Look What Happened Yesterday

 

Some yarn got washed!  This is Madelinetosh Tosh Merino Light in Onyx and Hydroponic.  I decided to go ahead and get it washed because it will take another day to dry and then it will be all ready whenever I decide to start a new Ravello!

(Who am I kidding, I'm totally casting on as soon as the yarn has dried and been wound!)

Onyx will be the main color and Hydroponic will be the stripes.  I will probably be adding more stripes than the pattern calls for, but I've done this before and it works.  I was actually surprised as I was washing it, that there really wasn't very much excess dye to wash out.  I expected to spend most of the day messing with the Onyx, but it only took two washes.  I washed the Hydroponic twice as well, but I think once would have been enough.  Thankfully Madelinetosh uses lots of yarn ties, so the skeins are still neatly organized.  It's almost dry now and I think it should be completely dry by tomorrow morning.

Theoretically, someone could wind yarn and cast on tomorrow. 

Up Next...

I still haven't started the second sleeve of my Ravello (yesterday ended up being crazier than most Mondays around here), but I've been mentally planning my next sweater.

When the new year started, a new Yarnathon at ESK started as well (I'm on Team Narwool!) along with a new batch of KAL's.  The first quarter KAL is to knit something from Tin Can Knits.  They have a pretty big range of types of projects and are one of the few designers who pretty consistently design sweaters from infant sizes all the way to the larger adult sizes.  (Family sweaters anyone?)  I've been looking at their designs since the first of the year, but for the most part, they're just not my style, or I don't need whatever it is.  They're nice designs, but many of them are heavier than I need and there's not a lot of shaping to them, in general.  I had just about decided to skip this KAL (you don't have to do all or even any of them to participate in the Yarnathon), but then I took another look at the Raindrops pullover.  It's fingering weight and has an open neckline.  Then I realized I had some Madelinetosh Sock in four colors I could use together in a fade.  So, once I prewash and dry my skeins (because, Madelinetosh), then I'll be ready to cast on.

From left to right, my colors are Cove (discontinued), Jasper (I think it's discontinued), Worn Denim (discontinued), and Ink (please, don't ever discontinue it, ever).  So it will be an homage to discontinued Madelinetosh colors, plus Ink.  I haven't figured out all the logistics of the fade and I'm going to double check sizing numbers against the Ravello pattern (because I know it fits the way I like my pullovers to fit), but I'm pretty sure it will work.

First I have to finish my second sleeve for this first Ravello of the year though!

2017 Wrap Up!

I've started tagging Ravelry projects with the year so I can go back and see what I've knit.  It's fun to see what I spent my time working on.  Sometimes (like this year) I spent a lot more time working on a project category than I realized (shawls)!

Here are my projects for 2017:

• 9 shawls
• 5 hats (this surprised me too)
• 4 pullovers
• 3 socks
• 2 footie socks
• 2 cardigans
• 1 cowl
• designed the Tinker's Puzzle socks and the Camelot Wrap

I also sewed 3 of the McCall's 6886 dresses and 2 Moneta dresses.

So far for the new year I've just been working on my Meditative Blanket and haven't started anything new since finishing my Norderney pullover.  For the last two years I've "planned" to finish my Meditative Blanket that year and it hasn't happened.  I freely admit right now that I have no plans to finish it this year either, it will be finished when it's finished.  There!  No pressure!

I do have sewing plans for 2018.  I scored a great deal on some fabulous knit fabric (jackalopes!) that will be another Moneta.  I love that dress pattern for a cooler weather dress, but I think I'd also like to make a short sleeved one in gray heather knit.  I also have the Emery dress pattern (which isn't for knits, but for wovens) and a couple of blouse patterns I'd like to sew up.

Today's plan is to make some decisions about knitting projects and do some stash diving so I can start!

