Bichons In Berry Sauce

My Rowan Cashsoft has been the prize of my stash for a little over a year now. I had always planned to knit the ribbed cardigan with it, but I liked how it looked in the stash. I am not sure my parents understood this; they gave me the yarn for my birthday, and I think have since given up on asking me when I plan to use it. I keep my stash in yarn cubbies in my living room so it's dual purpose, yarn and decor. Now I just need to convince Cary that when I buy yarn, it's really to decorate the house. It's for him too. Back to the Cashsoft: I really liked this yarn. It used to fill up this cubby, even with a few behind the front stack. While it's fun to knit up, I'm going to miss my stash.

Lots of knitting has been going on, exclusively on the ribbed sweater. Two sleeves, and one of the front panels are done! I'm not tired of it yet either-- the yarn is really soft, and knits up with almost a spongy consistency, especially in the ribbing. Here's the start of the back:

Since the photo, I've gotten past the ribbing, and now it's a zillion inches of straight knitting. Besides knitting, I've started a cross-stitch project. I used to do these as a kid, but I'm not sure I ever finished anything more than a sampler. I was inspired by Kris to make a few of these as gifts. Here's a peek:

Little Abby had a repair haircut with her regular groomer last week. It was too soon for a haircut, but she just wasn't her usual fluffy, pretty self. She looks much better now, and I think she knows it.

Posted by Nancy at 02:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I've finally finished the ribbed jacket. There hasn't been much motivation to do so, as the adoption process has been a bit stalled. The little girl won't be here till March. Today I finished blocking, bound off my last edge, and even completed the dreaded weaving-in-of-the-ends.

a closeup of the collar:

Pattern: Ribbed Jacket from Special Knits
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran in a muted pink shade
Needles: Boye circulars, size 8

My wooly little girl sat next to me as I finished up the sweater-- she's always up for some lounging on the couch time. She's been raised sitting by my side as I knit, so she doesn't bother things too much.

Abby needs a haircut quite badly. I wanted to take her to a new groomer, and when I called, their first appointment was in three weeks! She'll be shorn next wednesday-- she's really not as large as she looks.

Posted by Nancy at 06:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yesterday, I had a long list of things I needed to be doing. Groceries, resume tweaking.. the list was long. Abby and I were hard at work, and by 4pm, all we had left to do was bake a pie and do some knitting. For the whole nite. The pie turned out ok-- I went for the quickie ready-made pie crust made by Mr. Wegman, and wasn't thrilled with it. It cracked and crumbed when touched. The pie still tastes yummy. I used Cortlands from the farmer's market.

My yarn for the demi has still not arrived. If it had, I would have started on a sleeve, abandoning the ribbed jacket and ribben-edged cardigan. Mr. Postman does know best.

I made some progress on my ribbed jacket; all that's left is the large knitted on ribbed collar and front. The pattern is cleverly written. The whole jacket, with the exception of the ribbing, is knit in one big long funny shaped piece. The only seaming that happens are two very long seams that start at the wrists, go up the arms, then down the sides. Minimal seaming, minimal weaving in of ends. My kind of sweater.

After her initial photo shoot, Abby was more interested in playing with the camera than she was in posing for me. See her fly!

Posted by Nancy at 11:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This jacket is definitely going to need a good blocking before seaming. It wants to curl up on itself very badly. I like how this pattern is written with very little seaming and finishing, but still cute. I haven't yet decided if I want to add some sort of ribbing or seed stitch or something to the bottom.. saving that for last. I'm thinking I won't bind off the bottoms till I figure this out.

Posted by Nancy at 04:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last nite, I cast on for the last of the baby sweaters. It's the Ribbed Jacket, from my favorite baby knits book, Special Knits. This one will be for my friend Sally, who is adopting a child in december. They don't know the age of their little girl yet, so I decided to make the 12-24 month size. The little girl pictured here is Abigail. She's almost 5 months old, and teething. She enjoys playing with my yarn tails while I knit.

Posted by Nancy at 12:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)