What are you knitting during American Idol?

Last year I chose one project that I would work on while I watched American Idol. I figured it would be a good way to work on Project Knitting: one of those things that I might find actually pretty tedious to knit, but I wanted the final result of the knitting. Idol, fortunately or unfortunately, is a huge timesuck; even watching on tivo and fast-forwarding through commercials means a commitment of at least two or three hours a week. So long before the finale, I had a completed Garter Yoke Sweater and a Wrenna. Woo!

This year my project is my resurrected Mr. Greenjeans from Knitty, knit in Brooks Farm Solana.

Happy Easter!

I've been busy test-knitting this pattern for Amanda, and here's the preliminary result. If you like the pattern, let Amanda know!

Malabrigo March, reloaded

You didn't think I was going to let Malabrigo March pass by? Unlike last year, though, I am not casting on for any old thing (I mean, how many Calorimetries and neckwarmers does one need? Don't answer that.). I've picked three rather substantial projects using three different weights of Malabrigo yarns (so substantial, in fact, that I'm longing for a hat project).


Shalom Cardigan in Malabrigo Chunky in Applewood.



Ingenue, from Wendy Bernard's Custom Knits, in Merino Worsted. This was originally supposed to be my American Idol Selfish Knitting Sweater in Steadfast Wonderful Wool, but it just wasn't working out for me.

And finally, Ishbel in Malabrigo Sock, in the. most. perfect. red I've ever seen. Inspired by Franklin, I am going to make a lace shawl, at last.

Being Selfish

This whole Year of Selfish Knitting plus my American Idol knitting has yielded an entire sweater! Just in time for spring! This is the Garter Yoke Cardigan from Vogue's Knit.1 magazine, knit from Berroco Peruvia (ie, my poor abandoned Tilted Duster).



And this is Wrenna, from French Girl Knits, knit in Brown Sheep Burly Spun. This bulky knit was a particularly good project for my magpie (OOH! SHINY!) brain, as I cast on and finished in under a week. I added length to the sleeves and knit at a tighter gauge than the pattern recommended. However, I had my first ever "Oh, you really do mean that I am to wash the swatch?!" moment as the Burly Spun bloomed when I soaked and blocked the sweater. I'm hoping a good reblocking can at least fix the sagging neckline.

Simon Cowell wants you to knit selfishly in 2009

On the American Idol boards on Ravelry, folks are suggesting a sweater KAL. So for the past few nights, I've knit on my Ingenue and only my Ingenue. No socks, no Man Sweater Slog, no Red Sweaters, Please. Let's just hope that I finish it well before the finale; I think it will be too hot to wear a wool and mohair sweater in May.

Meeting Jared Flood

On Friday, I took a Top-Down class with Jared Flood at Yarns Unlimited. Honestly, I didn't want to go and be all swoon-y and stalker fan-like, but I came home a bigger fan than ever. The beauty and simplicity of his photography shines through in his personality. He's actually kind of shy and nonassuming in a very charming way. I knew he was about 25 years old but I didn't know he'd been knitting seriously for only 4 or 5 years.

He was a patient and kind teacher. We learned two new cast-ons and he came around the class and helped people individually (HE TOUCHED MY HAND, OMG). His taste is impeccable. He passed around a sweater he'd done, a simple V-neck, rolled hem raglan, and it was gorgeous. The class was officially "knitting from the top down," but toward the end, people asked such good questions that it turned into a lovely lecture on seamless knitting as a whole. Everything was firmly grounded in Barbara Walker and Elizabeth Zimmerman, but he knew contemporary designers and offered a lot of information on how to adapt patterns.

Overall, it was lovely. I knew the Walker and Zimmerman stuff in theory but it was incredibly inspirational to see someone who clearly had a passion for that kind of knitting explain and demonstrate it.

Top-Down Tuesday

I put the finishing touches on three children's gifts last week, all knit from the top-down. I am loving making garments this way, and I think it will be rare if I ever make a sweater from the bottom up with seams ever again, with so many great alternative construction methods out there.

Girlfriend's Swing Coat Sweater, made for a new (well, not so new now) big sister in Cascade Sierra, a cotton/wool blend. Cute, cute, cute. I want a grown-up version for me.

This Super-Natural Stripes was knit for her baby brother in three shades of Blue Sky Alpaca Organic Cotton, which is my absolute new favorite cotton to knit with.


And finally, this Mossy Jacket for Miss Corinne, made with Malabrigo Merino Worsted.


The last two patterns come from f.pea's free pattern fridays, and while I don't want to diss the patterns because they are so cute and I am thrilled with the final result, I do want to give a heads up to newer knitters. Remember: free blog patterns haven't always been test-knitted to the extent that patterns for sale are (or at least should be) and there might be typos in the stitch counts, or instructions may not be as clear as you'd like them to be. I ran across a few glitches in these two patterns, but because I understood top-down construction, they weren't a problem for me.

I had a pretty relaxing holiday weekend full of knitting. I worked Saturday and Monday at the store, and learned an important lesson: don't rearrange and fluff the pretty alpaca roving when you're wearing black pants! Sunday I got together with a few of my knitting peeps, where I learned another valuable lesson: don't drink too much coffee when casting on for a top down sweater or you might forget to mark for something important, oh say, a shoulder. Since The Toddler is not a World War I veteran, I had to frog the whole thing and start over so he'd have two good arms in his new sweater. Hope everyone else had a nice weekend!