Current Knittings

Once my second Jan sweater was finished, I felt I could start my first fall knit.  I've been dying to start this for about a month, but made myself wait:

This is Betty, from the fall Rowan book (Rowan 50).  As soon as I started seeing previews of the book over the summer, I knew I wanted to make this sweater.  I just love it.  I have a feeling I'll probably end up making a velvet or tweed circle skirt to go along with it . . .

I'm making it in exactly the same colors as shown, and here's my start:

This is Rowan Pure Wool 4 Ply in Eau de Nil.  I really love working with this yarn.  It's not as soft next to the skin as the old 4 Ply Soft, but it is so springy to knit. The only thing I'm doing differently is to work it in the round up to the armhole, which is something I don't always do.  I think a lot of garments/fibers benefit from the sturdiness of a seam, but in this case it won't matter much, and it will make my life a little easier down the road.

My other new project is the piece I took to Turkey as my back-up knitting, in case I did end up finishing The Jan Sweater.  This is the piece from which the mean security lady took my nice bamboo needle.  I had an old teflon-coated needle in the same size at home, so I was able to pick it back up:

This one is called Adrift, and it's by Carol Feller.  I bought this pattern because I had these two balls of Malabrigo Lace sitting around that I wanted to do something with.  It's a lovely coral color called Molly. 

Here's a better look at what the finished product should look like:

Sort of a cap-sleeve vesty wrappy cardigany thing.  I've seen some lovely ones on Ravelry that have long sleeves, and it makes me wish I had three balls of this yarn instead of two.

Although my bust measures slightly larger than 30" (but not much), I'm making that size because the consensus seems to be that it runs a little large, probably due to the fabric stretching.  So I may get lucky and have enough to do some sleeves down to the elbow . . .