Knitting progress

Sewing is so fast compared to knitting.  I have a couple of sewn things that I just need to take photos of, but with knitting, by the time I finish something, I am so excited that I photograph it pretty quickly.  Last night, I had the great idea to show some progress on my current knitting projects.  The only downside is that the photo quality is what you might expect for late night WIP pics.  :-)

 Apparently I am super into knit-alongs right now, because the first two projects are just that.

This is the Snoqualmie cardigan by Michelle Wang for Brooklyn Tweed.  The yarn is un-dyed Ecological Wool by Cascade in the beige shade.  I would have loved to knit this in Brooklyn Tweed Quarry, but it was hard enough to justify this (half as expensive) yarn for a warm cardigan in Florida.  The up-side is that this sweater is turning out to be beautiful.  I know this will become my throw-it-on cozy sweater when it is finished.  I am almost finished with the back, and I think the rest will fly off the needles since this is knit in pieces.  The knit-along is being run by Closet Case Files, and I have a personal goal to try her Ginger Jeans pattern (the low-rise version, of course) to wear with this sweater.  I have never sewn jeans before, so we shall see...

My second WIP was a total impulse knit.  It is a mystery knit along, meaning that I don't know what the finished product will look like.  I just know it is a worsted-weight shawl, and the pattern is released a little bit at a time for four weeks.  A gamble?  Yes.  But, I really like Tanya's Instagram and podcast and her other designs, and it's only 400 yards of worsted weight yarn that I just happened to have laying around.  Why not?  Here it is after the first of four clues.

I am also working on the Intersect Cardigan, also released by Brooklyn Tweed and designed by Norah Gaughan.  This is the yarn rescued from my recent failed sweater.  What you are looking at is the upper back.  The thing sticking up at the top is the center back collar and I just started knitting down one side of that.  This is a really fun project.  You never know what is coming next.  I have set this aside for a bit, though, because two fingering weight sweaters on the needles at once was a big discouraging.

The other fingering weight sweater of which I speak is the Lace Cardigan from The Art of Seamless Knitting book.  It seemed like I was working on the lace body section forever, but I finished that a couple of days ago and then completed the bottom ribbing and the button bands.  I about lost my mind when it took 4(!!!) attempts to get the buttonholes evenly spaced.  My math brain was not functioning properly.  The pic I took of the cardigan last night turned out all blurry, but here is a screenshot from Instagram.

Finally, this isn't new or a WIP, but I wore it yesterday and took a photo for Knitbot's #wewearknitbot party.  The pattern is Rocky Coast from Coastal Knits.  Here it is on Ravelry.  I knit it back in 2012.  It has quite a few pills and I have some issues with it sliding off my shoulders, but I do still wear it.  :-)

Gnarled Oak by Alana Dakos

This is the Gnarled Oak Cardigan by Alana Dakos.  The pattern is in the Coastal Knits book.  The yarn is Elfin Tweed by Knit One Crochet Two.

I wasn't in love with the loose fit of the design, but I did love the yoke, so the first thing I did was make a gauge swatch and plan for a more fitted sweater.

Ummmm that didn't work out.  The finished sweater is a bit shorter and wider than I wanted, but I'm ok with it.  I think my gauge swatch was too small to be totally accurate, so that accounts for the larger body.  The length I have no excuse for... I guess I just got lazy and didn't think I really needed that extra inch.

I looked in a few stores for a long sleeved tee to wear underneath.  I couldn't find anything in a good color, and then I rediscovered this in my closet.  Perfect!  Also, either the tee has stretched a bit in the wash or I've slimmed down a tad because it no longer feels tight.

As always, I LOVE that the sleeves of my hand-knits are long enough for my chimp arms.

 Blech, bad photos.  :-(  I thought it was a good day since it was overcast, but my son was kind of standing in the doorway, and I guess the brightness of the sky silhouetted me.  I still have much to learn about photography and lighting.

 And one more closeup to show the gorgeous oak leaf texture of the yoke.  The other photos capture the true color of the yarn better, though.

As a little side note: I chose this yarn because I used Knit One Crochet Too's Kettle Tweed for a gift for my mom recently, and I really enjoyed working with it.  This yarn has all the same fiber content but was slightly less silky in my hands.  It was still perfectly enjoyable - just not quite at the zen level of the Kettle Tweed.  I am curious why.  Perhaps something with the kettle dye process of the former.