For a summer knitalong!

Tank girl has decided to make Pagan from Rowan #27 and this summer top from Phildar's les essentiels mode catalog. And she wants some company! Pagan calls for Rowan all season's cotton and the other top uses Phildar's fingering weight lambswool. Anyone have these patterns and/or yarn and want to join in? Tank girl wants to get started knitting in a couple of weeks, but has so many other projects that she'll be knitting pretty slow (yikes, fingering weight yarn!), so you can join in anytime.

Come on. Knit along. It'll be fun!

Okay, time to 'fess up. I started a new summer top! No, not Pagan - the knitalong is still on. But when I was swatching a bit of the Cotton Ease that I bought last week and then received a package from Becky with the most beautiful yarn in it, I couldn't help myself. I figured out how many stitches to cast on for a good size, did some ribbing and then asked myself, 'ok, what are we making here'. After browsing through my list from Monday and comparing the blue Cotton Ease and the aquamarine Licorne from Becky with my stash of all season's cotton, I decided to do a version of Sweetness in beach colors with short sleeves and waist shaping. The last tank did not have waist shaping and boy do I miss it! Won't be making that mistake again!

Another thing I won't be doing is blogging or knitting much over the next week. 'Cause we're moving. Yes, all sudden like that. We've been waiting for our landlord to finish renovating a bigger apartment nearby so we could move our now large-ish family into it and finally it's done. So off we go!

For those of you not reading my other blog, I'll explain why I haven't been sewing or blogging: we've been moving! Well, we started moving. I even schlepped my yarn stash over to its new home by my new sewing table. But then this happened. And I've got an emergency root canal this afternoon. When it rains, it pours, and nobody gets any sewing done!

Well, we started moving. I even schlepped the yarn stash over to its new home by my new sewing table. But then this happened. And I've got an emergency root canal this afternoon. Oh, and happy birthday to my husband! Brown butter's gonna be a bit late.

I did get a little knitting done right before the move started. I finished knitting the front of brown butter and had just noticed that the decreases on one side of the v-neck would have to be redone, as it ended up being a bit longer than the other side, when I had to put it down. Since then the move has taken up all our free time, which with one toddler in a cast has considerably dwindled, we took an evening off from the moving tonight to relax and watched the tape of Manor House. After reading some of Kathy's posts about it, I was sorry that I had missed watching it when it aired. Even though I should have been working on redoing the shoulder shaping and seaming brown butter, I went ahead and picked up my "sweet" little top for a bit of instant gratification. The last few days have been stressful and I'd really missed the knitting, so I indulged myself.

On a technical note, we don't have an internet connection in our new place yet, so I'll be blogging less frequently until we do (maybe every other day). And I won't have access to the computer at all during the day, so I won't be able to follow up on emails very speedily. Sorry! I hope to be back online daily when the knitalongs start up. Now, off to see more of Manor House....

My summer beach version of sweetness is coming along well. I can't stop knitting this because I just love seeing how the colors are coming out! I added waist shaping and now this puppy is like totally form-fitting. I've slipped it on and we're talking second skin here. I hope it won't end up being too immodest to wear! I keep telling myself that the cotton will grow a bit while I've got it on. Yeah, it'll grow a bit. Right.

No progress pictures today. I am sorry to say that my digital camera is no more. It only manages to turn on and take black pictures now. I guess I ran the thing into the ground. Or perhaps I let it fall on the ground a few times too many! What ever the reason, it's a goner. Now I've got to contend with no internet connection and no camera for the knitalongs. Poop.

Despite not being able to photographically record my progress or get to the computer to blog about it, I have been knitting. I finished the body of sweetness up to the yoke and did the side seams for my husband's vest. Maybe I can finish one of these two by next week before the knitalongs begin. I'm in no rush though. I've decided to relax through the summer knitting. The yarn won't go bad if I don't get something done. I can make it next year. And the pressure's really off to start on the boys' summer shirts, since I can only get giant short-sleeved t-shirts over B's cast!

To do by next Thursday:

• Figure out how to use video camera to take knitting pictures.


• Call in miracle and get RCN to install our phone/cable/modem. (That's right, we've also got no phone or access to Nick Jr!)


• Finish either brown butter or sweetness (ugh, all those ends!)


• Decide on stripes for Pagan and do some swatching already.


• Find time in day to at least check blogs of fellow knit-alongers!

Have a good weekend everyone. And if I don't get a chance to blog before then, happy mothers day to all you moms out there!

