FO Friday - The Repeat Edition

As you may remember, llast Friday, I scurried around like a crazy person and managed to just barely pull the Super Secret Citron off the needles in time for FO Friday.  Phew!  It was a close one.  I managed just a couple of badly lit pictures from the brightest part of the house, since the sun had long since set. 

So I decided that this merited me a do-over with new pictures, taken during some sort of daylight, and after a light blocking.  Which pretty much brings us to the here and now.

I was afraid of losing the ruching in the Citron, so I wanted to be super careful about blocking it.  I thought through a couple of different options, but in the end, I wound up pinning it gently around the edges and spraying it (just the ruffle and the garter edge) with a little bit of soak diluted with water.  I sprayed it until it was pretty damp, then left it til the next day.  I have to say, it worked really well.  Ruching is  still intact, and there's nary a curled ruffle in sight.  Success!  See?

It's all kinds of windy here this evening (Hi.  Still Thursday here. Totally cheating.), so I had limited options for taking advantage of the light.  Though I did manage one fence shot that's pretty close to the actual color...

... even if it is a little wind-flappy.  I have to say, I would knit this again in a heartbeat, and I'm not a girl who ever knits something more than once.  It was fun, and easy, and fast, and just generally lovely.  I miss it already...

But Snoopy is helping ease the pain at the moment.  He's so stinking cute.  I only have 20 or so rows to go, so I'd best figure out what's next.  I have 3 whole days off stretched out ahead of me!  Must take advantage!

Happy Easter, everyone!

Work In Progress Wednesday v.37

And now for something completely different... (can anyone name the obscure tv show reference?)

It's Wednesday!  And I don't have much knitting *gasp* on the needles.  I know.  I'm as shocked as you are.  The vest needs to be seamed and have the trim added.  Not much going on there at the moment.  The Super Secret Citron blocked beautifully, and is patiently awaiting its moment in the sun on Friday.  I can't decide on yarn for the next project (which will be a KnitPicks order). 

And so where does that leave me?  It leaves me doing some serious stash diving, and coming up with part of a skein of Sugar and Cream cotton and a fistful of Snoopy Dishcloth Pattern (Ravelry link, but the pattern's free!).  And when they came together, it looked something like this:

It's just over half done, and Snoopy's all there, except for his noggin.  Turns out he's got a pretty big dome on him.  This is fun, fast, and really cute.  Who doesn't love Snoopy?  I will say that after knitting with that super fine (Filatura di Crosa Nirvana, in case you were wondering) laceweight, that this cotton feels a bit like I'm knitting with bailing wire.  My hands get pretty red after half an hour or so.  I know -- sissy.  What can I say?  I'm a delicate little flower.

Anyway, we have house guests this week -- safely stashed at Mr. Right's house, but still keeping the both of us extra busy.  So I'll make this quick.  I promise to choose some yarn in the next day or two so we can get on with Super Secret Project #2.  And when I have a few minutes, I'll head over to check out everyone else's progress over at Tami's.  See you there!

Oh.  And also?  GO SHARKS!!!!!

FO Friday: Super Secret Edition

Yippee!  It's Friday.  And I'm done.  And so I get to play along with all the fun stuff happening at Tami's blog for FO Friday.  It's so exciting, mostly because it's so rare that I actually finish something. 

The good news is that I pulled the Super Secret Citron off the needles after dinner this evening, then did a bunch of chores, then turned on every light in the house and raced around trying to find decent picture lighting.  The verdict:  There was none.  Sorry.  But here it is, in all its dimly-lit-and-not-yet-blocked glory:

I'm in love with it.  And I really wish I could tell you what it was for, but I can't yet.  And what's worse is that there are other Super Secret projects coming up in the near future.  Hopefully, I'll be able to spill the beans in the next month or two.  You'll just have to stay tuned to find out.

