Pleat, Pucker, a Siesta and the Queen

What in the world am I talking about? Actually, they are the projects I'm currently working on, 3 of which I cast on for this week. I do have another project that is just about finished (Butterfly top), but I can't deal w/ the seaming/sewing. I make some progress and then put it down again for a few weeks. When it's done I'll show it. For now, it's a big blue mess and not interesting enough for a progress photo.

So, onto the stuff I'm actually excited about!

Siesta

I started working on this top a couple weeks ago and should be finished any day now. This is Siesta from Knotions' summer issue, an online knitting magazine. I started out w/ size L, but then realized my boobs wouldn't fit, so I increased to make it an XL. Smart move! I don't know what I was thinking when I picked the L. I went back and looked at my measurements from when I took Joan Michael-McGowan's fit class and there's no way I would have picked the L had I actually looked at my measurements! Duh!

I do love the cables at the neckline.

I'm still not sure how the cables on the bottom will look on a pear-shaped figure. It could be flattering, or it could be horrendous. We'll see when I'm done. I will be doing 1-2 less hip increases b/c it's already long enough.

I should be casting off today, but there are some other projects that have piqued my interest lately.

The Queen

Actually, the pattern is called Queen of Beads, but I'm not into the idea of beads on my socks. The socks that have the are beautiful, but not for me to wear. As soon as I finished my Hedgerow Socks, I immediately cast on this pair which is the January 2009 Rockin Sock Club colorway and pattern. I decided to make this my commuting project on the bus and it is going so much faster than the Hedgerows did.

The picture doesn't show it, but I'm already onto the heel flap of the first sock. If I didn't cast on for the next 2 projects, I'm sure I would have finished the first sock this weekend.

But . . . .

Pleat

. . . I had to cast on for Pleat. This is from Norah Gaughan's Volume 2 pattern book. I already knit Flow from it and had always planned on knitting Pleat. I bought a bunch of Plymouth Linen Isle on sale and figured it would be a good yarn for this.

So, I cast on for this on Thursday as a new portable project that wasn't the sock. I think this is what I did Thursday night.

But, while all that was going on, I FINALLY ordered Seduce for the Pucker top I had been lusting after for the past couple months.

Pucker

The Seduce came on Friday. I swatched at dinner Friday night and immediately cast on. Since yesterday was such a dreary day, I spent it at home, watching movies and knitting. I definitely made some progress!

Pucker is from Norah Gaughan's Vol. 4 pattern book. I had planned to knit this in a color other than the one on the model, but the purple I wanted was on back order and this was the only other color that called out to me. I just could not bear to do this in red.

So, these projects should be keeping me busy over the next couple weeks. Unfortunately, they are all lightweight tops, but summer isn't really here yet to wear them. I hope by the time I finish them, the weather will have improved and I can wear them!