Well Begun is (almost) Half Done

After ditching the Vine yoke Cardigan, my friend Shells and I decided on Girl Friday (We are doing a knit along). She also had encountered some issues with the former pattern in an earlier attempt and was wise enough to wait the outcome of my project before recasting. Anyway, we both liked Girl Friday and started it. I am happy to report that it has been such a pleasant knit so far, no issues at all. The lace pattern is very easy to memorize. I am knitting both fronts and back together and am almost at the point of splitting for armholes. Shells is well pleased with her cardigan too, you can see it here.

Disappointment

It was the time of the year to knit cardigan for myself. I had picked out the pattern and yarn in advance. It was to be the Vine Yoke Cardigan in Knit Picks Wool of Andes. Going through the projects on ravelry, I discovered there were some finicky details which could be potentially troublesome. The cardigan was too short, it tended to grow quite large and had to be knitted a couple of size smaller, the button bands hung, the yoke lace was bulkier than the body. However, there seemed to be modifications around, for most of these problems, so I went ahead and cast on. A week on and well into the first sleeve, I feel unsure with the way this cardigan is progressing. There are many things that could go wrong and probably will. And that makes me uneasy while I knit on it. It is no longer fun. I will probably rip it and start anew with some other pattern. Now to go and look for that elusive pattern. In the meanwhile, I am going to start on a pair of socks.

A Hoodie

For a long time and especially since I knit Steggie, my older daughter has been asking me to make her a hooded sweater. So my sweater for her this winter had to have a hood. It was a quick knit in worsted weight yarn. The pattern is my own, though it is nothing very original, just some ribbing and cables around the chest and sleeves and two pockets to match. It is seamless, except for the pockets which are knitted separately and then sewed on. I briefly considered making it full-sleeved but that did not look so right. In all, it turned out quite nice and she is very happy to have her hoodie.

Hundreds and Thousands Quilt

My first quilt is all done. Since last posting about it, I added borders to it, put the top together with the batting and the inner layer, quilted and put a binding to the whole thing. It might not be perfect but I am very proud of it. And the positive experience I have had with it probably means more quilting in my future.

Dying camera batteries did not let me get a better photo.

Hedera

My hedera socks are done. It was such a simple, uneventful knit. Perfect to knit at the end of the day, when all your work is done, kids are in bed and you are too tired to tax your mind with more involved knitting. The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal (Canopy). I love everything about these socks, the yarn, the color,  the pattern.

Stay-on Booties and More

 So I knit some stay-on booties, two pairs of these and it took me nearly 2 weeks. Actually it took more time to photograph them then to knit them. The final verdict...these are very cute and do stay-on a while longer then the regular socks, that is, about five minutes. Which is not long enough to keep the little feet warm, so the baby is currently using the booties with drawstrings. Maybe drawstrings would work for these too. I am going to try and add drawstring to these booties, inshaAllah.

 Actually I did a bit more than just the booties, the past two weeks. In addition to celebrating Eid and writing a pattern, I worked on a quilt. This is my first attempt at quilting and I am learning a lot. The squares are not not perfectly aligned and all, but I will go ahead and add borders anyway. Soon, I hope.

Butterfly Pullover

 As the nights get chilly and we can feel the winter finally approaching, I decided the baby needed a warm pullover to wear around the house. I did not have enough of a single yarn. Getting more yarn would mean having to wait and I am not good at that. So, I decided to mix and match using the red and brown leftovers in my stash. These are probably aran weight acrylics. To make it more interesting, I added the butterfly to the front of the pullover from the butterfly garden socks pattern.

Morning sunlight makes it look orange, however the actual color is a definite red. Next, inshaAllah, I will be knitting some booties/socks that actually stay on her feet for more than a few minutes. Thus the baby will be all set for the winter.