Better late than never...right?

A month after the Olympics finished, I've got my Ravelympics project back to the stage it was at during that final hockey game.


Because some hand-dyed yarns naturally have some colour variation between skeins, I'm alternating skeins as I knit. Since I know the Arachne Cardigan in my size will take three skeins of the Fyberspates Scrumptious 4-ply, I'm covering all my bases by alternating between all three skeins.

Alternating between three skeins of yarn is fine when I'm kniting back and forth, but it becomes slightly weird when in the round, which is how the sleeves will be knit. To keep things as simple as possible, I'd love to do them on dpns, but I don't have 3.5mm dpns, so I'll have to wrestle with magic looping them. We'll see. I may very well give up at some point and order the dpns.

It looks all wrinkly and scrunched up, but this yarn blocks beautifully. I can't wait!

Circe Vest

Meet Circe, the last of my set of designs for Fyberspates. Lots of twisted cables, with a deep twisted rib hem.

Designed to be be worn over a shirt or blouse, this vest is office-friendly and will perk up any outfit. The deep scoop neck is flattering on most bodies, and the wide ribbing and fitted waist ensure that your shape won't be lost. It's designed to be worn with close to zero ease, so knit the size closest to your measurements. The vest is knit in the round up to the underarm and scoop neck, The cables are knit with twisted stitches. There are more bust increases on the front of the vest than the back, to accommodate your shape better.



The bust shaping is all figured out for you, so that the increases are incorporated into the cable pattern without you having to work out what goes where.

Oh, charts as well as written instructions are included. This is a 14-page pattern, but the charts and written instructions take up literally half those pages.



I really love this vest.* I love how simple it looks, how the twisted cables are interesting but not too busy. I love how the ribbing flows smoothly into the cabling. I love how you can wear it with everything. And it comes in eleven sizes!

Details:
Finished measurements
30.25 (33.75, 35.5, 39, 40.75, 44.25, 46, 47.75, 51, 53, 54.5) inches at bust; 77 (85.5, 90, 99, 103.5, 112, 116.5, 121, 130, 134.5, 139) cm at bust

Yarn
Fyberspates Bluefaced Leicester DK (100% wool, 220m per 100g skeins): 3 (4, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 7, 7) skeins

Needles
3.5mm/ US 4, or size needed to get gauge, 24 inch / 60 cm circulars

Tension
27 sts/33 rows = 10cm/4 inches in cable pattern; 0.9 inch / 2.2 cm per horizontal cable repeat; 2.9 inches / 7.3cm per vertical cable repeat

This is available for £4.00, from the "Buy Now" button at the bottom of this post, from Ravelry, and soon from Fyberspates.



*Incidentally, I'm know the word "vest" means different things in British and American English, so if someone has any ideas on how to easily identify this article of clothing so that everyone knows what it is, I'm all ears.

Uh...

So I knitknitknit all last night, with the men's hockey gold medal game on.

(Yay Canadians, by the way! I figure it was best if they won, 'cause they wanted it so badly, and 'cause I figure it would make the most people happy. Like, how many Canadians are there? 30-ish million? So 30 million people would be happy if Canada won, whereas, if the US won, only the 58 Americans who care about hockey will be happy. No contest.)

Anyway, so I'm on the couch, knitting wildly, pushing the cat away from my lap, only getting up to re-caffeinate myself. I knew there was no way I was going to get the whole cardigan done, but I figure if I just get the body done, I'd consider it an Olympian enough task.

The good news: I got it done! Even seamed the shoulders! Looks awesome!

The bad news: I want it slightly bigger. Oh, it'll block a bit bigger, and the button bands will add another inch or so. But with all that, it will only really fit well if I wear nothing or a very thin/tight camisole under it. I wanted a cardigan I could wear over t-shirts and dresses in the summer.

As the hockey frenzy went into overtime, there was also a clashing debate on my couch as I argued with myself over whether this was good enough. In the end, I decided the yarn is too delicious to be something I'm not entirely happy with. So, yes, into the frog pond.

I'll probably re-knit it using larger needles. This should work, as my gauge is slightly tight, anyway. (How's that as a kick in the arse from the gauge fairies? I frickin' wrote the pattern, everything's calculated from my gauge, on this exact yarn! And yet, somehow, I'm not getting gauge! Bafflement.)