It's a happy Sunday in our home - the boys are lounging, hubby is assembling his new office chair and I'm writing out a new recipe for trial later today. We're having tacos for supper (yeah, tacos are kind of the best) and I've wanted to make homemade refried beans for a long time, so we'll see how it goes. Fingers. Are. Crossed. Of course I could just use an existing recipe, but that's just not how I roll. *wink*
Before the evening events get underway - supper prep, podcast prep, podcast recording, supper eating, settling in to watch TV - I'm going to get back at some knitting from last weekend. We talked about these projects in last week's podcast and I'm here to share a few more details...
This is what happened last weekend and I'm getting back to work on all of these lovelies this weekend - it was only after all were cast on that I realized all 3 new projects were Jane Richmond designs. LOL! I still have a sweater that's in the naughty corner, but the sleeves are slowly getting knit (again), so I hope to show that off soon. In the meantime, I needed a wee bit of a knitting pick-me-up and this was my answer. Really, one naughty project justifies casting on 3 new ones - right?!
First up are those super-amazing-spectacular socks... the pattern is Climb (by Jane) and the yarn is Spun Right Round 80/20 SW Sport in Renee's classic Graffiti colorway - it's a fresh arrival at Firefly Fibers and this month's featured yarn for the Sock of the Month Club, so I had to cast on. This is the 4th time I've knit Climb and this pair is raveled as Sporty Climb.
If you haven't tried Spun Right Round, you really should! We carry SW Sock and SW Sport Sock at the store, but it sells so fast and each skein is so unique that it's not currently available in our online shop. If you can't visit Firefly to see this gorgeous yarn in person, Renee has an Etsy shop that is sure to make you drool (a lot).
The second project is the Clarke Pullover (also by Jane)...
This is a sweater that is going to get a lot of use. We got a huge order of Tosh DK a few weeks back and I couldn't resist casting on Clarke. My color choices are similar to Jane's with Dirty Panther and Antler and it will be endlessly wearable, but a friend also cast one on and is using a rich purple that I can't wait to see knit up. Honestly, I'm already planning at least one more Clarke, but for now, this one is raveled as Classic B &W Clarke.
For project success when striping... pre-wash dark colors with a wool wash and a couple tablespoons of white vinegar before casting on to avoid them bleeding onto lighter colors. Trust me, it's worth the extra time and effort.
Last up is Arbutus (again, Jane. I swear I'm not a stalker)... this is the January project for our Simply Handmade-along and there's still time to join (check out the Arbutus Love post for details and the discount code on Tosh DK through Monday 1/25)! This is my 3rd Arbutus and for this one I'm using Tosh DK - raveled as Arbutus the Third (Arbutus the second sadly didn't make it onto ravelry)...
This is a fun and interesting knit with short rows and the project resembling an alien mouth (in my mind, anyway) while in progress.
If you enjoy a bit of knitting geekery... I'm using my preferred short row method - wrapless short rows - for Arbutus. Ysolda has a fabulous video for the wrapless short row method on her Technique Thursday page - be sure to check this page out, her tutorials are great!
So, there you have it. This is the rest of my weekend and I think it looks pretty awesome!
Are you knitting this weekend? Do you have a favorite short row technique?