New Project on the Needles and I'm Excited!

Well, I just purchased my new project pattern and the winner is Rusted Root! After seeing all the great sweaters everyone made during the Sexy Knitters Club KAL, I wanted to make one too. I purchased 6 skeins of Lion Brand Cotton Ease for Michaels in a lovely shade of pink called Berry. One of the knitters from the Sexy Knitters Club, Cheri, made the Rusted Root using the same yarn. You can see her wonderful work at http://champagneflower.blogspot.com/ .

Completed Project: Sahara Cap Sleeves

Cast On: March 27, 2007
Bind Off: May 22, 2007
Yarn: Rowan All Seasons Cotton in Misty
Inspiration: Stitch Diva's Sahara in Cap Sleeves
Needles: Size 6 for the edge details, Size 8 for the rest
Yardage: 10 Balls with some left over
Modifications: Many.

• The number of decreases at the waist and hips.
• Omitted the short rows at the hem.
• The top is a 2X and the bottom is a 3X.
• I changed the type of yarn.
• The needle sizes to get gauge.

Enjoyment Factor: 8

The Good: This yarn was such a beautiful shade of Grey and I love the fact that I could try on the sweater as I was knitting, because it is knitted from the top to the bottom. My first completed sweater and first KAL with the SKC.

The Bad: It was the first time I worked on wraps & turns or "short rows" and that was a challenge. Also, the provisional cast on was no fun.

The Ugly: I did not make my personal deadline of May 9th. But I did have some happy distractions!

The Beginning of a Pretty Pink Dress

I have been working on my Dress with Eyelets from the Baby Knits for Beginners book by Debbie Bliss. I just wanted to share my minimal progress. This is the first time I have knitted on such small needles. These are a size US 3 circular needle.

The pattern called for you to knit across and then purl back. But after knitting the Sahara sweater in the round from the top down, I knew I could adapt this pattern to be knitted in the round from the bottom up to the bodice. Once I get to the bodice, I figure I can divide the front and back stitches to knit on US size 3 straight needle to complete the top of the dress. So far so good.

Adding to My Stash

Over the past few weeks, I have been adding a couple of things to my knitting stash. I purchased two items from my dreamy wish list. My youngest son and I made a trip to Barnes and Nobles book store here in Greensboro to see about purchasing the Baby Knits for Beginners book by Debbie Bliss. When we got there, we had a hard time finding the crafts section but a lovely employee was most helpful in my search.

I looked and looked for the book on the shelf, but I was unable to find it. I could not remember the name of the book at the time, but I did know the author. The helpful employee asked me if I knew the book if I saw the cover. I told her "yes" and she looked up all the books by Debbie Bliss in the computer. I took a look and there it was! The only thing was, there was only one copy of the book in the store. Well, I knew I was looking for a lost cause in that huge book store.


I keep looking in and around the crafts section area, but no luck. And just when I was about to give up, my wonderful helper put the only copy in the store in my hand! I was so happy. I had been debating whether or not I wanted to purchase this book, but after she placed in my hand with her warm smile. I knew I was suppose to have it.

I also purchase the Peru Luxury DK Yarn in the color Peruvian Skies from Little Knits. This yarn is a beautiful baby blue and at under $26 for a full bag of 10 balls, I had to have it! Peru Luxury is a DK weight yarn with great yardage (124 yards per 50 gram skein). It is 70% Merino, 20% Alpaca and 10% Silk and has a gauge of 5.5 stitches per inch on US size 6 needles. This was a steal! I don't know what I will make with it yet, but I am happy to add it to my stash.

I also purchased 5 skeins Knit Picks Shine Sport in the color Orchid, the color card for the Shine Sport and, a pair of 24" US size 3 circular needles. I purchased this yarn to make the Dress with Eyelets for the Debbie Bliss book. This was the first time I purchased anything from Knit Picks. I have to say I am extremely happy with my purchased! The color of the yarn on their site does not do this yarn justice and the needles are great to work with. I see myself making more purchases from this supplier.

Hot Off The Needles

I have been working on my Sahara sweater since March 27th and I am happy to announce she is finally done! I cast off late last night. I haven't had time to take a photo, but maybe by the end of the evening I will have one to post later tonight or tomorrow.

This sweater was fun to knit and I am so happy with the finished product. I do plan to knit a long sleeve version later this year. Well, that's all for now.

Missing In Action On The Needles

Sorry I haven't checked in for a few days, but I have had a busy past few weeks. I mentioned that I had family in town for the past two weekends in a row, and knitting was not an option. In the past two days I have managed to complete the neckline and part of the second sleeve. I am waiting to add a photo until I am done and can model all my hard work. All in all, Sahara looks wonderful!!

Personal Deadline Approaching

Well, I have been working on Sahara since March 27th and I am still not done. I can say that I have had some distraction. My in-laws were in town this weekend and I wanted to spend some time with them, so I didn't get the chance to knit as much as I would have liked. My husband and I also had a little family cookout on Sunday. We had good food and a lot of laughs!

My personal deadline for this project is tomorrow, my 33rd birthday. I still have until 12 midnight to finish if I want to get it done. I have been staying up to 1 am knitting for the past few nights after everyone is in bed. The only things I have left to do are the left sleeve and the neckline, which aren't very hard. I did have so trouble with the short row knitting, but after a few tries I got the hang of it.

I'm not going to beat myself up to bad it I done finish by midnight May 9th, but I would like to done sooner than later. The Sexy Knitters Club KAL has a deadline of mid-May. I know I can make that deadline!

Learning Something New

I am at the point on my Sahara sweater that I had to learn a new technique stated in the pattern as "wrap & turn". I had no idea what they were talking about, but after some searching on the web I discovered it is also called short row knitting.

I also was able to find details on how to do this wrap & turn technique in my Vouge Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book. This book has everything you will need to know about knitting. It is the one I refer to the most. It wasn't the first knitting book I ever purchased, but I am happy I added it to my collection!

Sahara is about 75% done and I have 2 weeks until my personal deadline. I have a lot of family coming up to visit is the next few weeks and I know is will be distraction from my knitting. My brother, Chip, will be flying in from San Diego, CA where he is stationed with the US Marines. It will be great to see him, because we haven't seen him in over a year. But I am still determined to stick to my deadline of May 9th to finish my project.