PixieRose Knits

2012-01-12T09:01:00.004-06:00

So 2012 already. Unlike previous years I'm not buckling down with big goals this year. I'm going to try to blog more and I'm going to try to use more stash. But no set goals or resolutions. Just going to continue doing the things I was already doing. I do want to participate more in some of my groups on ravelry. Would eventually like to learn something new, or work on a technique. But I'm not going to stress it.

So far this year I was able to finish up the stockings I was working on. I of course never blogged these. I knit my friends family stockings. They were suppose to be for Christmas this year. But we all know how that goes. I finished the one for their daughter before Christmas and had it mailed to them to be able to use this year. But Mom and Dad's stockings didn't get finished until after Christmas. They actually still haven't been mailed. But will definitely be there before Christmas this year (hehe). The stockings knit up pretty easy once i figured out what I wanted to do.

the pictures are taken all at different angles and distances. They really are all the same size.

They were a lot of fun to do. I didn't use a pattern. I just winged them. Started with a provisional cast on did some garter stitch at the top. Then a band of white to duplicate stitch the names onto. Then a little color-work border, followed by a color-work design (different for each stocking), the border again. Then a short row toe and normal plain foot. One more little color-work detail before doing a shortened wedge toe. Then I picked up the provisional cast on and did a 4 stitch applied i-cord edge with a little loop to hang it with.

Pattern: personal

Yarn: Cascade 220 (7803, 7818, 8886) and Patons Classic Merino (winter white)

needles: us 5, 6, and 8 (3.75mm, 4mm, and 5mm)

Started: first stocking:Dec 13

Finished: last stocking: Jan 3

Was really proud of the color-work patterns. I spent several hours charting different designs to try to find exactly what I wanted to use. Here are the pages of designs. :) They were a lot of fun to try to sketch out.

I finished a hat for a friends daughter. Another pigtail hat. Pretty much the same as the one I did before, only in purple instead of pink. Even the same yearn. :) could have finished it much faster, but ran out of yarn and was lazy about going to grab another ball. Plus Justin's family came into town and I didn't get much knit time in. excuses excuses i know haha.

this is Ryan modeling the hat. He however doesn't have pigtails. hehe

Pattern: modified nippertails

Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Tesoro in purple

Needles: us 5 (3.75mm)

started: Jan 5

finished: Jan 11

The exciting project is my socks from stash project. We revamped the group a little this year with some theme/challenge months. This months theme is to use the oldest sock yarn in stash. So for me it was some Artyarns ultramerino 4 and some dale of norway/dalegarn baby ull. The artyarn is in a few shades of pinks and greens and the baby ull is a pretty cordinating green color.

I picked broken seed stitch socks. First I cast on 72 stitches on size 2.0mm (us 0) needles and started knitting. After about 3-4 inches I realized that this sock was coming out to big. So I ripped and restarted with 64 stitches.

pic of the sock before frogging.

So far things seem to be coming along much nicer. I'm absolutely loving the pattern. Its quick and fun to work on. I did a combination mini gusset short row heel. I recently did this heel on a sock for Justin and wanted to try it out for myself as well. I'm not super thrilled with how it looks in the picture. But I'm not ripping it back to rework at this point. I'm also a little worried that I'm going to run out of yarn. Always a fear when its old yarn that you can't get anymore. I started with 1 ball of each. Should technically be enough for a pair of socks. But since the ribbing, heel and toes were all going to come from the green... means I'll be using more green then multi colored. Thought about finding a cordinating pink for the toes... but I might just use the multi. Not sure yet. Still thinking about that. But since I'm about to work the toe on the first sock... I might need to make that decision sooner rather than later. hmmm.... opinions?

December post (final 2011 post)

2011-12-30T18:27:00.002-06:00

2011 is coming to a close. I accomplished a lot of things this year. I think more than anything just spreading the fiber arts love was a major accomplishment. Its an addiction and needs to be shared.

I started off the year with 2 knit related goals. To try to make at least 1 blog post a month and to knit more from stash. I think I did a pretty good job of both of those. There was a couple months in there that slipped thru, and there was new yarn brought into the house. But I knit from stash. I looked at yarn sales a lot less. I stuck to the blog challenge and actually wrote entries. Or tried to. I'm not the best blogger, but I feel like I'm slowly getting better. Practice makes perfect, right. hehe

To recap 2011 I had 33 finished knits. I blogged all but 7 of them. 1 of that 7 was a sample knit that can't be shared yet. 2 were Christmas projects, just not shared yet. Not really sure why the others didn't get blogged. Probably because its me and I'm just not the best blogger. I'll work on that for 2012. I have 3 current wips. It was a productive year.

I hope everyone had a great 2011 and can't wait to see what all is in store for our 2012!

swap package

2011-11-16T14:41:00.002-06:00

my awesome package from AMIE!

Its fantastic and I love everything.
ziploc bag full of bar cookies. Caramel Ginger Spice to be exact. They are Nathan approved :)
Cappuccino, lotion, and a mug. these were purchased at a local craft fair.
handmade snowflakes
a necklace and earring set (she knows I love snowflakes!)
yarn from my favorite indie dyer. this is JulieSpins glimmer in compote. its absolutely gorgeous!

a few days later I got this in the mail. Which opened up to reveal this:

your all jealous i know. and you well should be. Its divine. Its this amazing salted caramel turtle pie. Salted caramel on the bottom with pecans in the middle and then dark chocolate caramel topping it off. its definitely sinful.

Thank you so much Amie for such an awesome package. :) love you!

Update!

