Zori, Finished!

It seems like ages ago that I promised to get my picture taken wearing my newly-finished Zori cardigan, so I'm finally delivering. One of my friends did the honors at our knit night (a week ago!) and I didn't like the pictures at first, but once I cropped my dopey expressions out of them, I liked them a whole lot better. And before you say, "but Sharri, they couldn't possibly be that bad," let me assure you that they really were. We're all better off with just the sweater pics.

I am very pleased with how well the sweater fits. It's just the right length and it has just the right amount of ease. I also love how soft the fabric is after blocking. It feels so nice against my skin. I can tell that this is going to be my go-to sweater once the weather finally cools off for good. One of my favorite things about it is that I think I found exactly the right buttons for it. Thank goodness I only made four buttonholes - each button cost $4!

I'm still working on my mother-in-law's socks, but I forgot to take pictures of them before the sun went down. Maybe I'll remember to do it tomorrow. I'll also take pictures of the progress on the Columbine needlepoint. We'll have them both to look forward to in the next post. Until then, Friends.

Starting new projects!

I finished my Zori cardigan last weekend, washed and blocked it, and by Monday it was dry. I was able to get the buttons sewn on that afternoon, but I didn't have anyone to take any photos of me wearing it, so you'll just have to wait until I can get one of my friends to do it for me at knit night. (I bet you're holding your breath for it, aren't you?)

Since I don't have any pictures of the finished cardigan, I thought I'd show you a couple other things I have going on. I've started a pair of socks for my mother-in-law, because the pair I'd intended to give her turned out to be too long. She let me know that she likes neutral colors, so I thought that the Madelintosh Tosh Sock (in Cove) that I bought in Indianapolis last year would be just the thing. I had also been wanting to knit Anne Hanson's Veil of Rosebuds, which calls for this yarn, so it was a pretty easy decision to cast on. The knitting is moving right along - mostly I'm working on it on my bus ride to work and any odd moments I have during the day. I hope to be turning the heel by the weekend.

I've also decided to dig out a needlepoint painted canvas I bought a few years ago when I was in Colorado. The image is of columbines, which I thought would be the perfect souvenir of my trip Out West. I don't know what I was thinking when I selected the yarns to stitch it. They were so awful. None of the colors were right, I didn't even buy all the colors I needed, and I bought two kinds of fiber. Seriously, I don't know what happened. Anyway, yesterday I went to my local needlepoint shop, M's Canvas House, to get more appropriate fiber to stitch this pretty canvas. The nice lady helped me choose lots of lovely silk/merino yarn and then she even taped up the edges of the canvas so I wouldn't snag my pretty new yarns. I can't wait to get going on this project! It will be kind of nice to have a non-knitting project to work on.

Well, that's all I've got for tonight. I hope to get my picture taken in the Zori cardigan this week so I can show off my sweater by the weekend. Until next time, Friends.

Zori Cardigan

For the last few posts, I've said that I'd talk about my Zori cardigan in my next post, so I'm finally getting around to it. According to my Ravelry project page, I started this cardigan a little more than three weeks ago. I'm using Stonehedge Fiber Mill's Shepherd's Wool dk yarn, which I first got to use on the Dome hat sample for CookieA. The color is called Frosty Blue, and it's a medium-darkish blue that almost looks heathered, but isn't quite.

Anyway, I started off worried that I wouldn't have enough yarn, as I'd only bought about 1700 yards, while the pattern said I'd need need about 200 yards more. I decided to take my chances and see how I was doing with the sleeves before I ordered more. I was feeling lucky since I got gauge with my first swatch, but then I quickly felt like an idiot because I couldn't figure out how to make the stitch count work with the chart. But (luckily) the designer responded quickly to a message sent on Ravelry, spelling out how the chart worked. You'd think I'd know how to read a chart by now, but I cast on for this project pretty late at night, so I have to account for my tired brain.

Once I got the hang of the chart, I zipped right along with the back and both front yokes and was able to get them blocked about a week after I cast on. I had to block pretty aggressively to achieve the measurements on the pattern, but the nice thing about these pieces is that they had straight sides so that I could use my blocking wires rather than trying to pin it out. Once everything was dry, the only seaming I had to do was for the two shoulders (which was hardly anything at all) and then pick up stitches for the stockinette bodice. By the end of another week, I'd knit the bodice to the prescribed length, but found that it was much too long, even with my long torso. I ripped out four inches and bound off again, ready to start the pretty, twisted trim edging. After a couple false starts with the trim, I eventually found my groove, and the edging practically flew off my needles.

Now I'm working on the sleeves, which I'm doing two at a time, magic loop style. It feels a little bulky when I have to turn the knitting, but I've never been the kind of knitter to do things one at a time if I can help it. Socks, gloves, mittens, sleeves: if there are two to be made, I'll do them at the same time, dammit. As of this afternoon, I've gotten about 3 inches of each sleeve completed and I hope that I'll be binding them off by next weekend. I don't expect it will be cool enough to wear this for at least another month, but it'll be nice to have a new cardigan to wear when it is.

Well, that's all for now. Until next time, Friends.