Not So Fancy Nancy

Sweaters and Handmade Gifts for Me

Finally! My miserable creative funk is lifting. I really appriciate the emails and comments you've continued to send while I've been AWOL. Lots of positive changes in my life and I'll be sharing some of them here. For today, I'll fill you in on the very limited crafting since my last post.

Finally added buttons to Loppem! The fit in the shoulders and back is great with the pattern size 34, but I definitely recommend adding some kind of bust shaping if your bra measurement is 34-36 and over a C cup. It's perfect after being arranged just so, but this is what happens when I move around, and it gets even worse when carrying a purse. Just add a few stitches between the armhole and the cable band.

Sorry for the bad focus. The auto timer is handy, but then the auto focusing takes over. Loading this photo did make me really look at the side board and wonder why it was so cluttered ... oh yeah, the last vestiges of holiday rearranging. Most things got dumped in my art room. Considered renting a back hoe to excavate. Freed my sewing machine and found my desktop this past weekend. So happy to get my art room back!

This open front cardigan was flying along in mid-December. The pattern is the top-down Lion Neck Cardigan by Wendy Bernard from her book. Rowan RYC Alpaca Soft is not the spec'd yarn, but it is working to gauge. The alpaca/cotton boucle is indeed soft with a pretty good drape. No stretch though, so it's brutal on the hands.

Finished the body and did the endless ruffle before the sleeves, which I thought would inoculate it against the dreaded WIP flu. Yet, this is about where it was a month ago. Not fair really as it fits and I like it. Doesn't help my motivation that we've had the hottest Jan in over 20 years. Is that a collective moan I hear? Well, we do have nice winter weather here in San Diego, but I'm not a fan of 80-90 degree temps in Jan. I want rain and chilly temps for at least Dec-Feb so I can justify sweaters and quilts.

My creative energy may have been depleted, but my mail carrier certainly delivered cheer and inspiration. I am so lucky! Brenda sent me both this pillow and mini-quilt. The pillow uses the same fabric line of a quilt I've already got pieced, so I guess I'll HAVE to finish it next year so we'll have a set for the family room.

Her mini-quilt has such beautiful, elegant colors and will look great in our dining room next year. Thanks so much for sharing with me Brenda!

 Jean, my flickr Swap 'til You Drop partner, sent me this wonderful package:

The swap theme was Sweet, Sour or Savory and her coffee quilt is perfect for me. That cute little box had individual espresso packs and the cat is covering recipes and some lovely fat quarters.

It's such a fun and witty quilt. Thanks Jean! 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE her crazy quilt stitch and bead work!

I watched that swap deadline fly toward me, then swoosh right past. Jean has been very understanding about what's been going on in my life, but I've left her hanging far too long and it's just not fair. Over the weekend I set myself to making her quilt before doing anything else. I'm almost finished, so I'll save that for another post and get back to quilting.

Happy New Year everyone.

Norah Gaughan's Loppem - LOVE it.

I promised photos and I'm delivering. Be thankful -- it was almost 80 upstairs and the wool skirt and sweater were not feeling cozy. A cool front is moving in right now, so maybe I'll get to wear it this coming week.

Thanks to my patient husband who took all my micro-managing with reasonable good humor ... Take a good photo of the underarm - knitters want to see the shaping. Yeah, sure honey.

I'm laughing because the whole family gathered for this excitement. Oh, the price of Ravelry and blogging. Joking aside, I am trying to be a good member of the community. I've been scouring Ravelry over the last week for several types of patterns and am always so thankful to find an entry with loads of photos and info to help evaluate yarns and designs. My turn to give back.

The rest of this post is from my Ravelry entry, so if you're coming here from there, nothing new until next time.

NOTE ABOUT SIZING: I made the 34" for my 40" bust. I have small shoulders for my bust size and after looking through the gallery decided that a little smaller across the bust would be better than swimming in the shoulders. If I make this style of sweater again I may figure out some modifications, but since this doesn't button down the front I figured I'd get away with the gap after some careful blocking.

