Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool Tank

Remember this one? I got to the armholes before July 4th and decided that it wouldn't be going on vacation with me so I put it away for a while. Well I got it back out and knit the back up to the neckline now. Next I need to work on the front.

I love the shaping that this top has. I have tried it on and it is very flattering. I would have taken a picture of me modeling it but it is not quite ready for that...or maybe I am not quite ready for that?!

I got a couple inches of the front knit after I took these pictures so hopefully it will be done soon. This should be a great top for summer wear. I can also see wearing it under something else or even as a vest. You can click on the pictures for a closer look at the cables. I think they look great!

Mindless knitting projects

I needed something extra for a baby gift so I started the baby bib from Mason Dixon knitting. It is one of my mindless knitting projects. Very easy garter stitch with cotton yarn.

Another mindless project is the hats I am making for Knit-a-cap and the kids at church. I vary the number of stitches, size of needles, type of yarn and even how many strands to get different sizes. I have 15 hats completed now. The top two are the same yarn with different numbers of stitches. The green one is a strand of worsted and a strand of baby yarn.

I also picked up an unfinished Baby Surprise Jacket last week and decided that I should finish it. It is a nice soft yarn from Hobby Lobby's Baby Bee line. It is a fairly heavy worsted weight and I am using a size 8 needle for this one. I think it would be large on the one year old I am babysitting this week.

I have been looking at it and wishing I had added some stripes though. It looks a little boring doesn't it? I am to the buttonhole row at this point. Maybe I can add some color with an I-cord binding and some cuffs?

Pi is growing

Well, we didn't go on vacation and I am just now catching up with my blog. Our daughter had to have her appendix out so we were in the hospital instead of traveling. Fortunately we caught it early and she has recovered very well. We have been busy finding her an apartment at school and collecting furniture for it. This week I have been babysitting for a friend's 2 little ones. Busy, busy times.

I have accomplished some knitting in the meantime though. The Pi shawl is growing as you can see. It even looks a little like a pie here.

I am at 576 stitches and maybe a little over halfway through the first 880 yard ball of yarn. When I hold the center of the circle in my fingers and stretch it out it goes from my fingers to just above my elbow. I think it needs to be quite a bit larger yet to make a nice shawl.

Pi shawl--A Fresh Start

So, I was knitting along on my shawl, and noticed that the circular needle was giving me much smaller stitches than the double points that I started this with. I kept knitting for a while hoping that it was just my imagination but no, it was true.

Since the beginning was a little shaky anyway, with the ladders that had formed between the needles, I sought out a second opinion from the LYS owner, Rosemary, at the Rose Tree Fiber Shop. We decided that it must have been the fact that this needle was more slippery than the dpns. I have had that happen with heavier yarns before but somehow thought that it wouldn't make that much difference in this lace weight on such small needles.

I wasn't liking the 16 inch circular I was using anyway because it wasn't very flexible. While I was at the shop I bought 16 and a 24 inch circulars in the size 4 so I could restart and hopefully have all of the stitches come out approximately the same size. I used the 2 circular needles to do the cast on and the first few sections. I still have a bit of a ladder between the needles even though I tried to keep those first stitches very tight. I think it is just the yarn!

Now I am almost back to where I was and things are going smoothly.

My knitting bag is packed for vacation. I probably have way more than I will find time to work on I wouldn't want to be sitting there just wishing I had some knitting!