Tres Chic Veronique

I finished the Simplicity 4170 dress!

(I had a very hard time taking pictures with a self-timer today. Either I cut my head off or my head's in the pic, but everything's blurry. And I wanted to show off my new Vidal Sassoon haircut!).
The dress was a bit of an adventure. I was between sizes, so I cut pieces for the larger size, assembled everything, tried it on and... it didn't fit right. Good thing Katy was there to give me tips. The next day, I took all the pieces apart and reassembled them. Kind of scary when you're not quite sure what you're doing. But it now fits perfectly. *phew*
Although it took just 3-4 evenings to make, I don't think it will replace knitting for me. Too stressful!
Oh, what's that? You noticed I'm wearing a new bracelet?

This bracelet was a birthday gift from my aunt Tina and my uncle Jeff. I made a little list on my Hintbug page (found through Jess), and they picked my favorite item! I'm thinking that it's so geeky it's cool?
PS: Agnes is nearing completion. But now that I've shown you one front and one sleeve, the other front and sleeve won't seem so exciting... You'll have to wait for the big reveal!

Labels: Agnes

Yup, I'm just chugging right along, nothing new, nothing exciting... This is a sleeve, and, as per my calculations, once I am done with this sleeve, I will have completed 2/3rd of the Agnes cardigan (from Rowan 35)!

I *just* noticed that Agnes matches the Alexander Henry fabric (Heart to Heart) I bought recently... Just love those black hearts! I plan on making this dress:
Now, I found all sorts of summery dress patterns on SewingPatterns.com (there's 10 that I like...), but I bought this one because you can download the pattern and *immediately* print it out! As I am of the impatient sort, I got a special thrill out of printing out 40 pages and taping them all together. Yes, it takes a while to do that, and to cut out the pattern pieces. But still, you can't beat the sense of instant gratification!
While I was at it, I also downloaded and printed a free Burda Styles dress pattern.

Edited to Add: Did you see MichelleKnits on page 26 of the latest Adorn?! Eeeeee! Congrats Michelle!

Labels: Agnes, summer dress

The main complaint I hear from non-knitters about why they don't want to knit an entire sweater is that it "takes too long". Every single time I show off an FO to a non-knitting friend, the first question out of their mouth is "how long did it take you to make that?!". My answer (uh, I dunno, about a week? a month?) never really satisfies them... If I go into details, explaining that I usually juggle several projects at once, they just seem confused.

However, it is crucial for me to be able to guesstimate how far along I am on a project. I cannot predict the time it will take, but I must calculate how much knitting I've completed and have much knitting I have ahead of me. I've got to see the light at the end of the tunnel!
So, here are my guesstimates:
I postulate that a sweater or cardigan is made up of 6 equally sized rectangles (or units).
1 sleeve= 1 unit
1 back or 1 front= 2 units

A cardigan is made up of:
2 sleeves= 2 units
2 half-fronts= 2 units
1 back= 2 units
2+2+2= 6!
So if you've knitted, say, the right front (1 unit) and the back (2 units) of a cardigan, you're half-way done! (3 out of 6 units).
At this point, you can check whether your half-completed cardie goes well with your summer wardrobe.

It does!

For socks, I assume that the foot is longer than the leg. The question is: how much longer? Not really twice as long.... I guesstimate that if the foot is 2 units long, then the leg is 3 units long. That's 5 units per sock, or 10 units total for a pair of socks. So if you're working toe-up socks and you've just turned the heel, you've done 2 out of 10 units, of 20% (or 1/5th).

Check out my Misocrafty heel. I was ready to abandon the short row heel because of the inevitability of holes, but various Spiders have raved about Misocrafty's tutorial. The title of the tutorial, "How to Knit a Short Row Heel or Toe Without Holes" does not lie.

Labels: Agnes, guesstimate

Agnes is progressing, although I suddenly remember how much knitting with cotton hurts my hands. Especially moss stitch, because I have to tug each stitch tight. (Yes, I could go down a needle size but: a. I'm already knitting with 3s, and b. the row gauge would then be off). Good thing I started with a half-front and not the back!

I did make a few minor changes... After knitting the moss stitch panel, I realized that I hadn't been instructed to slip the first st, so that the edge where the buttonholes will be looked bumpy and lumpy. Ugh!
I had to rip...

And re-knit:

Ah, much better! I was so happy at how well this half-front turned out that I decided to work the back. All I can say is: ouch!! My hands are killing me! I know that Katy understands what I'm talking about.

I've also been playing around with my Yarntini sock club yarn...
I started with 60 st, and grand plans to work the Mermaid pattern from the book we received with the yarn. Well, although the Mermaid sock in the book is worked in winding k2 p2 rib both on the top *and* the bottom part of the foot, I decided to work the bottom part of the foot in stockinette. Who wants ribbing under their foot? Did I notice that the pattern biased? Yes, but I didn't think it was that important. Rip. Then I decided to work k3 p1 ribbing. Oops, 60 st is too many. Rip. So I worked k3 p1 ribbing on 56 st. Didn't like the look of that ribbing. Rip. Then I tried k2 p2 ribbing, but not only was 56 st still too big, it turns out that I don't like the look of ribbing with self-striping yarn. Rip. Finally, *finally*, I settled for plain stockinette on 54 st.
Here's a visual summary of my Yarntini misadventures:

Good thing that this yarn is a joy to knit with!

Labels: Agnes, Yarntini

There are two important events in May: it's my birthday and the weather finally starts getting nice:) And, this year, the arrival of my first Yarntini sock club package made it even better.
Without further ado:
A Misocrafty pouch in one of my favorite Amy Butler prints, and self-striping Yarntini yarn in "Pure Breeze Stripe".
Blue! I can't seem to get away from this lovely color! I guess there are some things you just shouldn't fight...
I love this Misocrafty pouch! And check out a new detail: a tab. My previous pouch sadly lacked one, and I boldly emailed Joelene. And the next thing you know, voila!, a tab. I just love crafters.

But check out the other goodies:

• Lucy Neatby's Cool Socks Warm Feet-- Six Exceptional Sock Patterns for Printed Yarns

• Pure Breeze Lip Balm by Yarntini

• Stitch markers by sarkasmo.etsy.com

• and a little sample of Soak in Citrus.

I immediately wound the yarn and started a toe-up sock. Thanks to Yahaira, creator of Pureknits for putting together such a great sock club.


But the fun doesn't stop there! I received a birthday gift certificate to Brooklyn General from the very generous Spiders. As a coincidence, we happened to meet up at Brooklyn General, so I had to spend it... I got 11 balls of Rowan's Cotton Glace in a soothing, summery shade of pink (Peony). I already cast on for Agnes, from Rowan 35. This mag came out in 2004 (it's the one that has the popular Audrey sweater, I think it was the first knit-along that I lurked), and I've had my eye on the Agnes pattern ever since.


Thank you Spiders! And especially to Virginia and Lisa who are the organizers behind the Spiders birthday exchange. They not only remember everybody's birthdays, but they collect funds, have fantastic gift ideas, and they have even created a Spiders' bank account! And they decided that if there's leftovers, we'll have a smashing party!

And finally, I'd like to show you exactly how much yarn I started with for my Bloom shawl:

And how much yarn I have left over:

*phew* Just made it!

Oh, one last thing: I have 3 invites for Ravelry. Anybody interested?

Labels: Agnes, birthday, blumengruss shawl, Ravelry