Oblique Eggplant, off the needles

Finally!

I started wearing this sweater out and about before I blocked or put buttons on or even wove in ends. It is that delectable and cozy.

The master color is "eggplant"- a rich, dark purple. (I'm a total purple addict.) The contrast color is "piedras"- variegated oranges, reds, yellows, pinks, purples. The first skein was darker than the rest, so you can see in the photos that the diamond colorwork is more obvious on the bottom half than the top (pattern is worked top down).

True story: I was picking out the yarn at the Webs booth at Stitches West (chaos) and was searching for 5 skeins in each color. I found 5 eggplant and 4 piedras. I was stressing about it with a stranger who was loitering around me and we were spitballing alternatives. After a few minutes, I was undeterred, so she gave up loitering and put down a skein of yarn and walked away. It was my missing 5th piedras. So, yeah, shout out to that mean old lady.

The details of this pattern are what really sold me on it. The neck, hem and cuffs are all double knit, giving them more volume and a little bell-shape. (I did the neck in the recommended size of needle, but went down three sizes for the hem and cuffs.) And the diamond pattern was easy to remember and spot mistakes.

There were a few errors in the pattern, which I've gone into more detail about on my Ravelry projects page (here). I also had 3 full skeins (1 eggplant, 2 piedras) remaining at the end, so the estimated yarn requirements are exaggerated.

My final remark is that the lack of shaping in the body proved problematic. I foresaw that it would be a problem (I have hips, the pattern's model does not), so I started increasing once the body started, but it was too little, too conservative. I only added buttons at the top and can't wrap the whole sweater around my hips. Still cozy, though.

Tatum Lately

We've been out and about more and more- getting closer to peak marathon mileage- so Tatum has plenty of new trail photos. He's always happiest outdoors.

Oblique Eggplant, on the needles

At last year's Stitches West, I bought $200 of Malabrigo Mechita yarn in the hopes of making my most ambitious sweater yet: Oblique Motion ($7 here).

Swatched, pattern printed, yarn balled... even bought some nifty hexagonal needles. Game on.

That was in February of 2015. It was some slow going:

I blocked the sweater last week and am working on the finishing touches, better photos. So stay tuned, it's a beauty... Only took 11 months to finish.

Sneak Peek

Almost a year's worth of work, so nearly nearly done.

Coming soon.

Mitts Galore

I went through a phase recently of making a ton of fingerless gloves- mitts? I don't know what the cutesy name for them is...

 I came up with a simple pattern that I quickly memorized and could knit while walking, riding in the car, waiting in line, etc. Some have thumbs, some don't. Mostly determined by whether or not I had enough yarn for thumbs... no other rhyme or reason.

Here's the thing: I don't wear fingerless gloves. It was never a style I could pull off or wear well. But one pair has made it's way into my camping wardrobe at least. The rest occasionally get posted on my Etsy shop, although I try not to flood it with all of them...

And no post is complete without a shot of Tatum. So here he is wearing his gloves (booties).

Kraken Cowl

This was a gift for a friend- the second thing I've knit her that didn't come out quite right- and she's been a good sport about accepting flawed gifts with enthusiasm.

The major problem with this project was that despite swatching and blocking the swatch and feeling like I had the gauge down, the final result was way off. Gigantic, huge, unwearable.

I used the right weight of yarn, the right needles, so I guess it must be my tension?

Well, I don't think I'll be making this pattern again, so I'll stop asking questions and move on.

There are plenty of other projects on Ravelry where the knitter got it right (go here) and you can also buy the pattern and give it a shot yourself.

In the end, I sent it to my friend anyway, recommending that she seam up the sides and it'd make a decent body pillowcase. Ha!

Tatum and cows

"Tatum, look at that calf!... no, over there... no, look... oh, whatever."