Sunday, July 09, 2006

Tempting, new bangs, and a WIP

My husband and I just spent a wonderful week with his mom. We drove to Cape Cod, where we stopped at the cutest little yarn store, and my sweetie bought me two skeins of Silk Garden, which will make there debut on this blog when they've been knit up -- or when I feel the urge to post some yarn pr0n.
I also used the time away to get my hair cut. He's still getting used to the new bangs. Men, it turns out, don't like change. Too bad. I love the way this looks, everyone else seems to like it too, and I finally look good with bright red lipstick! Woohoo!

I know I haven't posted any pictures in a while, so before this turns into Batty's Boring Blog, I give you... the finished Tempting!
(...and my bangs)


I put it on in a hurry and didn't tug it straight, but on the whole, I think it looks rather nice. The bow is off-center on purpose, and I like the thin ribbon better than the gift-wrap like broader version. My bow-tying skills suck, so the hangy part looks way better than a big, wide bow.

The details: The sweater was knit on aluminum US 9s, in Debbie Bliss Cash Merino. The yarn is wonderful, soft and warm, and the main reason I altered the pattern to make longer sleeves. It feels so luscious, I want to be able to wear it year round.
My only peeve is that it produces a very, very stretchy fabric. It doesn't reveal anything it shouldn't, but when I tug at anything, it bags out and stays that way. Further tugging fixes the issue, but who wants to tug and tug and tug all day?
I almost wish I'd done some decreases around the shoulders for shaping. There are no sweater getting away problems, and I probably won't bother, because it looks fine. It's just the perfectionist in me trying to get out.

So much for tempting, now for something different: the Lotus Blossom Tank.

I just started the third repeat of the lace pattern. As can be seen, a lot of blocking will have to be done before this turns into a non-spaghetti-like piece of clothing. I've never blocked lace knit in the round that isn't supposed to lie flat. I have no idea how to go about it, but am hoping the nice people at knitty.com and my fellow LBT'ers from the LBT knitalong will know what to do. Their wisdom has been of invaluable help in my knitting life.

Why the pastels? Beats me. I hate pastels. With a passion. Yet when I saw a picture of this yarn, I had to buy some, and I knew it wanted to be a Lotus Blossom Tank. It'll take a lot of black eyeliner to make up for this piece of girly fruh-fruh!

12 comments:

Knittypants said...

Looks lovely. The color is gorgeous and looks so nice on you.

Zonda said...

Love your tempting!! Looks awesome! I like the longer sleeves too! Enjoy it!

Zonda said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Baigneuse said...

Fantastic sweater! I also think the bangs look great on you. : )

Rain said...

The haircut really suits you. Tempting looks great in red and looks fantastic on you.

I like the yarn for the LBT and think it will look gorgeous when finished.

Anonymous said...

The bangs look great! What yarn shop did you go to? I live on the Cape, and we have a few good ones.

sgeddes said...

great job on Tempting and a wonderful color! I like the haricut too.

Bad Amy said...

Your choice for LBT looks fabulous! Very pretty.

Unknown said...

Your Tempting looks wonderful!

And your LBT is coming along so prettily. I'm sure your alien heads will come out of hiding w/a wee bit of blocking. I think they're simply hiding behind the varigated color.

veritas said...

oooohhhh pretty!!!!! very pretty!!!!

soapy said...

Looks great on you as well as the color of that lucious yarn! Enjoy!

Batty said...

Thanks, all! I'm happy with the sweater, and the hubby seems to be getting used to the new bangs. People at work love them too, my boss thinks I look like Cher. Which is a big compliment, because he always wanted to be Cher.

Pam, the LYS we went to was the Ladybug, I think. It was very nice, and I wish I could have spent more time looking around.