Urban Aran Half Zip

It's Done! I really love how it came out (excuse the squinting - I was facing into the bright winter sun!) totally wearable and comfortable. Exactly as I wanted!
Pattern: Urban Aran from Patons Street Smart Booklet
Yarn: Rowan Cork (about 11 skeins!)
Mods: Made into a half zip - added 2 purl stitches at the neck divide

I love the ribbing on the sides - a great visual element to this wonderful sweater! (yes, those are the Denmark socks peeking out!)
The zipper installation wasn't too bad - I used Bonnie Marie's zipper installation tutorial and it went pretty smooth.

I ended up with a dark brown zipper, but about 15" longer than I needed! (I have no craft stores near by, so the only place I can get one had about 4 to pick from!) So, I made a new "stop" for the zipper and cut it off. Now, I have another zipper to use for another project! (it was a double ender)
This will be worn very often and will probably become one of my favorites!

With the Urban complete, I managed to knock off a few smaller projects I've been meaning to get to. With the hat I knit last coming out too big, I tried again with more stash yarn (where did I get all this pink????)

Much better result. A bit snug and short for me. Fingers crossed it will fit a just turned 4 year old. I think it turned out pretty cute!

My sister requested (a long time ago) a little case for her digital voice recorder that she takes to lectures and rounds at the hospital. I whipped this little baby out after a few hours and using some leftover Lornas Laces from these socks. Pretty cute....

I used yarn overs to create little holes to thread the braided yarn through.

The Adlebaran socks are a bit of a challenge. Since they are written for bigger gauge sock yarn, I may just wing it and use the chart and basic design, but use my own sock formula. I'd really like to use those bright colors! I have some swatching and scribbling to do before I start.

A little peek

I have one sleeve and side sewn, and the second should be done today! It fits great, though the front opening for the zipper is a little floppy. The zipper itself should provide nice stability once it's sewn in. I love love love it!

When trying it on last night for a first fitting, my husband (my 6'2" husband) commented that he'd like a sweater "like that but maybe black". Not sure I'd want to knit this same pattern again, but he likes the half zip style and basic shape of it. Guess I'll have to be on the lookout for some economical yarn in large quantities!

The next pair of socks has been chosen.

It is the Aldebaran pattern from Socks For Sandals and Clogs by Anna Zilboorg. This is a book I have wanted since my sister and I both first spied it at the Maryland Festival in 2004. We didn't get it then, and regretted it ever since! I finally broke down and ordered it from The Mannings. They were really nice when I met them at Stitches, and I knew they had the book.

All the patterns have designs that go down the heel - from cables to lace to colorwork, it's all covered. They are done in a thicker yarn, however, so I'll have to do some re-calculation for my gauge and her foot size using the chosen yarn.

I'm going to use the bright yellow as the base color, and the purple will be for the colorwork. Should be some stylin' socks! She wanted fun and colorful!

Rumors say we are supposed to get a few inches of wet snow tonight into tomorrow morning. Should make for a fun morning drive in!

Almost There!

I got in some great knitting time this past week and weekend, so some great progress was made...

The Denmark socks are finished!

Pattern: Denmark from Knitting on the Road
Yarn: Henry's Attic Kona - hand dyed by me
Mods: Made the leg about 3" longer than called for as I had a ton of yarn

These are beautiful, cozy, soft socks. I love everything about them! For a simple 4 row repeat that I had memorized by the third or so time through, it creates such beautiful texture. All Hail Nancy Bush!

Urban Aran got some sewing and knitting time as well.

The collar is finished (modified in the same way Diana did hers) and it came out great. I have both sleeves done, though I have to block one and re-do the top 5 rows of the other - somehow I got my cable rows mixed up. But, I'm hoping to be doing lots of seaming over the next few nights! I measured for the zipper and it looks like I need one about 10" long. So, that is something else I'll have to go hunting for.

My best friend's little girl is having her 4th birthday party next weekend, so I was looking for a quick, stash-busting knit to bring. A hat was the first thing I thought of.

Cute, no? Unfortunately, it fits me perfectly. I am horrible at hat sizing. Even using the formula in The Handy Book of Patterns it still is wrong. Very frustrating. I may just make her mittens....but, on the up side, I got a new, super soft hat!

