Crochet rocks!

Every so often in the knitting world, I come across a bit of crochet hate. Hate might be too strong, perhaps distaste might be more appropriate.  It's a bit of a shame, really, because crochet is not evil.  It has suffered due to grievous misuse in the late 60s and 70s (but then, so did knitting in the 80s, I think!). I totally accept that some knitters are not interested in crochet (and vice versa) but I've always thought they are complementary skills. And there are certainly a lot more lovely crochet patterns (eg garments that are not stiff and bulky!) around now.

In the interests of spreading the crochet love (and because I was asked!), I have started teaching crochet for beginners at one of Sydney's lovely yarn (and fabric) stores, Calico & Ivy, in Balmain.  I did my first series in February/March, and I am teaching again in May/June, as well as doing a crochet clinic for specific issues.

I worked up some samples for the shop, which I also use as the basis for the classes too, all in Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino, which of course the shop stocks, in a really nice range of colours.

First up, I made some granny square blocks - all with the same basic granny pattern but showing different uses of colours (shame about the terrible photo! sorry).

Then I made a cushion in the popular African Flower hexagon pattern.  This is a really versatile hex - the way I've done it shows the flowers clearly against the green (grass!) background, while if you change colours for each row it can give a different look.  There is a great flickr group dedicated to the African Flower, it is full of inspiration.

One of the loveliest things after my first series of classes finished was getting an email from one of the attendees saying she was so inspired she spent the rest of the weekend crocheting!  The best feedback you can get!

If you are in the area and looking to learn to crochet (or you can crochet and have a specific issue you need help with), give the shop a call! I am doing a weekday and weekend series of classes, both starting in mid-May.

And don't forget, Crochet Rocks!

It's show time!

Every year around Easter, knitters in Sydney (and elsewhere) tend to be a-twitter about the knitting competition at the Royal Easter Show.  What has been entered, what are the classes, what has changed since last year, who are the judges, what are the judging criteria, how are the entries displayed, and of course, who has won!  Every year, for the last few years at least, I have thought about entering, but haven't, for various reasons.  But I really must!  I think I will double dog dare myself to do so next year.  Not that I think I will win, but because I think it is a good way to show people the beauty of a handknit garment, that handknit garments can be modern (and even *gasp* fashionable!) and with any luck, help to encourage others to either take up knitting or enter as well, just as some of the wonderful knitting this year has encouraged me to actually enter!

But putting all that aside, some of us have had another reason to be excited.  This year, the RAS (organisers of the show) asked the Knitters Guild of NSW to be a part of the "Feature Display", along with the Handspinners and Weavers, Machine Knitters and Felters.  And my lovely friend DrK took on the task of co-ordinating the display, assisted mainly by MissFee, as well as a few others from our Inner City guild group (ok, including me!). 

I volunteered to (wo)man the stand on Sunday, and as one of the main perks of volunteering was free entry to the show (for me), husby and Connor came too, just for the morning.  We had an early start, and headed straight for the baby animals - a massive shed with baby farm animals, many roaming free for maximum patting opportunities by the visiting children (not to mention adults!).  Mostly lambs and kids, and a few calves and chickens.  The shed also has piglets, deer, puppies, chicks (including some hatching) and ducklings, amongst others.  Lots of fun for Connor, who persisted in standing behind the lambs and kids and patting them (gently, thank goodness) on the butt.  Even when I moved him to stand beside them!  Oh well, there were no kicks, thankfully!

The rest of the day was spent at the Guild stand, knitting, chatting to passers-by, chatting to my knitter buddies on the stand and escaping away every so often to check out other bits of the Show.  Not to mention eating various "foods" on sticks - cheese on a stick, hotdog on a stick, and banana dipped in chocolate on a stick!  Lucky the Show is only once a year!!

mmmm dagwood dog and plenty of sauce!