2011-11-04T23:11:00.000-05:00

Finally, an update from me! I've been too busy with work to even think much about crafting, but hopefully that will change soon ... long story short, I quit my job. Today was my last day. I am officially unemployed until I find something that won't be as stressful as what I was doing. So, in the meantime, I should have time to knit! Hopefully!

I also managed to send off and receive a lovely swap package for the Four Seasons Swap. I may be biased, but I think I have the best swap partner EVER. ;)

So here's what she sent me ...

And a better photo of the yarn that is more true to color, thanks to the addition of my multi-colored shower curtain in the frame:

Gorgeous yarn, by the way, absolutely gorgeous. Road to China Light/Silken Jewels ... definitely drool-worthy. And that color is to die for.

The little loopy thing in the top photo may look familiar to you, and so may the pumpkins, which are even more adorable in person than they look in the pics. If so, that's because you saw those in the previous two posts on this blog. Which were, of course, posted by Jessica, since she's my swap partner. I love that we're so much alike that we were partnered together in a large-ish swap based on what participants have in common.

The rest of the stuff in the top photo, in addition to the necklace and the yarn and the pumpkins, is a bath/body set of warm vanilla sugar (Luke approves, by the way), "puppy snips" (little clippers, very cute), buttons that just so happen to coordinate very well with the yarn but are also very pretty on their own, and something that was just perfect for our relationship ... a parachute pin. Jess and I always called each other "parachute" as a nickname because of how we were there to support each other and catch the other when they fell. Yeah, that part of the package almost made me cry, but in a good way.

The bottom picture has the food-related items: chocolate bread, cookies, locally-produced honey and a recipe. Mmmm.

AND. My package included one other thing. Birthday socks!

Sorry, I didn't realize this photo wasn't oriented correctly until it was already uploaded. Oh well.

One last photo:

I told you that she's the best swap partner ever. And the best friend ever, too. Thanks, Jess!

fun quick project

2011-11-01T07:48:00.002-05:00

Pattern: Cable Braided Necklace by Olga Buraya-Kefelian
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Solemate
Needles: 3.5mm
started and finished: May 18

I knit 5 of these little necklaces for my 2011 Handmade Pay It Forward I did on Facebook. They are super fast and very addictive. They are the perfect mindless knitting and double also as fantastic instant gratification projects. I did get a picture before starting to hand these out. But they all looked exactly the same.

Jess's October Post (another FO parade)

2011-10-31T18:11:00.004-05:00

Holy crap not sure what happened. I was doing so well getting at least 1 post a month. Then Summer happened. OK its October 31st... Halloween. But more importantly the last day of October so if I don't post tonight I'm 3 months behind. And yes I have things to post about!

Since my July post I have finished a number of things. first up are a pair of socks I knit for my friend Donna. They were originally suppose to be toe socks. But after a few failed attempts at toes I just made them regular socks.

Pattern: just winged this pair
Yarn: Red Heart Heart and Sole in Spring Stripe
needles: 2.25mm
started:June 16
finished:July 12

Next I made a pair of socks for my friend Emily's husband (Jeremy who is also my friend). He did my family a huge favor and these were our way of saying thank you. They are fantastically warm. I love the way these socks turned out. Although it did take almost an entire sock to get use to working with how slippery this yarn was.

Pattern: my basic 3x1 rib pattern
Yarn: Misti Alpaca Hand Paint Sock Yarn
needles: 2.25mm
Started: July 13
Finished: August 8

Next up I made Ryan a cute little dino sweater. At least I think its pretty darn cute. Ryan seems to like it a lot too.

Pattern: Diplodocus by Kate Oates
Yarn: Patons classic Merino in various colors from stash
Needles: 3.75mm and 4.0mm
Started: August 8
Finished: August 29

My friend Ruth Smith is expecting a little girl. I almost never pass up the opportunity to knit little girl items. So I knit this little set.

Pattern:Scrappy Socky Stripey Cardi by Fawn Pea
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Solemate (leftover from previous projects)
Needles: 3.0mm
Started: Sept 18
Finished: Sept 22

Pattern:Closeknit's Striped Baby Boots by Sarah Owens
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Solemate (leftover from previous projects)
Needles: 2.25mm
Started: Sept 11
Finished: Sept 17
The booties were also a KAL with a friend Janice Marchick. She wanted to learn how to knit them. So we did a quick little KAL. Since I needed a gift for Ruth seemed like the perfect plan. Then I made the little cardigan to go with them. win win

Special for the month of "Halloween" I knit these adorable little felted pumpkins. They are super cute. A fast fun knit. However I did struggle with the felting process. Not easy at all to felt in a front loader machine. So I ended up running them thru the dryer several times after also failing to get very fair hand felting. sesh... you can still see that they could definitely stand to be felted more (tons of stitch definition left on these suckers) but I just gave up and finished them. They are still pretty cute even if they aren't perfect.

Pattern: Miniature Felted Pumpkin by Tracy Batchelder
Yarn: Patons classic Merino (its cheap and easy to get local)
Needles: 6.5mm for the pumpkin 3.25mm for the stems
Started and Finished sometime in October. I knit the pumpkin parts first which just took a couple hours. Then forgot to felt them. Finally felted them and knit the stems and did all the sewing, just another few hours. They were a very quick project. They'd been in my queue for forever... I'm so happy I finally made them.

To finish off my October post my friend Kelly Jakubowski and I did a little KAL. A winter mitten KAL. These are fabulous. I love them so much and they are perfectly warm for these cold northern winters.

