Intro and Hex Coat Yarns

Hi everyone,

I joined this KAL a few weeks ago but was working on finishing a bunch of UFOs in August. Now I've had a chance to look at the Knitting Nature book again (LOVE it as I'm sure you all do) and decide which project I want to start with.

I'm thinking I want to make the Hex Coat. I had a ball of Lite-Lopi in my stash so I swatched it up in moss stitch on addi turbo 8s




I was a little large on the gauge so I'd go down to addi 7s if I used this yarn - however, I'm thinking of using a different yarn that is a little softer. I haven't used Lopi for anything before and I like the definition of the stitches in it, but it is a little rough. I went to Yarndex to try to find other yarns to substitute and read some of the posts here and this is what I came up with for possibilities:


Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran (too soft?)

Brown Sheep Worsted

Malabrigo - too soft?

Cascade ecological wool - too bulky?

elann peruvian highland wool - too pill-y? I have a ball of this in my stash that I haven't swatched yet but I was reading some threads on Knitter's Review saying that some people didn't like their finished projects with this wool.

Any thoughts/feedback/experiences would be appreciated! I'm more concerned about enjoying the process and finished product for this LARGE project than saving money, per se. I figure that whatever I buy I'll be getting a great value for the $$$ as I will be knitting with it for quite awhile!

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Bubble-licious

Hey everyone! I just joined this knit-a-long...but I had already finished my bubble pullover a couple weeks a go. So here it is!

I used 10 & 1/2 balls of Rainbow Pure Wool in a discontinued shade = I made this sweater for under $30.00!! I love the color...so it is sad that it is discontinued. This sweater was veyr very fun to knit...the construction is just amazing. It's like putting together a puzzle. So very satisifying. I made the size small...so it fits a bit more like a normal sweater instead of like the really baggy one in the book. I love the wide collar. Really I just can't say enough about this book and author.

Now the sweater is in the sink getting ready to be blocked...you may have noticed it is a little misshapen in the pictures, but I was just excited to finally post some knitting again.





I have cast on for the Shell Tank, after being inspired my Anna's that she posted on this Knitalong! I am doing it in a similar color to the one I used for this sweater. I am on my 4th and final panel and i can't wait for the finished product! You can see a couple progress shots on my blog.

Basalt Tank Update 2

Here is another picture just to show you that I have made some progress on the Basalt Tank.

I am very happy with the neckline.

I intend to put partial hexagons on the sides, about the same width as the shoulders. I will tighten up the waistline by decreasing across the top of the side hexagons.

When I am done, I will write up all my modifications to the pattern. However, I am not sure how much I can reveal without violating the pattern copyright. More on my blog.

Roundabout in Cotton Classic

It seems like ages ago that I joined this knit-along, but this is my first post. The really good news is that I'm posting a completed project! I finished my Roundabout Leaf Tank in early July and here it is. More about it and a picture of the blocking are on my blog.

Next up will be the Swirled Pentagon Pullover.

One more finished Roundabout Tank!

I finally finished my Roundabout Tank!



Not to be a pain in the butt, but I don't like repeating things. Visit my blog, Passionknitly

Yarn: Berroco Denim Silk

I wore it on Tuesday to work and got tons of comments about it. People really like it. It stretches out like crazy though. I don't really mind it too much I have a feeling it'll get back to where it should be when I wash it.

Hello, from KC!

I'm new today too! My name is Kyra, I'm 42 and I live in the greater Kansas City area. I learned to knit from my fraternal grandmother's sister when I was about nine or ten years old. When I quit working five or six years ago I really picked it up in earnest! Anyway, I got lucky and snagged the book on sale at Joann last weekend when all their books were 40% off (I can't believe it was still there!). I have some Great Adirondack Silk Noir and it's a huge 900 yd. skein. I'm thinking about doing the Shoreline Tank, with some slight modifications. Namely, I will not have the opening in front. I will have it straight across the bottom with the edging added to that. I haven't swatched yet though so I'm still not sure that the gauge will be appropriate. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

introductions!

hi all - my name's arielle, and i've been knitting for about five years and crocheting for more. unlike everyone i know, i love both equally. i work in a psychiatric hospital with adolescent girls, most of whom i've taught to do something with yarn.
so, enough of that. on to the good stuff. i'm knitting the spiral cowl pullover! it took me a long time to finish the front, back and one normal sleeve, as i had run out of yarn for a month or so before winning a nice ebay auction.
now, i've put it off long enough - i'm finally on the pretty sleeve. it's a troublesome piece, though, and i've had to re-start more than a few times (like 12). i've gone to stich n' bitches, i've gone to my favorite LYS, but the only thing that's finally worked is scrapping about half of the instructions and making it up as i go. i've got about three inches now, and going strong.
from what i can tell (i've been following this KAL for a while), no one else here has tackled this pattern. maybe my finished pictures (whenever they come) will inspire someone.

happy to be here, happy to be knitting.

Asymetrical Cardigan finished!

It worked, finally! Here's a picture of the cardigan, more on my blog.

