What have I been up to lately?

Packing:



and studying:



(Yup, that's Hedera all done. I'll give you details when I get all that other stuff under control.)

Inspiration for Fall 2006

I've got a lot of projects planned for the fall - partly because I'm going to be moving to a place where I have no friends and partly because it looks like I might be un- or (more optimistically) under-employed. So lots of time for knitting and sewing!!!

I'm planning on doing a lot of colourwork this fall/winter. Fair isle mittens, hats, socks and sweaters are all I can think about. The Vogue Knitting Fall 2006 preview has some pretty amazing fair isle that I'm drooling over (thanks to Wine and Needles for the heads up). I'm contemplating this:



and this:



Daunting, but doable. Also, the Thoroughbred sweater



from Anthropologie has a sexy fit and an interesting motif that I could copy *ahem* be inspired by. I'm also pretty keen by the Jimmy sweater (also from Anthropologie).



(nautical and wintery) and the Aviatrix sweater (quirky and lacy)



I'm also planning on brushing up on my sewing skills. I'm going to take a class from Studio Opal and I've already started to gather pictures, fabrics, and patterns. I've got to pick up this blouse pattern



from Simplicity's Built by YOU line designed by Wendy Mullin from Built by Wendy. I love the short-sleeved version and it just might be easy enough to suit my limited skill set. I'm also blown away by these Marc Jacob designs. The shapeless-yet-shapely look is probably too difficult for me to knock-off just yet, but a girl can dream.







[Edit: the last picture is actually of a Chloe dress, not Marc Jacobs. Sorry if I misled!]

Too hot to knit

Anything but socks, that is. Southern BC has been experiencing a bit of a heat wave these past few days - it's nothing compared to the temperatures in other parts of the country, but for us, 30 degrees is HOT. The tank of my own design has been abandoned because it's too squeaky and sweaty in this weather and because I found something else to wear to the occasion that I was making it for. I haven't swatched for Alouette again. All I have is yarn for wool sweaters, and wool hats, and wool mittens, and wool gloves that I just can't bear to touch. It seems that I've hit the dreaded summer slump.

Other knit-bloggers out there haven't though - check out Eunny's Almost Argyle socks! I love the subtlety of these - they remind me of the Retro Rib socks I've knit a few times from a long-ago Interweave. I made mine before I started to blog, but check out these ones: Strikker, Jacqknits, and All Tangled Up. All so pretty!

Plugging away

Not much to update on - I've turned the heel on Hedera number one and I just swatched for a summer tank of my own design in black Lion Brand Microspun. It's cheap and splitty, but I wanted to give it a try. Photos of black acrylic in flat light don't make for good blogging, so you'll have to wait to see how it's turning out. I finished the neckband on my Deep V while watching Pirates of the Caribbean on Wednesday (the yarn came sometime last week) but I'm not going to show you yet because I haven't finished tacking down the steeks, or weaving in the ends, or blocking it so it looks like crap. Plus, I'm still looking for the perfect button-down to compliment my outrageous colour choice.

Lies

I said on Sunday that I would post more about my trip to Beehive tomorrow, which of course meant yesterday, which I did not do. I apologize. I'm one day late, but the loot was so good, it's worth the wait. So wanna see what I got? Look!




Tahki Donegal Tweed (in a lovely Dark Grey with wonderful rich flecks - the picture does not do it justice) to make Demi (from Vintage Knits of course) and some Misti Alpaca that is going to become Aimee!!! I'm going to modify Aimee a bit (longer body with shorter sleeves), but my plan for Demi is to knit it pretty much as is.

Entirely successful trip. I would have loved to buy more with my big 20% discount, but I just couldn't justify buying more yarn that I would just have to pack up in three weeks. Yes, that's right, only three weeks and three days until I finish school and move to Toronto! Hard to believe that I'm almost done - a little scary actually. To calm my nerves, I started some more socks. I decided to go with a summery (well, as summery as wool socks can be) pattern and a summery colour - Hedera in some lovely light aqua Fleece Artist Merino Sock (what a surprise...)



I'm going to save Baudelaire for some other time. I've also picked up Adorn and KnitScene in the past few days.




Both are filled with great projects, but nothing that jumps out at me as a must-make in the near future. It's probably better that way, since I already have too much to pack. Speaking of, off to get started! Piles of books and cds await sorting and selling!

Swatching? What's that?

I've been secretive about my latest project. Not entirely intentionally, just because I've been quite busy lately and haven't had time to make an epic blog post about my latest knitting endeavors. I've started Alouette from Rowan's Vintage Knits with some lovely DROPS Alpaca I got from Beehive last week (during a fairly successful trip - more on that tomorrow). Last weekend, I was rushing to head out to see the new Superman movie and I was without some suitable movie knitting, so I quickly cast on the size for my usual measurements and went on my merry way. Big. Mistake. Well, not a HUGE mistake (because I think the colours are working out pretty well), but now that I'm into the pattern a little bit, I can see that I'm not getting gauge and the pattern is turning out a little holier that it should be. See:



So I've got to rip about 3 hours worth of 1x1 ribbing (not to mention a couple hours of pattern work too) and start again. The last wrinkle is that I don't have any smaller needles that aren't DPNs, so another trip to Beehive is in order. Let's see if I can get in and out of there without buying more yarn.

Sneaky knitting

I finally finished my Pomatomi! I had finished one a month or two ago, got second-sock syndrome, and didn't take them out again until last week. I memorized the chart pretty easily, so I was able to work on them during class this week and last. They went so quickly while my mind was focused elsewhere. Any ideas about which sock pattern I should knit next?

Details:
Pattern: Pomatomus socks - Knitty, Winter 2005
Yarn: Fleece Artist Merino Sock
Mods: None!

Edit: When fixing the links for this post, I noticed the summer Knitty is up! So much for studying tonight...

Edit again: I think I found the answer to my sock question: Baudelaire. Cookie A. does it again.

July Magknits is up

And some of it is quite nice. Wimbledon would be great in some super-bright colours (and maybe a little cap sleeve for good measure?). The idea of sideways socks kinda blows my mind, so I'm going to have to spend more time reading Bakerloo over. But the thing I like the most is the Ballet Camisole - it reminds me of my halcyon years as a little prima ballerina, so would be perfect to knit (and wear) while reliving my former glories.