Just a little knitting

Do you remember that case of Startitus that I seem to have developed? 

I think I might have made it worse, rather than curing it with casting on multiple projects!

But first, here is where I stood Saturday afternoon with the startitus.


Project the first would be the baby blanket.

I get more use out of some of the knit alongs that Andrea Jugrau hosts in the summer and winter each year!  This is one of the squares from the Summer Squares Project from 2009.  I have used these patterns before for baby blankets, this time I am using Violin as my center square with the border from The Blue Quartet. I am further along than that now, the center square is done, all my stitches are picked up and I am into the border.

But wait, that isn't all I cast on during my feverish Startitus!

Project the second would be a free form cardigan.

Using yarn that I was gifted by the wife of a Columbus Police Officer - she gave me miles and miles of yarn! - and just the vaguest idea of what I want I cast on for a top down, very drapey, deep collared cardi.  I haven't quite hit the divide for sleeves and body point, but I am not far off!  There is a ton of 2x2 ribbing in this one and I think I am going to steal from this pattern and curve it around the front to the back when I get to that point. But, as we all know, when knitting free form anything could happen!

But wait, that isn't all I cast on during my feverish Startitus!

Project the third would be a circular cardigan.


Doesn't look like much does it?

Again, I am further along than that now. Finished up that rectangle that will be the center back and have started on the circular part.  I used this pattern as my starting point and have already changed it up a bit. At first I was going to use live stitches rather than cast on and cast off, then pick up for joining the circular part, but that didn't work the way I planned and left me with rather large gaps at the join by the time the weight of the circle was there.  Frogged that attempt!  Second try involved casting off the top stitches then picking up the required 3 out of every 4 so they were ready to be used and fiddling with how they were added to the circle to get a tighter join.

In figuring that part out I decided I didn't like the outer most cable.  Being reversible at that point there are twice as many stitches to manipulate around, and it was, to be honest, a pain in the behind dragging six stitches across six stitches.

That cable needs to be reversible as the top edge of the cardigan folds down to form the collar, but no-one has ever said that you have to follow a pattern exactly if you don't want to, so I took a cable from Ingrid and went from there.  (Side note, if you like cables and haven't knit Ingrid, do yourself a favor and consider it.  She is a very fun knit, and the pattern is incredibly detailed.) When I am a little further along into my sweater I will show you both sides of the cable, they are different and it is magic how all the cabling takes place on the same side of your work.

But wait!

That isn't all.  I am so caught up in starting new things (even if I did run the spectrum of plain stocking stitch, through cables and lace.)  I might have got some inspiration books!

You never know when you will need a little inspiration, right?
 
This one came from Bev of Land O Lace.  She takes such good care of me!   I was placing an order for yarn to knit American Brilliant, finally after much internal debate about which yarn and color to pick, and she popped this into my package as well.  It has some gorgeous patterns in it, which we will look at another day.

Want to see what else was in that package?

I decided that Tonka Bay would make a fabulous American Brilliant, but the Wykoff kept calling my name so I might have got some of that too!
 
I only got three of the Wykoff, I don't see myself knitting American Brilliant twice, but I am sure I can come up with something to knit with it!

There were a couple of other books that were ordered using reward points that I should show you.  Both have lots of interesting techniques and lots of patterns.

But, I had better not open them just yet.........That Electric Sunrise Luxury Fling Tidbit from Lara's Creations is still whispering in my ear that it wants to grow up to be something too!

I better get knitting!

~M