Sweater Success

As I’m sure you’ve been able to tell, this summer has seen me on a massive sweater-knitting kick. The latest masterpiece off of my needles required no finishing, which is why it’s actually … you know … finished. Meet the Mondo Cable Pulli!

Thanks again to Michelle for letting me use the store’s mannequin for the bulk of my FO-tos!

This sweater is extremely similar to the Mondo Cable Vest that I finished up last October. Same cable pattern, same neckline. Since it’s a traditional raglan, it doesn’t need some of the mental gymnastics that make the vest so remarkable.


As with any top-down raglan, it feels like the yoke takes forever. But once I split for the sleeves, I was off to the races!

The round is joined with the first cable cross.


And the back of the neck is finished by picking up stitches from right shoulder, across the back to left shoulder and through the ribbing for the left front. It’s a pretty ingenious way to get a nice finished neckline with essentially no finishing.


The Fibre Company Terra was a very forgiving yarn in the few spots that required picking up, and it steam-blocked beautifully. You may have noticed that it’s tough to see the raglan lines on this sweater, but it’s also nearly impossible to see where I picked up stitches to complete the neckline.


The sleeves and bottom hemline are finished with a 5x1 ribbing on a one-size-smaller needle. Like on my vest, it doesn’t do a whole lot to counteract the stockingette roll, but I didn’t feel like modifying to change it. I bound off both cuffs and the torso of the sweater using Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.


I find it to be a very flattering look both on Hannah, the store’s mannequin.


And on me!


I’m sure it will get tons of wear once it’s cold enough to actually wear an alpaca/merino/silk blend for more than five minutes at a time!

Mondo Cable Pulli

Pattern: Mondo Cable Pulli by Chic Knits/Bonnie Marie Burns
Yarn: The Fibre Company Terra
Color: Wild Clary
Yardage: 11 skeins (1,100 yards … 500 less than I planned for!)
Needles: US 10/6.0mm Addi Turbos (fixed) and US 9/5.5mm Addi Turbos
Started: 26 July 2010
Finished: 17 August 2010
Mods: None. Another triumph from Chic Knits!

And with that, dear readers, I say good-bye for up to a week. Mom and I are headed to The Mannings for a week-long weaving camp that begins Monday. I'm taking my laptop but am not anticipating having internet access available while I'm gone. I'm quite certain I'll have plenty to yammer on about when I get back. Have a great week!

WiP Wednesday: Snoozefest

I’ve been a one-project girl this week. Next time you see this Mondo Pulli, it will have all of its ends woven in, and will be modeled on a human. And yeah, it’s finished other than end-weaving. Which is why it’s inside-out.


I did cruise through a few stockingette rounds on the Musique socks the other night. I’m sure they’ll get a little more air time in the coming week.


Otherwise, gratuitous puppy picture:


Sydney really didn’t want to be photogenic today, so this is what you get.

And, all the stonework is finished and it looks fantastic. Front walk:


The repointing on the house is done too. Unless you’re really looking closely and trying to distinguish the old mortar from the new, you can’t tell where the new stuff is. Oh, the new stuff is smooth. The original mortar has larger sand particles


So that’s about it at casa DPUTiger. Not very exciting, but it’s the best I’ve got. Have a great week!

WiP Wednesday: Sweaterville

So I really haven’t touched my Musique socks since last week. I could have knit while the Hubster drove home from the Lake on Sunday but, well, I kinda slept the whole way.

Anyway, the sweater has been getting the bulk of my knitting time. The good news is that it’s moving right along!

Hey! It finally looks like a sweater! Hooray!

I’m on the 5th skein of yarn of 16 available, so I’m confident I’ll have plenty to make the torso as long as I want and have sleeves of an appropriate length. Good times!

The socks are going to Cleveland with me tonight, so we’ll see if I actually do any knitting. Yay, fun road trips!

WiP Wednesday: Vacation Knitting

Hi! There actually has been some knitting going on. My Musique socks got some good air time at the Jammers Lucy-Desi’s game. I turned the heel on a trip to the Quilt Farm in Boston, N.Y., with my mom on Tuesday and finished the decreases last night.


I split for the sleeves on my Mondo Pulli last Wednesday, just before we left for the Lake. I’ve knit about another inch since then, and I’m finished with the third ball of yarn.


Some of the other “same old” stuff is happening because I’m at the Lake. I managed to take a 90-minute walk in the rain yesterday and here’s the glass I came up with


It actually didn’t rain all that hard and the “storm” cleared out pretty quickly. And yet? Another less-than-stunner sunset. A few moments after this photo was taken, the sun hit cloud cover well before hitting the water. Meh.


Since the Lake was fairly high yesterday afternoon and into this morning, it was a banner day for beach glass. I walked to the State Park again (guessing that’s about a 6-mile round trip, it took me over two hours) and had a pocket completely full of glass when I got home. Oh, and sunburn on my arms. Oops.


