Knitting Happens, Blogging Doesn't

1. Lace Ribon Scarf, 2. Turn A Square, 3. Porcupine Cowl, 4. Porcupine Cowl, 5. Boy VEst, 6. Boy Vest, 7. IMG_1949, 8. IMG_1954, 9. IMG_1952, 10. IMG_1951, 11. IMG_1939, 12. IMG_1940

Well, I'm back. For those of you who still have me tagged somewhere - I'm here, I'm alive and, natch, I'm knitting.

Most of my knitting notes are on my Ravelry project pages, but not all are members!

So, from the top, then, shall we?

Lace Ribbon scarf is a Christmas present for a much loved aunt. I must love her! This the second scarf (she felted the first one and then lost it) and it is a bit of a dozy for the small yarn and the small needles - size #3. She only wears tan and white. Won't this look great as a subtle accent? Oh, it is also superwash - no felting possible!

The beenie is for LB (little boy) That kid just loves orange! The brighter the better. The pattern is from the amazing brooklytweed. Only a knitter would get completely jazzed by the fact that the stripes start off round, but then turn into squares. Fortunately, LB is a knitter. Sort of. He knits when there isn't anything else to distract a curious, active, nearly 12 year old. Ok, he almost never knits. But he knows how!!!

The cowl is a clever Mobieus Cowl named Prickle. The lace stitch is named the Porcupine stitch - I'm really at a loss as to why. The Mobieus is very cool because it drapes just perfectly to cover your decollete, yet does not fall off. Then you can pull it up like a hood and look incredibly demure and ladylike. Those of you who know me in the physical world should kindly stop laughing now. Thank you.

The Boy Vest happened before the Mobieus Cowl. I scored several balls of Mission Falls 1824 Wool from the sale bin at Compattos (this is now my fav yarn store). I knew that straight up stockinette was the way to show off this yarn - but what to do? A combo of Ann Budd's Sweater Pattern Book and Leftovers from Knitty was just the ticket. I really feel like this was me, knitting fearlessly. All I had was a swatch, a picture in my head and some technique guidance. The waist shaping, arm scythe, and neck/armbands was pretty much impromptu. I am VERY happy with the result.

Ok, the tank that matches the Collared shrug is very cute. It is also very short! Move just so and the belly button is out for all to see. This is fine for a 15 year old. Not so much for a 45 year old. But, damn it all to bloody hell! I knit the thing, it is way cute and I wear it, BB and all. Deal.

The collared tank is nearly a knitting no-no. I haven't had many of these in my knitting career, so I guess it is ok. It is wearable, after all. It is possible the pattern is great and I am just not "getting it", but in the picture the points of the collar are perky and pointing toward the tops of the shoulders. I fiddled and finagled the finishing every way I could and, brother, that is just not possible with the pieces as knit. I was so put out, I contacted the publishers of KnitScene, because the designer is nowhere on the net. No. Where. They helped by telling me the pattern is right. Yeah.

The first two pics are how the shrug is supposed to lay - still not like the model, but somewhat close. I'd have to stay completely immobile for this to stay. The third pic is how the thing actually wears - not hideous, but not sophisticated. Since I held the cotton double, I may frog this someday and make a better fitting garment -right after I knit through the rest of my stash.

Last, but certainly not least, is Ariann. This sweater was wicked hard for me. I still don't have the hang of increasing and decreasing while maintaining a lace pattern, in the round. I kept winding up with the wrong number of stitches.

I wanted to make this for myself, being the narcissist that I am, but Momma wanted a sweater. "But Momma", I say, don't you want a scarf or slippers or something fast?" No, she wants to brag to her mah jong cronies that her daughter knit her a WHOLE sweater. "But Momma", I say, "Why do you want me to start now? I'll finish in the middle of August, not exactly wool sweater wearing sweater in LA, you know". "Daughter", she says, "I'm not going to be around forever!!"

True, that. Here's your sweater, Mom. Stick around for a while, will ya?

Just For Fun

I saw this meme over at tentenknits blog and gave it a whirl. What fun! Flickr has some amazing people contributing amazing photos.


Here are the directions!
- Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
- Using only the first page, pick an image.
- Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name? Kendyl
2. What is your favorite food? dim sum
3. What high school did you go to? Marshall High, LA
4. What is your favorite color? green
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Will Smith
6. Favorite drink? Scotch
7. Dream vacation? Tuscany
8. Favorite dessert? Apple Pie a La Mode
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Old
10. What do you love most in life? Life Itself!
11. One Word to describe you? Joyful
12. Your flickr name? happy2knit or kendylyoung

Credits:
1. Lincoln Continental III, 2. siu mai spoon, 3. hello ol' friend, 4. :P, 5. willsmith, 6. Scotch on the Rocks, 7. Tuscany Afternoon, Florence, 8. Please Pass The Pie, 9. an old lady with an umbrella in Ravangla market!, 10. I Love New York, 11. IMG_8118, 12. DSC_0106

Works in Progress

We are just about caught up here, at Chez Kendyl. After several really big projects my head is a little fried. I'm going after a few little lovelies that are easy to tote, easy to knit and have actual, tested PATTERNS that I know I will only have to knit once.

First up is the Lombard Street Socks from the now defunct Magknits. The pattern is now available here. This is my second pair of socks and, while I remain skeptical of the usefulness of hand knit wool socks in So Cal, there is a certain charm to the rhythm and ease of transport that a knit sock project brings. I was gifted 2 delicious skeins of Shibu Knits sock yarn and it was time to knit it up. Lovely, isn't it? The actual color is deeper and richer in person, but the stitch definition really popped with the flash.

