Hello knitters! My apologies for being out of touch; work is to blame. You know when people say "I am so busy at work.. etc etc" as an excuse for not having enough time? I used to think that this was a convenient way of getting out of things, but not really valid. Its possible I may have been mistaken. possible. Anyway, one deadline met (mostly!), who knows how many to go, and the knitting goes on.

Demi is quite close to being done. Obviously, she wasn't finished for Christmas, because I didn't work on Demi for nearly the whole of December. However, SQ's finished sweater was quite motivating.

Check out how the diamond pattern ends right at the collar on the front! It took some knitting trickery to get this to happen. After finishing the front the first time, I noticed the shoulder shaping started a inch or two higher than the back, so took that opportunity to rip back a few rows and line up the front collar with the top of diamond.

The collar is in progress, to be followed shortly by all sorts of seaming.

ok, SQ! After many requests from my inquiring sister, here is a photo of the nearly-finished Demi:

Demi is not *totally* done; I still need to sew on the buttons. before that, I need to purchase some buttons. Then we will see the true complete Demi.

After spending a good half hour in M&J buttons the other day, I still managed to buy the wrong ones. I got some dead boring greenish ones that match, but Demi deserves interesting. Perhaps I will go back for the ones made from cow's toenails. (they were cool-looking, really)

Did you see I designed Blossom's new home for whispering pine? Quite happy with the final design. I love doing blog designs; especially custom ones that fit the author. do check it out!

I am pleasantly surprised at how nicely Demi cleans up with the addition of buttons along the left shoulder. Previously, it looked like the shoulder piece was too long and the neckline inexplicably funky. Add the buttons and it all comes together.

Project Details:

Pattern: Demi from Rowan Vintage Style

Yarn: Peace Fleece Worsted in Ancient Fern, 5 and a half skeins for the XS size. The peace fleece is really soft and warm; I'd recommend it for this sweater.

Needles: Size 7 addi turbos; Size 6 for the ribbing. This was one size down from the recommended needle size, and resulted in a bit tighter fabric.

Modifications: knit the sleeves and body a bit longer, trickery to get the front diamond to line up with the collar

and, after deliberation, I kept the diamond pattern on the back. I thought that removing the diamonds with bobbles on the back of the sweater would further emphasize the front motif, and I'd rather have a sweater that is the same on all pieces. Its not uncomfortable or anything.

The sides have this interesting cable action that converges at the seam. It might look even better if I had blocked the sweater. I didn't block it because it didn't look like it needed it. Maybe I'll steam the sides.

The buttons are a relative of the aforementioned cow's hoof buttons. The cow's hoof ones are translucent and shiny like shells, with the same wavy texture as these. I had no idea that buttons were so important, but am glad I went back and got these ones, even though it was $20 for 5 of them.

Demi is easily the warmest sweater I own. I've been wearing it in the evenings for about a week now. I am happy with the final result. Its not a fast knit by far, and I might not be done if it wasn't for SQ's encouragement.

Demi knitters, keep on knitting! Its worth it!

Yes, I broke down and kntited something for my cat. My little cat is always curling up into a cat ball on the couch or my bed, without a bed of his own. He needs a spot to curl up. And I need to use up some yarn. thus, the kitty pi.

Here it is, unfelted.

I used 6 skeins of Elann's Peruvian Wool, exactly what I had left from the ribby cardi (yessss for stash busting).

I've already begun the process of convincing Sam that his kitty pi is the optimum place to sleep. I mean, Mari's cats seem to love theirs. Purly knit a cute one for Simon, which he inexplicably rejected.

Sam avoided his new bed at first. He's been trained to stay away from the knit goods, apparently. However, once I managed to finagle him into it, he didn't want to leave. success!

Now, on to the felting. I am considering felting this by hand, in the sink or something. Would this take forever? The other option is the laundromat, but it would have to go through a complete wash cycle... there is no stopping before the spin cycle.