Can You Tell?

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Can you tell how much I love my Forecast? How pleased I am with the results? (BTW, the above photo was inspired by halfandhalf's photoshoot of her fantastic Forecast).


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No? Well, let me give you a few hints...


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How's that? Need more?




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Pattern: Forecast, by Stefanie Japel of Glampyre Knits, free from Knitty
Size: XS
Yarn: Cascade 220, 4 skeins
Needles: US 5 and US 7
Modifications: I used the now famous, original modifications of Winnie and Pinku, which are posted at the Forecast KAL.

FORECAST: LIGHTENING!! (I love this photo best!)

My heartful thanks go out to Stefanie Japel (who's pregnant! congratulations!) for creating such wonderful (and often free) patterns for us to knit. I now want to rush out to buy Fitted Knits to make the U-shaped vest and the classic V-sweater. And my heartful thanks go out to the many wonderful knitters, such as Winnie and Pinku, and those on the Forecast KAL, who inspired me to go ahead and make this beautiful sweater. Merci beaucoup!

Coming Out From Under A Rock

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Thanks to my dear friends-readers who welcomed me back to blogland so quickly, so warmly. I've missed you all so, even though I've been quietly reading y'all in the background. I don't want to talk about what's been going on. Instead, I want to use this reemergence to talk about what I want to do. And, dear readers, having been inspired by all of you, there is oh so much I want to do.


Stay posted :) I'm coming back...

The Forecast: Raining Cats and Dogs

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So Forecast is finally blocking...FINALLY!!...and the Eyelet Skirt disaster has been averted (I'll show you the reblocked skirt this week, along with Forecast modelled, and provide all of the knitty gritty details of both projects: I PROMISE!!).


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I just need to choose which buttons to use; there are three choices here and I think I already know which ones I'll use. But just so y'all can have a say in the matter, here's a close-up of the button choices:
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And didn't I say the Forecast was "cats and dogs"?


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Why, yes I did. Cats and dogs indeed.

The two cats are ours. The two dogs are our friends' who have gone on vacation. Let's just say our tiny household is in a constant frenzy right now. I'm getting an up-close and personal look at why world peace is so hard to achieve...*sigh*

Something Old. Something New. Something Blue.

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So here's an updated photo of Forecast. I have half a sleeve to go, then the buttonbands. Until then, check out Carrieoke's recent beautiful version of the sweater.
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These lovely skeins of sock yarn were brought back by my lovely Guido who was in Boston at a conference recently. The yarn is Mountain Mist Jubilee Merino sock yarn made by Blue Ridge Farms. It seems all the academics descended upon Newbury Yarns for some good yarn shopping while in Boston.

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Finally, thanks to all of you for your advice regarding the knit skirt possibilities. I soaked and blocked the swatch that I had made for the Eyelet skirt. The gauge changed from 18 st/4 in to 16 in/4 inches. The swatch itself really softened up, and is quite lovely to the touch. It also has lovely drape now too, so I think I'm going to go ahead with it. Oh, and I misspoke when I said the yarn was Classic Elite Provence. It's actually Classic Elite Flash. In any case, I suppose I'll go down to US 5 or US 6 to make up for the change in gauge post-blocking. I'm also thinking that I'll knit it the EZ circular way, and therefore avoid the seaming at the end (the pattern says to knit two identitical pieces and then seam it together but my finishing skills aren't that great.)

Now back to the knitting--something that always brings comfort and calm into my life.

Best to all of you.

"WIP It Girl": Or, A Tale of Works In Progress

So I've begun Forecast. Here's a close-up of the 3-stitch bobble that I'm using, a popular adaptation ever since (I think) Winnie's version of Forecast first appeared.




Here's Forecast a bit further along, now resting outside. I'm using Cascade 220 (for the first time) and I'm loving it.



The back view...


Can you tell that I'm in love with this pattern, and that I'm loving taking pictures of it?



Other things as WIPS: the My So Called Scarf manages to go nowhere these days. I really like the stitch pattern, but given that it's now March (practically), there's really no sense in making a thick, warm scarf like this. So to the back-burner you go. (Besides, if I were to be making a scarf these days, it'd *definitely* be a rip-off of these fantastic ones everyone is talking about these days...)


So, instead of continuing with the SoCalledScarf, I've *finally* finished Kiri (see left margin for free PDF pattern). That's right, this shawl has been languishing for a long time. The reason? I ran out of yarn when casting off. Seriously, I only had about 40 more stitches to bind off when there just wasn't any more yarn left. ARGH. So then I had to wait until Elann restocked this color (Serenghetti Sand), so that it could be completed. It's blocking today, so FO photos will come later this week.



Lastly, I quickly knit up another We Call Them Pirates Hat because the first one I made was immediately too small for the newborn and the parents kept telling me how much they liked the hat. This one, made from acrylic yarn left over from this, doesn't look too hot. Mind you, I haven't blocked it yet, but I'm not sure what difference it'll make, really, b/c of the acrylic. Oh well, I just need to get it to them before the cooler temperatures are completely gone, and before the baby girl grows out of this one too.

BTW: Thanks for the feedback regarding "blogger etiquette". I'm going to write a "reply" post to this, summing the comments/suggestions up, sometime later this week.