No picture here - blogger doens't upload it for me. But I've finished it on my blog so please go over there and see the asymetrical cardigan. I found an error in the pattern. See you there!
Monika
http://www.yarnloopie.blogspot.com

Commiserate

Apologies to those who were hoping for a post about an actual KN project.

I have not been able to start one as I still have not received my book since I ordered it on 27 July. According to the shop (a very incompetent Australian online bookshop - email me privately if you want to know which one), they dispatched it on 28 July from their Sydney warehouse (I live in Sydney).

10 business days later, I phoned them to say I have not received it. They told me to check with Australia Post. I did and there was no record of it entering their system. I phoned bookshop again. They said they would resend it. Great.

4 days later, still no book. Phoned them again today. They finally fessed up that the book is apparently out of stock and they won't have it in until the end of August. I cancelled the order. Grrrr....

Let's hope Amazon is not as incompetent. (It's on sale there btw.)

Meanwhile I'll just have to continue salivating at all yous' project pics...

FO Turnaround Leaf Tank

I have finished it about a week ago.
It was a gift, I am still waiting the gifted person to take a pic in it.
Here it is while being blocked. I made it from 6 skeins exactly of Tahki Cotton Classic in Royal Blue color. I have modified the pattern due to the gauge chages, added one more wrap, I loved working this pattern, I wish it just was a little more tapered. Size XS, 33" bust

I finished my Hex Coat!

Here it is, in all its glory:

Well, most of its glory anyway. It's really hard to photograph the whole thing and not be too far away. I have a newfound respect for Thayer Allyson Gowdy, photographer for Knitting Nature. :)

I'm very happy with how my Hex Coat turned out! You can read a few more details and see one more picture on my blog.

I really liked working on this project - I'm a total fan of the rustic nubbiness of Lite Lopi - but I'm very very happy to be able to move on now!

Just about a Roundabout

I've finished my Roundabout Tank!

As you can see, I've made a few changes. The more I thought about it, the more I hated the straps as written, so I ended up redesigning the whole thing.

The redesign required my changing the back quite a bit!

The math for the back nearly killed me, and I ripped out and reknit the top of the back once and the left strap and the part of the strap that goes across the back twice, but it was worth it: I love it!

(Please excuse the lousy pictures: my boyfriend doesn't get the point of photographing knitting.)

A few quick notes: the yarn I used was recycled from a DKNY sweater, and is 99% silk and 1% "other fiber". It's actually a knitted tube that lies rather flat, so produces a kind of jumbled look when knitted up. I got 20 stitches to 4", so adjusted the pattern to be 26 stitches wide instead of 24.

I joined tube a bit early, at 35", and then blocked it repeatedly during the knitting to 32", and I think it fits great. My bust is 37", so I really don't understand this. I can only think that the silk, having no bounce, just sags and so needs to be tight not to hang like a wet sack. As it is, I had to run a row of single crochet across the top edge between the straps to keep it from sagging too low.

Basalt Tank Update

I have returned to the Basalt Tank after a hiatus. I wanted to make the shoulder straps wider and toyed with different ideas. I hadn't counted on running out of the purple color so soon. I could rip back and start the stockinette section earlier, like the inside portion, and then finish with another row of lace (yo, k2tog) before another band of garter stitch. Or, I could just use up the rest of the purple and join in some black yarn to make a second garter, lace, garter band. That would make it a Basalt Shell instead of a Basalt Tank. Don't be shy, leave a comment with your suggestions.

Here is the green side,

and here is the red side. It is reversible!
As usual, there is more, ad nauseum, on my blog.

My Shell Tank is Finished

I haven`t blocked it yet, I was too excited to try it on and take a picture of it. I can already tell I will love to wear this tank. I enjoyed knitting it, the shapping makes even the stockinette parts more interesting. I used 5 skeins of Knitpicks Shine Sport and adjusted the pattern to size extra small while adding extra length to the body.

There are some more pictures on my blog
Happy Knitting,
Anna

Target Wave Mittens

I just finished the Target Wave Mittens!



I used Louet Gems Pearl yarn on size 6 needles. My gauge was way off, and I upsized it for my non-child-sized hands, so mine look a bit different from the pattern. I wish that I had made the thumb target part larger - I think that these definately look cuter in the book. Also, I knit the mittens in the round (the pattern has you knit everything flat and seam at the end).

There is one tiny error in the pattern - the photo shows the very top of the mitten in CC, but the instructions have you end on an MC row. For the anal-retentive among us (uh, like me), that's something to watch out for.

All in all it was a fun pattern. More photos on the blog.

Shell Tank

Hi everybody,
I just joined this KAL and I am really excited to be its member. All your beautiful FOs inspired me to order the book and I cannot stop glancing through it and planning what I am going to make next. My first project is the Shell Tank. I am using Knitpicks' Shine Sport and now I am working on the right front part. I had to make some size adjustments due to a slightly different gauge. I am also trying to make the whole tank little longer. I would like the ribbing to fall slightly bellow my waist. The cable part shows the length the pattern calls for, the back is a couple inches longer. I really hope all the parts will fit together and my Shell tank will look as great as the ones that have been posted here.