Effed Up Bunny

If you're a Doubleknit listener or a Purlygirl you'll know that there's a KAL going on for the Celtic Bunny Hat from Toots LeBlanc. I've been saving this project to work on during knitting group on Monday nights and Monday nights only. Three weeks in and three repeats in of the cable pattern and behold - an error! I must have picked it up and started knitting on the wrong row of the chart. Blast! The little piece of knitting is soo soft and lovely that it's sad to tear part of it out but this is a glaring mistake. Who was knitting this? It can't have been me! I hate ripping back in pattern and this one is going to be a pain. I'm contemplating frogging the whole thing and getting the circumference of the hat done before I take it back to social knitting.

Slacker!

Vacation must have agreed with me a little too much. I've been knitting up a storm, walking with the Little One, and even doing a wee bit of housework as well. I came back from Stitches with 2 sweaters, 4 shawls, and a hat's worth of yarn. Eek! The immediate goal is to knit this new stash up before it has time to languish. But wait, there's more!

I've had a skein of Malabrigo Chunky in the Polar Morn colorway in queue for a while and it suddenly struck me that I needed to knit a hat. But not any hat. A slouchy beret! Huh? I am not a hat person but somehow I think this one works and it has the added bonus of knitting up very quickly. Like, 4 hours quickly. Pattern: Icing Swirl Hat by Ysolda Teague. I knit the large size on size 10 needles and had 4 or 5 yards left of the Malabrigo Chunky.

A fellow Purlygirl is having her first baby and it's a boy so I figured I'd knit up a little something something for the little guy. I love love love the book Vintage Baby Knits so I chose to knit the Rufus Textured Cardigan out of Cashsoft DK. This is a fun pattern but I did a lot of modifications. The pattern is written in pieces with the button band partially knit separately and then seaming the whole thing together. I cast on to work all the pieces at once from the bottom, using #4 dpns to knit the button band with the piece but at the smaller required gauge. I joined the arms in the round and knit a la EZ method. Once the button band had eaten up all the stitches for the fronts and sleeve caps I knit the edging sideways joining the held stitches for the back of the neck with the button band. I think I have better notes for this on my Ravelry page. Everyone at knitting seemed to really like this sweater, especially the little shawl collar.

Last, but not least, I finished knitting up Herbivore. This was the second part of my Ravelympics challenge that I did not finish by closing ceremonies. I really like the architectural quality of this piece. The columns of twisted stitches are simple and clean and draw the eye upward and the angular shape is very interesting. It's a nice change from the lacy little shawls I've been knitting recently and the color is gorgeous! I used Malabrigo Sock in Persia. This yarn just loves to be knit on size 6 needles. It's silky and drapey and although it is a sock yarn I think it leads an exciting double-life as lace yarn.

Back To It...Or Not

I'm back from California (and Stitches!) and back in my usual routine. I finished my Ravelympic vest by closing ceremonies and have been plodding along on some not-so-inspiring knitting. I think I need to cast something on in order to get out of this slump I'm in. Last night I found myself watching a movie and not even knitting!!! Zoh my gosh! What is happening to me? I'm feeling some sweater-love building but don't really know which sweater to cast on. Something from my queue? Recently purchased stash? New pattern? Ideas and input are greatly appreciated since I'm rather at a loss for what this funk is all about. Could it be post-Stitches withdrawal?