Gotta Make …

I think I mentioned a while back that I wanted to make Elspeth from Rowan #37.

I couldn’t afford the Rowan Calmer it called for, even in this small amount, so I bought some Sock It to Me Collection Esprit from Elann.com in the color Silver Sage. This cotton yarn has some elastic in it so I thought it would work well. I was able to get gauge with it, but didn’t like the pattern stitch used because the eyelets didn’t show as well as I’d like. See the pic above? So I have substituted another stitch and I like the way it is working up.


But I think there is an error in both front shapings, so I have put it aside for a little while to see if anyone knows for sure. If I don’t hear from anyone soon, I’ll just go on with what I think is right and hope for the best. I’ve finished the back and both sleeves, so I’ve only got the fronts and the finishings to go. It is warm enough here to wear it now so I am anxious to finish it!

I’m back from my trip to CA to see my new little nephew. He is so adorable and I had a great time. I’d post his pic, but I haven’t asked yet. DB and DSIL are always fun to be with and I hated to leave. My first plane trip wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be and it was SO worth it. CA was really beautiful, too. Oh well, back to the swamp.

I didn’t really get any knitting done while there, but last night I finally got Kiri started in the fingering weight yarn. This is Socks that Rock yarn in the color lodestone. It is going much easier and faster with this yarn. Now I can read the knitting and tell what I am doing.

I keep forgetting to get dh to take a photo of me in this sweater so I went ahead and just took it unmodeled for now. Isn’t it pretty? The only thing I would do differently is to make more of the solid stockinette rows before starting the armhole shaping. Even with the shortrows for the bust, it doesn’t come as far down under my bust as I’d like. I’ll probably get a camisole to wear under it. I’ll post better photos when I can, but at least this proves that I finished it! I love the pattern and will probably make it again and just use a different lace pattern and a different color to change it up. I really like the way it turned out with the soft cotton yarn and would use that for it again.

We’ve had the first snake of the year in the yard today. My son looked out to see what the dogs were barking at and saw it striking at them. He managed to get them away from it and into the house. I didn’t go out to see what kind it was. Mostly, we get moccasins, and I don’t care to get anywhere near them. I wish the dogs would leave them alone but they don’t seem to have that much sense.

I have one more side seam to sew on Milinda and then I can pick up and knit the neckband. Boy did I get a shock when I put that pale ash pink yarn in the water to soak for blocking. The water turned a horrible greenish black! I couldn’t believe that light colored yarn could bleed such a dark, ugly color! I was worried that it would stain the yarn and anything I set it on to block, but I squeezed the life out of it :whip: and nothing awful happened. Maybe I can finish the seaming tonight.

I finished knitting Milinda last night and now I just need to block her and sew her up! Yay! I can’t believe how fast it went. I am almost finished with my first pink footie but I can’t decide whether to make ties to cross around the ankles, or just a button ankle strap. I really like how the faux rouching I added at the toe looks.

And what is this? Something new on the needles? It doesn’t look like much yet, but it will soon be like the lovely red one. It is the Spiral Nebula Shawl from Heartstrings. I needed something small and simple to take with me on my trip to CA and this fits the bill nicely. Once you get started good, there are only 2 rows that repeat, and one of those is just Knit. This is the Shimmer yarn in Grape Hyacinth that I got from Knitpicks.