Stealth knitting revealed

Here's the "secret project" I was working on. It's the wavy scarf from Knitty in Cascade 220.

I made it as a gift for a friend who is about to move to Australia...not that I'm sure she'll need a scarf in Sydney at all...
I finished it last night and gave it to her today. It was really easy to knit, but required a row counter and reading the pattern at every row, so it was slower to knit than I would have liked. I'm very pleased with it though. I think the wavy pattern is really cool, and the Cascade is soft. Kind of wish I had one for myself.

I couldn't resist trying it on for a picture (and the recipient opted not to model it).

If I stopped now I could have a cute belt...

I'm still going 'round and 'round on the hourglass sweater. I just replaced the needle with some yarn so that I could try it on. I'm glad it fits...I've had oscillating too big/too small worries, but it seems about right so far. I think there's actually more of it than the picture makes it appear...you're missing a couple of inches due to the curling at the bottom. I've been decreasing, and I'm about to start increasing in a few rows.

Oh, but there's something that's slowing down my progress. I think it's the tangled mess of yarn with which I'm trying to knit.

In other news, I did some multi-tasking last night. I went to a bar to combine knitting, drinking and socializing. It worked out well, but I'll admit that I got overwhelmed once in a while and had to stop knitting while I talked/gulped beer. I wasn't working on the hourglass, though; I had to put some time in on the secret project because I'm hoping to have it finished soon.

And in case you're wondering what happened to the sari silk hobo bag that was almost finished? Well, it's still almost finished. It's just kind of hanging out waiting to be completely finished. I worked on the strap some, but I got bored with it and I was itching to start the hourglass, so I decided just to set the hobo bag aside for awhile and come back to it some other time...maybe if I'm having trouble sleeping or trying to avoid studying for midterms.

Circular Needles 2, Erica 0

I've started my Hourglass sweater. A couple of times. I thought I would get it cast on and do a couple of rows so that it would be a convenience project all weekend...pick it up and do a little bit during study breaks, on the subway, waiting for brownies to come out of the oven, etc.

I first started it on Thursday. I did a couple of rows, realized my tension was really uneven, and ripped it out.

I started again on Friday. Did several rows. Was happily knitting along. Then on Saturday I started thinking..."I wonder what the pattern meant when it said to be careful not to twist when joining the round? Could it have meant....oooooh, I'd better check that. Yep. That's definitely what it meant." Ripped it out again.

I'm now on my third attempt. I think everything is going okay, but I may be wrong. I won't feel confident about it for awhile. I guess you really get your money's worth out of yarn when you get to knit it over and over like this...

In the picture I'm about 20 rows in.

I decided to add a little bit of length to the bottom. A little less than an inch. I've looked at lots of finished sweaters online, and some seem too short, while some look just right. I don't want to take any chances though...if I spend hundreds of hours and, most likely, a fair amount of aggravation on this, I'll be pretty pissed if it ends up being midriff-baring. So I'm adding a bit to the bottom, but plan on shortening the sleeves a little because they seem to be too long for most people. I'm really worried about running out of yarn, though. I think I have more than the pattern calls for, but in the errata the author mentions that a lot of people run out. I'm wondering if I should go pick up an extra skein...

Finally, it looks like a bag

Here's the almost-finished sari silk hobo bag (from knitty pattern unbiased). I've made the 4 pieces and sewn them together; all that's left is knitting on the strap. This has kind of been my "utility project." I don't work on it at home much because it's a little boring, but it's great for taking with me to work on other places (waiting for class to start, on the subway, at the dentist, etc.) because it's easy and doesn't require me to do much thinking. I could probably make the strap and finish it up tonight, but I really should do other things besides knit. And, it'll be good to have the strap to work on before class this week....especially since in past weeks, people in my classes have asked me what I'm making and looked skeptical when I said it was a bag (it's true, that didn't look much like a bag). So if they see me knitting a strap on this, that will probably do wonders for my perceived level of sanity.

Collecting Yarn

I bought yarn! I went to Seaport Yarn today, which is a much bigger store than the store to which I usually go. So I spent quite awhile wandering around and looking at all their yarns. I bought the yarn I'd planned on getting...and some more.

I went specifically to get this bamboo yarn for my next project. Yeah, it's 100% bamboo! I'm pretty excited about it. I've played with it a little and knit up a gauge-test swatch, and I like it. It seems a lot like linen. I'll be making the hourglass sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. I decided to use this bamboo from South West Trading Company, even though the sweater calls for a wool, and from what I can tell, most people use wool. I thought it would make a nice spring/summer sweater in the bamboo, though. And the bamboo comes in some great colors that are variegated, but from the sweaters I've been looking at on the web (and on this knit-along), I think it will look best in a solid color, so I chose this bright blue. This sweater will be a real challenge for me, as it requires several skills that I don't yet have. I'll learn a lot, though! I'm excited to start it, but I'm making myself finish the sari silk hobo bag first (almost done).


As I was browsing in Seaport, I found some soysilk that I couldn't resist. It's SWTC's soysilk, but an older version, before they gave names to the different sizes (Phoenix and Oasis). These are all just called "soysilk." Also, I think these are about 270 yards (for $12), compared to the skeins they now sell of 225 yards for close to $15. I saw some pretty colors and I just couldn't pass them up. I bought two skeins of a purple/turquoise, and 2 skeins of this kind of yellow/aqua. The yellow/aqua is a slightly bigger yarn. I think the purple/turquoise is the same as the current Oasis, and the yellow/aqua is a little bit bigger, but not nearly as big as Phoenix.















Oh, and what am I going to do with them? My tentative plan is to make at least one of them into a small summery t-shirt-like sweater (maybe Nothin' but a t-shirt or Picovoli). And maybe the other will be that Hautter tank top that I'm still thinking about? I probably have lots of time to figure it out, since I'll be busy with the hourglass for a long time.

I didn't buy any other yarn, but I did admire some really pretty Japanese yarn that I don't think I've seen before. It was so nice, but also expensive. I decided to just be content with a picture of it for now, and maybe keep it in mind if I decide to make something in which it would work well later.

I'm looking mostly at the ones in the front of the picture...not the weird stuff that looks (and feels) like poodle hair.