Pattern: Wheat-Ear Cable Yoke by Pam Allen from Interweave Knits Summer 2007 project page
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Venezia Worsted in Olive (818 yards – 3.75 skeins)
Needles: US 5 (3.75mm) Inox Express Circular, US 6 (4.0mm) Crystal Palace Circular, US 7 (4.5mm) Crystal Palace Circular and US 7 (4.5mm) Asciano Circular Needles

Mods: This is one giant modification.  The pattern is designed in pieces from the bottom up.  I knit it top down in the round.  RobinM and I decided to do a convert-a-long for this pattern during the 1st Quarter of the Sexy Knitters Club.  I have a sinking suspicion that Robin bailed on me.  I don’t blame her since this sweater took me just a tiny amount of less than a full term pregnancy.  I cast on January 8th and cast off September 8th.  It was a shock the day this finally was placed into the sink to block.

Facts to Remember: That hem ribbing should be more than the 3 rows that so many designers consider acceptable.  Depending on my hems mood, it will flip up or stay down.  That the right needles make the knit more enjoyable.  Lastly I shouldn’t dread knitting the sleeves because really they aren’t that bad, especially with my new skinny arms.

Things I Love:  That I accidentally knit for my new body instead of my old one.  I have no clue how this would have fit before all the weight loss.  The unblocked picture taken in January or February make it look tight but not that bad.

I’m super happy to be sharing with ya’ll a journey I took this summer to gain back me. One where I was willing to face the camera again. Its funny I design clothing for a living and I love it, but I was starting to dread standing in front of the camera. More and more I was dissatisfied with photo session with churchable. He might be telling me “You are beautiful”. His nickname for me is even: Beautiful. Why couldn’t I feel that beauty.

I had a shocking realization at the end of my 30th birthday. We had just driven back from a friends wedding in Southern Oregon. I felt horrible and hated the car ride. This was something new to me. How could this have happened?

Well that night before we walked to dinner, I stepped on the scale just to see if it was my imagination or was there some facts to go with this. And I should point out that in the 5 years of dating/marriage, churchable has seen me grow from an almost too skinny size 6 to you should be in a size 14 not those size 12’s you stuffed yourself into. I was ignoring the size change, maybe the number on the scale would get me back to reality. It stated 168. “Ok not bad I thought,” but on the way to dinner I shared with churchable that really I wasn’t that off. With the next few words out of his mouth my spirits and self-flattery hit rock bottom. He informed me that our scale weighted in 10 lbs light. EEEP!!! I was 178. No freaking way I had gained 43 lbs in 5 years but the cold hard facts were staring me in the face. With determination I ordered the healthiest thing on the menu at the Mexican place (not like there is much when its smothered in cheese and sour cream). I focused on reducing my portions.

Monday morning dawned with a realization that I needed to do something and one of those things was to get that lying and cheating scale out of the house and bring in one that could be trusted to tell me the cold hard true.

My journey had a few rules.

1. Eat three meals a day (I was knitting so much that I was luck if I hate one meal at 10pm)
2. Stick to proper portions (and no a bag of salt & vinegar chips aren’t a good lunch)
3. Make sure my fat was low (I tend to eat a lot of fat. I love my cheese and full fat dairy)
4. Make sure I have enough protein to get me through the day.
5. Find a breakfast food I could stomach every day and look forward to eating (I need a new one but yogurt, ground flaxseed and fruit got me through 4 months)
6. Exercise at least 30 min a day (Sadly I hurt my knee in mid-July so I’ve been relying on diet since then)

To help me through this journey, I used Sparkspeople.com. Its an amazing resource with articles, food journals (that calculate the calories, fat, carbs, & protein for you and tell you what range you need to eat in to lose the weight) and exercise journals and videos to get you moving in the right direction.

As of this morning, I’m sitting pretty at 149. An almost 30lb drop from that initial weight in, but I log my actual drop to be 24 lbs based on the number the new scale gave me.  I’ve gone from a bad muffin top in size 12’s back down to the size 8s I refused to toss out.   And you know what I feel amazing to have shed so much weight: Emotional weight (I discovered several reasons that I packed on the pounds and I hope to have beat those monsters) and Physical weight.