The Stash

 

A few weeks ago I mentioned that next year's Knit Something of the Month situation would be sweaters and I would probably knit one every two months.  I knew I had enough sweater quantities of yarn in my stash to keep me busy for a couple of years, but I wasn't sure exactly how much I had.  In order to plan next year, I needed to stash dive so I could match yarn to patterns.  I decided the easiest way to do this would be to put everything (at least sweater quantities of "everything" - I didn't get every single skein in the stash entered) into my Ravelry stash and go from there.  I have Yarma on my iPhone so I used that to photograph and upload photos while I entered the info into Rav on my laptop - definitely the easiest way to do this.  I put all my books, magazines and patterns into my library ages ago and have kept up with new additions so finding patterns I already own is just a matter of searching Rav.

First though, I had to haul out all my sweater quantities of yarn.  I know I didn't grab it all (off the top of my head I know of two sweater quantities of undyed Bugga that I didn't count and I've got a sweater's quantity of Kauni too), but I did pull out 23 sweater's worth of yarn.  It's definitely time to start shopping the stash around here!  I got it all photographed and entered into Ravelry as well as a couple of other one or two skeins worth of stash that could use some matching up with patterns.  I sorted the sweater quantities by color, thinking it would be easier to pick things out if they were somewhat organized.  (Also I figured it would be more interesting to read about my projects if they aren't all the same color - I mean my red sweater bender that I just went on was fun and all, but you guys probably want some variety around here too, right?)  I'm also loosely thinking about yarn weight and timing - no one wants to be sitting under heavy weight yarn in July in Texas, except maybe Max.

So here's what I've got:

• 2 Multi colored - 1 DK and 1 Aran
• 3 Ivory/White - 2 Fingering and 1 Aran
• 4 Purple - 2 DK and 2 Aran
• 3 Black/Gray - 1 Fingering, 1 Aran, 1 Bulky
• 4 Pink - 1 Fingering, 2 DK, 1 Aran
• 7 Blue Green - 1 Heavy Laceweight, 2 Fingering, 3 DK, 1 Aran

I'm also going to shop my stash for patterns as much as I can.  I've got over 6000 patterns (crazy!) according to my Ravelry library.  Surely I can find things to match with 6 different yarns.  (I'll definitely match patterns for the 6 sweaters I need for 2013, but I might match a few more too - stash diving has made me want to KNIT IT ALL, so if I have time, I might try for a couple more this year!)  Of course, I've discovered in doing this the last two years that I also need to give myself the freedom to change my mind - on either pattern or yarn or both.  My plan, my rules, right?

Friday's Are For Crochet

I have gotten a lot of work done on the Neat Ripple Blanket!  I only have two more colors after the green!  If I'm doing the math right, I think that means about a dozen rows and the blanket will be done. December starts tomorrow and I'm going to get this thing finished in plenty of time for Christmas.  Yes, I'm excited that I shouldn't have to pull an all nighter on this.  I've been kicking myself a bit for taking the summer off of working on this blanket, but it's looking like it's all going work out after all.

I've also gotten a pretty big dent in the non bloggable Christmas projects, so blogging on a regular basis should resume shortly.  I do want to finish up my Retreating Cardigan before the end of the year since I'm going to knit cardis next year for stash knitting.  I also need to do the actual stash diving and see what I've got so I can match yarn to patterns for next years Knit Something project.  That's always fun, but it also makes a mess as I toss the stash to pull out sweater quantities.  Of course, tomorrow is the first of December so I get to start my December Knit Something of the Month project.  It's the last one for 2012!

I hope you all have a great weekend!

More Sweater

 

I'm down around waist level on the Retreating Sweater.  I don't know for sure how long I'll go on this, but I'll know it when I get there.  (I'll just keep trying it on until it looks like it's the right length.)  I've got plenty of yarn at this point so I can just keep knitting!

November starts Thursday, which means we're approaching the end of the year, which means next year is coming soon.  (See how I just skipped over all the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's/Family Birthday craziness there?  Yep, still in denial.)  That means I'll need to decide if I'm doing a Knit Something of the Month for 2013 at some point.  The thing is, my sock drawer is full and my shawl shelves are pretty stuffed too.  It occurred to me that I could do cardigans, but I would do one every two months (so six for the year) instead of one a month.  I know I've got enough stash yarn upstairs to do this and I'm pretty sure its a doable goal.  What do you guys think?  I'm not exactly hurting for sweaters either, but the yarn is up there, waiting to be knit, so I might as well, right?

