You’d never know it from the lack of activity on this blog, but I have been knitting, really I have.

This is my most recent finished object – Novak, a pattern from the Fall 2009 issue of Twist Collective.

I wouldn’t say that I had trouble with this pattern, but I did end up ripping after working about halfway up the body because I decided I didn’t want the A-line shaping to be quite as dramatic as it was. So, the second time around, I casted on about 16 fewer stitches than called for in the pattern and decreased at a slower rate, ending up with the same number of stitches as called for in the pattern by the time the decreases were done.

Other pattern notes: I love the look of the woven stitch on the collar and cuffs, but for some reason, it really hurt my hands to knit this stitch for too long!

Up next: a crocheting project. The Babette Blanket from Interweave Crochet.

I finished this sweater last Saturday. I enjoyed knitting it quite a lot; the top-down raglan construction was interesting, I liked the stitch pattern, and I loved that there was really no seaming to speak of–just an inch or so under the arms. However, I’m not in love with the finished product.

I don’t think this is really the fault of the pattern, so I don’t want to discourage anyone else from knitting it. It just doesn’t seem quite right for my body type.

I knit this is a medium size and made it a bit shorter than that size called for, and made the sleeves a bit longer. I think for me, I’d probably make the following changes:

• Either knit it in the small size, or make the body even a bit shorter than I did, probably by a couple of inches
• Make the sleeves even longer, closer to 3/4 length
• Make the neckline a bit higher so I could wear it comfortably without a shirt underneath

I may still make these alterations since I have enough yarn left to do them; however, I’m going to leave it for now and move on to something else. Time to do a little holiday knitting.

Progress continues on Mary Jane, the top-down raglan I’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks. I’ve finished knitting the body, and am almost finished with the left sleeve. After that, I’ll just have the right sleeve and the neckline (which my husband seems very concerned about every time I try it on).

I’ve followed the pattern almost to the letter with a couple of exceptions:

• Although I’m making the medium size, I used the length measurements for the smallest size.
• I’m making the sleeves slightly longer than shown in the pattern photos (they show them hitting right below the elbow and I’m making them a couple of inches longer).
• I’m doing a slip-stitch rib instead of a plain knit 2, purl 1 ribbing.

If I keep progressing at this rate, I expect to be done on this by next weekend. I may not be able to wear this for a while though–it’s still quite warm here in CO!

This is one of my works-in-progress (along with a lace shawl, which is going very slowly). It’s “Mary Jane”, a top-down raglan pattern by Rachel Bishop and Sarah Johnson of Zephyr Style, published in Twist Collective.

I’m using Debbie Bliss Rialto yarn. It’s a DK weight merino, very soft and squishy.

I can’t remember ever knitting a top-down raglan before; this may be my first. I am enjoying the construction so far, and I’m going to love the fact that there is absolutely no seaming. After the body is complete, the neckline is finished by picking up stitches and knitting, as are the sleeves.

This is another pair of socks I knit from a pattern in the Cookie A book, Sock Innovation. (info about my first pair, the Kai-Mei socks, is here). This is the ‘Sunshine’ pattern, which I knit with some Malabrigo sock yarn. This was my first time knitting with the Malabrigo sock, and I absolutely loved it. It’s beautifully soft, but still has lots of bounce. I’m hoping it wears well.

I found that this pattern took a bit less concentration than the Kai-Meis. The cabling pattern was fairly easy to memorize and went pretty quickly. My only problem with them was caused by my own lack of attention; I had to rip back at one point because I didn’t have enough repeats in one of the socks, so it would have been shorter than the other had I not noticed.

I’ve put a couple of projects on the back burner recently, including a crochet project I started a while ago. Just wasn’t enjoying it. So instead, I’ve started working on a Patchwork Lace Stole–a free pattern, available here on Ravelry (note: you must log in to Ravelry to see this pattern). I expect this one to take me a while; since I don’t do much lace work, this one’s going to require a bit of concentration!

Just finished these socks last night: it’s the Kai-Mei pattern from Cookie A’s book, Sock Innovation. I won’t go on too much about this book because it’s already been discussed and reviewed quite a bit my many knitting bloggers, but suffice it to say that if you like to knit socks and have any aspirations about designing your own patterns, it’s a worthwhile addition to your library.

