A Knitterly Update

First: The Mister Knitter

Mike finished his practice piece, and is determined that it is something other than a practice piece. I tried to take Kelley Petkun's advice and convince him that he wasn't knitting anything at all so he was free to make mistakes. He would not have it. This had to be something, and he didn't care what. So here is Mike's worsted weight bookmark/cat toy for the cat we don't own.The stitches are huge because I had him working on size 10 1/2 needles. Last time he gave it a go he was knitting so tight that moving the stitches down to the point of his size 6 needle still wasn't giving him enough space to get the other needle in there. This time he loosened up and I think it is because I gave him circular needles instead of straights. With the straights he shoved the left one into his hip so it was not moving. This was a real problem because I was teaching him how to pick, not throw. I'm pretty impressed with this. He didn't want to learn to purl so it is all knit stitches. He kept knitting until he ran out of yarn, and then he tinked back until he had enough yarn for the bind off and then bound off on his own.

As far as my knitting is concerned, I've gotten a lot done. I have a FO that you can check out at Ravelry, but you won't get to hear about until the new year. I have also gotten a lot done on my Francis. (Lets hear it for my first bathroom mirror picture!) I had mentioned that I stopped knitting at the ball game because I was worried about my gauge. As it turns out, that was a good call. There is a distinct line across the stitches where my gauge goes back to normal. I'm not going to worry about it, because the sweater still fits, and it should block out.

Unless this yarn blooms a lot with washing, I am going to have to wear an undershirt with this sweater. I don't mind at all, because I already have a cami that matches. I expected that when I did my gauge swatch, but the pattern says something about it being soft enough to be worn on it's own.

The pattern didn't call for a specific yarn just worsted alpaca. I am using Andean Silk which is not 100% alpaca. It is 55% Alpaca, 23% Silk, and 22% wool. It is absolutely luxurious to be knitting with. I am going to be sad when this project is over, because I am going to miss having that softness running though my fingers as I knit it up.