Progress Report: Royal Blue Sweater, Emerald Sweater, Houndstooth Socks, and Lace Scarf

*Runs in out of breath*

Sorry I'm late, but I'm here! Slipped off the wagon a bit, but I'm back on, so let's get on with this week's Progress Report.

1) The Royal Blue Sweater is still a work in progress, it seems, or rather, I seam.





I've begun sewing in the insert in the side seams and have got half of one side attached.

I think I said last week I was going to do it on the machine and started to do so, but it was so very ugly so I took it out.

Then I started seaming on it today while I was watching the first episode of Call the Midwife (great show, by the way). I was nearly at the end (of the seaming and the show) when I realized that I was seaming the front to the back without the insert and spent the rest of the show removing that seam. It's going to be a busy week, so here's hoping that's done to show you next time.

2) The Emerald Sweater is nearly finished!



It has been seamed and all of the ends woven in. I even wore it for most of today over a button-up with denim shorts. The last thing to do on this sweater is the collar, which will most certainly be done by next Tuesday.

I have to say that the fit leaves a lot to be desired. There are several inches of positive ease and no waist shaping, which makes the shoulders a bit too wide, the sleeve holes a bit too deep, the sleeves far too short, and the body a bit too boxy for the short length. In the future, I will make the following changes:

a) if I intend to keep the length the same, I will subtract a few rows from the top of the shoulder on the fronts and backs and add them to the body just before the armhole shaping;
b) add a little waist shaping;
c) lengthen the body for most sweaters;
d) lengthen the arms considerably.

I am contemplating adding some sort of embellishment to the sweater as it is to make it nicer. So far ideas are:

a) darts to cinch the waist (invisible, of course);
b) some sort of embroidered animal;
c) beads or paillettes, which are so a propos of this season. I've got some lovely pearly beads that I could sew on or I would purchase a sequined fabric or ribbon to put on.

Whatever it is, I'd like it to be semi-permanent to easily removable because really, I like the idea of being trendy, but I didn't just make a whole sweater only to wear it for one season.

Thoughts anyone? I would love some advice here.

Next item!

3) I started these Houndstooth Socks two weeks ago at knit night, both of which I alluded to briefly last week.



I wanted to knit something small and easy while I was at knit night so I brought two balls of Knit Picks Palette in sort of giraffe colors.



The colors are, as usual, a bit muted in the picture but you can see that there is not much contrast between the colors. I chose these intentionally because I'm not one for bold patterns in bold colors: I can only handle one at a time.

The chart is from April Ries' Houndstooth Beanie and Mitts pattern (also on Ravelry).

I didn't look very closely at the shape of the houndstooth when I was searching Ravelry for a free pattern or I would have noticed that this one is rather odd in shape. I'd like to make another pair with a royal blue (I've been saying that cobalt blue is my favorite color this season) and more contrast, so I'll find a different pattern with a nicer chart or just tweak this one until I like the shape.

4) Two days of last week were spent knitting this scarf for my mom's birthday.





I did this one on the machine, so I wanted something simple and fast with a good fanfare to effort ratio. I used my 3-prong transfer tool (because it's the largest I have just now) and just transferred three stitches over to the right one needle all the way across. Then, I moved the pattern to the right one stitch every other row to give a nice diagonal lace effect. The equivalent in handknitting is yo, k2, k2tog that repeats to the end, knit next row straight, then move the pattern one stitch to the left (i.e. k2, k2tog, yo). It has a similar look to the Clapotis without knitting on the bias.

The knitting was finished on the morning of my mom's birthday, but it was still drying throughout the day, so I didn't give it to her. I decided to sew the ends together and make it a cowl that could be doubled, but the ends aren't the same so I'll just weave in ends and call it good.

Before I forget, it's made of one skein of Plymouth Yarns Baby Alpaca Lace, a 100% baby alpaca laceweight in a gorgeous rusty red color (Color 2095). I bought this at Yarns Etc years ago and have been meaning to make a lace shawl for my mother ever since. I should have had it balled at the store but I knew I wouldn't use it right away and I didn't want the yarn sitting in a ball for years. Ultimately, I spent almost two hours winding it into a ball by hand. I have finally decided to bite the bullet and get this ball-winder this week.

5) Finally, I've done a little spinning that I haven't shown. None got done this past week, but I pick it up every now and then.





From Three Waters Farm, it's really wool for little needle-felting projects, but it's nice practice yarn for spinning and the colors were gorgeous together.

That's all this week, folks. Don't forget to leave me suggestions for my sweater below in the comments, follow me here and on Twitter (@GenniSimon) to see what shenanigans I'm up to during the week, and tell me

What have you been making this week?