Christmas Inspiration

I have seen many posts on various social media sites that remind everyone to "Keep CHRIST in Christmas" and "Jesus is the reason for the season". I totally agree. If he wasn't born in a manger, what would we be celebrating?

So, I have used that as nail inspiration today. The colors used are from Julep holiday gift sets, and some Essie, Maybelline, and Sally Hansen colors that I already have in my collection.

Julep: Gayle, Cindy, Amy, Heather, Lynn, Carly, Glenn
Essie: Midnight Cami, Blanc, Case Study
Maybelline: Paint the Town, Shocking Seas, Impeccable Grays
Sally Hansen Complete Manicure: Gilty Pleasure
Pure Ice: Free Spirit
Random silver glitter and black striping nail paint.

I used Midnight Cami as the base color, outlined the figures in Essie Blanc, then filled them in with various colors.

I have also made some progress on my Lemongrass Sweater. I need to do 24 increase rows for the size I am making, and I just completed increase #13. Hopefully, I can get more knitting in during the remainder of the week.

In the Christmas Spirit.

Last Friday, I attended an annual knitting holiday gift exchange dinner at BBQs with a small group of my friends. I graciously received a gift certificate to Knitty City. On Monday, I realized the sweater that I casted on was not going to work with the yarn that was variegated and had extreme contrasts in color.

I decided to jump at the chance to go to Knitty City and see what my gift card could get me. I intended on buying the Chuny Malabrigo Twist that the pattern calls for. However, I fell in love with Malabrigo Rios in Purpuras ( again). 6 skeins later, I'm getting ready to cast on my sweater a second time.

The sweater I'm working on is Lemongrass by Joji Locatelli. The gauge is supposed to be 3.25 sts/ inch. However, I get a gauge of 4 sts/inch with my size 10 needles. So, I decided to cast on for the XXL size. The amount of stitches divided by the gauge equals the measurement of the M size, in the bust. Bingo!!!!
Here is my sweater.

And for some added holiday cheer, I painted Candy Canes on my nails.

Adiri - My new friend

I feel like the worst possible knitter, because I did not have a hat and scarf/cowl set that I am 100% happy with. One that will cover my hair when it's sleek and straight, and when its full and super curly.

I received an email from a friend about the Adiri Slouch Hat by Julia Trice. She had just released it, and I absolutely had to have it. The next day, I went to Knitty City to get yarn. I fell in love with Malabrigo Rios in the Purpuras color way. I figured the slouch part would get filled up with my curls on my curly days, and just slouch on the straight days.

I casted on using size 7 needles, and continued using size 8 needles. I finished my hat in about 6 days.

 

 

 

NaKniSweMo Defeat

On Thursday night, I completed the body of the sweater. I was a bit delirious from all this crazy knitting and made a huge mistake.

The instructions said to cast on 74 stitches for each sleeve. The dumb thing I did was pick up every stitch instead of pick up 2, skip 1. So, I ended up with 94 stitches. I reworked the decreases and decided to just knit like a maniac.

By 6 PM on Friday, I had just enough time to finish the sweater, if I continued through to midnight. I had reached past the elbow. So, I decided to try it on.

EPIC FAIL!!! The sleeves were gigantic. If I intended to make a puff sleeve, and have a steeper decrease slope, it could have worked. But, I'm not making an old-fashioned sweater.

I decided to rip it out and really cast on 74 stitches this time. 2 decreases later, the sleeves look like they are a better fit. I'm working on them during the remainder of the week.

So, I failed at completing a sweater in a month. However, I learned a valuable lesson about following directions and sleeve construction. A perfect fit is always better than throwing on a rushed imperfection.

NaKniSweMo - 2 Days Left

Last night I knitted while listening to the Yarngasm podcast, and watching Kristin's video version of the podcast. She is extremely cute and funny, and I love her project and yarn choices. Could it be a Brooklyn thing???

So, watching her complete projects has fueled my fire to finish my sweater. I was knitting feverishly until 1:30 AM.

Here is my progress. I have 2 more wedges to go, in order to complete the circle. I was able to complete half a wedge on my train ride into work this morning. So, I am estimating 1 wedge when I get home tonight, then sleeve time.

NaKniSweMo Progress Report

It's 2 days before the end of November. I am knitting like a maniac. I had intended on finishing this sweater to be able to wear it on Thanksgiving Day. Instead, I spent hours in the kitchen making  desserts and a bunch of sides. My poor sweater was suffering. Here is my Thanksgiving table from left to right.  Cassava Pone (Trinidadian Bread-Pudding like dessert made with Yucca and Coconut), Pumpkin Spice Whoopie Pies with Maple Cream Cheese Filling (Recipe from Magnolia Balkery), Rum Raisin Cake, Lattice Top Peach Cobbler, and Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting (Emeril Legasse).  The white dish is an extra Pone. 

So, I decided to buckle down and put some serious work into getting it done. Here are some progress pictures.

This is where I started on the day after Thanksgiving. It looks like 4 wedges are complete.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, I met up with a few of my knitting divas for a day/night out.  We went to Knitty City first, then ended up eating at Irving Farm.  We had a Latte and I brought them some of my cupcakes.  Shhhhh... don't tell the owner we brought in outside food.  But hey, it's not like I was soliciting.

The next day, I taught my friend to knit and we went to La Casita.  She fell in love with the craft. 

I completed about 11 wedges at this point.  



Monday night, I went to Kickboxing class, then went straight home to knit.  I watched Cake Boss until I couldn't keep my eyes open.  Burning 800 calories makes you really tired.  Luckily, I can knit with my eyes closed.  I completed about 13 wedges here.

Tuesday night, I continued to watch old episodes of Cake Boss, since it helped me get through the night before.  I completed 16 wedges here. The circular body section is approximately 75% done now.  But I'm not celebrating just yet.  There are still sleeves to do.  

Tonight, my goal is to finish the circle, and pick up stitches for the sleeves. 

I have a bunch of vacation days left at work, so I decided to use one on Friday in order to complete my sleeves.  Can I finish?? .......Updates on sleeve progress in the morning.  I have to stop typing, and start knitting. 

NaKniSweMo 2012

November is upon us once again. I have decided to take on the challenge of knitting a sweater in one month, once again. My sweater of choice is Pole by Joji. This sweater is the opposite of straight and skinny. It is a wrap around sweater that hugs every curve, and looks flattering on almost anyone.

The yarn I have chosen for this is Yowza - Whatta Skein from Miss Babs. Since this sweater is a continuous circle, having 560 yards on one continuous strand is perfect. The color I am using is Luna Granite Monochrome. I like the slight variations in grey, and it matches a pair of my favorite boots. So, overall I am happy.

Since this sweater is flouncy and has very little shape to it, I decided not to be so strict with searching. I just followed the directions and cast on the 34/36 size. It turns out that on size 9 needles, I was only getting 12 inches across the back portion, when it really should have been 15 inches. I went up to a size 10 needle, and figured that this looser fabric would go well since the pattern specifies for a loose fabric.
It still wasn't 15 inches. So, then I casted on for the 54/56 size, and got the exact measurements that I needed.

Once the back was complete, I casted on 74 stitches to make up the measurement for the 18 inch body piece. I also modified where I started my short rows, and put it at 44 stitches instead of 36. I am trying to keep things proportional now, since I am practically rewriting the pattern for this yarn.

So far, I completed 1 wedge of the circle, as you can see in the last picture.