A while ago I was dismayed at my lack of progress on my growing number of unfinished knitting projects and wrote a little knitting ditty about knitting pretty shitty. But now, despite still having a mound of unfinished projects, I am really loving my knitting. These summer projects are cool and (relatively) quick. The colors are fun and then there's the incredible knitalongs that are coming up. I also have much more space in our bedroom to store and (more importantly) see all my knitting. I particularly love this little table with my all season's cotton and cotton glace stash and my current projects waiting to be finished. It just makes me happy to see them sitting there so invitingly. I've been so inspired that I'm almost done with my sweetness tank! (Stay tuned for the finished product rendered in crappy images by my video camera.)

Here I am with the video camera in the bathroom modelling my new tank: sweetness. I started with the blue Cotton Ease and went down a needle size to get gauge, so then when I switched to the all season's cotton for the other stripes the whole thing ended up a bit narrower than I had planned, especially considering that I added waist shaping (taken from bob also in the Spring knitty). So it's unintentionally form fitting, but serendipitously, the short-sleeves also turned out skimpier than I planned so they suit the tight tank perfectly. Although surprised by the fit, I actually really like it. Every tank girl needs a little top that makes her feel pretty!

I've been known to cheat sometimes and post pictures of a finished project even though it still has six or twenty ends dangling around on the inside. Well, this time I was very good and did all the ends for sweetness before posting it. Don't really know how it happened, but I got on a little finishing kick and did all the ends for sweetness and brown butter in a couple of days. And speaking of brown butter, I've just begun working on the borders, slowly but surely bringing this project to a close.

I did cheat a little though with the sweetness pictures. Well, only the second one. It's actually not from my video camera at all, but from my new digital camera that my oh so generous husband gave me for mother's day just in the nick of time. What a guy! And he got to do this to the old one. Here's to what Kathy once said about appreciating the boy in the man!

Paris silk! Harry's tweed!
There's only one thing I need...
Got my tweed crest
Got my best vest
All I need now is the tank
Got my stripes eyed
Got my hopes high
Got the time and the place
And I got rhythm
Now all I need is the tank to go with them

tank girls, start your tanks....

alison
Nora
Deb
Kerrie
LoobyLou
Kerstin
Becky
Morgan
Stonering
Swatchy
Lynette

Anyone else? And to anyone out there who wants to knit along but doesn't have a blog, you're more than welcome to join us. I could even post a picture here of your progress. Just let me know.

From reading the comments yesterday and following the posts on other tank girls' blogs, it seems that the third set of decreases is the place to be. Okay, here I am. I'm really excited about the stripes. I don't like random stripes and I don't trust myself to come up with a cool stripe pattern on my own, so I swiped this pattern from one of the designs in the latest Rebecca magazine. I've decided that since I'm doing stripes, I want to make the crew neck version instead of the v-neck. I don't like breaking up stripes too much, plus the Smooch tank (another knitalong!) is v-neck and a solid color so no need to do that twice. Another thought about stripes: too many ends to weave in when knitted flat. So I'm knitting Pagan in the round, at least until the armholes.

I'd love to hear the details on everyone else's tank. Anyone else working in the round, like me, Linda, and Morgan? Anyone else subbing with Cotton Ease like Deb and Lynette? Are Kerrie and I the only ones doing stripes? What about intarsia patterns like Nora's doing? How many of you are doing the v-neck version? Cap sleeves anyone?

Somebody stop me! I can't seem to be able to keep a ball of Cotton Ease in the stash bin. It must be knit immediately. And as all the knitalong tops are already planned with other yarns, I had to start something new. Hee, hee.

Thanks to Becky for the awesome button!

Everyone's tank sounds and looks really great. It's exciting watching everyone knit away on the same project. Since we're only a virtual knitting group, we can't really have a group picture, but what do you all think about sending me a pic of your finished tank and I post them all together here?

This weekend I was overcome by the need to knit up the purpley Cotton Ease (I'm doing the rest of the top, yes tank girl #3, in some purple all seasons cotton) and so didn't make quite as much progress on Pagan as others have, but I did finish all the increases and decreases of the waist shaping. I made a little boo-boo in one spot, shifting the increases over a stitch, but with all that stripeyness going on, I don't think it's noticeable. I'm loving this project so much that I don't want to go back to fidget with one little stitch. Plus, I can't wait to wear it!

The first pair of the now falsely named kwikies (right in picture) is finally done! With all the moving and breaking of arms, I hadn't had time until this weekend to set up the sewing machine and get back into it. I like the kwikies a lot. The elastic is a bit too loose, so I'm planning to go back in, cut and resew. If I ever make it out to the fabric store to get more elastic, I've got several other pairs of kwickies waiting to be sewn. I think the next ones will be shorts!

During the move, I came across some old t-shirts that were just begging to be turned into some summer fast pants (see Kristi's the domestic sphere for instructions) for the boys. I tried making one pair this afternoon (left in picture) to see how I like them. What a fun little project! I love how the hem is already done for you, since you're using the t-shirt hem. I took out a little fabric on the sides and made side seams because I thought the original size would end up crazy baggy. Now they're just baggy enough to be silly and fun! I think these would also be really cool as shorts.

