Its Done!

I finished Yosemite, this past weekend! It looks good, but I think I will give it just a hint of blocking with a little steam, before I wrap it up. I was working on this, yesterday, while I was with my mom. She says that it just looks like my SIL and that it should be perfect for her. I saw her the same day, and she was shivering she was so cold, so I'm sure this will be good for her as the yarn is worsted weight knit with size 5 needles and then cabled and ribbed, too, so the fabric feels nice and thick.
While I was with my SIL, I needed something else to knit (and the sleeve only needed to be bound off, so not much knitting left there.) I picked up Cambridge Jacket, again. I finished the first front and then started the second. Right now, I have this piece about half way to the arm hole bind offs. That's 10% of the sweater knitted in just over 1 day! I am now sure that this one will be done in time for Christmas. :)
I was also surprised by something yesterday. I was getting ready to leave my parents house and put on my Selbu gloves. The patterns on them are so beautiful and my mom was commenting on how nice they look. I smiled at her and said, "I might have made you a pair, but they come out best when knitted with wool." She is "allergic" to wool and so I figured that I'd hear, "Oh, well that's okay." Instead, she said, "Well, on my hands that might be alright. Can I try one on?" After trying it on, she said that she could wear them! I now have a smaller project that I should be able to make for her for Christmas. I love making those mittens, have yarn in my stash already and they don't take more than a couple days, if I concentrate solely on them.
Upon finishing Yosemite, I have an entire skein plus just a little more left over. This should be plenty to make my MIL a new hat. She is still dealing with being very cold all the time and has very little hair as a result of chemotherapy. The hat that she has been wearing is an old, yucky looking acrylic that bugs her. She won't wear it when she leaves the house, either. She needs something warm, so I'm thinking of knitting a cabled stocking cap that is rather plain around the edges. (ETA: I have been searching Ravelry for just the right pattern and think that I will probably knit this.) I knit a somewhat lacy hat out of a fuzzy yarn a couple years ago. It stretched out and then started to look matted. Since this yarn has a little wool in it, it should keep its shape, and since it is a smooth yarn, there should be no problems with matting. I plan to start it right after I finish Cambridge, however, I may take a short brake to make a mini sweater from Berroco's Minutia-08 pattern to take as my white elephant gift to my work Christmas party which is next week.

Yosemite- 82.7% Done!

This isn't a great picture, but the body is done! Shortly after taking the picture, I picked up the stitches for the collar. I have it about a third of the way finished! Woohoo!! I have a few other gifts that I would like to make and finish, so I am very, very happy to see this one taking shape so quickly.

Back to Yosemite

This one, of course! I made the division for the back and fronts, last night and then finished the left front! I hope to finish the right front and begin the back, tonight. Maybe, then it will be picture worthy. Right now, it is a little strange looking as I never move the stitches to a piece of waste yarn as the pattern says. Then, I didn't bind off the left front as I plan to graft the shoulder, or maybe use a 3 needle bind off. It is looking good and I am excited to get it finished!

NaKniSweMo Ends

I managed about 20% of Morrigan during this month's KAL. The point was to get it done, but I feel really great about the progress that I've made! I've knit 4 of the 18 balls into the project.

Soon, I need to get back to the 2 sweaters that I'm knitting as Christmas presents. I have Yosemite and the Cambridge Jacket to finish before then.

I have, however, been working on Cambridge some this month. There are some times where I like to knit during another event. If the other event is something that needs my attention, then I've been knitting the simpler pattern of it, otherwise, I've been working on Morrigan. With all the great progress that I've made, I wish I could just keep working on it instead of changing back to presents! :) However, it's all so much fun that it doesn't really matter and I love to make things for others.

ETA: NaKniSweMo may be over, but I've signed up for NaKniSweMoDo for 2009 on Ravelry. This will be my first project to work on once the Christmas knitting is finished.