Ravi

 

I've gotten a few more short row "wedges" done on the Ravi cardigan's yoke.  I think (I didn't check my notes on the pattern), but I think I'm about halfway done with these.  Each little wedge section doesn't take too long, but I don't want to stop mid-wedge, so I'm only picking it up when I have a little chunk of time to knit.  Also Max REALLY seems to like Socks That Rock yarn.  So I have to have time for at least one wedge plus cat removal as well before I pull this project out.  This is also the one thing I'm knitting that doesn't have a time limit on it - Camp Loopy and my Knit Something of the Month project both have time limits, so this one can go to the bottom of the basket if I need it to.

Speaking of time limits, July 27 is the Opening Ceremonies for the Olympics and cast on for the Ravellenic games.  It's also cast on day for Camp Loopy project 3.  I have until August 27 to finish the Camp Loopy project, but only about two weeks to finish the one.  I'm considering either skipping August for my Knit Something of the Month project or bumping that project from August to Whenever I Have A Chance and just work it in later.  I know I'm going to have other things going on in August as well and I think this might be my best chance to stay sane.  Still thinking about it, and if things are going well, I can always start it after the Ravellenic games are over.  Whether I do it or not, this is turning out to be a pretty productive summer!

Camp Loopy 2012

 

I got my yarn for Project 1 of Camp Loopy 2012!  I will be doing the Color Affection shawl/wrap.  I've loved this design since I first saw it, but didn't have time to start and didn't have stash that would work either, so I just faved it in Ravelry and put the idea on the back burner.  Then when Camp Loopy kicked off and the first project was to use at least 400 yards on a design from a designer in a country other than your own, I jumped on it!  I'll be doing it in Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Georgia O'Keefe, Cove, and Luster.  I'd planning on starting with the Luster and going darker, but I think I'm going to check out projects on Ravelry and see if anyone has started dark and gone lighter at the edge.  I know the design "rule" that darker colors go near the bottom of a thing to anchor it, but I might just break that rule.  I'll have to think about that.

Quick tomato question for those of you who know what you're doing - I googled when to pick my tomatoes (pathetic, isn't it?) and what I found is to pick them after they're starting to turn orange, but before they're all the way ripe because if I picked them green they wouldn't ripen, but if I let them ripen all the way on the plant, it would slow down fruit production.  Is this right?  I had one tomato turning orange, so I brought it in, washed off the dog spit kisses and it's sitting in a bowl on the counter.  Max slaps it several times a day (no claws, no clue why it needs smacking) since he blatantly disregards the No Cats On The Kitchen Counter rule.  Most cats have the decency to wait until their humans are asleep before getting on the counters, but Max sleeps all night, so he has to get on the counters during the day.  So, did I do the right thing?  Will it finish ripening on the counter while being smacked regularly?

Calliope's Back

I've gotten more done on Calliope's Odyssey.  This section is pretty easy to memorize, so it works up quickly.  (Sorry about the bad picture, it's overcast here and the flash is making the bamboo all shiny.)  I've got a little bit more of this section to go before I start the mosaic knitting section.  I've never done mosaic knitting so I'm kind of excited to try it.

I've also been thinking about designs lately.  I want to start designing more often, like I was in Virginia.  I had a design in progress almost constantly.  I took some time off from designing while we moved and have done only a little bit of designing since we got here, but I need to make it a regular thing again.  I need to write down ideas and sketch things that speak to me.  At this point, I'm wanting to design, but I feel like I'm going in circles.  I think I'm going to spend some time later today with some graph paper, a sketch pad, and a big cup of tea and see where that leads me...

