Sunny Days

The winter sun is one of my favourite things. It brings the hope of spring as rivulets of melt water forage paths through the winter grime, crisscrossing the sidewalks at every turn. There is something about a sun-filled winter sky that invites us to look up from our cold-fighting winter hunch, press our shoulders down away from our ears, acknowledge our fellow city dweller, and take notice how beautiful our snow covered city really is.

Another gift from the winter sun is wonderful light for FO shots. I managed to finish up Kusha Kusha over the weekend.

This scarf only used up one cone of the Silk Stainless yarn and one and a smidge skeins of the cashmere. It didn't felt quite as much as I had thought it might but I have a deep and passionate love for the resulting fabric. The scarf is so light and airy, weighing only just over an ounce. Thanks to the superfine and supersoft cashmere it's surprisingly warm (warm enough that I'm standing outside in a t-shirt in February).

And next up some long long overdue Tilted Duster photos. Although not apparent in these photos, if I take the time to make a few adjustments this sweater will actually stay completely closed. Something that is a very welcome surprise.

Norah Gaughan's Tilted Duster
Yarn: Berocco Peruvia in Granada
Amount: 7.05 skeins (could have made it with 7)
Size: 36" bust on my 35" bust so one inch of positive ease
Started: August 2007
Finished: January 2008

This sweater was started in August, finished in October and received buttons in January. The Berocco Peruvia yarn I used, as called for in the pattern, is lovely but perhaps not ideal for a sweater such as this. After wearing it twice the sweater has already started to pill significantly on the inside of the rear section.

If I were to knit this pattern again, I would adjust the amseye shaping to eliminate the small amount of bulk you can see in the above photo. Otherwise the pattern is genius. Another home run for the illustrious Norah Gaughan.

One last parting shot in honour of the winter sun.

Happy Tuesday!

Once upon a Super Bowl

Last Sunday I was talked into attending a Super Bowl party. Knowing that I lack the "enthusiasm for televised sports" gene, I decided to start a new project that would give me my own little dose of the fun. Enter the Tulip Baby Cardigan.

It's perfect. Fast, easy, pretty, lots of colour, and nice yarn. I've had this kit in my stash since last spring. Now that I have more than a few close friends expecting it seems like a great time to knit it up.

Before falling off the metaphorical goal bandwagon, I managed to accomplish some long forgotten spinning.

The yarn is just over 140 yards of worsted 3-ply, made with 2 plies of Superwash merino top (these singles) and one ply of a merino tencel blend. There should be about a sweater's worth of yarn if I ever get finished. I'm not too sure about the colour since it is darker than I had originally anticipated. We'll see what happens after a bit of swatching before I make a firm decision either way.

Lucy is almost finished. I have about 16 more rows and a bit of neckband knitting to do. Then it's on to weaving in the dozens of ends, buying buttons, and grafting the underarm join shut.

I tried it on over the weekend and it seems a bit small. I think that a good blocking will give me a bit more room, especially since the yarn is superwash. Failing that, I suppose I'll have to cut back on the Mini Eggs.

Kusha Kusha also featured prominently this weekend and a fair amount of progress was made. I have just over a hundred more rows of stainless silk left to knit and it will be finished.

Love the way that this is turning out even if the slippery stainless silk rows are a bit of a pain to knit.

A week and some ago Nicole tagged me for the book MEME. Funny thing was that I had grabbed the book I was reading to see what my answer would before I realized that she had tagged me. Thanks Nicole!

The rules are as follows:

Go to the current book you are reading, on page 161, and copy down the 5th sentence:

“I can almost hear it.”

From Sweetness in the Belly by Camilla Gibb, otherwise known as my book club book for February.

Thank you for your comments on my last post. They made for a perfect re-entry.