The best part about being up here is that I have shiny things to keep me motivated while getting my exercise. Yes, I am part magpie. There is no way in hell I could walk for 2 hours, 30 minutes in the gym.

Celtic Cabled Slipover

I had 900 yards of a really pretty blue MadTosh DK I’d picked up at Natural Stitches. I’m still a big fan of vests and I’d seen the Celtic Cabled Slipover pattern advertised on Ravelry and liked the look of it. The yardage requirements fit, so following a gauge fail false start, I was off to the races.

Three cheers for mannequin access!

It’s the little details that make this a nearly perfect vest. The cabling on the back is unique as the two outside cables flare out with a growing reverse stockingette background in between.


The calculations are perfect for the cables to meet up atop the shoulders, where the fronts and back are joined by a three-needle bind-off. Quick, simple, stable and perfect.


The seed stitch edging continues all around the vest. A three-stitch seed stitch faux seam goes up the entire bodice. The bodice is only 8” deep. Actually with the 40” size I wound up knitting, it should only have been 7” but I went a little farther. I would have gone at least another inch if I had been confident about my available quantity of yarn, but I was afraid of running out, so I stopped at 8”. The one change I wish I’d made was to knit the body for another inch or two before dividing the fronts/back. Of course, I have plenty of yarn left over, but oh well.

Anyhoo, the small seed stitch faux seam grows to frame the bottom of the armhole, then grows up each side of the arm.


It is also quite present atop the back of the vest, another nice detail.


A matching seed stitch panel goes up the center-front of the vest before dividing for the neckline. Nicely done by the designer. The one thing I couldn’t see on the pics on Ravelry and the pattern is the two-row purl bar between each cable cross. It’s more noticeable in person (I think) and looks just fine.

The slip-stitch edging looks nice and neat, and meant that there was virtually no finishing to this garment. YAY!


I’m quite happy with the finished project. I’m sure it will get lots of use, especially once we hit fall and it no longer feels hotter than the surface of the sun outside.

Celtic Cabled Slipover

Pattern: Celtic Cabled Slipover by Jean Clement
Yarn: MadelineTosh, Tosh DK
Colorway: Betty Drapers Blues
Yardage: roughly 3.5 skeins/800 yards
Needles: US 8/5mm 36” Addi Turbos (US 7/4.5mm for garter lower hem)
Started: 7 July 2010 (2nd start date. Started 7/1 but frogged)
Finished: 24 July 2010
Mods: Knit fronts simultaneously, which isn’t truly a mod, but is a departure from pattern instructions. Added an extra inch to the instructions for my size. Wish I had added more, but was worried about running out of yarn.

Softball Socks 2010 • Now with More NCAA Championships!

This is the third straight year that I’ve knit “softball socks.” These were started while I was attending the Women’s College World Series in Oklahoma City, although it was too damn hot to do more than a tiny bit of knitting while I was there. Basically, I cast on the first toe, got the sock into the round and put it away until I could spend some quality time with my good friend Mr. Air Conditioning.

Turtle Daddy sock blockers!

These socks rekindled both my sock knitting mojo and my love for a plain stockingette sock.


I don’t need pattern stitches to keep my interest. I think there’s a beauty and serenity to just going “knit knit knit” in the round. Nothing changes while life swirls around you. Although I did change needles for the cuffs, going up one needle size to make these socks easy on/off.

Toe pic!

I used my very favorite toes for this pair, the garter toe. They could not possibly be easier to execute, and they fit perfectly every single time.

New Pathways arch increases/heel turn

I used my Zen Yarn Garden “Represent” yarn, which was Roxanne’s entry into last summer’s Dye for Glory contest. My BruWins certainly did “Represent” while I was knitting these socks. Softball won its 13th national championship and baseball has played itself into the NCAA Championship Series for the first time in program history (best-of-three begins tonight against South Carolina)

I loved watching the rainbow of colors pass over my needles, as you can see on the bind-off.

Once again, I used Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off for these socks. I love how the colors flow on variegated yarns when I use this bind-off. Plus, it does exactly what it says it will. It’s very stretchy!

All in all, I’m very pleased. And yeah, you can expect another ZYG pair of plain ‘ol stockingette socks up next on the sock needles.

Softball Socks 2010

Pattern: Riverbed Master from New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi
Yarn: Zen Yarn Garden Superwash Sock
Colorway: Represent
Yardage: 430 yards
Needles: US 1/2.25mm for feet, US 1.5/2.5mm for cuffs. 16” Hiya Hiya with “2 circs” method
Started: 6 June 2010
Finished: 27 June 2010

Scylla Socks

My sock mojo is back. Hooray!

The yarn for these socks (and the pattern) took a little plane trip to Mississippi with me before they got started in the car on my way to Maryland Sheep & Wool on May 1.


I didn’t think my favorite toe (garter toe) would work well with this pattern, so the standard toe it was.

Toe pic!

