Apricot Jacket Complete!

The 26th! Where has my February gone? I feel like I lost a couple weeks in there somewhere because the beginning of the month brought a visit from the flu fairy, first to my husband, and then a few days later to me. We were over the worst of it after a week or so, but we both still have some residual coughing going on at night. I'm just thrilled to be feeling normal again, at least for most of my day.

While I haven't been blogging much I have been knitting. The big news is I finally finished the Apricot Jacket I've been working on (for entirely too long.) I've been having a difficult time photographing it though. It seems like every time I've had the opportunity to take pictures lately it's been overcast. I try to get some better pics soon.

The color is pretty off in the first two pics. It's really much closer to the color in the the photo of the pieces being blocked.

I'm really pleased with how this sweater turned out. It was a lot of work and the pattern was pretty much a nightmare as many knitters out there had forewarned but it was worth it. In fact I have to mention that I'm very grateful for all the tips and advice that was available on the Internet. Blogs that were especially helpful: The Lint Knitter with lots of info and I love how she rates and reviews her projects and D-Made Knitting Gallery for her chart correction that I'm sure saved me hours of frustration. I knit the larger size because of gauge issues with the Cotton Fleece, an idea I got from Night Owl Knits.

Pattern: Apricot Jacket from Rebecca #27
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in New Age Teal - 5 skeins*
Needles: Size 6
Modifications: Shortened sleeves and overall length

*If I'd been a little more careful and hadn't minded weaving in more ends, I could have done this sweater with 4 skeins.

This was my first time working with Cotton Fleece and I have to give it a big thumbs up. It was a little splitty, but really that would be my only complaint. At 215 yds and around $8.00 a skein it's a good buy and it comes in dozens of colors. It drapes nicely and I think the wool content (20%) will keep it from getting baggy. I can't wait to see how it wears over time!

Home Stretch

Thanks to all who left such nice comments about my Peacock Bag! I've been enjoying it all the more with the lining in it. It's nice to be able to throw a knitting project in it and not have the knitting needles poking out of it!

FYI jennyslash, the fabric isn't a Liberty print (although thanks for the compliment - you must think my fabric stash is of a higher caliber than it is!) It is a Westminster/Rowan Fabric designed by Carla Miller, called (not suprisingly) Peacock Feathers. I found it at Thimble Pleasures in Carrboro.

Just a quick update on the Apricot sweater. After putting it on hold for a several weeks for Christmas knitting, it was a little hard to get back into it. I was in the middle of the first sleeve and it seemed to take me forever to finish it. Between the stupid mistakes I was making and trying to figure out just how long I wanted it to be, I was really having trouble staying motivated. When I was almost through with it I just got a bunch of safety pins and pinned the edges together so I could try it on. I really helped to see how much of the length was going to be drawn up when it was stretched around my arm. It also just looked good! Just seeing that little piece of the sweater on me really made me want to finish it. It just took a couple of days for me to get the second sleeve about half way done. Here's what it looks like.
I'm hoping I can start blocking at least some of the pieces this weekend. Can't wait for this baby to be done!

Let the Holiday Knitting Begin!

I've been making a bit of progress on the Apricot sweater, and this time I have a picture to prove it. That's the back, almost done and the two completed front pieces. I'm not as far along as I'd like to be. I was hoping I'd be done by now, partly so I could where it, and partly because I need to move on to Christmas knitting if I'm going to get any done in time! I've been tempted to put Apricot on hiatus. I'm feeling kind of guilty working on something for myself when I'd normally be working on gifts by now, but I'm so afraid that I won't ever get back to it if I stop. I've had a little problem with this in the past, this not finishing a sweater thing. I've got one or two (okay maybe three) bags with abandoned sweater projects, carefully tucked away in a closet where I don't have to see them unless I actively look for them. I'm absolutely determined not to let that happen again.

Still I've decided to get the ball rolling on some Christmas knitting. I joined the Holiday KAL-CAL in hopes that it would help spur me along to get more done. I started small with one of my little felted wristlets. I used the same colors of Lamb's Pride Worsted as I did in my Sorbet Entrelac Tote so this is my Sorbet Felted Wristlet. Here it is pre-felted...

and felted.

It's just big enough for a cell phone, a couple credit cards, some money, and lip balm. What else does a girl really need? When the large loop is threaded through the small one, it does a pretty nice job of holding a cell phone securely. I plan on making a few more of these for friends and co-workers.
They're a quick knit so I should be able to get a few more done.

A Shaky Start

So after almost finishing the ribbing on the back of Apricot, I decided that instead of knitting on size 7 needles, I should really be using size 6. I've almost finished one of the front panels (in the larger size) and I really liked the look and feel of it much more knit on size 6 needles. Here's what I've got so far.I've only had to frog back a few inches on this piece so far (I missed the increases since they were only described in the directions for the back.) Yeah I know I should have been paying more attention. It's not like I haven't been warned about this pattern. Well I'm off to frog the back ribbing. I've been putting it off until I was absolutely sure this time about the guage, and now I am.

Apricot Underway

Just a quick post to show my start on the Apricot Jacket. This ribbing is endless, although I do plan on shortening it from what the directions call for. I'm only about 5'2" and I can see this thing being way too long if I don't make some adjustments.

Not Just a Bag Lady

That's how one of my internet friends refers to me on her blogroll, as "The Bag Lady." I know I've been all about the bags so far on this blog (except for a scarf or two and one glove) but I'm here to tell you that's about to change.

I just started an actual sweater last night! I've been lusting after the Apricot Jackets I've seen all over blogland and I finally managed to gather the pattern, the yarn, and the time into one room last night and got started! I'm using Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece in New Age Teal.

I have made a few sweaters before, back in the olden days before I took my long hiatus from knitting. I never seemed to have much luck with them though. Oh I made some beautiful sweaters: stranded sweaters, cabled sweaters, all kinds, but there always seemed to be something wrong with them. They were either the wrong size, or they weren't flattering, or they were too warm, or too itchy. I realize now I was picking sweaters that I wanted to knit, but not necessarily ones I wanted to wear.

I'm determined to make this one work though. Thanks to the internet, I've seen it worn on several body types and it managed to be flattering on just about all of them. Wish me luck. From what I hear (and have already noticed so far) the pattern directions are vague at best and in some cases just wrong. I'm taking it as a good sign that I'm still excited about making it!