Pattern: All the Water by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino (again cheap and readily available)
Needles: 4.0mm and 4.5mm
Started: October 1
Finished: October 13

Blooming Stitch Shawl

2011-07-06T20:41:00.003-05:00

Pattern:"Blooming Stitch Shawl By Mary White"
Yarn: Beyond Basic Knits 50% Merino / 50% Silk Lace in Innocence
Needles: US 5 (3.75mm)
Started: May 24
finished: June 13

This shawl came to me at the exact right time. I needed it. It is beautiful and elegant and everything that you can hope for in summer knitting. I worked the 7 leaves/8 bloom version. There is a smaller version (5 leaves/6 blooms) that is equally gorgeous. The yarn is perfect. Just the right amount of sheen and bounce. It couldn't have come together any better.

The pattern is available as a download on "Ravelry" and also via "patternfish".

(a little hesitant to post this picture of my posterior but it does give the best idea of shawl size)

Like I said this came to be at the right time. I test knit this for Mary and there were a few mistakes in the original write up (there are with ALL patterns this is why there are test knitters). But Mary is fantastic and totally on the ball with keeping up communication with her testers. It was a pleasure working with Mary. The pattern came out fantastic and the lace is gorgeous.

This shawl is a bugger to block, though. I struggle with blocking on the best of days. Then this lace comes along. Mary let me know before I started blocking that it was a pain. She wasn't joking. But once you give in and let the shawl move the way it wants and not try to force it into something you want. It will all come together and work out great. It tends to tier, and does not need to be blocked to harshly. Mary gives adequate notes on this in the pattern. She also provides some blocking tips to make things go a little smoother.

I also think this shawl would be absolutely lovely with beads added. Not sure if I will get a chance to do that or not. But I'm sure someone will and it will be divine. If I get the chance to knit it again I totally plan to add some beads in.

Lorna's Laces Solemate

2011-06-26T12:02:00.003-05:00

I was able to sample knit Lorna's Laces new sock yarn. Solemate. It's 55% superwash merino, 15% nylon and 30% Outlast. Outlast is a viscose fiber that interacts with your body’s microclimate to moderate temperature from being too hot or too cold. The yarn itself is a little beefier than Shepard Sock. But just as lovely to knit with. The colors really shine on this yarn.
I knit 4 socks for them. And since I'm in Cookie A's sock club I have another skein in stash that I will knit up soon. Not only did I get to knit the new sock yarn but I debuted it in 4 new colors. I will be getting more of this yarn and more of these colors.

Pattern: Side Swipe Sock by Stefanie Goodwin-Ritter
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Solemate in the "L"
needles: 2.25mm
Started: May 2
Finished: May 5

This is a very basic sock pattern. I believe its one of Stefanie Goodwin-Ritter's very first patterns. It's like a plain jane pattern with a little twisted extra running down the sides. Its a simple quick knit.

Pattern:Down and Up Lace Socks by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Solemate in Buckingham Fountain
needles:2.25mm
started: May 6
finsihed: May 9

This is a very interesting pattern. It has the best of both worlds of sock knitting. Toe up and top down. A lot of complaints about toe up socks is that the ankle/heel doesn't fit as well as top down. The complaints about top down is the risk of running out of yarn. So this sock starts at the ankle. you work the heel flap, pick up gusset stitches and work down the foot and finish the toe. Then you go back and pick up around the ankle and knit up the leg. Making it very easy to customize fit and you can knit up until you run out of yarn.

Pattern: Everybody Wants Sox! by Catherine Wingate and Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Solemate in Grant Park
needles: 2.25mm
started: May 15
finished: May 17

Originally written for sport weight yarn, but works up just as lovely in sock weight. Knit per pattern. If I were to knit it again (which is likely) I'd probably carry the design down the top of the foot.

Pattern: Oh So Beautiful Socks by Judy Sumner
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Solemate in outer drive
needles: 2.25mm
started: May 9
finished: May 13

This was my favorite of the 4 new colors I got to work with. I absolutely love it and think this was the perfect pattern to show case it. The pattern is very easy to memorize. Once you do the repeats go pretty quickly. I think I should have made the heel flap a little longer on this one. You can see it curve a little funny on my sock blocker.

The great thing about sample knitting is that I follow the pattern. Now this is a good thing and a bad thing. In some of the patterns I struggle knitting because there are things I would love to change to make it (what I would consider) better. But the fun part is that it forces me to try things that I might otherwise avoided. All 4 of these socks have a different heel. Yep they are all traditional heel flaps but the pattern down the heel is different on all of them. I often stick with classic heel flap and gusset turns. If doing a sock for myself I generally do a slip stitch heel flap. So its fun to try out new things and see them work. I wont say that I'd do some of the them again. I think I'd opt for a sturdier heel flap than say the plain stockinette one. But its nice that I've at least knit some different ones and can see how they are.

Since I knit these and sent them back to Lorna's Laces to use at TNNA I can't vouch for how the socks wear. The yarn is nice to knit with. Like I mentioned it is beefier than shepherd sock. I like shepherd sock on 2.0mm and I knit Solemate up on 2.25mm. So not a big difference but it is noticeable. Its soft and pleasant to knit with. A nice smooth yarn. Not sticky or to fuzzy. Just pleasant knitting. It does feel like it will hold up very nicely. You know how you knit some yarns and you can just tell that they wont hold up well? Well this one just feels very sturdy and that it will last.