Well I’ve come to a plateau of which I’m happy to sit on for a while, but churchable and I have figured out that we both need to lose another 10lbs. So this goal will hopefully be completed by the new year together. 2.5lbs per month isn’t that hard to get off especially if I can add back in physical exercise now that my knee has stopped hurting. I just can’t ever run again.

Pattern:  Favorite Cardigan by Wendy Bernard in Custom Knits Raveled Here
Yarn:  Madelinetosh Tosh Worsted – 5 skeins of colorway Bark
Needles:  Knitpicks Harmony Interchangeables US 7 (4.5mm)

Mods:   I was one of the first people to cast on this sweater but probably the slowest to blog about it.  I didn’t really make many mods except my usual Horizontal Bust Dart (short rows) adjustments.  Sadly I messed up my calculations alot with this sweater, plus the difference between knitting the body while on vacation and the sleeves after coming home.  This probably isn’t the best representation of my skills.

Facts to Remember:  At first my reluctance to blog was the above picture.  The button band ripped like no bodies business.  I ripped it out and redid it on smaller needles, sadly it still ripples so I’ve come to wearing it unbuttoned at the top and bottom.  I love it and get compliments.  I just prefer my sweaters to button all the way or not at all.  I should also be slow to praise myself and my ablity to do bust shaping with new yarn and no math calculations.  I used my usual Malabrigo Worsted bust dart formula since they have the same stitch count.  Hah the row count is so totally different that I made too deep of a bust dart.  Next time I will take my time.  The first edition of this book also has errata for the sleeve decreases which I helped a friend diagnois.  A simple reason why I don’t make a good test knitter is because I rewrite pattern instructions in my head to make them easier for me to understand.  Basically I translate into Chris knitting language from which ever knitting language I’m currently knitting from.
Things I love:  THE YARN.  I can’t stress how much I adore this yarn.  I actually love it so much that I already had this color in sock yarn and I’m tempted to get it in the pastoral base (a 50/50 silk/wool single spun worsted yarn) available through Woolgirl.com.  In addition to loving the color, I adore all the yarn dyed by Amy of Madelinetosh.  So much so that I joined the Magnolia Society yarn club and dropped all my other yarn clubs.  My love for Amy’s yarns competes with my love for Malabrigo.  The worsted was released days before I headed to Hawaii on vacation where I knit this sweater and I couldn’t wait to take it with me.  Its a super soft superwash wool that washes beautifully.  It felts up on the inside of the sweater in such a way that post blocking/washing frogging is a bit difficult, but still possible since I did it when re-doing the button band.  It also looks very thin till after its washed where it blooms to its full potential.  Someone on ravelry commented that she didn’t think this was a true worsted.  I beg to differ, it turns out nicely at a worsted gauge.  It will never stand in for an Aran, but its a beautiful worsted.

My second love was the book.  If you don’t have Custom Knits, Run.  Don’t walk to your nearest bookstore.  This is an instant classic with tons of information for the casual user and the up and coming designer.

Pattern: Snow White by Ysolda Teague Raveled Here
Yarn:Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted – just under 5 skeins of Indigo
Needles: US 9 Knitpicks Harmony Interchangeables

Mods: Other than my usual modification to add Horizonal Bust Darts, I didn’t do any intentional modifications.  The only unintentional modification that I did and actually like how it turned out was that I misplaced the stitch marker for the hip decreases and so I recentered them over my hips.  I really like how it worked out.

Facts to Remember:  To double check stitch marker placement.  This bite me in the butt twice.  Once it ended up on my butt the second time, I ended up with too many stitches on the back and not enough on the front when I started decreasing for the shoulders.  My totally stitch count was correct every time but not my placement.  Oh well.  It fits great and I love how it looks.

Things to Love:  I love the color.  I have a BLUE sweater!!! yeah and the perfect button down shirt to wear under it.  The weather is finally playing nice for photographs and I had a helpful fellow blogger and malabrigo junkie took these today in West Seattle.  We had a lot of fun visiting Little Knits, catching a bit of knitfiti and hanging out with 2 other fellow malabrigo junkies.

Pattern: Lillehammer by Jacquelynn Vance-Kuss    Raveled Here
Yarn: Cleckheaton Country 8 Ply 2 skeins – Blue & Grey plus scraps of Lorna’s Laces Worsted from this project.
Needles: US 5 (3.75mm) Susan Bates Circular

Mods: I added about a half inch to the red strip to lengthen the hat to specification.

