Knit Happens

And so it begins again. Once a project is bound off, blocked and ready to wear, I’m on a quest to start something new. Wait, you say I’ve already got projects on the needles? Well, of course I do!

Actually, after finishing my Featherweight Cardi (I’m so glad that my idea of a knitalong is taking on a life of its own… but I digress), I immediately got back to work on a Green Gable (Rav link) that I’d started ages ago in the Classic Elite Premiere – and finished it. Which left me floundering for another project… and I pulled one out of my UFO pile, but the Cotton Bamboo I was using was not being kind to my hands, so down it goes for a bit.

Again, that left me floundering for a project. Until I was reading blogs and saw Elspeth’s latest post and saw this beauty. (The shawl, although the model is gorgeous, too.) Lavalette (Rav link), by Through the Loops!’s Kirsten Kapur. A quick dive in my sock yarn stash, provided the ideal yarn (a recent acquisition from another shop, sorry! However, I might just make another one… or two…)

Lavalette is proving to be just what I’m looking for in a project right now: quick and easy. I cast on late this morning at the shop and that picture was taken after just a couple hours of knitting! (I’m actually much farther along than that, that’s how quick this knits!) Worked up on US7s, it has a great drapey feel that’s going to grow effortlessly when I block it out. So, as I’m knitting on this, I start to think about how the Featherweight Cardi became an informal knitalong (and is going really well – I can’t wait to see some of those finished!) and thought that for those who just need a quick and dirty project or want to give some easy lace a try, this would fit the bill perfectly!

Pattern available from Kirsten’s site. Go download it and join me!

P.S. The photo was totally bogarted from Elspeth’s site – go visit her and tell her how much you love the shawl. Just sayin’.

Now onto the technology portion of this post. Recently, I gave up my Blackberry for an iPhone again and have been having fun relearning the phone. I had forgotten how many ways that this simple phone can make my knitting life easier – there are row counter apps galore, knitting needle/project organizers (and hopefully there will be a Rav app sometime in the future)… But what I hadn’t anticipated was that iBooks would also be a HUGE help to the knitting life! No, I haven’t gone on there to see if there are knitting books available, however, I discovered that you can store PDFs on there. What does that mean? Well, if you have a PDF of a project (that you own legally, natch), you can email yourself a copy of it and open it using iBooks, keeping a copy with you on your phone (or iPod, or iPad), lessening the need to have a printed copy with you. I may have gotten a bit excited over discovering that – and I think that I’ll be emailing tons of my PDFs to myself just to have them in iBooks. 

Yes, the Featherweight Cardigan I last blogged about is done – and just in time for our very own Elspeth’s wedding last weekend, which is why I was so determined to get it knit.  One of our customers and I came up with the idea of starting a tradition for knitters’ weddings by wearing a handknit to bring good luck to the new marriage. (Not that Elspeth and her new husband Jake need luck, they’re perfect together. But I digress.)

I used 2 skeins of the FDC Centolavaggi yarn held doubled (each skein has a total of 1533 yards) on a size 6 needle. The yarn is gorgeous and soft – though if I knit this again, I’ll either be going down a needle size or a full bust size in the pattern. This sweater grew a lot in the width during the washing/blocking process, however, it dried in no time, so there is that. I ended up making almost no modifications to the pattern, which is unusual for me, I know.

Since finishing it last Wednesday (just in time for Late Night), I’ve already worn it a handful of times and have gotten lots of compliments on it each time. In the picture, I’m wearing it how I’ll probably wear it most of the time: casual, with a tank top and jeans, but it dresses up really nicely and was perfect for an outdoor wedding on a warm day with a light breeze.

If you’re knitting along, don’t stop! You will LOVE this cardigan, I swear! Right now I’m clearing two projects out of my WIP bin – socks and a summer top – and when I’m done with those, we’ll have another knitalong! If you didn’t join in at the start, after seeing it completed (in just over three weeks, no less), do you think you’ll give it a try? It’s a great addition to a wardrobe and dead easy to knit.