Well, as far as Monday knitting goes, here it is ...

First of all, Klaralund:

I'm thinking of taking her apart and re-doing the sleeves.  They're just a little too long for my tastes.  First I think I'll seam the back up higher, and see where that goes.  That may help the length a little.  I'm halfheartedly thinking of throwing her in the dryer just to see if she'll shrink a little, but as there's no going back from there, I don't think I'll have the courage for that.  Have you ever tried that with success?

Yippee Yi Yea!! (or is that how it's spelled?)

I finished my Klaralund in a marathon evening of knitting last night, blocked her out during the night, set a fan on her this morning ... and seamed her up during naptime (which a certain 2-yr-old refused to do, but nevertheless remained in her crib) this afternoon.  Yea!

Here she is!




And, the details:

I made the 40" size, and used less than 10 balls of Silk Garden.  However, I cast on fewer stitches for the sleeves (for the 38" inch size), and followed those directions while also taking an inch off the length.  I don't really care for sleeves that are too long.  For the front/back, I made a side flap opening, which means that I extended the garter stitch up the sides, and left part of the bottom unseamed.  I extended the front/backs by 1/2", because I like a little length in tunic-style sweaters. 

Here's a close-up of the slit detail:



Overall, this was a very easy knit, good for a beginner.  I was very pleased with the knitting because I could take it to the park with my two kids, take it in the car, watch TV ... a mindless knit can go anywhere with me!  I would say that the sleeves still turned out a little longer than I would have liked ... and as I'm a 36", I would maybe next time shoot for a close-fitting version and knit about a size 36" (this, again, was 40").  But I intended a sweatshirt-type of sweater design here, and that's what I got!  The other thing I'd maybe do next time is think about matching the color stripes only on the last 9 rows of the sleeve, the part that frames the neck ... I think it'd be nice to simply have that be the same color.  Who cares about the rest!  I'll definitely enjoy this sweater this winter.

I also love the color I used, Silk Garden #74.  It's a perfect color for going-with-denim, and the style is very hippie-casual.  By the way, if you follow my auctions, you'll note that I have more of this in stock, and I also have 2 other colors of Silk Garden that have been discontinued ... which means I may have to dip into my stash to make either a Butterfly (from the Jane Ellison's Noro Knits Bk 2), or an Agnes (from the same designer's Simply Noro Book 1).  Hmmm ... so many decisions for a Noro addict like myself!  I'm telling myself to first finish my Debbie Bliss Knot Cable Cardigan ... which was going to come next after my Karlsro, but I got sidetracked with the fun Klaralund-along. 

If you aren't a reader of Wendy's blog, you should be.  Today she wrote about a project to make kitty beds in whatever pattern you want, but you can use hers here, for an organization called petfinder.com.

What?! Another knitalong? I prefer to think of it as a charity-along.  Of course I'm in!  Rini and Chloe will love me for it, and along the way, I'll get around to making Rini a bed, too.  Chloe's bed, by the way, need another inch and then to be cast off. I'll get around to that today and post photos later. 

As you recall, Rini and Chloe are my two bilingual kitties (Katarina meows in Spanish, Chloe in French) that I adopted from a Denver shelter.  I really was looking for only one calico kitty ... but when I found then both together (they're sisters), how could I possibly separate them?  Read more in my Aug 27 entry. (Sorry, as a new blogger, I just haven't yet taken the time to figure out how to link to previous entries, although there's got to be a way.) 

The Chloe Kitty:

I am such a compulsive knitter that I am embarrassed to put my WIPs on the side of my blog ... but I'm determined to do it, as I think it will encourage me to finish up projects.  I'm definitely a process knitter, as I'm addicted to the rhythm of the needles clicking away (my husband thinks there's a chemical release going on in our knitter's brains, sort of an addictive hormonal thing), and the learning of new techniques.  I also just really love nice yarns.

I'm currently fascinated by the unbiased purse in the current Knitty issue. 



I love the simplicity of the design, the hippy-cute factor, and I haven't yet knit with recycled silk yet.  I'm going to try to snipe some skeins today off eBay. 



Meanwhile, I'm joining the Hallowig knitalong going on ... and I haven't yet decided what to do it with yet.  I love the pink of the photo: 

Take the What High School Stereotype Are You? quiz.

I know how boring it is to see these quizzes, but I couldn't resist the temptation for a quick and easy entry ... and it was interesting, because this is probably somewhat accurate.  I never was a specific stereotype in high school, but I was an overall achiever ... and while I'm actually a very smart person (read, I've had my IQ done and it's kinda high, even though I really don't believe in these tests), people did consider me somewhat goofy and flaky... and I did newspaper, student council, (Yes, I was a cheerleader, too), and VICE PRESIDENT of the bike club.  You read that right, at my high school we took a week "off" of school to ride our bikes from the HS parking lot (Denver suburbs) down through the San Luis valley of Colorado, and all the way to Taos, New Mexico.   We called it the Taos tour. 

