More Finished Knits!

Last night I stayed up late and finished all the stuff I made out of the Moda Dea Sassy Stripes (the color is Swish).

The reason for staying up so late is the edging I put on it. I've always wanted something with a whip stitched edge, but I knew it would be a lot of work. It's so much work that if I had stopped before finishing, I know I would never have finished it. I used some yarn from stash for the edging.

So, I found out two things about whip stitched edges. I really hate to do them. But I really love the result.

See? Isn't it pretty?

It works especially well with the cast-on and bind-off edges I used. The edge shows exactly where to insert the needle so that I get perfectly even whip stitches.

The total set includes: mitts, previously made in another almost matching yarn that's been discontinued, and are not shown here; a hat (with button loop on the top); mittens to go over the mitts, also with button loops at the cuffs; boot toppers for my navy Wellingtons; and, of course, a loooong scarf!

It was all made to go with this coat (which hasn't yet arrived):

and the Celtic sweater, which is my next project to finish.

You can't see it well in the photo, but the coat has a crochet slip stitch around the edges in an off white. That makes it look sort of hand stitched, and will go well with the scarf, etc.

All have a rich, expensive, hand-made feeling about them. I have a pair of Uggs boots in the same color as the coat, which I think will look smashing with it for times when the Wellies aren't appropriate, like when it's just cold. I suspect that I can use the boot toppers with them, too, if I want to.

So, the moment of truth comes for the sleeves for the Celtic sweater. When I was doing the cable for the shoulder straps, I originally planned to make drop shoulders. Then, for no reason I can explain at the moment, I actually made a fitted shoulder without thinking about the fact that it would mean I'd have to knit a sleeve cap. I'm actually going to have to write out the directions for that so that I'm sure the second one will be a duplicate of the first. Can't have miss-matched sleeves!

I've also been delaying working on the sleeves because I have no idea how I want the cuffs.

Do I want the set-in sleeves to act like normal set-in sleeves until the elbow (or just below) and then flare into bell sleeves? Probably. Sleeves that taper all the way to the cuff just don't seem like they'd look right with the rest of the sweater.

I'd actually like to do a knot like the one on the top of the hood on each sleeve and have it go into a braid like the hood does. But I'm stumped about how to do that.

Once I solve those problems, there are pocket linings to knit, and a few places where a couple of things need a sewn stitch or two. The braid goes right off the front of the sweater into button loops, but the loops want to twist. A stitch or two will make them lay flat and look professional (once they're blocked).

Then there's the blocking and the buttons and I'm ready to  wear it in public and impress people.

I need some new clothes to go with all that. Some of my winter shirts are so threadbare that you can almost see through them. They'll need replacing. Most of them are over 10 years old!

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In other news, you probably already heard this, but George Takei got married or partnered, or whatever they're calling it these days.

You can see Nichelle in the background, and almost see Walter, too. Read more about it here. There are lots of photos, too! I envy everyone at the wedding. Nichelle is such a good hugger!

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I wish I had some science fiction news, but I just read io9, and feel like I know nothing. If you're a SF fan, you should read it!

We have Lost to look forward to tomorrow night on SciFi of course. And Sarah Connor, of course, if you want to miss the recap of Heroes.

The really big news Monday evening is the season premier of Heroes, though. One of my favorite shows is back! 

My DVR runneth over!

Have a great weekend!

Photos and Science Fiction

No, I don't have  a photo of the mittens yet. I haven't blocked them.

But I have so many photos today that another one would really jam things up.

Friday, after I left JoAnn Fabrics, I was standing out by the curb, waiting for the bus and I looked up and saw this:

One of the prettiest skys I've ever seen. The fact that hurricane Hannah was arriving later in the day may have had something to do with it. It really was pretty, though.

Yesterday, I bought my bad weather boots. By that I mean boots for bad weather. Pay attention to this. It doesn't seem like it, but this will eventually be knitting-related.

I have a choice between a long scarf and boot toppers or a really long scarf to finish up my blue multi set of stuff.

I chose the boot toppers. So, the finished parts of the set include: mitts, watch cap, and mittens. The still-to-be-finished part includes a scarf and boot toppers. The boot toppers haven't been started yet.

So, the photo shows you what one of the boots looks like all by itself.

I have to have my charms project for the Harry Potter KAL done by the first of October, and I just got the final component to make them, so I started on that last night.

Here's a photo of the sample swatch. I just want white (glow-in-the-dark) stars strewn across a dark blue background. I used the fluorescent orange beads for the sample because I can't envision a project that could possibly use beads in orange, so I can keep the swatch without unravelling it because I know I won't need the beads.

Here's where I've gotten so far:

The navy yarn does not glow in the dark. All the white stuff does. It's going to be very Ravenclaw.

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Now on to the science fiction news!

The SciFi Channel is putting on some neat stuff this week during their daytime rotation.

Tomorrow will be a synopsis of the first year of the new Doctor Who, starting with Rose, and finishing with The Parting of the Ways. Since there are too many episodes to fit in that time frame, they will be skipping some of them. One that will be skipped that I will miss is Boom Town. The story isn't among the best, but I love the scenes with Rose, Mickey, Jack, and the Doctor. They're such a terrific group! 

But The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances will be included, as will Bad Wolf and The Parting of the Ways. So, you'll get to see the episode where we seem to first get to meet Captain Jack Harkness. You'll also get to see where we actually first get to meet Jack in The End of the World, even though you won't recognize him. And you'll get to see what Rose does that will change Jack forever.

Oh, and, very important, the Doctor Who episode Blink will be on SciFi on Friday morning at about 5 am. Blink seems to be everyone's favorite episode, and the Doctor hardly appears in it at all!

Continuing with the daytime schedule on SciFi, Wednesday will bring us Stargate SG-1. Highlights from that include 200, where the team tries to help Martin Lloyd with a script for his TV show, and The Quest (a two part episode) followed by Line in the Sand, where the team has an adventure based on the Arthurian legend.

Thursday during the day on SciFi we have The Twilight Zone, followed by Dark Angel on Friday.

Tuesday evening, SciFi will be showing a new episode of Eureka, (Phased and Confused) right after they show again the episode from last week and two weeks before that. If you want to watch Fringe, the new Eureka episode will be rerun later.

Tuesday evening will also be memorable for the premier of Fringe on Fox.

Well, it's Fall on TV. We new that good, or at least new things were coming.

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In the meantime, I'm looking forward to Saturday and the Renfair. The question is, do I want to dress up for this? Holly pointed out that Malaia and John will be wearing garb, and she probably will, too, unless it's really warm.

Well, that about does it for one day.

Have a great Monday!