Wednesday, August 3, 2011

WIP Wednesday (not an actual turtle)

So once again, let me apologize to those of you who came here last week expecting to see some kind of turtle made out of origami and awesome and instead got only part of the back of a sweater. Maybe someday I'll design an actual knitted, folded turtle to make up for your trouble. ;) To those of you who missed the whole kerfuffle...this project is named "Origami Turtle" in Ravelry because it's made with Berroco Origami yarn in colorway "Turtle Bay", and that was a lot more interesting than its pattern name, "Santos". I did make some more progress:
 
I wish that I had figured out the length of the sweater versus the moss stitch/eyelet pattern section measurements before I started, because I would have decreased the moss stitch sections by an inch each (I'm making smallest size). I did not want the very top of the sweater to be eyelets, because I thought joining two eyelet sections across the shoulders would look weird (or at least unbalanced). So I'm truncating the height of the final moss stitch section. Hopefully *that* won't look too weird.

A couple of you asked how the Origami yarn is to knit with. I don't mind it. It is completely and utterly UNstretchy, though. If you love love love wool, you would probably hate it. But it is not splitty at all, and that's usually what makes me dislike a yarn. It reminds me a little of a yarn I got from Habu. I think the color variation is wonderful and it has not pooled in any unattractive way, so that's good, too. The unstretchiness of it makes me a little nervous about my tension while knitting, since I'm pretty much self-taught and feel I don't know what I'm doing in that department. But the finished product looks great to me, so I'm happy so far. It'll be interesting to see what happens when I block it. In my finger-blocking tests, it seems I'll have a lot of leeway as to vertical vs. horizontal stretch...could be a good thing, could be a bad thing! If you have specific questions, I'm happy to answer them. =)

I FINALLY finished my July portion on Random Thoughts (on the 31st!)
 

I've put it away for a little bit, and put a few stitches in Darling of the World:
 

Now I'm trying to decide if I should throw myself into trying to finish the Bumblebee, or work on Dasher a bit. I think I'm going to bite the bullet and finish Bumblebee!!! I am going to have to restitch two of the wings to make myself happy...the first two I did are crap!

For more WIP Wednesday eye candy goodness, head over to Tami's Amis!

11 comments:

Nic said...

Ah, that explains it. I was wondering where I was supposed to see the turtle :). Still pretty tho.

Minding My Own Stitches said...

Gosh, I see what you mean about measuring out the moss stitch and the eyelet portions first. I don't think shortening the top moss stitch section will look odd; I think you'll be fine!

It's looking very pretty!

pinkundine said...

*laughs at the post title* excellent (non-turtle) progress. Interesting to know how the yarn knits, it's not something I've come across before. Love the pattern too :)

sadodosah said...

The sweater is looking very nice. The thing about crafting is that it doesn't always go to plan but you always learn something.

Great post.

Jenny said...

Random Thougts looks fantastic! What a beauty!!!

Wool Diaries said...

I think as long as the back and the front match with regards to the moss stitch I don't see why there should be a problem.

It looks amazing.

Frieda said...

Your Random Thoughts sampler is just beautiful ! It will truly be an heirloom piece when it's finished .

Good luck with the modifications on your 'Origami Turtle ' sweater.

Calophi said...

Good luck with your Origami Turtle modifications! The yarn is so beautiful. I can't wait to see the finished garment.

Spinster Beth said...

I love the random thoughts item ... cross-stitch?

Heather said...

I love your sweater - that yarn is just beautiful!

Sarah ~ Crafts from the Cwtch said...

That looks beautiful - hope it works out right for you.

I have my first sampler kit waiting here - I'm quite nervous about starting it as I haven't done one before!

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