Spring Fever!

Yep, I got it! Nevermind that it's -8 this morning, spring fever still made itself known yesterday morning after I cleaned my boys' room. Why did it happen then? Who knows, but for some reason it made me want to re-read the Summer 2007 IK. Yeah, I'm a little behind the curve.

I know there's people out there who get the new IK issues with yarn and needles in hand and start 1 or more projects immediately. I'm not one of them. I flag my favorites, drool, look up yarn possibilities online, drool, then sigh. I think I absolutely must finish everything currently on my needles before I can even THINK of starting something new.

Finish schminish! I want the Lutea Lace-Shoulder Shell and the Josephine Top THIS summer, by gravy!

Spring fever actually gave me the urge to SWATCH. My usual practice is to knit as little as I can in order to get a decent approximation of gauge, then say close enough. I've only kept 2 swatches to date, otherwise I rip it out and get started.

I want to make the Josephine top in Knit Picks Shine Sport. I have 6 balls of a tangerine-y orange color. I swatched with some periwinkle Shine Sport that had first tried to be Picovoli, then a swingy crochet tank thingy. It's so chopped up now that I don't think I could use it for a full project, but it's perfect for swatching. I got gauge on size 4's. Look, it's a real swatch!

I used the leftover bit of Cotton Ease from my 3 Mason-Dixon Washcloths and swatched for the Lutea Lace-Shoulder Shell. I got gauge with size 8's and cast on for the 36" size. I'm using the Berry Cotton Ease that tried to be two other tops before this. The fabric may be a little loose, but heck, it's a summertime tank. Let's hope I get lucky.

I recently subscribed to the Knit Science podcast by Miriam Quinn. I really like this one. Miriam is very personable and like my other favorites, it feels like I'm sitting with a friend. Plus she gives a ton of great information, and I LOVE that. Episode 11 - Gauge Your Swatch was a revelation for me. I'm not sure why it took this podcast to really hit me, but Miriam talks about treating your swatch as a project unto itself. This was my inspiration to actually swatch for these two tops. Hopefully I will continue on this new swatching path and have a lot less frustration with fit in my future.