The hydroponic garden is growing right along. It's been about 2 1/2 weeks and they are almost real lettuces!

It will be nice when we can have an actual salad from it!

With Project Spectrum in full swing, I've been eying my blue stash yarns to see what will come of them. It's great timing. Denmark is done, Urban is very close to done. A perfect time to start something else!

I have 7 skeins of Araucania that I got at Stitches this year for a steal. It's a pretty teal/blue color. The light blue I got at Webs a year or so ago for even less. I have 20 skeins of it (about 2300 yd!)! A hoodie maybe? I had Mariah in mind for the light blue, but I may have been swayed over to the Patons Hoodie after seeing Lolly start hers....guess a browse through the pattern books is slated for this week! Any good suggestions? They are both worsted, about 20 sts/4".

The weather has finally taken a winter turn. Luckily, my immediate area was spared the rage of the ice storm of yesterday, but places only about 1/2 hour away were hit pretty hard. They are saying we should have a high of (gulp) 12 degrees tomorrow. Break out the winter wear.

Milestones

Funny, when I usually make up my calendar book for the year ahead, I flip through last years to copy over all the important dates and events - this way I don't tend to forget too much. When I put all the January dates in, I came across a pretty momentous one. Two years ago today, I learned how to knit!

It's one of those things where it seems like I've been knitting forever, but then again, it seems like just yesterday when I learned. I met my knit-bud Heather that night, we became fast friends, and have stayed that way ever since. I feel like I have come so far as a knitter (maybe now I'm a Knitter with a capital K?). My first sweater (Top Secret from Knitty - horrible FO pic here) I do still wear on occasion though it is way too big, and made from an acrylic blend. I then moved on to my first socks (yes, those disastrous "Not So Tall" ones!) and then my first truly challenging project - Hope from Rowan. I had never cabled before, or followed a chart, but I am a jump in and do it kind of person, so with the help of tips out on the internet as well as the Knitters Review Forums I made my way through and got a great FO (I will re-do that picture one of these days!).

Intimidated no more, I just went for every project that looked interesting. My motto was, "if I can knit and purl, I can do it!". I gained confidence and consistency as a knitter. I attended my first Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and was totally overwhelmed. And, totally hooked.

Then, it was 2006, the year of the sock. I had done my first pair of socks and once I got through the first heel turn, the construction finally clicked in my head. I wanted to try again. I made several pairs of ankle socks to work on heels and toes, then moved on to cables and twisted stitches. 2006 was truly my year of the sock.

Socks in 2006

I also learned knitting with two hands for colorwork as well as better sweater finishing and customizing skills. It was truly an amazing year. For this year, I'm hoping to not only learn new skills, but refine my current ones. Cabling without a cable needle, and maybe knitting continental style.

The internet has been my safety net and my sounding board. You guys have been there through my disasters and triumphs and were always there to answer my questions, and give great advice. I have met many of you in person, and made some great friends. For you, I am truly thankful for this past year as a knitter!

PS - The front of Urban Aran is done and blocking! I ended up adding 2 purl stitches at each side of the front and I think it will be just fine...once again, the knitblog community to the rescue!

Backwards Progress

Well, I almost had the front of the Urban Aran done last night. I stress almost. In my joyous haze of a memorized pattern, I just kept on knitting. I had made notes about the back and what row of the chart I had stopped at so I could make the front the same length, and stop at the same point in the cable. Unfortunately, I forgot to re-read the instructions which have you knit the front the same as the back up until a certain point (didn't see the little "**" to stop and change to the instructions for the front) then move to a new set of directions. So, I knit happily along thinking I would be able to start the sleeve as well as the front was going so quickly. Well, once I hit that stop point I had marked for the back, I went to read my directions for the next step. Yeah. That's when it hit me....I knit 3 1/2" too far! So, now I need to frog back and figure out where in the chart I will end up. Darn rhythmic knitting. It puts you in a trance!