The second is technically finished, but I'm working on a set of these. The Diagonal Ripple Dishcloth caught my eye on a friend's queue on Ravelry, but the kicker was a conversation with a" domestic diva" friend of mine. She swears that her hand crochet cloths are the very best at washing dishes and pans. Eh, I'll take that one on faith, but what the heck? Each one of these babys only takes 3-4 hours. I think I'll make a set of 2, but now I've queued up 10 more dishcloth patterns. This might turn into a horrible trend... I might have to use one these things!

Ocean Waves Tank

We are getting better at this whole design thing! This my second from my head and the first with nothing to base it upon.

Pattern - My own
Yarn - Karabella Mako Cotton Yarn
Needles - US 10.5 and US 11 Knit Picks Harmony

The Inspiration.
I knew this yarn was destined to be a tank and envisioned a lacy light stitch to offset the bulky nature of the yarn. The water inspired colors reminded me of waves of water lapping at my feet... well, you can see where the rest of this is going, can't you? Construction of the top is pretty simple, knit a skirt with feather and fan, then a stockinette bodice. Easy Squeezy! Yeah, not so much.

The Journey
For the life of me I could not figure out how to decrease feather and fan in the round. it should be simple - make sure the subtracted stitch has a matching subtraction in the YO's - but it wouldn't work. Graphs, tick marks, test swatches, online searches, pleading with the gals in SnB to help me figure it out. Nada. Finally, Donna (a knitter of decades long experience) says, why don't you go down a needle size? That's it? It's that simple? Seriously?! GAH!!!!

Next was the math. Always, the math. Trust me when I say that knitting math is no brain surgery. Subtract. Divide. Count the stitches. This is what I got.

The top is at least 4 inches too big! Instead of being a cute flirty top it was a big fugly tent. Not good. Not good at all. See - even without pulling the fabric out you can see how it bunches up under the arms and is just unattractive. I reknit the bodice 3 seperate times. Not portions of the bodice - the whole shooting match. Yikes! But I got it right in the end and, as a committed process knitter, that's the whole point (without being stupid. c'mon - I want to wear it at some point!)

Side by side comparison!

This is my first written pattern, so take that under advisement if you want to knit it yourself! Enjoy!

Hot Fun in the Summertime

Much knitting, very little time to blog about it! I have been consumed with a new internet project, a micro social network www.kendylsopenhouse.ning.com. This is a site that tries to tie all the disparate parts of my life together for the common good. Click on in and take a look around!

On to the knitting. On my last post, about a million and a half years ago I mentioned that I was going after one of my "fearless knitting" projects, the Fialti Summertime. The knitting went really fast - it was fun and not hard at all. I reveal... My Best Sweater to Date.

Pattern - Filati Summertime, from Lana Grossa
Yarn - SWTC Bamboo Yarn, color Sahara
Needles - US #7, Knitpicks Harmony (LOVE these needles)
Time to knit - about a month

This is very PERFECT summer sweater. The neutral color goes with everything and this sweater actually fits. Actually. Fits. Don't that just beat all? I must have spent one entire week making people look at my sleeves and how they are the appropriate length. Freakin' miracle that is!! It is the right weight and style for everything from a dressy summer party in the evening to a business outfit (or what passes as business outfit for me. I hate suits. Hate. Suits.) to a cute top over jeans. Perfect.

No real mods to speak of. All measurements on the schematic were in metric, so I had some fun puzzling over that one. I know. There's metric on the back of the measuring tape. It just didn't help my confusion. I'm slow that way. (if you are laughing right now, Shirley, I'm coming over there to mess you up)

I'm so happy I'm doing the happy swirly dance. Yipee!

Filati Summertime Tunic

A long, long, time ago, back when knitting was a new skill to learn and not an entire lifestyle, I saw this picture.I thought to myself, "Self, if you could knit that cardigan you would be a super star!" I filed it away under wishful thinking and that was that.

But did any of you out there in Knitting Land buy those lovely bags of SWTC Bamboo from the Discounted Yarn people? I did, and brother, that is a whole lot of yarn! While my Textured Tank languished in it's time out I cast on, using the Sahara color.


Almost a dead ringer for the color, isn't it? I am having such fun! Beyond all expectation I have turned into a lace knitter. Just a few months ago I saw Heather at SNB knitting the Mystery Shawl and thinking that was darn near impossible. Now I'm making garments out of the stuff. Amazing.

I am starting on the 2nd sleeve and should start assembly by next week. Cool!

Finished, The Textured Tank

The Textured Tank is Born!

Yarn: Elle Rae Shibu, Silk with a little Viscose for shimmer
6 Balls
Needle: #7
Pattern... MINE!!!

A million years ago (it seems) I started this little passion project to design a top all my own. Well, sort of. As it turns out, the finished project is nothing like the inspiration piece so I claim this as a Kendyl Original!

My plan had been to make the back a plunging V... but it looked better the other way 'round.


A lovely lavender cami and a sharp pair of silk slacks... Tres Elegante!


Some of you might remember that I was going to write this up. I did, right up to the point that I discovered that the armholes were way too deep and I put the whole project on a time out for 3 weeks.

When it came back out, I unpicked the shoulder seems, frogged back 2 inches and re knit it using a simple boat neck instead of the fancy-schmancy short row shaping for the front ( that is now the back). I did not take notes on this last bit - I just wanted the damn thing done, ya know?

SO, if you want what I did write, I'll send it along - read and/or knit at your own risk!