A Rainbow of Yarn

 

Since I last showed you this yarn (Madelinetosh Tosh DK, I have gotten two skeins of Tart (the red) to add to the collection and I've washed all the skeins until the water ran clear.  They've all dried, so yesterday I decided to go ahead and get them wound into center pull balls.  I knew that would take a while so I brought my swift and skein winder downstairs and set them up on the kitchen island so I could wind while Caleb did his homework.  This also meant that Maximus saw the swift and ball winder for the first time (Max hasn't even been allowed to peek into the sewing/stash room).  Once he got a handle on the pure awesomeness that was yarn going in circles, he decided to start a fight with the swift.  You have to understand, Max will take on anything, so I wasn't surprised when he started swinging at the swift.  Winding yarn while half of your equipment is being attacked was a new experience for me, but eventually, I got everything wound up and it's all ready to use.

Want to know what I'm going to use it for?  I'm going to do Attic 24's Neat Ripple, but I'm going to use the stripe pattern from the one she's crocheting now instead of the stripes from the actual pattern.  I've got to crochet a swatch to make sure I know what I'm doing, and when I actually start, I'm going to get my Mom to help me since she knows all about the crochet.  Fortunately, this uses double crochet (UK treble) which is the only stitch I know, so I don't think it will be too much trouble, once I get going.  Also, there are no little things to sew together, so once I'm done, I'm done.  Yes, poor Babette is still waiting to get sewn up.  I might force myself to get that sewn up before I start this new project.  That would be the responsible thing to do...

Knitter's Crayon Box

 

I thought I'd give you a break from Glacier (next time you see them, they'll be done) and show you something new.  Actually the yarn for something new, or most of the yarn.  This is for a Christmas gift, but I'm not going to tell you exactly what the project is yet.  All of the yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh DK which is a multi-plied superwash merino (not to be confused with Madelinetosh Tosh Merino DK, which is a singles yarn of superwash merino).  I've got to get one more color that The Loopy Ewe is out of, but I've contacted someone on Ravelry who has the color in their stash and is looking to sell it.  From the top, starting with the black and going clockwise the colors are:

• Cloak
• Mare
• Ink
• Fathom
• Betty Draper's Blues
• Norway Spruce
• Moorland
• Jade
• Nutmeg
• French Grey
• Moccasin
• Sequoia
• Oxblood

The color I'm going to add is Tart which is a dark, true red.  It would sit between the Sequoia and Oxblood in the wheel, if I were working things in order.  When I was picking colors, I was looking for colors you might find in an antique Oriental carpet.  Maybe the kind that flies!  Before I start working with all these colors, I'm going to wash all the skeins, just to make sure none of the colors are going to bleed on any of the other colors.  This will take some time to get everything washed and dried, but I'll be sure to blog it once I actually get started on this project.  For now, I'm just loving all these rich, deep colors.

Have a great weekend!

Logic

Logic says that when you are going to start a sweater in 5 days, and you plan to knit that sweater in one month, you spend the 5 days getting ready to knit that sweater. You print the pattern and mark your size. You read through the pattern and make sure you understand what's going on. You knit a gauge swatch so you know what needles you'll need, wind your yarn, and you get everything ready. You might try to finish up other projects that are already on the needles, like the Knit Something of the Month shawl or the socks you started for your husband four months ago. Under no circumstances should you find a new pattern and fall head over heels in love with it, to the point of buying it, printing it and stash diving for yarn for it. That's what you should do, logically speaking.

Logic and I have never really been on speaking terms.

When the Beekeepers Quilt pattern was mentioned in one of the Camp Loopy threads (I think, but I'm not sure, there are a couple of people doing this for their project 3), I fell in love with it. Never mind the sweater I'm starting next Monday. Never mind the poor Babette laying on the floor of my sewing room, 25% sewn together and the rest just waiting for me. I want to knit hexipuffs! I've even been in the stash to pull yarn - I'm doing it in whites, ivories, almonds, creams, pale beiges, tans, dove grays, pale stone grays, faded driftwood, and any other pale to light neutrals I can find. I'm going to use leftover sock yarn to start with, but I'll have to add more yarns at some point. And just to prove that I haven't completely lost my mind, I haven't started knitting hexipuffs yet, but it's just a matter of time I'm afraid. I'm way too in love with the idea of fluffy, squishy hexipuffs to resist for too much longer. Even the name makes me giggle a little bit. How long can I hold out? We'll see...

Decisions, Decisions

The family is mostly all back to normal today. No one has 100% of their energy, but everyone is back to their normal Monday routine.

