It's not easy being green...

This is how far I got on my Origami Cardi before giving up. That very loooooong, skinny strip is supposed to be the back. Like, it is supposed to go sideways across my back and not swallow me like a tent. Obviously the "not swallowing me" was not going to happen. I got gauge when I swatched, but I never bothered to check on the sweater itself because I could see that it just wasn't working. Plus, I left the pattern at home when I went on a long-weekend trip to visit scenic Oklahoma. I knew the lace pattern well enough to knit without it, but I totally botched the edge treatment.

By the time I was reunited with the pattern and understood what I'd done wrong (and how big it was turning out) I was kind of sick of the whole idea anyway. I decided that the yarn wanted to be something much more classic.



It is now turning into the Equestrian Blazer from the Winter IK. And MAN is it going quickly! This is basically one evening of knitting, and I am already to the bust increases. My row gauge is off so the sweater's going to be a lot longer than called for, but I'm tall so I think I can live with it. (Note: this color is "Spruce" and is a much deeper green than the pictures would have you believe)

Something green also came off the needles yesterday:



(and my cool heel)



To recap, this is Artyarns Supermerino, US 6s, for my brother. Now I have to decide whether to give him the socks next time I see him or to make him wait until his August birthday.

Not everything around here has been green, though.



Wow is this pattern (Cookie A's Twisted Flower) ever complicated! But soooo pretty. The heel flap nearly killed me, though--it's lace patterned every row, so I had to do backwards ssk's and all that craziness. But I'm getting close to the end on the foot! Wheeeeeee...

Up to something

I've been up to something. Up to a few things, to be more accurate.

I blocked my shawl. I did it at night, so all the pictures are terrible, but they're the best I've got. It went from this:


To this:


I like the way it turned out, from top:


to bottom:


But I am not happy with the "Real" FO shots so I will try to get those sometime soon. Special thanks to Kelp! for letting me borrow the blocking wires!

I've also been making socks for my brother.


In camoflage, as he requested. I'm using Artyarns Supermerino, which is as expensive as it is luscious, so I'm knitting them toe-up in hopes that I won't have to dip into the third skein I bought. I have been experimenting with heels for toe-up socks.


I did my first (real) short-row heel ever. The yarnover one, from the latest IK. I hated it, so then I did my second short-row heel ever. The w&t one from SKS. I hated it, too. (it's the one on the right) Proponents of the short-row heel will no doubt be looking up the links to their favorite hole-free short row pages, which I gladly welcome. But I decided not to wait for such a thing, and that I would make my own heel.

The heel on the left is knit to about 3" short of the total length of the foot, then you knit a heel flap on half the stitches. Something odd was going on with my gauge, so instead of the usual as-many-rows-as-there-are-stitches-total heel flap, I only did 22 rows (it's a 36-st sock). Then I turned the heel using the dutch heel-ish method, which goes like this:

slip 1, purl 11 (of 18), p2tog, turn
slip 1, knit 6, ssk, turn
slip 1, purl 6, p2tog, turn
slip 1, knit 6, ssk, turn
slip 1, purl 6, p2tog, turn
slip 1, knit 6, ssk, turn

and so on until all the stitches are worked. It creates a narrow band up the back of the heel that I like. Then you pick up the stitches and work the gusset like normal, though I added nearly an inch of plain stockinette before starting the back-of-leg pattern, so it wouldn't look too weird. I hope.