Cherie Amour at 3:00 a.m.

Or Finally an FO!

Saturday night I stayed up until o'dark thirty, madly seaming Sassy's Cherie Amour. There could be no more procrastination - the sweater was scheduled to get on a plane at 4:30 Sunday morning. I finished, bribed my Mom to take some quick pics, and said goodbye to the never-ending sleeves.

Don't you love my jammies?

This sweater is gorgeous, and if I didn't suffer from sleevitis, it would be a very fast knit. Except for the yarn sub, I did no modifications to the pattern. I originally planned to do two of these, one for my sister and one for me. The pattern is so flattering that I will definately knit the second! When I do it again, I will make some slight mods by lengthening the "skirt" and starting the ribbing just above my hipbones.

The details:

Cherie Amour, Knitty Fall 2007, size M (38)

US #13 and # 9 circular needles, 24-inch lengths (Addi Turbos)

Classic Elite Renaissance, 100% wool, 7114 Denim, 8 hanks. I kettle dyed the yarn with blues, aquas, and purples for a very sublte varigation. The yarn is not as soft as some wool blends (merino comes to mind), but it is perfect for a sweater like this. It shows off the stitch definition perfectly and holds its shape nicely.

Even kitteh loves this sweater!

I haven't heard from Sassy yet - she won't be able to wear it for many months yet. She is fat and happy, pregnant with my very first niece! Squee! If anyone deserves a sweater...

Unexpected Guests, the Plague, and Sleevitis

Last weekend my aunt and uncle stopped by while on their cross country trip. It was great to visit with them, but I think they brought the plague. Whether they carried some mutant virus from the Great Plains or I ran myself down with the holidays, road trips, and visitors, I have had the cold from hell all week.

It's been so bad that I haven't been able to lurk at my favorite blogs or even hang out on Ravelry. The plus side is I got a lot of knitting done while watching bad day-time TV. I planned to work diligently on Sassy's Cherie Amour, but I had crippling sleevitis. Instead, I knit a very simple twisted wrap with the Trendsetter Venus yarn I picked up at Hanks. I used a provisional cast on with a garter stitch seam to create seamless shoulder wrap. It shows the variations in yarns and textures beautifully! I have a bit left; I think I will do a very narrow, very long scarf.


I also cast on Mrs. Darcy, finished the back, and started the sleeves. I'm using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport and size 10 needles to match the gauge called for in the pattern. It has made a light and lacy fabric, perfect for Florida! The Lorna's Laces is soo soft. I love it!


Did you notice that I knit the back, skipped the fronts, and went straight to the sleeves? I thought that might circumvent my sleevitis. Maybe it's not sleevitis; maybe I just get bored with a project near the end and... Nope, it's sleevitis.

I have put a lot of thought into this disorder over the last week. First, I must qualify that I have freakishly long arms. According to da Vinci, a person's height is supposed to be equal to her wingspan measured fingertip to fingertip, across the shoulders. Well, I am 66 inches tall, and my wingspan is 70 inches. Four full inches difference! I should be in a side show.

So, when I knit sleeves, it takes an extra long time. However, my sleevitis cannot be simply blamed on my freakishness. Think about knitting the front of a sweater. You knit four inches, hold it up to your body, and look! you've knit from your hipbone to your belly button! Now think about knitting two sleeves. It's often the same number of stitches, so it should be just as exciting. However, you knit four inches, hold it up to your arm, and you've knit to your wrist. Hardly exciting.

I think we need support groups for sleevitis. Special stitch and bitches devoted strictly to sleeves. "Hi, my name is Eryn, and I have sleevitis. I have knit two half sleeves since our last meeting."

Even without the support group, I forced myself to knit Sassy's sleeves. They are officially done and blocking. I will be embarking on the grand adventure that is seaming as soon as all the pieces are dry.

Until then, I have much blogstalking to catch up on. First, my worst habit. I think it's obvious that my worst habit is procrastination. I will do nothing today that can be put off 'til tomorrow! The next assignment is a snap-shot of our knitting needles.

Here you see my needle drawer, including my brand new Options Harmony set (Whee!). So far I love them; they are beautiful: smooth with just enough grip that I don't lose my stitches. Maybe they can help me fight sleevitis!

From one end to the other

Wednesday and Thursday were utterly awful. I took stock, I hugged my kids, I cuddled my furbabies, and I knitted. My outlook is much brighter now!

I've finished the body of Cherie Amour. Hooray! I am doing something crazy with the sleeves. If I'm successful, I'll tell you all about it. If I'm not, I'll make some drunken post railing against the knitting gods.

Blue on blue on blue

I finally had a chance to take a picture of this in sunlight. Can you see the beautiful, subtle variegation? I am so gosh darn proud of myself! My sister had better love this! As a side note, before binding off the shoulders, I tried this on. The Hairy One's reaction was, "Wow!"

I am definitely making one of these for me!