As you might be able to see from the picture, these socks are a very simple 3×3 rib on the leg. The heel is also quite standard. The fun part comes in on the foot, with the design swooping over from the outside of the foot to the inside. The stitch itself was new to me. Basically it involves yarn overs on several rows, each of which is dropped on the succeeding row, until all of these are picked up and knitted with a purl stitch, creating a really interesting butterfly-ish pattern. Here’s a close-up of the pattern stitch:

I love almost all of the patterns in this book, so don’t be surprised if you see quite a few more blog posts this year about socks I’ve knitted from it.

I’ve got a couple other things on the needles right now, but am not terribly excited about any of them, so I may just go back to doing some spinning. I haven’t done any in a couple of weeks and am starting to miss it.

Finally, I’ve finished something. Here it is, the Decimal Cardigan–pattern courtesy of knitty.com, designed by Snowden Becker.

For some reason, I had a hard time with this pattern. At several points, I had to rip back because I’d messed up the eyelet rib pattern. I blame my lack of concentration for this–a problem I’ve had with a lot of things lately, not just knitting–and not the pattern or the designer. I also had a hard time getting the stitch count to come out right when shaping the sleeves.

If I were to make this again, I’d make the following changes:

• I’d make the bell sleeves a little less wide. You can’t tell from the picture since I’ve folded in the sleeves, but they are at least 2 – 3 times as wide at the bottom as a fitted sleeve would be. Although the look isn’t bad, as a practical matter, I could set myself on fire if I tried to do any cooking on the stove while wearing the sweater.
• I’d make it slightly shorter in length, just because I think a shorter length would be slightly more flattering on me.

Since finishing this, I’ve decided to take a break from knitting for a while and do something I haven’t done in a while: crochet. I’m going to make the Malabrigo Top from the Spring ’09 edition of Interweave Crochet.

Although I’ve started several projects in the past month or so (a fish hat, a blackberry cardigan, and the Muir stole to name 3), I haven’t seemed to be able to finish anything. I’d say I’m about 90% done with the fish hat–all that’s left is sewing in ends and finishing the eyes–about 50% done with the blackberry cardigan, and a mere 2% into the Muir stole (just the cast-on is done). I can’t really get excited about the fish hat or the blackberry cardigan right now because, well, they just seem to ‘winter-y’ to me. And the Muir stole? It’s a good weight for Spring, but it’s a somewhat intricate lace pattern, and I can’t seem to summon up the concentration required for it by the time I’m ready to knit after a long day at work.

So I started yet another project, and I’m actually making some headway on it. Here it is:

For those of you that are Knitty.com fans, you’ll probably recognize it instantly–it’s the Decimal Cardigan from the Spring ’09 Knitty.

This seems like the perfect project for me right now. Although it’s an interesting knit, since the gauge isn’t that fine and the lace pattern repeat is fairly easy to memorize, it’s something I can easily settle into knitting while I’m relaxing in front of the tv. Also, I’m knitting it out of the Shine Sport from KnitPicks, which is a cotton/modal blend that’s really a nice weight for spring or summer wear. And best of all, I think it will be pretty easy to finish since it doesn’t involve a lot of seaming.

The pattern calls for the body to be knit in one piece up to the underarm, which I like–no side seams required! And once you get to that point in the pattern, you knit the sleeves separately to the underarm, then you join them all together, and finish knitting the sweater raglan-style. After that, you just pick up and knit for the button band and collar. The only seaming involved is on the sleeves.

Hope you’ve all found an inspiring spring project to work on…

I just finished these a couple of days ago – the pattern is ‘Seaweed Socks’ from WendyKnits and it’s available for free on her web site. As with most of her sock patterns, it’s a toe-up pattern, which has not been one of my favorite ways to knit a sock in the past, but I’m becoming a convert.

I used Crystal Palace’s Panda Silk yarn for this. It’s the second time I’ve used this yarn for socks–I really like it. It’s a light fingering weight yarn made from 52% bamboo, 43% merino wool superwash, and 5% silk. Because of its light weight antibacterial properties, it’s a great yarn for socks that’s you’re planning to wear in warmer weather.

Speaking of WendyKnits and toe-up socks, did you know she’s got a book on toe-up socks coming out in April? It’s already available for preorder on Amazon.com, and it sounds like it’s going to be a good one. It includes 20 patterns as well as information about various methods for casting on, making toes, making heels, and binding off.

From the Colbert Report: shocking examples of radical knitting and crochet! Good thing our border patrol is on top of this!