Almost Getting There

I'm in the middle of a bunch of projects right now. I keep thinking that I'll have them finished to share, and then they take just a little longer than I expect. Kim would say that this is always true of anything I do. I admit I'm a little too optimistic at times.

I'll show them to you now, and then later, if they turn out okay, I'll model them. How's that for a deal?

The first one is this ribbed vest. Right now, I admit I am a bit concerned about its resemblance to a halter top:


But it's not finished yet. I have just about an inch to knit on the back, and then I have the finishing to do. I will give you a full assessment after trying on, but only if it looks good.

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Does this look endless to you?


It sure felt that way to me. But I am finally done with the knitting for this shadow-knitting sweater and have started in on the finishing. This is one sleeve. I knit it on size 1 needles.

Yes, it was as bad as you think.

The worst part is, I should have used a 2. I have been called the gauge witch. I had done a swatch, and it was to gauge. So it couldn't have been a gauge issue. But for some reason, the sweater shrank a bit as I worked on it. So. The sleeves were too short. The body was too short and too skinny.

I have some fixes in mind. Full report later--if they work. If not... well, forget you ever saw this picture. And don't mention my red-rimmed eyes. It isn't just that I knit this sweater on size 1 needle. It is that I actually started it again after a Big Error. (Scroll down to the second entry from the bottom, where you can see the first draft of this sweater turned into a pillow.) So you have to be extra nice to me about it, no matter what happens and no matter how it looks. Thank you.

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I'm in an Elizabeth Zimmerman kick that has been lasting about a year so far, so much so that I started a Zimmermania class this year. (Sorry, it is full, full, full, but look for individual EZ projects in our newsletter this year if you want to join in on the fun.) The first project we started was the pi shawl. I'm enjoying it out of Kureyon Sock yarn:


It's a shawl, so I feel certain that it will fit and look good. Shawls do not provide the level of risk and adventure that sweaters and vests do.

I'm also working on a new wrap for our wrap class this year. So far I have Block 1 finished:


I love Yuzen, the yarn I am usin'.

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And, ahead of schedule, the block for February is ready:


But not the directions for the block. Those will happen... sometime soon.

In the meantime, as I write, it is your job to get ready to come in and get some good stuff during our Super Sale this Sunday! We'll be open 10-4. I hear we've got some snow coming in next week, so you'll need a project for both the game and the Big Storm. Me, I'm going to be finishing at least a sweater and a vest, so I can start something new. There's a rule, you know: Two projects done, four begun.

Color Play

I just finished making the first block for this year's block of the month. I'm making blocks that look three dimensional, and I am getting a kick out of the project. The first block I call "folding arrows." (Show it to a guy. I guarantee he will think the three-dimensional thing is cool.)

I originally designed the block of the month to be on a plum background, but after a few people wrinkled their noses about plum (you need a thick skin in this job to survive all the nose wrinkling), I decided to try it out on different backgrounds. I'm still making mine on plum, but make it your own; other colors look good too. Today I got out the camera and played around to show you.

Let's start with the original plum idea:


And then my post-seeing-nose-wrinkling ideas of green....


.... and cream:


For this block, the cream would have worked better if there had been a purple or plum border around the block. We'll do other blocks later that would work fine with no border.

Purple also works for this block, which is no surprise (but it made the camera think that all the purple is blue):


But blue itself? Doesn't work at all, even though blue is one of my favorite colors:

If you use turquoise, it gets even worse:


Probably someone out there just said, "But I like that!" Well, nose-wrinkle comin' back atch-ya.

And here, full circle, is plum again.


To me, it's easier to breathe with that color behind the block. Ahhhhhhh....

Ready or not, the new year is rolling. Block of the month starts in a few weeks, and it's going to be a fun one this year. Sign up anytime! We have planned a year of fun, prizes, and .... cool blocks!