FO: Geodesic

I've finally finished Geodesic, from Knitscene Winter/Spring 2010. The yarn is Araucania Ranco Solid. This cardigan was started in early October, 2010. It languished a bit because I got bored with it and I don't enjoy knitting with such fine gauged yarn. Now that it's done, I love it. It's very lightweight, so it's suitable for spring. Actually, I can probably wear it now if it stays as warm as it has been the last few days.

I think I knitted mine a little longer than the pattern's version, and my sleeves are a bit longer. I also narrowed the width at the shoulders a bit. I used a row of single crochet to finish the front edges and the back neckline instead of just using a knitted finish for the back. I think the front edges looked a little too scruffy without the crochet trim.

My cardi is actually three different shades of blue. The yarn is hand-dyed, and I did not want to do any of that alternating skeins thing. I had three skeins, so I used one skein for the back, one for the fronts, and one for the sleeves. The sleeves are the darkest shade and the fronts are the most stripey. I'm okay with this -- I'll just consider it a design element!

I tried wearing it without a front closure but it just hangs funny. My local JoAnns is currently stocking a lot of interesting clasp closures. I bought a bunch of them and used one of them here. The top row of my tuck stitches ended up as knit instead of purl by mistake, but I think that looks fine.

FO: Hot pink cowl

This cowl is a giftie for someone who loves pink and is always cold, even in heated office spaces. It was a good use for some Debbiie Bliss Stella yarn left over from my Mirabella sweater.
The cowl is about 24 inches in circumference and 7 inches high. It is just a simple cylinder. I used a lacy rib pattern and knit it in the round. Any yarn can be used for this, as long as you use an appropriate needle size and figure out how many stitches you need to achieve the size you want.
The lacy rib pattern is multiple of 6 stitches. Here it is for knitting in the round:
Row 1 (RS): K2tog, YO, K2, P2, repeat all around
Row 2 : K4, P2, repeat
Row 3: K2, YO, K2tog, repeat
Row 4: K4, P2, repeat

I might make myself another one of these in a more neutral color.

Yarn art

This is WAY beyond putting scarves on statues. A friend sent me the link.

Olek and the wall street bull

Her video of the art gallery opening is pretty amusing too.

Last FO of 2010

Happy New Year to everyone out there in the blogosphere! I hope that 2011 will be great year for you all.

This is my last finished object for 2010. It is a cardigan-stole, more or less. It wears like a stole in the back, but the front feels like a long slouchy cardi. The yarn is Shepherd's Wool from Stonehenge Fiber Mill. I think this yarn is probably one of my favorite worsted weight wool yarns. It's really soft against the skin, comfy to knit with, and reasonably priced. The pattern is self-designed. I wanted to make something like this after finishing the textured cardi, which also wears like a stole on the back. I wanted something shorter and without the inverted V back.

This garment doesn't look that interesting from the back when photographed, but up close and personal, the texture stitching is sort of nice. The color in this back photo is much closer to the actual teal color.

WIP

Looking at the above photo, you're probably wondering what it's going to become when finished. It's probably best described as a stole with armholes. I sort of like stoles because they provide a nice covering for the back without being too warm. However, I don't like having to hang on to them to keep them in place, so I find them a bit impractical. The textured cardi feels a lot like a stole when worn, but it's a bit too long, and I wanted to make something without the inverted V in the back.
So, I created by own pattern for this stole with armholes. I made a "muslin" of my pattern using some inexpensive knit fabric in order to get the pattern right. Here's what it will look like when done, more or less. There's going to be a 2x2 ribbing added at the bottom edge.

Sort of ugly but really functional

I picked these up at a thrift shop recently for 25 cents each. I don't really like their looks that much but they are the best thing ever for keeping slippery garments like knit jersey dresses from slipping off the hanger.
These were crocheted over basic wooden hangers, and I should just make a few myself because I think I would find them more attractive if I just chose a different color scheme.

Fall color

We don't get much in the way of fall colors in the SF bay area. However, our one Japanese maple tree will do its thing once a year. I'm not sure if it's my imagination or what, but it seems a bit late this year.