8,196 Stitches & Counting ….

I started a new project on Sunday:

Salina from Rowan’s Vintage Style.

Could it be a case of startitis?

Internets, am I messing with you?

I think I might be messing with you.

I can’t tell you how many times I tried to take a picture of me wearing the sweater… on a day when it’s 101° outside. Let’s just say it’s not easy and I’m a little crazy.

Do you want details?
Pattern: Must Have Cardigan Patons’ Street Style booklet
Yarn: Bernat Gloucester Wool from the Haunted House of Yarn, 10.5 skeins
Mods: I changed the directions of the main cable on the front and the back (I really like symmetry) and I added waist shaping.

Shitty kitty really wanted to help with the photo shoot - after all, she believes a photo shoot isn’t really a photo shoot unless she’s in it - and the cables really complement her fur. Mrawh!

And, Internets, if you’re knitting a Print ‘o The Wave stole in lace weight, you’ll need more than 800 yards. Just a little heads up. I’m waiting for more yarn to arrive and then I’ll decide whether to rip back the border and knit it entirely in the new yarn or continue the border if the dyelot change isn’t noticeable.

so close. seriously. so. close.

Yarn Monster

Kally thanks all of you for your kind birthday wishes. Kitty kisses for everyone!

Print O’ the Wave

While I was at SNB Sunday, I finished picking up an enormous number of stitches and began working on the inner border. My eyes skipped ahead and missed the whole eyelet row. Oops. Seriously, actually reading the pattern is a good thing. Tinking back well over 600 stitches is killer, but I couldn’t think of a better way to fix my one-row-back mistake. Two and a half hours later, I’m ready to start the edging.

Fuck. Fuckety fuck fuck.

I got stuck at row 9 too many times to count and kept ripping back, counting, re-counting and then counting again. It just didn’t make sense. Try as hard as I might, I couldn’t get the stitch count to work. Over an hour later, I shoved my lace, half finished row 9 and all, into a bag, shoved the bag into the corner and then ate a cookie.

Internets, if you are knitting the Print O’ the Wave Stole, this KR forum topic will help. There is an error in the edging cart, and Ms. Eunny Jang herself clears it all up. Phew. Also, there’s a Yahoo group for additional reference if you need it.

I now have half of one long edge knit, that’s only five repeats from being 1/4 of the way through the edging.

I’ve also been working on the Must Have Cardigan. All of the pieces have been knit except for the back, which has been started, but not by much. It’s been too warm to knit such long rows with worsted weight wool.

Little Ms. Shitty Kitty has a favorite resting place under one of the chairs in the living room…

… and I don’t think she likes it when I try to get close ups.

Rubber Duckie, you’re the one

You make blocking lots of fun…

Rubber duckie, shitty kitty’s not terribly fond of you

Could it be two steps forward, one step back?

Possibly, but wait - what’s that in the background?

Oh, my, that would be a finished sleeve and a shitty kitty! After socks and socks and socks and lace, this aran weight project is knitting up so quickly. And yes, I’m a little crazy and like to block each piece right after I bind off. I love to watch the pieces take shape and then they’re all so soft and smell so clean when it comes time to sew them together.

Lest you think all I do is knit, yesterday the Mr. and I went on a lovely hike to Desolation Point in Millcreek Canyon. It’s a short 2 mile hike that ends with an overlook of the Salt Lake valley.

click for a larger view

Millcreek is close to where I live, such a beautiful canyon and perfect for hiking, biking and having a picnic. We’ve had so much moisture that ground cover on trail is thick, green and lush.

If you’re interested, here’s a panoramic view that the Mr. put together.

The Haunted Yarn House

While a good portion of the Utah grrls are away at Estes, those of us who couldn’t go went on a little field trip of our own to the Haunted Yarn House.

Inside, it was floor-to-ceiling yarn, knitting and needlepoint accessories. The rooms in the house were so small that I couldn’t take a full floor-to-ceiling shot.

Katherine of it all and Ms. Stitch-n-Snitch, and the yarn goes higher and higher.

How about some old Brown Sheep Yarn, 100% pure Virgin Wool, permanently mothproofed?

I found 14 balls of Bernat Gloucester Wool in the Bargain Room for $2 a ball. With the right amout of yardage and spot-on gauge, it is perfect for the Must Have Cardigan pattern I’ve had sitting around for a long time. I’ve wanted to make it ever since I saw Brainy Lady’s finished cardigan (that should give you any idea of just how long the pattern has been sitting around my house).

This yarn is so soft and the stitch definition is amazing.

Kally’s glad she didn’t have to go to the Haunted Yarn House, all that yarn would have given her a total anxiety attack. Seriously, which to pounce and eat first?

hell yes.

I hope everyone who made it to Estes had a blast!