For starters, if you don’t know this already, Diana finished her Raspy. I have one word for it - perfection. That gave me the motivation to pick it up and start knitting again. When I ordered yarn for this sweater initially, I just looked at the yarn requirements for a size small sweater and it said 12 balls. So I bought 13 - you know, just in case. The yarn arrived and I took a closer look at the finished schematic size and noticed that the finished sleeve length before the raglan decreases was 17.5″. 17.5″? Oh SHIT — that’s like, 3/4 length for my long ass arms!!! So I hurried through the back piece to check how many balls it would require, and plowed through the first sleeve (lengthened, of course) like a mad woman. I recalculated and figured out that 13 balls of yarn would cover the knitting - SANS seaming. What??? Then I checked Elann, and for 1 ball of Den-m-Nit in Dark Indigo, plus shipping, totals approx 10 bucks. 10 bucks for a freaking ball of yarn to seam - when all I need is a few yards? I think my heart just sank.

So here’s the plea - does anyone have left-over Den-m-nit in Dark Indigo from their previous projects that they would be able to part with? I just need a few yards. Just a few measly yards. Please?

I’m going to be MIA for a while. Conference coming up in two weeks and I am running around like a headless chicken. Stress and I are like best chums right about now. And that last few yards to seam Raspy makes me want to punch myself in the face. Coulda, woulda, shoulda.

With that, I leave you with a plea and a partially finished pair of socks. Try not to look so hard at my tan line.

Edit: And thank you all so so much for the comments on Lace Leaf Pullover. Trust me, the kitchenering is not perfect. My camera just decided to compliment me once for a change. I would write individual emails to thank you all personally, but Blogger is being a bitch and displays 90% of commenters’ emails as “anonymous“. I will not be pegged a thankless bitch for Blogger’s f**k-ups… just so you know.

First of all, stripe knitting SUCKS ASS. *inhale… exhale*… May I present to you, TWO giant dish cloths. Yea, this is how far along I am on the Phildar sweater. And it has no shaping whatsoever. Do not be fooled by the slender edges of the pieces, it’s just the yarn curling. And short rows on top with stripe sequence? Har har har… bazillion loose end hell. What have I gotten myself into? That’s right, winnie, how very smart of you to do short rows AND switch yarns at the same time? *snicker snicker* I wanted to begin the sleeve knitting with tubular cast on, but at this point, screw it. Knitting 160 sts per row on sz 1 is just too, um, lovely, for words.

So, I’ve picked out my yarn for the Stitch Ya Neck Out scarf swap. And don’t worry, yet-to-be-determined-SYNO-pal, it ain’t black yarn. It’s a most lovely maroon-brown 100% superfine merino yarn. Wanna know what they’re destined to be? Click Here. Yup. I’ve wanted it since the first time I laid eyes on it, but the endless ribbing has kept me far far away. Oh don’t get me wrong, I have no qualms about ribbing, but 100% ribbing? *ponders* hm, I’d take lace knitting any day over ribbing. I am looking forward to knitting some Backyard Leaves, or Ruffles, or even Branching Out from Knitty. I understand that the first two are very popular picks.. so fear not, cuz here’s one happy volunteer who’s dying to knit them for ya.

Thanks to my fellow knit-bloggers who check me out from time to time, they’ve helped me figure out Phildar’s French-glish instructions. Special shout-out to Mari, who, out of the kindess of her heart, sent me an email with row-by-row instructions of the brain-fart-inducing shoulder/neck shaping described previously. The more I looked at the length of the sweater, the more it looks like pajama to me. I’ve decided to crop it down a little bit (only 2″), so we’ll see how this little stripey devil will turn out. Inspired by Tara’s short-row shoulder shaping for her short-sleeved Vogue top , I’ve insanely decided to be a short-row follower. With help from Nona’s “ask Nona” archives describing short-row shaping in detail, this Phildar stripey back currently has all its live stitches intact. Frankly, I have no idea what I am doing, but we’ll soon find out when the grafting happens. If it comes out well, I’m keeping the top. But if my spontaneous idea of cropping the top by 2″ turns out to be a disaster, I need to find me a shorter-torso buddy in a sz 4 to wear this baby.

This is OSW#2. And as luck would have it, I ran out of freakin’ yarn again. I only had the 1″ edging to knit, so I used some velour type yarn (cheapo) and it looks nasty — as in no stitch definition. Will frog that and use a proper cotton yarn. The purplish main body is knitted up with Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, and it deserves better than the cheapo acrylic blah yarn.

Next up is my progress shot of the Phildar Stripey Top. Phildar calls it “Pull Manches Courtes”..um yea, whatever that is. It is being knit up on Sz 1 and 4 needles, and since my mom is here, knitting progress is s~l~o~w~~… this sweater will be growing very very minimally over the next few weeks. But I have one more picture to show you all, and…..

TADA!!!…. The no-sew knitted hem. Hee hee…that’s my biggest accomplishment with this sweater yet. So, I have a question for y’all. Is it just me or does Summer knitting progress slower than winter knitting? Maybe it’s just me.

Project: Bella Paquita (Small) by Marnie Maclean
Materials: Baruffa Maratona (6 balls at 121 yds/ball), US 7 circular needles
Techniques Learned: 2×2 tubular cast-on and off
Notes: waist shaping inc/dec still looked a little wonky. Marnie recommended lifted increases for the shaping. Did not complete all the rows as specified in the pattern (5-6 rows short). Just kept on trying until it is the right length for me. Increased sleeve length by 2″. Provisional CO for body, tubular BO for body, 2×2 tubular CO for sleeves.

Close up for the lace pattern along the neck-line (8 repeats total..I think). This is probably the truest representation of the color of the yarn. It’s a deep mauve/purplish worsted weight merino. Overall this could be considered an easy knit, but I was just too anal. In the end, I compromised with the wonkiness because I had to move on to a new project. Bella is still considered as a learning sweater because the shoulder seaming isn’t perfect too. Next….

**It’s an overcast day outside I know, but my shades just look too good with my new hat..**

And now, for a little stash-busting. This is the Amelia Earhart hat pattern that’s been around for some time. I wanted some instant-gratification, and with the pink Wool-Ease I had lying around plus a few hours of vigorous knitting, here are the results. Me thinks me needs more stashbusting projects like these.. very tempted by the One-Skein Wonder by Glampyre…hm.