I didn't take many pictures of the knitting competition (others have done so already) but I will say that the items were displayed beautifully this year - nothing hooked up on fishing line this year, hurrah.  And there was a lot of beautiful knitting.  Some not to my taste, but you can't deny the quality of the entries.

amazing irish crochet lace coat (not on guild stall!)

I have liberally added photos of the Guild stand however!  Not least because it might happen to feature quite a few of my own knitting and crochet items, heh!  But I think it is a good demonstration of the skills of our members and of the versatility of knitting and crochet - we all know this already, but we also know that knitting tends to suffer from the perceptions of non-knitters.  It wast most gratifying as a knitter and guild member to hear people express an interest in joining the guild or learning to knit, or to take up the sticks again.

Al's brush turkey!  And a cauliflower!

Many many thanks to DrK for taking on the job of organising everything (I know just how much work that is) and to MissFee for all the design work that went into the stand and the associated paraphernalia.  I am really proud of the way the stand represents knitting, both historically and now, and how it represents the Guild.

Red stripes go faster!

Ever since I saw this MillaMia pattern I've wanted to make it for Connor.  So I was most pleased to get it as a freebie in a magazine at last year's craft fair (not that I'd mind buying the book, they are lovely patterns!)

I've been working on it trying to get it done in time so it could go in the Knitters' Guild display at the Royal Easter Show this year.  Success!  I got it done in plenty of time!

Details
Pattern: Niklas cardigan by MillaMia, from the book Bright Young Things. Nice pattern, easy to follow, all made in pieces - which I didn't mind - smaller pieces seem to go faster!  (just like red stripes!).  I made the 2-3 yo size.

Yarn:  Even though the MillaMia yarn is lovely, I substituted Morris Paddington, an 80/20 bamboo/merino blend.  Mostly because I had a voucher for Morris & Sons and these colours were perfect!  I used about 1.5 skeins of each of the 3 colours - 634 Lipstick (red), 625 Pearl (silver grey) and 636 Magnetic Grey (charcoal).  I did think about converting the pattern to do seamlessly, but I thought the seams might provide some extra infrastructure to combat bamboo's tendency to sag.  Fingers crossed!

Sticks:  3mm and 3.25mm KnitPicks Options.

Time:  6 February 2012 - 29 March 2012

Modifications:  I made the body of the cardigan longer - everyone always says you need extra length in knits for babies and toddlers.  And I'm hoping it will fit him for longer than one season.  The extra length (about 5cm/2") meant I had to add an extra buttonhole, which fortunately worked out to be just at the point where the decreases start for the v-neck of the cardigan.  Nice one!

Of course, as soon as I finished the cardi, we got a wave of warm weather (summer is finally here!  in autumn!), so I don't have any modelled shots, but I will post some eventually!  I was going to show you a photo of my excellent seaming (it really is so much easier when you can match the stripes!) but the photo I took does not show said excellent seaming...um, the seaming is not quite as even as I thought it was, heh!

And so this year Connor has one new cardi and I have none.  Even though I planned on making myself at least 4 cardis this year!  Heh!  I'd better get a move on, since I haven't even started the first cardi for myself and it's already 1/4 of the way through the year!

Stash Honesty - March 2012

Woopsie...has it really been almost a month since I posted?  And my last post was my stash honesty for last month...oh dear!  I promise I will be a better blogger this month! 

But I do have good news - I have been a very good girl this month (sort of...an overseas order hasn't arrived yet, heh heh!).  I only bought 1 skein of yarn - which I needed for a project and so have used half of it (that's all I needed for the project!) plus these little jewels:

I have something in mind for these - I will show you when they are done!

And I gave 6 balls of yarn to my mum, and destashed some laceweight - just by accident - someone contacted me on Rav and asked if she could buy it and I said sure!  Since I'm not going to be knitting much lace in my immediate future...

In:  2 x 50g balls
Out:  6.75 x 50g balls used plus 8 x 50g balls destashed.
Metres used: 897.5m (a short month!) (YTD: 3069.5m)
Stash neutral: OH YES I AM - STASH NEGATIVE!  -5.25 x 50g balls!

