another multi-project update

I'm back from under the Mason-Dixon line, and while there has not been a lot of blogging, there has certainly been some knitting.

The tesselating fish are steadily growing, most appropriately being knit on the beach. I now have seven purple, six pink, four red and seven gray fish with another on the needles. I am having lots of fun making these. The pattern is short enough to memorize and execute quickly, but there is lots of interest in making it - each row is different. I am using US 8s for each fish, but as you can see there are slight variations in size, as all of my yarns are different. With careful placement and seaming these differences shouldn't be an issue in the final project.


I greedily decided that I did not want to start the wool short-sleeved sweater yet, since I couldn't wear it immediately in this heat. Instead I opted for a silk camisole also found in Sarah Dallas' Vintage Knits. I substituted the Rowan that was recommended with Reynold's Mandalay in color #12, a heathered purple which is more of an eggplant color than is shown in the picture. The silk looked lovely knitted tightly on US1s, although I had to take frequent breaks since it is so non-elastic. I got nearly halfway done with the camisole before I finally came to terms with the fact that this pattern was just not going to work for me. The fabric is too thick for a piece that is meant to be for summer, and while the seed stitch looks so pretty, it is just not attractive on. The word "sausage" comes to mind. I am going to let this sit for a little while longer in case anything miraculous occurs to me, but I think ultimately this is going to be ripped. I have Annie Modesitt's corset top in mind for another project for this yarn. The gauge is looser than what I was struggling for on the US1s, and I think the yarn may behave nicer for this project.

Crichton has its buttons on. I always want to use the masculine pronoun with Crichton, even if it is knitted in pinks and oranges. There will be modeled shots as soon as the clouds go away. The Vogue cardigan will also be modeled, as soon as I can find some hook and eye closures.