back again

Thank you everyone who complimented the wedding dress. I've been so excited to have it and it's been really difficult to not take it out of the bag and play dress up. I had to promise the dress shop ladies that I wouldn't handle it except to take my bridal portraits and get the train bustled (which BTW, means that they attach loops and buttons onto the back of the skirt to pick up the enormous train so I can walk around without tripping).

Sorry I've been so remiss in my blogging and commenting. I've had two work trips over the past two weeks, so I've just been too zapped at the end of the day to post any new progress. I've started two other projects since last posting... a bag that's (gasp!) crocheted in tweed started on Friday, Aug 4 and the Icarus Shawl finally on August 1. But here are the two finished objects that I've finished a while ago but am just now getting around to posting:

Sweater with Interlacing Cables
Pattern 37 in Rebecca number 25 (Jan-Sept 2003)
Materials: GGH Goa (50% cotton, 50% acrylic. 66 yards per 50g ball) 5 balls in SH24. Size 11 Denise Interchangeables.
Gauge: 11 sts/4 in
Finished size: 32" bust

Started: July 27, 2006
Finished: July 31, 2006

Discussion:
Huh, I must be knitting for sheer relaxation these days because this is the second project recently where I actually used the specified yarn. And on top of that, no mods! This one went extremely fast and I like how drapey the fabric is at this gauge. I used Goa for the baby sweaters on a much tighter gauge, and I didn't like the drape near as much. The only complaint I have about this sweater is that the yarn ends like to poke through to the right side (and there were many) and the armholes are a touch large. I might go back and crochet around the armholes to make them a bit smaller and have them lie flat too.

Otherwise, I'm suprised there weren't more issues with reading the pattern. I'd heard how notorious Rebecca patterns were at leaving things to the knitter's imagination. The only thing I noticed was that the instructions specified a number of rows for the front but had you knit to a certain measurement for the back. This is fine if your row gauge exactly matched theirs, but mine didn't, and so I had to fudge the chart for the front a bit so the back wouldn't end up shorter than the front. They also conveniently left off a bit of information about the chart... namely that the chart represented the middle stitches and you were supposed to work the rest of the sts not shown on the chart in stockinette. Okay, so you could figure that out based on the picture, but it's still frustrating that they publish patterns this way.

Hooded Sweater
Pattern by Debbie Bliss in Special Knits for Babies
Materials: Caron Simply Soft (100% acrylic, 396 yards per 198g skein) 180 g in Autumn Red. Size 8 Addi Turbos.
Gauge: 18 sts/4 in.
Finished size: 22" chest

Started: July 11, 2006
Finished: July 25, 2006

Discussion:
Pretty straight forward knitting with a sole intention of having something to do while trapped in a Montana airport (no one guessed it... I was in Dillon, MT and the closest airport was Butte, MT). It worked, and I have a baby in mind for it, just not yet born. I did the sleeves top down once again, but I noted that for these kinds of sleeves, I needed to leave a bit of a tail so that I could close the small hole formed by changing from knitting in the round to dividing for front and back. The only other thing is that I found the Simply Soft to be soft indeed, but not nearly as soft as other natural fiber yarns I've been working with lately (Malabrigo and Calmer come to mind). That being said, the yarn requirements were a steal at $3. A little squeaky to work with, but good for its intended purpose of keeping a baby that may have its moments of mess warm.