Return to Blogland

Hello my knitting friends! I am finally back to Blogland after being away for more than two months. Thank you all for the good wishes for my vacation. It was so good to be back home with my parents and sisters. Though I had a busy schedule while there, I shopped until I dropped which allowed me to loose weight as well! And I am sorry for not replying for the comments left in my last post. I had wished to be back much sooner but I found it rather difficult to resume to my normal routine while my boys were still out of school. Besides, I always loose when it comes to who gets to use the computer when the boys are around.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I have the Lilac yoke top ready to go. Please ignore the middle folding line. This top has been in my luggage for two trips since I had in mind to take a photo but I never got to wear it. I tried a quick fix with steam iron but it didn't work. So it needs a full blocking again.

It was a fun project, out of ordinary one dimensional projects that I am used to knit. Knitting in round didn't feel so hard this time. Even the thin yarn wasn't a barrier for enjoyment. The lace part wasn't that difficult but rather interesting to see the design emerging. An exception was the curved area that goes just beneath the yoke . I don't think I could repeat the process without the help of my teacher. It's a combination of short rows done gradually so that it will yield to a curved piece to accommodate the yoke on the top. Since it's a round knit, the back and front is done at the same time and the heigths for the curved area in the front and back differ. Most designs with yoke just join directly and the clothing normally is not as comfortable as if there is this little fix. The shape looks a bit odd ( small top and long body) but I am relieved that it doesn't have the funny look when I am wearing it. Hmm, in another thought, could this mean that I have an odd shaped body?

Design: Keitodama Summer 2006 ( It's actually a reprint of a very old design from Keitodama 1981)
Yarn: Cotton Soft ( Valeria di Roma) 4 balls at 180mts - 197 yds / 50 g
Needles: Japanese size 4, circulars in various length
modifications: changed the borders to tubular stitches. ( good exercise for closing tubular stitches. I think this time the technique is finally registered in my head!)

While in California, I didn't knit much. I mainly shopped for real clothing and accessories ( Don't get to wear much of my knitting, perhaps the hot and humid air here in Taiwan, doesn't allow me to wear my knits that often). However, that doesn't mean that I skipped the LYS. I started a new project when I found Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino. Though I brought two packs of yarn for two projects and had searched for patterns just before I left home. All that preparation and I didn't even knit a row! Can't help not being equipped with yarn but I always regret on the way back, when is time to pack and there is so much to stuff in the luggage.

The Debbie Bliss yarn is so soft to knit and gives great stitch definition. So it was a breeze to knit this project that is just missing the mending part. Here is my Berry cardigan, just waiting for the sleeves to be attached,

It has been put aside because it's still too warm to even think about wool ( it was cool enough in California to knit with wool). I almost run out of yarn but just a few days before my departure I got an extra skein. I had initially bought it in San Diego and when I was in San Francisco I thought that it would be safer to get an extra one. So lucky that I found it in the same lot at another LYS. And I sure used to the last skein for this project, leaving just enough for the mending job.

There is more knitting, like the doily cardi is in it's final stage. I finished the sleeves and now I am just working on the crochet border. Besides that I also started another fall project, which I will be showing next time because I didn't take photos of it yet.

So glad to be back and I can't wait for the weather to cool down so that I can produce more knits in a quicker mode. I have been dreaming of my future knits since I got the new Japanese knitting books in hands. How about you, have you started yours yet?