Let's Recap: Beatnik

It was a long time ago, in the depths of winter, that I last showed you my Beatnik sweater.  I made a bunch of changes to the original pattern as I knit it, like adding some length, creating a mashup of two sizes to make it fit me perfectly, and knitting the sleeves and body together at the yoke as an EZ set-in sleeve.  I feel like I might have also done some funny business at the neckline, to ensure it wouldn't be too wide, but it was so long ago that I can't remember for sure.

I finished the sweater in the winter, and have worn it a few times in the interim, weather permitting, but only just now have managed to get my photographer to take a few shots for me.  You can tell from the photos, I'm sure, that he was worth the wait.

Don't you love it?  The cables, the neckline, the fit, the colour...  Incidentally, the colour is Doeskin Heather, one of my all-time faves from Cascade 220, which I bought so long ago for a completely different project, but one day I just had to make Beatnik, and this beautiful yarn was just sitting there waiting for me to use it.

So glad I did.

Girlie Friday

Well, it might have taken me forever to knit this cardigan, but it's finished now, and it's super snuggly and comfortable, and well worth the effort.

A pretty simple (and free) pattern from Knitty, it wouldn't have taken me long to finish this, if I weren't so easily distracted by every impulse to start a new project. I was admittedly a bit intimidated by the idea of altering the pattern to knit the yoke all in one piece, with set-in sleeves, but once I got going on it, it was easy enough. I even added a few decreases to the fronts & back, to make the width from shoulder to shoulder a bit narrower.

I wet blocked it after everything was seamed and tried it on and was worried that I might need to reblock it a bit wider for it to fit the way I wanted. I decided to knit an extra inch of ribbing on the collar and buttonbands, just to give a little more width. Then I got a bit bored with 1x1 ribbing, and let it languish a while longer before finally picking it up and getting it over with.


I was planning to wet block it again after finishing the collar and buttonband, to tidy things up, but once I had it off the needles and tried it on, I wasn't convinced it needed it. I took a steam iron to it to make it lie better, but that's all.

I have to say that I am really happy with this cardi: the colour, the texture, the fit, the warmth. Between the ample collar and the long ribbed cuffs, it is plenty cozy and I really think that all of you should print off the pattern and knit your own. You will thank me, later.

Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Socks

I spent a few days with my HLM at my folks' place, this week, celebrating a slew of birthdays and -- oh yeah -- the holidays. Rather than taking along one of the various projects I already have on the go (because they are too complicated or are right on the verge of becoming too complicated) I decided to grab some sock yarn from the stash and make another super-simple brainless pair of toe-up socks (from my standard pattern.)

The working title when I started these was Briar Rose, since the rosy pink and the woodsy brown made me think of rosebushes. As I knit further along, the brown started to look more like dark chocolate, and the pink started to look more like raspberry filling, until they reminded me of raspberry-filled truffles, more than anything. Or maybe I've just been eating too much holiday baking.


As I said, there's nothing new here -- in fact, I did almost this exact same thing once before, but this time I added a slightly longer solid toe before starting the stripes, and made the cuff at the top a little longer. I have the yarn already in my stash to make another pair of these in brown and blue, so don't even think you're done seeing this pattern, though admittedly it won't be right away. So many socks, so little time.

Too Cute

Have you seen the new Knitty is up? There are some really exceptional patterns, including this great cowl. I really must have one.