Adelaide from Vintage Modern Knits

This is no doubt my favorite thing I've knit.  I love the style and the colors, and the fit is perfect.  Love it!  I finished it about a month ago and it is my go-to warm sweater.
The pattern is Adelaide, the cover sweater from Vintage Modern Knits, which has many great patterns.  I've also made the Bramble Beret from the same book, which I haven't blogged about yet.

The aran weight yarn meant this knit up quickly, and since the yoke is the last thing you knit, I was motivated throughout the body to get to it.  I knit this entire sweater in under 2 weeks, which is unheard of for me.

After many years of cables, I'm obsessed at the moment with fairisle in general and yoke patterns in particular.  I'd love to make the Trefoil Cardigan and the Ross Cardigan (if I can devote  a year to that one!).

Raindrop Cardigan from Textured Stitches

I recently finished the Raindrop Cardigan from Connie Chang Chinchio's Textured Stitches book.  This is a great pattern.  The finished cardigan fits well.  I wish I'd made the sleeves about 2" longer or shorter, but it's not a big deal.  I have super long arms, so I'm used to scrunching up sleeves.

I chose a 100% pima cotton to knit this to keep it from being too warm for Florida.  The weight turned out perfect for our cooler days, but I do have some trouble getting the collar to behave without the body of a wool.  Just something to think about.

Here is my Ravelry post.

Red Sweater

This sweater was a long time in the making.  I had the vision last fall sometime and then had to work out the cable chart.  Then, the knitting took awhile, including what seemed like yards of ribbing.  Finally, I cast off only to decide the ribbing at the neckline wasn't long enough, so it sat around for a month or so until I worked up the desire to rip out and rib some more. 

THEN, I got the genius idea to try to submit the pattern to Knitty, but about 1/3 of the way through writing up the pattern, I decided, um, no, but I did try to take halfway decent photos.

The yarn is a Noro Maiko that I got at a LYS near my parents' house, Kitnit.  I don't know if I've mentioned them before, but I LOVE that yarn store.  :-)  Such great yarn and a nice, calm atmosphere.

Here is the page on Ravelry.

Starflower Hat

Update on the Mystery Hat I posted about in August!  It's called Starflower Hat and is in the book Textured Knits by Connie Chang Chinchio.

 

Mystery Hat

I knitted this hat in the recent past.  I only cast off about a week ago, but I cannot find or remember the pattern!  I know it was in one of my (too many) knitting books, a fairly recently purchased one, I think.  Ususally I keep the book out long enough to write the blog post. 

So, what I'm trying to say is this is my new hat.  I hope you like it, but I can't tell you where to find the pattern to make your own.  I'll update in approximately 20 minutes when I'm sure it will appear. 

The yarn?  Well, the ball band I reserved seems to be in hiding with the pattern.  It's some type of lovely wool/silk blend, I believe, also purchased fairly recently.  The moral of this story is:  blog while you block.  :-)

I felt super silly taking a pic of this with my tee shirt on, so I popped on this denim shirt for fall flavor.  It was about 95 degrees out on the porch, though, so forgive my forced smiles.

Oh, and my photo editing software isn't working.  I should just go back to bed.

 

Edit:  Found it!  It's the Starflower Hat from Textured Stitches by Connie Chang Chinchio! 

Louisa from French Girl Knits

I made this little sweater while on vacation in PA last month.  The pattern, Louisa from French Girl Knits, is actually for a tunic, but I only got two big skeins of this lovely hand dyed yarn, so it's just a little top for me. 

My yarn and gauge was totally different from the model, so I calculated my stitches as best I could, changing my counts a bit to account for the lace pattern. I do wish it was a hair bigger (especially the sleeves) and longer, but I have worn it three times already, so the fit is definitely not keeping me from wearing it.

This was amazingly quick to knit, and I would love to make another in the tunic length and gauge suggested. 

 I just wove a little navy ribbon through the neckline that I found in my mom's stash.  I keep meaning to look for a little velvet ribbon or something a bit more fancy when I go out, but I haven't remembered yet.

The yarn is Madeline Tosh DK in cobalt, 100% superwash merino.  I find the lacey pattern makes it quite comfy in the AC even in the Florida summer. 

Rocky Coast Cardigan

Voila!  My favorite new sweater!  This is the quickest sweater I've knitted in... ever.  I'm sure the size 10 needles had something to do with that.  The pattern is in the book Coastal Knits, where I also got the pattern for this hat.  The pattern's ravelry page is here.
 

 There's not much else to say - it was a pretty easy knit, and I think it looks really nice.

 After I finished it, I saw there are some suggestions to improve the fit around the neck and upper arms.  I can see how that would be good (it's a bit snug up top), but I find it fits ok as written.

 The fabric is Berroco Ultra Alpaca (50% alpaca/50% wool).  It's a bit warm for now, even with the open stitches, but it'll be great in the fall.

 There is no closure on the cardi, so I used this little pin I got in Orkney in Scotland.  It's the edge of a ship.

 Here it is open.

 And here it is in action with one of my little hams, all ready for bed.

Rustling Leaves Beret complete

Voila!  My Rustling Leaves Beret.  Not much to say since I can't find the ball band.  I used a fingering weight yarn doubled.  This was quite quick to knit considering the small needle size and lacey pattern. 

 I posted it on Ravelry here.

 I wore this around most of the day today even though the temperature reached the 70s.  A combination of getting acclimated to the warm weather and the overwhelming cuteness of this hat.  Once I tried it on, I couldn't take it off.

Interweave Knits Summer 2011 picks

My knit dress isn't finished yet. We've had a couple of nights of difficult bedtimes. Anyway, as a diversion, here are my favorites from the Summer Interweave Knits I just received yesterday:

This isn't my favorite issue ever, but there are some intriguing designs, even if I wouldn't want to make them up exactly as designed. Clicking on any photo will take you to its page.

This first one just looks really cool. I like the pleat at the bottom and the stitch pattern around the bust.


I'm not usually crazy about knit skirts or variegated yarns, but the combo here is inspired. I may just put this in the queue.


Finally, I think this is my favorite. I love a cute hat, and this airy pattern looks perfect for Florida.



Of course, I still have a half-finished, short-sleeved, red cabled turtleneck in need of some attention, so I won't be starting anything new yet (all family members will be glad to hear).

Essential Cardigan

I finished up this sweater a couple of days ago. It is the Essential Cardigan from Interweave Knits summer 2010. I just started it around July, which must be some kind of record for me for speed knitting. The pattern page on Ravelry is here.

It came out a bit big so I made the edging bands a bit narrower than the pattern suggests. I also left off the buttons. I can't decide whether I want them or just to leave it hanging open with the option of belting it closed. I think I'll leave it like this for now. I can always add buttons and (machine) buttonholes latter if the trends change. :-)

Without further stalling, here is the sweater, which I am very happy with! I tried it out with two different belts and also left loose.






A bonus is that this sweater will go well with the dress I am working on right now. Here's a peek:


Here's my Cleo kitty, in her new favorite spot, on my kitchen island. You can see the bright green kitchen walls in the background. I still haven't done anything about them. :-) I do have a lighter shade of green and some glaze in the garage to try a little spongeing technique, maybe even this weekend!