Koolsheep’s knit blog

Finished the lace skirt today. That went tons faster than I ever thought it would for three reasons:

1. This Daktari yarn is so yummy, I couldn’t put it down
2. We went out of town last weekend at the last minute to a location that has no phone, tv, or internet
3. I had the presence of mind to join the front and back panels and knit all that stockinette in the round

So, it turns out that as long as I’m knitting stockinette in-the-round, I can read while I’m knitting. So there I was, in the middle of nowhere, Indiana, with a book in my lap, my knitting in my hands, and the sun shining down on me. The kids spent all day playing in the creek. It was all good. I got from just above the lace panels, to a few rows below the waistband in just two days.

And it was a good thing that I did knit this in the round, because I ran out of yarn. Take it from me, 4 skeins for the size small, is cutting it pretty close. Luckily, I saw it coming, started the waistband about 10 rows early and had *just* enough yarn (like I couldn’t quite cast-off the last 8 stitches correctly). But the length seems okay anyway.

I couldn’t get my hands on the ribbon yarn called for in the pattern, but I went to Joann’s and picked up a ball of Moda Dea Ticker Tape in Suede. I think it works really well with the skirt.

And it’s a very nice yarn too. I think I might knit a scarf out of the rest of the ball.

The last thing I did was make a lining for the skirt. I guess I wasn’t crazy about the idea of people being able to see through it if I had a light behind me. I just sewed up some lining material and threaded the lining right onto the drawstring. It also has the advantage of laying a bit smoother over the booty — a bit less clingy.

So what’s next? One of these purses for my sister: http://naughtyneedlesknitting.com/?p=11 (the rest of the site is kinda racy — so watch out ). I’ve got it about halfway done. I’ve already learned a new technique: the tubular cast-on.: http://autoscopia.com/amelia/archives/2005/11/tubular_cast_on.html . Neat!

The crafting around here has been pretty slow. But on the upside, I’ve made some major progress on Hyena Cart improvements, so I’ll have a bit more time to get back to making stuff again, instead of typing away on my laptop all the time.

I did manage to finish the baby cardie:

It’s pretty cute. Kinda like a baby kimono. The gauge was totally off (semi-on-purpose), so although I followed the instructions for the newborn sweater, it’s more likely to fit a 6 month old.

And I’m making progress on the lace skirt:

The yarn is unfortunately a different color than I had expected. From Mind of Winter and the Knit Cafe book, I was expecting more of a khaki or straw color. What I got is a much deeper color and much more reddish. Which will be fine, and at least I haven’t experiences any issues with matching the skeins. This is one side of the skirt, and I’m almost done with the lace panels on the other side. I think I will go ahead and join two pieces and finish the skirt up in the round. I don’t see any reason not to do it that way, and it will make all that stockinette stitch go a lot faster.

This project has really shown the usefulness of my Denise needles. First of all, I didn’t need to go out and buy size 5 needles. Then I didn’t need to use spare needles to hold the panels before they were joined together, I just replaced the needles on the cord they’d been knit on with the stoppers and left them until I was ready to combine them. Plus, it’s nice to be able to choose just the right length cord for the project at hand. Not too short, not too long. I am really happy with this set of needles.

So that’s all for now. KSS stuff? Maybe in another month or so… Guess we’ll see how I’m feeling as the weather turns warmer and we finally get to spend more time outside…