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.

Knitting along

I've just about finished another hat:

It's based on a Raveler's take on a Banana Republic design, somewhat modified (mostly on purpose) by me.
I’ll like this when I’m done but it hasn’t been as much fun to make as I had hoped. The unelastic yarn is tiring to knit with, and a bit rough for my winter-dry fingers, though it will be fine as a hat. I thought the band was snug, but after blocking the hat the band was very loose and the upper part of the hat was maybe one row too long overall. Rather than start over I cut off the band (too tiresome to unknit), picked up and reknit the band downward, decreasing 5 stitches evenly placed in the last round before the band. (I’m still learning the right amount of negative ease for a hat made for my larger than average head.) Another issue was the big difference in gauge between seed stitch and stockinette at this weight of yarn. And for some reason I did 5 decreases per round at the top, instead of 6. But it’s turned out well anyway. All I need now is to sew on the button, now that I've found one I like, and work in the ends. It's such a surprise to find how much I enjoy hats when they fit!
In other knitting news: the Emerald Cardigan is coming along well. I've joined the sleeves and body and am starting up the yoke. I took a small detour with the white hat and also to start a solid red version of the Bundle of Joy hat for another upcoming baby.

Baby knitting

Here's a photo of my 2-day baby hat for a friend's upcoming infant:


Ravelry pattern Bundle of Joy
It's a nice easy knit, with spiraling decreases and a little icord knot on top. The cell phone photo doesn't show it to best advantage. (Unfortunately, my camera battery is dead and I've misplaced the charger.) I aimed for a larger than newborn size and may have ended up with something larger than intended. I'm hoping that it will fit well in some cold season, rather than July.

Progress in spite of myself

Continuing on with my Emerald Cardigan, I started the cuff of the first sleeve on Thursday and knitted my way through it in the course of an evening get together with some fellow knitters. Since then, somehow I've kept knitting steadily enough that the sleeve is now complete. This is in spite of various digressions, including a Friday yoga session and a couple of hours of serious attention to the much-neglected yard.

Yarn!

When I got home last night the Amy-friendly Lorna's Laces yarn had arrived from Jimmy Beans. (pix later). It's beautiful. !!