Saturday, February 04, 2006

The View from Everest

It has been a week, but somehow it feels like even longer since I last wrote. Work was exceedingly tedious this week only made worse by the flooding of my office due to a broken water pipe. Ugh. Supposedly I will be back in my regular office on Monday.

Knitting has been going well though. Here are the updates on my projects:
Veste Everest

Pattern:Veste Everest from Interweave Knits Fall 2005

Yarn: Jaeger Luxury Tweed in Lavandula

Needle Size: 5's and 3's

Size: 41 1/2

Started: January 14, 2006

Finished: January 31, 2006

Comments: I finished Veste Everest just at the end of January as I had hoped I would. This was a simple, well-written pattern that worked up quickly. I had serious doubts as to whether the yarn would work for the pattern and after I had gotten in 5 or 6 inches I actually swatched and then worked this pattern in KnitPicks Wool of the Andes for a few inches before I realized I liked the thinner yarn as it made a flatter cable. I'm very happy with the result. I think I did a very good job seaming and the three-needle bindoff on the shoulder looks great. I've never been good at wearing vests (seems like its a talent some people have), but this vest may convince me otherwise. The color of the yarn and the subtle cabling makes this a tough knit to photograph. I've been trying to get a decent pic all week. This is the best I can do for now, but I'll try to get one of me actually wearing it soon. Maybe I'll wear it to GROUP next week and have one of my fellow knitters snap a photo :)

Sesame


This is Sesame from MagKnits (August 2005). I'm doing it in one color as I'm just not a horizontal stripe kind of girl. I'm hoping to get all the pieces done before the Knitting Olympics begin next Friday. I may be a little over ambitious in my knitting plans, but that's what keeps things interesting :) So far, I'm really enjoying how the Rowan Wool Cotton is working up. The color is Smalt. I don't know what Smalt is, but the color is a cool steely blue. I like it a lot and the drape is beautiful. It's very mindless stockinette which is great for mindless weekend knitting.

My So Called Scarf

Still chugging along on this one. I seem to only work with it a couple hours a week. I do love the Malabrigo and the pattern is nifty, so hopefully I'll get this one finished up soon.

Next on the list is to wind up the Lorna's Laces Helen's Lace in Tahoe that will become the Baltic Sea Stole - my Knitting Olympics Project. I need to swatch this week so that I'm ready to cast on Friday. Whoohoo - first lace!

I do need to finish up M's tiger socks....he's starting to ask about them...maybe by Valentine's Day. Speaking of Valentine's, since it lands on the same day as our normal knitting GROUP meeting, Jen and I discussed moving GROUP to the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays this month (instead of our regular 2nd and 4th). So, we'll be meeting February 7th and 21st from 6:30-8:00 at the Borders in Wilmette (corner of Lake and Skokie). Hope to see everyone there next Tuesday!

4 comments:

Mothlady said...

I find vests very good for office use. They're warm enough for the sometimes overzealous air conditioning, but not too warm to be uncomfortable. But today I need my sweaters, it's -22 C (-8 F)!

Chicago Jen said...

OMG!! Alyssa, your vest is beautiful and I can't believe how ambitious you are! Either you're a very fast knitter or you don't do anything all weekend but knit! LOL! Hope your weekend was nice.

kathy b said...

Alyssa

Thanks for bringing your malabrigo scarf for us to see at Group. I just loved it.

Tiger socks roar.

knit_chick said...

You are just the FO queen! The vest looks great. Love the Malabrigo scarf. I've been itching to find a simple scarf pattern to use some of the Malabrigo yarn I bought at Stitches. I've already done the So-Called Scarf in Manos, but it's interesting to see how it turns out with different yarns.