Wherefore art thou, Romeo?

....Here is my finished Juliet cardigan!



Pattern: Juliet from Zephyr Style
Yarn: Plymouth Royal Silk Merino in White (held double) - 10 skeins
Needles: US 10.5 (6.5mm)
Pattern Size made: XS (fyi, this pattern runs really big)


Modifications: I made several modifications to get the exact fit that I wanted in this sweater. I knew I didn't want to do the cropped version, or have the lace start right at the middle of the bust line (can you say maternity sweater??). And I don't particularly care for really short cap sleeves. So....here are the mods I made:

1. I did two extra increase rows (4 extra rows total) prior to starting the sleeve division. I ended up here with 110 sts. I wanted a bit more room in the armhole area.


2. I then worked the garter section until just at the bottom bust line. This was about 3 inches past the sleeve division.


3. I then increased a smaller number than called for in the pattern prior to starting the lace- I didn't want the baby-doll flare that I thought would look maternity-ish. I wanted a more trim look. So I increased as follows: K3, (K4, Kf&b&f) repeat 10x, K2, M1, K2, (kf&b&f, K4) repeat 10x, K3 = 151 sts.


4. I ended up doing 6 repeats of the lace section, which ended up about at my hip bone.


5. I did 6 extra rows on the sleeves to make them slightly longer.


6. I fastened it at the lower bust line with two buttons, instead of staggering the buttons up the front.


Things I would do different if I had it to do over:

I don't particularly care for how the underarm section of the sleeves bunches up. I would try to increase the length of the cap sleeves without adding to the bulk in the underarm area - probably with short rows. I may actually rip them out and re-do them at some point. Other than that I'm really happy with it.



"Good night, Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night till it be morrow!"

The Lace Bug...

....I now officially have it!

Here is my finished Aeolian Shawl:

Pattern: Aeolian Shawl from Knitty
Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Stream Heather colorway (2 skeins)
Needles: US 2.5 (3.0mm)
Beads: size 8 Matsumi green iris beads (from Fire Mountain Gems)
Started: March 19th
Finished: April 4th

I wanted something slightly bigger than the small size shown in the pattern, but not as big as the big shawl size. So, I did a size in between! The pattern is designed so well, that you can customize it to your heart's content! As long as you do an even number of yucca repeats, all of the other charts will work. I ended up doing 8 yucca repeats and one agave chart repeat. I used a total of 660 yards. I probably could have squeezed another couple of yucca repeats or another agave repeat in there, but it ended up large enough for my taste as it is!

I am in love with the flower edging on this shawl! It absolutely eats yarn, though! I used about 317 yards on the body of the shawl, and the edging alone used 343 yards. I ended up with 753 stitches on the needles!



Blocking was a challenge, since it's not a triangle, it's more of a crescent shape. And all the flowers had to be pinned out. BUT, the trouble is worth it in the end! Here it is blocking:

There are a lot of beads in this! But, I think the beads are a must in this pattern - they really make it pop!

I'm planning on entering it in our Knitting Guild Awards (lace is one of the categories), so it'll be out of my clutches for a whole month while it's being judged. I'm not sure I can let it go! ;-)

Swallowtail!

Finished Object: Swallowtail Shawl from Interweave Knits (Fall '06)

Yarn: Handmaiden SeaSilk in Silver color (one skein)

Beads: Size 6, square hole, silver lined, light grey beads (ordered from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads)

Needles: US 4

Started: February 10th, 2009

Finished: March 19th, 2009

Modifications:

I didn't make many modifications (on purpose, anyways!) to the pattern. I tried to knit an extra 5 bud lace repeats to make it larger (to make the stitch counts work), and then had to rip back because I was afraid I was going to run out of yarn. (Good thing I did, because I would have!!) BUT, in ripping back, I accidentally ripped back with one extra row of the bud lace - which screws up the stitch count for the subsequent charts. I.Was.Not. going to rip back again. So, being the math person that I am, I figured out the stitch counts needed for the following charts and fudged my stitches going into those charts. :-)

My stitch count going into the first Lily of the Valley chart was 207 sts. On the first patterned row of the Lily chart, I increased by four stitches (on each side) by working 4 of the k3tog as a k2tog - on each side of the center. Then going into the Peaked edging chart, on Row 1, I decreased 2 stitches each side by working a couple k2tog on each side of the center. The slight decreases and increases in stitches get blocked out of the final shawl, so no one can tell that I fudged!

