Its still too hot!

I really had wanted this to be done earlier, so that I could enjoy the cool fall weather in it, but I was sweating taking pictures of this ... and its almost NOVEMBER!

At least the leaves are still pretty. And I'm not complaining about the weather, it was beautiful today, but I love the cool cripsness of fall and it just hasn't really happened yet!

(Ilse and I seriously thinking about jumping in to cool off)
OK, the sweater, here are the details:
Pattern: Central Park Hoodie by Heather Lodinsky, in the Fall, 2006 Knitscene magazine
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers, a green-blue gray, about 4.5 skeins
Needles: US 8s

Verdict:

hmmm...I guess I look a little stern there, not as happy as I should be looking because I really like the finished sweater and I really enjoyed this knitting. I pretty much followed the pattern exactly, and it worked out just fine, but if I were to do it again I would probably knit it in the round (body and arms). There was a lot of seaming, which I didn't enjoy (mainly, because I suck at it!). Luckily, I got some help from the Ravelry Central Park Hoodie KAL. Darn, I don't mean to be negative - I liked this project! It was fun to knit, went fairly quickly, and the pattern was well written. I love the components: the cables, the hood, that its a cardigan. And it fits (the ultimate sign of a good pattern)! Well, a modification, it fits now - it was a little snug right off the needles, so I soaked it in some soak (I'm a fan of Aquae), then pinned it to the floor (I have carpet now, making blocking much easier!) (and with a clean garbage bag underneath to prevent mildewey eueew) according to the measurements in the pattern and voila:

Now it fits!

Modifications:

The main/only modification was that I didn't seam the hood, I grafted (My favorite Kitchner Stitch link) it. I'm not great at grafting either, as you can tell, but I am getting better! And, this definitely looks neater than a big seam, right?

OK, now confession. I can't pay attention. I had issues with one of the arms and had to rip it out because I wasn't following the increases. And the cables. Remember my back cable mistake early in the project? Well, I didn't fix it and it ended up OK because the hood covered up the nastiness nicely:

But, then I went and did it again, in a noticeable area: the arm. Yes, the same arm that I had already ripped out once. And I was about 20 rows up by the time I noticed this:

Of course, this had to be fixed ... but ripping?
Nope. Someone linked me to this tip from the Yarn Harlot, and I think that the quick and dirty worked out pretty well:

You can tell, but this became less noticeable after washing. And its not a mis-crossed cable now. But I can see how this could bother a person. It just didn't bother me enough to justify ripping out the arm a second time.

One more thing, because buttons really are hard to find and it took me a bit to find these:

Buttons from JoAnn's. Blah, I know, but I got lucky and they were 40% off, randomly, so it was $5.35 for 6 buttons and peanut M+Ms (I don't do that often, I had missed lunch due to all of that seaming!). And, I liked these.

I can't wait to wear this ... I think its going to be in the LOWER 60s later this week, maybe it will be overcast t00 and I really will need a warm sweater! If not, I am sure winter is coming soon enough, I just hope that there is a little bit of autumn in the meantime.

Phew - I hope that you made it to here, and that all of the pictures loaded OK. Thanks for reading!

A real post

It has been awhile since I had a real post. The last 2 were quick-fluffy-"I'm still here" posts. Well, if only it was just that: I feel incredibly guilty about the most recent post in which I gloated about the Indians (who have now been eliminated). Did you even notice the socks in that post? I'm a bad, bad person. What is it about sports, they turn you into a crazy person! In the past, I've forgone watching games, knowing that I was so powerful that me watching the event (I've done this in multiple sports) would cause my team to lose! Not rational. It is fun to really cheer, scream, and analyze the games ... its just losing ... but I guess the highs of watching sports means that there must be lows as well.

So, moving on, I had a lovely dinner tonight that involved therapeutic chopping with my wonderful knife (really, its good). And, since this is moving on, there had to be some excellent beer to help dull the nerves a bit.

Zucchini Pasta from Mark Bittman's Column in the Wednesday New York Times. I used basil instead of thyme (because, I had basil, not thyme).
I actually, was more drawn to the chickpea pasta in this article, but it seemed like more of an autumn recipe. (Internal conversation: But its late October! But its still consistently in the 70s, even 80s last weekend - It feels like summer!) So, I made the Zucchini version. It was quite good, btw. I'll wait until it cools down a bit to make the Chickpea one ... maybe this weekend?

And, since this is a knitting post, this is not second sock syndrome, its a complimentary pair, right?

Jaywalker #1 from Magknits using Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock from here and US 1 needles and Roza's Sock #1 from Interweave Knits using US ZERO needles and Cider Moon Icicle, Hocus Crocus.
Really - Look at the neat stripes of both toes, the vertical ribbing stripes in each pattern, and the pink/blue/yellow/white pastel matching colors! Poor Roza #1 has been done for a while now, and #2 has even been cast on, but she is knit on 0s, and the Jaywalker knits on larger needles and has a more flowing pattern, so it will likely still get done first. Does anyone know if Cider Moon is coming back? Its been some time since they posted this on their website. I really like the yarn. Luckily, I have another skein stashed (Glacier - Ravelry link - which will become a pair of Campfire socks - another Ravelry link- this winter, hopefully), but I hope thats not it for my Cider Moon yarn, I love the colors.

p.s. Like the banner? It was pretty easy on blogger (Unlike trying to get this font to be the stated size after making the small font comments under the pictures*), but there was this tutorial that helped with my confidence to even try (I am not a very high tech person!)

*see how the font gets smaller after the first picture? I have spent *forever* trying to get this right, to no avail!

Happy!

The test is over, the Indians are winning, and I have a finished sock! Good reasons, right?

I've had a hard time knitting during the playoffs so far - I've been too tense with all of the good games! It just felt better to sit curled up in a ball rocking during some of the games, even the ones that didn't look as close or were done in a mere 3 hours (Game 2 against Boston went 5+ hrs!), Boston is a good team and very capable! But I'm happy now - we are up 3 games to 1.
Go Tribe!

eek!

Its one week until the boards (that test I have been studying/should have been stuyding for). And as if I'm not distractable enough in the first place ... the Indians are in the playoffs!

So, I'm sorry knitting, you are going to have to suffer. Depending on how bad the post-test convalescence period is, it may be a bit before I get back here again.

Wish me luck!