Tea For Two...

What is nicer than sipping a cup of tea while working on your latest project. I found this pattern at the Sean Sheep website, while checking out their yarns. They have quite a selection and it is reasonably priced at $2.99 a ball. Actually when I went back to buy some more to make this tea cozy it was on for $2.75 a ball. So a very economical project. I think it turned out quite nicely.

It is 100% wool. I think it would be too scratchy for a wearable item, but I don't suppose my tea pot will notice. All it cares about is keeping warm.

The colours are really quite lovely, but they worked up rather strange. A very random stripping effect. I think it would be hard to get both sides of the pot to have the same coloured stripes matching up. I don't mind though as it is quite fun the way it is.

As I was working it up I thought it would be nice to try it in Patons SWS. It would only take two balls and would make a nice gift, not to mention being much softer. I think I'll keep that in mind for future projects. In the meantime, I've put the kettle on and I'll be trying it out as I sit and sip my tea while working on my next project.

Wheat Cable Vest

I saw this vest in the March issue of the Creative Knitting magazine. Quite frankly on first sight I did not like it. But later as I was browsing the pattern index in the back I decided it was worth another look. I realized the reason I didn’t like it was that the sample project was done up in pink. Not a nice kind of pink either, a purple-pink. Then I remembered that I had purchased some Lion Brand CottonEase (50% Cotton/50% Acrylic) to make another sweater from the previous issue. I had abandoned it because I didn't like how loose it was working up. I wondered if the tight cable pattern in this vest would help with the sproinginess that I didn't like. So I hauled out my little stash of rewound balls and started on a test swatch. It seemed to be okay and I began working on the pattern. Everything was going well, until I got finished with the ribbing and started in on the cable part. I realized that even with checking my pattern gauge and going down a size in needles it was going to be too stretchy. So of course, I ripped it out. But I had really liked how the yarn was looking in that pattern, so I reworked the pattern to have one fewer cables across and started over. It worked and I completed the front and back pieces.

I was really pleased with how it turned out and even managed to figure out how to make the decreases for the neckline without mucking up the cable pattern along the neck edge. But I hit a snag when I was sewing up the side seams. The armbands wouldn't lay flat. I tried it on thinking that maybe as it stretched over me it would pull out and down like it was supposed to but no such luck. It looked like I had wings. I knew that if I didn't fix it, I'd never wear it, so I undid the seams and ripped out the armbands. Finally after much trial and error (and a little help from a kind poster at Knitty), I ended up picking up quite a few less stitches than the pattern called for and re-sewed the side seams. It still doesn't lay as flat as I'd like it, but once the vest is on it lays quite nicely. I don't know why I thought I could do a project without some sort of reworking, as I usually rip out part of most of my projects or re-figure a pattern to the way I like it. Anyway...it has turned out nicely and I will wear this vest for years to come.