Where has the time gone?

All I can say is I've been sick and busy at the same time. I've got a bad case of bronchitis and between that, baseball and the end of the semester, I haven't had the time or gumption to sit down and write.

I get irritated when things are sitting around and not being used, so I've been thinking about stash busting. I don't have any real projects in mind. There is one pair of socks I need to make for myself, but other than that, I'm relatively free. I decided to make some baby stuff out of what ever is in my basket. Now, whenever I need a baby present, I can have a few things around in case I'm not in a knitterly mood, you know?

First I decided to use up some of my leftover Devon from the Enid cardi, and Addi Turbos #3 US. I have several vintage pattern books from the 30's through the 60's. I chose a raglan cardi pattern and reworked it on so many levels, it might actually be my own pattern now. Here's the finished product, sans the buttons. I've GOT the buttons, but I have yet to sew them on.



I'm not too crazy about the way the purple and green stripes separate from the rose color, but that's what I get for not swatching the pattern. I will say that stripes, as annoying as they are for weaving in, make seaming a breeze.

Now I'm working on a little jacket from the early 40's and following the pattern as closely as possible. I'm using Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Handpainted in Spring Frost and US #2 straights. The pattern called for 3 ounces to make the jacket, and the yarn comes in 4 ounce hanks, but after weighing the back, I discovered it has almost used 2 ounces. I will probably have to buy another hank of the yarn, which sucks because the dye lots are bound to be completely different. There's an awful lot of small stitches in this little jacket, so I'm not really willing to frog it.

I'm much further along than this picture shows, but you can get the gist of the color and the pattern.



Finally, here's a little gift from my garden:



I hope everyone is doing well.

Easter, Bloggiversary, Cabled Cardigan

I hope you all had a great Easter. Ours was mellow and chilly. Some kind of crazy Artic Blast has blown through here, and the weather has been less like April and more like January. The boys had lots of candy and little surprizes from the Easter Bunny, and we had a very nice meal of roast leg of lamb and mixed fingering potatoes with asparagus and red wine. We went for a little drive in the afternoon then sort of crashed out in the evening. Here's some food pictures:

Roast Lamb & Mixed Potatoes:



Asparagus and Parmesan:



This is my favorite egg from the lot:



My bloggiversary was yesterday. I was too busy and involved in family stuff to sit down and write. Seems like that's been going around lately. Anyway, as I look back over the past year and think about knitting, blogging and all of you, I realize that so many things have changed as a result of this wonderful medium.

I got involved in the online knitting world early last spring when I needed to find an answer to a particular question. I joined a couple of newsgroups and started noticing that when some people signed their names, a link would appear under it. I think the first link I followed was Elabeth's, and that's when I learned about blogs. I read hers and followed some other links and finally got the nerve to start my own blog. Before I joined newsgroups and the blogworld, I felt isolated as a knitter. When I had a knitting problem or a knitting triumph, I kept them to myself, because there was no one around here to share them with.

Over the past year, I have met wonderful knitters from all over the country and world. You guys have supported me through a frustrating illness and some frustrating knitting. The support and humor I've encountered has meant the world to me.

To honor this special occasion, I want to show you the best thing I've knitted so far. The Margaret O'Leary Cabled Cardigan from Vogue Knitting Fall 2006 (#19). This is the best fitting, most comfortable, most successful piece of knitting I've done.



The Stats:

Yarn: Knit Picks: Wakashan 100% Baby Alpaca (in black). I did end up with 3 spare hanks of yarn, but that's OK with me.
Needles: Addi Turbo Circular: #8 47", Some kind of straight #10, and #8
Size : 38 bust.

There are a few problems with the pattern: The cable chart for the right front has a mistake on row 13. It should be 6-st LC instead of 6-st RC. The collar shaping has a problem on the right half. The instructions have you making the collar shaping over the buttonband. If I remember correctly, all you have to do is end with a RS instead of a WS and then do the shaping. These corrections are not listed on the VK website, but others are. If you want to make this sweater, print out the corrections first then go for it.

I would absolutely recommend this sweater pattern. It wasn't difficult and the results are wonderful. I did change the length of the ribbing on the sleeves from 7 inches to 3.5 inches. They were too long and I didn't want to fold them over. Knitting the shawl collar takes forever and can be a drag. The collar which is double the thickness of the rest of the sweater, tends to unfold itself (you can see that in the picture below). A minor disappointment, I can live with it.

Thank you all for being such lovely knitters and bloggers!

Smooches!