Holes Wrapped in Yarn

I blithely packed up my yarn, needles and a stitch dictionary with a vague idea of what I might do with them while on vacation. I shopped for lace panels in the dictionary, and fell in love with this one:

Then for no real reason at all, I decided to work it in the round. Which is really lucky for me, because look what happens on row/round 4! This pattern calls for increases and decreases to happen on consecutive rows, which means that if I were working flat, I would have to do those maneuvers from the wrong side! Which I have never done before! And is scary! 

I've been bitten in the arse by the old "Lace Knitting vs. Knitted Lace" distinction. For those who don't know; Lace Knitting is when you make all the increases and decreases on the front/knit side of the work, and just work even on the back/purl side.  Knitted Lace is when the action happens on the back/purl rows as well. So as long as I'm knitting this circularly, things are really normal, because I'm always on the front/purl side of the piece. But when I separate at the armholes and start working back and forth, I'm going to have to learn a whole pile of new sexy party tricks. Knitting is so ceaselessly amazing: There is always something you've never done before. 

Dreams of Spring

Well, it's finally Spring Vacation for the Family Von Huff. We're heading to the coast for a little break, during which I want to be knitting something new. After all this winter with literally miles of yarn in my lap, I'm ready for something a little lighter. Something with maybe a little lace in it...

I've been hoarding these beauties since a dear friend bought them for me for my birthday. No, I will not tell you which birthday, because you're far to polite to ask. Isn't it gorgeous? Dream in Color Smooshy, in "Plum Paisley".  I have about 900 yds, so whatever I come up with, it won't be very big, no matter what.

I'm leaning toward something camisole-y. Some sort of pretty, vest/tank-like item that looks and feels feminine and hints of warmer days.

What are your favorite sleeveless patterns? Happy Solstice!

FLAK Finale!

Another non-digital thing I did last week was actually knitting: I finished my FLAK!  I still cannot get over how much yarn is in cables. 23 skeins is just ridiculous. And look how huge it was before the side seams:

I had to stand on the bed to get far enough away from it to take the photo. It's actually too big to fit on my blocking board (4' square!). So you know what? I didn't block it! Craziest thing in the world: I just couldn't find a reason to do anything to it, other than sew it up. The knitted fabric is exactly how I want it. I guess all that swatching at the beginning paid off.

Heart-shaped cables, baby. Oh, yeah.

Ta-Daa! Not that this photo shows it, but it fits me perfectly. Our friend Ms. Szabo knows her way around a cabled sweater; that's for sure. Her instructions for measuring are spot-on. Writing directions for other knitters to make their sweaters actually fit is just about the hardest thing in knitting, and Janet really gets it right.

One of these days I'll grab a kid and make them photograph the sweater actually on me. Or I'll snap a shot of it on Lindsay, who keeps swiping it when I'm not looking. Not that I blame her; I wish I could describe how cuddly and soft and altogether smooshy it is.

So now I need your input, Gentle Readers. Several of you have asked me to sell the cable charts that I designed for this, which I'm only too happy to do. But I don't think I should write a traditional knitting pattern for it, since the construction and math are really Janet Szabo's and can be had so easily by purchasing her workbook. What do you think; Can I sell just the charts, or might it be confusing if somebody thought they were getting the actual pattern for my sweater? Kindly drop a comment on what you think I should do.