My other little conundrum has to do with where I split for the zipper. Since I'm only doing a half-zip instead of a full cardigan I started dividing for the front when I stared the armhole shaping. Jared, Laura and Diana all made incredible full cardigan versions and added a few stitches to the center for selvage for sewing in the zipper. I didn't add any extra, so there are only 2 purl stitches at the center - one going to each side when I divide for the zipper. Now, That doesn't leave me with anything to sew the zipper to. The center cable starts immediately after that purl stitch. Since I have to rip out anyway, and didn't (obviously) think about this before hand and add more stitches all the way up the front, I'm not sure quite what to do.

Here is a closer picture of the cable. I'm not sure if more purl stitches would just disappear in the rib like effect of the cable, so one or even two additional on each side wouldn't make a huge difference, or if I'm just asking for disaster.....

Odds are I will never wear it fully zipped to the top, but I still would like it to look nice if I do. Since I only need a 6" or so zipper, I plan on getting the smaller, finer toothed version, and it wouldn't need as much room to be sewn in. I could increase a stitch on each side after the split, but I think it may look goofy when zipped up - the center cable and the purl stitches between it wouldn't line up correctly.

Either way, I'm off to do a little ripping....

Saved!

Bethe to the rescue! She has very generously offered to relieve my knitting stress by offering up her skein and leftovers of Cork! She also got it at Webs, so odds are it will be the same dyelot. Once again, I am in awe of the generosity and breadth of compassion in the knitblog world. We are an amazing bunch! I hope I can help someone out of a similar bind one day! Thanks again Bethe!!!!

In a knitting and football filled weekend (Go Pats!) I got quite a bit of knitting done. Denmark the first is complete, and I have cast on for the second.

It fits perfectly and is squishy soft. The Kona yarn knits up really nice and is super soft. The entire heel and foot were knit Saturday afternoon. Socks go nice and fast on #3 needles! I'm already thinking ahead to which pattern to tackle next. My sister loves my handknit socks, and I know she'd like a thinner pair to wear with some of her other shoes (though she loves the DNA socks and gets bunches of comments at work on them!), so those may be next. The yellow CTH I got a while back has her name all over it!

The Urban Aran also made lots of progress. I'm done with the front up to the armholes. I think I am going to make it a half-zip pullover instead of a full zippered cardigan. I'll get much more wear out of it. So, I measured some of the zippers in my fleece pullovers to see if there was a standard length. Seems like 6" was pretty common. It also seemed like most of the zippers start at the same point as the armhole. So, I plan on measuring the back to see how long it is from armhole to top and see if a 6" zipper will be long enough. If not, I know there are a few places out there you can order custom lengths, but I'd love to find a pre-made one locally. The color shouldn't be too hard to match. The half zip should give the sweater a little interest and make it just a little different from all the rest. I did find one pattern for a kids half zip pullover in Vogue Knitting Quick Knits - they used a 6" and it was for older kids with a finished chest measurement on the sweater of 42" (not sure what child would need a sweater that big!) which is actually a touch bigger than what mine should turn out to be.

Any good tips for making the area to install the zipper better? The center column of the sweater is 2 purl stitches, so I'll be splitting it right down the middle and having one on each side. I also plan on slipping the first stitch of every row to give a cleaner edge.

After the front, all that remains is one lonely sleeve. Then, I have to start thinking about a sweater for Project Spectrum - version 2.0 starts in February! Lucky for me, I have a sweaters worth of very pretty light blue yarn just waiting! Now, to find a pattern.....

The Numbers

Before any good knitting content, I have to say one thing about the weather here in Massachusetts over the next day or so - WOW!

Check out tomorrow. Yep - low 60's! And, per the weather people around here, there is no snow in sight for the next week or so. I really have to say, I am very happy with what the weather gods have given us for a winter so far this year. I also know, that being in New England, payback will be, well, not so good.

Now for the good stuff. The first sleeve of the Urban Aran is blocking, so I took the oppertunity to weigh it before it got soaked for blocking. Here is what I found.

Back - 5.4 oz
Sleeve - 3.5 oz
Remaining Yarn - 9 oz

Is this going to be a close one or what???? I'm not worried about seaming as I can do that with another similar colored yarn, but I am worried about the collar. I'm not sure if I should put out a search for another ball or two of this discontinued yarn (Rowan Cork in Mousse) or just wait and see. (If anyone has any laying around, you could pipe up now and make my stress level decrease a bit...) So, taunting the knitting gods just a bit more, I started the front last night. I'm undecided as to what to do as far as the top half goes. I was thinking of doing a half-zip pullover as I'm not much of a full cardi wearer, but that means researching to find existing patterns with one so I can have some kind of guideline as far as knitting it. I have a while to think about that though - at least 10" of knitting!