(um...I suspect it won't last for long!)

I will post again soon, I promise!  In the meantime, someone has been having fun playing with my knitting! (Yes, those are my Fox Faces socks he is wearing!)

Stash Honesty - February 2012

Can't let myself get out of the habit of posting every month about my ins and outs!  But just a quickie, I really should be knitting, heh!

I had a bit of a Wollmeise splurge this month - no surprise there, really!  2 grey (maus jung), one black (schwartz) and one lovely purple (madame souris).  Yum yummy yum yum.  Am thinking of some sort of stripey garment for myself...will see!

Apparently there is a terrible epidemic of Bunterism going around my knitting guild group - which of course I also caught after the last meeting. We are making a huge string of bunting for the guild's display at the Sydney Royal Easter Show this year.

Hopefully getting these four red Bunts out of my system will appease the Bunting Overlords!

In:  12 x 50g balls (d*mn you huge wollmeise skeins!!)
Out: 8 x 50g balls
Metres used: 1058m (YTD: 2172m)
Stash neutral? No! +9.5 x 50g balls.  Oh well, maybe March will be my month!

I must BEE crazy - or am I?

I had a good month in February - even though it was a short month, I managed to crank out 37 sexypuffs for my Beekeeper's Quilt.  Helped in no small part by Connor insisting I bring my NingNing with me when I sit with him at his little table while he "draws", and so on!

Just for LynS, here is a shot of all the puffs done so far - all 244 of them (well, actually, there are 18 missing, I found an extra ziplock bag after I'd put them all away again!).

And I thought I may as well lay them all out, so I can check my calculations of how many puffs I need to make.  So 226 puffs makes roughly a 77cm/30" square - with 14 puffs in the columns downwards, and 16 puffs across.

So if I want a QS quilt - which is about 150cm x 200cm, that means I'd need about 4 times this many puffs...which gives me around 900 puffs!  That's a lot different to 1829!!  Wow!  Maybe this will only be a 2.5 year plan, rather than a 5 year one!  Not so crazy after all ...

So far, I have knitted with 14 different yarns, many of which were donated by lovely knitting friends. To help me remember what yarns and what colours I've used, as well as the source of the yarn and how many puffs I have in that colour, I have made some "colour cards" where I can keep a sample and notes.  Some of the samples are very small (I usually cut them after I've used up as much yarn as I can for the puffs!).

My favourite yarn so far is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight - gosh this is a smooshy sproingy lovely yarn.  It is truly lush.  Such a lovely yarn to knit with.

Similar to the STR is Colinette Jitterbug.  Mmmmm yum.  I've also enjoyed knitting with Handmaiden Casbah and Plucky Knitter - those merino cashmere blends are just so soft.  And for depth of colour, of course, you know what I'm going to say ... you can't go past the Wollmeise!

It's been fascinating to compare the different yarns, and a delight to try some I hadn't knitted with previously (mmmmMalabrigo Sock, I'm looking at you!). 

Any thoughts on the random puff arrangement?  Maybe that is the way to go, rather than a specific pattern.  I suppose I still have plenty of time to consider this, since I'm only 6 months into this project!

Foxy Loxy

Another one bites the dust!  Yes, I have finished the second of my pre-2012 wips. It was a relief to get these socks off the sticks.  And I haven't even started a new project to celebrate fnishing these!  (yet - ha!)

Details
Pattern:  Fox Faces by Nancy Bush.  I quite enjoyed knitting these - I love the vikkel braid, although I have to say that the description she gives in this (free) pattern is not particularly helpful.  Fortunately, I have done one before and so pulled out the pattern, from Nancy's excellent Knitting on the Road, and used the much more helpful detailed instructions and diagrams.

I also love a sock with a plain back and patterned front.  I really liked the extra ribbing for the first few repeats, helps keep the sock up and just another nice detail. As is the eye of partridge heel - my favourite!