Jess's May Post

2011-05-31T21:25:00.003-05:00

Holy smokes its the end of MAY!

ok As far as knitting goes in may I have done some. But there isn't a single item I can share with you. I sample knit 4 socks for Lorna's Laces. In the new sock yarn that is being released at TNNA in June. And with new colors. They are gorgeous. you are all jealous. trust me! Then I knit 3 necklaces for gifts. I've given 2 of the 3 away but I want the 3rd person to get hers before I share pictures (not to mention they are out of leftover sock yarn... the lorna's laces that isn't released yet in the new color also not released yet. haha). I've knit a few hats and I'm working on a lace project (another test knit).

Next month I should have some pictures and what not to share with you. This month has been the month for hush hush knitting I suppose.

But I wanted to make a quick post to let you know I have been working. Because my goal is at least 1 post a month. and secret knitting or not this is a post gosh darn it!

Swap!

2011-04-28T22:26:00.000-05:00

I got a really super awesome package today in the mail from the best swap partner ever! Who also just so happens to be the best best friend ever. (Hey, what can I say? We were matched based on interests.)

I was absolutely floored by the magnificence that was my package. I mean, seriously, check this out:

AND -- get this -- that's not even all of the package. It's most of it. But the cookies (up at the top) are kind of obscured, and the dishcloths aren't in at all, and did I mention that we agreed to include each other's Christmas gifts in this package as well since neither of us had managed to get those in the mail yet? None of the Christmas stuff is included in the photo.
So, let's take a closer look. First, we have some nail files, cute notepads (the polka dot one is a magnetic pad, the others are sticky notes), a white gel pen (which I've actually been looking for and have been unable to find), some other cute little pens in a nice little plastic container and the cutest tiny highlighter, the perfect size for sticking in a knitting bag with your current charted project, also in the plastic container.

Then we have the knitting-related stuff: two hanks of Cascade alpaca laceweight which is just begging to be petted, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's "Things I Learned from Knitting" book and a "knit picker," which is basically a teensy latch hook useful in picking up snags and stuff and is pretty much the coolest thing I've ever seen. (Except maybe my Christmas gift yarn ... more on that later.)

And then there's the kitchen-related stuff: an awesome floral coffee mug with a cute little butterfly sitting on top of the handle, 3 handknitted dishcloths/scrubbers and cookies! Cookies that my husband foolishly thinks I'm going to share with him. Psh.

I failed to get photos of my Christmas gifts earlier, so those will come some other time. But she sent me some bath and body stuff (great smelling!) and awesome handspun alpaca that I love, love, love. Seriously. Love it so much.

Jess, you're awesome. I'm so lucky!

Jess's April post

2011-04-28T13:30:00.002-05:00

I seriously don't know where this month went. One moment I'm complaining that the year is moving by so slowly... next thing I know the month of April is almost over. Whew. It has been a busy couple weeks. Not that I have much knitting to show for it tho.

I did finish Ryan's sweater.

Pattern: Cardigan for Merry
Yarn: Knitpicks andean treasure
needles: 3.0mm
Started: Jan 29
Finished: April 3

Love love love this sweater. The cable was a pita at first. But the more I worked the more it started being intuitive, I guess. Perhaps I just finally memorized the repeat. The finished results are definitely worth it tho. Ryan's only complaint is that I left off the buttons. So I might have to go back and add those in. He keeps trying to find the zipper hehe. Its cute.

I also finished a pair of socks. The ska mystery KAL

Pattern: SKA March Mystery sock 2011
Yarn: Fleece Artist Kidazzle in silver
Needles: 2.25mm
Started: March 25
Finished: April 13
This is a great sock pattern. I'd consider knitting it again at some point. It goes super fast and fits great. I also really enjoy this yarn. Like I said before I am a Fleece Artist fan, and this one was no disappointment.

As far as the last project I was knitting on in the last post... well I'm still knitting on it. I'm on the foot of the second sock. Hopefully I'll finish today or tomorrow, so that they can count for the march challenge (you have 2 months to complete the socks for the challenge). But not really sure. We'll see.

I also finally got a chance to sit down at my wheel a little this month. I had about half of some fiber spun up. And forced myself to finish it. It was some alpaca fiber that was gifted to me. It wasn't the cleanest fiber to work with. Lots of VM. But I think the end yarn turned out pretty nice.

I'm going to try my best to finish up the current socks I have. I am also waiting on yarn from Lorna's Laces so that I can knit up some samples for them for TNNA. Since I am waiting on that I'm trying not to dive into anything big right now. I have some lingering UFO's that I might pull out until the yarn arrives (ahem bearclaw blanket that is very close to being finished). I have been talking with Amie about starting a new sweater. We are both REALLY excited about that KAL. But with our schedules not sure when we will be able to actually start it.

YAY!

2011-04-01T21:12:00.001-05:00

I did it, I really did it! My Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup History of Magic OWL was accepted! I got a total of 150 points for Hufflepuff for doing those four hats (to reiterate: Viking Hat, Hermione Hearts Ron, Gamer Hat and Button-Tab Hat) in three months. Normal homework projects were worth 15 points each, plus optional bonus points, so 150 points for four hats is pretty good!

I'm so proud of myself for setting this goal and meeting it!

I got this badge to post on my Rav profile for completing my OWL:

ETA: Assuming I don't get any bonus points this month -- and I don't really expect to since the Reading Mitts and the carnation were the only homework projects I turned in -- I earned 336 points this term.

Final March project

2011-03-31T22:19:00.000-05:00

I managed to squeeze in one more very quick project this month: a crocheted boutonniere-style carnation pin in white with pink tips. This project serves two purposes: it demonstrates capillary action (for a Nerd Wars prompt) and it reminds me of David, who loved Marty Robbins, singer of "A White Sport Coat and a Pink Carnation." I couldn't knit a white sportcoat, so I just incorporated the white into the carnation along with the pink. ;)

Oh, and this also works for a House Cup assignment; this month's assignment for Herbology was to knit something flowery. What's more flowery than a flower?

