owls, truffles and anticipation of a new beginning.

well, i leave in two days!! come monday, i will be at the airport. come tuesday, i'll be in london. this whole thing has been very exciting, but, needless to say, rather nerve wracking. i tend to procrastinate very badly, so only one of my suitcases is partially packed. i still have to sort through mountains of boxes, leftovers from the last few times i have moved. it is very hard to imagine every single thing i will need for the next year. i'm trying to avoid buying anything over there because the pound outweighs the dollar, and i want to spend all my money on traveling, not toothpaste. speaking of traveling, does anybody have any suggestions as to where i should visit?


well, not only i am not packed, i haven't finished all the knitting i wanted to do. i still have a photo prop to knit my sister. i have an unfinished cardigan and a pair of socks, which i must finish here because i have no idea if i bought enough yarn. i can buy more here, but i don't know if i'll be able to while i'm abroad. also, does anybody have any yarn stores i should visit? doesn't matter the country, i really hope to going all over western europe.

i woke up early today, and have already been packing and sorting. i have to do some laundry, so i figured i'd post to calm myself. this will most likely be my last post while in america!


FO: Truffle Coat

 

dates: 8 august - 25 august
pattern: truffle cardigan tutorial
yarn: debbie bliss cashmerino chunky, 15 skeins
needles: US 10 and US 10.5


i finished the truffle cardigan, it is, in my opinion, absolutely gorgeous. the yarn feels like a baby blanket, and the fabric it made is just so warm and toasty. i love the cable design paired with the texture of the seed stitch, there is no boring space on this sweater. because i chose a bulkier yarn and larger needles, and added a lot of inches to the length, it turned into more of a coat than a cardigan. i changed the pattern a lot, but i kept the basic stitch patterns.

modifications:

• i cast on two repeats for the yoke. later i decided it wasn't full enough, so i added one more.
• i knit the yoke until they almost made a full circle, i didn't have the patience to keep going.
• i picked up stitches from around the yoke, rather than knitting the torso separate. set-in sleeves are not my thing, especially when i have to figure out the math for them myself. i'm good at math, but no way.
  
• i did a few raglan increases, then put the stitches for the sleeves on holders and knitted the body.
• every four rows, i inserted two short rows. (to make up for the difference in gauge of the cable and the seed stitch)
• i used a twisted knit stitch to create a seam on the sides between the cabled front and the seed stitch back.
• i knit for 18 in, then put it on to see how different in length the front and back were. in order to make up for the curve of the yoke, i think i did four or six short rows (until the front and back were the same length)
• i knit two inches in 2x2 ribbing, but changed it to match the cable pattern in the front.
• the sleeves were basic and i made no changes. 

notes: so that's how i made my sweater!!! i finished it in the middle of august, it just took so long to figure out the after details.  i did make a button band, with holes on either side of it. i was planning on doing a double inside button band, but i needed twenty two buttons! so i scraped that idea and used snaps instead. they look like buttons when unsnapped, but, when snapped, they won't pop out and there is almost no pulling and not even a centimeter of gaping between them. i am very very happy with my sweater. my only complaint is the cables in the yoke pull away from each other and create holes, due to my needle size. i could go in and sew them together invisibly, but i just don't have the time. i have the extra yarn saved and i'll do it eventually, but i am content for the time being. 

also, i finished sewing eyes onto the owl mittens. and with the leftover buttons, made an owl hair clip, like ysolda.

 

the pictures are grainy, something's wrong with my camera. add that to the list of things to do. another addition: dye my hair. i just noticed that my roots are atrocious. yes, i am naturally a blonde. isn't it weird???