Coming Attractions: Aestlight Shawl

Apologies for the lack of new content. I've been working on some Christmas knitting, which, of course, I won't post about until December 26 so as not to spoil any surprises!

I had the perfect excuse to stop by a local yarn shop yesterday when my husband called in sick after leaving his wallet at work the night before. Once husband and toddler were both down for naps, I ran out to pick up the wallet and came home with a little bag of this:




It's Melody by Jojoland. Gorgeous, no?

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It's intended for an Aestlight shawl. This pattern already boasts more than 1220 projects on Ravelry, but I love every single one I see and simply cannot help myself.

Mermaid Sorbet

This little gem, which ended up being almost 12 feet long, has been neglected for a week or two because I didn't want to block it. Actually, I had no place to block it due to its enormous, ridiculous size, because blocking on the floor is a no-go with a cat and a toddler. I ended up blocking it in halves on the bed, but I'm not entirely happy with the stitch definition and, when summer classes wind down in two weeks, I'm going to block again.

I really like this tutorial from the purl bee, particularly the part about blocking on a towel that isn't "too linty." It's like they've actually seen my linen closet. . .

The Little Lebowski

Almost two months after casting on, and 10 days of drying/blocking, The Little Lebowski is finished. This project was inspired by Andrea Rangel's amazing pattern, The Dude; Elizabeth Zimmermann's EPS sweater design theory; and the perfect yarn sitting in my stash.

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The sweater has a 25" chest circumference and is 16" long with a 14" zipper. It was knit entirely in 1x1 ribbing and has a shawl collar that I improvised as I went. I used three sizes of needles to prevent having to increase stitches in the sleeves, since increasing and decreasing in ribbing is something I've yet to master.

It's intended to be my son's fall jacket, so hopefully it fits like size 2T or 3T come October. My son, of course, detests modeling my handknits, but since it's so unreasonably warm lately, I'm content to wait and get a picture come fall.

Free Pattern: Corrugated Cloth

I recently whipped up a few washcloths with Knit Picks Simply Cotton. The stitch pattern reminded me of corrugated cardboard, or even corrugated metal roofing. The pattern is available here with Google Docs or Ravelry.

Steek: Eeek!

Okay, it's been 24 hours since I did my very first steek, so I think I'm ready to talk about it.

For those unfamiliar with the technique, it involves cutting your knitting: like, with scissors. Perhaps you understand why I wasn't ready to post about it yesterday. The adrenaline/fear has finally worn off, and since I have successfully sewn the newly-formed edges down with no major unraveling crisis. . .



I referred to Eunny Jang's steeking tutorial for guidance, but really this was a by-the-seat-of-my-pants effort. I hand stitched up either side of front-center and then carefully - so carefully - used my sharpest, tiniest scissors to snip my way from bottom to top. I then whip stitched the edges down, reinforcing top and bottom.

Had I to do this over again, I would definitely have factored in some waste stitches at front-center to make turning back the facing a little easier. If you read Eunny's tutorial, you'll see the beautiful little facings she knits. So, note to self: do it the "right" way next time.

The Little Lebowski: Stalled

This in-the-round Fair Isle sweater is slated to become a zip-front cardigan for my son, and of course, because it is an original pattern and a stash-busting project, I have run out of yarn. As evidenced by the picture below, I'm roughly 95% done.



I have a handful of decrease rounds left and then the collar. I'm thinking about doing the steek and adding the zipper, then picking up stitches for the collar at the end. Originally I was thinking of a short, simple crew neck, but now that I have to buy another skein of yarn, I might as well try a shawl collar a la the original adult version. Now I just have to convince some of the other ladies from my knitting group to help me reach the $50 free shipping magic total at Knit Picks. . .

Fairy Tale Cardigan

Done and done, just in time for the first 90-degree day of the year. This pattern is the Gooseberry Cardigan from Interweave Knits Weekend 2009 issue. I made the 48" size and used 13 skeins of Knit Picks Merino Style, which is DK weight, in Fairy Tale.



It took an eternity to block, but it was well worth the effort to get the collar to lie flat. I really like the oversized collar and the long ribbing at the bottom, but think I may have been better off knitting a smaller size for the sleeves, as they seem to bulge under the arms.