Denmark is coming right along. I'm ready to start the heel (following NB's instructions to the letter on this one!) and the more I knit it, the more I just really like this simple, pretty pattern.

We have a light load at the kennel this weekend, so I'm hoping for a bunch of knitting time.

Our little hydroponic garden is coming right along.

Now that the little sprouts have poked through, they are growing fast! It will be neat to have fresh salad greens at our disposal all winter long!

A New Year

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe that 2006 is already over - it went by so fast! I do vaguely remember July, but other than that, it seems like a blur. I'm hoping I remember more of 2007.

Lots of stuff to blog about today - I had a visit from Sarah and her adorable dog Murphy last week. They came over for a hike around our local Army Corps of Engineers dam - it was a great day weather-wise - no wind, not too cold and sunny. The dogs had a blast running full tilt through the woods, mud and jumping trees. They even took a little swim in the cold water. I am sadly pictureless as I forgot my camera, but I'm hoping some of Sarah's shots come out and I can "borrow" them....It was pretty uneventful except for some lack of balance on my part resulting in cold, wet feet, and Tucker's ode to Ashley's dog Bailey. We'll just say he got a nice, long bath that night. Everyone, dog and human, had a great time.

Sarah gifted me some great, soft, fuzzy fetching mitts - they are so soft and cuddly - I'm wearing them now in my freezing cold office. Speaking of gifts - we did our family Hannukah celebration over the weekend. Since we usually can't get together during the holiday, we just celebrate when we can. There were gifts galore for everyone.... As you can see, our clan uses only the best wrapping paper. It's kind of a tradition to use newspaper in our house - as kids, my parents used the comics to wrap gifts. It was colorful, readily available and best of all cheap! Now, we add recyclable to the list as well. I got lots of great gifts including some incredible sneakers I have been lusting after for a while now. They will be perfect for wet agility trials in the spring! Another standout gift was an ingenuiTEA infuser from adagio teas. The same one Erin raves about here. It is a pretty slick device - throw in the loose tea, brew and place it over your mug to dispense it. Cleans up easy too....I've had quite a bit of tea already this week!

The dogs were not left out of the gifts either - we got them a cushy new bed for cuddling in on those cold (if they ever come) winter nights. Otis really loves the big bolsters along the back.

My mother in law gave us an adorable clock - it just makes me smile every time I look at it! She also gave us a really neat countertop hydroponic grower - you can grow lettuce, tomatoes, chili's and strawberries with these neat little pods. I stupidly didn't write down the brand name, so no linky for now.

It was a wonderful holiday season - lots of friends, good times and even some knitting!

Mamluke is complete!

Pattern: Mamluke Socks from Folk Socks (can't get enough of that Nancy Bush!)
Yarn: Regia Silk - used a little less than one 50gm ball of each color
Time to Completion: 15 days (!!!!!)
Mods: Added one pattern repeat (10 sts) so they would fit.

They actually fit really well, though I made the floats on the instep pattern much looser on the second sock, and it doesn't pull as much. I haven't done anything with the ribbing as of yet. A few tries out in the "real world" and I'll see if I want to take Kelly's suggestion and rip out the existing ribbing, then just knit up from the sock and make it longer. They are purty though - huh? Honestly, I never thought I could knit such pretty fair isle!

The sock needles didn't remain naked for long though. "Denmark" from Knitting on the Road has been one of my favorites for a while. With an empty slot in my sock knitting bag, I started it on Sunday.

I'm using the Henry's Attic Kona that I dyed up a while back. Love the color, loving the pattern. On #3's this will be a quick knit!Urban Aran also got some needle time.

The back is done and blocking, and the first sleeve is about 7" in. The grand plan is to finish the sleeve, then weigh it along with the back and compare it to the amount of yarn I have left. I really like how it's knitting up so far though!

Still no snow here, though we did get barely a dusting a few days ago. The temperatures are supposed to go up to 50 or so this week, so winter weather has yet to make a real appearance here.