My good camera is being uncooperative at the moment and giving me a blue screen every time I put the card into the computer, so you get webcam photos instead.

I used scraps of embroidery floss in white, baby pink and leafy green (my own color names). All in all, I'm guessing it only took around 10 yards of the embroidery floss, but it did use all of the pink. (I only bought one skein.) And that was just for the final round!

Jess's March Post

2011-03-31T15:29:00.004-05:00

So I'm a slacker. I posted kind of early in Feb and then not again until the very last day of March. clearly Amie has done much better. Since lets see she has posted like 8 times since my last post. o well tho. I have been knitting. I made some progress on Ryan's sweater. But then opted to put it down and cast on a couple socks for the SKA challenge. oh and of course my first Cookie A. Sock club shipment.

ok Sock club first. It was a small struggle to talk myself into the club. But come on 2 cookie Sock patterns, 2 cookie recipes and a skein of yarn every other month for an entire year! VERY hard to say no to. The first shipment was AWESOME.

A skein of String Theory Caper Sock in a color called Solas.

Cookie recipe number one was molten dark chocolate chunk. Amazing cookies that I've already made them a couple times

Second recipe was white chocolate macadamia nut. A totally different cookie but very good.

I decided to knit the first pattern in the club color.

Pattern: Rippling Leaf Socks by Cookie A
Yarn: String Theory Caper sock in Solas
needles: 2.25mm
Started: Feb 18
Finished: March 11

I'm still working on the second club pattern. They are gorgeous socks and I picked something I loved out of the stash to knit them with.

Pattern: Haleakala by Cookie A
Yarn: Madelinetosh Sock in Logwood
needles: 2.0mm
Started: March 29

I also cast on for the SKA club challenge (the Haleakala socks also qualify for the challenge as long as I get them finished in time). The challenge this month was "lace" and they had a mystery KAL. I love their mystery socks. But sadly I wasn't able to cast on until all the clue's were out. But the sock is very lovely and a super quick knit.

Pattern: SKA March Mystery sock 2011
Yarn: Fleece Artist Kidazzle in silver
Needles: 2.25mm
Started: March 25
Have only completed the 1 sock because I wanted to get the Haleakala socks cast on before the end of the month. I have until the end of April to finish both pairs of socks to qualify for prizes in the challenge. This is a new yarn. It definitely lives up the fleece artist name. I'm not generally a fan of mohair (kid) in yarn... I'm slightly allergic. But I couldn't pass it up and I'm glad I didn't. I loves it. :)

Last but not last the progress of Ryan's sweater.

Pattern: Cardigan for Merry
Yarn: Knitpicks andean treasure
needles: 3.0mm
Started: Jan 29

I finished the back and both sleeves pretty quickly. The cable is taking me a bit longer. Especially since I keep putting it down to knit other things. I have all the pieces knit and I'm working on the hood. Then to sew it all together and call it done. But sock knitting has taken over my time. I will finish this sweater tho. hopefully before casting on anything else new. If I wait to long Ryan will outgrow it before he is able to wear it at all!

I DID IT!

2011-03-31T01:28:00.000-05:00

Oh my God, I did it, I really did it! I finished the button-tab hat, and with time to spare!

Because it's late and I really should be in bed, no more details tonight. Just photos so I can post my victory on the House Cup forum and get credit.

And finally, all four hats for my OWL all together:

It's hard to tell in the small version of this picture, but if you look closely (or click to see the big version), you can tell that each corner of the Hogwarts crest symbolizes one of the four houses. So do my hats. Each hat was designed to represent one of the houses, in accordance with the History of Magic OWL project rules. I arranged my photos of the hats to correspond to the houses' representation in the crest. The Hermione Hearts Ron hat, which I made for Mom, is my Gryffindor hat because Mom is one of the strongest, bravest people I know. And because it's based on a hat worn by a Gryffindor, of course. The Viking hat is for Slytherin because of the Vikings' ruthlessness and because, well, if my brother was sorted into one of the houses, it would definitely be Slytherin ... he's just too cunning and devious and mischievous for any of the others. ;) (Love ya Bub.) Luke's Gamer Hat symbolizes Ravenclaw because Ravenclaws are bookish and, for lack of a better word, nerdy. As is Luke. And I'd be willing to bet that if Hogwarts had gamers like Luke, they'd be Ravenclaws. And finally, my button-tab hat. That one's for Hufflepuff because it's for me, and I'm a Hufflepuff through and through, as I've learned during the past three months that I've been participating in the House Cup. 'Puff pride! Yay! ... Okay, moment of nerdiness is over now. Seriously, though, I do think I'd be sorted into Hufflepuff, because I am loyal and compassionate and that's just what Hufflepuff is all about.

Now, to go post this and then, bed!

Photo dump

2011-03-30T21:22:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I've neglected my blogging duties. Sorry. I blame craziness at work. I have managed to get a few things finished ... namely, the gamer hat, a pair of fingerless gloves and a button-tab hat for myself, which isn't QUITE finished yet but is close enough. (It's blocking as we speak. Er, type.)

Even this post won't make up for my blogging failure, because I admit, I'm blogging mainly just so I have a place to host my photos so I can post them in the correct House Cup and Nerd Wars discussion threads. So it's going to basically just be a photo dump with little commentary. I'll try to at least explain what everything is, even though it really will probably be pretty self-explanatory.