And now some action shots: B in his kwikies and S in his summer fast pants!

Finally put down the tanks long enough to finish my husband's birthday vest. He likes it (yay!) although he's not used to wearing vests. I think it looks quite good on him and am pleased that he might be able to wear it more often than the warm sweater I made him when I started knitting. Of course, I have slipped in on myself and if he doesn't love it, I'll be wearing it for sure. And if he does love it, well then I'll just have to get some more of that buttery smooth wool/cotton yarn and make my own.

A little delay in posting today. We were totally down for a day here while they finally got our internet service up and running. And now that we're back online, I don't have any real knitting progress to report, because I had a wee accident with the fabric shears while working on my latest sewing project.

Little boo boo, big bandage, and just like that I was a thumb down and falling behind on my knitting. So while others (LoobyLou, Kerrie) are already finished, my Pagan waits enviously.

For some reason, I have been really drawn to purple since becoming a knitter. The new year's sweater I made for myself last year was in in a pink/lavender/purple colorway from Noro. This year I desperately tried to get some purple into my greensleeves sweater and I already have some luscious purple chenille in the stash for a Starmore sweater I hope to make this winter. Of course the two Phildar knitalong sweaters will be in hyacinth and lilac. And then there's purple tank girl. I am loving the color of this top so much that I can't bring myself to return to all those stripes on Pagan. Mmmm... purple. I think I will have to finish this quickly before so I can wear it while knitting other things!

The purple tank has been scolded for tempting me away from my knitalong and was put on hold so I could make some significant progress on Pagan. But just because I've rededicated myself to finishing Pagan, doesn't mean that I can't think (or blog) about the purple tank. Here's the pattern I'm using, from Rebecca magazine #23. I really like the pattern since it looks like I might be able to wear it as a tank or a vest. I had been thinking of using it for the leftovers vest that I started planning a while ago. We'll see how the pattern works out. So far I'm enjoying it very much. I like the half fisherman's rib at the bottom. It's so soft and fluffy. I hadn't ever done that stitch before and was pleasantly surprised at the fabric it produced.

In Pagan news, I am amazed at how fast everyone has been knitting away. Of course Linda and Kerrie are all done, and now Kerstin says she should be done this weekend and both Nora and Deb have finished all the knitting already! I'm not quite so far along, having only knit the back completely. I still have the front top half left to do (and please don't say the words weaving or ends, thanks). Since I knit it in the round, what I've finished kinda looks like a halter top. Makes me think about squeezing in this pattern in the summer of tanks.

And yet I am determined to start my next knitalong (Smooch) next week, once I finish Pagan or the purple tank. I know that Johanna has already begun hers. I hope to be able to post a progress picture of hers for you on Monday. For those of you joining in on the knitalong, feel free to start now, later, whenever. I'd love to know when you begin though, so I can note it in the sidebar and people know to look for your progress. And don't worry about me rushing through Smooch like the crazy tank girls did with Pagan, I'll have to stop halfway through so I can order enough yarn to complete it. But I can't help starting now - can't you hear the yarn calling to me?

We've entered the final phase of the move: pictures and curtains. And here's the stack of curtains I have to alter before we can get a little privacy around here!

The white ones all have to be shortened as the ceilings are lower in our new apartment. And the colored ones are curtains I made about five years ago with a little hand stitcher and no idea at all of what I was doing. Obviously, all those seams have to be redone. Taking them apart shouldn't be a problem since pretty much the only thing holding them together right now is inertia!

During the move, I've been amazed to discover how domestic we have become as a couple. While I'm upstairs with the sewing machine measuring and pinning curtains, my husband is downstairs with saw and drill, installing shelves. I vacillate between being proud and being scared by this.

Yes, the smooch-along is officially underway. Both Johanna and Kerstin were at Knitsmiths with the beginnings of their Smooches. Johanna is using Cotton Ease in a lovely pink and is almost up to the armhole shaping on the back. Aren't those lace v's sweet?! Kerstin was just casting on and working her way through the lace pattern. By the way Kerstin was a blast - I recommend that you all have Kerstin come to your knitting groups!

A note for those of you planning to work on Smooch: the instructions for the loopy, picot-y edging may be a bit unclear (thanks to Johanna for clarifying this). The pattern says to knit 3 then cast off 3. To do this you must actually knit the next 2 stitches and then pull the second of those over the first. So it's sort of like knit 4 and then start casting off immediately with the next stitch. Then the pattern says to knit 2 and cast off 3, repeated to the end of the row. Again, the cast off begins with knit two then pull second over the first. So you're kind of knitting 3 and beginning the cast off group with the next stitch. What you're going for is groups of three: three knit stitches, three cast off stitches. However it helps to think of it to get you there, go with that!

