Something Finished

At long last, here is my finished cardigan I've been working on for what seems like ages!

Pattern: I started with the Something Red pattern and heavily modified it using the Hey Teach! pattern for inspiration. I added 1x1 ribbing just under the bust to give some shape and then just continued on with plain stockingette for the lower half.

Yarn: Knit Picks Main Line in Dusty Lavender

Needles: US 7 & US 5 (for the waist ribbing)

Notes: I'm fairly pleased with how this turned out! I wish the bottom part flared out just the tiniest bit more but other than that it came out just how I envisioned it. I think it will be a great sweater for this fall. I'm so happy to have a sweater actually finished!

For some reason, the bottom edges of the cardigan look uneven in the pictures but I swear it is an optical illusion. There was no way I was going to put that thing back on in the 105 degree heat to get better pictures!

Lots to show and tell!

Let's start with an FO.

Pattern: Something Red by Wendy Bernard

Yarn: Blue Sky Dyed Cotton in Toffee; 4 skeins

Needles: US #7s

Notes: I love it! Absolutely love it. I would've liked to have made it just a hair longer but I was really trying to use only 4 skeins. And can you believe it that I'd never done short rows before this? pretty neat and not hard at all.

There is only one thing that I would caution anyone else making this sweater. You have to be careful of your raglan length. The directions tell you to knit the ragland increases until it is X inches or X number of increases. Definitely go by the number of increases. If I had continued on to the directed measurement then it would have been way too big I think. Just something to be aware of. In my mind, the raglan length can be the difference between perfect or terrible fit. I highly recommend this sweater pattern though. I know I will wear it lots. Especially in my chilly office.

I couldn't resist starting the Crisp Rectangle Tunic from Fitted Knits. I'm making the shorter length version. I don't think the longer version shown in the book would be very flattering on me. This is going to be a great summer knit I think. And my next new obsession:

It's the Lizard Ridge afghan from Knitty. Don't even ask what set me off on this (I don't know!). I've never really had a desire to knit a blanket before but since this one is done in blocks I think it will be much more managable. That is Noro Silk Garden I'm using in colors 247 (bottom), 203 (top left), and 34 (top right). I'm only going to buy a few skeins at a time because I couldn't afford it any other way. I love Silk Garden colors!

I'm this close to finishing the Tatami Kimono. I'm really going to tackle it and hopefully finish this weekend.

I've been knitting....

On an impulse, I started Something Red last week. I am so in love with the Blue Sky Cotton and had been looking for another opportunity to use it. Well, I was reminded of this pattern when I saw this one recently. This has been an incredibly fast knit so far! It's a lovely chocolate brown called Toffee (I refuse to call this my "Something Brown"!).
And I'm so thrilled that I finally got ahold of Fitted Knits! I was going to wait and order it from Knit Picks because I could've saved $5 but when I actually leafed through it at Barnes & Noble I just couldn't resist. The one thing that concerns me about this book are the sizes. I'm a 34 and most of the finished sizes start at 34 or 36. I'm not too worried though because she includes quite a bit about making a garment smaller or larger. I'm sure most of you have seen these pictures already but here are the ones I really like: