I am starting the Debbie Bliss baby shrug and was wondering about slipping stitches to make a nice edge for picking up stitches for the ribbed edging.  Will that work?  Just slip them purlwise? 

I was planning on Misti Alpaca for a Christmas gift but my LYS is 2 skeins short.  Anyone tried the Elann alpaca?  I have not tried any elann yarns.  Are they comparable to knitpicks...nice but not really luxurious? 

I finally chose a yarn for my mom's christmas present and my LYS is 2 skeins short.  I feel like I can eek by, though.  Here are the specs. 

Pattern (Oat Couture Village Vest) calls for 1000 yds.  It is 25 inches long per the pattern but I am making it only 21 inches long.  The 8 skeins that my LYS has would equal 872 yards. 

Would you risk it? 

I saw an ad in Sunday's paper about yarn coming into Tuesday moring today so I went to check it out.  My TM never has anything other than novelty yarn so I was surprised.  Some kid mohair, a merino/cashmere blend and a 80/20 alpaca/silk blend.  

Not too much of any one color.  Not enough of anything for an adult sweater but I did get enough of the alpaca/silk for baby sweters in purple and a nice pale blue.  The label says Queensland Collection.  Pretty soft stuff, I mean, it's no Rowan or Debbie Bliss but for 3 bucks a ball I will take it!  

They also had Boye needle sets (I think sizes 2-15?) for 30 bucks, some crochet kits and a couple of knitting books.  

Just thought that I would pass it along.

I finally found a vest pattern for my mother's Christmas present.  Now all that I need is a great, soft yarn.  The pattern calls for worsted.  I want something with a good drape.  The vest has a shawl collar and I want to make sure that it lays nicely.  She has requested something "soft and fuzzy". 

Noro Cash Iroha?  DB Cashmerino?  Maybe Rowan Cashsoft?  Any ideas?  Or has anyone worked with any of these yarns with success?

I started a chevron scarf today on Addis and am having a slow time with the k2tog because of the dull-ish point on the needles combined with my tight knitting.  I am considering going up a needle size.  I know that my LYS carries Inox. 

Does anyone know if the tips on these needles are sharper or more tapered than Addis? 

Today I (almost) finished my first sweater.  It is the childs Placket Front Pullover from Last-Minute Kitted Gifts.  Here it is in all of its almost finished glory.


It has some stitch consistency issues (the yarn is cotton/linen) that I think can be fixed with a good blocking but I am pretty happy with it. 

Now here is the problem:  It was my first expereince with Kitchner stitch (the sweater is seamless with KS used under the arms.  What a mess!  The actual joining turned out ok after tons of tugging and cursing but I was left with two holes on either side of the underarm join on each arm. 

By the 2nd sleeve I made sure that everything was pulled tight before I started and it turned out better but on the first I have a big leftover loose loop on the WS.  It does not appear (at least in my novice eyes) to be a dropped stitch.  I tried looping the tail yarn through it and weaving it in but it was a no-go. 

Any ideas? 


Right Side close up:


Wrong side screw up:


And just to butter you guys up a bit:
My sweet daughter does not care if it has an extra loop.

I am working on the child's placket neck pullover from LMKG.  The pattern states to add 5 stitches to the beginning of the row using the cable cast on for the placket.  I have never used a cable cast on before.  If I already have live stitches on the needles can I just knit into one of those stitches?  Or do I still need to make a slip knot? 

I don't know why I am having such a hard time with this. lol  I just can't figure it out!  When I try the cast on is SO TIGHT that I can barely get my needle in and it is splitting the yarn like crazy. 

Should I just work the next row of the pattern as I bind off?  Even the slipped stitches? 

Does this sound feasible?  I will swatch but I am just wondering if that sounds close to workable.  I've used LP a bunch of times but never used the bulky. 

My next project is the Doctor's Bag from Knit 2 Together and I hate working with 2 strands at once so I am trying to find a way around it.