As with the previous slip-stitch patterns I’ve done, the biggest challenge was judging where to start my Riverbed arch expansion. The instep and sole grow at drastically different rates, so I essentially measured to the middle. “Split the difference,” I’d say.


Riverbed heel. I did the foot over 66 stitches and the leg over 68, as it required a multiple of four. Easy peasy.


Looking at the pictures, I can’t believe how perfectly these socks match. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this level of matchy-ness in a variegated yarn. Neato!

Scylla Socks

Pattern: Scylla Socks by Fiona Lucas
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight in Metamorphic
Needles: US 1.5/2.5mm Hiya Hiya 16” circs
Started: 1 May 2010
Finished: 24 May 2010
Mods: Stitch pattern plugged into Cat Bordhi’s Riverbed architectures from New Pathways for Sock Knitters.

Soft and Snuggly

This is the third cowl I’ve knit in about six weeks, and probably my favorite.


I like my Stonehenge very much, but it’s fairly loose. This cowl is very snug and takes great advantage of a mistake rib pattern. I love mistake rib!

Size US 8.5 woman’s foot (mine) included for scale.

It’s also a very long cowl. It’s every inch of a skein of Malabrigo Twist. When I was out of yarn, it was time to stop! Actually, I guessed wrong the first time and had to un-do ¾ of the bind-off, rip out another round and start over. I finished with Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off.


It was immediately obvious that this cowl wouldn’t look good bear-modeled. But it did make a nice full-Baxter bear cosy! I’ve found myself reaching for this cowl first, and it’s very warm and comfortable. I love it!

Sherbrooke Cowl

Pattern: Sherbrooke Cowl by Lauren Weinhold
Yarn: Malabrigo Twist
Color: Indetica
Yardage: 1 skein/150 yards
Needles: US 9/5.5mm, 16” KA Switch
Started: 23 January 2010
Finished: 24 January 2010
Mods: None

Stonehenge

Greetings, and welcome to the first HPWT Finished Project of 2010!



The Stonehenge Cowl by Susan Pandorf was started on Dec. 30, 2009, so I had something simple to work on when the Hubster and I went to see Dreamgirls at Heinz Hall that evening. (NOTE: Lace knitters who like the Lord of the Rings series probably want to head over to Susan's website and check out the Evenstar Mystery Shawl KAL. It looks like it's going to be an epic quest!)

Color is most true in this shot and the other un-modeled shot.

The show was decidedly “meh” (and it didn’t help that spotlights-into-dark-audience gave me a splitting headache in the second act) but the cowl is a winner.



I’m far from excited about the yarn I used for this project, Rowan Lima, but I think this is an example of a perfect yarn-to-pattern match making the whole shebang work well together for what I believe will become a much-loved finished project.



This yarn doesn’t show a lot of stitch definition, but the slip-stitch ribbing shows up very well, making the Pi-shapes reminiscent of Stonehenge. It’s a splitty chained yarn, but I think it will make for a very cosy cowl.

Stonehenge Neck Warmer

Pattern: Stonehenge Neck Warmer by Susan Pandorf
Yarn: 2 skeins Rowan Lima (I estimate that I used about 200 of the 218 yards)
Color: Amazon
Needles: US 9/5.5mm KA Switch 24” circulars
Started: 30 December 2009
Finished: 12 January 2010
Mods: None

One More Gift

Hi there! There is one final knitted Christmas gift that I haven’t shown you. Why? It was for the Hubster and I didn’t want him to see it on the blog before he opened it on Christmas morning!


Thanks to Derf for his scarf-modeling duties. Hubster declined the opportunity to model his new scarf. Party pooper.

As HPWT blog-watchers know, I’ve done several of these tube scarfs, and I really like them! They’re great TV knitting or while-I’m-focusing-elsewhere knitting


Yes, Hubster likes purple, as long as it’s a “good purple.”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t knit this scarf in any of the “usual places” because Hubster would then see it in progress! It would have come in very handy in Arkansas after I finished the Lychee Mittens, but despite all the hurdles, I managed to finish the scarf in plenty of time.


Why purple? He went to Northwestern University! Go Cats!

Fringe was cut before I started knitting, and put aside in ziplock bags. I fringed the scarf at the last Hurricane Knitters prior to the holiday, and bango! Finished! Scarf is currently sitting with Hubster’s work stuff, and will be worn to work on Monday. He likes it! Hey, Mikey!

Northwestern Scarf (alias “Stealth Scarf”)

Pattern: House Scarf Year 1-2 from Charmed Knits
Yarn: Louet Gems Light Worsted
Colors: White and Purple
Yardage: Approximately 2.5 skeins/440 yards of each color
Needles: US 8 KA bamboo fixed 16” needles
Started: 3 September 2009
Finished: 11 December 2009
Mods: Did a purl stitch on each “end” of the scarf (stitches 35 and 70 of the round), thinking it might make blocking a bit easier. It was a PITA and didn't help at all. Won’t be doing that again!