The Beginning of Effie

I got a chance to dig into my Kim Hargreaves Precious magazine on Friday night. 

I was so excited, that I casted on immediately.

This is 1 pattern repeat.

This is about 10 more.

All in all, I have to do about 18 repeats for the edging of the back of the sweater, and repeat the same thing for the front of the sweater.  However, I noticed that I don't really like purling with this yarn, so I will be tweaking the pattern a bit, and making this in the round instead of pieces. So this means that I have to do 18 more pattern repeats, seam it all together, then pick up the stitches on the edge for the body of the sweater.  Wish me luck!

This yarn is very delicate, but once you get the hang of it, your knitting speed goes back to normal as if you were knitting a plied yarn that wasn't so fuzzy.  I am more comfortable with it now, and I am not as scared of the project as I was before.

I went to a Knit+Wine event on Sunday, and was only able to make it through 1 pattern repeat.  It turns out that after the delicious Reisling I had, I was forced to squint to see the stitches. LOL!  As if I didn't know what would happen.  No worries, I had another project with me that was easy knitting.  I didn't have to look at what I was knitting at all!

Wanna Be Startin' Sumthin' .... Gotta Be Startin' Sumthin'

I am preparing to take on what I feel is one of the most challenging endeavors in knitting ever.
Drumroll please...........

Knitting Kidsilk Haze on size 3 needles.

I have fallen in love with Effie from the moment I saw her. She is delicate, romantic, girly, and fluttery.  She is akin to a ballerina in my eyes, or a fairy princess from some disney cartoon that has classical music playing in the background.

The yarn is Rowan Kidsilk Haze in Marmalade, that I bought over 2 years ago when Knit New York had a sale.  They have since closed their doors, and the pattern I had originally bought the yarn for was kicked out the door when Effie arrived.  Effie has kicked Sylvi off the list of my 10 in 2010 projects as well. I am waiting 2 more days for my "Precious" by Kim Hargreaves book to arrive.

Why would I say that this is a challenging knit?  Firstly the yarn is very delicate, and frogging is not a possibility, so I have to really pay serious attention when I knit, and have great lighting, and not have my tastebuds divulge on Lambic Frambroise at La Casita yarn shop.  Secondly, this will be my first fine-gauge sweater, and I have been notorious for having chunky sweaters lay around for months, so this will be a great test at keeping focused. I know that this is surely not an instant gratification project, and I am ok with that. Thirdly, I have never done ruffles before, but they look so cute that I want to give them a try.  I can honestly say that I am very comfortable that this is stockinette, and the only real thing I have to worry about is doing my shaping decreases in the right spot.  I am contemplating knitting in the round, because I hate seaming. However, I have to study the pattern before I go converting things.  I hear that British knitting patterns are written very different than American ones.  But, I have no fear.  One of the coolest knitting buddies I have is from Great Britain.

Without further adieu, here is my newly updated pie chart of 10 in 2010 projects.

Malabrigo Sexy Vesty Complete.

Here is the first Sexy Vesty I started making back in December.  I actually put it on hold to complete the Pink Sexy Vesty for Ravelympics.  Today, during my visit to La Casita, I sat by the bar, had a Lambic Framboise to drink, 2 absolutely delicious Beef Empanadas to eat, and weaved in my ends.

Specs: 2 Skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in "Lettuce" purchased from The Fiber Fix, size 5 needles for the body of the sweater. Size 4 needles for the armhole edging and neckband.
This sweater isn't blocked yet.  Hmmmm... maybe it will stretch a little more. I feel like I am wearing a  corset.  Or maybe I just need to do a few more crunches.  Either way, I still love it.

Here is my Sexy Vesty! 

Green is such a fun color!

This is what I have leftover.  It weighs 9 grams, which is approximately 18.9 yards.  I was afraid that I wouldn't have enough yarn, but it worked out.  Whew!  This sweater fits a bit snug, and if I did it over in Malabrigo I would use a size 6 needle for sure. I used a size 6 for my pink sweater, and that was perfect.

I bought more yarn for more Sexy Vesty clones.  They were on sale today at Michaels for 3.99.  I thought I was getting a deal.  Then, I saw that there were certain colors that were 2.99... like Taupe.  Arrrgghh!!!  Why did I wait to the last day of the sale to go to the store?  Duh!  because I work until 8 PM every day, and can never get to Michaels during the week. So, the 2.99 yarn was gone.  But I know how this works.  How much you wanna bet AC Moore has the same yarn on sale before the month is over?  I am yarnstalking for sure!

