Tea With Jam and Bread

 

Or Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, as I've been thinking of it!  Camp Loopy Project 3 is all finished, which means I've completed all the projects for Camp Loopy 2013 and I get the free yarn!  Yeah!

I used Spud and Chloe's Sweater yarn in Ice Cream (ivory) and Popsicle (red).  I used 3 skeins of the Ice Cream and 5 skeins of the Popsicle, but I only needed a tiny bit of that fifth skein.  (I'm still REALLY glad I listened to my gut and ordered it a couple of weeks ago.)  I followed the pattern, but I used a different stripe pattern instead of the big stripes in the original design.

I love the way this came out.  It's big and slouchy and will look cute with skinny jeans.

Today is also the first day of school around most of the DFW area, so be sure to slow down in the school zones.  Caleb is still running with me (as is Logan), so this morning we were out there before the sun came up, getting in our run.  Caleb and I both have reflective stuff on our clothes and I'm going to swing by PetSmart to see if I can pick up a reflective harness for Logan this morning.  He's light colored, but I think reflective would be better, seeing as in a couple of weeks it will still be dark when we come home from a run.  Right now it's dark when we start, but we get to see the sunrise while we're out running.  I've never been a morning person, but running has meant I get to see more sunrises.  It's kind of nice being out there that early when there are so few other people up and about.  Seeing a beautiful sunrise is just a bonus reward for climbing out of bed so early.

Finished

The knitting is all finished.  All I have to do is weave in the ends and give it a little steam with the iron and I'm done.

Oh, and remember how I ordered that extra skein of red because my gut was telling me I didn't have enough?  I needed it - for 9 rounds and the last bind off.

This week's lesson:  listen to your gut!

Have a great weekend!  Pictures next week!

One Down! One To Go!

I finished the first sleeve and started the second one yesterday.  Except for the end you see hanging out the finished sleeve, the other ends are all woven in already!  It wasn't any great finishing impulse on my part, I realized that having all the ends loose on the stripes meant the stripes were hanging loose, which would make the sleeve seem longer than it was.  Since I don't want sleeves that are too short, I needed to weave in the ends before trying it on.

On this second sleeve, I'm knitting to a certain number of rounds, not trying it on as I go to double check things, so the ends can wait until the end!  That's the one downside to adding all these stripes - weaving in the ends!

A Couple More Stripes

I haven't gotten as much done on this as I'd wanted to by now.  I'd hoped to be past the stripes, to the lower red section of the sleeve.  I'm not, but I should have some knitting time today and maybe I can get more done.

What I have been doing is organizing my closet.  I've been getting rid of a bunch of things from before I started running.  Things I think I was holding on to because I was scared I might put on the weight again. I've been running for over three years now, it's time to let go of the security blanket clothes.  Some of the things were hard to let go of, but it was time.  I also refolded all of my sweaters and shawls so I can actually see what I've got.  Max helped refold the beaded ones.  You can imagine how much of a help that was.  Yesterday I finished the whole closet.  The only things in there are things that fit, and fit right.  It feels really good to look at it now.  Of course, me being me, it's all arranged by type of clothes and in color order.  It looks like an anal retentive robot did my side of the closet, but that's the way I like it.  Mickael and I share a closet though, and his side of the closet looks like it was organized by a family of overcaffeinated squirrels.  Max loves Mickael's side of the closet.  I'll have to at least get his side straightened up for him, but it can wait until I'm through with Camp Loopy.

For today though, sleeves.

The Beginnings of a Sleeve

 

I got all the ends woven in and the pocket linings are stitched in!  I've now started my first sleeve - which will give me more ends to weave in.  Oh well.  Also, Max wants you to know that he's helping.  Soooo helpful!

I've tried it on and it's comfy and oversized like I was wanting.  It will look cute with skinny jeans.  If we get a nice, cold winter, I'm ready!

A Bind Off!

 

I did it!  I finished the body of my sweater for Project 3!  Now I have to weave in eleventy billion yarn ends before I can start the sleeves.  I count this as being 2/3 of the way through though, and we just hit the midpoint of the month, so I'm on track to finish with plenty of time.  You can just see the top of one of the pockets in the photo.  I got the linings knitted for those yesterday and I just have to sew down the sides (on the inside) for them to be actual, functioning pockets.

Oh, and I think I've got plenty of yarn.  I might even have some left over!

Pockets

 

I've finished the outer side of the pockets.  Today I'll be knitting the pocket liners so they can be joined with the front before the lower ribbing.  If I get really industrious today, I might get the body all finished, but I'm not holding my breath.

