Vickyd’s Knitty Thing

Life has definately been a bit crazy lately so I haven’t been blogging but I have been knitting.  I am trying my best to keep my WiP’s at a minimum but I seem to have a bit of kntters ADD lately and I want to cast on for a ton of projects…thus far, I have been able to restrain (somewhat).

Here are the projects currently on the needles:

The Bag by Wendy Wonnacott

I am using Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy for this and I really love the way it is turning out.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to work on it for a couple of weeks because other projects have been pushing their way forward.

Basic Cuff Down Sock

This sock is for my basic sock class – I had to knit one first to remind myself on how to knit a cuff down sock since I have been knitting mostly toe up lately.  The yarn is called “Stash Yarn” and is handdyed by an indie dyer for a LYS.  I really like this base yarn – it is lightweight and very soft and stretchy and should make a great pair of summer socks.

Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet

I don’t have any pics of this yet but I had to show you this wonderful yarn – Noro Matsuri.  I have been petting it ever since my LYS got it in stock but had not yet decided what to make with it until I saw turtlegirl’s wonderful capelet in Noro.  I have had this project in my queue forever and all of a sudden it all clicked together.  This yarn is absolutely wonderful – it is a cotton, wool blend with the terrific colors of Noro.  It has taken a bit of math to adjust the pattern for my size and to account for the DK weight yarn but it will definately be worth it!

Hopefully, I will have some better progress pics next week!

You might remember that I knit a Notting Hill Vest last winter for my FIL’s Christmas present.  He really loves that vest and I took it in to my LYS to show the owners Karen and Janice.  A couple of months ago, Karen mentioned to me that she had several customers who wanted to learn how to knit cables and asked if I would be interested in knitting another Notting Hill Vest for a shop sample and to possibly teach a class on it if there was enough interest.  She provided the yarn and I got to work.

This is the result (and a more accurate picture of the color)…

And a close-up of the cables…

Pattern:  Notting Hill Vest by Kathy Zimmerman, size 40″

Yarn:  GGH Tara (6 1/2 skeins)

Needles:  US 5, US 6 Knitpicks Options

Date Started:  April 2008

Date Finished:  May 16, 2008

Mods:  None

I like this version of the vest much better than the first one I knitted.  The cable pattern was somewhat lost in the business of the Knitpicks Shamrock but they really pop with the GGH Tara.  I have never knit with Tara before and I really like it – it wasn’t hard on my hands like a lot of cotton yarns can be and the finished product is very soft.  I will definately use it again!