Good Golly, Miss Molly

Let me assure you, Molly: This hurts me more than it hurts you.



I think taking about 32 stitches out of the body should do it.

At least I have an FO to show, too:



This is the Sneak-a-Peak Tank, a Web-only project from Interweave Knits that seems to have disappeared from the site.
And yes, that netting is crochet.

Take a look at the back:



And there's a hot-weather option:



I only made a few modifications to the pattern: I made the straps only 10 stitches long, and I omitted the final neck treatment. I'm liking the drapiness of this neck for the time being. Maybe I'll change my mind later and give it a try. It's supposed to be more halter-like in the original.

The crochet wasn't difficult, but it did take a few tries for me to get the tension consistent enough. It went pretty quickly, though.

This took 4 balls of Berroco cotton twist.

The need for ease measurements

ringwald
Originally uploaded by Frith.

Attention designers/magazine editors/book publishers:

Please include the amount of ease intended for your knitting patterns. This will help keep us hapless knitters from trying to guess how the heck a garment is supposed to fit without wondering if you're using clothespins to fit your models.

Now to buy some elastic to keep these damn sleeves from slipping off my shoulders. More sweater surgery may also be in order to try to slim this thing down a bit.

At any rate, this is "Molly Ringwald" from Knitscene Fall 2006. I forgot to include her in yesterday's round-up. I used 5 balls of Classic Elite Classic Silk to make the smallest size. If I were doing it again, I'd cut about 2-4 inches out of this thing.

I also took a dyeing class with Nancy Shroyer:



The class was on how to paint a yarn guaranteed not to stripe, pool, or otherwise irritate you.

I spun up the last .3 oz. of Hello Yarn BFL into 30 yards of sock yarn:



Cute!



"Mama!"

Cricket on the Bobbin (and off the bobbin)

Cricket on the Bobbin
Originally uploaded by Frith.

This, dear reader, is about as much fiber as you can stuff onto a Louet Victoria bobbin. That's 4.7 oz., 558 yards of fingering weight BFL sock yarn.



And here it is washed and finished. The fiber is from Hello Yarn, and it's lovely stuff. It's the "cricket" colorway, exclusive to her fiber club.

Since I knew this would be sock yarn, I spun and plied with lots of twist to make a hard-wearing yarn.



See? Twisty. It still has some nice loft to it, and it will make some soft socks.

As far as spinning method, I didn't care about making matching socks, so I just divided the roving in half lengthwise for each bobbin. Then I split each half down the middle, pre-drafted a bit, and spun with a short forward draw, smoothing as I went for extra durability.

I have a bit left on one bobbin. Normally, I'd put any extra length into an Andean plying bracelet and keep going, but I was totally out of room on the bobbin. I'll ply it back on itself later to make a mini baby skein.

Since there's more than enough for knee-high socks, I'll probably use any extra in a colorwork project (hat or mittens, most likely).

Round-Up

bleached recycled sari yarn hat
Originally uploaded by Frith.

There may not have been much blogging going on around these parts, but there has been knitting and spinning.

First up: a hat knit from bleached recycled silk sari yarn. I believe I knit this on size 10 needles, There was pretty much just enough to make the hat, which features a basic ribbed band and not much else of note.



I also finished the Union Square Market Pullover from Interweave Knits Fall 2005. This is made from Drops Alpaca in a light sage. I used these modifications to make the sleeves a little less full at the cuff.

The Lace Blouson is also finished. And I normally don't look homicidal, I'd like to state for the record.



This is from Interweave Knits Summer 2004. I used elann's Canapone hemp (about 5 balls), which is a tad lighter than the hemp called for. I knit it on size 2 needles. It's the smallest size, made slightly smaller with my smaller gauge. My only modification was to knit it in the round up to the armpits.

I love the way it feels -- so cool and comfortable. It will also soften with wear, but it doesn't feel rough. I'm also very happy with the fit.



This is baby llama handspun yarn. It was on my Schacht for way too long as I played with my little Victoria. Finally finished, it's about 600 yards of lace/light fingering weight yarn. It's ridiculously soft. It was a pleasure to spin, but tricky because it's so slippery. I'll have to find a suitable lace shawl pattern for this stuff.



I finally spun up the Coopworth I dyed awhile ago. This red batch isn't quite as electric as it appears here, but it is certainly quite bright, with vivid reds, oranges, and magenta. It's a basic worsted-weight 2-ply.



I spun up the light blue batch to a similar weight, but it's a 3-ply (Navajo-plied or chained singles or whatever you want to call it).

This Coopworth isn't particularly soft, but it would be fine for a hat or gloves.



Finally, I have about half of a pound of this lovely stuff. It's a wool/silk/viscose blend from Crosspatch Creations called "Montana Summer Skies." It should be just about enough for a deep-v neck vest.