Yarn:  Wollmeise Twin in Aquarius (a We're Different skein) - 98g.  I love this yarn - shows a pattern so well and just feels wonderful on.  And machine washes so well, I am never nervous about putting my wollmeise socks in the machine.

Sticks:  I used 2.75mm KnitPicks harmony fixed circs for the rib and vikkel braid, and changed to 2.5mm for the rest of the sock.

Time:  30 July 2011 - 13 February 2012.

Modifications:  I did my sock over 64 stitches (rather than 60) - I added an extra purl bump between the lace repeats and 2 extra stitches on the back.  I also did a twisted rib, because I like the way it looks.  Otherwise made as written. Yay Nancy Bush! 

I'm not sure I can see the fox faces though.

Could I be a prouder knitter?

(Two posts in two days!  I know!  But I had to share this!)

Connor isn't much of a talker (yet?).  His vocabulary mainly consists of "mum" and "dad" (and variations of both), "Nanna", "nana" (banana) and "teddy" (pronounced ted-deeeeeeeeee).  And of course, "no" (nao!).  And the rest is pointing and grunting and the happy noise when I correctly guess whatever it is that he wants.

Yesterday, we went outside to get the clothes off the line.  Well, that was my plan anyway.  Connor decided he didn't want to do that, and with the handful of cars he had (yes, he carries his cars with him everywhere) he stood near the outside table and kept saying "NingNing, NingNing".  I didn't quite get what he wanted, because I was trying to convince him to climb up the stairs with me to the backyard and clothesline.

So he put his cars on the table and ran inside and climbed onto my lounge chair and looked over the side to where I keep my knitting (out of his reach).  And then it clicked - NingNing!  Knitting!  He wanted me to get my knitting and sit with him at the table outside!

Could I be a prouder knitter/mother?!

So the washing didn't get taken off the line (until later, thanks Husby) but we had a pleasant half hour sitting at the table, me knitting, him driving his cars back and forth.  I cannot think of a better way to pass the time!

A mighty big cup o' tea!

A mighty big cup o' tea!  That's what I'm enjoying as I type!  Courtesy of my blog buddy Caffeine Girl, who has sent me the most wonderful package of goodies!  I was lucky to win a giveaway on her blog and Connor and I were very excited to see a box on my front verandah this morning.  I couldn't open it quick enough for Connor, heh heh.  I suspect he wasn't quite as excited by the contents as I was!

My HUGE knit happy mug, a red (but black!) pen, some lovely stitch markers, some gorgeous yarn and a Cow Pie!  Cow Pie!

I know you are all wondering what a Cow Pie is!  So here's a nice close up.  Yep, it's pretty much what you probably thought, heh heh, but edible!!  Chocolately caramelly pecany goodness! 

And Yarntini yarn - gosh I love this stuff - and these colours - so good together - I am already picturing something stripey.

I was also given a blog award by Dorothy - I haven't had a blog award for ages - they went around when I was a newer blogger but I don't see them mcuh lately.  I am not sure what qualities a "versatile blogger" is supposed to have, and I am supposed to pass it on to 15 blog buddies, but I figure we're all knitters and/or crocheters, we all work in and/or out of the home and hence we are all versatile!  So please consider yourself a Versatile Blogger too!  Yay for us all!

I am also supposed to tell you 7 random things about me.  It's been a while since I've done this too, so here goes.  Hopefully they are all "new" random things, heh!

1.  I don't drink coffee any more - couldn't stomach it when I was pregnant and just didn't start again afterwards.  So it's tea all the way for me, preferably English Breakfast made in a pot!

2.  I have only dyed my hair twice, I think.  A long time ago.  So my hair is steadily going grey.  I think husby would like me to dye it, but I'd rather spend the money on yarn!  (or shoes!). 

3.  I hate to reverse park. I have only done one since my driving test.  And that was about a year ago, heh!

4.  I love red (I know - you know!).  I do not love tomatoes.  Or strawberries!  I will eat both, but prefer not to.

5.  I (almost) always read the last page of a book well before I finish it.  Thanks to Wikipedia, I also often do this for tv shows I'm watching too...

6.  I saw the movie of West Side Story for the first time a week or two ago.  I didn't love it.

7.  (I'm running out of steam here...).  Oh, I know.  I'd be lost without my iPad!  It is my faithful friend and collaborator.  Especially in my wikipedia searching, heh!

Anyway, that's it from me today!  Thanks again to Dorothy for my bloggy award and especially to CaffeineGirl for my lovely prize package.  I am off to have some Cow Pie with the remainder of my tea!

Faultline

I decided to make a birthday gift for one of my best buddies (for her ending-in-zero birthday).  I asked her what colour/s she'd like (without totally giving it away, but not very well, heh!) and she said teal green or blue.

I had a bit of a dig in my stash and came up with (I hope) the perfect yarn!  And I wanted a relatively simple pattern, a bit of lace but not too much, and one that would use up as much of the yarn as possible.

And this is what I came up with:

Details
Pattern: Faultline by Gabriella Henry (one of my blog buddies, SweetP!).  She designed and sold this pattern to contribute to the fundraising after the Christchurch earthquake(s) last year.  Knit sideways, with a geometric lace pattern, it was the perfect choice.  And a nice quick knit too.  And it's not to late to purchase and have your donation counted for Christchurch.

Yarn:  Fleece Artist Sea Wool in (I think) Marine.  A lovely blend of teal, blue and purple, which of course I cannot capture accurately in photos!  The skein was 122g at the start, and I used all but 9g.  I got through 11 increase repeats, and then started the decrease repeats. If I was making this again, I would do another half repeat increasing, and then start decreasing. I think if I'd done that this time, I would have used all the yarn! 

The yarn is a70/30 blend of merino and sea cell - interesting texture, not as soft as I thought it would be, a little bit crunchy even.  It blocked out beautifully though.

Sticks:  KnitPicks Options, 4mm.  I'd think about using bigger sticks next time as this made quite a short scarf - just over a metre long before blocking.  But once I stretched it out after a nice long soak, the garter stitch relaxed beautifully and now it is a nice 1.65m (65").

Time:  9 January -30 January 2012.

I'm very happy with it - I hope Helen will love it too!

I miss my Dad

I bought this wooden music box for husby a long time ago, a year or two after we started going out (yep, a really long time ago, heh!).  It plays "Anniversary Song" (also known as the Waltz of the Danube, thanks Wikipedia!), which is the tune often (always?) used in the music jewellery boxes we all seemed to have as children - you know, the ones with the mirror inside the lid and the ballerina going round and round as the music played?

Anyway, Connor loves to play with the music box, and as I wound it up for the third or fourth time for him this morning, I thought a lot about my dad.  Because, of course, today is the 6th anniversary of his death.  So while we listened to the music, I told Connor about his Pa. And shed a few quiet tears.

I miss my Dad.

Stash Honesty - January 2012

Well that month flew by.  For some reason I felt like I could just buy anything this month.  And I did.  Sort of.  I did exercise some restraint, believe it or not.

First up is some Rowan Wool Cotton that I bought from a destasher - at a price too good to pass up!  Yep, I even bought two balls of pink in there...I know - madness!  Heh heh.

And two balls of yarn from our Melbourne trip - because souvenir yarn doesn't count (sort of...).  Red alpacky for more sexypuffs, and the cotton blend sock yarn for socks for husby - he doesn't have any cottony knit socks, and I don't have any cotton blend sock yarn, so snap!  It had to be.

In:  13 x 50g balls
Out:  7.5 x 50g balls - mostly 4ply/fingering knitting this month
metres used:  1114m
Stash neutral?  No!  +5.5 x 50g balls

In Beekeeper news, I had a lovely month of puff knitting - I came out nicely ahead of target, with 39 puffs done.  And all but 3 were knitted with yarns given to me by friends and family (thanks Mum, Bells, MadMad and Jilly) - this really is going to be a community quilt!

