Project Progress Progresses

I finally got around to cutting the neck steek so that I could actually try my sweater on, and here you have it:

I again apologize for the poor color quality, this picture was taken with my computer at 11pm, which means the only light was coming from those which my university provides.  :)  I still have to cut the entire front open (I'm not yet courageous enough to do so), but I was at least able to make sure the sweater fit well and I'm glad I did.  Don't get me wrong, the fit is actually exactly what I was going for, but I did encounter a little obstacle which I am going to have to fix with some creative designing.  That being said, this is the last you are going to see of my cardigan until it is all finished, but expect something unexpected (but not so out of the ordinary that one would not be able to guess what is going to happen).

While my sweater was resting (he got a post-surgery bath), I began practicing some stranded knitting before I dive into a sweater's worth of it, and here is what I have so far:

 What you can't see in the picture is the indeterminable amount of ends I am going to have to weave in at the end of this.  Now, a more knowledgeable knitter would simply weave in the ends as they knit along, but I don't know how to do such a thing and thus am condemned to spend the next eight months of my life weaving in ends on a fingerless mitt that isn't even going to fit me because it is designed for a small women's hand.  Oh the bitterness, can you sense it?

I'm using Knit Picks Palette yarn and doing my best (mit meinen colorblind eyes) to follow the pattern for the Snowflake Fingerless Gloves, which is a free pattern I came across while perusing through the endless glory that is Ravelry.  The recommended gauge is 9sts/in., but I didn't have a circular needle that small, so I'm knitting at a gauge of about... oh.  I just measured so I could tell you all, and it turns out that it's about 9.5.  How did that happen?  I could have sworn my swatch (knit out of boredom, not necessity) was 8sts/in.  Oh the wonders of knitting.  I'm sure it'll all stretch out and such when it's all blocked.

That's all for today - I do hope to one day actually finish my cardigan.  I have already picked up an extra skein because I wasn't going to have enough to do the button band without it, but I think I am now going to have to pick up yet another skein.  Ugh, cables, why do you eat up yarn so?

Practice Makes Perfect

... oh dear.

The Swan

The time has come that I can properly share this FO with all of you as I finally got around to taking pictures of it post-blocking.  (Of course, it has been sitting around folded/bunched up and has been taken out and admired countless times, so it doesn't look as good as it used to.)

The pattern for this beautiful lace shawl can be found here - it is the Swan Lake Stole by Melanie Gibbons (PinkLemonTwist).

Of course, I began knitting this shawl last June while it was still being referred to as "Mystery Stole 3".  That's right, this was a mystery KAL where a new portion of the pattern was released each week and the pattern wasn't known until it was all finished.  From what I can tell, this KAL was fun (although I can't quite say that I participated to the full extent of most other people).  I did my best to participate, but as this was the second project I ever cast on for, it was a bit slow going.

Fast forward one year and I can finally say that I am done.  SWEET!  I used Misti Alpaca Lace (100% baby alpaca, super soft) and US 4 needles.  Oh, and some turquoise beads.  The pattern calls for I think 1200yds of lace-weight yarn, but I used only a little more than a ball and a half of the Misti Alpaca (which was something like 700yds).

(The shadow of the lace kind of distorted this picture)

(Can you find my bamboo?)

This will now be boxed up and sent to my mother where it will (hopefully) finally be unbunched and worn.