Caribbean Pullover - Finished!

Considering that I finished up the body of this sweater on August 29, it sure has taken me a long time to knit two sleeves, but I finally finished the sweater this past Friday.  This is my third Camp Loopy project, the 800 yard project.  It took 872 yards.  The yarn is Fiesta Yarns Boomerang, Caribbean colorway, 3 skeins (2.73 to be exact).  The pattern is a top-down raglan from the Sweater Wizard software, although I modified the spacing of the increases for the neck and body, using the spacing from a bottom up raglan.  I have experimented with bind offs on all of these sweaters.  On this one I did regular bind offs on the neck and the sleeves, although I did go up a needle size for the bind off on the sleeves.  For the bottom of the body I did a lace bind off because I wanted something stretchy.  It is definitely stretchy.  On this sweater and also on the Barcelona pullover I cast on 16 stitches under the arm instead of 14 to give a little more ease in the sleeves as well as the body.  I also made the cuffs a little looser by only decreasing to 42 stitches rather than 39.  I don't like tight cuffs.  Now we just need some fall weather so I can wear my pullovers, it will be a nice change from turtlenecks.

Caribbean Pullover - Body Done

I got a lot of knitting done on this today, despite having to go to work, because my building had no power.  I am still perturbed that the status was listed as fully open when the power had not been restored and the only buildings that did have power were those that had backup generators.  To add insult to injury (quite literally) the traffic lights at the major intersections approaching the facility were still out and there were no police there directing traffic, resulting in at least one accident.  The real crime was the fact that after the police cleared up the accident they left the scene.  We were finally sent home at 1230 after several generators failed, but I have already received a status update stating that the facility is fully open tomorrow.  Maybe I am cynical, but somehow I don't believe it.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, I have a meeting up near Baltimore tomorrow, so regardless of the status of my building I will actually be able to work.

But enough griping about stupidity, so here is the body of the Caribbean pullover completed, and I have started on one of the sleeves.  This is my third Camp Loopy project, the 800 yard one, and I should have no trouble finishing it with time to spare.  I did this deliberately, picking a project that I know I can finish easily in the time allotted.  I have enough stress in my life without adding any more.  I am looking forward to cooler weather, when I will be able to wear all of these lovely sweaters that I have been knitting.  I have completed five and have two more in the works (including this one), as well as yarn for several more.

The yarn is Fiesta Yarns Boomerang, in Caribbean, 3 skeins
Top Down Raglan from Sweater Wizard
Size 5 and 6 Needles

Bavarian Tulip Mittens - Finished!

Camp Loopy Project II finished!  Well ahead of the deadline and they even fit.  I am amazed out how quickly I finished the second mitten.  One thing that I have noticed is that my gauge tightens up when I knit the thumbs.  The same thing happened on the Athena fingerless mittens.  I think I also tend to knit tighter when working on these smaller items.

Bavarian Tulip Mittens - One Done!

So the second Camp Loopy 2011 project is socks or mittens or gloves with cables, and it has to be knit between July 15 and August 15.  I already have a sock on the needles, and I am not really a fan of knitted gloves, so I went for the mittens.  This pattern is Bavarian Tulip Mittens from Interweave Knits, Fall 2010.  The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, knit on size 3 needles.  Now knitting a worsted weight yarn on size 3 needles results in a pretty dense fabric, which is actually what I wanted, but this yarn is not very tightly twisted and can be a bit temperamental, especially when I have to make corrections.  I knit most of the mitten last weekend and finished up the tip and the thumb this morning.  The fit is snug, but not tight.  I did make a few slight modifications to the pattern.  I mirrored the side cables, and trailed the cable pattern off at the top rather than just cutting it off after 4 repeats of the pattern.

Camp Loopy Project I - Starry Night

This past year I discovered The Loopy Ewe, and quickly became a Loopy Groupy, so how could I resist going to Camp Loopy.  The first project is to be knit between June 15 and July 15 and had to be a two color cape, scarf, or shawl - something to keep you warm while you are sitting around the camp fire.

The first project that I cast on was the Catkin Shawl, but I was really struggling with it.  My hormones were messing with my brain and my mental focus was not up to the task.  It was really frustrating me and I even considered just giving up and dropping out of the camp, thinking that maybe the knit alongs with hard deadlines just wasn't my thing, too much pressure, not enough fun.  So I ripped out and put the yarn aside and went back to Lacy Angles and the Moving Cables Pullover.  But I just couldn't walk away.  After finishing up the pullover I started cruising Ravelry and doing pattern searches.

At first I thought about doing Taygete, from Romi's 7 Small Shawls.  I even printed out the directions and started knitting, but it just wasn't right.  The colors were wrong for that shawl.  The 7 Small Shawls were inspired by the Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, and Taygete was a lovely nymph pursued by Zeus who was turned into a doe by Artemis to elude capture.  It didn't work, and Taygete later bore Zeus a son, Lacedaemon, the founder of Sparta.  The colors just didn't go with the whole nymph, woodland theme.  So I ripped again and went back to the computer.

Then I found Over the Moon.  It looked like a quick and easy knit.  It was a small shawl, but in one of my favorite shapes, and the name fit with the yarn.  The yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy.  The colors are Lunar Zazzle and Night Watch.  The knitting was easy, and the stockinette stitch lets the wonderful subtle variations in the Lunar Zazzle show themselves off.  The feather and fan lace border is dead simple and easily memorized.  And it was indeed a quick knit.  I cast on Sunday night and finished it up Wednesday evening, blocking it before I went to bed.

Here are a couple of beauty shots: