::baby kimono
just needs some ribbon

::x04
wound half of the yarn into balls last night

::x06
i might be able to finish this by the end of the week. woo hoo! oh, and i'll probably have a skein of yarn left over, too.

::x08
wound half of the yarn into balls last night

::x09
should be finished during lunch today

pattern: butterfly from rowan 37
inspiration: domesticat's butterfly - it was the first one i saw and, really, that was all it took.
yarn: rowan kidsilk haze in majestic (recommended yarn), 1 ball and 10% or less of the second (i can't imagine why the pattern asked for 3 balls.)
needles / hook: US size 7 circs from knitpicks for everything except the straps the picot edging, which i used US 6 addis turbo circs.
gauge: pretty close the recommended gauge of 17 sts and 24 rows = 4" in pattern on size 7s
size: size 34" bust
cost: tbd...i got the ksh for 40% off, but i can't find the receipt.
timeline: swatched 08.22.2006, started 09.24.2006, finished 10.14.2006 (that would be 21 days, yo. i am awesome.)


excuse the hair and tired expression. i have to get the sun when i can.

changes: no beads. although my bust is a 36, i went with the 34, since i heard all sorts of things about ksh stretching. i also knit most of it with size 7s instead of 8s, since a lot of folks did that, too.

speaking of needles, i don't know if i would have survived butterfly without the super-pointy (and someimes a bit painful) knitpicks needles. i am SO GLAD i went ahead and ordered them to work on this. from now on, i'll definitely be using them for any lace that is complicated or uses sort of thin yarn.



there was no way i was going to deal with grafting the the front and the back, so i went ahead and kniti pretty much followed the pattern as written. it wasn't too difficult, and i was able to try it on a few times to figure out if the length and shaping were working for me.

also, i didn't bind off and pick up the 3 stitches for the straps; i just went ahead and knit them. because of the stretching / too-long-straps issue i read on a lot of blogs, i made straps that just tied on top.



thoughts: the fit works. if i'd gone with the directions for the 36" bust, i would have been fine, but i may not have finished in time for the wedding that i was making it for. so, there you go. hehe...

all in all, this was a very satisfying knit. is it the most beautiful thing i've ever made? maybe. i think i'll just say that it's tied with shedir for that title. however, it is definitely the best thing i've ever kept for myself. by far.

i just got knitting around by elizabeth zimmerman today (thanks to bookmooch!). it looks great. i'll probably really start reading it this weekend. yay!

well, i seamed this puppy up tonight and now it's blocking. i just need to cut off the loose ends and figure out how i want it to tie. woo hoo!

my plan for this xmas gift it to get (at least) 1 repeat of the pattern done every day. that's 28 rows (and a lot of stitches per row). i think it's doable. if it works out, i'll have most of it done by the end of this month.

::yesterday
+5 rows (car ride to work)
+11 (lunch)
+7 rows (car ride home)
+11 rows (watching tv)
34 rows

::today
+3 rows (car ride to el)
+2 rows (bus ride to work)
+11 rows (lunch)
+7 (random waiting/transportation on the way home)
23 rows

after 2 months (almost exactly: i started 08.15 and finished 10.16.), xmas gift #2 is complete. so...in the interest of not jinxing myself, i'll just say that i'm pleasantly pleased with my xmas progress so far. hehe...

::finished
x01 - debbie bliss cashmerino aran in charcoal
x02 - valley yarns bershire in eggplant
x03 - debbie bliss pure silk in 04
x05 - debbie bliss cashmerino aran in pea green

::started
x06 - plymouth yarn encore worsted in khaki
x09 - debbie bliss cashmerino aran in evergreen

::to do
x04 - berroco ultra alpaca in cranberry mix
x07 - noro cash iroha in burgundy
x08 - cherry tree hill supersock in green mountain madness
x10 - need to figure out what yarn to buy
(there is the strong possibility that 2-4 more projects may hop on the xmas knitting bandwagon, but that's to be determined.)

a pretty bad picture of my butterfly from the blocking board. i'm hoping to take some good pictures to post soon.

since butterfly is blocking and xmas gift #2 is out in the cold car, i decided to cast on for xmas gift #6.* coincidentally, it matches the sweater i'm wearing today disturbingly well.


*note: i skipped over #5 for two reasons: i would have had to wind the hanks into balls when i had to Start Right Then and it's a more complicated pattern than #6 and i'm sorta patterned out after butterfly.

butterfly is blocking! i'm so excited!


i'll be doing the picot edging tomorrow...hopefully.

this shorter days crapola is really limiting my picture-taking opportunities. i did manage to take a few (bad) car pictures of butterfly yesterday afternoon and this morning. hopefully, i'll be able to post a progress picture tonight.

that said, butterfly is moving along. with lace patterns, i seem to need to start and restart several times before i'm really able to grasp the pattern. it happened with green gable, the razor cami, and xmas gift #2.

for real, yo. this so-called chart for the body is jacked to the max. i'm giong to be ripping back to the frill for the 2nd or 3rd time. boo. here's the plan...

1 - rip back. again.
2 - pick up and knit stitches. again.
3 - knit another row. again.
4 - rewrite this sorry excuse for a chart so that a) it uses the correct number of stitches, b) it results in the correct number of stithces, and c) i don't take rowan 37 and my kidsilk haze outside and burn them.
5- knit like a fiend to have this done in a week.

wish me luck!