I would also like to add that I finally received my SweaterCross Medal for the Pink Sexy Vesty.  Here it is!

Newsflash!!!  I just received a Captain's medal for being the Co-Moderator for the Sit N Knit group.  Woohoo!  This totally makes up for not getting at least 1 medal last Olympics.

I did it! I did it!

Here are my medals.

Here is my lovely Sexy Vesty.

Specs: Sexy Vesty made with Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Azalea (3 skeins).  Needle sizes 5 and 6.

This is my first completed 10in2010 project for the year.
I want to make another one.  What color should I make the next one?

Ooops.... I forgot to post the picture on my ravelry thread for Sweaterboard Cross.  So, I should be expecting another medal soon.

Ravelympics Sexy Vesty

I casted on this vest as part of my 10 in 2010 projects.  So, now that I have a medal for the Sit N Knit entry into Ravelympics, I want ta be fair and get a medal for my 10 in 2010 entry.  I just completed the front of the vest.  I have to complete the back, then kitchener the shoulders, and add ribbed edging to the neckline and armholes.

Can I get it done in time???

Ravelympics Sweater Complete!

I am editing this post, because I want to post my medal.  This feels gooooooood!!! 

My Top-Down Raglan Sweater is complete. This is the entry I had for the WIP event.  It has been on the needles since June of 2008.  Sheesh!  The pattern is from Laura Chau (CosmicPluto).

I used size 9 needles, did a ribbed button band, and waist shaping.  I used Manos Del Uruguay Wool in the Mulled Wine Colorway.  This sweater is warm beyond belief.  It is snowing outside today, and I work for the corporation whose doors never close, so it will be very instrumental in keeping me warm on my journey into work.

Sewing on the buttons last night.

Here are the pictures I took before I left the house to go to work.

Front

Back

Side

Sidebar: Thesoapyknitter (Rosi G.) left a comment yesterday that got accidentally deleted because I was checking blogger on my phone and the screen is so small that I clicked the wrong button.  Her words were "GO!! GO!!".  Rosi, I did it!  Thanks for the encouragement.

Happy Knitting everyone!  I gotta scram.  Have to catch a delayed bus to get to work.

Ravelympics Roundup!

I have been such a stranger to my blog.  I am so sorry.  I have just gotten so caught up with doing 365 in Flickr, and working late, that my poor blog seems to suffer.  For all the readers out there, I am so sorry.  i will try my best to keep things a little more updated.

As it stands now, I am taking part in Ravelympics 2010.  Last Ravelympics, I failed miserably trying to do a sweater and a pair of socks.  The sweater has since been completed, got a moth hole in it, been repaired and washed, blocked, and worn to work.  Yay!  I am so glad that I was able to save it.  Warning!  Clothing moths like Alpaca too. The socks are still a UFO, because I just don't like how the yarn feels, and I feel like i am knitting with brillo.  Over the course of time I have grown to appreciate finer grades of sock yarn, so my tastes have changed.  Who knows if I will ever get a chance to finish them.

So we move on to 2010.  The winter Olympics is ON AND POPPIN'.  The US has won 20 medals, and I would like to believe that part of the reason was because I was knitting while I was glued to the television set every night.  I belong to 2 ravelympics groups; Team Sit N' Knit NYC, and Team 10 in 2010. For my Sit N Knit entry, I decided to do WIPs Wrestling, and complete my Mulled Wine Raglan Cardigan using Cosmic Pluto's design.  I am proud to say that at this point, I have completed the body and am working on the sleeves 2 at a time.  I feel like a figure skater who has completed their second to last Triple Axel. One more to go! Here is a picture.

My second entry into the WIP category is my February Fitted Pullover that was supposed to be my NaKniSweMo project.  Well.... that wasn't completed in time for that, but I still wanted to wear it this winter so I decided to enter it into this category.  All I have to do is sew on the sleeves, and finish the neckline.
Here is a picture.

My entry for my Team 10 in 2010 group is the Sexy Vesty made out of Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Azalea.  This yarn was originally bought for Hey Teach, but I frogged it because I didn't like how it was coming out. I started this on Tuesday night, and this was my progress after knitting group on Wednesday.  I have knit about 115 yards so far.

Before Ravelympics started, I was working on Vaila during the month of January.  I decided to work on it from the top down. I have completed the waist shaping. Here is a picture.

Here are my charts for my 10 in 2010 progress.