Neither Hip Nor Funky

So as we were packing for Alaska, I decided that I needed another vest for the chilliness about to ensue. I started one beforehand, and I didn’t quite finish in time to pack it up. Instead, I took it with me and finished the knitting on the ferry up. I then started to wear it right away with my other layers of wool as it was quite cold on the ferry in the evenings.

The bonus of finishing a knit while being touristy is that you can take picture of the finished knit in front of fantastic scenery, and no one will notice if the knit is still lumpy, bumpy, and unblocked.

See, I bet you only notice color and pretty glacial ice.

The trip was wonderful and I visited more ice with the uber cool and friendly Alli from Knitosaurus and her boy Lou. She was a great Juneau tour guide volunteering to show P-funk and I all around. Although we somehow did not end up knitting, we did have a yarn swap.

Me, Alli, and camera shy Oso

I’m in love with glaciers, but we definitely saw much more than that. (You can visit my flickr set if you are interested in more photos.)

And back to business as usual:

I think the color is more accurate in the first photos, but this gives you blocked pictures. I am a firm believer in wet blocking

Pattern: Ms Marigold modified, bust 34.5
Yarn: Yarn Nerd 1200 MHz Buttered Popcorn (yum!)
I got this yarn as part of a swap with Adam and I love it. It is one of his newer bases and the color is amazing. It is not a super soft merino; I think it is best described as soft yet sturdy. Although I can not vouch for the wear yet, it definitely feels like it will not pill as quickly as many merinos.

Needles: Knitpicks US5 and Addi Turbos US4

Mods: A bunch. I used the Ms Marigold as a basic template. I increased for the neck every other row instead of every fourth row. I also did some increases on the back to make sure I would have the same stitch count for front and back. After I connected in the round, I did alternate skeins as I was knitting. I know many people feel this is a pain. However, if you are knitting in the round on a sweater it feels quite natural to just pick up the yarn from the row below when you get to it and continue knitting. The subtly shaded result instead of risking pooling is definitely worth it. (Well, it is worth it for larger knits. I don’t think it is worth it for socks.)