seems like it took forever..

to finish this vest! after my 'vest in a week' i thought this would practically knit itself. chunky yarn held double (kraemer- mauch chunky in moss and sage) on 15 needles...

well, i was useless. counted wrong, ripped out, all sorts of reading errors.

i finally got to this.... when i realized that i needed a size L crochet hook to finish it up. seems that i'll need to make a stop at michaels.

so now i'm off on a hat project for child2, just as the sun is shinning and the weather predicts highs in the 80's. go figure.... how is this for a pile of cuteness?

finished in time

when i started this vest, i set a goal of one week to really push myself. it seems that i was a bit of a slacker on the olympic thing, so i wanted to see sweat this time. i finished promptly one week after starting and I LOVE THIS. the yarn (thankyou amy) is amazingly soft and i hope will be a selling point for her product at upcoming events. i carted it off to the guild meeting, where it was tried on by a few of us. it looks great on lots of different body types and the pattern really does lend itself well to some tweaking. this one is a bit shorter and i ended up using way less yarn. go figure.
and since it was off the needles, i immediately needed another project to keep me going.

so i cast on this.... yes it is another vest this time in kraemer- mauch chunky. i got the pattern last year when i visited the mill and wanted to do it. well, as luck would have it, one of the vendors at the meeting was moving this yarn at a great price ( half off a skein) and yes, i added lots to the stash. at first i was afraid that it was going to look 'aunt ceil' . this reference has long been held in my family as the hand-made garments our elderly aunt would make out of any piece of left over clothe or yarn she could find. she would work it up into the most hideous gift and we'd be stuck. the most memorable was the 1976 blouse that she made for my cousin's high school graduation...... in 1979.
so my dear honey assured me that this is not at all in that category, so onward i knit. and with the change in the weather, it looks like i'll get to wear it.

at it again

part way into the olympic knitting, i knew that i would be doing the vest again. i've tried to examine my need for immediately repeating a project. it helps to cement the pattern into my brain, i can remember any changes that i just made to said pattern, i can stay in the rhythm of the project and usually i get a gift done. my sister has often been the lucky recipient of my repetitious nature. sadly, now that i have actually measured myself her luck seems to be changing.

so the vest. i'm always looking for a way to dress up my work look and i love a good vest. i chose this pattern for the olympic knitting because i've admired it for ages, but never cast it on. it fits great! i like the coverage at the shoulders and the way it contours to my torso without being too clingy or too baggy. it was a tad long, so i'll shorten up the next ones. :)

as i was deciding what yarn i had in the stash to do another from, amythefibergoddess dropped by with some luscious wool/alpaca blend yarn fresh from the mill. i ooooed and ahhhhhed, but let her leave with it! duh. so i quickly put in my order and by having to wait it allowed my time to finish my guild project which i can't post about yet.

the fiber is a combination of three wool fleeces ranging in color from light to dark gray and a black alpaca fleece.

i actually got gauge with a 4.0 mm needle, so first thing friday i cast on. the correct number this time. see, that is why i keep doing the two-fer, i can get it right the second time. i'm cruising along now. the yarn is extremely soft, but has a lovely body. can i finish in a week??

the afterglow

since i finished my olympic project before the flame was extinguished, i launched into another gator. see, just like potato chips i can't stop doing them! eldest child decided that one was needed for warmth, and this was the yarn chosen. it is a merino/tencel blend from spinning bunny in the colorway ~ clematis. i had forgotten that i had spun this, but the puppy found my yarn basket and dug it out for us. all of my yarn has now been safely stowed into sealed containers behind locked doors until better fiber manners are learned.
it's that clemence pattern again, but with the long stripes in the yarn the end product looks totally different. there was quite a bit leftover, so......
a baby hat. my nephew and his lovely wife are adding to their family. the consensus was that this was gender-neutral and perfect for an april babe. i'm stitching some burp clothes to accompany it and should get this in the mail soon.








while i was in the spinning mood i started this.... a new creation from longmeadow farms ~ wool, silk, bamboo blend. it is lovely to spin. maybe another gator????