Wednesday, February 08, 2006

And When She Was Good...

...she was very very good...

A Finished Object!

Green is for G, design based on Child's Placket Neck Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Halvorsen
Booties are from 50 Baby Booties to Knit by Zoe Mellor
Yarn Used: Schachenmayr Catania and Crazy Cotton

Project Notes: This was an ill-conceived project from the start. Here's what I should know by now: when you need to finish a project quick, please please please just pick a pattern, then pick an equivalent yarn, and just knit the damn pattern. When you want to get from string to FO in about a week, why why why was I going to design my own? Was I nuts? This was a case of falling in love with yarn. Remember what my original plan was for my gift to G? Booties. With stash. For a California Baby who doesn't need a sweater, right? OK, so what happened, you ask? Well, yarn love happened. I went to the LYS, went to the Baby Yarn room, and had every intention of walking out with nothing, or maybe a ball or two of Baby Cashmerino, and walked out in love with this Crazy Cotton yarn. I decided I could knit Devan, a baby sweater with sock yarn. Of course, since I am currently obsessed with sock yarn. But then I panicked about that pattern. Matching up stripes? On a cardigan? Never gonna work. So then I was going to just use the shape of a Rowan baby sweater from Pipsqueaks. Started that. Panicked again about matching stripes from front to back. So then I went with an EZ yoked sweater. So I hunkered down with the calculator and a great desire to do mathematics based on what was now my swatch (which the day before was actually the back of the Rowan copy sweater) and with that urge to design my first sweater (see lengthy post).

Are you following me? Well, when I got to the yoke shaping based on the EZ percentage system, I chickened out. Math scared me. I ran screaming and spent a day working on Jules.

Another trip to the LYS for another ball of the Catania Green (bought 2, just in case!), and stumbled on this pattern, that is essentially the idea that I had. I thought the raglan shaping would look good with the striped yoke, which was my idea for the EZ sweater anyway. So with a crazy ratio of minimal ripping to maximum stitch dropping and cursing, I pressed on with my pattern, and finished the damn thing yesterday.

I know this is a long story (as usual), and I even left out the other trip to the other LYS to purchase additional needles, and the ugly armpits that I am just living with (note the placement of the booties). Just happy to have the thing done.

Of course, a California Baby doesn't need a sweater, so why did I even make this? Ill-conceived from the start...



And when she was bad, she was horrid...


See the big shopping bag? It was FULL of yarn. LYS. Super bowl mystery sale. Pick out yarn, get secret discount at register. I got 15% off and and a big ole bag of yarn.



See all that yarn? That's a sweater's worth of Silk Garden, three balls of Kimono Angora, three balls of Katia Jamaica, and two more skeins of Koigu to add to the sock stash. And remember the dress I got on discount? That's how I rationalized buying a big ole hank of Blue Heron Yarns Rayon Metallic to make a wrap to go with the dress.




And this came in the mail. Two skeins of Socks that Rock. More for the sock stash. It's getting scary around here.

2 comments:

Ann said...

Oh my! First of all the sweater and booties are fantastic! I'm envious of the yarns and of the finished project ...

Mo said...

I ADORE the sweater. I'm all about the green. My dad dressed us in green like it was St. Patty's day all year long. I guess it stuck, at least in my mind, since my closet doesn't reflect it.