This Friday is the start of the In Dreams Mystery Shawl KAL (and also the cut off date for signing up, but the pattern will be available later for purchase if you're busy now or just not a Mystery KAL kind of person). The first link is to the designer's blog with a teaser swatch (gorgeous!) and information about the project. This link is to the Ravelry page for the pattern, where you can sign up if you're interested. Naturally, nothing in my stash was quite right for this project (never mind that I don't really know what it's going to look like, I still had nothing quite right), so I went wandering around the Internets. I ended up buying two different yarns from Solstice Yarns but I haven't quite decided which yarn to use.

On the left is Annwn which is 70% baby alpaca, 20% silk, and 10% cashmere. This is the Avalon colorway. On the right is Morgana which is 80% merino and 20% silk, in the Intuition colorway. I'm kind of leaning towards using the purple one (Intuition) for this project and using Avalon for one of my own designs but I'm not totally decided. Both skeins are just gorgeous and the dyeing is perfect for lace. There's a lot of subtle color variations that aren't really photographing, but the different colors are close enough that they won't distract from lace, or beads. Did I mention that there are 5000 beads in this project? I've decided to go ahead and do the beads - all the beads. I'll be using the same color of beads for either yarn (a clear bead with an aurora borealis finish), so I don't have to decide on anything but which yarn to use. I might just decide Friday when the first clue gets posted. After all, it's not like I don't have anything to work on in the meantime!

Some Thoughts

In a moment of thoughtfulness this week (mostly my brain has been too frozen to do much of any thinking at all), it occurred to me that I have a thick, warm sweater in my closet that I never wear. Five years ago, I knit an Everyday Cardigan out of Peace Fleece. (The first link is to my project on the blog, the second is a link to the pattern and the third is the yarn.) I love Peace Fleece and while this cardigan is a great, basic, oversized cardigan, it's just not that flattering on me. I find that I tend to grab other sweaters instead of this one, even though I love the color and I know it's a warm, snuggly cardigan. I pulled it out of the closet yesterday and started picking at the seams. There's 30% mohair in the yarn and mohair doesn't always like to be unknitted, but I think it's going to work. I'll have to undo the seams and then unravel all the pieces, but I've done it before and then I can reknit the yarn into something I'll actually wear. This seems like a much better option to me than leaving it like it is and just letting it live on the bottom of a sweater stack in the closet. I'm thinking of doing a top down, raglan shaped cardigan that fits me a little closer than the original Everyday Cardigan does.

Something else I'm thinking about is probably cause for getting my head examined. You all know what I've got on the needles right now, plus there's my little Knit Something of the Month Club, and I'm working on finishing up a new pattern and I'd like to design several new lace patterns this year. Despite all of this clear evidence that I don't really need to do anything else, I'm seriously considering joining this Mystery Shawl KAL, also a Ravelry link. Here's my thinking behind this (I don't know who I think I'm kidding here, I've already rationalized this harebrained idea) - the Knit Something of the Month Club involves fast projects and this will clearly be an involved, stay at home type of project. I'm almost to the part of Snowbird that will be fast and brainless, while this would be a high concentration type of project. Even if I'm designing and test knitting my new designs, I don't usually blog them and the blog must be fed - this would feed the blog quite nicely I think. Finally, I'm quite sure that laceweight yarn, beads, charts and a puppy are a wonderful combination! What am I waiting for? I'm off to sign up for this little bit of crazy. And I'm sure that when I caught Logan with a skein of Cascade 220 in his mouth it was an accident, he wasn't really trying to break its neck, he was trying to shake it out of his mouth. Laceweight will be fine!

Odds and Ends

Not much to see here today, I've been weaving in ends of Babette squares. When I'm not freezing to death that is. The wind chill is 7 degrees here this morning. Certain people with thick, Canadian coats think it's just lovely to ring the "Outside" bells and go play in the snow. Sitting in it is nice, as is walking around leisurely sniffing how different each blade of grass smells when it's coated in ICE! Certain people who don't have thick Canadian coats don't appreciate the beauty of the frozen tundra, formerly known as the backyard and get really cold, really fast. These people are tired of being cold and are not buying it that the other people really have to go outside to pee every 20 minutes. When you're in the ball park of 50 pounds, your bladder is big enough to hold it for a couple of hours.