Here's another, slightly better shot:

It's small, as shawls go.  I followed the instructions to a T, and I think it'll be perfect.  The recipient is pretty tiny, with narrow little shoulders.  I think this is exactly perfectly right.  I'm nervous to block it, as I don't want to lose the scrunched up bits (ruching?), but the ruffle is rolling pretty badly, as you can see, and the little garter stitch border could use some help, too.  My current plan is to lay it out, then gently pin and spray just the edges to neaten things up.  I'm open to suggestions, though -- anyone have any better ideas?

This is definitely one of my favorite projects so far.  The yarn is Filatura di Crosa Nirvana, held double (about 2.5 skeins).  It's fabulous to work with, and I think it plays really nicely with this pattern.  I highly recommend both. 

And here's the best news of all... I fully plan to block it this weekend, take some daylight photos, and then post it as an FO all over again next week.  I'm SUCH a cheater.  Forgive me?

And now, because I'm nosy... What's everyone up to this weekend?  Anything good?  (Just looking to live vicariously for a while!)

Happy Friday, y'all!  (and GO SHARKS!)

Work In Progress Wednesday v.36

Man, I've been trying for daaaaaays to get over here and post.  And I've been thwarted.  Repeatedly.  So, hi! It's Wednesday again.  The one with all the work in progress.  Yep, that's the one.

I've made a metric ton of progress on the Super Secret Citron in the last week.  So much, in fact, that I have only 4 more rows to go on the ruffle (!).  SO much that you get no picture this week, so that you can see it in its full (okay, it won't be blocked by then so probably mostly-full) glory on Friday.  This has been SUCH a fun knit.  Admittedly, the rows in section 5 and the ruffle are L  O  N  G, but they still don't feel tedious.  The yarn has been lovely, and it's so soft and pretty that I get a little happy *squee* feeling every time I pick it up, even if it's only for half a row or so.  Lots of folks have mentioned that they're contemplating knitting it.  Here's my advice:  Go do it.  Right now.  It's bound to make you happy.

Posts with no pictures are so boring, though.  What to do...  Ooh!  I know.  Here's a picture of the greatest dog who ever lived...

Seriously.  Best. Dog. Ever.  I miss her today.

There's been more work on the vest this week, too.  But, it still looks a whole lot like it did last week, so no pictures of that, either.  Instead, here's a rather frightening picture of me, feeding a big, hairy giraffe (!). 

What can I say, it tickled...  The back story:  I'm sort of obsessed with giraffes.  They're so... improbable looking.  And, one day we heard that there's a zoo in Colorado Springs where you can hang out and feed crackers to giraffes as much as you want (weather permitting).  We went pretty much immediately, and it was all kinds of awesome.

Now, aren't you glad you stopped by this week to catch up on all the knitting progress?  Yeah, I thought so.  Seriously, as soon as I can figure out how to get out from under the wheels of this bus, I'll be back more regularly.  Life has to chill out soon, right?  Here's hoping.

Anyway, I promise something new and exciting next week.  And it probably won't involve giraffes.  No guarantees, though...

Work In Progress Wednesday v.35

You know how people always say that God made babies and small children super cute so that you're less like to try and kill them when they misbehave?  I'd like to propose a corollary to that theory.  It's a shawl-related addendum.  Here goes:

Shawls start small and get bigger with each section so that you don't light them on fire and go knit something far more reasonable.

You see, the first 3 or so sections of the Super Secret Citron flew by so quickly that I felt like a super star.  And yet, the last one is kind of killing me.  Don't get me wrong, it's still a fun knit, and I'm still having a blast knitting it.  Mr. Right's even a fan since I can knit it while I watch a movie with him and actually pay attention to both.  It's generally a win-win.  All I'm saying is... If I'd started this thing with a 444 stitch row#1, row #2 would've been pretty unlikely.  As it is, I'm SO close to the finish I can almost taste it.  See...

