two phildar knitalongs brought to you by the Phildar fanatic

  

short-sleeved tee converted to vest in Phildar's lambswool and Classic Elite Waterspun
and a chunky turtleneck from Phildar's Automne 2002 catalog knit in Phildar Fantasia

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All weekend long.

It all started when I took the boys to the library for the first time on Friday. They're still not ready for following a story book, but I wanted to introduce them to the library and see if it might be some place we can go on rainy days, etc. While the boys played (together!) with one of those little toys where you push beads along loopy tracks, I read them a cute little book called The Teeny Tiny Teacher. Everything in the story is teeny tiny this and teeny tiny that and I had such a blast saying teeny tiny over and over that it sort of stuck.

Teeny tiny knitting couldn't be far behind. First, I knit this teeny tiny mousie for Wendy's new charity mouse-a-thon project.

I used the yarn in a pouch that someone brought in to Knitsmiths a few weeks ago. It's wool and I've only got the one teeny tiny pouch, so what else am I going to do with it but make lots of teeny tiny mice?!

Then in the car, in the dark, on the way back from visiting friends I knit a teeny tiny swatch for the Phildar top. It's teeny tiny cause I hate to swatch and so stopped just as soon as I could convince myself that I got my teeny tiny gauge (3.5mm needles - eeeeeek!). I'm so proud of how nicely it came out considering I couldn't see anything.

And then there's the teeny tiny tank. Front's done.

And teeny tiny it is. With only the already blocked back piece to compare it to, the front looked even teeny tinier. But I was able to block it out to a similar size as the back. Keep your fingers crossed for a not too teeny tiny tank tomorrow!

Last week I decided to cast on for the first of my phildar projects. I wanted to start the short-sleeved sweater for the next knitalong - so far poor Clémence is knitting along all by herself. I cast on according to my gauge, knit "happily" off and on for a few days (quotes are due to the decrease in happiness effected by the teeny tiny gauge), and it looks like it should fit my boys just perfectly. Unfortunately, it's for me. So what I have now is the world's largest swatch. Uggggh! I've put it aside and will be ripping out the first (apparently useless) swatch so I can start again from that ball. I just can't bring myself to rip out all those teeny tiny stitches yet.

But since I'm ripping and starting over.... what do you think of the idea of carrying along some sort of complementary sparkly yarn, like Rowan's Lurex Shimmer or Phildar Sunset? For some reason, I feel the need to make the lilac more interesting (like this pattern here).

Regardless of what I decide, there will be no knitting on the Phildar top this week, because I am now in full-on deadline mode with native. I'm knitting the native sweater for my mom and she's coming up this weekend (just a few days before her birthday) and I'm trying to get it done by then. Ha, ha! Plan B is to at least get the knitting done (weaving in ends later) and sew up the front and back pieces so it finally starts looking like a sweater and mom can try it on. The race against the calendar is on!

The Phildar filly is going to have to hold her horses.

The phildar filly is starting to rethink her "summer top" knit-along. The summer's almost over and it seems silly to start something now in such a fine gauge (read - that will take a while to finish) that will only have short sleeves. But although this filly may be fickle, she's not disloyal, so she's hunted down a few other Phildar patterns that might do for the same yarn, different season. What do you think? The cropped rolled vest (very similar in style to the original plan, just more of a vest thing going on), the patterned vest (but with a more reasonable neckline, thank you very much), or this funky cardie (with some added fuzzy front panels, fun!)? Or should I simply stick with the original pattern and wear it layered with other things (that might require losing the rolled edges)?

Don't forget, the Phidar filly is also planning on making a fabby little Phildar cardigan. The oh-so-yummy yarn arrived yesterday. Yee haw, giddy-up! Here's S checking out the new stash.

In the second picture, he's actually saying "wow". The kid has taste!

And there will definitely be another Phildar sweater or two in this filly's future. But I want to start the Phil - um, I mean fall - season off right, so I've got to figure out this knitalong thing first.

As I cast on for a purple scarf for my scarf project, I kept thinking about my purple top for the Phildar knit-along and how sad it was that I'd stopped working on it. So I pulled it out of its project bag and took a good look at it. I had to look back at the old entry to recall why I put this aside in disgust. Looking at it a second time, it seemed fine. I'd been concerned about the size, but it seems okay to me now. So, I thought, what of that idea to reinvent it as a vest? Any way to do that without ripping out the 5 inches I'd already knit? Without having any real plan, I said yes, and started knitting from where I left off. Quick, before I change my mind again!

I'll probably cut off the bottom half inch or so and add a ribbed band to it, then work on doing something funky to the front.

And as for my purple skirt, I guess I haven't quite forgiven it yet for going all wrong on me. All my sewing is on hold until I work up the strength to rip a couple more seams and give it another try.

