finished objects
i was a very busy bee indeed this weekend. i managed to do a lot of finishing and knitting, as evidenced by my cleaned up works in progress and ufo lists. (go on, take a look...)

all told, i finished three projects this weekend. first off, i wove in the ends of the koigu neck cozy (a gift for my office manager) -- a one skein of koigu quickie project that i will be happy to make again.



i then undertook the very arduous task of blocking my charlotte.


click for larger

let me tell you, charlotte was a pain. i started off by using my blocking wires. she slid off the wires. i put her back on the wires and started pinning her to the bed. the wires came out again. i decided to pin her directly but the pins didn't want to penetrate the rock hard surface of our futon. it took me an hour and a half before i finally got her pinned out and laid down to dry. the main problem was that i kept trying to pin her long edge to the length in the instructions. it was really too far for my shawl. so, instead, i wound up compromising and finally got her not too long and not too short. (picture of me wearing her within the next day or so.)

once i finished struggling with charlotte, i sat down and finished knitting lara. and then, i finished her. i started sewing her seams at 8 pm. i didn't finish until well past 1 am, but it was worth it.


cheezy "chopstick" closure pose

yes, i'm thrilled to pieces. lara is my first official adult sweater. and, it's the first large scale thing i have ever knitted and finished. go. me.

the details: i started the sweater on september 22 and finished it on october 31st. i worked on the sweater practically every day, doing the bulk of my knitting on the subway until the piece got too big to carry around. (i did slow down on my knitting during the last week.) i used a little over 9 skeins of classic elite 03 tweed in charcoal -- and i left very very long yarn ends where i joined. i think i could have done the whole thing with just 9 skeins. just as i expected, i have over 2 skeins left. i'm thinking of making a hat out of the remainder.

things i would have do differently if i made the sweater again: make the sleeves shorter. the sleeves are about 4" too long for me. i can fold the sleeves at where the ribbing begins, which gives a perfect length so i don't mind. the other thing i would do would be to add a few more rows to the body so that the wrap wasn't as fitted. i don't dislike the wrap, but it's a little tight as you can tell from the white of my blouse shining through. however, i do plan to wear it open a lot.

my vote on the pattern? lara is a very easy knit, really just perfect for beginners. the only pain is that the garment does get heavy on the needles after awhile and you have to sew up these long ass seams. however, it's really a great comfortable sweater. i have a feeling this will be one of my favorite comfy hanging out sweaters.

last, but not least in the finishing party, wendy felted my kitty beds for me and sent these pictures along.





baby aran
i'm still on sleeve island with the baby aran, but the sleeves are working up quickly. my guess is that i will have the sleeves done this weekend and that i will be finishing the sweater over the weekend. or at least, that's the plan. i honestly can't wait to finish it, partially because it's a nice piece and partially because i don't want to have it competing with my fiddlesticks garden shawl for my attention.

fiddlesticks knit along
the fiddlesticks knit along has "officially" kicked off today. i have my yarn and pattern with me and am planning on beginning my swatch during lunch today. i'm really looking forward to making this shawl and am pleased that i've gotten so many other people knitting along. i've been trying to post tips and techniques to help everyone else out, so if you have any lace knitting secrets or favorite things to do, let me know and i will pass your knowledge on to the group.

comments on "lots of finished objects, progress update, and fiddlesticks knit along begins!" [8]