At some point yesterday my brain did defrost a bit and I realized that I have no portable project. Hawthorne wasn't portable, but it was done so quickly that I didn't really think about it. The Snowbird cardigan isn't portable and neither is the pattern I'm test knitting (really shooting hard for a February release for this one). Babette is definitely not portable because I don't want to lose squares, needles, or my scissors (and I'm leaving a trail of yarn snippets in my wake). So I need a portable project.

I was going to let you guys decide between a simple shawlette or a pair of socks and while I was typing up my thoughts for you guys to vote, I realized that it's been ages since I knit a pair of socks for Mickael and I've got yarn stashed for him so I made up my mind that that's what I'm going to do. So I'll go stash diving in the sock stash bin (which has more breathing room since I've pulled yarn for my Knit Something of the Month Club) and start a simple pair of socks for him. I hope I remember how to knit socks!

White Tea (with a side of unexplainable drama)

Metro is now blocking (which is to say it's laying on a towel drying, but blocking sounds so much more technical; drying just sounds like laundry). Anyway, I am, right this moment, without a single cardigan on the needles. (Oh, the horror!) However, my stash being what it is, there are other cardis waiting in the wings, so fear not - I've already picked the next one to grace my needles (dramatic, relieved sigh here).

I will be using this yarn, Berroco's Ultra Alpaca, which is a 50/50 blend of alpaca and merino and comes in a whopping 215 yard hank at a reasonable price. I am using the Winter White color, which is a lovely, creamy ivory color. I expect to actually be able to see what I'm knitting in this, unlike the black yarn I used for Metro, which was mostly knit by feel. But what will I be knitting? Well, since you asked, I will be knitting the Tea Leaves Cardigan. I have been in love with this design since it came out about a year ago (here's a Rav link, if you'd prefer). This will be my White Tea Cardigan, which is, interestingly enough, also my perfume. Casting on will commence shortly!

Almost Mitts

I started the second mitt (Susie's Reading Mitts) yesterday and made it to the top turning row by bedtime last night. With another 30 minutes of knitting time, I should be able to finish the hem and sew it down and weave in ends. Then it's just a matter of finishing thumbs and I'll have finished mitts.

Once I have these done, I want to really get going on Coraline and Metro. I think I'm closer to finishing Coraline than I am Metro, but I'm thinking I'd really rather have only one cardigan on the needles at a time right now. When I was doing a Featherweight Cardigan, I was using that as my Drag-Around-And-Knit-In-Public project, but neither Coraline or Metro really fit that category well. Having two cardigans and a portable project (and a pattern I'm supposed to be finishing up), plus the Babette (forgot about that one, didn't you? Me too.), is a little much to be working on all at once.

I've decided to do something new next year, although I really can't take credit for the idea. If you read the Yarn Harlot, you know she made herself a Self Imposed Sock Club this year. Basically, she went stash diving and picked a dozen yarns and a dozen patterns, bagged them all up and once a month, she grabs a bag and knits what's in it. Well, I've always been interested in a sock club, but I know I'm not going to love every pattern and every yarn that comes to me if I join a "real" sock club. Also, I already have a decent (or indecent, depending on how you look at things) sock yarn stash and really don't need a new skein showing up on the doorstep once a month. When I started thinking about the Harlot's plan, I realized it was pure genius. About the same time, I found Romi's eBook Seven Small Shawls (if you buy it as the eBook, you get three bonus patterns that won't be sold separately later). She has already designed three of the seven shawls and one of the bonus patterns. The shawls are all intended to use about 100 grams of fingering weight yarn (that's how much you need for a pair of socks also). Here was another way to burn through some sock yarn! Since it's a Self Imposed Sock Club, it doesn't have to be a sock club at all. It could be a Self Imposed Sock and Shawl Club! Then I mentioned the idea to Mom and she was interested in doing the same thing (but with her stash and with her pattern choices) but didn't think she could do one project a month. Well, since the whole thing is our own choice, I didn't see any reason she couldn't pick out six projects and start one every other month - I mean it's self imposed after all, we can make up our own rules, right? So she's going to join me on this in January and I'll be blogging her finished projects also. I think that once I get some of my current WIP's finished up, I'll go start sorting through sock yarn and patterns and start organizing my little Self Imposed Sock and Shawl Club. Then maybe I'll forget about some of what's in it before January and it will be a little surprise each month when I grab a project. (Yes, I have a short enough memory/attention span that I can surprise myself with stuff I have already. Don't judge.)