Someone from my knitting group (Hi, Kris!) was kind enough to loan me a 32" circular to finish up with.  The pattern calls for a 24", but once I got north of 300 stitches, things were a bit cramped.  This makes it easier to maneuver, and reduces the likelihood that all of my stitches will slip off and unravel. And I recommend it if you're contemplating knitting one of these.

I had a pretty great weekend, so that's all the knitting I have to report this week.  We went to the Denver Auto Show on Saturday, which was way more fun than it sounds.  They had lots of pretty cars...

Turns out that I actually really need one of these.  Who knew?  I sure didn't.  It's a Mercedes SLS AMG. 

Isn't it pretty?  Sort of like having your own personal batmobile.  One of my girlfriends from California was in town this weekend, too.  So she came over for dinner on Sunday night and we got to hang out and do some serious catching up.  We had a blast.  I don't have any close girlfriends in Colorado, so whenever someone visits, I'm always shocked to remember that I have a whole pile of really good friends.  Friends are good.  It totally made my week.

That's all for me.  Go check out everyone else's weekly project over at WIPW.  I'm sure there are tons of other car picturs up this week. :)

Work in Progress Wednesday v.34

I'm back!  And I've been both awake and upright all day -- for the first time since last week.  When last we met, I was getting ready for some dental surgery, complete with anesthesia, and I was -- let's face it -- a nervous wreck.

Friday morning rolled around and I went to the doctor's office, got hooked up to everything, chatted a bit about the latest round of March Madness, and then had someone tapping me on the shoulder saying I was done.  SO weird.  The recovery has been slightly less easy than the procedure.  I have 9 stitches in my mouth, had a bad reaction to the anesthesia (nausea, big time), a bad reaction to the painkillers (more nausea), and a bad reaction to the antibiotics (anyone wanna guess?  that's right -- more nausea).  I've been napping for days.  And I've been knitting a bunch, too.  That part has been fun, at least.

And so, I have a whole ton of progress to show you on my Super Secret Citron.  Ta da!

Does anyone else think it looks like some sort of fuzzy blue seashell at this point?  No?  Just me?  Must be the drugs...  Anywho, along those lines, I'm even smitten with the way the mostly-used yarn cake looks...

Isn't it pretty?

I'm about halfway through section 4 (out of 5 + ruffle) now, and still working through my first skein.  Here's what I've learned in this week's installment of My First Shawl:

• Doubling laceweight yarn isn't terrible, but probably not a great idea for a first timer if it can be avoided
• Pointy needles will make your life much, much, MUCH easier (this has one row that is Kfb every stitch, and purling back through those stitches takes f o r e v e r with blunt needle tips)
• In a 5-section shawl (one that increases in size rather than decreases), you will use as much yarn for the last section and ruffle as you do for the first 4 sections.  Still trying to wrap my head around that one...
• This pattern is totally, completely addictive.

In other news, I'm finishing up the last front of the vest this week. (Did you notice how I said "last front" as if there were 30 of them?  If sort of feels like there were...) This pattern was a bit much for my poor, drug-addled brain to handle while I was all doped up, but I've pulled it out again and am soldiering on.  Here's this week's very minor progress:

Almost there!  Kind of.  Just a few more rows, then we bind off and sew up the shoulders.  Yippee!  I'm cautiously optimistic about picking up stitches around both armholes and the whole front of the vest. Fingers crossed, as usual with this thing!

That's all for me at the moment, though I expect to be back later this week.  I've missed being here lately!  Until then, head over to Tami's for WIPW and see what everyone else is up to.  All the cool kids are doing it.

Work In Progress Wednesday v.33

I have to admit, Friday's Mini Mochi Marathon of Sock sort of knocked me off my knitting mojo for a few days.  I think I only managed about 30 minutes of knitting this weekend, and I'm totally okay with that.  It's nice to have a break every so often, especially when Spring is finally starting to spring around here (Yay!).

