Everyday Cardigan, Fall and Loppem

Wearing Everyday cardi to the Arboretum today on the most perfect Seattle Fall day ever!

The trees practically glowed in the sunlight and everyone in the city was there for the show, it seemed!


Even my favorite street to drive on the way to and fro work is blooming in color now!
And now for the progress update on Loppem. I am so far very much in love with this sweater!

Crammed onto a long circular needle, Loppem is being knit from the bottom and heading up! The little "ears" you see are really the beginning of the bottom of the sleeves. That was the hardest part. Could've used a longer cable needle or put the sleeves on holders instead. It won't look so smooshed or curly once it's off the needles, finished and blocked. Next I do more inches on sleeves and continue cabling, then move on to the yoke! This is a great knit so far! I am challenged to the max on my skill level, but trying to go slowly so as not to goof up, and reading everyone's recommendations off Ravelry.This one has too many sts. on the needles which makes it hard to RIP out! So on I go! No mistakes allowed!

Second Pattern Repeat on Loppem

Second time through pattern repeat, done with two decrease rows so far, and on up I keep knitting with a few more decrease rows yet to do...until I get to the place where we make armholes! Cat hiding from the rain I guess...It's pouring here!

Cabling on Loppem

I turned off the flash so you could see better the contrast and the cabling. These are the cables that will run up both sides of the front of the Loppem sweater. It is tricky for me being the first time I've followed a chart on a sweater. But it's going pretty well as long as I go slowly and not get distracted. Definitely not an idle "non-thinking" project for me. Concentrating harder on this one. I'm sure I will get the hang of it. On decrease rows you have to SSK (Slip, Slip, Knit) and K2Tog a few times. All the while tracking your pattern. This is a gorgeous pattern though...
Fall is here!
Enjoy the colors of Fall! And the sunlight while you can!

Beginning my Loppem

Enjoyed wearing Everyday Cardi today! It is a very WARM yarn! (Peace Fleece wool) Here's a pic I took of it in the sun, since this might be our last weekend to actually see the sun for awhile. And today as I was getting my teriyaki chicken, the clerk asked if I made my sweater. "Why yes, actually I did!", and then she told me she also knit. Knitters seem to recognize genuine hand-knitting when they see it! I also found out the ladies at the nail salon I go to all started knitting scarves and when the shop closes, or it is slow, they sit and knit. Admit it, we knitters are everywhere! Today was a great day because my Blue Star Coffee Roasters coffee order arrived in the mail! YES!! One lb. of Hwy. 20 blend and 1 lb. of the Espresso blend. I sound like a commercial. I love this coffee! It's also a great day because I have started on the Norah Gaughan "Loppem" sweater which I am very excited about doing! If you click on the link in blue, you can see it up close. I ended up getting gauge on a size 9, and using Cascade Heathers 220 yarn in aporto blue. The pattern called for size 8 needles and used Berroco "Palace" yarn which I was unable to find. This sweater is a swing cardi with a yoke and cap sleeves with two buttons (also pictured above). It has a cable down both sides of the front. It requires you to cast on 196 st. (alot!) for size 38 because it is knit from the bottom up, in one piece. I have already made my first mistake and had to frog back to start over, but now I know what to watch for. This is my first sweater with cables. An errata sheet has been posted on the Berroco website since some errors have been found, as well as I have the advantage of seeing what others have done ahead of me through Ravelry.com. This one is going to be a beauty!

Everyday Cardi Finished

Found buttons for Everyday Cardi at Joann Fabrics today and found a fellow-knitter in line! Glad to wrap up Everyday Cardi and happy with the result! This is a very substantial and warm cardi that truly could be used every day. Made in size small using Peace Fleece Yarn, color: Zarya Fog, on size 6 and 8 needles.

Blocking Everyday Cardi

Finished Everyday Cardi while camping this weekend at Deception Pass! Now blocking it while slightly damp. The button bands came out cute and the rolled collar is a nice touch. Next up: shopping for the right buttons. This is a rugged and warm sweater! Then I will be excited to begin the next sweater in my queue: Loppem by Norah Gaughan from her Vol.3. It will be a yoked sweater with cabling down the front in this Cascade 220 blue:

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Visits Seattle Again

As you recall, I met Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (lovingly known as the Yarn Harlot for her love of all things "yarn") back in April of this year at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, WA (Seattle) and got to hold the honorable traveling sock! What a thrill! Not just to hold the sock, of course, but to meet her in person.Tonight she came back again to speak and do a reading out of her new book, Free-Range Knitter. Again, the house was packed. And she was very funny as always. Not only was she humorous, but she discussed why it is that we knitters knit, and how it can be so valuable to self-esteem to work on a pattern, see it to completion and create something of beauty. Here was part of the crowd from where I sat...And here's Stephanie as she takes a picture of the cute sweater-clad babies in the front of the book signing line. She is wearing the Hey Teach sweater, which is in my queue of things to knit, by the way.Very nice sweater....She talks about the making of this sweater and much more on her blogsite. (link is to your right)I feel fortunate to have heard her speak twice and get such enjoyment out of her stories and insight into knitting. I feel that God is a creative God and He made us to love to create things too! Not to sound like a book commercial or anything, but I am enjoying reading it. And it is always a blast to be in a room full of other knitters! I saw people making scarves, shawls, socks, felted purses...you name it!Today I had the joy of helping a knitter "re-learn" to knit after many years of non-knitting. She did so well and it was a proud moment when she held up her few inches of "scarf!" I worked on seaming my Everyday Cardi arms and sides while she knit alongside me. :)

Done With Sleeve Two-Everyday Cardi

Sleeve #2 is finished. Shown before blocking, and before pieces were all knit:Shown after blocking all pieces. Started seaming shoulders first, then arms last night. After that I will seam the sides, then start picking up stitches along the front to make the buttonband, and work on the neck. And then it will be finished and time to start choosing buttons!
There is alot of seaming in this sweater, so I will look forward to my next two patterns that are knit from the bottom up, and knit from the top down!