Plugging along

Someone has been asking to see the progress on Nanny's Triangular Summer Shawl. The result is some close-ups of the shawl progress so far. Not much progress will be seen as this starts at the widest point of the shawl, so progress is slow. I have finally finished the border and have started on the charts. The first row of nupps has been completed.
Lace never looks great until after the magic of blocking. See, it doesn't look like much except some bumpy knit up yarn.
The Ram's Horn sweater is moving along. I am at the armholes. The alpaca is lovely to work with. It is fairly straight-forward knitting, nothing to exciting which makes it great for TV knitting.
Also the dress for my coworkers baby is plugging along and is starting to look like an actual dress! Hopefully it will be done well before April.

Thanks to Mel and a bit of a rant

Mel came over on Family Day with her nephews to meet Piper. While they were here she was nice enough to snap a picture of me in my Tangled Yoke Cardie.

I wore it to work on Tuesday and frankly I am very disappointed with non-knitters. Very few people commented on my sweater unless they either a) knew it was almost done and were looking for it or b) was a knitter. Everyone else thought it was bought at a store (and only mentioned that when I brought up the subject). I suppose I should take that as a compliment but at the same time I hear a lot of complaints from people at work on how I never wear what I knit to work and then when I wear it I find myself having to point it out to them otherwise they don't notice. Arggggg!

Caught a small case of the startitis

Now that my sweater is done and looks great; the first big project of the year off the needles and in finished land, I now have the opportunity to start some more projects. One of the three projects was already started prior to the completion of the sweater but had to be ripped out and restarted, hence why it is included with the startitis.

The Vine Flower Dress is the one that had to be frogged. There was some weird stitch count and the needle size was a bit too big for the choice of yarn. I am making good headway but nowhere near where I was prior, sadly.
There is a bit of lace at the bottom and my only complaint with the pattern is that it only gives written instructions and no charted ones. So I fixed that myself.
I've also started on a shawl for Nanny. It is to be her Christmas present this year. Mom bought the yarn and of course I am left to do all the work. Here is evidence provided that it has been started.
I've also cast on a little something for myself out of "the pet". If you don't know what "the pet" is you need to go to the Purple Purl and ask. I'm sure they will show you. Alpaca........yum!

My Tangled Yoke Cardie!

I was home sick this week and as usual when I'm sick higher brain function isn't at its best; it is just low enough to make the finishing tasks of knitting a sweater tolerable. Below are pictures of picking up the button bands, weaving in loose ends and of course soaking.
The Tangled Yoke Cardigan
Pattern: by Eunny Jang in Interweave Knits Fall 2007
Size: 34" size
Needles: 3.5mm 24" circs, 3.25mm 32" circs and 2mm 40" circs
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed in Wheat
Yardage: 6 complete balls and a touch off the 7th
Modifications: needle size to get correct gauge and I made the sleeves longer.
Notes: I knit this at the smallest size in spite of the fact that I am a 36" chest and am very glad that I did. After blocking it had no negative ease so I suppose it must have stretched some and the fit is perfect.

I finished sewing on the buttons at the Purple Purl today and got many compliments. It is a very nice sweater and I think it will get a lot of wear. I am very pleased with how this turned out. There are several pictures below to show off the finished product. I apologize that they are not the greatest, but what can you do when there is no one else around to help take the pictures? Enjoy.