Whenever I finish the body (and I'm putting it here on the blog, for the world to see), I WILL weave in all the ends before I start the sleeves.  With these stripes there are definitely ends inside to weave in.

A/C, Stripes And Pockets

We had a bit of an adventure the past couple of days.  Sunday afternoon Mickael noticed that the downstairs felt hot.  I checked and sure enough, there was hot air coming out of the vents.  Not what you want to deal with in August in Texas.  Fortunately, our house has two A/C units - a main downstairs unit and a smaller upstairs unit (out downstairs is bigger than the upstairs).  The upstairs unit was able to keep the downstairs livable as long as you didn't do too much.  When bedtime rolled around, we tucked Caleb in upstairs and Mickael and I went to bed - on top of the covers.

Now this wouldn't have been a problem except that Max sleeps under the covers and as a cat, Max expects the world to conform to him, not vice versa.  Max wanted under the covers.  Max didn't understand why his humans weren't under the covers and why he couldn't get under the covers.  Max circled, Max sat on us, Max jumped on us, attacked us, and tried to burrow under us.  Max did everything he could think of to get us under the covers where we belonged.  Max was not happy.  Mickael and I didn't get very much sleep Sunday night (neither did Max).  Logan just passed out on the tile floor and that was all we heard from him.  Yesterday afternoon the A/C repairman came, replaced a capacitor and by bedtime the house felt like it should.  We slept under the covers.  Max slept under the covers.  Logan curled up in his bed.  All was right with the world.

As far as my sweater, I've finished the last stripe repeat on the body of the sweater and started the pockets!  I've tried it on and it's looking the way I wanted it to.  Oh, and just to clarify, that isn't a belly button in the middle front, it's where I switched balls of red yarn and haven't woven in the ends yet.  I'll be catching up on weaving in the ends soon.

Camp Loopy Project 3 - More Stripes!

 

This is the only project I'm working on at the moment, so I apologize if any of you are getting tired of red and white stripes.  Next week I won't even have a finished Pogona and cardigan to break it up - it will be all stripes all the time.  Unless Max decides to help out, and he has stripes on his tail, so still, with the stripes.

On the other hand, I'm past the halfway point of the body stripes!  The red stripes are now wider than the white stripes, where before the white stripes were wider than the red.  That means I'm getting closer to solid red and - POCKETS!  Yes, I'm doing the little pockets.  Also, did I mention the red stripes are getting wider?  So.  Much.  Fun.  (So.  Easily.  Amused.)

Oh, and the other day, after I mentioned that I was starting to freak out a bit about not having enough red yarn (gut reaction, not factual reaction, I'm still on my first ball of red), I went ahead and ordered another skein of it.  I like this yarn enough that if I have a spare ball of it I won't mind.  Also red is Caleb's favorite color, so I can do a little something for him with any extra yarn.  This way I won't be worried about it, because it would be a week or so before I know for sure where I stand on red and if they sold out of this dyelot, I'd be in big trouble.  It's all good now!

Have a great weekend!

Onward!

 

I've made it through the first four red stripes!  Even more importantly, I've made it past the place where the sleeve stitches go to holders.  Once I hit this point on a top down sweater, I know it's clear sailing to the hem.

I've woven in some of the ends (with the stripes, I feel like I need to stay on top of ends or they'll take over) and I'm really happy with the way it's looking so far.  I have a loose plan for getting this done on time:  one week to get past the place where the sleeves go to holders, the second week to finish the body, and a week for each sleeve.  At the moment, I'm ahead of schedule.  I'm not counting on staying ahead because while this week is pretty quiet, the next couple of weeks, right before school starts are going to be much busier.

Also, I have to mention, that while I haven't gone far enough to know for sure, I have a nagging suspicion that I don't have enough red yarn.  According to the pattern, I'll need a total of 950 yards.  I have 1280 yards - four skeins of ivory, four skeins of red.  I know that should mean I have enough, but my gut is telling me I'll need more red.  I'm going to knit like crazy today and if I'm still afraid of running out of red, I'll try to get some more.  Fingers crossed they still have this dyelot!

Camp Loopy Project 3

I started knitting on Project 3 over the weekend!  (Yes, that means I finished Pogona and the Cardi - they're blocking right now.)  I got a good start on it, but the first part of top down sweaters is always pretty fast.  I've started the striping sequence and you can see the first two red stripes.  The red stripes will get wider while the ivory stripes get narrower until the lower edge of the sweater will be all red.

