Cables and Fiber Fair Prep

I'm still making steady progress on my Henri, and I'm still totally in love with it. I can't get over how soft the yarn is, how perfect the color is, and how crazy gorgeous those cables are. These are long rows, but I'm getting through a few every day during lunch, and if I have time to knit in the evenings as well I can get a couple more done.

This weekend is NCFF, and I'm going to be working the info booth most of the weekend, so I'll be bringing some simpler projects and design samples to work on there. Actually, everything I'm bringing is mostly garter stitch, which is going to be really easy. They're all different weights though, so hopefully that will keep it from getting boring- I'll be bringing my Lazy A, my Pocketful of Posies sample, and a brand new laceweight shawl sample. I should be able to make some good progress on all of them, barring any emergencies (knock on wood!).

I had to take a couple days off from working on my Henri earlier this week- I stepped on a walnut in my walkway and fell flat on my back, so Sunday evening and most of Monday were spent laying flat on my back. Not fun. I'm still a little sore, but much better, and I'm so glad that I can actually sit up again- laying down is super boring, as it turns out! I'd been planning to get through most of the cable panel before Friday, but we'll see how that goes since I lost all of Monday. Either way, this KAL goes through the end of October, so it's not like I'm in a real big time crunch! 

Finished: Zinone

Another finished project! I started this way back in April, and then I had to take a break while I searched for more of the yarn, and then I set it aside while I worked on my collection, and I finally finished it a month ago after picking it back up and going to town on it for a few days. I love this top so much, I'm definitely going to be making at least one more of these!

I knit this at a larger gauge than the pattern calls for, and I really do like how it came out, but my next one will probably be knit according to the pattern. The yarn is a discontinued bamboo/nylon from my deep stash, and it's about the lightest, floatiest thing I've ever knit. I feel like Galadriel when I wear this, seriously.

This was my first time knitting an applied i-cord for the neckline, and it turns out I love it. In fact, I promptly decided to include it on my Easy A, I loved it so much. I've been hesitant around i-cord bindoffs and applied i-cords up until now, and really, it was so easy and delightful, I'm utterly charmed by the end result.

Ravelry Page: Zinone

Pattern: Zinone by Andi Satterlund

Yarn: S. R. Kertzer On Your Toes Bamboo "Sea Life Grey"

Linking up with Crafting On

Finished: Stripey

Hi friends! I finally got pictures of some of the FOs I've had lying around for a while, woo hoo! Up first is my Stripey, aka "The Bosom Friend Sweater." My friend Annika was looking to rehome this as a WIP a couple months back, and the colors were totally my jam, so I immediately scooped it up. It worked out perfectly, because I really do love the stripes and the colors, and we have a similar bust measurement (thus the "Bosom Friend").

This came to me as a front and a back attached at the shoulders and with a finished collar. First I wove in all the ends, and that took...a while. I think it probably took three hours, but then I was able to pick up and work the sleeves. Once that was done, I seamed from the bottom of the sides up and along the bottom of the sleeves, and presto! I had a finished sweater.

This thing is so cozy and squishy and I love it. I really can't wait for the weather to start cooling down so I can wear it. The astute of you may notice that I cut even more of my hair off! I loved the bob, but I really needed something more dramatic, so a month or so ago I did another big chop and I love it.

Ravelry Page: Stripey, aka "Bosom Friend Sweater"

Pattern: Tweedy--Stripey by Leslie Weber

Yarn: Harrisville Designs Highland "Charcoal," "Camel," and "Aster"

Pattern: Obregonia

I’ve always loved cacti– even as a small child, I’d beg my mother to let me have a cactus in my room. She always refused, probably (rightfully) cautious of what a troublesome combination my clumsiness and a cactus’ spines would be. As soon as I moved out to college, I got my first cactus, and it still has a cherished spot in my indoor garden.

I also really love lace at large gauges. Gimme a bulky or super bulky-weight lace knit and I am in my happy place. So when I got this bright skein of Berkshire Bulky, I instantly wanted to do a fun lace accessory- a statement knit, but a wearable one. Of course, the color made me think of cacti, and this hat grew from there.

Obregonia is a bulky lace hat that works up quickly. The large-gauge lace is fun and engaging, and as always the pattern includes both written and charted instructions.

Also, since my Birthday Sale is still going on through midnight US Central Time tonight, you can get Obregonia for 27% off with code "HB27"!

Birthday Sale and Catching Up!

I had such a great weekend! Thanks to everyone who shared kind birthday wishes, you all really made my day :) My gifts from my family included a felt roll-up mat for doing puzzles and Gertie's New Fashion Sketchbook, which I'm really excited to dig into. On Saturday, Anemone and I got brunch and shopped for a few hours, and I got yarn for a cropped version of my Easy A sweater. Yesterday was Anemone's half marathon, and I got up super early to go watch her, and then took a three-hour nap when I got home.

I managed to get quite a bit done on my Henri over the weekend, despite it being crazy busy. I've increased for the body, and I have just a few more rows before I can start the cable panel. The rows are pretty long now, so I'm hoping to get these texture rows done during lunch and then to start the cables tonight. I'm also going to have to wind the yarn up for my cropped Easy A (nicknamed Lazy A) so I can get to work on that and get the pattern ready for an October release. My Easy A is so cozy, and I want all the options for it ready so you all can knit one for yourselves in time for the worst of winter!