New Yarn for a New Featherweight

I knew I would make another Featherweight Cardigan (or maybe more than that), and it was such a perfect take-along project, I'll be starting it soon. I decided to make this one in fingering weight yarn and I decided to try a new yarn - The Loopy Ewe's Solid Series. They just released this yarn and it comes in a bunch of colors - 90 to be exact. It's a 3 ply, fingering weight, Superwash Merino and this is the Smoke color. I'll have to check gauge before I can start the cardi, since the first one I made is in laceweight. I'm thinking of using a cabled rib for edgings on this one, but I can decide that later.

What's This?

This is the yarn for my next project, once I finish October Frost. I can tell you that I'm using Bonne Marie's new Basic Chic Hoodie Pattern for the pattern, but as you can see from the yarn colors, I'm going to take it offroad! You'll just have to wait and see what I do with it, but since I got the rest of the yarn in the other day, I thought I'd share.

If you've never knit a Chic Knit pattern, you really should. Bonne Marie's patterns are classic, timeless, and wearable in real life (this is an important part of handknits). She just released a couple of patterns in her Basic Chic Collection - there is the Hoodie and a Pulli. (At this time, I think the Hoodie is only available through retailers who carry Chic Knits patterns - I got mine from The Loopy Ewe. The Pulli is available for download through the Chic Knits site.) To be perfectly honest, (and just in case you're wondering, I don't get any kind of kickback for this) I think every knitter should own both patterns. Beginning knitters will enjoy them because they are basic sweater patterns that give enough shaping that you'll be happy with the finished garment. More advanced knitters will use them as a template for adding stitch patterns and color work. I think at some point, every beginning knitter sees something in a store or catalog and wants to make it, but if they can't find a pattern for it, they give up. If you have a simple pattern for a classic shape, you can just plug in whatever colorwork or stitch patterns you're using, and assuming you keep your gauge, it will work. It's basically the first step of designing and will give a knitter confidence to try more difficult things. When you're just learning how to put stitches and shapes together to create things in knitting, it helps if you begin with a basic structure that has already been tested. Now I'm NOT suggesting that anyone redo one of these patterns and offer it for sale - that's a copyright violation and against the law. Making tweaks and changing stitches and patterning for your own personal use however is perfectly allowable in copyright law and is a great way to learn.

What's up next?

Just because I'm not actually starting a new project right now doesn't mean I can't decide what to start. I'm on the home stretch of the stealth project (sorry to drag it out, I don't mean to taunt you with it, but it's taking 90% of my knitting time right now and I'm not able to produce blog fodder), so my thoughts have turned to what I'll start when I'm done. I do have to get the sleeves sewn into the Highly Modified Chinese Lace Pullover by June 1 in order to finish that KAL project, so that will be what I do immediately after finishing the stealth, but a Pink Lemon has to have a plan and I think I've figured out what I want to do next:

Oblique! I loved this design the first time I saw it and it definitely fits into my Something To Wear Over the Ubiquitous T Shirt and Jeans Which is the Official Pink Lemon Uniform of Life category, and just to make things really great, I already have yarn in stash that should work for this. (Just as a side note, I know that this is supposed to be 18 stitches over 4 inches for the yarn, but that's in Stockinette. The gauge for the sweater is 17 stitches over 4 inches in Moss Stitch and my Moss Stitch gauge is always bigger than my Stockinette Stitch Gauge so I'm pretty sure this will work.) I'm off to Ravelry to double check notes from people who've already knit it!