Friday, September 26, 2008

catching up


For everyone who hasn't popped over to Ravelry already, I thought I'd better post some shots of my completed Honeycomb vest.

I have to say, I love this vest! I actually didn't think I'd like it as much as I do - perhaps it was a bit short? a bit snug? too low cut?


but no. I've worn it several times already, with jeans and skirts, and have received many lovely compliments. It's a great weight to add just enough extra warmth, and I adore the colour.

The pattern is from Knitty and I'd warn those new to knitting to proceed with caution. In my opinion, it's not written very clearly. There's a lot of ambiguity with increasing/decreasing and some
instructions, like, regarding keeping the pattern correct while doing said inc/dec, are downright confusing. That said, if you've knitted from patterns a fair bit, you should be able to nut it out using your experience of what it should mean!

and speaking of "nut" (do you like that seamless segue?), as a reward for finishing Honeycomb, I cast on Ellis, using my Pear Tree 12ply in Nut.

and so there was a tale....

Cue confident girl, sitting in a chair; stage left... Knit, knit away, gauge swatch, check, lovely, cast on back, ooh, 12ply knits up fast, doesn't it?, onto the left front, knit knit some more. Quick measure against back to check. Oh no. why doesn't that armhole match that armhole? Quick, get the ruler. 18st/24row. NOOOOOOO! you are meant to read 19sts/28rows, ruler must be faulty. check again. still faulty. Damn. already down to the smallest needle size possible to still get fabric, not felt. Damn, damn, damn!!! cue deflated girl sitting despondent stage left. Fade....


Yes, this is my tale of woe. Luckily the parter of Ellis, Acton, knits at 18/24, and I have enough of the Pear Tree to make that... Won't be the same though.

I cast on (another) February Sweater instead, but this time for Lily (girls size 10). There are some great notes on Ravelry about resizing flintknits February Lady Sweater pattern to fit a girl, but in the end, I just used the smallest size (35") and instead of worsted, have substituted 8ply. I'm using the
8ply Pear Tree in Blush and Gallah. The paler pink is only around the trim, the main sweater being in the deeper colour.


I've just started the lace stitch, so far so good, but this is the third project in nearly a row that have used Gull stitch (Pi shawl, Feb Sweater for baby and now this one), I know it off by heart, and this will definitely be the last of it for a while!

I've missed having a small on-the-go project, too, so I cast on some more Jaywalkers (I'm just in the land of the big bandwagon, aren't I?), using stashed Opal. Lily's already claimed these, too, which is just as well - I don't think I'm that into the colours? Still, the zig-zag striping of the pattern shows it off well.

and today was Lily's school holiday treat day - her choice. We went rollerskating. For 4 hours.


People, it was like I'd never been off my skates, and my girl is a whizz! We are now exhausted happy souls, heading out for fish n chips and an early night. Sweet dreams :)

9 comments:

2paw said...

Love the vest, and not ONLY because it is green, but it looks great!! I am so sad to read your tale, I have the same trouble, except I need to use bigger needles and I abhor them. I usually end up making the next size up on smaller needles. How very cool that they are all Bronte outfits!!!

Rose Red said...

Oh shame about the top, but hey, you've got a great vest, great socks on the go and a great FLS (those colours will be fab, I really like the idea of the border). And to top it all off, real roller skating!! I'd be lucky to last for 4 minutes, let alone 4 hours!

Donyale said...

LOVE the vest (can I have your figure too?)

Where do you go skating? Would love to take the kids in the holidays!

lynda said...

love the colour, love the pattern. it's always a risk when you put so much time and effort into something that you can't try on first, and can't easily alter - but you hit the jackpot.

i hope to start a ravelry vest soon. hope the pattern checks out!

lynda

Arwen said...

Hi Kylie,
I can't find your email address on your blog so I'm leaving a comment instead. I'm wondering if I can get in contact with you to talk about your Tupperware collection! (I was the proofreader for the last issue of mixtapezine and loved the article).
Cheers,
Arwen

Gracia said...

Rollerskating AND fish n chips AND an early night AND a green vest! Surely there could be little better than that? So many delights all rolled into one. I may have already had my tea but oh! how I could murder a few salty chips.

Suse said...

The vest is divine - that one is on my ravelry queue and it's good to see it on someone!

Ellis looks unbelievable ... wow.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE the vest! I'd say it looks absolutely perfect on you!

Donna (Random Knits) said...

I'm not usually a vest person, but I *love* this vest. Awesome job!