Sick Day(s)

So, I got yet another cold. Its really frustrating actually since I was just sick two weeks ago. However, I never ended up getting that cold - I just felt run down and had a sore and scratchy throat for a week or so. This time, it hit full force and I just laid low as much as possible for 3 days or so. Even taking a shower was an effort. So, what to do with all of that down time?



Here's a close-up of the sleeve:



I finished the knitting on Mrs. Darcy! I pinned it together and all of the pieces seem to fit together well. I also tried it on, and with a good thorough blocking, I think everything will be fine. I had considered adding some short rows in the bust area but I was afraid it would mess with the angle of the neckline so I left it alone and hoped for the best. The sleeves fit well, too, so I'm very pleased. It rolls along the bottom, but the designer said she fixed that by adding some crochet rounds. That should also provide a nice decorative edge, too.

For my next project, I was going to do Rusted Root, but I'm having a hard time tracking down a color of Cotton Fleece that I like, so instead, I've decided to reknit the Prosperous Plum Tank. I made this last summer, and although it came out OK, I felt that it was too big to be flattering. So, I'm taking the lessons I learned and giving it another try. Its a quick enough knit that I should be done this week. I'm using a worsted weight cotton/acrylic blend yarn (NOT Cotton-Ease surprisingly, but one I got at the Yarn Lady bag sale last June). It's in a shocking blue color, but I don't have photos yet. I think the designer, Joanna Cohen, occasionally peruses this blog (if so, hi Joanna!), so hopefully I'll do a good job! The yarn is a different gauge than Cotton Fleece - not much, but you'd be surprised how much difference a 1/4 stitch makes. Anyway, I'm making a different size and changing the waist shaping to fit my body in order to compensate. Last time, the straps were too long for me, too, so I'll recalculate those as well.

Mrs. Darcy - half done

I just finished the sleeve for Mrs. Darcy. I used this sleeve in my sweater design class to get help with calculating a sleeve cap. Then, just before I started the cap, I lost my directions! Fabulous. Luckily, I remembered most of what my teacher said, so I tried to recreate it. Now that its done, I'm a little worried. Its not so much that what I did on my own looks wrong, but some of what I know he told me looks strange. I won't know for sure until I set in the sleeve, though. I'm also concerned about the angle of decrease on the right front. When I held it up to me, it looked like it wasn't going to work - I may have decreased too fast. I won't know about that either until its sewn together so I may sew the pieces I've done together and see where I am.



The modifications I've made so far is to make the body longer overall, make the ribbing around the waist deeper, change the curve of the neckline - I think its higher - and to make the sleeves 3/4 length with shorter ribbing. Its now exactly the same length as the body.

In other news, I done with school for the semester! I'm really excited and feel like such a load has been lifted. I'm not going to school over the summer because nothing I need to take is offered, but I will be working at a job and on my thesis, so I'll be busy. But it will be a different kind of busy - the kind that you can put away for the evening when you get home. Hopefully it means I will be knitting and blogging more. I've got BIG, BIG plans for summer knitting. I'm thinking of starting Rusted Root after I finish Mrs. Darcy.

Light at the end of the tunnel

The days are winding down on this semester. I have finished all of the work for two of my classes, and I only one have one final project left to complete before I'm FREE!!! I can't wait. I'm so inspired that I've even been knitting.

I've done quite a bit of work on my hoodie, although I seem to have run out of steam on it for now. Maybe that has to do with the fact that it was almost 90 degrees today! Not exactly hoodie weather. I'm so close to finishing though. I'm sure once school is done, I'll get back to it.



I've only got that little bit of the front to finish and then the hood. I'm going to shape the hood, so its not a pointy wizard cap. I haven't exactly figured out how I'm going to do it.

I also started a new project. Its Mrs. Darcy, pattern here. I'm using the New Cotton-Ease in Berry. I'm making some modifications to it that I'll describe as I go along. I'm aiming for a wear-over-everything summer cardigan, so we'll see how it goes.



Our next installment of the Sweater Class is this Saturday, so I'm back working on my lace sweater. I'm about halfway through the front - I need to have it done for class on Saturday. If I'm loyal about working on it, that should be possible.