Recently in Sweater with Eyelet Sleeves Category

Pattern: Eyelet Pullover, Gedifra Highlights 41
Yarn: Gedifra Modern Cotton in 3219 Pink
Needles: US8

It fits! It fits! And the sleeves drape so well.

Modifications galore on this one: longer sleeves, narrower body, shorter body, different neck, different hem. In short, a re-engineered pattern. Next time I'll reference Ann Budd's sweater book; I was feeling adventurous and ploughed ahead on my own. I added eyelets to the bottom of the front and back, and in the picture the hem's still rolling but that's because I need to block it. I reduced the number of cast-on stitches for both front and back and recalculated the decreases for a shorter body. I also redid the neck because I didn't like the roll-thing happening on the original pattern. I lengthened the sleeves at the forearm before the elbow. The eyelets are deceiving, though, because they are hard to measure correctly, being so elastic. As a result, instead of skimming my wrist bone the sleeves cover my knuckles. Well, that's okay. Click here for a full recap of this project.

I figured I should work on the rest of my projects before starting any new ones. I'm almost done with the rainforest colonial roving, and I'm halfway with the right side of the smock jacket. I'm thinking of what to take with me as a project; right now it's either socks or a mini Bobbi Bear. I have the pattern and I'm going to resize it for worsted yarn, but that could be a hassle. So I'm thinking socks at this point. As for pattern and yarn I'll have to look around...

Reading: Finished both Queen Noor's and James Patterson's books. Queen Noor's autobiography was very interesting. She speaks very candidly about Middle East politics, Jordan's role in it, and her life with King Hussein. Hers was a Cinderella story. The 3rd Degree by Patterson was less choppy than his other books, for which I was glad. There were still some loose ends, but then again I really wasn't expecting it to be brilliant. Has anyone read Sue Grafton's alphabet series, and would they recommend it?

Not reading anything this week, just packing!

Miles of eyelets and a thick book. When I raised my head from my work this weekend it was almost evening. But I'm done with both! There is only seaming left, and my input into Cara's K1R2.

Remember Poppy, the little bolero I made last year? (Refresh your memory here.) I received this a couple of months ago and *finally* remembered to post it. I also made her a little hat. Isn't she adorable? I want to smush her face! And I'll get a chance to, soon!

Reading: I, Claudius by Robert Graves. There are so many names in this book. At page 54 it's starting to get interesting, so I think I'll stick with it. Last week my easy reads were Marian Keyes' The Other Side of the Story and James Patterson's London Bridges. I've already read all of Keyes' other books, all of them very light in tone and quirky girl stories. Patterson's book, however, I didn't enjoy very much. I've read all his books and his writing has gotten to be very... spare. As in short sentences, short chapters (it ended at chapter 86?) and a whole lot of mental filling in. If you started reading his Alex Cross novels with this, you wouldn't like it very much. Start with his earlier stuff. Also, finished Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. An interesting book, not a bad way to finish, but I think it could've been better. That's all I'm going to say for now! Go to K1R2 May 2 for the discussion, okay?

Happy Earth Day everyone!

I have a feeling I will totally appreciate this pullover come high summer. It's got lots of ventilation but at the same time it's long sleeved, so it's got the shadey side too. The sleeves will need a good blocking, look how it's leaning to the left. It's because of the eyelet pattern: (yo, k2tog), rep to end. It would probably lean to the right if the pattern was reversed. I'm about a third done on the second sleeve. I should start blocking the pieces, shouldn't I, so that I can start immediately on seaming once the second sleeve is done.

Reading: Here's my short stack for the next 2 weeks. I'm way past halfway on Strange/Norell, having read 300+ pages in the span of 2 days. I tell ya, when I read, I *really* do read. Curiously enough, I find myself reading it with a British accent in my head. Is it me, or does anyone else do anything strange when they read books?

I missed meeting with Marjorie late last week. Marjorie flew all the way from Hong Kong! Marjorie, I'm sorry we didn't see each other! It would've been nice to see her but somehow our schedules didn't work out. Go check out her version of Grace, that lovely cabled confection from Debbie Bliss' Cotton Angora.