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VAILA

I used to hate to purl. It just isn’t my favorite thing ever.  Especially great swaths of purling like that which is practically the entire body of Vaila.

Vaila

Vaila is knit from the bottom up, both the sleeves and body. I, of course, couldn’t be hacked to actually follow the directions. So, I knit it top down.

My aunt has accused me of not being very specific when it comes to talking about the mods I make on my knits, which are plentiful and varied. So here are the mods that I made, just for you, AUNTIE M.

  1. Knit from the top down. I use the 35/15 method: that is, the front and back use 35% of the stitches each and the sleeves use 15% of the stitches each. This means that if you cast on 100 stitches the front will have 35 stitches, the back 35 stitches, the right sleeve 15 stitches, the left sleeve 15 stitches.  Place markers at each of these stitches. I can’t quite explain the math because math (especially percentages) breaks my brain, but I can assure you that using this method works. At least for me. I also used the number of stitches at the CAST OFF part of the pattern as a starting point, then knit K2P3 ribbing for an inch. (Should have gone a little longer – and I may carefully rip out the neck ribbing and redo.)
  2. The top-down knit raglans: To get the same look as the raglans in the pattern, the increases you  will need to use are:  knit to 3 stitches before the marker, “purl front and back in the stitch” (similar to kfb), knit 1, kfb.  With these increases you will get the same look as the pattern, which is knit stitches on a sea of purl.
  3. I didn’t convert the lace insert at all.  I knit it as is, and it looks pretty much the same no matter which direction it’s pointed.
  4. I knit the sleeves inside out.  I couldn’t stomach the thought of all the purl in the round, even though I don’t hate purling anymore.  So  I knit the sleeves in the round and then turned it right side out and knit the cuffs. If you do this, you should be careful that you make sure to  pick up the underarm stitches in the right way so the seem is on the inside of the sweater.

I think that is it in terms of modifications.

Vaila

Anyway, here are the stats:

Pattern: Vaila from Twist Collective
Yarn: Berroco Vintage (An acrylic/wool blend.  I like it.)
Gauge: I dunno
Needles: US 9 29″ circular

 Happy Monday (and MARCH, wow), dudes. 

So, now I am totally working on another sweater. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I haven’t knit on a sock in three months!

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Wait, What?

Hello, February. I do not understand how you can blink, and thereby miss an entire month. What did I even do in January? Let’s see… I… worked? Got sick? Whined about working? Whined about getting sick?

Yeah, that about sums it up.

The other day I got an email from my webhosting company that I had been billed for the next two years. And I was like, wait, what? I’ve had my website for 2 years and I STILL haven’t put it up? And also that was $190 I wasn’t mentally prepared to pay quite yet? Aaaaah.

SO ANYWAY

I am randomly updating the blog so as to GET MY MONEY’S WORTH, holy moly.

Sunday I finished my Gathered Pullover that I mentioned in my previous post. It is awesome and fits great. I blocked it this week and since it’s been raining it took forever to dry, even though I put the fan on it to help. So: pictures of that soon!

At the beginning of the year I hit the 50% all the buttons at JoAnn’s sale, and I scored a bunch of buttons, and these are my favorites:

buttons

Extremely patriotic, heh. They might be for another Liesl. I haven’t really decided what I am going to do with my Ultra Alpaca that I got at Christmas. I might just do a short sleeved pullover though. I am feeling a strange urge to knit nothing but sweaters! I have to roll with this desire while it lasts because dudes, it has never happened before, and I do expect to go crazy with socks again. Buuut, not right now. :/

Here’s what I’m working on now:

DSC03262

Vaila from Twist Collective, in Berroco Vintage (blueberry colorway, I think), which I like a lot so far. We’ll see about how it holds up. It’s like 40% wool, 50% acrylic and 10% nylon. It seems like it will be a good hard wearing easy-care blend. I hope so. I like Wool-Ease, and this is a lot softer than that and comes in a lot of great colors. I’m actually about halfway down the body with six motifs completed. I want there to be at least eight before I start the ribbing, and there might be nine depending on how long the eight measure out to be. There will be about 4 inches of ribbing at the bottom, so I have to take that into account. Incidentally, the sweater is supposed to be knit from the bottom up, but I don’t like that way so I am knitting it top down with no turtleneck. I want this sweater to be finished before Stitches West. At least I already finished the Gathered Pullover.

It is now three months till I leave for the Chicago/Milwaukee trip. I am getting excited! It will be here before we know it! I think it’s pretty amazing that my grandparents will have been married for 65 years and also amazing that we are all heading out to the Milwaukee area to celebrate it. I think almost all the family is going to be there for it. (It helps that several of my cousins live out in the Midwest these days.)

(Incidentally, it is also exactly 5 months till I turn 30. Not that I am counting or anything. *ahem*)

Well, I think that is pretty much IT on this end. I have been really poor this week due to even more teeth appointments (phooey on braces and genetics, etc.!) and so I have literally been to two places besides work this week: the Lafayette Reservoir, which I have a yearly pre-paid card for, and Jason’s house, where I ate/mooched dinner. My aunt actually brought over the dinner and she made a delicious stew. This week I must be needing protein because I have just been CRAVING the delicious flesh of beasts. I ate an entire rotisserie chicken. And the stew meat was soooo goooood (like pot roast, but more stew-ish if that makes sense.)

I am sleepy, the end.