Half-Pint

As you can see, this is my new project using Rowan Cotton Tape which I've dubbed "Half-Pint." It's actually "Angie" from the Rowan "It's A Tape Thing" pattern book (scroll down a bit for the book) -- but I modifed the color scheme a little, hence the new name.

Basically, I decided on two colors instead of one. The bottom half will be chocolate (shade 552) and the top half will be blue (shade 551) with some garduated striping where the two colors meet. Hopefully below my boobs. I don't want any errant stripes across my poor little guys. No need to draw attention there. ;-)

You can see what I have so far:



And here is a shot of the colors:



It's knitting up pretty quickly and the Cotton Tape is very light. I think I may actually be able to wear this in the summer on chilly nights out. (Again, assuming someone actually takes me out on a chilly summer night. Ahem).

Aside from it's tapey coolness, this sweater also flares out on the sleeves and waist using a drop-stitch technique. Can I just say I LOVE dropping those stitches? I love it so much, I may succomb to the Clapotis craze just for the pleasure of dropping those stitches!

Here are some close-ups:

Frog

I was so proud of myself yesterday for reaching the end of the back panel on Cool Cagoule, only to discover -- at THE VERY END -- that something went horrifcally wrong in the process of decreasing and the whole thing would need to be frogged back to the point where the decreases begin.

That's NINE-AND-A HALF INCHES people! About 76 rows of 103 stitches on size four needles.

Sigh.

Why do I like to knit again?

Here was a progress shot before reaching the end:



The error was actually on my part - obviously. I read the pattern incorrectly. I am making the medium size version and instead of decreasing until it reaches 103 stitches, I should've only decreased until 115. On top of that, the decreases are on every third row, so I tried to figure out which rows they fell on before-hand and wrote them all down on a post-it. It turns out that I went over the amount of rows anyway.

My only explanation is that I was feverish and sick with a stomach bug. I think this is a valid explanation because look at what happened to my poor socks:



I kitchenered in the wrong direction! This was my first time using the Two Circs method and when I reached the end of the toe, I forgot to redistribute the stitches and ended up with a very nicely grafted toe running verically, as oppsed to a nice horizontal, toe-toe graft.


These are the lessons I have learned today:

1. Never work on anything that involves math or any kind of thinking while sick (or, ever).

2. Prey on a fellow knitter's sympathy while sick and get them to kitchener for you. :-)

But, all was not lost. I did manage to make progress on my Boogie vest in Manos Del Uruguay Lot#112 -- a GORGEOUS blend of deep browns and fleshy, creamy tones. YUM.

Here are some progress shots and some nice details to show you how very cool this colourway is:







So, I WAS busy. Just not as productive as I would've liked. :-)