I finished one Klaralund sleeve last night, and right before bind off I realized that I *forgot* to do the first garter section on the second half!  (Did I mention already that I can be flaky?)  Darn it!  I haven't yet had the heart to frog it, but I will later today. 

To console myself, I started a Christmas sweater for my husband in Jo Sharp Aran Tweed, color "ash"  -- heaven, and I just bought BAGS of it at a really cheap price.  That means I'll get around to listing a ton of it in my eBay store at some point, for around $5.00 /sk (normally $8.95/sk).  It's heaven!  Photos forthcoming.  I'm doing the "Chain Link Pullover" (Was that the name?) from (my friend) Tara Jon Manning's book Men in Knits.  A great book for anyone with a man in their life! 

I took some time off of Klaralund to finish up a sweater that was languishing at the bottom of my knitting bag ... I finished the second half of the last sleeve, had a seaming party, and may I present to you Lia's Aran Sweater, from the pattern Julia's Aran Sweater in one of the Knit It! issues, made with 2 (maybe 3?) skeins Lion Fisherman's Wool, size US 8 needles.  This is probably the best sweater in the magazine.   It's so cute!  You have to see Lia in it, although hot Sept weather and Aran sweaters don't really mix.



This was, by the way, my first foray into cabling, and I'm in love with the technique.  I learned how to cable without a cable needle, and it works well for me. 

What else did I seam up?

Some dishcloths ... (I know, boring, but I kinda like them):

On Saturday I made the trek down to the elevation of 5280 to visit my fellow Klaralund-alongers at a fun, hip Knit Cafe in Denver called La Ti Da.  I walked up to the porch, and there were about 20 knitters hanging out and knitting!  One of the tables waved me down, and I got a coffee and we had a fun time Klaralunding.  True to the kickoff date, most of the ladies hadn't yet started ... I, on the other hand, was just finishing my first "swatch," to put it in Wendy's terms. 

Here's a few picts of the Klaralunders, many of whom are also bloggers:



Here, we have Michelle (at the time, a non-Klaralunder, but she has since joined the bandwagon), Joanne, and Harriet. 

And may I present the lovely Karlsro to you, knit in Noro Silk Garden, color #82 which I call "crimson reds, pinks" but it also carries a little green. 




I loved this project!  An easy two-row lace pattern, on size 10s, started at one sleeve and cast off on the end of the other sleeve (with a few cast-ons and bind-offs in between of course).  Not the easiest to pick up the stitches for the cute little edging, but that's okay.

The only drawbacks that I detect so far are: 1) no pockets; 2) not an easy take-on and -off kind of a cardigan.  That's okay!  That's why it's called a wrap -- you wrap yourself in it and leave it. 

Highly recommended.


On to other news ... continuing on to my next Noro -addict creation:

KLARALUND in Silk Garden #74 ...




One sleeve (almost) finished, on size 9 bamboos.  LOVE THIS PATTERN!  I can't get my head around what an incredibly simple pattern this is, and how it looks so sophisticated!  I want to make a Klaralund-stashbuster, with every worsted weight scrap that I own. 

And ... Why didn't I do the st st part of this on circs?  MAYBE NEXT TIME.



And last, but not least, that cute little acrylic baby raglan sweater ... just needs to be sewn up, and he'll be set to give away. 





So, how can you tell that I'm an ADHD knitter?

I started another little kid sweater from my Baby Knits book.  Here it is:



Sorry for the crummy photo. 


I just realized that I have yet to blog about my master knitting program ... I'll have to do that later!
 
Happy knitting wherever you are --  and for some odd reason, if you're not a knitter but you're reading this blog, happy *** to you (fill in the blank)!

As I've stated, I'm addicted to Noro ... so much so that I've become a yarn-pusher.  Sorry if you're the recipient of my yarn pushing, I just can't help sharing the high with like minded people. 

Anyhow, here's more proof -- the Knot Cable Cardigan from DEBBIE BLISS NORO #2, overall an excellent pattern book.  Here's one sleeve, with another sleeve, in Noro Kureyon #40.




I really don't intend to finish this until about Thanksgiving, as it will be Very Warm, even for Colorado.

In other news:

While my kids were sick, and my mother (thank goodness) swooped in to pick them up for the day, I felt so nauseous laying down that I had to sit up the whole darn day resting.  What better activity to keep you still (and yet sitting) while resting than knitting?, I say.  Here's the beginnings of a little baby raglan sweater, made in -- gasp! -- Caron Simply Soft.  Yes, I do heed the call of cheapo, easy-care acrylic when it calls to me.  I actually like Simply Soft, as it is also a no dyelot yarn, which means it can hang out in my stash forever, until I decide to knit something like this.  Here it is:




And why are my photos so yellow?? Note to self: FIGURE THIS OUT! 

And here's my first blogging BOOK REVIEW ...

TITLE:  Baby Knits, The Ultimate Collection of Knitwear Designs for Newborns to 3-Year Olds.