First of all, the gamer hat on my sexy (but sleepy) husband:

(I love his blue eyes. Okay, I'll stop talking about Luke. Oh, one other thing. He loves his hat. Yay!)

Okay, now to show off the nice-looking (I think) decreases:

I divided the hat into six sections and worked paired decreases to make those nice lines, and I worked some right twists/mini cables along that line to prevent ladders.

I think it worked out very nicely, and I think I may be using this technique on more hats from now on. In fact, I already have; I used the same decreasing technique (with 5 sections instead of 6) on my brown hat, the one I just finished.

Here's a close-up, but you still can't see it very well due to the light gray yarn. I think it'll show up a little better on my hat.

Okay, and now for close-ups of the designs. First, the p-wing. I never did figure out how to make the top right part look right, but that's okay, it's recognizable enough.

Screw attack (it doesn't look as flat on the lower left corner in real life):

The tri-force, which I think turned out the best of all, even though the hat wasn't laying completely flat when I took this photo:

And the energy tank, again with that not-laying-flat issue ... this one didn't turn out as well as the others, mainly because there's not enough contrast between the blue and the black, which wouldn't be an issue on a larger scale because it wouldn't be as stripy-looking with the blue and white. But it does look much better in person, and the gray doesn't show up nearly as much in real life. The flash highlighted it a lot more than natural lighting does.

Okay, and that's it for the gamer hat. Next up, the reading mitts. I used the Susie's Reading Mitts pattern, but I made them much (MUCH) smaller than the pattern called for. They're only 24 stitches around. But they fit perfectly. These are knit from Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL yarn in a deep teal color that I'm in love with.

I fulfilled a requirement for a Nerd Wars prompt while knitting these mitts: I made Luke take photos of me working on them in a public location. In this case, at the Eastland Mall in Evansville, Ind., but as I'm sure you can guess, that's definitely not the only public place that saw action on these. Actually, I did very little of the work on these at home. They were knit almost exclusively in public places.

They were still in the beginning stages at that point. I think I was still working on the first glove there. But as you can see, there are, in fact, two of them:

And they fit!

Both of them, in fact. (Don't lie, I know you missed the webcam photos! Okay, really I was just too lazy to bother with the real camera yesterday, and I wanted to show them off. Don't ask how I managed to take a webcam photo with both hands in the photo. That thing doesn't exactly have a timer on it. It wasn't easy.)

Okay, that's all for now. Since the button-tab hat is still blocking, I haven't taken photos of it yet. I'll do that when it dries, I promise. I have to, if I want credit for my OWL, which, yes, I finished! Well, almost. I still have to sew the buttons on that hat once it dries and weave in the ends. But that won't take 15 minutes.

I finished it! Yay!

Oh, I guess I can go ahead and give the details on that one. It started out as a Robin's Egg Blue Hat and ended up inspired by the Robin's Egg Blue Hat. I didn't even bother to look at the pattern. I did a rectangular button flap with two buttons instead of a rounded one with a single large button, I used light worsted weight yarn instead of chunky, I used my own decreasing pattern ... I just winged it. But it's a basic beanie with a wide seed stitch brim and a small button tab on the brim. It's knit from Knitpicks Andean Silk in Cinnamon and has two mother-of-pearl buttons on the tab.

Gamer Hat is almost done!

2011-03-07T23:23:00.002-06:00

I'm really surprised at how quickly this project has gone. I thought it would take forever, but once I got past the first few rows it went much more quickly. I finished the hat itself today, redid the charts (since I've apparently lost the old copy) and now I'm ready to do the embroidery.

Speaking of charts, I promised to upload them. So here they are, in all their glory:

Tri-force (Legend of Zelda):

Screw attack (Metroid):

(The off-white part should actually be goldeny yellow.)

Energy tank (Megaman):

And a p-wing (Mario):

I'm not fully satisfied with the p-wing. The top part should point upwards a little more. But I couldn't get it to look right that way, so this'll do.

This is the diagram I drew myself of my decreasing pattern. It starts at the top, because I was working in Notepad, but I just divided the hat into 6 sections and worked paired decreases in each section, working plain rows between decrease rows as needed.

I know it's tiny, but you can click on it to see it bigger. You can also see a bigger version on Ravelry. Also, it's not shown here, but I worked a right twist (sl 1 to cn and hold to back, k1, k1 from cn) above the decreases on the rows immediately following decrease rows, except for the last few where there are no plain rows in between. That helped minimize the laddering I get at the "seams" between paired decreases. Plus, it looks kinda cool.

There are no photos of the hat itself yet, but those will hopefully be available tomorrow. I'm hoping to finish duplicate stitching the designs on tonight. We'll see, though ... it's already 11:30 p.m.

This is what my afternoon consisted of ...

2011-03-03T16:31:00.001-06:00

It's not crafty, but it was fun! My boss and I spent an hour this afternoon playing at the park. I haven't jumped out of a swing since I was a kid and had jumping competitions with Cody, my best friend. It's terrifying now! But still so worth it.

I totally stuck that landing.

Pouch

2011-02-28T21:08:00.000-06:00

I finished the black pouch! Now I just have to turn it in.

I'm in a hurry, so I'm just going to post the photos. I think they're pretty well self-explanatory. It's a small little bag, but it's just big enough for a small project or some notions, and it's easy to carry. I like it.

This is my 5th project for the House Cup for February, plus 50% on my OWL, and my 3rd for Nerd Wars. I turned in the first two hats (Viking Hat and Mom's Hermione Hearts Ron hat) for the OWL; the lightbulb and conversation heart for the House Cup; and Cookie the murloc, the Icarus cowl and now this for both challenges. Go me! It was a busy month!

