Update.

I have not been updating regularly for awhile, so thought I would do a general update.

I have been sick recently, and am just now feeling almost healthy again. While sick I did not knit or work on anything really. Before getting sick and in these past two days I have been knitting some. I have been working on the tunic for myself. I have the body complete and the shoulder seems grafted together. I picked up stitches along the neck and have about three inches of double ribbing so far. Once I finish the ribbing around the neckline I will finish around the arm holes and be done with it. I think it is looking pretty good so far.

I need to start working on the blue socks again soon. I am behind on my knitting so badly, but I was getting pretty burned out emotionally and just didn't feel like knitting at all. I am starting to feel recuperated (some) and hope to get the blue socks finished by this next Sunday. I won't be working on them much today, since there is so much catch-up work to be done from when I was sick.

So basically my update is that I have been sick, lol. Hopefully I will have a more impressive update at the end of the week :)

Christmas knit #11 "Muscari" socks progress.

I ripped out the "Muscari" socks after deciding the medium size was going to be too big. They would have been okay for me, but I am making these socks for a petite woman and they would have been big and sloppy on her. Starting over set me back a bit, but not too bad. I have worked on it until I have the cuff and three repeats of the patterns. I am not going to make the leg portion very long because the recipient is petite, so I will only be doing 2-3 more repeats before starting the heel.

You can see that I am working off of one ball this time instead of two. I made a center pull ball and am using the inside end for one sock and the outside end for the other. This is not much different than working from two balls, only I have to make sure to keep the strands from wrapping around each other. This is probably how I will be doing it from now on, as it makes winding less of a pain.

I was trying to show the pattern here, but it isn't really showing up very well. The pattern shows up quite well in person. In fact the designer said creating a pattern that handles stripes and hand painted yarns was her goal when she designed the Muscari pattern. I would say she succeeded beautifully, even if my pictures don't do it justice.

I am still enjoying working on these socks. I m really enjoying this yarn and especially this colorway. The colors are beautiful and they really pop. I like this "Lullaby" color much better than either "Make Believe" or "Juice box" which I had recently used. I keep thinking that if this were in a sport or worsted weight it would make a handsome sweater. (I don't plan on making a sweater out of fingering weight yarn again anytime soon, lol).

I will post more pictures once I get the heel done :)

Personal knit/new design - Tunicus Maximus.

I started a new project late last night (after midnight). I don't know why, but I just really wanted to start something fun and different than my other projects. I had plans to make a long sweater tunic, so last night I cast on and work a bit of the bottom ribbing. I am making it up as I go, but writing down the steps as I make them. Hopefully in the end I will have a working pattern for my size, then just have to figure out how to change the pattern for other sizes.

I am using size 10 40" circulars and Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky Hand Painted yarn in the color "Juicy." I wanted a hand painted yarn for some interest since I am going to keep the design very simple and clean looking. I measured around my hips to find the size I needed in inches then multiplied it by how many stitches per inch I got from my swatch. I cast on 168 stitches and started working in a 2x rib. I worked on it for a couple hours last night and have approximately 2 inches of length.

 I am really impressed with how the colors are working out. I think it looks very pretty. The yarn feels softer in hand than it did on the hank and has been nice to work with so far.

I plan to knit 5-6 inches of rib before I start working stockinette. I am making this out of chunky yarn and thought a bigger band at the bottom and around the neckline would help balance out the look.

I won't be working on this very much as I still have 3 projects to complete from Christmas. This is something that I will work on when I need a change from little needles to give my hands a break.

I don't know why I decided to name this "Tunicus Maximus" but I thought it was both fun and kinda cheesy.  It doesn't really have anything to do with the sweater tunic or the design I am going for, but I guess I was in a gladiator type mood when I started working on it. We'll see if I decide to keep the name or if I come up with something else later.

I don't really know what the protocol is when making a pattern similar to someone else's. I have been wanting to make a sweater tunic since about fall time, and have seen several patterns that I liked. I particularly liked "Diva Tunic"by Phoenix Bess. (I do believe you need to have a Ravelry account (it's free) to view the links). I am drawing most of my inspiration from this pattern, but I am not copying it exactly. I did not purchase her pattern and my tunic will look similar but not exactly like it. I will be making my tunic longer and will be fashioning the neckline and arm holes how I want. I will also be doing the shaping in a way to suit me. I am creating my tunic from the ground up while looking at other tunics for inspiration. I just wanted to say where I was getting my inspiration from and to give a nod to Phoenix Bess. I like many of her designs and think she makes beautiful clothing. I have one of her books in my wishlist on amazon that I hope to buy in a couple months. Her stuff is definitely worth checking out.