Flow

I've got a really nice drapey pattern for a top called Flow from Berroco. I bought some elann yarn to work it. It's a small gauge yarn knit on size 8 needles. It makes for a slightly sheer fabric. The whole thing is done in stockinette. I'm knitting a gauge swatch now.

Heel

I've been wanting to try to knit socks. So I cast on to some dpns and it was a DISASTER. I had sticks flying everywhere. I decided I would try using a long circular needle (magic loop) and I've been getting the hang of that pretty quickly. I cast on some leftover yarn just to see if I could do it. I really just wanted to try a sample heel. I was able to cast on, knit in a rib stitch, knit stockinette, do a short row heel turn and work the gusset! I did all of that at the same time that I was trying out continental style. My stitches are all different sizes, but I really think that I could get the hang of it. Cool!

Green cloth and organic towel.

After finishing the beachcomber sweater, I worked on a couple of very quick crochet projects. The green washcloth was made with Peaches N Cream ombre that Elizabeth gave me before she moved. The dishtowel was made with some leftover Lion Brand Organic Cotton. They provided me with the instant gratification that I've been missing.

Finished Beachcomber

I spent 6 intensive hours finishing this ... on the hottest day so far this year. I think it's 92 degrees outside right now and I'm wearing a wool sweater! I love it, even with all of my boo boos.

More than half way

I've been working in diligent bursts on this damn Beachcomber Tunic. I would have liked to have it finished for my trip to the beach. I am finished with the knitting. All that is left is to crochet one sleeve and the front and then to construct it and the do the finishing. That's all. Well, it was too hot to wear it anyway.

25% finished

I finished the back piece of the Beachcomber tunic. I am blocking this in pieces in the hopes of making it easier to stitch all of the parts together. The knitted part turned out okay and the crochet part was easy!

I fixed it all by myself!

Pictures go from bottom, up.

Debbie Stoller is the BEST! Her Stitch 'n Bitch Knitter's Handbook gave me the idea for how to fix my knitting. I decided that the only way I could fix it would be to unravel to the row below the errors. Debbie illustrates how to do this by running a very thin needle threw a row below the errors and then unraveling to that point. I don't have any other needles. I do have darning needles and plenty of yarn.

First, I had to take the work off of the circular needles. I did that by running piece of yarn through the stitches that were on the needle. I removed the needle and laid the work flat. At that point the piece became very curled up. So I pinned it to the ironing board and applied steam. That worked great, it still curled but not quite so much.

Then I ran another needle and thread through the stitches in the row below the error. I removed the top thread and unraveled. Voila! I was able to put the piece back on the needles with only one dropped stitch. I can't believe I did it!