Emilee Knits

Law school is hard. Sewing up Serrano is hard. I need something easy to knit, something soothing.

Enter Mr. Greenjeans.

I started this last night, and during the course of “Stranger than Fiction” I got a good few inches done.

This is for my mom. I have had this yarn for years, and until now I haven’t felt that I was doing it justice.  First I started a simple vest, because the yarn was so beautiful I wanted the color variations to take the center stage. It didn’t really turn out, and I frogged the yarn way back in June 2006. For awhile, I was planning to do a sweater with corrugated rib cuffs but the texture of the yarn made corrugated rib very stiff and messy looking.  I don’t have much of it, so I’ve been really afraid to start something and then run out of yarn.  This pattern doesn’t require a ton of yarn though, so I think it’ll be fine.  This is the perfect soothing project for fall, which is exactly what I need right now.

I am almost done with Serrano.  I finished knitting the sleeves on Wednesday, which was definitely sort of bittersweet.  I love this lace pattern, and it’s really fun to knit!  I’ll have to find something else to do with it. 

I was pretty concerned about all the seaming, but it’s going ok so far.

This seam isn’t perfect but it’s not embarassing or anything.

 I’m pretty excited about  a little trick I figured out to save me some seaming.  The pattern intructs you to stop working on the side bands when it’s time to do the neck shaping.  Then you’re supposed to work the band until it’s long enough to go all the way around, then sew it in place.  I was concerned about how it would look if I sewed it on, so I decided to knit it on instead. 

I picked up stitches starting where the band had left off on the right front, knit the stitches that were on hold on the back neck, then picked up stitches going down the left front. 

When I got down to where the stitches were on hold for the left band, I knit those too (except for the one that was supposed to be slipped). Then I purled back across, purling the last band stitch together with the neighboring stitch that I had picked up.

Every wrong side row I’ve been purling the last stitch together with the next picked up stitch.  Then I slip that stitch on the right side because it looks tidier that way.  I think it’s working really well, and I’m excited to finally show you the finished sweater soon!

On the first full day that the fall issue of Knitty was live I got over 1,500 visitors.  As you can see, that was a bit above average. 

Thank you so much to everyone who left a supportive comment.  I really appreciate it.  I’ve been obsessively monitoring the internet for mentions of my baby, so much so that I didn’t really knit this weekend.  So far the comments have ranged from “OMG I love it!” to “it’s too retro” and “it looks like a pineapple.”  Honestly, if that’s my negative feedback I think I’m in really good shape.

I am absolutely blown away by this experience so far.  It’s so exciting to see my pattern made by Purl Diva, Coffee and Knitting Needles, Libi Lou, Knaughty Knitter, someone in Norway and others. They each had a slightly different take on it and it’s been wonderful to see.

Oh my goodness.

I’m in Knitty!

I want to thank my beautiful mother and sister for being my models. 

You guys are wonderful and I love you.  And now you’re famous fashion models too!

I can’t tell you how honored and delighted I am that one of my patterns made it into Knitty. In the five years that I’ve been seriously knitting I have used at least a dozen Knitty patters, all obviously free of charge.  I am so happy to finally give back!  Thank you Amy, tech team, and other designers for another fabulous issue.

I’m getting there.  I’ve done 5 pattern repeats on the sleeves, and I’ll do one more repeat before I begin the shaping for the sleeve cap. I would love to be done with this sweater soon.  Elin finished hers recently which has made me even more anxious to finish mine.

 I’ve decided to do 3/4 sleeves, so the ideal weather for this sweater is around 65-70F.

According to WFSB it’ll be warm for awhile yet, but I shouldn’t waste any time.  The temperature is pretty unpredictable around here in the fall, and I’d be disappointed if it suddenly got too cold to wear it comfortably.  The actual knitting shouldn’t take too much longer, but I’m concerned about the seaming.  Oh well.  The only way to improve is practice, right?  I really hope that a week from now I’ll be able to show off my finished Serrano.

Thank you all so much for the good vibes. It’s a little scary, and I’m very grateful to have the support.

Since starting law school I’ve been knitting more than when I was pulling 15 hour days at work, but less than when I was pulling 8 hour days. I’ve made some progress on the Serrano sleeves, but I’m sure you’re not interested in row-by-row updates. Instead, I decided to do the questionnaire that I saw on Robin’s blog.

I’ve done it
I want to do it
No interest

• Afghan
• I-cord
• Garter stitch
• Knitting with metal wire
• Shawl
• Stockinette stitch
• Socks: top-down
• Socks: toe-up
• Knitting with camel yarn
• Mittens: Cuff-up
• Mittens: Tip-down
• Hat (too many to count)
• Knitting with silk
• Moebius band knitting
• Participating in a KAL (Hmmm… I know I’ve started some, but I can’t think of any that I’ve finished)
• Sweater (Yes, very much so)
• Drop stitch patterns
• Knitting with recycled/secondhand yarn (if recycled Sari Silk counts)
• Slip stitch patterns
• Knitting with banana fiber yarn
• Domino knitting
• Twisted stitch patterns
• Knitting with bamboo yarn (wool-bamboo blend)
• Two end knitting (???)
• Charity knitting
• Knitting with soy yarn
• Cardigan
• Toy/doll clothing
• Knitting with circular needles (I do a lot in the round, and knit literally everything on my Options)
• Baby items
• Knitting with your own handspun (no interest in ever learning to spin)
• Slippers
• Graffiti knitting (???)
• Continental knitting
• Designing knitted garments (you’ll hear more about this soon enough)
• Cable stitch patterns
• Lace patterns
• Publishing a knitting book (it’s not that I’m not interested, it’s that it has virtually no chance of ever happening)
• Scarf
• Teaching a child to knit
• American/English knitting (almost every day)
• Knitting to make money (no, that’s why I’m in law school )
• Buttonholes
• Knitting with alpaca
• Fair Isle knitting
• Norwegian knitting
• Dying with plant colors
• Knitting items for a wedding (as a wedding GIFT)
• Household items
• Knitting socks (or other small tubular items) on two circulars (I prefer ML)
• Olympic knitting
• Knitting with someone else’s handspun yarn
• Knitting with dpns
• Holiday-related knitting
• Teaching a male how to knit
• Bobbles (I’m usually not a fan, but I love Demi)
• Knitting for a living
• Knitting with cotton
• Knitting smocking
• Dying yarn (once, it wasn’t pretty)
• Steeks (Eunny’s Deep V Argyle Vest is on deck)
• Knitting art
• Fulling/felting
• Knitting with wool (virtually all the time)
• Textured knitting
• Kitchener BO
• Purses/bags
• Knitting with beads
• Swatching
• Long Tail CO
• Entrelac
• Knitting and purling backwards
• Machine knitting
• Knitting with self patterning/self striping/variegating yarn
• Stuffed toys
• Knitting with cashmere
• Darning
• Jewelry
• Knitting with synthetic yarn
• Writing a pattern
• Gloves
• Intarsia
• Knitting with linen (I have some CotLin in the stash)
• Knitting for preemies
• Tubular CO
• Freeform knitting
• Short rows
• Cuffs/fingerless mitts/armwarmers
• Pillows
• Knitting a pattern from an online knitting magazine (tons and tons)
• Rug
• Knitting on a loom
• Thrummed knitting
• Knitting a gift
• Knitting for pets
• Shrug/bolero/poncho
• Knitting with dog/cat hair (Ick, on purpose?!)
• Hair accessories
• Knitting in public