Lotsa Projects

I was finally able to do a knitting weekend! I spent most of Saturday and Sunday either browsing at a LYS or knitting. The weekends always go so quickly this way!
First off, Maude. She’s just about done. I finished the front on Saturday and steeked the sides on Sunday. Here’s a pre-steek pin view:

As you can see, it was way too big for me. I took off about a total of 6 inches from the waist down, and about 4 inches at the bust. BTW, the lines do actually go straight across my body. Trying to hold the camera and take a pic while wearing always gives you weird angles.
The steeking went very well and the new and improved Maude is all seamed up on the sides. I took progress pics to show how I steeked the sides and I’ll post them later this week. All that’s left on Maude is shoulder seaming and edging for the neck and armholes.
Oh, and I should mention that Maude has already been washed and dried once. It did beautifully. I turned it inside out as per the label and washed it in cold water. I dried it til almost completely dry. The colors didn’t run at all. It did shrink about 10-15% in the length but I had lengthened the top to take that into account. Since I really wanted to have an easy care top I decided to do the extra few inches. It did almost backfire though — 3 colors have only a couple of feet remaining!
I also knit up a small sachet for my mom. I ended up using a pattern in Vogue Knitting to Go Pillows book. It came out very cute and I’ll post pics later this week. I’m – ahem – a bit late in finishing this. It’s all knit up but needs to be seamed and filled.
Then, I cast on for Smooch in a navy blue Cotton Classic. Let me tell ya – thank god for Alison’s explanation of the picot edge (scroll down to the May 26th entry). There’s no way I would have figured it out based on the directions. However, going with my knittng karma of late it’s too big. I had to make an adjustment for gauge and I have about 2 inches extra. However, I’m only 6 rows in so no biggie to rip. Now that I have Maude to size things up against it’s pretty easy to tell when I’m off course.
I also cast on for a meshy knitting poncho that I’ll tell you more about tomorrow. It’s a pretty big departure for me in terms of the type of knitting I do and I’m really enjoying it!