WIP Wednesday - #jojifallkal2015

Off the Needles!
I had an FO sneak up on me, so I have a total of THREE FOs to show off to you this week!

First I have the Up-and-Out socks as expected. They have shown me quite clearly that the afterthought heel is not my favourite to knit. They fit well enough, but I prefer being able to knit it all in one go, instead of having to go back and pick up the stitches for the heel. Also, I'd gladly having two extra ends to weave in. It definitely has its advantages, and I'll probably still use it in certain situations, but it'll never be my go-to heel, the way the Fish-Lips-Kiss heel is.

But ranting aside, I did end up liking the finished socks :) As usual, the same qualities that makes Lana Grossa Cotton Stretch a not-so-nice yarn to knit with, makes it perfect for durable socks. And I love Laura Linneman's pattern (inspired by "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory").


My second FO finally came off the blocking mats this Monday! Autumn has come with wet weather, so it has taken AGES for this to dry! But now I have finally weaved in the last ends of the Dansez Pullover, and I absolutely LOVE it! It fits much better than I'd feared, and the colour is perfect :) My only issue with it is that it's still too warm for me to wear it! I'm so glad I stepped out in faith and gave Amy Herzog's pattern a try... even if I did have to knit it in pieces rather than the round ;)


But getting this off the blocking mats made room for the "Knit Your Love" scarf by Martina Behm. I thought I had ages to go yet, but figured I'd better weigh the yarn, just to make sense. Turned out I only had enough yarn for 3 more hearts + the bind off! With the end that near in sight, I couldn't put it down :)
I had 14 grams left after binding off, so I could have fit in one last heart, but it felt like too risky a game of yarn chicken at the time, and I didn't feel like having to rip back. No matter - this way I have enough for a square or two on my Cozy Memories blanket instead! :)


On the Needles
Binding off one sock naturally means casting on another :) This caused a slight "When Knitting Attacks" moment though. I'd wanted to knit "Hundred Acre Woods" by Alice Yu, but it turned out that the smallest size didn't have the purl stitches that gave the leaves definition. It's still a nice pattern, but not what I wanted to knit, so after debating with myself for about half the foot, I finally just gave up and frogged it.
I tried a few other things, but nothing that really worked out the way I wanted it to, so in the end I just gave up and cast on for the Surf Stitches socks instead. That pattern is behaving quite nicely, and I think I'll really enjoy the finished project even if it does take me twice as long to knit as socks usually do because of all the purling.


I finally cast on for the Spring Showers Cardigan by Joji Locatelli. I decided to wait so I'd be able to double dip with the 2 Knit Lit Chicks' Sweater KAL :) I knit nothing else all day yesterday and am LOVING it!!! The yarn is amazingly soft, and the colours are just amazing! Definitely not the last time I treat myself to some Malabrigo Arrayo yarn! I'm alternating skeins, but don't think I really needed to - really can't tell the two skeins apart. I'll keep on doing so though, just for my own peace of heart.
I'm looking SO much forward for this to be finished! I can't wait to wear it :) I can't call it my Rhinebeck Sweater (one of these years...) but perhaps my New Zealand sweater? ;)
But amazing how different the colour looks in natural light!

WIP Wednesday - Two almost FOs!

I am SO close to having two finished objects! Next week, hopefully.

I've finished the majority of the knitting on the Dansez Pullover and have just finished seaming it together. All that remains (apart from weaving in a gazilion ends!) is to pick up stitches around the neckline and knit the collar :) I hate picking up stitches, but once that's done, the rest shouldn't take me too long :)
I really need more practise with seaming though! The straight seams went okay, but the sleeves were a hassle and a half! I'm still not completely happy with how they turned out, but have basically acknowledged that this is as good as it's gonna get until I get better at it. If anybody has recommendations of online tutorials for setting in sleeves, I'd be very interested!

Meanwhile I've swatched for the Spring Showers cardigan by Joji Locatelli for the #jojifallkal2015. I'm knitting it out of the Malabrigo Arrayo I bought in Hamburg, and even just after having swatched with it, I am TOTALLY in love with the yarn! This will be a delight to knit, and I can't wait to get started! I want to finish the Dansez Pullover first though, which is why I haven't cast on yet.

