Ruched Shell is almost done

The ruched shell from Winter 2007 Interweave Knits is at the almost-finished-object stage (AFO). I'm working on the armhole trim as we speak. I just LOVE the details on this little sweater. That twisted i-cord trim is a thing of beauty.

Music, knitting, and stash enhancement

All in all, I had a pretty good weekend. We traveled to Lake Tahoe, and while there, attended the Robert Plant & Alison Krauss concert, which was most excellent.

I managed to do some knitting on the drive, and even during the first half of the concert when it was still light outdoors. I worked on the kilt skirt from Knit 2 Together. I had decided some time ago not to do the kilt flap thingie, so I wanted some kind of texture for the main body of the skirt. All stockinette would have been too boring, and it shows off way too many flaws, both in my knitting and on my body. After searching through my Super Stitches Knitting book, I found a texture stitch that adds thickness and stretchiness while pulling in the skirt for a good fit. I'm happy with that.

And finally, en route to Lake Tahoe, I stopped in at the Sierra Knitting Company and did a little stash enhancement with these 8 balls of Sundance/Classic Elite Yarns.

The chest is here, the chest is here!

This lovely cedar chest just arrived yesterday. I've discovered that since taking up this knitting thing, I'm running out of storage space for clothes. Knits take up more room, and they cannot be hung in many cases. The plan is to replace all of my bedroom furniture in a year or so, but in the meantime I do need more storage. Also, having a cedar chest helps keep out moths waiting to dine on my woolens. This beauty comes from Harmony Cedar. It is their Shaker style model, in cherry. I don't have enough knits to fill it yet, but I'm working on it!

Ruched shell cast-on

I recently cast on for the ruched shell from Interweave Knits Winter 2007. The yarn is Elsebeth Lavold silky tweed. I bought the yarn at Knitting By The Sea in Carmel on a recent trip. I'm using the same yarn, but different colors for the body and the trim. I decided to also do the bottom in the trim color, and I made it five rows instead of three before turning the hem. I'm surprised very few knitters on ravelry are knitting this pattern. I think it's a very elegant sweater with nice detailing. Maybe everyone else thinks it's too simple a style.

I will probably do less gathering below the waistband on the front, but keep the ruching at the bustline.

I like this yarn so much that I bought some green skeins on closeout sale from FuzzyMabel.

Pretty in Pink

I've finished Alisa from Pursuit of Fiber just in time for summer. I love the lace panels on this sweater -- that's what convinced me to buy the pattern. The yarn is Berroco Nostalgia (a cotton/acrylic/nylon blend). I'm hoping the nylon will help keep its shape.
Customizations: I used waist shaping instead of the a-line shaping. I started the v-neck a little bit lower. I used crochet edging on the neckline also, and I made a shaped slightly scooped neckline for the back because it is a summer sweater and I did not want the back of my neck covered. Finally, I made the side lace panels mirror images of each other.

Alisa - Almost Finished Object

I'm close to being done with Alisa. Woo hoo! I think I should start the new acronym of AFO for almost-finished-object. This is the point where I knit faster and try to avoid stoopid mistakes because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's come along nicely without much drama.

Sharp and Pink

I knitted this knife holder to hold a pink knife that was given as a gift. This also is a breast cancer awareness knife, where some percentage of the profits goes towards breast cancer research. The recipient said that she would only want a knife if it was Hello Kitty pink (it's a long story). Well, the knife is pink, and the holder is pink, and it has a Hello Kitty button that I purchased on ebay. The back has the BCA ribbon knitted into it. I found the ribbon pattern as part of a pink ribbon sock pattern on Lisa Lloyd designs.