Pet me, I'm shiny

And even though I have sooo many hedgehogs to knit, I cast on Fetching on Friday. This yarn is a gorgeous kid mohair/viscose mix. It is fuzzy and shiny! It's thinner than the yarn called for in the pattern, but by knitting a little loose (very easy for me on dpns!) I've found only my row gauge is off. I added one more cable round, and I am adding four rib rounds before the thumb.

I won't finish both of these this weekend, unless there is a series of miracles, but they should be done shortly. I really like these, but if I don't finish enough hedgehogs, I may be giving them away!

Why won't I finish these super easy, knit 'em in a weekend fingerless gloves? The Hairy One's back is wonky again. He spent the day in bed, and I had to stand in for him at a birthday party. I spent my afternoon manning the grill while teenagers and young children ran screaming. I don't think they were screaming because of my grilling prowess, but I'm not sure. The burgers were juicy, but the hotdogs were the weird red ones. They were rather frightening!

Now don't get me wrong, I am not a hermit, but I am not a fan of crowds or small talk or bullsh*t. Remember the line from Steel Magnolias: "Well, you know what they say: if you don't have anything nice to say about anybody, come sit by me!" That's me. It's fun in the right mix, but not this afternoon. I grilled, I read, I reminded my monsters not to kill each other or anyone else, and I knitted. I am such a social misfit!

The highlight was when Bubba proudly announced to another child, "Do you know what my Mom can do? She can knit! She made me a hedgehog and ear warmers and she's making a sweater!" My kid's proud of me! I'm enjoying it now, because I know it won't last.

After that fabulous afternoon, I went straight to my knitting chair, ready to watch some juicy crime shows on DVR. Black Tom told me in no uncertain terms that I was not sitting down.

I'm sitting in your chair

After cleaning up the blood and retrieving my dpns from the drop ceiling, I decided Tom could have the chair for a little bit longer. I'm going to see if he's done.

French fries do not contaminate your hot dog!*

Bleck. It was a craptastic day at work today. Thank the powers that be that it's knit night tonight! Two or three hours of nothing but knitting and kvetching! Whoo-wee do I need that.

Enough whining.... Here's some knitting:

Cherie Amour

Want to know a dirty little secret? I can count or I can knit lace. I can't do both at the same time. I have ripped the bodice lace on this three times. I'm now eight rows past the armhole division. I've decided to knit both fronts and the back at the same time (because I'm insane!). Actually, there is a method to my madness. I know that there is no way I could make all three pieces exactly the same length if I knit them separate. This sweater is for my sister Sassy, a birthday/Christmas gift. It may be done before she has her baby.

Wait... don't I have a baby cardi on the needles? Yep! And no progress. I've reached the hood and I am bored to tears. I have six inches to go and six months to finish it.

And, even though I needed to do two, I finished one hedgehog this weekend. He's brown and black and impossible to photograph without sunlight. Bubba loves him.

Last but not least, Blogstalking Week 9. (Is it really week 9? Well, Week Whatever!) The assignment is a pic of your junk drawer. I don't have a junk drawer, I have a junk room. Our master bedroom is really a mother-in-law suite, something I had never heard of until moving to Florida. Our bedroom has a teeny-tiny kitchen that doubles as my secret laboratory.


Most of the junk is stuffed in the shoe boxes. See the soap drying on the rack? Yummy Plumberry and "Forest's Edge," my blend of juniper breeze and sweet grass. It is fabulous!

*Yet another title stolen from conversations with the monsters. The Bug had a meltdown because his french fries landed on his hot dog. It's a terrible thing.

Finally a Finished Object!

First read this. I still need a few volunteers to test soap; you know you want to!

I've been promising pics of the Pretty in Pink Tank.
This is not a perfect sweater, but I've been wearing it! I bound off a little too tightly, and the straps will not stop curling.... I've taken to wearing it inside out to keep the straps in line. This pattern was quick and easy to follow; perfect for a first sweater.

I've still got the baby cardi on the needles, but I'm in the final stretch of stockinette for the hood and it's boring!

So, to keep my sanity, I started Cherie Amour! I plan on doing this sweater twice. The first time will be without modifications for my sister Sassy, the second time will be for me, with lots of mods. I've found this to be a very quick, satisfying knit, but I also know that many have been frustrated with various design elements. We'll see how it goes.

This is yarn that I over-dyed color on color to create a very subtle variegation. It came out perfectly, IMHO! I'm trying to get a good pic of it, but with the time change, I can't seem to take pictures in sunlight. This pic was taken in the parking lot at work (while all the other mindless drones wondered what the hell I was doing!).

And last but not least, I've calculated that I need to knit at least two hedgehogs this weekend. That's the only way I'll finish them all in time for the holidays! Hermione had her debut at the LYS on Wednesday; she was greeted with critical acclaim and applause.

Well, if I'm going to knit two hedgies this weekend, I'd better get cracking!