I know I'm crazy behind on sharing finished things with you- once I change the buttons on my Hetty, I'll have FIVE FOs that I still haven't photographed, including a new design (for which the pattern's already done, I just need to get the photos taken!), so I need to get my shit together this week and catch up on stuff!

**A reminder that my Birthday Sale is still going on! 

Save 27% off everything in my Ravelry Store (including collections!) 

with code "HB27"! This code is only good through the end of the day Wednesday, 

so hurry while it's still running!**

Linking up with Crafting On

Birthday Time!

My Henri is coming along so nicely! This is a much better project for this yarn, I can already tell that the yarn will bloom into all these texture stitches delightfully. It feels so much softer than the original sweater, and I definitely wanted to take advantage of the 15% cashmere, so I am super pleased. So far I've really only been working on this at my lunch breaks, and a little bit a choir practice on Wednesday, but Anemone is running a half marathon on Sunday, so I'm sure I'll have time to bang out quite a bit while I'm waiting for her to finish.

Tomorrow is my birthday! AKA, the second-best day of the year (after Halloween). I'll be going up to the city tomorrow for my annual birthday brunch and shenanigans with Anemone, and tonight my mum is making turkey enchiladas. Last night I baked my carrot cake, and tonight I just have to mix up the frosting and frost it. I am, as you can tell, super stoked.

Of course, that means it's also time for my annual birthday sale! Through September 13th, all my patterns and collections are 27% off with the code "HB27"! You can use the code as many times as you want, so go wild :) 

Sometimes Things Don't Work, and That's Okay

Well, I hope those of you in the US also had a great long weekend! My mum and I hit up the farmer's market on Saturday, and Sunday and Monday were spent making soup, relish, stuffed peppers, and veggie lasagnas to can and freeze for later. I also snagged some plum jam to make a cake I've been conceptualizing for a while, some pickles, two pounds of some of the best cheeses I've ever tasted, and some okra that I fried up to have with pizza on Sunday night.

As you can tell from the picture (which is NOT of a green garter stitch monstrosity), I finished my Easy A sample over the weekend. I'm really pleased with it, and I'm planning a cropped version too, once I get more yarn. I picked up my Jean Pullover again, and yesterday at lunch I was halfway through a row when I admitted to myself that I wasn't loving the sweater as much in person as I'd loved it in the pictures. I hate to knit things I won't wear, and I love this yarn so much that I really want it to be something fantastic, so I ripped it out.

After scrolling through my queue, I came across Henri, which has been high up in my list of "Sweaters I Love" ever since Heather finished hers. Lo and behold, I have enough yarn, and I cast on last night. I'm already having a ball working on this, and I can't wait to see how it works up.

Pockets!

I swear, I'm trying to make progress photos of a garter-stitch pullover interesting for you. Hopefully this is the last progress post- I've got a couple more inches on the first sleeve, and with any luck I'll be able to sail through the second sleeve over the weekend.

As I mentioned on Wednesday, I decided to add pockets! I love pockets, and while I hadn't initially had them on this design, as I was knitting it up I thought, "You know what would make this even cozier? Pockets." So. The pattern will have optional pockets.

It's a long weekend in the States- Labor Day is the official end of summer here, and I am so ready for fall. Next week the temperatures should start staying a little bit cooler, and I'm ready to jump into sweater weather with both feet.

I've Got a Group!

Is that? Could it be? A sleeve! Yes indeed, my Easy A sample is moving along nicely/ Last night I finished the front, did the shoulder seams, did the applied i-cord to the neckline, added pockets, and picked up for the first sleeve. It's really starting to take shape and look like a sweater now.

I'm hoping to get the first sleeve done this week, and then hopefully have this thing finished over the weekend. That might be a bit ambitious, but I'm ready to go back to my Jean Pullover for a while. I'm also hoping that the universe is paying attention and that once I finish this sweater it'll get cold so I can wear it. I know that's probably a pipe dream, but I am ready for fall NOW, darn it.

In "news that I should have announced a few days ago but kept forgetting," I now have a Ravelry group! The link's in the right-side bar, with all my other social media links, so please come on over and join if you feel so inclined. There's a good group of people amassing so far, and I'd love to see you all over there too.

Weekending

My sweater continues on- I've got just under four inches left, and then it's on to sleevesville. The final skein of yarn arrived on Saturday, so I'm all set to keep plowing through. At this point, I'm not too concerned with not finishing before the SSKAL deadline of September 10 (not that the deadline means much, since this is a very easy, casual KAL, but I'd also like to get this off the needles). I managed to get a few inches done at the bonfire on Saturday night, but there was also a farm cat to snuggle, and one of my other friends brought his dog, and there were the general pyrotechnic shenanigans.

Sunday morning I tried to sit and knit, but Mystic was bitter about my leaving him alone on Saturday night, so he took my lap and left arm hostage, so Sunday morning turned into coffee and snuggle time. Not that I'm complaining. I got a new gluten-free baking book a few weeks ago, and last night I mashed up a couple of the recipes in it (plus my own experience, and a different flour blend) to try a successful lemon poppyseed cake. That's been one of my summer goals, and I'm pleased to say that it worked out- I got a lovely, sticky batter, I managed a good even bake, and you can taste plenty of citrus coming through.

Linking up with Crafting On