FO: Marion KAL

Done! I finished with about 10 days left in the KAL, but it took about four days for my sweater to dry after blocking. Last Friday was finally supposed to be pretty chilly, so I sewed my buttons on first thing in the morning and wore it all day. Then again all day Saturday (Sunday it warmed up again, but otherwise I would have worn it again-I get a little obsessive over new FOs).

Mods! Because there are always mods: I never keep track of how many stitches I pick up for the neckband, so that certainly isn't worked how it's written. Other than that, I shortened the sleeves by about 20 rounds because I thought they might get too long. It worked out perfectly, and they ended up just the right length.

Ravelry Page: Marion KAL

Pattern: Marion, by Andi Satterlund

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, Indigo Heather

Marion KAL Update

Gosh, I haven't really talked about this here since before the KAL started.  I cast on the evening of the 10th, which is really impressive since I almost never start KALs on time (I've also never finished a KAL yet, so hopefully this is a good sign).

I found some buttons for this at Athena Fibers that I really like. These weren't my first choice, but the other ones that drew my eye seemed either too light or too busy. Hopefully these ones are perfect. (We'll see. I always run into trouble with buttons.)

(There's something weird going on with the color in that photo. It is definitely not that blue in real life.)


I just joined at the underarms and have spectacularly mis-crossed a cable (dropped down 4 stitches over 22 rows to fix that bad boy-yikes!) and completely skipped the line in the pattern where I'm supposed to add four stitch markers (that was funny-I'm at knit group, knitting along, and all of a sudden I say "what the hell is marker W?!" Everyone got a chuckle out of that one).

Those two incidents aside, I think this is going really well. I was having some sizing concerns initially, but I'm feeling better about it now.

FO: Ella

Ella my darling, Ella my love, you are everything I wanted in a summer cardigan and more. You are light enough to wear even on warmer days, and you go with almost everything I own.

We ran into some troubles along the way. My inability to read patterns through and my proclivity for knitting with dark beverages at hand definitely gave us a run for our money. But through everything you were a joy to knit.

Ravelry Page: Ella

Pattern: Ella

Yarn: Red Heart Classic Crochet Thread, Size 10 "Natural"


**Reminder: get either (or both!) of my for-sale patterns for 20% off with coupon code "HB24" through  September 9 in my Ravelry Shop**

Round and Round She Goes

After the different setbacks I've had with Ella, I was prepared for the neckband to be quite an undertaking.  I left her home when I went to the hills a couple weeks ago, with the hope that the separation would be good for the both of us.  Turns out, that's all we really needed, and I got the last 6 decrease body rows done in 10 minutes two days after I got home. 

This past weekend was spent picking up stitches all around the body, and I started to get nervous again.  It took over 4 hours, and I ended up with 464 stitches, in laceweight cotton, and the neckband needs to be 3 inches wide. 

Fortunately, it's been zipping right along.  I had planned for this to be my lunch break knitting this week, and do work knitting at hope in the evenings, but I've been bending that rule a little bit (I know you guys understand-I'm sooooo close to being done! There's no reason to keep dragging this out further!).  I'll have to measure it to be sure, but I think there's only a couple rounds left before the bind-off.

FO: Top Sekrit Reveal

Happy Birthday Anemone!

My sister is pretty awesome.  She's smart as a whip and wildly entertaining.  (She also happens to like almost all of my Instagram photos, including the really silly ones.  That counts for a lot in my book.)

Anyway, she's pretty cool, and she loves knitted stuff almost as much as I love knitting stuff.  This year, her stuff was an Amy Christoffers cardigan.  Division, to be exact.  I love this pattern so much; I have a yellow Division that I made for myself my final semester in college that I wear almost constantly.  

I adore these buttons.  They're JHB Coco Primitive, and I almost didn't want to give them away.  Anemone thinks they're pretty snazzy too.

Happy Birthday to one of the best people I know, and the best sister I could ever ask for.

Pattern: Division by Amy Christoffers

Needles: US6 Bamboo Circulars

Yarn: Knitpicks Stroll in Jackrabbit Heather, 1617 yds.

Modifications: 6 buttons instead of 8, shortened armholes to 7" instead of 7.5"

Ravelry Page