The Up and Out socks are almost done too now :) They're my commute knitting, which means they've seen quite a lot of progress since my returning to work. I've almost finished the second cuff, and then just have to do the afterthought heel. Should be done by next WIP post.

And of course I've also been working on Knit Your Love. I have almost memorized the pattern repeat, and just need a few reminders here and there, so it's going much faster now - even despite the longer rows. It's good for conversation knitting as most of it is completely mindless, so I'm up to 13 hearts now. The pattern is for 20 hearts, but as I don't have quite as much yarn as the pattern calls for, I'm just going to knit until I run out of yarn. I am still COMPLETELY in love with the yarn - both feel and colour - and wish I had enough for a full garment.

August Wrap-Up and September To-Read pile

Read:
Blackout - Connie Willis
The Vacationers - Emma Straub
Somebody Else's Kids - Torey Hayden
Sacred Marriage - Gary Thomas
Rising Strong - Brené Brown
Grounded & Derailed - Neta and Dave Jackson
Wonder - R.J. Palacio
Only Ever Yours - Louise O'Neill
Boom! - Mark Haddon
The Last Girlfriend on Earth - Simon Rich
Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn

To-read:
All Clear - Connie Willis
The Power of One - Bryce Courtenay
S. - J.J. Abrams
The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith

WIP Wednesday - Catching Up

Woohoo!! Vacation! Which means I've been doing a TON of knitting lately! Espeically as I missed last week's WIP Wednesday.

I've been knitting a tad more on my Nostalgia shawl, and am now well into the third and final lace section. It's odd though - the lace itself is just a plain 4 stitch repeat, so easy enough to learn off by heart, but the border changes for every row (with a 16 row repeat) and I'm completely unable to make any kind of sense of what's happening... which means I have to refer to the pattern for every row, and thus this doesn't see as much progress as I had hoped. I would have liked to have reached the final section by now, but... oh well. I've been enjoying my other knits instead :)

Two of those other knits are brand new cast ons! Stashdash is over, and immediately I cast on All The Things! :) I was sent Martina Behm's pattern "Knit Your Love" as a present Wednesday evening, and of course had to cast it on right away. It's not quite as easy to memorize as Martina Behm's other patterns (has a 14 row repeat), but I love it anyway - especially the colour! I would love a sweater in this yarn!
The hearts aren't too obvious yet, but they should be fine once the scarf is blocked.

I'm knitting a new pullover for myself My last few sweaters have all been kind of big on me, so I decided to step out in faith, and give Amy Herzog's pattern a chance... even if they are knit in pieces instead of in the round! My gauge was way off though, so I ended up having to knit a size 34 instead of a size 40! I think it's right though, and I even blocked the back to double check my math before casting on for the front and sleeves. I finished the front yesterday and seamed the two together this morning. Looks like it may be a bit snug over my belly, but hopefully nothing too bad.

For some weird reason I haven't been doing much sock knitting lately. I think it's the yarn... as much as I love wearing Lana Grossa Cotton Stretch, I'm really not a fan of knitting with it! So with that in mind, I've only just put in the yarn for the afterthought heel on the second sock. Hopefully I'll get it done soon, so I can cast on a new pair!

Finally, I've been knitting almost exclusively on the Cozy Memories Blanket this past week. We were off on a road-trip Mon-Fri (which is why I missed last week's WIP post), and it turned out that even though it's kinda big, it's PERFECT for car knitting! I've gotten 20 squares done in the last week, and am very happy to see such significant progress :)

WIP Wednesday - Swatches aplenty

I have a finished object to show off this week! After procrastinating for a lot longer than I should have, I finally got cracking on the crocheted snail last week, and this weekend I finished it!

It's every bit as cute as the first one I made, and I'm almost said I promised to give it away ;) It's incredibly fiddly to sew together though - especially the shell and bottom foot.