Facts to Remember: To trust your measurements
Things I love: My husband’s buddy when he slipped his hat on after Christmas and it fit perfectly.  Just in time for the snowy weather.  I think he might just live in that hat.

Pattern: Mingus sock by Cookie A Raveled Here
Yarn: Malabrigo sock yarn 1 skein – test color most similar to Indiecita
Needles: US 1.5 (2.5mm) Knitpicks Harmony Fixed Circular

Mods: None

Facts to Remember:  That I should be over ambitious when moderating a group to also be able to finish on time.  These were my ravelympics project and they were cast off 6 days late, because I was so busy with moderator duties and handing out awards.
Things I love:  The marriage of color and pattern.  They are my watery death.

Pattern: Squiggle Hat by Chris Church Raveled Here
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Meino Worsted partial skein of Marine and Applewood
Needles: Knitpicks Harmony Interchangeables US 8 (5.0mm) & US 9 (5.5mm)

Mods: The pattern is one size which is pretty stretchy but I had one tester adapt the pattern larger.

Facts to Remember: That my gauge changes while on vacation.  I had a bunch of problems getting this pattern to work for my testers because of my massive change from relaxed designer on vacation to at home stressed out designer.  I need to remember to NOT DESIGN ON VACATION or just finish small little projects while on vacation.

Things I love: I love the way the Squiggles cover your ears and don’t block your vision.  I also love the ability to play with 2 colors especially if you have small scraps of Malabrigo (or your favorite worsted weight yarn) at home.

Pattern: Squiggle Cowl by Chris Church Raveled Here
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in 1/2 skein of Applewood
Needles: Knitpicks Harmony Interchangeable in US 8 (5.0mm)

Mods: Um well since was the originator of the design series, it was totally a mod.

Things to Remember: This was the pattern that was created on vacation so it was knit on smaller needles than the pattern calls for because I haven’t been able to get it to turn out the right size at home until I went up a needles size.

Things I love: Well this one is just pure genius to me.  The squiggles cup your chin on top and dip down into your coat to block that little draft created by the collar of your coat.  The 3-needle bind off at the back of the neck makes the pattern stand up so as to keep the draft away.

Pattern: Chocolate Creme Square-Neck Top by Joan McGowan-Michael from Knitting Lingerie Style Raveled Here
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy  – 3 Skeins in Pomegranate & Nashua Handknits Cilantro – 1 skein in white
Needles:  US 6 (4.0mm) & 7 (4.5mm) Knitpicks Harmony Interchangeable Needles

Mods: I moved the waist up higher and added one more bust increase before the underbust finished.  I knit this is pieces to see if I could knit a shaped fitted garment in pieces.  I think it worked out well.

Facts to Remember:  That I like my hems to be a bit longer by 1-2″.  I should also remember to trust the designer when she says that this number of short rows gives you a _____ cup difference.  I made the cup size smaller than I am.  I should have done the right size because it rides up just a tiny bit and bugs me.  I love this top but with the length and wrong cup size, it won’t get as much wear as I would like out of it.

Plus I need to remember to post my FOs sooner.  This is from the Sexy Knitters Club 3rd Quarter and we are just about ready to wrap up our 4th Quarter KAL.

Things I loved:  The color and the feel of the yarn.  The yarn is super comfy.  Plus I’m in love with the Cilantro, I can imagine it in some really cool designs.

Dude this cheeck is so smooshy like my sweater.

Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman Raveled Here
Yarn: Dream In Color Smooshy in Chinatown Apple edged with Flamingo Pie
Needles: Susan Bates Circular  US 6 (4.0mm)

Mods: I did the I-cord edging which is recommend in The Opinionated Knitter
Things I Love: That my niece looks so cute and that the yarn is a girlie but not too girlie color.  I also I made sure things were machine washable and dryable.
Facts to Remember: That not all the buttonholes will be used.

Um…… You dressed me and now you want me to what?!?!

Hey I fit! Great job Uncle Churchable

Pattern: Knitted Garter Stitch Blanket in Sheepsdown by Elizabeth Zimmerman
Yarn: Knitpicks Comfy in Coffee
Needles: Brittany US 8 DPNs

I finish up the frillies right as I meet Baby Rose.  “This blanket will be a touchdown” says Rose.

