First, My Christmas IOU

Before I embark on my stash year, I really do need to wrap up my Christmas IOU. It's a shrug for my sister Barbara and I was oh, so close to having it finished on time. However ... when it became clear that I wouldn't have it finished, wrapped and shipped in time, I wrote an IOU card, put my gauge swatch in the envelope and mailed it off.

I finished the knitting up a couple days ago, wove in the last couple ends today and now it's blocked and drying.

The pattern is from "Quick Knits from Classic Elite Yarns".

Jeanne, my stash year partner, gave me this pattern collection for Christmas a couple years ago. Very convenient for all my sister's to pass it around and write their name on the patterns they liked ... along with notes.

So, I made this for Barbara, extending the sleeves to 3/4 length. (Yarn: Classic Elite Chateau, 70% baby alpaca / 30% bamboo viscose, color: 1431 (periwinkle), 50 gm = 98 yds.)

Once it's dry, I'll ship it this and look forward to getting a photo back with her wearing it.

Then, it'll be time to get working on stash year project 1!

Bernat Panama - Traveling Vine Top (2)

Now that UFO week is over, it's time to get back to my Traveling Vine Top. I still like the basic idea from my swatch - lace at lower edge, stockinette stitch above with a reverse stockinette stitch round/row thrown in from time to time.

During the week, I thought about my fit problems - too small at the lower edge, too big at the bust - and added another consideration. Would three repeats (vertically) of the traveling edge pattern be better than two repeats? If I'd been happy with the fit, I probably wouldn't have considered this. However, to make the lower edge bigger, I'm going to be starting over anyway, so everything's on the table.

My first thought was to add another pattern repeat (horizontally). That would take care of the lower edge, but how would I get rid of those extra stitches - and more - as I knit up?

Well, as I was making a dump run last Saturday, inspiration struck. I could start with an 11-stitch repeat of the pattern, then decrease to a 10-stitch repeat and then decrease to a 9-stitch repeat. Also, I could start with larger needles and work my way down. Now, this seems like something that could work!

Bernat Panama - Traveling Vine Top (1)

Now that I had a large swatch of traveling vine lace and stockinette stitch in Bernat Panama Misty Blue ...

I was ready to take some gauge measurements, rough out a sketch and calculate my cast-on count.

My plan is for a simple, close-fitting top with the traveling lace pattern at the lower edge. I'd like the bottom of the top to hit at the high-hip and, while it won't be drapey, I don't want it to cling either. So, I'm going for a loose, kind of floating fit at the lower edge coming up to a close fit at the bust and upper body. Rather than the entire top hanging from my shoulders, I'd like use my upper body to support the upper section of the top.

Bernat Panama -- Working From My Stash

My mom knew all kinds of needlework techniques and, amazingly, she was good at all of them - sewing, knitting, crocheting, quilting, counted cross stitch ... even tatting.

She happily passed her knowledge along to her six daughters and before she died, she also passed along her stash and UFOs. Among the sisters, different ones gravitated toward different techniques. Several of us knit, but I'm the enthusiast and so her stash of Bernat Panama Yarn is now part of my stash.

10 skeins of white, 7 skeins of misty blue and 2 each of petal pink and corn flower blue.

Summer tank

Back about, oh, 7 or 8 years ago, I was shopping with Cherie and she talked me into buying this simple, little tank. I have a tendency to be a bit ... um, shall we say "thrifty" (some might say, "cheap") and this was one of those things that cost a little more than I would normally spend.

Well, it turned out to be a big, huge value. Thank you, Cherie!!

I wore this tank to pieces. OK, not quite to pieces, literally, but all the way to stains and frays.

After multiple attempts to get rid of the stains (that'd be the "thrifty" side of me), I've finally decided that it is time to let go of this wonderful tank.

However ... perhaps, I could knit a simple, little tank that I like equally well. So, before putting it in the stack for Take It or Leave It at the Lopez Dump (aka "Neil's mall"), I took a bunch of measurements and - by posting them here - I'll have them at the ready when I sit down and start working on my knitted tank.

Girly Pink Cardigan

I was in Augusta, Georgia visiting Mom & Dad this Easter. Bill came out too and he took a family photo.

I happened to be wearing my very girly pink cardigan and I happened to notice that one photo shows a fair bit of it.

One of these days, I will get more photos. In the meantime, I can post this much.

I made this from yarn that was in my stash for years. I did lots and lots and lots of swatching before I finally struck upon a stitch pattern, yarn combination and design that I liked. I'm glad I stuck with it, 'cause I like this sweater.

Memory Lane: Diagonal Stripe

Here's another "Memory Lane" sweater from my own closet. This is another one that goes back about 20 years. I had seen a picture of a diagonal striped sweater in similar colors and decided to knit one myself.

Twenty-ish years later, I still like these colors, I still like the diagonal stripe and I still wear this sweater. Yeah, it has that 80s over-sized look, but hey, at least not the big shoulder pads.

In this shot, my complete lack of attention to how the sleeve stripes would intersect the body is quite evident.

Memory Lane: Cotton high-neck tank

This is the first in my personal collection of oldies. It's a just-below-the-waist length tank with cut-away armholes and a high neck.

I'm fairly sure that I bought the yarn when I was still living in New York, so that would have been about 25 years ago. I can't remember if I knit it in NYC or after I had moved to LA. Either way, it's at least 15 years old and is probably in it's early- to mid-20s. I planned to knit a sweater set, but never did get around to knitting the cardigan. (I hung on to the extra yarn for years!)