I'm loving this yarn!  It's Spud and Chloe Sweater which is their worsted weight yarn and it's 50% superwash wool and 50% cotton.  It feels great and it's easier to knit than 100% cotton.  (Cotton has no elasticity, so knitting with cotton can be very hard on your hands.)  This is my first project with it, but I could definitely see myself using this again.  I'm using the Ice Cream (ivory) and Popsicle (red) colors.

Last week I put the pattern into KnitCompanion on my iPad and while it took a bit to set up, this is definitely the way to knit Heidi Kirrmaier's patterns.  She has lots of little shaping things going on when you knit what looks like a simple pattern, but the finished garment fits so much better than a simple one made of rectangles.  I've knit several of her designs before, but I think this is the first time I've used KnitCompanion with them.

Camp Loopy Project 3

Since it's August 1, that means it's time for Camp Loopy Project 3!  The only requirement for this challenge is to use at least 800 yards of yarn, single stranded.  Any project, and weight of yarn, any pattern that uses at least 800 yards of yarn.

I'll be knitting Tea With Jam and Bread with a different stripe pattern and only two colors.  I love the look of the sweater, but I can't get my head around the wide stripes for some reason.  I'm using Spud and Chloe Sweater in Ice Cream (ivory) and Popsicle (red).  I haven't done a gauge swatch, but it will be a few days before I can start anyway as we're having company for the weekend.  I did get my Pogona finished and bound off last night and I'm halfway down the last sleeve of my cardigan, so I'll get both those needles back soon!

Have a great weekend!  I hope to have a lot to show you next week!

Camp Loopy Project 2

 

All finished and blocked!  The pattern is Henslowe and the yarn is Madelinetosh Pashmina in Cousteau.  I used 668 yards of yarn and as you can see, it's a nice, big size.  I did a double yarn over to keep the edge from getting tight in the garter section (there are lots of projects that mention this).  I also changed to a larger needle for the Roman Stripe section (lace).  The only other change was working six repeats of the Roman Stripe instead of four since I was trying to use up as much of my yarn as possible.  All of these notes are on my project page in Ravelry also.

I named the project A Red Cap and A Speedo because of the colorway - Cousteau.  Everytime I think of Cousteau (with apologies to Cousteau), I think of Steve Zissou and The Life Aquatic, which of course reminds me of a red cap and Speedo.  Just one of those crazy PinkLemon brain things I guess.  Probably shouldn't have shared that, but it's on the Rav project page too and I'm sure you guys have figured out that I'm crazy by now!

Logan didn't get to model it this morning because today was a running day and wrapping a shawl around a dog who's trying to cool down after a run just doesn't seem right.  He followed me around and stayed right with me for the photo shoot, just in case I needed his assistance, but he didn't seem too broken up at not getting to wear it.

I loved knitting this.  It was a good combination of brainless knitting as well as knitting that you need to pay some attention to.  The pattern is written out - no charts, but the lace section is super easy and it's probably easier to knit it from the written out version than charts in this case anyway.  It made for a nice size shawl in the end!

Next week - on to Project 3!

All Finished but the Blocking

 

I finished knitting my Henslowe for Camp Loopy Project 2 this weekend!  I've got to weave in the ends and block it later today, but the knitting is finished.  I added a sixth repeat of the Roman Stripe lace before the edging and I don't have much yarn left now.  I know I'm over the 500 yard minimum requirement - I did some math earlier and working five repeats of the Roman Stripe, I would have used about 600 yards.  I'll weigh the leftovers later too, so I have a better idea of my total yardage.

These pictures are obviously unblocked and way too dark, but I was excited about finishing and it's raining (yeah, rain!).  Blocked pictures coming later this week.

A Little More Camp

 

I've been working on my Camp Loopy Project 2 again, and I plan on trying to get it finished over the weekend (so you'll only be seeing it a little bit more).  I've worked five repeats of the Roman Stripe and then I weighed my remaining yarn.  Since I know how much yarn each repeat takes, I can tell that according to weight, I can work one more repeat of the Roman Stripe and then move on to the edging.  I'm past the yardage minimum now, but I'm going to go ahead and try to use up as much yarn as I can.  This is what I'll be working on over the weekend.