Short post

2011-02-28T00:55:00.001-06:00

It's late, and I'm tired, so I'll make this short. I finished the Icarus cowl. I'm not satisfied with it (partly due to unforeseen circumstances with the pattern and partly due to plain old mistakes on my part) and will either redo it or start over and work another version later. But, this will do for the time being; it's still pretty and will still keep my neck warm.

You can't really tell in either of those photos, but the bottom part uses the feathery pattern from Icarus.

Last night I cast on my final project of the month, which I will (hopefully) finish tomorrow. It's just a small black wool pouch with six internal photos. I'll post photos when it's done.

Introducing ... Cookie!

2011-02-23T00:35:00.001-06:00

This is Cookie.

Cookie is a murloc. (You can see his glamour shots here.)

He lives on a boat, or at least he used to. But people kept coming along and killing him when all he really wanted to do was fix supper for the crew, so he left his homeland for, shall we say, greener pastures. Now he lives in our computer room and poses for photo shoots with the kitchen sink. (He likes to be near the water, being a little bit frog-like and all.)

Cookie is generally a pretty friendly fellow. Give him a hug, and he'll holler out a friendly murloc gurgle (or murgle, if you will), like this.

Just don't mess with his stirring rod, or he will EAT YOUR FACE OFF.

I warned you.

Technical details: Cookie was knit from all acrylic yarns, mostly Simply Soft with the exception of his mouth, teeth and dark blue side stripes. His arms are pose-able, and so are his feet, but that was mainly for ease in stuffing. He has a soundbox inside him so that, when squeezed, he does, in fact, emit a nasty murgle. He is eligible for homework points in both the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup and the similar Nerd Wars knitting challenge.

Cookie is based on a well-known character from World of Warcraft, by the way, and he was a just-because gift for my husband. AKA a make-your-blood-run-cold-and-give-you-nightmares-about-being-ganked-by-murlocs gift for my husband. Because yeah, I'm just that evil. ;)

And, in other news, I cast on my Icarus cowl last night. I'm keeping track of it on Ravelry so it can be duplicated in the future if need be. So far, it's working out well.

New stuff! (Warning: very photo heavy!)

2011-02-19T21:34:00.008-06:00

So, last weekend was a special "Hogsmeade weekend" in the Harry Potter Knitting and Crochet House Cup group. Basically, that just meant there were a lot of special events going on for the group. One of the special events was a big sale from some of the vendors in the group; they all offered 10-15% discounts to House Cuppers. I've been doing really well about not buying a lot of stuff, but I couldn't resist -- I found some awesome stuff in their shops, and it was all on sale!

First I ordered a set of snagless stitch markers from PrincessOnica, who just so happens to be the founder of the House Cup. It came with 20 markers, 5 for each of the four Hogwarts houses, and she threw in a special set of 5 markers in House Unity purple.

Gryffindor:

Hufflepuff (!):

Ravenclaw:

Slytherin:

Unity!

They look so pretty all lined up together!

The markers even came in this nifty little storage box:

I also ordered a couple of skeins of yarn. One of them is coming from overseas, so it hasn't arrived yet, but you can see it here: JelliebeanYarns.

I'm considering using it for Sarcelle, but I haven't decided for sure yet. I'm excited to see it in person though.

I received the second skein today. I was REALLY excited about this yarn. It's from Hermione Jean Creations, and I fell in love with some of her colorways when she posted a promo in the House Cup. Initially, I was interested in the Butterbeer color, which is a nice slightly variegated sparkly golden-yellow color. Very pretty, but I just don't do much with yellow, so I managed to talk myself out of that one. (Plus, someone bought the only skein of Butterbeer before I got there, so that helped.) I liked a lot of her colorways, but by the time I got there, she'd already sold out of several of my favorites, so I decided not to buy anything. Then I wandered into her past sales page, and that's where I saw it. Oh. My. God. Ogden's Old Fire Whiskey. It was beautiful: a nice deep semisolid scarlet with golden sparkles But it was sold out. But! I happened to mention my disappointment in missing out on the thread, and she offered to dye another skein just for me. How could I possibly resist? I have a fondness for rich scarlet colors, and sparkles, and by all accounts her base yarns are lovely and squishy, so ... yes. I ordered it. And let me tell me, I was not at all disappointed when I ripped open my package today. It's beautiful and squishy and soft but still feels sturdy enough to be long-lasting. This photo does not do it justice at all, but trust me, it's great. I highly recommend Hermione Jean.

And now, because I'm excited that I finally finished all the knitting for Cookie the Murloc, here's an in-progress photo from a few days ago. Neither of the arms was completed here, and I still had to knit the mouth and the second leg. And obviously, I was still working on the leg pictured here. I was working on the foot. But the photo kind of shows the basic look and layout of the little guy.

Yes, it's sideways, but I'm too lazy to rotate it. Just turn your head sideways. Oh, and the little tutu-looking piece at his butt (it's actually a tail fin) isn't oriented correctly either; it actually goes around his body just like a tutu would. But I couldn't lay it out that way.

Maybe it's just because I'm tired, but with those dpns in his foot and the way his legs are bent slightly, it kind of looks like he's skiing.

I'll post another picture once I get him all sewn up. I'm still waiting for the soundbox to arrive, but I left a small section on his back unsewn. I'll just leave that until the soundbox arrives, so I can shove the box in there and get it positioned and then sew up that little strip. Piece of cake. I hope. Anyway, I should be able to go ahead and get the rest of it done.