Mods:  Knit with a smaller yarn not doubled.  Plus I added flowers and leaves to take it from a basic blanket to a girl blanket.

Facts to Remember:  That my Man rocks since he did all the knitting.  I just helped do the I-cord edging and the crocheted flowers and leaves.
Things I Love: How simple and cute this looks.

Ooooh camera

Go away I want to sleep.  My tummies full.

Pattern: Shower’s in an Hour Baby Hat by Ranee Mueller Raveled Here & Here
Yarn: Crystal Palace Yarns Puffin Print in Dotty Pink 2 hats from 1 skein
Needles: US 11 for the small and US 13 for the large

Mods: None
Facts to Remember: How great a little bit of color will go.
Things I Love: They fit! They fit!

Ok the hat is popping off, why?

Pattern: Jeweled Steps by Cat Bordhi from New Pathways for Sock knitters Book 1 Raveled Here
Yarn: Crystal Palace Yarns Panda Wool Print Colorway: Red Cinnamon – 2 skeins
Needles: US 0 (2.0mm) Crystal Palace Bamboo circulars

Mods: I reduced the gauge for these socks but other than that it is the pattern.  Cat’s book allows you to take a pattern once you understand the basics and switch it up.  This was my first pattern from this book.  I totally skipped the baby socks.

Facts to Remember:  That sometimes there is a gauge that is too tight.  These socks are fine but I maybe should have played with the gauge so that I might not have run out of yarn with such a short cuff.  I also need to remember that pink is a hard color to photograph.

Things I Love: That I finally used up these skeins of yarn.  I got them in a swap and was so not sure what to do because they just screamed pink at me.  Lucky me I got a pal that loved pink and pink with about any color.  She was also a great sport and measured her feet with all these weird measurements so that I could learn this technique idea really well.

Lexi’s Halloween Costume. The belt is ultra reflective.

While in Hawaii, I knew I would not see my parents again until after Christmas so I presented them with their Christmas gifts plus sent Care Bears Birthday gift off as a boarded the plane.

Pattern: A Hat fit for a Boyfriend by Stephanie Nicole Raveled Here
Gifted to: My Dad (I forgot to photograph him in it – it was a bit hot in Hawaii for him to model)
Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Worsted Solid in special colorway Texas A&M – 1/2 skein
Needles: US 8 (5.0mm) Knitpicks Harmony Interchangeable Needles – magic looped

Mods:  None because this pattern rocks!!
Facts to Remember: That sometimes its fun to just jump in without a gauge swatch and that reds bleed like no other color.  Don’t worry Dad, I made sure it would no longer bleed before I gave it to you.
Things I Love:  My Dad’s Christmas Present in his school colors. I have never knit him anything before so I hoped he would like it, which he did. When I was in TX in April and saw his schools colors, I knew I had to get it for him since I am tired of buying him books about finance, health or star trek.

Pattern: Custom toe-up with gusset US 10 women’s shoes Raveled Here
Gifted to: Care Bear my BFF for her birthday/Halloween
Yarn: Spunky Eclectic Super DK in Candy Corn – 1 entire skein
Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) & US 2 (3.0 mm) Knitpicks Harmony Fixed Circular

Mods: The whole thing is a mod, but I like a squishy thick sole but it was pooling like nothing else so I switched up the needles when I got to the heel to encourage some barber pole action.
Facts to Remember: To write down, your total foot stitch count so that the second sock looks the same.
Things I Love:  That Care Bear loved her socks and has already worn them twice.  She has now dubbed me her sock knitter for life, which is fine because she will sew me project bags if asked nicely.

Pattern: Custom toe-up short row heel US 6 1/2 Narrow Women’s Shoe Raveled Here
Gifted to: My mom who is modeling them above
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Sock in Colorway 258
Needles: US 2 (2.75 mm) Knitpicks Harmony Fixed Circular

Mods:  I started these for me but ended up giving them to my mom since my original present would not leave the needles.
Facts to Remember: That spit felting works wonders and that noro has knots.  This skein had 2.  That’s why one sock looks like its knit from cuff to toe and the other toe to cuff based on the color directions.
Things I Love:  I actually like the pink and purple in amongst the other colors even though they aren’t my fav colors.  I also adore how the fabric knit up and the color progression.  I originally was going to cut out the pink and purples but the color transitions were so nice plus my mom’s not against these colors.