FO: little mermaid top and saartje's booties

little mermaid strapless top. pattern: little mermaid strapless top, by ashley paige. found in "sexy little knits".

yarn: lion brand cotton-ease in violet and charcoal needles: US 5, US 7, US 8 dates: cast on 22 may 2008, cast off 29 may 2008 modifications: used bulkier yarn, adjusted pattern accordingly cast on for couple inches smaller than the size small fewer waist decreases left out the ruffle and used ribbing instead less holes for a smaller gather knit in the round until the bust, for minimal seaming

notes:

super quick knit. the body took me a little less than two days, but fiddling with the ruffle and finally deciding to give up on it took me a week.

oh the story for this yarn. i bought three skeins in the store, thinking it was a lovely denim blue. i got it home, read the label and saw that it was actually purple. instead of returning it, i decided to knit it into the lattice cami. i didn't like the stitch pattern in cotton-ease so it became the frock camisole. the frock camisole was unbelievably huge and was, inevitably, frogged. so i decided to make this. now i have almost two skeins left and am right back where i started. i really like the bulkier yarn, but i might make it again with thinner yarn so it actually gathers at the bust. baby booties. pattern: saartje's booties done the bockstark way yarn: lion brand baby soft in hot pink and patons grace in white needles: US 2 double-pointed needles dates: cast on & off 23 may 2008 modifications: none notes: so cute and little! the expectant mother loved them. i enjoyed making baby things much more than i thought i would.but i don't think i'll be making much more. on another note, i recently repurchased diablo II after having left it in oregon. as a result, my knitting time has dwindled drastically. i don't think there will be any more FO's for a while.

april.

skinny rib cardigan.

pattern: skinny rib cardigan by debbie bliss, from the "wish you were here" collection.

yarn: debbie bliss cotton cahsmere in teal.

needles: US 2 and US 4

dates: cast on for the first time in july of 2007, cast off for the third time in april of 2008, sewed the buttons on in may.

modifications:

decreased every cast-on number by multiples of 8
made body pieces and sleeves longer
made caps on sleeves shorter
used smaller needles

notes:

this pattern should have been really simple, but i had problems with gauge. i met gauge the first time, and the sweater turned out way too big. it just fell off of me. i ended up frogging the complete sweater once, and frogging specific parts multiple times. it took me almost a year to iron out the kinks. however, i made it in july, put it into hibernation in august, and pulled it back out in february. the actual knitting of the pieces only took a few nights, but the ripping back and the blocking seemed to take forever. regardless of all of that, this was my first cardigan and i am quite proud! it was also the first time i made buttonholes.

i am counting it in my sweater-a-month thing cause i reknitted the entire thing in february.

i would recommend this pattern though. i just made stupid mistakes, it's really not that hard. :)

march.

gathered pullover.





pattern: gathered pullover from interweave knits.

yarn: cotton classic 100% mercerized cotton, shade #3783, seven skeins

needles: US 7

dates: cast on 26 april, cast off 1 may.

modifications:

folded hem on sleeves and bottom of body
five inches of extra length on body
short row shoulders
applied i-cord edging to slip stitch v-neck

notes:

i managed to get correct gauge, so it's a little bigger than i had hoped it would be. the yarn split so much that it was rather hard to work with at first. i got the hang of it as i went though. this was my first time using short row shoulders; it was quite an experience. i hate seaming, so it was nice to be able to have an edge to seam and use the three needle bind off for the shoulders. i had never done a folded hem before either. the bottom one rolls about, so to combat that in the sleeves i knit tbl for the first two rows after i created the hem. the sleeves don't roll at all. i have decided i hate picking up stitches. i never get the correct amount, even though i use the knitty guide. it never looks perfect, but i think i did an almost decent job this time. the neckline was a little too slippery for me, so i added the icord edging and that firmed it right up.

i love the color. it's still a little bright for me, but i think it works.