FO : tea leaves cardigan

It's done! Actually it was done almost a week ago, but it took me a long time to block, sew buttons and then drag Iain out for some photos in front of the Inca wall on the other side of town. 

Hey look, it's my standard awkward sweater pose! 

I blazed through this sweater because I desperately need another sweater out here in Ollanta, and I can already tell this is a sweater I'll wear all the time (though maybe not here, because something about life in this town thrashes your clothes, and this sweater is too pretty to be thrashed). The pattern was very easy to follow, and  I made very little adjustments to the pattern, just omitting the increases under the arms and knitting at a very slightly tighter gauge to get a slightly more fitted sweater. I also added button holes all the way down, as you can see - I like the fastened at the top look, but I think it'll get more wear through the winter this way.

I really loved everything about using Codex by Sanguine Gryphon (starting with the colorway name - On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl) and am holding my breath to see how it looks after a few wearings. I love single ply yarn, and could easily see this becoming my go-to such yarn for sweaters. The color is difficult to describe, but is absolutely gorgeous. I was a lazy knitter and did not switch skeins, but I think I got away with it? 

Much as I love this sweater, I can't help but feel that the Inca wall steals the show in these photos, because really, how cool is this wall?

Raveled here.

WIP : tealeaves

Current wip of the moment is a Tea Leaves cardigan in Sanguine Gryphon Codex. Finishing it has become something of an obsession, so I'm actually much further along than this photo from earlier in the week - I've also done the button bands and most of one sleeve. It's nothing new for me to become unreasonably fixated on finishing a project, but this time around I think it's mainly because I only have one real sweater here in Ollantaytambo (I did *not* pack wisely), and I'm desperate for something warm to wear! So here's hoping it comes out nice, because no matter how it looks, I'm going to be wearing it all the time anyway. 

FO: Goodale

Despite Iain arriving last weekend (finally! hooray!) I was able to finish up my Goodale cardigan (the reincarnation of an earlier, doomed February Lady) yesterday afternoon, not long after we left Los Angeles for my mother's house in Oakland.

Why yes, those are home grown apples behind me! 

Anyway, Goodale ... sigh. There are so many gorgeous versions of this sweater on Ravelry that I had really high hopes when I began. It definitely turned out better than the February Lady sweater this yarn could have been, but I'm a bit dissatisfied with the end result. The sweater seems really fussy to me, in that everything last to be lying exactly right so as to prevent the pockets from flopping open and looking all weird - as the sweater currently is, I can't really see myself wearing it out much, because I'd never be able to stop worrying that it was all askew. I think what I'll have to do is eventually forgo the pockets, block the thing really carefully and sew the whole thing up so the front lies flat, but I'm just too discouraged by the whole thing to mess with it anymore at the moment.

The yarn I used was Madelinetosh Pashmina, which, despite coming in very tangly skeins and being rather splitty, is still one of my favorite yarns ever. I used size seven needles here, and the fabric has a beautiful drape to it (which may explain why the pockets won't stay put?)

So, that's Goodale for now - I may try and fix up the pockets when I'm in a more problem solving mood, but for now I'm going to put it aside. Just last night I was trying to explain to my mom that I love knitting because it's more forgiving and doesn't demand perfection the way sewing does (much like, to my mind anyway, the way cooking forgives mistakes in ways that baking doesn't - so, knitting is to sewing as cooking is to baking!) - not so much with this sweater, I'm afraid. 

RIP(ped out): february lady sweater

above: this photo is so old, it's from when I still lived in an apartment with tatami! 

Oh, February Lady; I don't think I made any progress on you since I took this photo back in ... November, maybe? I don't even remember. Perhaps it was a bit overambitious to fly blind with a much smaller gauge (to say the least of all the many modifications I had in mind). Also apparently I can't count: when - remembering my New Years resolution - I finally got the motivation to sit down with this sweater and finish it last week, a quick stitch count revealed that the two front panels were asymmetrical by like, ten stitches. How did I even do that? 

above: Goodale thus far 

It seemed like a waste to have two pretty skeins of tart sitting unknit and unenjoyed for nearly a year (to say nothing of making a mess of such a pretty pattern). The good news was, the two skeins of madelinetosh pashima were just enough to cast on for a pretty Goodale cardigan instead! Unlike the frogged February Lady misadventure, this time I'm following the pattern exactly, down to the recommended yarn. In two days, I'm already as far into the Goodale cardigan as I ever got into the February Lady, so here's hoping it'll be less drama and more fun than it's predecessor...

FO: bluebird streamside

I finished this awhile ago and have been too busy wearing it all over Los Angeles to blog about it, but, in any case, my Streamside cardigan is finished!

The Pattern: This was my first project by Cecily Glowik MacDonald (I had a terrifically hard time choosing which one I wanted to knit, because I seriously love and would wear almost everything she's designed). I did find those four neck stitches at the top of the shoulder a tiny bit awkward, but maybe that's just my sloppy knitting. In any case, this sweater is gorgeous. I wish I was a better knitter so I could have done the pockets - I actually knit them both, sewed one on, realized it looked terrible, and then spent half an hour picking it back out. I also totally misread the pattern to include about 20 stitches of 1x1 rib along the front, which I suspected was a it off early on, but I liked the way it looked so I kept it, even though I am the slowest 1x1 rib knitter on the planet. Anyway, multiple testaments to my own stupidity aside, this is a fantastic pattern. The shaping on this is so pretty and flattering, and I'd like to try this again while trying a different technique for the super cute little pockets. As I said, I really love this sweater, and have been wearing it out quite a bit already. 

And the yarn: Fiberphile Super Squish Worsted in Bluebird. So much love - a soft, squishy worsted yarn that just gets softer after blocking, and comes in my new favorite blue colorway ever. Bluebird is a seriously gorgeous blue, and the yarn is just variegated enough to add some depth without going all splotchy (it's a delicate balance! I swear!) I knit this a bit loosely with size 8 needles, and love the resulting fabric - I would definitely knit with this again.

Also, I love the buttons, which have pretty little chrysanthemums on them. I'm in LA for the summer, and my dad lives down the street from a sewing supplies store, where I spent ages pouring over all the buttons. They had a few in a slightly closer color, but not enough for my cardigan, so I went with the lighter shade, and now I'm happy I did. Yay, buttons.