Ah well - worth it :)
Compared to the first one I made, it's quite obvious that I've gotten better ;)

I've also gotten quite a bit more done on the nostalgia shawl. I finished the second lace part and am about half way through the garter section before the next and final lace part. I'm still totally in love with this yarn :)

Finally, I've been doing lots and lots of swatching! My knitting mojo was low over the weekend, and I realized it was because I wanted to knit on something new... so I swatched for a new sweater... and promptly felted the swatch! I was NOT impressed, as the label said it was fine for 30C machine wash!!!
After ranting and raving for a bit, I took another look at the label, and noticed two small dots under the temperature indication... a quick visit to google told me what I'd pretty much already guessed... 30C yes - but on the GENTLE cycle! Gah! Another washed swatch later to prove that it did indeed work that way, and I now have to figure out what to knit instead... Because of course I'd chosen a pattern where my yardage was juuust close enough that I knew I'd probably have to use the swatch... bit difficult now that it's felted! So I needed to do another 2 swatches for another project instead (same yarn - two different colours on two different sized needles).
But once again it goes to show - always treat your swatch the way you would the finished project! Certainly saved me a lot of heartache here!

WIP - My Sock Blanket is getting HUGE

I've been a bit all over the place this past week. Since I finished my StashDash2015 goal I've felt more free to knit a little bit here and a little bit there, rather than aim to finish anything :)

So the very first thing I picked up was my cozy-memories blanket! This baby still has a looooooong way to go, but I've added an extra 7 squares over the past week. It's way too big to bring anywhere, so this is strictly for at-home knitting.
Actually, it's getting insanely big. It's almost 2 meters wide! I obviously didn't think that one through. There's no easy way to rip back though, so I'll just keep at it as is, and count myself lucky that I have no plans of finishing any time soon ;)

I signed up for a quick testknit on Ravelry of a really cute 'lovey'. After finishing it, I realized that youngest niece is probably getting too old for these (or she will be soon), but I figure I'll just keep it around - I'm sure a ready-made shower gift will come in handy.

Other niece's snail has seen a bit of process too, lately :) She wrote to ask how it was going, and I realized I hadn't touched it in weeks! Embarrassing. (Even if she did reply "I didn't mean to stress you!" I know sweetie, I know :) ). I've finished everything but the head/body now, so it's coming along nicely, finally!

Finally, I've returned briefly to my Nostalgia Shawl. I'm in the middle of the second lace part, and apparently I can't count to four and take part in a conversation at the same time! It's still perfect for TV knitting, but I can't actually bring it with me anywhere. Go figure. Ah well, I still love it :)

WIP Wednesday - StashDash2015 Completed!

Less monogamous this past week, which means I've only knit a couple of rows on the Nostalgia Shawl (too little to show off), but instead have finished a couple of languishing WIPs!

I've FINALLY knit all the letters for my cousin's son's name. I gave him the 'P' when he was born last year, but somehow never got around to knitting the rest. Procrastination, pure and simple. And the worst thing is that once I started it only took me a couple of hours to get the rest done! But better late than never, and now it's done! Now I just need to figure out when I can go drop it off :)

I also decided to get my A in G and finish the "One Step Ahead" boots for Liz. I've been putting these on the back burner as the seaming is a bit of a hassle, and I didn't have to have them done until October anyway. But I decided to just get them done already, and managed to finish them up last Saturday! Still need to buy buttons for them, but the knitting and seaming is all DONE!
They're nice and warm :) Am definitely considering making more of these.

Aaaaaand since the height of summer (although this year it's more a case of "Summer? What summer?") is the perfect time to have a ton of wool on my lap, I FINALLY picked up my $5 in Paris again to try to get it done for StashDash2015. I only had the sleeves to go, so it should've been a breeze...

And it mostly was... except when it turned out that I couldn't count and somehow counted 68sts and got 58! On the second sleeve of course, so no amount of fudging the numbers could get the numbers to work and the sleeves to turn out the same. *sigh*. No way around it, I had to rip back 45 rounds (out of 48! :-P) and adjust my decreases accordingly. I still wonder how on earth I could mess up my counting by THAT much. Ah well - it was only 45 rounds of a sleeve, so it only set me back a day or two and yesterday I was finally able to bind off! (Still need to weave in the ends though).
Just like with the first $5 in Paris I knit, I absolutely LOVE the fit! Now I remember why I bought enough yarn for 2 more ;) I'm not entirely sure what I think of this colour combination on me, but I think it'll be okay.

And with this I have reached my StashDash2015 goal! 5K completed since May 22nd :)

As usual I'm linking up with Stitch Along Wednesday