What's What on Wednesday

The back of Rachel's sweater.  Looks foreshortened because of my angle.

Here's the bodice on the back.  It's a bit compressed but will block out just fine.

Here's the band separating the body from the bodice.  Looks kind of weird, but again, will block out well.

A little bit of the front.  You can see the band and about an inch of the bodice.  Doesn't look like much right now.

The bodice patterns, which are not typical gansey patterns.  The center pattern is a nice lace.

Next to it are the 2 fake cable guys.  These are done by slipping the 3rd st from the end of the needle over the first two, then k1, yo, k1 to make the three sts again.  Cute stitch and one of my all-time favorites.

Next, again between the fake cables, is a little twist st pattern, with no cable needle required.  I love how this looks.  And the final pattern is a Jacob's Ladder, which is a real gansey pattern.

Such fun!  I might finish the front bodice today, and then knit the shoulders together, pick up and knit the sleeves.  I'm thinking of combining that diagonal pattern from the body with the fake cable for the sleeve.  I'll give it a try, and if I don't like it, I'll just frog it.  I knit, therefore I frog.

Reading?  Pagan Spring by G.M. Malliet.  Funny mystery in a tiny English village with a cute Vicar and an odd assortment of characters.

Sewing?  Nope.  Too busy knitting and working out and baking bread and celebrating the Big Birthday.  But I am thinking about it and drooling over fabric.  Not buying any, which is good.

What's What on Wednesday

Lots of knitting stuff, plus a little bit of crochet.  Sewing?  I'm so busy knitting that I haven't had the urge to sew.  But it will come back, especially if it ever gets to spring.

Knitting

A somewhat fake gansey for elder DD.  This is undyed DK yarn, although in my head it knits up to a worsted weight.  About 3.5 " done.  Size 5 needles, gauge is 4.75 sts/inch.  The patterns are authentic Scottish fisherman patterns, but the yarn is not gansey yarn.  I'll work along with this until about an inch or so below the armhole, then do a cross pattern, and then work entirely different patterns on the bodice.  Those may or not be authentic, just whatever I like to do.  Sleeves?  Whatever strikes my fancy.  No underarm gusset nor shoulder strap.  This is not the real thing, but I did underarm gussets and shoulder straps about 20 years ago and got them out of my system.

Also in process, a pair of socks for me.  This is in a high twist singles yarn, so that's why you'll see the details of the stitches so well.  No nylon in this yarn, but I've already made 2 pairs of socks in it, and it seems to wear well.  And yes, it will stretch beautifully to fit my leg and foot.

An actual finished lace scarf!  Lili Lace yarn, which you can find in my Etsy shop.  The color reminds me of chicken tikka masala, a lovely paprika with a dose of cream in it.  The truest color is the top picture, just imagine it a bit darker.  It is delicious!  I have no idea what I'm wearing it with.  I'll have to do a sweater that lives with this.

Crochet

A cute little watercolor scarf in progress.  Pattern?  Something I found in one of my Japanese pattern books.  Mindlessly easy and pretty.  Rachel sock yarn.

I call these things "watercolor" since they are of variegated colorways, and the colors appear as little splotches here and there. 

And that's enough of that.

Book on nightstand is Red seas under red skies.  This is the second book in the Locke Lamorra series, and it's as delightful as the first.  Alternate world with a couple of charming thieves.  Good fun.

And that's it for today.  Oh, I forgot to add the obligatory weather picture.  Yep, it's snowing again.  Sigh.