I do have a bit of a non knitting related issue and I'm hoping that the hive mind of the blog will be able to help.  One of my neighbors has some outside cats that showed up a while back, hungry and cold, so she helped them out.  I've been helping her try to catch them, to get them fixed (she doesn't have a problem with them living there, but doesn't want to be overrun with cats).  We tried humane traps and while the female went in it once, she wasn't heavy enough to trip it.  They did have a batch of kittens, but the kittens are old enough now to separate from their parents (dad has stuck around and been a good kitty daddy), so we're trying to catch them again.  The male will let us pick him up, but he doesn't want to go into a crate to go to the vet (big surprise there).  The female is much more shy and I don't have a clue how we'll catch the kittens.  Have any of you done this?  We don't want to turn them over to animal control because she doesn't mind them staying in her yard, she'll feed them and water them and the yard is safe for them, but for their health, they need to be fixed.  Any ideas?

Camp Loopy!

 

I've gotten a lot more work done on my Camp Loopy Project 2!  I've finished the top, garter stitch section, started the lace stripes, and I'm into the second skein.  After I work another repeat of the lace, I'll weigh my skein again and see how many more repeats I'll use.  I weigh my skeins after I wind them and then I weighed the second skein after working a single repeat, so now I know how much yarn is used in each repeat.  I've (hopefully) overestimated the amount needed for the final edging, so anything more than that can go for lace repeats.  I'm not the most mathematically inclined person in the world, but I've worked all this out, fully caffeinated and on paper, with a calculator, so I feel pretty confident that I did it right.

We'll find out soon!

Camp Loopy Project 2

 

I'm off and running on my second Camp Loopy project - Henslowe!  I'm almost finished with the top portion of the shawl which as you can see, is garter stitch.  Then I'll begin the wide lace edging.  I'm enlarging the shawl a bit from the way the pattern is written (other Raveler's project notes again), because this project has a yardage minimum of at least 500 yards.  I'm actually going to go past the minimum and try to use most if not all of my yarn.  I have two skeins of Pashmina: 720 yards.

I tried to get a better picture of the color this time, but it's still showing more blue than the yarn really is. I might have to play around with it later today in different light to see if I can get a better photo.  I love the convenience of my iPhone, but I think I need a color corrector app (or maybe the phone has one, I just don't know where it is).  Of course, I could always get out my real digital camera...

Oh, there was a request for a link to my Pogona project page the other day.  I'll also link to my Henslowe project page.  If you're not a Ravelry member (and signed in), these pages won't be visible, just so you know.

Have a great weekend!

I'm Back!

The little blog-cation was just the thing I needed.  I think I've been so concerned lately with feeding the blog that I haven't been enjoying knitting.  Taking a break helped me put things in perspective.  I'm going to work on what I want, when I want and if I feel like casting on a new thing every day, I will.  If I feel like reading a book and have nothing to blog, that's fine too.  I'll show you some of what I've been working on tomorrow, but today is Day 1 of Camp Loopy Project 2!

The challenge for Project 2 is to knit a popular project that you've never knit before.  The pattern you choose has to have over 1000 "projects" or over 1000 "queues" in Ravelry.  You also have to use at least 500 yards and it has to be knit and finished by July 31.  I'll be using two skeins of Madelinetosh Pashmina in Cousteau (there's more green in the yarn than is photographing, but it's just like it sounds - a deep, blue green) to make Henslowe.  I'll be making it a little bigger to make the yardage requirement.  They've re-divided us among treehouses for Project 2 (we were divided among mountains for Project 1 - I hiked Mt. Fiberopolis), and this time around I'm in Treehouse 1.  Once I get back home with groceries later this morning, I hope to cast on!

Camp Loopy 2013 Project 1

 

All finished and blocked!  The pattern is the Bias Before and After Scarf, knit in Hand Maiden's Mini Maiden in Peacock.  It's a super easy pattern, great for portable knitting or TV knitting.  I could see knitting more of these!  Here's a detail shot of the beading at the end.

Of course we had to get a picture with Logan too.  Max decided to photo bomb the first few shots.

Then he moved aside and let Logan strike a pose.  It's been a while since Logan had anything to model around here, but he still remembers what to do when you dress him up!

All Finished!

I'm through with Camp Loopy Project 1!  All that remains is blocking, but I love the way the ends make a little spiral and you can see the beads.  Unfortunately, the rest of the scarf is making the little spiral too and looks like a giant I-cord.  Once it's blocked it will lay flat (theoretically, strange things happen in knitting).  Here's a shot of the length, unblocked on Fifi.  If she had a head, she'd be 5'8" tall.  (I lined her up with me when I set her height, so her shoulders and my shoulders are the same height.)

As you can see, the finished scarf will be long enough to wrap a couple of times around my neck.  I'll measure it when I get it all blocked.