Little Progress

This week has been a difficult one. As such there has been little knitting progress. I get migraines and they are worse when it is getting darker outside. They are also worsened by strong chemical smells. At work, lately, there has been a tar smell in the building. (A neighboring building has been re-roofing using a tar based product. Our building's ventilation system is set to bring in "fresh" air but can be reset to recirculate the air, instead. However, they have not reset the system until there is already a very strong smell in the building.) During the time off that I've taken due to said migraine, I did get a little further on my Alpaca Sox, getting the heel turn and gusset decreases finished on the first sock.
In addition to not feeling well, I hit a wall with the sweaters that I've been knitting. The colors for the fair isle work are not working together as I planned, so I'm waiting on it until I can go look for a different color to use. The mostly cotton yarn for Yosemite bothers my hands after a while and I'm getting tired of the same thing! :) However, I did pick it up again for a while today and have just another 2 1/2 rows until I start working decreases and binding off a few stitches. That will make it new and interesting and I'm sure to get much done on it in the next week or so.
I needed a cast on fix, today, so I started another present. I'm knitting the Cambridge Jacket by Ann Budd (Interweave Summer 2006) in Elann's Peruvian Wool. On the large, size 9 needles, this was a great quick satisfaction project. I have knitted through 2 of the 18 balls of yarn, in just the first day, and am almost to the bottom of the arm holes on the back! I'm not sure how much more progress I'll make as I do want to cast on for the NaKniSweMo KAL. I want to make Morrigan, from "No Sheep for You." I have the exact yarn, yes even the color, as the one in the pattern and have been excited to start ever since I decided on a project. I just finished looking at my Ravelry Projects page and I already have 10 projects started, but I am going to start something new. Ooo, I can hardly wait!

Continuing Onward!

I have been making progress on my two sweaters! On Yosemite, I have finished the increases and have about 3 inches to go before starting the armhole bind offs. Cascade's Sierra makes a wonderful fabric and looks great in the heavily cabled stitch pattern. I also expect this sweater to hold its shape quite well as the cables draw the fabric up very nicely. On my Bohus Cardigan, I am also finding that progress just kind of “happens.” I have finished the sleeves and put them both on the needle with the main body. I have knit about 4 rows and need around 6-7 before starting the yoke decreases. Then, I get to start the color work. That’s the part I am really looking forward to doing. I received the third color of yarn in the mail yesterday. It’s a deeper shade than I thought that I was ordering, but it looks better with the other colors than I would have ever imagined!

While at work, yesterday, I received a call from my husband. He often calls late in the work day to ask what I have planned for dinner, so I was a little surprised that he was calling about a box that had arrived via UPS while he was gone. The box had been almost completely smashed on its way from Massachusetts to me! He first asked, “Did you order anything breakable?” I thought, “Oh, NO!” but then asked him from where the box was coming. When he replied, “Webs,” I laughed a little. He, of course did not immediately understand, so I explained that it was yarn and not to be worried. He used to work for a UPS store and said that he has rarely seen a box more abused by the shipper than this one. I thought he was over reacting, but later I saw it as I came through the front door. One side had been smashed almost completely to the other side. I sure am glad it was “only yarn” instead of a crystal vase! I am also happy that Webs had left the yarn wrapped in plastic before boxing it up.

Christmas Knitting

I've recently begun my Christmas knitting. Last year, my family decided that it would be better to draw names rather than buying for everyone. (I have 4 siblings, 4 of the 5 of us are married and 2 have sons, so that's quite a few people!) They wanted to do it last year, but didn't tell me until I had some gifts completed already. So, they drew on Christmas Eve last year, for this year. I have my newest SIL. While I was looking through back issues of Knitty, I came upon the pattern for Yosemite. She even looks a bit like the model in the sweater, so I immediately thought of her. She is probably going to be living in the Philippines for most of next year, so I wanted a sweater made from cotton. This one is just perfect and the cables keep me from getting bored. I am also making rapid progress because she is a small size, and I am used to knitting an XL or larger, depending on the recipient. I began about 10 days ago and have about 9.25 inches finished. The sweater will be 13 inches when I start the armholes, so I'm getting close! :)

Since I can only work with cotton for a limited amount of time before my hand starts to hurt, I am also making noticeable progress on my Bohus Cardi. I just finished the second sleeve, yesterday and am anxious to start the yoke. I have a little ways to go before I'm ready to start the color work, but I do have to wait until at least Wednesday to start that part. I have ordered (online) another color of Cascade 220 that I could not find at my LYS. I have a deep blue-turquoise for one of the contrast colors and have ordered a pale yellow for the other. Both of these colors are part of the heathered green that I am using for the main color. I can hardly wait to see it all together!

My other projects have been hibernating. I still like them all, but have little motivation to work on anything but these 2 sweaters. LOL! I am also planning on knitting a sweater from No Sheep for You with the NaKniSweMo group on Ravelry. I ordered the yarn from Webs, when I ordered the yellow for my Bohus Cardi, so I'll have it in plenty of time to start with the group. I'm really hoping to finish the 2 projects above, first though! :)