Sea Anemone Knits

My uncle called me late last night. At least he’s not in any more pain.

"(Remarking about his drink while onstage) Look at all the limes in this god-damn thing! This fuckin’ thing is tropical! Look at the limes, how they float. That’s good news man. Next time I’m on a boat and it capsizes, I’ll reach for a lime… I’ll be water skiing without a life preserver and people’ll say ‘What the hell?’ and I’ll pull out a lime…and a lemon too. I’m saved by the buoyancy of citrus." - M. Hedberg

I’ve been listening to a lot of Mitch Hedberg lately. I like that joke above all of his others that I’ve heard. I laugh like an idiot every time I hear it.

So, I’ve been housesitting and updating was a major ordeal that I just was too tired to do. Sorry!

I went to Galveston for part of my labor day weekend. I grew up in Galveston and I’m proud to present to you an exceptionally pretty view:

Ain’t she purty folks?? I got to enjoy this view at lunch with my Mom!

(In case she’s reading, Hi Mom!! I put up the picture you liked!!)

I got lots of knitting done while I was incognito. It’s a LOT of stockinette. For some reason, I’ll get bored with a stockinette project and cast on a new one that is also 90% stockinette. What the heck is wrong with me?? I worked some more on the Hourglass & I’m about 3/4 done. The rest of a sleeve and a yoke to do. Go me!

But wait! There’s more! Do you remember back when I went to NJ a couple months ago? I started the Silk Camisole from LMKG? Then when I got home, I frogged the bejeezus out of it? Yeah, so do I. I hated ripping that out. Well, good news. I restarted it over the long weekend. I’m about 5 inches in. I didn’t screw up the lace too badly and I’m surprisingly ok with the few screw ups and am not about to rip back and try to fix anything. Screw it!

I figure that I won’t get to wear it this season and so soon, I’ll put it down for a bit in favor of attempting my Mom’s cardigan again. Lace and mohair is such a bad idea. Really. Ugh. But, I told her I’d do it so I’d best just cast on and get to it while we’re young, right? Please, I need encouragement! I’ll have never knit this much lace. It’s intimidating.

I finished some footlets while I was gone. There’s not much to em. I got the yarn (Alexandrite colourway. It self striped!) from The Fiber Denn on etsy.com. Delia is very sweet, everyone, go buy yarn from her. I used KP Options US 4 needles to Magic Loop ‘em. Simple magic cast-on toe, short row heel, and blah, there you are.

And with that, I bid you adieu! I need to get some sleep tonight. Especially since the cat woke my sleepy toucas up at 4am and I proceeded to just lay there.

I have to warn y’all now, I’m going to babble about my hourglass sweater again. (Kelly, if you’re reading, you may just want to skip down a bit *grin* I know my love for this sweater is beyond your comprehension)

I am totally in love with this sweater. I’ve started the body of it and it’s going slooooowly. Which, if you take a look at how much I had to cast on and how little time I’ve had to devote to it in the last like 5 days, the slow going makes sense. Most of what I’ve accomplished will be folded over and sewn down to become the hem. I’m trying to hem this as I go so that there is less finishing involved at the end. I really love the way the fabric feels and looks. It is the most perfect tweedy orange. I saw some more of this yarn at Hill Country Weavers and theirs was a darker orange and much less attractive than mine. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

Last week, I told y’all I finished the Blue Argyle Baby Sweater I was working on… it has been gifted and very well received. I was quite happy with the reaction to it. Much cooing and ohhing and aahing went on.

Pattern: Argyle Pullover from Special Knits by Debbie Bliss

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in white, navy and a baby blue

Needles: 10" US 2 & 3 and a 12" US 2 circular

Modifications: I crocheted a button loop. I otherwise followed this one to the letter. I knit the 3-6 month size.

And now, before I go, this is what happens when you get bored and are playing with the camera. You get ignored:

Isn’t he sweet?

A very finished Somewhat Cowl. I love her. Well, almost all of her. The neckline is lumpy in two spots and I’m hoping it blocks out. But without any further ado, have some pictures!

Welcome to the world Somewhat Cowl!

Better shot of the neckline which gave me the most trouble of the whole sweater…

See you when I get back folks!!

edit:

So, I figured that I might mention some of the things I changed about the Somewhat Cowl. Frankly, the pattern kind of sucks. The only size that seems to work exactly is the size that the author did for herself. Which is fine, but you ought to get all other sizes test knitted before you go out and sell something to people. If you’re going to knit this pattern, I suggest going out before you buy the pattern and read every set of pattern notes you can find from the knit-bloggers out here on the web. Seriously.

First, I knit for bust size 38" due to my gauge and that I’d read alot of problems with knitting for your size and having it turn out huge. Plus, I was knitting with 80% cotton and I was afraid of blooming. I normally wear a size 42".

I did not knit the raglan sleeve to the length suggested by the pattern, if I had, the arm hole would have been gargantuan. I shorted it to 9 inches long before I began the sleeves.

I added an extra set of waist increases and decreases because I curve in more and also because I needed the additional length because I’ve got a longer torso. It still turned out just barely long enough to suit me. Consider adding more length if you don’t want your tummy to be exposed when you lift your arms above your head.

I did not knit as far down as the pattern requested for the neckline. I didn’t want to show off my belly button and needed something more modest.

For the collar, I ignored the suggested pick up stitches amounts and simply picked up and knit stitches as evenly as I could all the way around. I like how it turned out and I picked up more stitches than suggested.

When casting on for the very beginning, Wendy asks you to do this: CO 2 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) [front]; PM; CO 8 (9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11) [sleeve]; PM; CO 28 (32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42) [back]; PM; CO 8 (9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11) [sleeve]; PM; CO 2 (2, 2, 2, 2, 2) [front]

If I were to do it again, I would simply do this: CO 8 (9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11) [sleeve]; PM; CO 28 (32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42) [back]; PM; CO 8 (9, 10, 10, 11, 11, 11) [sleeve]

I would do it this way because it removes a sort of triangular area that the original pattern has that makes the neckline sort of whumpy when you pick up stitches around it. I hope that made sense…

Finally, I ignored the neckline part of the pattern altogether. I did the 2×2 ribbing the entire way around the neckline except for the very bottom where you are knitting in the cleavage area and there I did 1×1 ribbing. I did this for 3 inches and then, continued in 2×2 all the way around. increasing by one stitch in every stitch that was 1×1 ribbing. This way, the neckline gathered up as little more tightly and then the increasing made the collar lay down flat when folded over and hid the 1×1 ribbing. I’ve then tacked the collar down in a few spots around the neck to keep it from flying up when I lean over. I did NOT fold the collar inside and tack down all the way around.

Hope this helps!!