The big modification I made, though, was that I used beads in place of the nupps, and in the center of every bud in the bud lace section. I used a small crochet hook to hook them onto the knit stitch prior to knitting the stitch. The bud lace beads were placed on Row 5 of chart 1, and on Row 2 of Chart 2 - in the center of each bud. I also placed beads on the peaked edging down each center spine and a couple in the middle section of each peak.

Finished Size: After blocking the heck out of it, it came out to be about 48" by 22" - here it is blocking:

(An interesting thing about this yarn, when it was wet it smelled like seaweed! I'm guessing it's the seacell content!)

I am very happy with how this turned out. The SeaSilk is just scrumptious in a shawl - and the sheen of it is totally played up by the beads. I want more SeaSilk, and NOW! One skein was enough to do the shawl - I didn't do the nupps, so I used less yarn that I would have knitting the pattern as written. I might have been able to squeak by one more row of bud lace before starting the lily of the valley section (so two extra bud lace repeats), but that would be about it, I think. I have maybe 10-20 yards or less of the SeaSilk left.

I am now hooked on lace shawls, and I've already started (and I'm 2/3 of the way done with!) the Aeolian Shawl that was in the new Knitty - in actual laceweight yarn! I'm considering it my first true lace, since all I've knit lace with so far has been fingering weight or worsted weight! It's going well so far, and I hope to have a FO post for it very shortly!

Retreat

So this last weekend I went to The Charlotte Knitting Guild's Winter Retreat. The whole weekend in Hickory NC - with knitting and socializing and learning. Our teacher (and what a fantastic teacher she was!) was Charlene Schurch. A knitting Guru if ever there was one! If you thought all she did was socks, then you're way wrong!! She dyes, spins and knits lace too! Sadly, I didn't get a single picture of the weekend, but some other participants blogged about it and have photos, so you can go take a gander over to their pages if you'd like. Cristi has some photos, and Elizabeth has some as well.

It was wonderful getting to know the 18 other participants (and Charlene!), and having time to sit around and knit, and talk about knitting, and learn about knitting techniques with other people who like to knit too. The time away was nice for me too - it helps to get a breather away from the demands of the kiddos and the hubby and the house every once in a while. Some ME time. I loved that part.

Charlene taught three classes (the third one got shortened by an hour since snow was heading our way!). The first one Saturday morning was Lace 101. The lace samples she had were fabulous! Then Saturday afternoon we did a class on "using that great yarn that you don't know what the heck to do with", or something like that! ;-) Basically, ideas on what to do with the extra-special skein that you only have x amount of yards of. I brought my handspun sockweight yarn, which is just 308 yards. I decided to do a roman stripe scarf, knit lengthwise. I didn't think it through, though, because my cast on number was 268, and the first row you work K1, yo *all the way across*!!! Which then means I then have 536 stitches on the needles!!!!!!! Talk about knitting forever...but then after you purl all those stitches, you work K2tog all the way across. But still.

Anyhoo... then on Sunday we had our Heel Workshop, where we tried out a few different heels. I did the Cuban Heel and a short-row heel. I liked the short row heel technique - get this: NO WRAPS!! It was quite nice. You essentially just turn your work without wrapping, and then when you work the stitches on your turning row, you lift the bar before what would have been your wrapped stitch and knit it with the previous stitch. It's hard to describe, but it ends up tightening the gaps without adding extra yarn (i.e. with a yo or a wrap) to do it.

Overall, a very lovely weekend, with much fellowship and fun conversations, and quite a bit of learning as well! I wish I had taken some pics - but I guess it means I was having too much fun to take the time to pull out the camera!!