I need to fix the neckline, the rolling is driving me a bit crazy. I’m considering pulling out the cast-on edge, kitchnering the shoulders back together, and binding off more snugly so that the neckline isn’t so floppy. I may add some garter stitch at the top – I don’t think that it will be too noticeable.

The pattern, as written, is very simple – a rectangle with lace and ribbing. I made a few modifications:

• Waist Shaping! This was pretty straightforward – when I reached a spot where I couldn’t work both the YO and its corresponding decrease, I just worked the stitches in stockinette. When Orangina is lying on a table, you can see little step-edges where I stopped working a YO, but you can’t tell at all when I’m wearing it.
• I increased when I switched from the lace to the rib portions, so that they were the same width (and the rib wouldn’t pull in at all). I also worked increases as I knit the ribbing (all part of the waist shaping scheme). This worked fairly well, but the shaping at the ribbing was really unnecessary, and it’s teeny bit loose at the bottom.

Orangina in all her glory, and a shot of the side seams with waist shaping.

Orangina is finally blocking. Look at that sea of black! Yum.

I spent the weekend knitting ribbing, ripping back ribbing, knitting more ribbing. Ribbing like a pro. I cast on some stitches between the lace and rib portions, so that the Orangina width is the same in both areas.

Let’s hope it fits!

Orangina is slowly moving along. It seems that zero yarn shops in Houston carry a size 2 circular in the length that I want. I tried on what I’ve completed so far, and the waist shaping fits perfectly, I love it! I’m planning on increasing some stitches when I start the ribbing, to avoid any potential poufiness.

I was working on a pair Jaywalkers in the Socks that Rock, but they were pooling like a mofo. So they got frogged, and a simple pair of 2×2 rib socks were started while I was flying to and from MA last weekend. I’m not wild about how the yarn looks on the purl bumps, so I may frog this and start a modified pair of Thujas. The yarn really does rock, very soft and sproingy.

Pretty flowers, huh? Rumor has it that they are some variant of Jasmine. When I pull my car into the driveway after a long day of work, I get to smell the beautiful flowers, yum!

This past weekend in Houston was gorgeous – perfect, sunny, warm weather. Sitting outside drinking cheap margaritas weather. Rob and I put in some quality time at Aztecas doing just that on Saturday.

Amy and I drove out to Katy for the Yarntopia grand opening last weekend. Now I’m not one of those people who refuse to travel outside the loop, but Katy is quite a haul from Montrose. Especially since I-10 was closed at the west loop this weekend. In any case, the store was lovely, and they carried lots of very pretty yarns. Like Fleece Artist, which is really gorgeous stuff. We both picked up some Classic Elite Renaissance (hers was orange), which I hadn’t seen before. It will likely become a very shrunken sweater of some sort.

I’m still pissed at the socks. Blackina is growing, and I begun the Somewhat Cowl from Knit and Tonic. I’m somewhat unhappy with the pattern so far – the raglan depth is waaay off, which requires knitting about 3 inches less before dividing out the sleeves. Which makes the body much smaller. Which requires some increases under the arms to fix the body measurement, so the thing isn’t tiny once you join for the cowl. Boo. It’s being knit in Jo Sharp Soho Summer in the Grove color.

Take a nice long look at the photo on the left – those socks aren’t twins. I misread the instructions for the sock on the left (the second sock), and the heel is half the height it should be. I wondered why I had so much yarn left over after the second sock. I totally thought I was done – the ends are woven in, the birds are chirping, everyone is happy. Was happy.

The photo on the right is the true color of the Koigu. Much better than the bright pink of the rest of the photos.

In any case, I’ve moved on. I need some space. Enter Black-ina.