Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Something new and finished even!

Ugly sock has been frogged...or at least is on it's way to being frogged. Let's face it, sometimes looks really do matter. I am not in mourning. I am moving on.

On to bigger and better things. I finished another Clapotis! This one is what I wanted from the start. I made my first last spring and loved well enough, but it had it's drawbacks. I used Patons SWS in Natural Earth. I thought the yarn felt nice and soft in the ball, but it ended up itching my neck every time I wore it. It was a bit heavy as well, got a bit too fuzzy - what with the yarn being spun in singles and all. Lastly, it proved to me that while I adore autumn, the colors of the season do not suit me well. I am a cool person. Oh yeah, dig it.

So a couple weeks ago I made the 25-mile pilgrimage to JoAnn and bought 4 balls of Patons Decor in Secret Garden (purple, black, green, gray/blue). (This by the way is also my effort to confining yarn purchases to already decided upon projects.) The name of the colorway alone was enough to grab me, but it's absolutely my colors to a tee! I don't think my pictures will do it justice, but here they are:

I love it! It's lightweight, easy care, and just warm enough with the 75/25 acrylic/wool blend. I wasn't sure how well it would block because of it being a blend, but I was pleasantly surprised. There still is a little curl at the points, but that's ok. It's drapey and fantastic! My only modifications from the pattern as written were that I did one extra set of increase rows, one extra set of straight rows, and of course one extra set of decrease rows. It's the perfect shawl size yet because it's lightweight, I think I'd have no problem bunching it up into a scarf. Well, that is if I didn't have a freakish fear of things being around my neck, but that's another story.

There's another sweater on my needles! Oh shut up, I know very well that I have two other sweaters languishing in the basket upstairs, but I don't care. I bought some Patons Classic Wool in Natural Mix intending it to be made into the Placed Cable Aran pullover in Knits Fall '07 but alas, I could not get it to knit to gauge. It seems the yarn is just not chunky enough. Second in line to that sweater was the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I love the combination of natural rustic looking yarn and feminine details or even lace. However, the yarn was too chunky for this sweater. A bit consternated, I grabbed my copy of "100 Knitting Projects" - not the best, but always good for an inspiration or pattern in a pinch. Well lo and behold was my perfect sweater for the Natural Mix yarn! #50 - The Cable Yoke Pullover.



It's gonna be great! Even if it itches like hell, I can wear a T-shirt underneath. I'm using the rustic colored yarn I love, working in the round, and I'll have my feminine cables in the yoke, much like both the Placed Cable Aran and Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I'm excited! This is 3 evenings of knitting and I'm over half way done with the body. I added one set of short rows to the back and I think that will be fine. I'm itching (no pun intended) to get through the body so I can start the sleeves. I'm gonna do them two at a time on two circulars so they should go quite speedily. Oh, to get to that point!

It's times like this, when I have a fantastic sweater on the needles, that I find my job is really irksome. I love working from home, but here I'm surrounded by all the things that I love and distract me most. Oh well, duty calls, knitting beckons. Brenda Dayne is waiting for me on my iPod and she will help me through my sentence of work-time.

The Ombre Blanket is taunting me again from the other room. Shut up already....before I make the dog sit on you!

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