SHOESday: Trip Trip Trippen Along

We went to Melbourne for the Australia Day long weekend, just gone.  We had a great little apartment in the city (Flinders Lane, for those in the know).  Perfect location.

Especially when I discovered what was just around the corner...Sole Devotion!  I nearly hyperventilated when I saw it.  Especially when I saw the big "SALE" balloons in the window.

And of course I made a purchase!

I was so pleased to find these in this great metallic - not too shiny, goes with everything kinda colour.  I was very tempted by a similar pair with a piece of leather knitted fabric going from the toe strap up to the ankle strap - and they were called "Knit" - but decided that these were more classic.

I am so very pleased with my new shoes! 

And apart from a horrible 10 minutes on the plane during takeoff on the way down, during which he screamed and thrashed about, Connor travelled very well.  But for that 10 minutes, I think I deserved a new pair of shoes, heh!

The Year of the Cardigan

Looking back over my 2011 knits, I realised that I hadn't knit any cardigans!  I had good intentions (as always!) but I didn't quite convert those intentions into actual cardigans.  Or even started cardigans.  So I have decided I am going to try to make at least 4 cardigans (for me!) this year.  Although I suspect, even at this early date, that it might end up more like 3.  But that's ok, because that will be 3 more than last year!

I made myself a short list...thinking about the patterns I've had in my queue (and my mental "must make" list) for some time, as well as yarns I want to use.  Desperately want to use!  Ha, my short list has 13 patterns... I am still deciding which of these will see the sticks in 2012, but I thought I might as well get your opinions too!  I should add, I do have the yarn for all of these, except maybe 1 or 2 of them...

1.  Faith by Kim Hargreaves using Berocco Ultra Alpaca Fine - this is a definite - both on the pattern and the yarn.  I will be devastated if I don't get gauge with this yarn! 

2. Sea Tangles by Kie Zuraw using Habu Silk Stainless.  I bought the yarn for this ages ago - maybe 4 years ago...not long after the pattern came out, I suspect.  Just love this pattern!  Unique and interesting.  Oh, and I know it isn't a cardigan...neither is the next possible!  (There's nothing like breaking my own rules before I've even started, heh!)

3.  Sahara by Wendy Bernard using Karabella Empire Silk - I bought this worsted weight silk, in a lovely khaki colour, on sale years ago.  I think it will be lovely, and I'm keen to try Bernard's top down seamless method.

4.  Amiga by Mags Kandis using Rowan Calmer - I think this will be a lovely versatile cardi, perfect weight for Sydney winter (or late autumn and early spring!).

5.  Chevron Lace Cardi by Milobo - I don't have a yarn in mind for this - I may use my Christmas vouchers for the lys to buy yarn for this.  But I think I will definitely make it this year - it's crochet and seamless, so I know it will be a quick one.  It might be my Tour de France project!  I'm hoping this will mean I can actually fit in 5 cardis this year (yes, I swing between optimism and pessimism on this cardigan goal!)

6.   Olivia by Kim Hargreaves using Rowan Felted Tweed or Grignasco Tango.  I think this is the pattern I will use but I am definitely going to make some type of cardi out of the Felted Tweed or Tango this year (which yarn I use will depend on the colour I want...Um, I have a few different colours of each to choose from...green and brown in FT, red, charcoal and purple in Tango)

7.  Metro by Connie Chang Chinchio using Cascade 220 in mallard.  I have the pattern, I have the yarn, I know it will be really wearable.  This one is firming up as one of my definites.

8.  Greenfield cardigan by Melissa LeBarre - I have a couple of possible yarns for this - one in red, one in navy.  Or this one might be the recipient of the chrismtas voucher purchase.  Or maybe it would work in Felted Tweed or Tango?  Hmmm, will have to consider that.

