Trumpet Skirt

I finished my trumpet skirt, and it turned out WAY better than I hoped for. I wore it for 10 hours today, and it didn't even bag or sag or nothin'. The yarn is some sort of nubby yarn I got on deep discount from Webs some time ago. It is 100% cotton, and the texture gives the skirt some thickness.

The pattern is very loosely adapted from the Fit-n-Flare trumpet skirt in Knitting Lingerie Style. I kept the 8 panels, but used alternating knit/purl instead of holes. I did increases by adding opposite-stitch triangles, keeping the same increase rate. I stopped at about 25" of length. It was a very simple knit, and didn't take that long.

I must admit that knitting with highly textured yarn isn't that much fun, so I probably won't be doing it again. I used 2 skeins of this yarn (they were BIG skeins) and I still have one skein left, which I'm not sure what to do with.

Puff-Sleeved Cardi done!

I love this little cardigan. It fits well at the bust line and is a little loose in the midriff, but that’s okay since it’s a cardi and not a pullover.

The pattern is the puff-sleeve feminine cardigan from Fitted Knits, and the yarn is Lily Chin Chelsea, in a denim color. This is a cotton/merino blend yarn, and it has a nice firmness and the sweater seems to hold its shape well.

Customizations: My collar height is 11 rows. I used seed stitch for the various bands instead of the purl bump rows. My waistband starts earlier and is wider than the equivalent purl bump rows. I spread out the lace pattern on the peplum because I wanted a taller peplum and did not want the lace holes to cross. I could probably have used even a little more length. I did not use the garter stitch in the peplum.

For the button band, I sewed a grosgrain ribbon to the underside to keep it firm and avoid that stretching gaposis problem.

This was not a difficult knit, but it was time-consuming. The guage is relatively fine, and there are a lot of stitches in the yoke as it widens and at the peplum bottom. I also made dumb mistakes on the peplum that needed correcting because I was in a hurry and could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

New books

I check out my local used book store every couple of weeks for used knitting books. They have quite a good selection. My three recent purchases are: Runway Knits, Romantic Hand Knits, and Knit 2 Together. The first two have great pictures, and interesting designs, but I just don't know if I will actually make anything using those designs. However, I just LOVE the Knit 2 Together book. It's got lots of interesting, and some quirky designs, and I even like the Tracey Ullman stories. I will probably knit the kilt skirt, one of the shrugs, one of the hats, and maybe even the table runner.

Amazing, Mr. Science

This household tip is not directly related to knitting. It is, however, related to jewelry, which is categorized as clothing and accessories, which is sort of related to knitting. I own many pairs of earrings, some of which are sterling silver. I use a polishing cloth on them to remove the tarnish, but it's difficult to remove tarnish from within the crevices. I found this tip in Lucky magazine, and it really works. You get a glass baking dish (something with a little height), line it with aluminum foil, place your jewelry on the bottom, sprinkle some baking soda, then pour boiling water to cover the jewelry and soak for 10 minutes. After that, the jewelry is sparkling, and the foil is brown. It sure beats all that hand polishing!

Progress on puffed sleeve cardigan

I've begun the waist decreases for my puffed sleeve cardigan from Fitted Knits. Woohoo! Also, thanks to "da web", I learned about combination knitting and decided to give that a try somewhere along the way. I don't know that it goes any faster, or feels any more comfortable, or even if it makes my stitches any more even, but I figure it's worth a try for a while. Things might go faster/better if I get more familiar with with it.
I think I still have another month to go on this sweater though.

A little progress on trumpet skirt

I took a short to Las Vegas last weekend, so this gave me a chance to knit on the plane and in the airports. The flight time is just over an hour, and I did not wait that long at the airport, so I had limited knitting time. I worked on my adaptation of the fit-and-flare trumpet skirt from Knitting Lingerie Style. I did not want the holes, so I used alternating knit and purl panels. I reached the increase section for the skirt bottom and I first thought I would just widen the panels, but then I decided it would be more interesting to just insert triangles of the opposite stitch within the panels. I figure that by the time my triangles hit 20 stitches wide at the bottom, it will be time to finish since I don't need a very long skirt.
In the meantime, I leave you with photos from one of my favorite places in Vegas -- the conservatory in the Bellagio.

Casting on

I've cast on for the puffed-sleeve feminine cardigan from Fitted Knits. The yarn is Chelsea by Lily Chin. It's really a denim-like color, and not as bright as shown here on Tomokee the dog. This will probably be a slow knit for me. 22 stitches/4" is probably the finest gauge I've ever knitted. At least it has only short sleeves, so it shouldn't be too bad. I'm probably going to use seed stitch for a lot of the places where the purl bump rows are used, since I don't really like them.

So far, my collar is only 11 rows. I don't want a high band around my neck, and it would probably fold over anyway since this yarn is pretty fine.