FO- Gallery Jacket

I live in a basement apartment, so bear with me on the lighting.

Pattern:Gallery Jacket

Yarn: Knitpicks Swish Superwash in Lemongrass Heather

Needles: 5.5 mm straights (I crammed those stitches on!)

Size Made: Small (34")

Modifications: I made this a fair bit longer. This was easy enough to do- The part where you put stitches onto stitch holders for the front sections is where the armholes divide, so I just kept holding it up underneath my arm to see where it fell against my body.

Also, I accidentally didn't do the shawl collar. I knit everything but the sleeves on the subway, and I didn't have the pattern in front of me. I didn't notice I had missed that part until I had already seamed the shoulders on both sides. I tried it on and decided that it works this way, too. And it gives me an excuse to make another one in the future!Notes: I didn't block the body much, but pinned and spritzed the sleeves. I'm using a kilt pin as the closure, but I'm thinking that a great chunky belt would be stylish, too. I also briefly considered adding belt loops and a little kimono-style sash. I tried a few different ways to wear it , and it's pretty versatile:
When I was doing the sleeves, I was a bit concerned that the purl rows at the edge were going to be a bit weird, but I like the way they turned out:I can't tell you how much I love this. It was such a pleasure to knit, and I love the simple styling. I wouldn't be surprised if I made another one. Thanks to Cirilia for a great pattern!

The Look of Love....

I was waiting for my yarn from Knit Picks to arrive so I could finally start my gallery jacket. I know I should be using the 32" circs for this, but I've put myself on yarn and needle buying diet (The yarn and sweater backlog is getting ridiculous, and I've run out of yarn storage and decided I could make do by jamming all 202 stitches onto my 5.5 mm straights:

Can I say how much I love this colour? Love this. It's Knit Picks Lemongrass Heather in swish superwash. I'm so singularly posessed with having this gallery jacket that I've unwittingly put everything else on hold, all in my determination to knit this as fast as possible. Sure, there are other projects I should be knitting, but you know how it is in the first blush of love- you want nothing more than to spend every free second you have with your beloved. Ah, Gallery Jacket, how I adore thee......

I'm heading up north to my hometown of Sudbury for the weekend, where I plan on getting a ton of knitting done, and teaching my mother how to make the perfect pie crust. I'd rather teach her how to knit so she'll stop asking me for sweaters. For the record, I already knit her a sweater, she just wants more.

By the way- I don't know if Joe Fresh exists outside of Canada, but they have these great ads, reminiscent of the old Gap ads (where they danced to music, with the white backgrounds? remember Swing Khakis, and all that?!). I love the songs that they use in their commericials, 'Mixed Up' and 'The Dream', by a Canadian singer, Rhonda Stakich (kind of reminds me of Feist). They actually have them available for download and you can watch the commercials, if you're interested: http://joefresh.ca/Video_en.aspx

I've never shopped there, but I'm thinking about it now. What with the cute songs and all. Damn it, catchy advertising WORKS!!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Shoulda Been an FO......

Thermal is complete. So complete, I'm wearing it right now, and have had compliments heaped on me all day by my co-workers, and a woman that I did not know who is also a knitter (we had a great discussion about arm cap shaping). I feel great. Maybe a little too warm in my newly completed sweater, but great nonetheless.

Except... I don't have any photos yet. I am truly envious of my partner-in-yarn, Jen. Not only does she have a boyfriend who loves taking ultra-flattering photos of his beloved, but he's a professional photgrapher. I'll see what I can rustle up later. If I can't find anyone to play photographer (and I'm feeling a little anti-social at the moment- so I think it would be rude to call up someone to come over, take pictures of me, and then tell them to get the hell out), I'll explore the timer function on my camera! Stay tuned.

In the endless joy that is Ravelry, a new knit has just come to light: Gallery Jacket. Modelled and designed by Cirilia.

Now, this project came along at the perfect time for me. I've been wondering why I don't have any green yarn, despite the fact that green is my favourite colour. Why have I no green knits?! I was so enamoured with the pattern, that I immediately went to knitpicks.com to buy yarn for it. I decided to go for a full-blown merino, since I'm not one for angora.That isn't the yarn exactly, (knitpicks doesn't allow you to enlarge it's colour swatches online) but it gives a good idea of the colour. Now, I'm playing the waiting game, and as soon as that yarn arrives, I'll be swatching!

*Note to self: consider green when considering a future project. It is, after all, your favourite colour. It avoids that pesky problem of looking at your purple heather yarn that you got for Forecast and wondering what the hell you were thinking that day....*