Tres Chic Veronique

It's too hot to knit. Too hot to think, too hot to seam and too hot to count.
I wore my half-completed Caban Marine for about 30 seconds this weekend (and that was before the heat wave!):
Does the blob make any more sense? It folds over to form half of the lapel! The collar, which is knit separately and sewn on, makes up the other half of the lapel. Actually, it's been knitted and blocked already, I just have to sew it on. Oh, and I've knitted and blocked the other sleeve and the other front. Like I said, it's too hot to seam.

And anyway, I found something way more interesting than seaming: I cast on for a new project! (Probably doesn't surprise you, right?!) This is my own design, using SouthWest Trading Company's Soy Silk in Rose. I'm going to keep the details secret for a while... You never know: if this design is a winner, I might submit it somewhere... (But if you email me, I might divulge some details!).
Unfortunately, it took me all evening to cast on the right number of stitches (120). Once I did, I used the short tail of my cast-on to knit the first row. I only figured it out when I ran out of yarn half way through my row. *sigh*
Like I said, too hot to count.

If it wasn't so damn hot, I'd be knitting this:

For my brother (*cough* cough*):
I bought the yarn (the discontinued Rowan Polar in the color he chose: "combat") from the eBay vendor CucumberPatchUK last monday, they shipped it on tuesday and I received it on thursday. From England. Unbelievable!
Unfortunately, since I work a 9-5 job, I am never home to receive a package so I decided to explore my new post office on saturday. Well. It's a little ghetto. They have a double window system: the teller unlocks his window (the sliding bolt goes "thwack!!"), lifts the window, puts your package in the middle, closes his window, locks his window ("thwack!"), unlocks your window ("thwack!!"), you can then finally open your side, you reach in and grab your package, close your window, then he locks it again ("thwack!"). Now, I understand that some parts of Brooklyn were sketchy not that long ago, but do they really need this type of security in a neighborhood that is now safe?
Since Polar is a bulky wool/alpaca blend, I'm not getting near this yarn anytime soon. Anyway, my brother is in India right now, and has no need for a winter sweater.

Phildar Aviso is a lovely soft yarn and it's worsted weight to boot! I knew I'd get quick results on my Caban Marine. That is, if I didn't have to &%$!!@ rip every other row I knit for the past week...
Fortunately, I persevered and here is the result:(Yes, the colors are terrible. I know).
I'm sure you can recognize a sleeve on the left, and the back on the right. You might be wondering what the middle piece is? The one with the blob growing out of it? Are you doubting my abilities to read a french pattern?
I swear that's what it's supposed to look like. See?
Ha! I'm glad that it looks just like the diagram, but I'm still not totally sure how all the pieces are going to fit together. I have faith in Phildar though, so I'm chugging along...
Wish me luck!

Yes, I haven't even finished the Granny Smith Phildar cardie, and I've already cast on for another... To be fair, there's nothing to do on Granny Smith until I buy that damn zipper already. What was I to do? These 2 balls of Phildar Aviso just happened to be enticingly placed right above the TV... (I'm still not completely unpacked, ok? And yes, I think *any* yarn in my field of vision would tempt me).
So here's what I'm making: the Caban en Aviso Marine from the Spring 2006 Tendance. (I was looking for the right translation of the word "caban" and found 3 online translators that come up with "overcoat", but one gives me "reefer". Hee! I'm not knitting a reefer, just in case you were worried. Or excited). Isn't it cute?
I had never knit with Phildar's Aviso yarn before, and since Fluffa raves about it so often, I decided to give it a try. It is the softest cotton ever (Lisa likes it too!) and it's quite bulky so it knits up so quickly. Unfortunately, I am having my usual Phildar gauge problems. I find that the Phildar test knitters must knit incredibly tightly. For this cardie, they recommend using a size 8 needle (5mm). I'm using a size 6 needle (4 mm)! Does anybody else have that problem? I have the same issue with Rowan patterns too.

Anyway, I got a little carried away and knit an entire sleeve in the XS size because I thought my gauge was still too big. It's not. The XS is coming out XS, see?

So, I ripped:



I'd sigh a big sigh, but the truth is this yarn is so lovely that I don't mind knitting the sleeve again. Plus, it's a straight up sleeve: no inc or dec, just stockinette. Perfect for watching Project Runway.
By the way, did you see the Interweave Fall preview? Sknitty was the first to spot it!

I have a new place! Wheeee!
Here's my progress on the Phildar bolero: See that shelf? Lisa and I installed all by ourselves! We sweated a little bit (what if I hit an electrical wire or water pipes while drilling?!), but got it done.
Anyway, I've knitted the back and both the sleeves, so all that's left is the border. And by "all that's left", I mean 2" of ribbing over 132 st. *sigh*
Also, I discovered an almost-FO while unpacking. The Phildar green cardie (or as Lisa calls it "All That Ribbing") needs a zipper and it's done!
Also, I wanted to thank everybody who commented on my last post. I was really losing my mind at that point, and all the comments helped my morale (especially the ones where you suggested doing mean things to Juanita). Thanks for the support!