Latest cardigan progress

This hasn't been the best week at my house. 2 of the kids and my husband have had that nasty flu bug. One of the kids had a fever over 101 F for 6 days!! I have managed to avoid getting sick so far. I refuse to get sick!! (Does it help scare the germs away if you say that out loud?)

I have started on the Cardigan for Arwen - isn't this an exciting picture of the back? Even though there isn't much to see, this picture gives a good representation of the color - and I athink I am learning how to get enough flash so that my pictures aren't too dark. I am really loving the texture/softness of the yarn. I thought I was all signed up on the KAL but haven't been able to sign in yet, so I guess I will post about it here until I am officially on the list.

I have also finished the other blue fingerless mitten and have started on a matching scarf. I have alot of irons in the fire (translates to- projects on the needles), but I feel good about finishing some things. I am having a bit of second-sock-syndrome with my youngest son's grey socks - maybe I will work on that today if I get a chance to go to the LYS and sit and knit.

A joining we will go.....

I am in the joining mode again. I have recently joined 2 new groups. First of all, I joined the Cardigan for Arwen KAL. I love the button and the sweater in all it's cable-y goodness!

I hope to have pictures up of some progress this weekend. I got a start on it and didn't think the gauge was right, so I re-casted on before I got too far.

I also counldn't resist joining the Project Spectrum 2.0 group. Lolly sure does come up with some good ideas to keep people excited about knitting. My first project for this group is some blue fingerless mittens in baby blue Alpaca. This is my first time working with Alpaca and I love it. The yarn is soo soft, and I think I will get alot of use out of the mittens. I like the fact that they will help keep your hands warm, while leaving your fingers free to do the things you need to do.

And yes, I did get that bit of bling for Valentine's day! I think my husband loves me!!

This is a leftover project from last year's project Spectrum that I never got around to. I'm hoping it doesn't hang on for the next Project Spectrum!

It Is Finished!!!! Finally!

YES ! I have been working hard on this sweater. I had a little trouble with finishing the back neckband. I knit it too long the first time, and when I attached it to the neck, it flopped over instead of standing up like it is supposed to. So....I got right to work and fixed it, and just finished sewing all the pieces together tonight. I feel so good about not just tossing it in the corner when I had a problem with the neck (which is what I have done in the past with projects that I ran into trouble with). I was determined to finish this sweater before I started the next big project.

Okay, the specs for the sweater:

Pattern: Ivy fom the Fall 2006 issue of Knitty.

Yarn : Fantasy by Dark Horse Yarns. It is 50% Nylon and 50 % Acrylic -color #32. I know, it's synthetic and probably would have looked alot nicer in something like cashmerino Aran, or this other yarn that I liked that was about $10/skein. I wanted to refine my skills a little before I spend the big bucks on yarn.

Needles : Size 6 Addi Turbo circulars.

Modifications : The only mods that I made were on the sleeve. On the diagram of the finished sleeve, the cuff end looked a bit big and bell shaped. I thought that would dirve me crazy, so I cast on less stitches to make the cuff narrower, and the sleeve goes up at a gradual angle to the underarm. After trying the sweater on, I think I would have made the sleeves a little shorter, and possibly narrower in the upper arm - maybe next time, eh?

In between working on taxes the last few days and finishing up this sweater, I have worked some on the gray socks for son#3, and finished one fingerless mitten in Blue Baby Alpaca (boy are they soft!). More pics with the next post.

Ivy Sweater Progress

It is time to be done with this sweater and move on to one of the other 101 things I would like to knit. I have been knitting on the ties this week after work (and the usual chores). The ties are 52" long and 8 stitches wide - it takes forever to knit one tie (not to mention the fact that it gets very boring, and I fall asleep when I'm knitting on it). I have about 30" left to knit on the second tie.

These pieces are all ready to go be blocked.

Front and back pieces blocked out.

Okay, so I stink at picture taking, but at least I keep trying. They either come out too dark and you can't see the design or the true colors, or I end up with this creepy green haze on the periphery - what's up with that???? At least I have visual proof that I have started blocking the sweater. I plan on blocking the sleeves before I do my Sat. errands, and hope to start sewing the pieces together some time today - the good Lord willing!

I have also been knitting on a pair of socks for the youngest son. He was under this totally false impression that I would have them done for him by Christmas 2006 (LOL). Maybe they will be done for next Christmas ! As you can see, I'm using the Wildfoote yarn - mistake number one when knitting socks for men/boys with big feet, and I'm using US#1 DPN's. I wanted hime to pick out a yarn color that he would like, and thus actually wear the socks that I'm spending hours making him. Next time I think I will show him several skeins that he can choose from (in a different gauge yarn that knits up with size #3 or #4 needles)!!

I am definitely itching to start the next project. I have some blue yarn that I want to knit up into gloves and a scarf, and I am hoping to start the Cardigan for Arwen this week. I am trying soo hard not to start anything new until I have the red sweater finished. Wish me luck.