Anywho, I'll be starting Smooch tonight. Why am I allowed to start Smooch when Pagan still has ends hanging all over the place? Because I finished my purple tank!

I'm trying to make Monday evening my sewing night, since there's nothing on tv to knit by. Yesterday I was working on the huge stack of curtains I have to hem before we can hang them, but you know I had to start Smooch. I made it through the pretty little edging. Again thanks to Johanna for working that part of the directions out. Looking ahead at the pattern, I have a feeling that we'll be running across a couple more confusing parts. If we do I'll make a little page with tips/solutions that those of you starting later can refer to. And remember, this is NOT a race. The official date for Smooch is "whenever" and I mean it. No feeling pressured to start right away or finish fast. Just let me know when you start so I can send everyone your way for progress details.

Becky wannabe's: are you swatching? I am positively dreading giving up my 5mm needles to work on Becky's stripey sweater. I'm substituting Rowan cotton glace (from my stash - I'm being so good) for the Falaise. And you know what kind of needle that means - 3.5mm. If I'm lucky! I have been completely spoiled by the all seasons cotton. Pretty much everything else I have planned until deepest darkest winter is in a considerably smaller gauge. Perhaps I'll have to cast on for something big like this, so I can still have something on the needles to go back to for a little reprieve. They say it's good for your hands if you have different projects going at different gauges. Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Like Deb, my Pagan tank is all done except for the borders around the armholes and neck, which I haven't done yet because I'm too annoyed by them. From looking at the picture, I thought that there might be something different going on at the edges that made them look a little more like a cast on edge than the typical bind off. But after reading the pattern (yes, I know I should have read first!), I see it's just regular old bind off, which I frankly don't like very much. So I'm in search of a way to get what I was picturing before, something that looks more like the yarn just wrapped slanted around the edge. There's got to be neater ways to finish off a neck/armhole.

Those of you who are done, what did you do? Did you like it? Any one else have any thoughts?? I don't crochet, so anything too crochet-y would be too hard for me, I fear. What is a tank girl to do (on the edges of her handknit tank)?

Thanks to all your help yesterday, I now have a plan about how to tackle the borders on Pagan. First, I hadn't realized that the bind off was supposed to be on the wrong side (thanks to Kerstin for mentioning it). Now that I think about it, Rowan seems to always have you knitting edgings and stuff flat and I always just ignore that and do it in the round. Usually it doesn't make a difference, but here it would. And upon further examination of the pattern picture, the edgings do look like the purl side of stockinette, which would match what you see at the bottom where the tank rolls up (Becky mentioned this last week, but I hadn't gotten that far on the tank and missed that detail). I think I can live with a standard bind off if the loops curl to the inside. But if I don't like it I'll give Zimmerman's sewn cast off another try with the same picked up stitches. And when I'm still unsatisfied, I'll break out, um, buy, a crochet hook and try the crab stitch. I have yet to be initiated into the whole world of crochet, but it may be time to change that.

In case you're worried that I sat around all day yesterday obsessing about Pagan, it will reassure you to know that I did knit a bit of smooch to keep my spirits up: the lace pattern. The directions for this part are very clear and it comes out looking like a dream. I love when that happens. You just follow the instructions unquestioningly and it works. It's like being a beginner all over again.

I finished rehemming some of the curtains from my stack. I was going gangbusters with the blind hem stitch until I ran out of white thread! So, I moved on to redoing the seams on my old curtains. New seam, old seam; what a difference. I finished a few and went to hang them up to see how they looked and wouldn't you know it, I sewed up the pocket for the pole. Dooh!

Since all knitting was cancelled until this morning due to illness, I don't have too much knitting to report. Well, there is a little something...

Hey, I only had the borders left to do (plus I'm cheating here a bit as the ends from the neck border are still hanging around on the inside)! I'm so glad that Kerstin encouraged me to try the edgings as written. I do like how they look and they did a good job flattening out the top part of the tank so it's not too revealing in the bra area. I also cast off fairly snugly to take in more of the roominess there. Now it fits perfectly! The neck edging is indeed rolling (as others had reported) both in front and in back, which is why I haven't sewn the ends in yet. I'm considering reworking the picked up stitches somehow or maybe weaving in the ends such that they tack the edge down. I'm simultaneously trying to convince myself to just leave it, because I'm really very happy with the overall finished tank (can't you tell?!) and am especially pleased at how those stripes came out. And since I can't get enough of stripes....

Okay, Becky wannabes, get out those knitting needles and start your stripey Phildar sweaters!