Weekending and Baking and Knitting

I hope everyone had a good weekend! Mine was really great (other than my eBay account getting hacked and needing to be on the phone with customer support before 7am getting it fixed). Saturday night I attended a surprise birthday party for one of my friends, and it was perfect. She was completely surprised, so thrilled, and there was dancing and cake and punch all around.

I also did some baking this weekend, and tried out something new. I've had a jar of lemon curd sitting in my cupboard for a couple of months, and it's usually too powerful for me to spread on plain scones, but I got the idea to create a scone-muffin-doughnut hybrid. I mixed up my standard plain scone dough, added about a quarter cup of the lemon curd to it, and then put about 2 tablespoons of dough into each cup on a muffin tin. I then followed that with about a tablespoon of lemon curd, and topped it with another tablespoon of the dough. I'm calling them scuffinuts- the buttery, flaky dough of a scone, the convenient shape of a muffin, and the creamy center of a filled doughnut. They're the right mix of buttery and sweet and tart, and I can't wait to try it out with other flavors.

Of course, I also got some knitting done. I finished the second lace repeat on my Gorham for my Accessories KAL, and since today is the halfway point for the KAL, I'm right on track to finish on time. I'm loving hearing about people's projects, and I can't wait to start seeing some pictures in the FO thread!

Purple

Happy Friday everyone! I've been working on this sweater for a few weeks now, but I've been really bad about remembering to share it. I bought this yarn about a year ago and it's been sitting in my stash since then while I tried to figure out what to do with it. It's not one of my usual colors, but it really called to me, and it's so dark that I  really wanted to make sure whatever I did with it didn't get lost. A couple weeks before NCFF, I got the idea for a grandpa-style cardigan, in cozy moss stitch with deep ribbing and pockets, and I ran with it.

I worked on this quite a bit during NCFF, and managed to get the fronts and back joined before it was time to come home. Since then, I've been working my way through the body in the evenings, and I'm now about halfway from the underarms to the bottom.

It turns out that I really love having a big simple knit on the needles for evenings in front of the TV. I've never shied away from working on cables or lace with an old British procedural playing, but there's something very relaxing about having a big pile of garter or moss stitch in front of me. Perhaps there's something about the approach of winter that's making me crave cozy, simple knits!

Juggling

I've been carrying around my Henri for lunch knitting, and I'm doing really well on the front. I'm ready to start increasing for the other side of the neckline now, and not too long after that I'll get to decrease for the sleeve. There's no way that I'm going to get this whole sweater finished by the end of the BK Hipster KAL, but I'm having lots of fun participating, and I'm really looking forward to enjoying this sweater at some point this fall/winter.

I'm actively working on five WIPs right now, including a couple that I haven't shared with you all yet, so I'm really appreciating having my lunch breaks dedicated to this sweater. To me, that's the key for juggling multiple WIPs- having assigned times to work on them. I have another project I work on when I'm watching TV in the evenings, and two projects that I switch between for choir practice. I've always tried to have different projects on hand for different situations, but I'm really just now getting the hang of it, and it feels so good to know when it's time to work on which project.

Knitting Along Waywardly

We're less than a third of the way through my Fall Accessories KAL, and I'm loving seeing everyone's yarn choices! I'm just about ready to start the lace pattern on my Gorham, and I'm really enjoying knitting this up again. I'm trying to spread this out over all three weeks of the KAL, and since I'm juggling so many other projects, I don't think that's going to be too much of a problem.

This weekend is my alma mater's homecoming celebration, so tomorrow we're going up to see the parade (my brother's band is marching in it), and Anemone will be running in the homecoming 5k. It's also my five-year reunion, and while I'm not planning on attending any of the official reunion festivities, it'll be nice to run into some of my old classmates.

Anyone else have any fun weekend plans?

Linking up with Crafting On

Finished: OAL Hetty

Well, I finally have pictures of my finished Hetty! I knit this sweater in three weeks during the OAL, and then I spent two and a half months putting the wrong buttons on, finding better buttons, replacing the buttons, and not taking photos of the dang thing. But all that is behind us now, because Hetty is here and done and marvelous!

I did not end up finishing the dress that I was making for the KAL. It is hanging in my closet, unfinished, and I don't know if it's worth trying to finish. There are some pretty significant issues with it, and I'm leaning toward calling it a learning experience and getting rid of it. BUT the sweater is amazing. I generally don't wear things until I've photographed them, but I've worn this at least four times already. It's by far my new favorite cardigan.

Clearly, I modified it. I added a significant bit of length, so I had to add in some hip increases. Otherwise, I knit it as written. I love the sleeves at their original length (even when I bother knitting full sleeves, I end up pushing them up anyway). I did have a bit of a stumbling block with the bottom ribbing- I misread the pattern and only knit 2/3ds of the ribbing called for. I debated leaving it, but it definitely looked wrong, so after finishing the sleeves I unpicked the bindoff and added rows.

Like I said, this cardigan is pretty much perfect. I absolutely love wearing it, and so far it's worked equally well over dresses and with jeans, which is really all I can ever ask for in a cardigan.

