and the Corrie vest pattern from the same company. Because the vest pattern is a strong horizontal, I will only be using part of the pattern as an accent to emphasize the waist. I am planning for it to be a long sleeve, deep v neck cardigan with the pattern only at the waist and a bit at the cuffs. My sister, the artist, helped me pick out the colors. I would not normally pick the peach color, but the blues are my favorite colors.She said the contrast would be good and peach looks good on almost everyone. The photo above is the portion of the pattern I am using along with the color choices. Also pictured is a small sketch of the sweater shape. What do you think? Leave me a comment about the design. 

The sketch

I think that I have a lot of learning in my future. I will try to share the lessons here on the blog as I learn them. ‘Till then keep knitting and learning.

Finished ... Almost!

I finished the knitting on Drily Amused last night. I wove in all the ends and popped it over my head. I made a good choice in making the sweater a size smaller than normal. I modified the sweater by making the waist shorter and the ribbing not as long. However, the sleeves were supposed to be 3/4 length and ended up at my wrists because I forgot to allow for the armhole. The armhole is a little longer than I normally make it. My gauge had less stitches in the height than the gauge called for in the pattern and so I ended the raglan shaping early and just cast on the needed stitches at the underarm. Still it is longer than I usually calculate for and so my sleeves by extension are longer than I normally make them. I am going to rip back the cuffs and reknit them at a shorter length. I will also use a smaller needle to make the ribbing at the cuffs tighter. I am going to try to have this done so I can wear it this weekend. 

As far as my other projects, I am half way through my second gift so I should be able to finish it on time. If I can get some dedicated knitting time. The first half went a lot faster than I was anticipating. When I have given the gifts away, I will post pictures of them here on the blog. Until then you will have to make do with the hints I have given you.

My shoulder is doing better and this allows me a longer knitting time. I am still taking frequent breaks, however. I don’t want to be in a position like that again. I missed the knitting. 

Next month’s project is the Mithril Vest by Susan Pandorf. She is running a KAL (Knit a Long for you newbies) that runs through the 10^th of June. I am hoping to get this one done before the end of May. As this will be my only project, I have a good chance at getting it done but it is also a complicated piece of knitting. The charts alone are complicated enough. However, I am looking forward to the challenge as the last few months have been mostly in stockinette.  I have named this one Blackened Mithril because I am using black yarn. I was thinking of the black armor that was used in medieval times. 

I have learned this month to take things slowly. Sometimes the race is not worth the pain. I have also learned (again) that the height of stitches on a gauge does make a difference. For now, I am signing off and looking forward to learning more in the months to come. Keep on knitting and learning.

One Down and Two to Go

Remember my challenge for this month? Well I am one third of the way done. The first of the birthday gifts is done. I have started on the second of the birthday gifts and hope to have it done in time. I have three weeks to complete it.

The Green

Meanwhile the Amused sweater is coming along. I have reached the ribbing at the waist. After that I just have to finish the sleeves and the collar. I think I have made pretty good progress considering that I took on three projects this month and I have done something to my right shoulder. With my shoulder acting up I cannot sit and knit for very long. I have to take a break and then come back to it. Guess I will be taking Jasmin from the Knitmore Girls Podcast's advice, knit for about 50 minutes, then take a short break. With the regular rest periods, the shoulder is doing better.

Guess what I have learned so far this month is to take it one day at a time, don't stress your body just to complete a ridiculous time frame set by you and take regular knitting breaks to rest.

The Red

Now to leave you with a hint of what I am making for the second birthday gift. Remember I said that this month's colors were Green and Red? Well, you have seen the Green and here is the Red. Until next blog post, keep on knitting and learning.

A Hint

The following picture is just a hint of what I am working on. It is for someone's birthday so I can only give you a hint. The good news is that you only have a month to wait to see the finished project. 

Birthday Surprise

I am also working on the sweater Amused. It is going well in spite of the fact that I only get to knit on it after having worked on the birthday project. Such rules we impose onourselves! No one is demanding that I finish a project a month for myself and two projects for birthday's in May, however, what do I find myself doing? Just that and on a schedule no less! Ah well, the life of the project knitter. 

Drily Amused

To correct a misunderstanding, I put forth the following. My sister and I were talking the other day and she corrected my spelling of Blood Oranje. It is spelled this way on purpose. The original sweater pattern is named Oranje from Dutch. Because of this I chose Blood Oranje as my project name because the yarn reminded me of the color of a blood orange. However, I kept the original name of the pattern to provide a sort of continuity. Just in case I did not make myself plain, here is the explanation. 

Speaking of Blood Oranje, I have been able to wear it a few times. I have to say that it is a warm sweater, good for spring nights that are a bit nippier than they should be. I am enjoying the little details that went into the sweater.

The last couple of sweaters have taught me a couple of things. First, I prefer a princess style decrease in the front (stitches are decreased under the bust instead of from the sides). In the back, I prefer the decreases to be in one central location up the back (or down the back depending on what way you knit it ;). Secondly, I need a bit of a bust dart to accommodate a larger bust line but if I knit a yoke sweater it is NOT necessary (learned that one the hard way!). 

I am enjoying this year of selfish knitting. It is pushing my knitting into new areas and stretching my technical skills. I think that it will make me a better and more confident knitter and thus will increase the quality of what I knit for others when I go back to knitting unselfishly. That is all for now but stay tuned and keep on knitting and learning!

What's Next?

In April, I set myself a big challenge. I am working on two birthday gifts and a sweater. The birthday gifts will be revealed in time but the sweater I can talk about right now. 

The sweater is made of Miltons in an olive color. Luckily for me, it is a worsted weight yarn. This means it will knit up faster. YEAH! The pattern is Amused from Knitty. It is a pullover style and is knit from the neck down and the collar is added later. The directions are straightforward and I am enjoying the knit. 

This month the colors are green and red. Last month they were brick, white and black. Next month they will probably go back to black. I plan to work on the Mithril vest from Sunflower Designs. She has started a KAL for the vest and since it was already on my list of things to do this year, I rearranged my schedule a little so I could join. 


It took me four months but I just realized that I am spelling Challenge wrong. My dad always told a joke about missionary kids speaking two languages and not being able to spell either one. That is a little too close to home. If I did not have spell checker my Prayer letters home would look like the floor of an editor’s office. Please accept my apologies and I will try to do better in the future.


In the mean time, I have some gifts to complete and a sweater to knit. Keep on knitting and learning.