Still Going

I'm still working along on my Insomniac cowl thing (according to the pattern, it's definitely not a poncho), and I've just started the fifth, and final color!  This has been a lovely, simple project using some of my favorite Madelinetosh colors (of which, unfortunately, four out of five have been discontinued).  It's been easy to pick up and put down and if Obi needs to show me his squeaky ball collection I don't have to worry about losing my place.

I'm still working along on the Sous Sous pullover and I'm trying to keep my notes straight on it.  At this point, I am pretty sure that the errata are pretty minor, but the unique construction and shaping is throwing people for a loop.  

Next Monday is the beginning of the Third Quarter Craft A Long for ESK and its Colorwork Socks!  I have so many pattern ideas and a bag of solid or almost solid yarns set aside for these!  Have a great weekend!

Sewing

I made a dress!  This is the McCall's 7969, View A in a linen print.  The dress is made with no fastenings and is loose enough to slip over the head.  

I ended up adding ties at the waist so I can make it a little more fitted though because between the loose fit; the poofy, statement sleeves; and the gathered skirt, it didn't look like much.  Fifi doesn't have arms at the top of her shoulders so the sleeves are sitting closer to the bodice than they do on an actual human, but adding the tie really helps shape the bodice and makes it much more flattering.

I also ended up tacking down the front crossover section.  It was pulling open (probably from the weight of the sleeves - they're impressively huge), and I knew I'd be fighting gravity every time I tried to wear it.  One other change I made that isn't visible in the photos is to add inseam pockets, because pockets!  

I'm really happy with the finished dress and the linen feels amazing.  This should be wearable in Spring, Summer, and Fall around here - being linen and loose!

Back-ing Away, But Not Backing Off!

I'm working away on the back of my Sous Sous pullover.   It's moving along nicely and the other day I sat down with the pattern and counted the rest of it out.  First I figured out how many more rows in total the pattern called for, then after comparing to the total number of rows in the front, I figured out how many rows I actually needed to do and I made more notes.  I will be adding all of my notes to my project page on Ravelry, as well as here when I finish knitting this (and have confirmed that the changes I've made do work), but I'm only mathing out the first size for this.  I have no idea what changes the other two sizes will need.  

What I find extremely confusing are the projects that specifically say they knit this exactly as the pattern calls for and had no problems.  How did that work?  I love the look of the finished sweater, which is why I've kept going.  I've checked for errata and/or updates, and I have no clue how this is knit-able per the pattern.  I literally just had a thought while I was typing this and there is a Loop London group on Ravelry and they did a Sous Sous KAL.  There are just under 900 posts in the thread, but maybe the answers are somewhere in there.  I guess I know what I'll be doing this week!  

Right now I've got to go because Little Obi Dog is licking the wall.  (Why????!!?)  I'll throw in a recent picture of him just for fun before I go!

ETA:  I've figured out what's going on and the pattern is correct as far as row counts.  I'll explain later with another post and update my Ravelry project page when I've finished the project, but wanted to leave a note here to disregard my rambling in case someone is thinking about knitting this pattern and stumbled across this post.

Insomnia

I don't actually have insomnia, but I have started knitting The Insomniac cowl!  Since finishing my socks, I needed an autopilot project for knitting while waiting or in public.  I decided not to start a new pair of socks (don't worry, the ESK Craft Along for the third quarter is Colorwork Socks - you're going to be seeing some socks soon!), so I went stash diving for both a pattern and some yarn.  I have five skeins of Madelinetosh Tosh Sock that will work as a gradient, so when I saw this cowl, I knew it would be perfect.  The pattern calls for a 12 skein mini set, so I ended up counting the whole thing out to find the total number of rounds and math-ing it out for five colors instead.  As you can see, I started with Celedon and then faded into Cove.  I'm about ready to transition to the third color.

The pattern is written with a texture section between colors, but since I'm using fewer colors, I decided to skip the texture and just knit those rounds in stockinette like everything else.  I could have added the texture rounds between colors, but I think this will work too.

The pattern name is delivering as promised - this doesn't take a lot of brain power, even if I have to refer to all the notes I added.

Finished Socks

I finished the Hibernal Socks.  These were an easy pattern that was great for starting and stopping as life and other projects interrupted.  It's always nice to have those types of projects around!  I knit them in Yarn Love Oliver Twist in Pizazz.  The yarn was maybe a little too busy for the stitch pattern, but I'm happy with the finished socks!

Also, we have gotten SO.  MUCH.  RAIN.  That is all.