Putting in a bunch of photos with me wearing it to show the fit under the arms and across the shoulders. I really like it.

Wore it out for knitting group before these photos were taken, so I assume the crease in the back is from sitting in the armchair at the coffee shop. I'll try to remember to smooth it if I'm going to sit for a long time again. Also noticed that the blocking put a crease in each side. There are no side seams, but shaping stitches mark that line. Next time I'll not shape that so firmly when blocking.

The front close up on the hanger shows the button holes, which I might just sew up since I love this pin on on the blue.

The back close up shows the shaping stitches after the arm holes and on the yoke. They really show, so be sure to get them placed according to the pattern.

Back from vacation with knitting done!

Almost back to normal after a two week vacation. I got my fall color fix.

   

The kids are back to school, (our elementary is on a modified year-round schedule), the last loads are in the wash, the crock-pot is bubbling on the counter and my photos are downloading. We flew the width of the continent from San Diego to Norfolk VA, then drove a 1200+ mile loop from Richmond, VA to Louisville KY and back to Richmond via the Cumberland Gap and Abingdon VA. Lots of family and friend time, an evening with David Byrne (if his new show comes to your area GO!!!), hiking in fall colors and a finish at Colonial Williamsburg. Even tried one of Thomas Jefferson's grapes.

Visited LYS in three towns and stocked up on sock yarn. Lots of knitting time while the pilots and DH did all the driving. More on the trip after I've sorted through photos, but overall it was a great trip and it's great to be home, which is about perfect in my book.

Here's a taste of crafty endeavors since my last post. Lots more to come.

Loppem from Norah Gaughan's booklet in Berroco Palace. Yep, same yarn and color as the photo -- just loved it as it was.  I started knitting like a fiend in the week before we traveled, then realized that it wasn't going to be suited to wearing on the trip, so I backed off and packed it up for travel knitting. This was how far I'd gotten before the trip. The color is pretty close to perfect in this photo - the silk makes it glow.

 

Just a note:  The charts are right, but the legend for the charts is missing one of the directional twists. After studying one of the two charts against the legend, which only showed one example of that cable stitch, I'd just assumed it was the same cable on both sides. Should have known better, but I did most of this work in fits and starts during a busy week. At least it's consistently wrong. Usually I mark the cable stitches with different highlight colors, but this seemed so easy. Famous last words in knitting huh? So ... check the errata like I should have!

(Following is copied from Ravelry. I know many of you are on Ravelry, but not everyone...)

Final comments:  Loved knitting this yarn and at this moment it's blocking well. I got and held gauge on the recommended needles, which is rare for me. If I find an issue with the wear I'll note it, but right now I really like it. The sheen is fabulous and it flies off the needles.

Used the Knit Picks harmony wood needles for the first time. I really liked them with this project. They have sharp, sharp tips and a nice smooth finish. No yarn splitting, but the cables were easy to pick and knit cleanly.

The pattern is cute and well written. The only alteration I made was to add two more rows after the last button hole so that the button I wanted to use wouldn't lay above the neckline and to be sure it wasn't too wide on my small shoulders.

I put 6 balls for my usage because I only used a few yards of the 7th ball. If I hadn't added those last two rows and been a bit more conservative with my ball changes I would have finished in six easily. Since I bought 8 I'll be making fingerless gloves.

I really do like these Harmony wood tips - better than Knit Picks' regular metal tips, which just don't replace Addi for me.

By about halfway through the trip most of the knitting was completed. Waited to pick up and knit the sleeve edging and weave in the ends until I was cozy and calm on my own sofa. Finally got it soaked and blocked today. Since it's raining I may have to wait until tomorrow for it to dry completely.

 

Time to pick up the kids and vote. I'll close with the message I found in my inbox this morning from thinkarete.com and one of my moss-obsessed photos from a hike in Appalachia.

"Compassion is not religious business, it is human business, it is not luxury, it is essential for our own peace and mental stability, it is essential for human survival."

~ H.H. The Dalai Lama

The Dalai Lama also reminds us that “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”