Cardigan progress update

I've been able to work pretty steadily on my Hempwol Cardi.  I'm almost up to the bottom of the v-neck on the body, which is worked in the round.  The amount of lace to be worked has been decreasing every six rounds, so it's almost completely stocking stitch now and is therefore moving along rather well.  I have done both sleeves almost all the way to where they join the yoke.  I'm debating whether they need to get a bit wider than they are currently around the upper arm.  If I decide that they do then I'll have to rip back a bit and re-knit, because the increases stop a few inches before the join with the body.  It'll be a quick fix though, if it's needed, as the tops of the sleeves are stocking stitch as well and not many more stitches around than for a sock.

Speaking of socks, I am finally getting close to the end of the second Twice Striped Toe-up socks.  The socks usually get worked on when I'm out and about, but there hasn't been a whole lot of that kind of knitting lately and so these socks feel like they're dragging a bit.  Maybe I'll make a push on them this weekend and get them finished.  I'm kind of itching to knit another pair of Monkey socks, and I don't let myself start a new sock until the last pair is finished (with very rare exceptions, where a complicated sock is on the needles, and I need something simple for a car ride or because I've used up all my brain power by the time I get to my knitting!).  I'm not much of a victim to second sock-itis, but I don't want to tempt fate by having unfinished socks around!

Yum!

When Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day came out I lined up for it at the library, and had fun reading it and drooling over the recipes, however as someone who can't eat wheat at the moment there was not much more I could do with the book.  However, the authors have now come out with Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, complete with gluten-free recipes!  I have it out from the library at the moment, but I plan to buy this one, and there will be much baking around here this summer, I do believe!  I can't wait to get the necessary ingredients, and a stone to bake the bread on, because I'm a huge fan of crusty bread!

Pretty Pattern - Good Cause

 Dave and I were at Urban Yarns last weekend and we saw the Brandywine Shawl knit up and on display.  It's one of those clever little shawls that can be made from the same amount of yarn as a pair of socks, so you can make a lovely little project for a good price.  The pattern is $6.50 to download (available from ravelry too), and Romi is giving $5 from each purchase to Doctors Without Borders for Haiti Relief.  She has already donate $12,000 from the sale of this pattern! 

One reason to keep knitting!

It's done!

The tie-front cardi is finished.  I'm looking forward to seeing it on its recipient, because this is definitely going to look better on a little person than laid out flat.  Overall I've found this a rather fussy knit, and I wouldn't make another one from the same pattern.  Too much sewing up for my taste, too.  This yarn is not very forgiving as far as darning in all the ends that were required for this pattern.  It's lovely and soft, though, and a pretty colour.  I would work with the yarn again, but with a carefully chosen pattern.  The little dress I made out of the same yarn last year (see May 4th posting) was more enjoyable.

Now I get to work on my own second sleeve guilt-free!  The sock I have in progress has no due date, so I'm just going to enjoy my Hempwol and see if I can have a cardigan ready in time for our trip to California in July.  I may not be likely to need it in SoCal, but I know San Francisco in the summer, and now I pack accordingly!

Knitting Progress Update

So the pieces of the tie-front cardi are blocking and should be ready to sew up later today.  I usually don't block baby and toddler garments until after I have seamed them, but these pieces were all stocking stitch, and extremely curly at the edges, so I think they'll be easier to attach together after they've been blocked into submission!

I have also finished the first sleeve of my own cardi, and I got a very good start on the second one last night.  It feels good to have time to knit after about a month-long dry spell!

Need a Good Read?

I just finished a really good book today.  It's The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.  It's set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960's, and it's a moving and page-turning read.  I definitely recommend it. 

I taught at the 12th annual Okanagan Knitting Retreat last weekend.  It was a great weekend, as always.  I love the location - the Sorrento Retreat Centre is a beautiful setting, and I enjoy these late spring weekends in the Shuswap.  The air smells so good there!  The knitting program was enjoyable too, of course.  I had a great class to teach, and we had our biggest turnout ever, with 56 participants.

Every year now I treat myself to a project from Lana's Hemp for Knitting.  This year I bought this pattern, the Chic Lace Cardi, and this yarn, Hempwol, in the Terra colourway.  It's a fun, simple lace pattern, and after a few cuff-knit-as-a-swatch attempts to get the needles and number of stitches where I wanted them, and a couple extra in which my tired brain couldn't quite get the hang of a lace pattern that patterns only on the even-numbered rows, I am off and running.  Or actually sitting and knitting, but you know what I mean.

I've tried to make up in links what is missing in photos today.  I wish I'd had a functional camera at the retreat - I would have loved pictures of everyone's lace swatches blocking, to name only one thing.  I think I've determined what camera to buy now, so maybe we can go out this weekend and get one.  I don't like being camera-less!