I've just started teaching a beginning knitting class at my LYS. I really enjoyed the first session. (I guess I've missed teaching!) I've got a little group of advanced beginners and we've got four weeks to work our way through a clear, basic baby sweater pattern (Yankee Knitter #30). I'm not actually making the baby sweater, but instead I'll be spacing my projects out a bit so that I always have something at the same stage as the group to use as an example. Last night's agenda was swatching, reading through the pattern (always a good lesson!), and casting on for the back.

Between demonstrations, I swatched up some fun variegated Classic Elite Waterspun that I'm planning on using for the front of my redesigned Phildar knitalong project.

Recipe: take one Phildar summer top, nix the sleeves, add a dash of Phildar funky cardigan and (fingers crossed), I'll get a funky vest. We'll see! I guess there's a lesson in there for me as well. Project ressurection - how to design your way out of the project blahs.

Homework: finish the back (all those tiny stitches, oh my) and get ready to start the funk, um, I mean front!

Finished the back of my summer top turned funky vest knit-along project.

I'm still feeling guilty that I didn't end up making the summer top I'd planned for the knit-along. Did any of my fellow knit-alongers out there finish the top or have you given up the project as well, or put it away to hibernate until next spring? Perhaps I should rethink the knit-along and open it up to fall Phildar projects, since we all seemed to have moved on?

Speaking of moving on, you all have convinced me to start the filly cardigan next and bring it along with me on vacation. That'll be the second of four planned Phildar projects for me! This funky vest and the striped cardigan, then leigh's sweater and for winter, pinkie. Any more and I think I'll need an intervention!

Keeps the doctor away, I hope. As promised, there will be no starting new projects this week. But I am thinking about what I will do once the finishing fiesta is over and I'm on vacation! I had planned to start the filly cardigan, but after feeling that little soreness in my hand over the weekend, I'm considering putting smaller gauged, more fiddly projects on hold for a while. In fact, I'm toying with the idea of doing the next project continental style so as to give my right hand a nice long rest. So that meant that I had to knit some swatches to see which of my projects would be the best to bring with me on my vacation/convalescence. Is that cheating??

I started by swatching up some dreamy alpaca I have earmarked to make the Mystical cardigan from the latest Rowan mag, but it wants to be knit on like US#3's, so it's out for now. Sorry, fall/winter sweater knit-alongers, I'm going to be a bit behind!

Taking a dramatic turn away from fine gauge wool, I knit up a swatch of the Colinette Fandango yarn that my mother picked out for her asymmetrical vest from The Knit Stitch. I really liked knitting up this yarn. Big gauge, but not too large as to be awkward. Still, it was too chunky for me to knit continental. Nevertheless, it's a possibility.

Then I had to knit some swatches up for knitting class last night. I didn't know what yarn to use, so I just pulled out some of the yarn for leigh's sweater. I was able to knit it up with my left hand with no problem and the yarn seemed very forgiving of my not quite perfect tension. So I'm also considering this one for the vacation. Not the filly, but a phil'leigh. Hey, it's close.

My hand's doing fine, by the way. No twinges or soreness while swatching. But now that the little swatch interlude is over, it'll be back to the finishing for me. Keep your fiesta hats ready!

Remember how I thought this phildar top was going to be so small that it would probably fit my boys? Luckily, I was able to remember way back to how I tend to overestimate my own size when I knit. Wouldn't you know it, the funky vest came out just right!

(Like my LoobyLou pose? She's the queen of tanks, so she ought to know how to show off a sleeveless top!) Here's a side view where you can see the solid lilac back.

This top was a great experiment. I wasn't excited about the little summer top anymore (it being fall and all). And I wanted to spice it up a little. So I picked up a couple skeins of variegated yarn that coordinated with the lilac and set about readjusting the numbers for the front, which has a totally different gauge. I picked up stitches on the back to add a ribbed edge and after completing the front I added one there as well with the yarn used on the back. It was tricky picking up stitches in the front using the finer gauge yarn. I ended up picking up all the stitiches I could and then in the first row adding about 25% more stitches evenly across the band. I did the same on the front of the armhole bands and neck edge. I think the final look is pretty neat. I like vests anyway and am thinking about experimenting with making a couple more. All I need are some more patterns to deconstruct. Tee hee.

Whew, that was some week of finishing! But I've still got the two big projects left to clear out of the knitting basket by mid-week next week. Can she do it?! If it means more opportunities for fiesta-ing, you bet! Join the party, everyone. Tell me what you're finishing. And if you finish something this weekend, be sure to bring it to next week's final finishing fiesta so we can celebrate together.

Hey all you Phildar Fillies, how you doing out there? What are you planning on making? Did I miss any Phildar finishing (Claudia?)? Who else has cast on already?? I'm still conflicted about which Phildar project to start first. Instead of deciding, I picked up a couple more Phildar catalogs while I was on the other side of the Atlantic. I particularly like the Irlandais book with aran designs. One of my favorite designs from that book is being offered as a free pattern (in French) on the Phildar site: check it out! I may just have to add that one to my ever-growing list of phildar fashions to make.

