Knitting FOs

I finished a sweater that had been dragging on for years!  And wore it Fri--soft and cuddly :)

It's knit with a fuzzy silk yarn that is very stretchy and drapey, but the drape caused problems.  The first back piece I knit was 3-4" too wide.  Now I know to start on a sleeve, where gauge issues are less problematic and it's a smaller area to rip out.  Then I was not so wise.  

The sleeves, which I made sure to knit nice and long, turned out to have monkey arms.  I snipped off the extra 3" and conveniently was able to add it to the sweater's lower edge, thus making it plenty long enough to cover my tummy and keep out drafts.

And some socks for my mom.  They kept getting pushed aside for other projects, until recently when I was in the mood for a simple project.  I also wanted to finish them.  They're my 13th pair of socks, in about as many years.

I was excited to have finished two projects in quick succession, until I realized that I have nothing to knit!  Time to start a couple new projects...

Sewing and Weight

No Shirt For Me :(

I was ready to start a blouse on Friday when I realized I've gained enough weight to push me up a size.  Which is demoralizing enough, plus I'd cut the pattern to size 10 and I'm now a 12.  I could use another pattern, or use another version of the pattern to grade the pattern pieces up a size, but didn't have that much energy.  I'm frustrated by the idea of sewing a blouse that won't fit if/when I go back to my normal weight.  It takes so much of my free time and energy to sew something simple and I want it to last.

I'm not unhappy with my size, rather the fact that I'm out of shape and too sick to exercise regularly.  I could push myself and feel awful doing it, but then that describes much of my life already.  A couple years ago I was jogging regularly and in great shape, and felt good.  I miss being able to do so many things I used to enjoy.

At least I can knit again.  I've made some progress on the green silk sweater--cast on the 2nd body piece and am a few inches in.  Soon I shall have a sweater :)

Knitting Progress

Finished body piece

I'm knitting a raglan sweater with silk bouclé yarn.  It had been stashed away a few years ago when I realized that the hips were too small.  The sleeves are finished and fit well.  I'd tried working on it a couple times previously but couldn't get my gauge to match.

To fix the body piece: rather than ripping out the whole thing I snipped the yarn at the waist, put it back on the needles and commenced knitting down to the hips.  It turned out great!  I bound off with the super stretchy bind off, which I actually like better than the original tubular cast on edge :)

The fabric-drapy silk, yum!

Note to giveaway winners: I haven't mailed the patterns yet but I haven't forgotten about you!  It should be lickety split as soon as I find some envelopes.