Recently in original designs Category

I've wanted to make a rectangular lace wrap for a while now. Last winter I really needed one for a holiday party but I decided too late. This year, I want one (or a few) so I won't get stuck in the same predicament.

I swatched all weekend and finally came up with what you see above. I love the zig zag bottom border, but I'm undecided about the hearts. I think they're a little dense and maybe lack interest? I'm considering making some of the stitches move outward in the heart, or maybe some extra eyelets inside it to make it more airy.

The inner part (which will be most of the wrap) will be lacier. I might knit a couple repeats before I decide.

What do you think? Don't hold back -- I want real opinions. You all know how much time it takes to knit something like this -- so tell me what you really think.

First off, a big thank you to everyone who commented on my garden! I can't tell you how exciting and motivational it was to get all those comments. I saw all the things I still hadn't done -- and you all showed me all the things I *had* done. Thank you!

So, today is the last day of my vaca. It's been a long week. I'll return to work satisfied with the progress I made in the garden, and well-rested (I "slept in" until almost 7am every day this week -- that's late for me). This morning I woke up to birds chirping so loudly that at first I thought I left the TV on -- it felt like they were right in the bedroom.

I didn't get to make my barbecue or the sangria on Friday, but you can bet I'll be doing it today. It's supposed to be sunny with a high of 70°F (21°C). I couldn't have created a nicer day for my last day of vaca.

It's been a while since I've talked about this design. I've knitted on it quite a bit since I showed you the last pics.

The fit is really good (I'll show you once it gets a little longer) and I love how the stitch pattern waves a bit.

I changed the original stitch pattern I chose for the bottom half. It just wasn't working for me -- it felt a little matronly. I decided it needed something with straight lines rather than waves. Here's a closeup.

I washed and dried the swatch I knitted it to get final measurements. The angora fluffed up a lot and it shrunk a bit in length. Curiosity got the best of me last night and I had to see what happened with the top. It did just what I expected (phew!) and shrunk about 2.5 inches. The softness is incredible -- even softer and squishier than the small swatch.

I want the top to be a little more feminine than it is now, so I'm considering a short, flaired sleeve for a little frill, and maybe a tiny ruffle around the bottom and the neckline.

First, a big thank you to everyone who left a birthday comment! I usually don't announce my birthday on the blog but I've been in such a good place this year that I wanted to share it with you all. Seeing all those comments roll in yesterday was a lot of fun. Thank you!

Once I admitted to myself that this weekend was going to be full of rain and wind (the back yard looked like a pond mid-day -- you couldn't even see the brick path) I decided to take advantage of it. I spent most of the weekend indoors. Pajamas, hair pulled back, no makeup. It was wonderful.

I stopped by Woolbearers at lunch on Friday and I couldn't help but pickup some of their Arcadia DK. It's 80% Cotton 20% Angora and Myra (one of the owners) said the angora softness made its way out as you wore it. They had a nice basic black so I bought enough for a spring/summer top.

Ever since I stopped working on black (red) raglan I've wanted to pick it up again. But, there was a pattern flaw that needed to be worked out, and then I needed to be motivated to work on it.

The flaw is in how the depth of the square neckline interplays with the raglans. I had wanted the raglan seam to come out of the right angle of the neckline. But, given how deep the necklilne is, that meant the sleeves started out quite wide and didn't require many increases to make them wide enough to go around my arm. The body, on the other hand, needed to grow quickly because the wider neckline made for a shorter raglan seam.

I worked on several increase methods before I found one that looked good. The sleeve was increasing at a rate of roughly half that of the body.

Technically speaking, everything worked out ok -- the math worked out. But, the vast difference in increase rates made the body bow down in the center and curve up toward the raglans (seen here). It worked out nicely for the front (built-in short rows!) but the back -- not so much. Backs are not meant to be shaped that way.

After much deliberation I decided to scrap the project. I was spent on it and needed some distance.

When I saw the Arcadia yarn on Friday I knew -- this would be the new black raglan.

I didn't want a plain st st body though. I've been drawn to lacy tops lately, so I swatched a few lace patterns. After trying that out, I realized that I didn't want YOs at the bust area. Even though I do plan to wear a contrasting tank underneath, I wanted the top to be more modest.

the new raglan seam	the bottom lace pattern

Do you see what I changed on the raglans? The raglan comes out of the side of the sqaure neck (not the corners). Once I let myself do that, I could choose where to put it. This allowed me to create a raglan seam that grew similarly on both the sleeve and body. A little difference between the 2 is fine. What I tried to do on the earlier versions of this top was too extreme.

I've also modified the design so the front is deeper than the back. It does mean that the start of the knitting is back-and-forth versus in the round, but I think it's worth it.

Based on my spreadsheet I'm 40% done with the yoke. Length-wise I'm more than halfway done, but because of the longer rows, each row is increasingly longer.