With this much indecision, I should be able to make some serious progress on my other projects though. Like my Phildar leftovers vest. How do you like them stripes?!

With all these impromptu projects like vests and chemo caps, I'm falling behind on my fall knitalongs! Indecision and more new catalogs have so far kept me from starting my fall Phildar sweater. But fear not, Phildar fillies, yarn is on its way from France and I'll be off to the races soon after it arrives. The cardi raye and Leigh's sweater are on hold for now, as I have got to take a break from stripes for a while! Solid colors or variegated yarns will be my friends for the next few months. My Phildar fall will now look more like this or this.

My hand pain from last month led me to postpone teddy, the tiny-gauged winter cardigan (yes, the striped one!) I had planned to make for Curls and Purls' fun Fall/Winter Knitalong. All those Rowanette/Elfin knitters are crusing along and I haven't even swatched yet! The yarn I've picked out to use is the most wonderful alpaca yarn ever. Sooo warm and so soft, but also oh so fine (3mm needles!). This is going to be a huge project. But there's no way I can start it until after Christmas (make frowny face now) because I've got to get cracking on my holiday gifties.

And the knit-alongs just keep on coming. If you haven't noticed it in the sidebar, there's a new knit-along in town. Yup, I've started a holiday gift-along in hopes of finding motivation to get through all those knitted gifties I'm supposed to knit. I'm so excited about all the others who have joined. Some of you have so many gifts planned. Amber - 31?! I like Claudia's modest goal of making two presents. That's the way to do it. In that vein, I'm slowly knitting my way through my husband's family. I started with the babies last year and am now up to those my age this year. That means three hats for three sibs-in-law. Then there are a few striped scarves for friends. First up: a Calmer lace cap.

Let me know what you're knitting this season! And if you're gifting-along, send me an email as you finish your projects, so I can update the list and we can celebrate! Go you generous knit-gifters!

Finally, I can join my own knit-along. My Phildar yarn has arrived! It just barely missed me while I was in Germany and had to be sent on from there. I'll pause, so you can do the math..... Yup, that's over five weeks airmail from Germany to Boston. And that's pretty typical for us. For some reason packages from the in-laws always take forever to get here. I'm sure they're inspected thoroughly by customs. Those in-laws - a very suspicious bunch.

I took a chance on some different colors and I'm so glad I did. It's so scary when you've only seen something online. But I love them! In fact, I love the big, chunky, amber Fantasia yarn so much that I went ahead and started knitting. Isn't it obscene how quickly this yarn knits up?

Phildar fillies, here I come! Finally.

Now that I'm down to just one holiday gift left, I let myself knit a bit on my finally Phildar pullover. This yarn is so quick to knit that there's no need to take too long of a break from holiday knitting. Here's the finished front.

Now that I'm cranking along, I'm wondering, how are all my Phildar filly friends doing?? Looks like Angela's sweater is coming along beautifully. And Silvia's already planning another Phildar project. Of course, many of you are getting holiday knitting out of the way first (very good of you) and have your Phildar sweaters coming up. But just to tempt you fillies, there's a new, gorgeous, free pattern up at the Phildar site! Mmmwwwahahaha.

Quick, quick, knit a sleeve before anyone catches me not working on my one last holiday gift!

Although I'm not working on my final knit-gift, some of my fellow gift-alongers have been very busy. Congrats to all of you who are all finished: Uli, Brenda, Sharlene, Kristine, Claudia, Debi, Anne, and Stacy. Way to go, ladies! Go visit them and give 'em a hand.

Time's running out for the rest of us - quick, knit! And once you're done, be sure to run, don't walk, over to Amy's site for some awesome knit-gift labels. Thanks, Amy!

We had a special Knitsmiths' holiday all night knit-a-thon over the weekend to support each other in finishing up those holiday knit-gifts. Since I was done with mine, I started sewing up the finally phildar sweater. Four hours later and I got to wear my new sweater home.

I noticed that I had about a skein of yarn left and Dava immediately whips out a hat pattern for bulky yarn. Oh yeah! The pattern said to knit until 6 1/2 yds. are left, then do decreases for the crown. So I wound up about 20 feet of leftover yarn into a tiny mini-skein so I would know when to stop. Isn't it adorable? I didn't end up having enough yarn for the hat, but if I could ever take a break from knitting, I'd love to roll up all my old leftovers like this. I could display them in a little basket and see all the cool yarns I've used in the past. I'm totally obssessed with this idea now. Somebody stop me!

Yippee, I'm finally an official Phildar filly. Carissa just joined the finished fillies list too, having completed the fall catalog's cover sweater. And wouldn't you know it, Silvia's already finished her second Phildar sweater - a bona fide Phildar phenomenon!