I've decided to let my finished Ms. Marigold sit for a while, at least until I've had a chance to wash and dry a swatch to check for shrinkage (although it's doubtful as things usually only get bigger in my washer). I also have my hands full with my visitors at the moment so it's easier to forget about it for a while than to sit down and take it apart just yet.

Thanks to my mom's good advice I went back to some trusty socks. I am still working on Hanami off and on and my crochet squares are progressing slowly, but it is good to have something like socks to pour my free time into. I 've never knit socks with such thick yarn (Silk Garden Lite) and I was shocked to see how fast I got to turning the heel! After seeing Lolly's socks a few months ago I was smitten and I picked up some yarn but it took me a while to get it on the needles. I just wanted to cast on as I will be on and off trains with my visitors this weekend and wanted to have something easy to pick up and put down. But now I am almost to the finishing point of the first sock! We'll see if I can cast off and on again for the second sock while I am still hot on this one.

I also re-knit the cable section on this sock because the pattern that I had decided on was more complicated and looked much more average in real life than in my head. Instead of four-stitch cables I started again with tiny two-stitch cables after reading this great tip which I had never heard of before! Just like that, my cable socks became a million times easier and now I am clicking right along again.

I am currently trying to work my way through the yarn I moved to my new apartment in a big plastic container, so that I can fit more of my knitting notions (and not just the yarn!) into the giant bin before my next move in July. So even though I have a lot of ideas and projects in the queue, I am just as happy using these yarns that I have been hoarding and seeing that space start to open up. However slowly that may be.

Posted by Molly at 05:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I promised myself that I would finish Ms. Marigold in time to wear this season, and as it is still seasonably cool, in some ways I succeeded. Unfortunately it is way too big. When I started making this, people thought it was for a baby because the upper shoulder area was so tiny. I have small shoulders, I told myself, and I kept on plugging along. As the deep V started to form I thought, "No way will this be too small, it will be just right!" and then I cruised to a finish without thinking about the V-neck ribbing and ruffles, and the fact that the armholes were saggy and huge.

This pattern and the resulting vest is charming enough for me to not jam it into a drawer and forget it about it but instead to rip it all out and start again. But not for another few weeks. I have visitors coming tomorrow (my brother and his fiancee!!) so the careful ripping and starting again (two sizes smaller, for sure) will have to wait. Looks like this will be a fall FO after all.

*Optimistic and helpful advice from my boyfriend.

Posted by Molly at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)