Ravelry Page: OAL Hetty

Pattern: Hetty by Andi Satterlund

Yarn: Copper Corgi 100% Targhee Wool (2015 Fiber Frolic Special)

New Pattern: Easy A

When I first started knitting, I imagined a sweater that I could knit no matter how tired, sick, or distracted I was. I imagined it being all in garter stitch, knit flat, with a longer back than front (so I didn’t have to worry about knitting the two pieces to the same size). This sweater has floated in and out of my imagination for years, and every Fall and Winter I find myself wishing for a cozy garter stitch pullover.

Easy A has some details my original sweater idea didn’t– a tailored I-Cord Collar, optional afterthought pockets, fitted sleeves– but the essence of it is still there. Four inches of positive ease is built into the pattern for optimal coziness. There is also a cropped option, to cozy up in high-waisted leggings or to put on as a snuggly topper over a dress.

Options include: two body lengths, two sleeve lengths, pockets, split hem, longer back.

Easy A is knit in pieces and seamed. Front and back are knit from the bottom up, then the shoulders are seamed. Stitches are then picked up for the sleeves, which are knit flat from the top down. Sides and sleeves are then seamed to finish.

Easy A is available for purchase on Ravelry, and is $1 off through October 14, 2017. The discount is automatically applied when you add Easy A to your cart, no coupon necessary!

Today is also cast-on day for my Accessories KAL! Come hang out in the Wayward Knitter Ravelry group and KAL with us!

Linking up with Crafting On

Getting Ready

I am so glad it's Friday, and I'm so glad that I have a three-day weekend. The high school fall play opens tonight, and Anemone's visiting to come see it. I've managed to misplace my Henri, and I'm hoping to find it today so I can get another couple of rows done on it this weekend. I also need to get photos taken of my Easy A and Lazy A samples, and I still need to photograph my Hetty from last summer (if I keep writing it here, I will eventually get it done!).

I pulled out the yarn I'm going to use to make my Gorham for my Accessories KAL. I really love this bright orange- it's leftovers from my Cherry Pie Skirt, and I just couldn't let it languish in my stash. It was tough for me to decide what to knit for the KAL, but I definitely want another hat, and I really love Gorham. Hopefully we'll all have fun and want to do this KAL again, and I can re-knit even more of my favorite projects!

Summer Knits in Fall

I finished the sleeves of my Lazy A on Monday night, and yesterday at lunch I did all the seams. It's blocking now, and hopefully will be dry so I can take photos tomorrow. If that doesn't happen, then I'll just have to take photos this weekend, but I really want the photos done so I can start wearing these sweaters!

Right now I'm trying to finish a Cancun Boxy Lace Top that I started way back in May with my Rhombille leftovers. It got set aside over the summer, and then I ran out of yarn halfway through the back and I had to find more, but now there's no reason for me to not finish. It's such a quick knit, and it's so close to done that I really don't want it sitting around, and even though summer's come and gone, I'd love to wear it at least once this year before it's really too cold to do so.

This should really only take a day or two to finish up, and then I'll turn my garment attention back to Henri- I'm not sure that I'm going to finish it by the end of the Hipster KAL, but I'd like to get quite a bit done. Plus, my Accessories KAL starts on Monday, and I'm really looking forward to knitting up a new Gorham hat for myself!

Weekending

This weekend was my favorite kind of weekend, and I can't remember how long it's been since I've had one this refreshing. I finished writing up the pattern for Easy A and sent it off to TE land, I baked two zucchini cakes with lemon cream cheese frosting (this recipe, for anyone wondering, subbing the gluten free flour blend from this book for wheat flour, and adding a tablespoon of xantham gum). I also made bread, which I can't link to, because it's an amalgam of like three recipes and some of my own opinions on bread baking, but it's delicious.

I finished the back of my Lazy A yesterday, did the shoulder seams and collar, and knit most of the first sleeve. There's about 16 rows left before the cuff, and then I just have the second sleeve and sleeve/side seams to go. I'm juggling an awful lot of projects right now, and there's a part of me that would like to trim down my number of active WIPs, but I know that colder weather just makes me want to cast on even more projects, so I guess I'm going to be swimming in WIPs for a while.

Also, just a quick reminder that my Accessories KAL starts in a week! I'm super excited, and I hope to see lots of you over in my Ravelry Group for the fun!

Linking up with Crafting On

Knitting and Planning

I have about 37 rows left on the back of my Lazy A, and then it's time for a quick trip to sleevesville. At least, I'm hoping it will be a quick trip. I managed to get one whole sleeve on the full-sized sample done in one day, and these sleeves are going to be more three-quarter length, so they should go smoothly.

This weekend I want to go through my stash and see if anything calls to me for my Accessories KAL. I already have some Knit Picks Swish in Hot Tamale that I've been planning on knitting another Gorham from, so that's definitely on the table, and I have yarn on my bookshelf that I think wants to be another Peony. What I really want is a pair of Fingercuffs Worsted- the original sample was a gift, and while I wear my original Fingercuffs all the time, I could use something warmer in winter.

Fortunately, I still have a week to figure all that out. In the meantime, I need to wind my second skein for Lazy A, and I need to wind up some more yarn for another sweater I haven't shared with you yet. I should get FO pics of my Hetty from this summer too, since I finally swapped out the buttons on that.