Almost finished

Knitting update: I've completed the first round of short rows for the Emerald cardigan's shawl collar, as well as the button holes (I made 2 instead of just one). Yesterday I went to G Street Fabrics and found 2 nice big buttons in a compatible rusty shade. (I had put off finishing the collar until I was sure of getting buttons to fit the buttonholes.) The size has turned out well. I'm liking the shawl collar, but may make it wider than the pattern calls for.
I've also started a hat, using yarn (Kollage Creamy--milk and cotton!--in turquoise) and pattern purchased as a kit from Paradise Fibers. Except for being a bit softer, the yarn reminds me of crochet cotton. It's used double for the hat. It's a bit of a chore to knit--no elasticity, quick to slip off the needles and to unravel stitches down a row or two immediately--but makes a nice soft fabric. I'm just not sure it's going to be much of a hat. It seems too thin to be warm.

More knitting, with some math

I've been struggling with the border for the Emerald cardigan, and finally got the numbers to come out right. There are supposed to be: equal numbers of stitches picked up along the left and right fronts, and also a total number of stitches that is a multiple of 4, plus 2. Or to put it differently, an odd multiple of 2. I got way too caught up in sophisticated planning of stitches per section even though, with this boucle yarn, I can't see the stitches/rows all that well, which is a serious obstacle to counting them! Finally I settled on: 16 stitches across the neck, 15 along the bottom ribbing on each side, and 80 additional stitches spread however evenly I could manage along each front--no fancy counting of little sections. At this point I've done several rows of the border, including the buttonhole rows (I decided on 2 buttons rather than the single one called for in the pattern) and will finish the shawl collar, short rows and all, in the next day or so, I sincerely hope.

Starting the yoke

I'm plugging away on the Emerald Cardigan, having joined the body and sleeves and started my way up the yoke. The pattern calls for cables bordered by eyelet along the raglan shaping, but I am skipping the eyelet and substituting a one-stitch reverse stockinette edge to the cables, decreasing outside this stitch. Also, I am turning the cables towards the sleeves, rather than all in one direction. This is the exciting part of a bottom-up raglan: the accelerating ascent of the shoulders. I hope it all works out and fits!

Stopping and starting

Here is the completed red baby hat:


I have a good bit of yarn left, so I've started booties. The difficulty is having no idea if the booties and the hat will fit the same baby at the same time.
I've started--several times!--a striped raglan based on the pattern in the new Color Style book. I'm using TLC Cotton plus, which is a crisper yarn than the original, so I'm afraid the jog at the color change will always be more obvious than I would like, but I like the colors: yellowish green called "kiwi", a medium, slightly periwinkle blue, and a variegated blend of these 2 colors and related shades.