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The F-Word

Yeah! It's Friday, finally! Fantastic!

Fabulous

Didja see Caroline F's nearly finished St. Michael's? I love it in blues!

Fancy

The elegant and nearly invisible buttonholes on Laura's skull vest:

See the tiny black line? that's the buttonhole over six stitches of corrugated ribbing. Notice that it doesn't break up the rib pattern:

It's the Medrith Glover Buttonhole for Corrugated Rib from Sweaters From Camp and I think it's wonderfully elegant.

Having conquered the buttonholes, there are only about 4 rounds left on the neckband and then I can bind this skullbaby off the needles.

Frabjous!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Buttonholes, buttonholes

I've gotten through approximately half of the gazillion stitches of the neck band on Laura's skull vest (see yesterday's photo, and imagine five additional rounds), so it's time to consider buttonholes.

As you may remember, there are buttons coming from Repro Depot, and I've ordered the 18 mm size. That translates to needing buttonholes about 3/4 in (I think). I've never made buttonholes in corrugated ribbing, so I looked it up in Sweaters From Camp. I think I'll be working the ones recommended by Medrith Glover, but it all sounded a bit too fidgety late last night. I'll tackle those today, unless anyone has a better suggestion.

Knitting the neck band in the round seems like it's much easier than working it flat . . . but I'm eager to finish it so that I can see if it worked perfectly and fits on the vest nicely, or if I have rip and re-do.

We've Got Mail

Harrisville coned shetland-style wool is on sale at WEBS, so I ordered some at the Anniversary Sale prices (Happy 29th Birthday, WEBS!). It's a fine 2-ply that they describe as good for weaving, but I thought I'd check it out for knitting. If it works, I've got all this for future fair isles:

If it doesn't work so well, I'll use it for tapestry. Win-win! Any knitters already know the answer? Please tell me before I begin swatching and washing.

Thursday...mmmmm! Only one more workday until Friday!

Looking forward to Friday!

Jack is, and so am I . . .

it's Spring, and going to work is not nearly so appealing as going for a walk through the park with the dogs!

Skull Vest News

Last night I picked up the gazillion stitches for Laura's neck band, and actually set the corrugated rib pattern before I decided I'd done enough for the day.

I'm knitting it in the round, with steeks, as per Medrith Glover and Kevin Ames's advice in Sweaters From Camp. That book is full of good tricks for fair isle knitting. I've never knitted a neck band in the round, but it's sure to beat my usual multiple attempts at working it flat. I also have followed Meg Swansen's advice to decrease about an inch and a half's worth of stitches at the back of the neck. Doing that is supposed to reduce flaring on the neck band. I'll let you know!

Stephanie asked yesterday in the Comments what size needles I was using for the vest...Stephanie, it's on 4s with the ribbing and bands done in 2s. (Ow! My eyes!) Thanks for asking!

And Now for Something Really Cool

It's a real book, made by my incredibly talented, creative and skull-lovin' sister! OhNeil references Neil Diamond.
Laura's making notebooks out of vintage records. How cool is that? I want one! Repurposing is SO amazing! And so is my sister!

Pup Test!
NancyB says her dachies disembowel new toys; mine do something we call "de-braining" around here...they usually prefer head stuffing--blech. Stuffed toys have a short life span here, brief, yet fun-filled (for the pups).

Hang in there, everyone, just a few days 'til Friday!

News to Me

I visited my LYS over the weekend, The Knitting Gallery of Colts Neck, and that nice Sonia had a new gadget to sell me:

Sweet!

Magnifier, row finder, and gauge checker all in one!

Cute

Two cute armbands completed on Laura's skull vest.

I ordered buttons yesterday and will work on the front neck bands tonight if all goes well at work today.

I'm eager to cast on a new vest now, and I'm thinking it will either be AS Rosemarkie or the wonderful Whirlagigs from Meg Swansen's Sweaters from Camp. Sweaters from Camp has become an invaluable source of info to me for all things fair isle; every page has excellent information on it, and every bit of information is very cogently described by MS. Added bonus: all those great fair isles! Teresa of the gorgeous Roscalie is casting on for Ann Feitelson's Shirt-Tailed Fair Isle even now!

New Toys Update:

Della loves her new stuffed giraffe.

Enjoy your Tuesday!

Monday, steeky Monday

I had some knitting time this weekend so I finished up the body of Laura's skull vest. Here's a photo, and some of us can learn something from it!

Lesson Learned: Next Time, Let's Center the Motif Before Starting, Shall We?

After cutting the front steek:

After cutting all steeks:

I picked up the armhole band stitches last night, but decided to save going blind as a task for another day.

Button Decisions:

I had thought of going with traditional pewter buttons for this project, but in doing some knitting-ring surfing over the weekend, I found a pointer from Hope on Rocket Science to some very cool buttons.

Who knew? Pretty cool! I also loved the Tatoo Set. Decisions! People are really making some cool stuff out there.

Thanks for the steek help, Wendy!

New Toys

Have a happy and productive Monday, everyone!