Tuesday, October 25, 2005

finishing frenzy...

I'm not quite sure what bit me Sunday, but I was on a roll! I started the morning with the Leaf Cravat. I finished knitting it, and quickly went to sewing in the loose ends and giving it a quick steam block.

Next, I tackled the job of blocking AB^3. Since the blanket is larger than my blocking board, I had no choice but to pin it down to my mattress. I wish I could have tacked it down to the floor, but my cat would have walked all over it and probably tried to eat some of the pins. By the end of the day, the blanket wasn't completely dry, but it was close enough.

I think it looks great and was completely worth the effort!

Finally, I sat down with Posy and started seaming. At first, I was hoping to just set in the sleeves and call it a day. But, since I got into the zone, if you would, I was really motivated to finish it. And finish, I did! (Actually, there are still a few ends to weave in) The fit is a little small, but I can definitely live with it.

So, that's three finished object! Not bad for a weekend, huh? That leaves my Circular Shrug...I'm workin' on it.

Friday, October 21, 2005

progress report...

It's been a really slow week for me. The changing weather has really been hard on me. There's something very, very wrong about suddenly having to leaving the house in the morning when the sun is just rising. This happens to many every year at about this time. I usually only lasts a couple of weeks...So, for now, I'm a little SAD.

I have finished the border for AB^3. Well, kind of...I'm not sure if I have it in me to re-knit the first edge. The one that I forgot to switch from size 3 to size 1 needles. I could probably leave it as is without anyone noticing. If I decide to leave it alone, I can seam the corners and block the beast tomorrow, and have this project finished this weekend!

I started working on the leaf cravat again, and I'm zipping along. When I started this project, I just wanted something small to take with me on the bus to work. I don't actually need a scarf. In the end, I will most likely give this to a friend whose birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks.

Finally, I have two other project sitting on the back burner. Posy is still waiting to be seamed. I pushed her aside in order to complete AB^3. And, the circular shrug hasn't been touched in a couple of weeks. It seems that brioche stitch is only slightly more interesting than knitting 1x1 rib.

I'm looking forward to clearing out all of my WIPs, so I can start a sweater.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

the end is near...

I made some really good progress on AB^3 this weekend. I was able to finish the body of the blanket on the ride to and from Charlotte. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack the pattern book with me, so I wasn't able to start on the borders. The body took just under 8 balls of yarn to complete.

Here's the entire body of the blanket:


And, a close-up:

I had yesterday off, so I focused on the boarder. The border is made up of a 12-row chevron pattern and then several triangles formed using short rows. Here are the first few triangles along the top boarder.

The 12 row pattern went by pretty quickly, but the triangles are killer! It took me hours just to finish the bottom boarder. I completed the entire top border, then realized that I hadn't switched to smaller needles, as the pattern directs, so the triangles are kind of floppy. I go back and fix that problem after I've done the other 3 sides.

Now that I'm done with the body,I think I'll start taking this with me to work. I would love to finish AB^3 this week so I can get it to my bro and SIL soon.

Wednesday, October 05, 2005

a day off...

Yesterday, I took a much needed break from working on AB^3. I have been working on it for a little over two week. Plus, I had a pile of laundry to do so that I could pack for this weekend's trip...I would hate to make any mistakes while running back and forth to the laundry machine. So, with just one more set of "blocks" to go, I decided to rest for a night.

AB^3 will be the main project that I work on in the car...but, I'm thinking of bringing another, so that I feel like I have some variety. I'll probably bring the circular shrug with me. I'm making the body of mine in brioche stitch. It looks like a big chunky rib pattern that has been blocked out, and it doesn't stretch as much. I have about half of the body knit...I'm going to add the 2x2 rib border once I have finished the body. That way it will truly be circular.

Monday, October 03, 2005

baby steps...

I hoping to finish AB^3 in the next two weeks. I'm going to miss my SIL's baby shower, which is next weekend, but, I would like to give them the blanket soon. The good thing is that I'm really enjoying this project. Since the entire body is charted, there's not much time to get bored. The downside is that I haven't put much priority on finishing Posy. I have finished all of the knitting, and I have blocked the pieces.


If only I could find someone to seam it together for me!

Speaking of AB^3, I've made a lot of progress. As of last night, I am two-thirds of the way through the second chart. I'm driving down to Charlotte, NC for a wedding this weekend. Since, I'm not actually doing the driving, that means plenty of time to knit!