FOs

I'm really into finishing things right now. I've finished (that means weaving in loose ends and all) two things this past week. I finished up my Gold Necklace Camisole first and was so inspired that I cranked out the last section of my Road to China Citron. I also tackled another biggie....the draft for our new website! I feels really good to check stuff off the "Things I NEED to Finish List"!
The Gold Necklace Camisole is knit out of Katia Bolero using the Aran Necklace Pattern in the Spring 2010 Interweave Knits Magazine. TJ came in with the pattern and as soon as I saw it, I knew I would have to knit it. The construction of the top involved an intricate necklace-like yoke and straps and a short row bodice. The challenge was too great not to knit it and I immediately pictured it in the Gold Bolero yarn . In usual Junko fashion, I cast on and started knitting!

I should have had 8-1/2" after the first set of instructions, I had 6". No worries, I'll just knit til I have 8-1/2" and instead of making the XS, I'll follow the directions for a M. After knitting half of the Necklace Portion, I realized that I would now need to follow the directions for the L to get the correct dimensions. When I got to the pick up stitches for the body and begin short rows part of the pattern, I had to readjust again and was now following the directions for the XL. C'est la Vie.

After the short rows, it's all knitting in the round, so round and round I went until I started to see the cardboard ring that the yarn was wrapped around. Instead of following the pattern for the hem (why start following the pattern at this point), I did a seed stitch border to get as much length as possible without cracking into a new ball of yarn.

Conclusion: I love the sweater! It fits (although just a tad shorter than I want). It looks like the picture! In fact, I love the sweater so much that I took a picture and posted it on Ravelry for all to see that I can actually finish something.

I was in the middle of a trip when I finished the camisole, so I dug my Road to China Citron out of the bottom of my flight bag. I had put it aside after completing section three of the pattern (the shiny, gold cami called me). Citron is a popular, semi-circular shawlette/scarf from the Knitty collection. The pattern is uses lace weight yarn, so what do I use? Road to China Light, a fabulous dk weight yarn of course.


The Road to China Light is my new favorite yarn. It is a soft, luscious, gorgeous, yummy blend of Baby Alpaca, cashmere, camel and silk that knits up like a dream! The yarn felt soooo good after working with the schpoingy Bolero. Section Four went quickly. Section Five was another story. The pattern tells you to kfb in every stitch..well with 273 stitches, that's a whole lot of kf&b! But, I was determined to finish another wip (work in progress), so I put my head down and did it!

Conclusion: I love my Citron and I love Road to China. Although it doesn't really go with my Gold Necklace camisole, I'll be wearing both to death... they are my new favorite things. Bye bye clapotis, Hello Citron!

Next Up? Can a "5 Hour Baby Sweater" really be knit up in five hours?