Progress Report

The good news is that I’m making good progress on the Lacey Vee Cardigan. The even better news is that I have so far resisted the urge to start another project. I will confess to fondling my bamboo sock yarn, but I can’t start those until I finish the wool ones I’m working on (at least not without buying two more size 0 Addi turbos.) And trust me, the yarn is much prettier than it looks in any of the online color cards.

Back to the Lacey Vee… I’ve finished the body, sewn the shoulders, and picked up and knit the buttonbands. You pick up the sleeve stitches and knit down which is my personal favorite way to knit sleeves. I got them both started last night during Survivor. They’re supposed to be ¾ length sleeves, but I’m cutting it close on how much yarn I have so basically I’m planning to knit until I run out of yarn. That’s one reason I want to do both of them at the same time.

Here’s the body:

And here it is sewn up with the buttonbands (no buttons yet):

Spring has come to Maryland, and here’s our gorgeous saucer magnolia:

We’ve been very lucky this year. If we get a high wind, heavy rain or a hard freeze right after it blooms we can lose all of the flowers. This year the conditions have been perfect.

And back by popular demand – more pictures of the cats. Louie is doing what he does best (relaxing) and Ravenclaw is doing his usual, “I must walk toward you while you try to take my picture” act.

Spring Fever

So there I was knitting away on my Gravel Road Cardigan, when all of I sudden I thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a new sweater that I could actually wear at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival?” Now if you’ve never been to the festival (and if you haven’t you really, really should) let me tell you that while it is technically possible that it can be 50 degrees F and raining (which happened one year in the mid 1990’s) it is far more likely to be 90 in the shade (if you can actually find any shade.) A wool sweater is highly impractical. I should know. Last year I wore one. I had just finished my FLAK and I was desperate to show it off to people who would appreciate it. I think I wore it for an hour before I gave up and tied it around my shoulders.

So anyway…. I’ve had this pattern for a lightweight summer cardigan aging in my pattern stash. Then this winter a friend of mine (hi, Pam!) was culling her stash and I came home with just the right amount of yarn for it. Clearly it was Meant To Be. I swatched it up and lo and behold, the gauge was just right.

So I cast on and I’ve been knitting like a fiend ever since. I’m not a huge fan of cotton yarn (love to wear it, hate to knit with it) but this yarn (Filatura di Crosa Brilla) is 42% cotton, 58% rayon. It’s not too bad to knit with, but I do have to be careful not to knit for too long without a break or my hands and wrists start to hurt. It’s very pretty. Of course I never met a purple I didn’t like, but this is a particularly nice one. The yarn has a nice sheen to it. The pattern is Lacey Vee Cardigan (#405) from Cabin Fever. I’m almost ready to divide for the armholes. I’m not making the vee quite as deep. I don’t need to emphasize my lack of cleavage. :-)

Making Progress

I’m making good progress on the Gravel Road Cardigan. It’s worked in one piece to the underarms. I just got to the dividing point so it actually feels like I’ve gotten somewhere. Here it is:

I’m having the same problem as my friend Cindy with getting the color right in a photo. This photo is much too light. Do you remember the 64 color box of Crayolas from when you were a kid? The color reminds me of Violet Red, which was always one of my favorites.

We’re making progress with the weather too. This is what my backyard looked like a week and a half ago:

Here’s what it looks like now:

It’s still too cold to feel like spring, but at least it feels like it won’t be too much longer now.