9.  Shapely Boyfriend cardigan by Stephanie Japel or New Concetta Cardigan by Elizabeth Smith, using BMFA Twisted in My Blue Heaven.  I saw this yarn in the socks that rock and loved it, and heard great things about the Twisted, so it was a bit of an impulse buy.  Now, I'm not so sure about how it will knit up and whether I can cope with that amount of variegation.  Sometimes I think about destashing it.  And other times I really want to knit it.  Decisions decisions!  As for the pattern, I think the Shapely Boyfriend will be better for my shape but I like the ease of the New Concetta.

10.  Atelier by Heidi Kirmaier using (I think) South West Trading Company Yin in red.  Lush yarn, lovely pattern.  Or again, this might be good candiate for Felted Tweed/Tango (heh!)

11.  Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah Fettig, using Karabella Aurora 8 in blue.  This is the yarn which I would reclaim from my Must Have Cardigan long term WIP.  If I get gauge.  As it is an all over simple cable, I think it's an (easy) level of difficulty and concentration I could manage right now, unlike the Must Have cardigan.

12.  Driven by Veera Valimaki in Malabrigo Worsted in charcoal grey (I can't recall the actual name!).  I bought a cardigan's worth of Malabrigo a while back, intending to make a Liesl from it.  I think now that is a bad idea, due to the pilling issues, but I think this pattern, knit at a tighter gauge, might be a good option.  If I have enough yarn, heh!

So I've got two definites - Faith and something in Felted Tweed or Tango; Two strong maybes - Rocky Coast and Metro.  And the crochet Chevron cardigan.  Any thoughts? Any other pattern suggestions? What are your "must knits" this year?

Red stripes go faster

My first FO of 2012!  Towards the end of this project, I never thought it was going to be finished, but then, as if by magic, the very last fat stripe was done and I was casting off.  Amazing!

Details:
Pattern: Stripe Study by Veera Valimaki.  Yes, just about everyone has knit this. Something about the stripes, the garter stitch, and the clever, but easy pattern.  Not to mention the great photography and yarn colour choice.  You can't underestimate the power of good project photographs to sell patterns!

I really enjoyed knitting this.  Yes, the last stripe seemed neverending - 4"/10cm of garter stitch on rows approaching 500 stitches each (I think - I couldn't bring myself to actually count!).  But the short rows to provide the assymetrical shaping is a really cool feature, and fun to knit.  And you don't have to pick up the wraps in garter stitch short rows either!  I used a stitch marker where I wrapped the stitch, so on the next row I just had to remove it and count 20 stitches beyond it, before the next wrap. Made this even more of an autopilot knit.

Yarn:  Wollmeise 100% Merino superwash in Clementine - 1 skein plus 20g, and Wollmeise 80/20 Twin in Vamp, just under 1 skein.  I really like orange and red together, but omg this orange is BRIGHT!  It really didn't look as flurescent in the skein.  And nor does the colour really show true in the photos - it is much much brighter.  I figure this will be just like a safety vest in poor visibility weather - like a beacon!  It will certainly brighten up a dull winter's day!

Sticks:  4mm KnitPicks Options

Time:  30 August 2011 - 8 January 2012

Modifications:  I did 13 orange stripes (the pattern has you knit 12).  Mainly because I had enough yarn.  As it turns out, I had to omit the very last 2 rows of orange, because I would have run out, but it is a very forgiving pattern, and so this isn't really noticeable. Otherwise, I knit the pattern as written. It ended up being 60"/153cm in length and 27"/68cm in depth (pre-blocked - I haven't actually blocked it yet!)/

I really enjoyed knitting this.  I'm not entirely convinced how wearable it is - not because of the colour, but the shape.  I will reserve my judgment on this, I think it is going to need a shawl pin to stay on, especially if I wear it more as a shawl (ie for warmth) rather than just a scarf.  But I do know that I'll never get hit by a car when wearing it, heh!

Unless I happen to be lying down whilst wearing it ... a certain someone thinks it makes an excellent superhighway for all of his cars - it has already fulfilled this function a number of times, and I haven't even worn it yet!