I'm Ready for the Park...

Central Park that is..... wearing my newly completed Central Park Hoodie! Woo hoo!

This was a great TV knit. Simple yet effective cables turned this somewhat mindless knit into a rather enjoyable one.

This project emerged from humble beginnings. I bought some undyed Blue Faced Leicester Aran from a lady on Ravelry - 4 skeins totalling 1640 yds. It was perfect for this project - amazingly soft and springy and not scratchy or itchy at all.

The next step was to dye the yarn. I knew what colour I wanted - a mustard/curry semi solid with a hint of olive/brown. I started mixing and finally had the perfect shade! And just enough dye for my 16oz of yarn. I had to dye in two stages since I had so much yarn and only a 3 gallon stock pot. The yarn came out fabulously [shameless horn tooting].

The last step was to swatch. Gauge on the first attempt! Woo hoo! This hoodie was meant to be!

Timeline:

Dyed BFL - 11 August, 2009

Cast on Project - 19 August, 2009

Back Finished - 24 August, 2009

LH Front Finished - 30 August, 2009

RH Front Finished - 2 September, 2009
Sleeves Finished - 7 September, 2009
Washed and Blocked - 8 September, 2009

Hood Finished - 12 September, 2009

Edgings Finished - 13th September, 2009

Button Loops, Buttons and Seaming Finished - 14th September, 2009

Modifications:

Back: One extra pattern repeat to lengthen by 1.75ins. Cat Bordhi’s Wrap, Turn and Conceal Short Row shoulders and three needle BO (since the cable crosses occurred on a short row, I did the cable on a purl side; one row earlier). Contemplated using kitchener stitch to join shoulders, but was worried about the strength of it and the weight of the sweater.

Left Hand Front: One extra pattern repeat to lengthen by 1.75ins. Cat Bordhi’s Wrap, Turn and Conceal Short Row shoulder.

Right Hand Front: One extra pattern repeat to lengthen by 1.75ins. Cat Bordhi’s Wrap, Turn and Conceal Short Row shoulder.

Sleeves: One extra increase under the arm (= 2 sts). Made the sleeves one inch longer.

Hood: Since I did short row shoulders, I had live stitches on the needle for the hood. I didn’t have to graft together, pick up stitches.

Edgings: my pickup ratio was 4:1 (14 times) then 3:1 (36 times) for a total of 328 sts. I increased to 164 sts each side because of the extra length of the fronts and back.

Buttons: I used 6 buttons and did the crochet loop closing option.

This fits fantastically. I made the 36ins version even though I’m 37ins. The only things I would do differently if I knit it again is (a) to make the sleeves a little wider….about 6 sts; (b) knit the sleeves in the round; and (c) add some waist shaping.

And now for the pictures:

Fibre Frenzy

We counted down the sleeps starting at about 16! Sleeps until:

THE KITCHENER/WATERLOO KNITTING FAIR

Saturday, 12th September had been firmly etched into our psyche since the year before. Lame? Possibly..... Crazy? Absolutely!

Where: Meetup at The Bog

When: 7am

Breakfast: Compulsory

Destination: Bingeman's Center, Kitchener

With Laura at the wheel, the London gals set off. Kat navigated brilliantly! In back, Barb and I knit away happily, while Allie played with her game thingy - Barb worked on socks, and I worked on a scarf.

Once inside Bingeman's Center, OMG! A fibre frenzy. It was absolutely fabulous! There were more than 70 vendors! Of particular note: Alpaca Acres, The Black Lamb, Dye-version, Dyed in the Wool Handmade, Fibre Isle Fine Yarns, Philosopher's Wool Co., Pick Up Sticks, The Purple Purl, Serenity Knits, Shall We Knit?, Sheep Strings, Shelridge Farm, Spun Fibre Arts, Wellington Fibres, Yarn Indulgences, Van Der Rock, and Zen Yarn Garden.

Here's my haul:

(From left back: 5 x Creme Pinguin Tempo DK (for some preemie knitting), 1 x Pink BFL/Nylon Sock Yarn (Christmas knitting), Promethium Merino/Nylon Sock Yarn (my stash), Teal Mohair/Wool Light Worsted (Christmas knitting), 3 x Children's Lizard Mitts kits for my nieces). (From left front: 6 x Red Heart McIntosh Worsted (Ilderton Fair Knitting), 6 x wooden buttons for my Central Park Hoodie, 5mm Addi Turbo, 4mm Addi Crochet Hook, and a stitch counter)

I also picked up a Lendrum Niddy Noddy:

And earlier in the week:

Undyed BFL Worsted Weight 1600yds

Frog Stitch Markers

Another fair over....... what a fantastic day! Thanks girls :-)

I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Dooooooo!

No, it's not Muriel's Wedding, it's Maria's wedding!

Saturday 29th August, 2009 - Maria and Dave finally tied the knot! An absolutely beautiful wedding at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Stratford.

There were tears in my eyes as Maria and Dave exchanged vows - they had waited such a long time for this very special moment, and in front of their friends and family they declared their love and were united in marriage.

Nadine has also blogged about Maria's gorgeous day on her blog here.

Maria wore a beautiful hot pink crepe backed satin dress made by her mother-in-law, together with an absolutely gorgeous silk/bamboo version of a vogue knitting pattern - Lace Shrug from the Spring/Summer 2008 edition.

The struggle with gauge and numerous errata were more than worth it! The shrug was fabulous and looked stunning on her! Everybody was talking about it!

I'll let the photos speak for themselves:

Congratulations Maria and Dave! May you both enjoy a lifetime of love and happiness together!

Maria and Dave

The Shrug!

Maria and Dave

Barb, Maria, me, Nadine

Nadine, Bob and me

Barb & Bob

Maria