I haven't entirely forsaken my favorite hobby, though.  There's been some progress on the cable lace vest (sometimes known as The Vest From Hell) this week.  I finished the back, and have picked up the stitches for the final front panel.

As soon as I can sit down and write out the directions for it so they make some kind of sense, I'll get it knocked out.  Then only the ribbing around the arm holes and the shawl collar to go (that's still kind of a lot isn't it? sigh.)...

I also got started this week on my Super Secret Citron.  Here are some things I've learned so far:

• Lace weight yarns vary A WHOLE BUNCH in gauge.
• The tension caused by using a size 6 circular needle to knit 3 stitches of eensy-skinny yarn will cause the stitches to go flying off the needle. Repeatedly.
• It's okay to let the guru from your knitting group show you how to get started after you've cast on and flailed about 37 or 38 times.

Okay, really it's not as bad as I make it sound.  It is a learning curve though, using lace weight for the first time to knit one's first shawl.  It turns out that I needed to double the Filatura, and once I did, things looked much more promising.  I think I've got a good start going now, and am super excited to see it come together.  My guru also suggested a provisional cast on to make it easier to pick up the first stitches, and that was completely brilliant.  It made life SO much easier -- I highly recommend it.  Here's how my bit-o-shawl is looking so far...

And here's how it looks really close up (the first pic is better for color, though)...

I love how you can already see the pattern forming.  Yay!

I'm having oral surgery on Friday morning (Boo!), so I'll either have a metric ton of progress to share with you all next week or else none at all, depending on how much vicodin I'm forced to swallow.  Funny, but this reminds me of that viral video that went around a while ago with the spiders on drugs.  If you come back next week and my citron looks like the crack spider made it  -- be kind, okay?

And on that note, go check out all the other WIPW-ers and see what they've been up to lately.  It's some seriously good stuff!

Work In Progress Wednesday v.32

Another Wednesday, and I finally feel like I'm getting somewhere.  Yay!  In fact, I've made so much progress on the Yummy Mochi socks (Ravelry link) that I'm saving the pictures for FO Friday.  Just an inch or two of foot left, and then the toe.  I'll be really glad to see these finished for lots of reasons.  Obviously, I'm super excited to wear them.  But I'll also be glad to be done with this pattern.  It's getting to be a bit dull.  I chose it for its simplicity, to best show off the scrummy yarn so it's my own fault.  But I'll be glad to do something other than K3 P1.  The pattern is well written, and the socks fit great, so I'm not knocking it at all - promise!  It's just time for something new.

Speaking of yummy yarn, I'll have a fair bit left after my socks are done, and have been contemplating starting a sock yarn blanket.  Have you guys seen these?  The projects on Ravelry are kind of mind- blowingly great.  But they also look like a mountain of work.  So what do you think?  Should I give it a go? Or am I crazy for even thinking about it?  Help me decide?

 The Vest From Hell has also come along a bit this week.  The right front is finished(!), and I've picked up stitches and started knitting up the back now.  Hopefully, no more problems and the rest will go quickly.  Here's this week's oddly-colored shot (sorry - I'm tired of looking at it, too!)...

Finally, with finish line in sight for my socks, I've got a new project percolating and can't wait to dive in!  I'm knitting a Super Secret Citron.  This'll be my first time knitting with lace weight, and my first shawl, so I'm a little nervous, but I'm super excited to get started.  I can't tell you what it's for yet, but it's a gift.  And hopefully, I'll be able to spill the beans soon because I'm pretty excited about it.  Speaking of excited, check out this gorgeous yarn...

It's Filatura di Crosa Nirvana, and it's so, so, so soft.  And light.  And the color is gorgeous.  I hope I can do it justice.  If all goes well, I'll get to cast on this weekend, so you'll get a peek at the shawl-to-be next week.  New projects are so fun!

Speaking of fun, head over to Tami's Blog and check out everyone else's new projects this week -- there are bound to be some amazing things happening over there!