Still knitting

2011-02-18T22:32:00.001-06:00

My knit murloc is turning out to be a gigantic pain in the butt. Seriously. But I'm getting there. I've finished the body (except it's not stuffed or sewn up yet because I'm waiting on the soundbox to arrive), one leg (actually two but one is wrong and must be redone) and both arms. Basically, I need to knit another leg, find my red yarn and knit the mouth, record the "murgle" (murloc gurgle), place the soundbox, stuff, sew up the body, sew on the mouth, arms and legs and then find and sew on eyes. All this by the end of the month. PLUS I still want to knit an Icarus cowl and a small black pouch before the end of the month. Today's what ... the 18th? I have a week and a half.

Sheesh.

And I didn't do anything today. Well, I did, but I didn't do any knitting. Instead, I spent my day working on a new blog theme. Look for it to premiere sometime soon, after we come up with a nifty new tagline and I figure out how to make it look good on the header.

Jess's February post

2011-02-17T14:52:00.004-06:00

I'm pretty good at knitting. I am a lot worse at keeping up with posting on the blog. I love reading blog post. I just don't really think what I write is worth reading most of the time. Which really cuts into the will to want to post.

BUT I do love that I have a blog. and I do love to knit. So lets get tho those FO's that you know you wanna see. :)

I knit myself a pair of socks.

If they look familiar they should. I knit Amie a "similar pair" not long ago. I loved making hers so much I bought the yarn again and knit myself a pair. With a couple difference. For Amie I did a short row heel. But I have a higher instep than Amie so I knit myself a slip stitch heel flap with gusset. Other than that they are pretty much identical. I've had the chance to wear them and I'm even happier about them. They are super warm and not to thick to be uncomfortable in shoes. I would definitely knit with this yarn again.

Pattern: basic k3p1 rib
Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock FX in cameo colors
needles: 2.25mm (us 1)
Start: January 17, 2011
Finished: January 28, 2011

Next up we have an interesting little knit. Its a little odd. But was a blast to knit.

was a very involved knit. I wouldn't really call it a hard knit. It is however, a more advanced pattern. Mostly I'd describe it as "involved"

Pattern: Praying Mantis by Hansi Singh from Amigurumi Knits (also available as a rav download)
Yarn: Patons classic merino in purple and dark green
needles: us size 5 and size 2 (for eyes only)
Started: February 1
Finished: February 3

I used clothes hangers in his hind legs to help him stand. Chenille stems are recommended in the book. But chenille stems alone didn't allow him to stand up without help. Coat hangers however worked like a charm. I was even able to slide them in after he was completely put together. Added bonus since I didn't want to disassemble him.

I also did a little KAL with a friend in my NY knitting group.

Pattern: IceQueen by Rosemary Hill from knitty.com winter 2007 version b
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Douceur et Soie in color 8318
needles: US8 and US6
Started: January 28
Finished: February 10

was a pretty quick fun knit. I didn't make any changes other than yarn substitute. If I made it again I'd most likely do the stockinette version (version a) with more beads (similar to the beads in version b). For no other reason than it will knit up faster. Garter stitch in the round goes pretty slowly.

Hufflelove

2011-02-15T21:29:00.000-06:00

I received a swap package today for the Winter 2011 Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup Hufflelove Exchange. :) It's just a mini-swap -- the only requirement (for regular participants) is a greeting card, and we weren't allowed to send anything other than the card, some stickers and a handmade bookmark.

My partner, SimplyMe5252 on Ravelry, made me this lovely bookmark:

And it came inside this fun card:

She even decorated the envelope in 'Puff colors! (Yes, I took a LOT of time blocking out the names and addresses, as I'm sure you can tell.)

I love it. I'm so happy about this little swap! And I kind of had a bad day today, so this really made my day.

I've been a busy little bee

2011-02-11T23:15:00.001-06:00

First and foremost, I finished Mom's hat!

I'm tired, so I won't go into details that I've already explained on Ravelry, but I cut out one repeat. It still turned out huge and had to be shrunk a bit. I hope it fits now. There's no chance of it being too small, but it may require some additional shrinkage.

By the way, I LOVE this yarn (Road to China Light). It feels amazing and has great drape, and I love this color. You can't really see in the pictures, but it has a lot of depth to it ... lots of flecks of deeper greens and blues that you can't quite tell are really there unless you stare very closely. It's kind of like the ocean, except of course not quite the right color. The color's almost alive. And yeah, the yarn's just great ... I mean, look at that stitch definition! I want more.

Then today at work, I got bored and decided on a quick project ... a knit conversation heart.

It was a very quick knit. I happened to have the lavender yarn in my car (I used it for demonstrations in my knitting class) and used Julie Edwards' Little Stuffed Heart pattern to knit up a quick little heart. It took about 30 minutes to knit the heart, another 10 to sew it up and stuff it, 10 minutes to find suitable pink yarn for the writing and 10 minutes to embroider a sloppy slogan on it. It ended up as another cat toy. And a project for History of Magic in the House Cup! I didn't intend to turn in a History of Magic project this month, but it was so quick ...

Now, I really must finish the bookmark for my Hufflelove Exchange partner so I can get that in the mail. Then I still need to do the murloc, the black pouch and of course, the Icarus cowl, all by the end of the month. Hah!

Mom's Hat

2011-02-09T00:31:00.001-06:00

I finished my first project for this month's House Cup assignments. No big deal, just an amigurumi lightbulb. Very quick. I gave it to the cat to use as a toy.

I wasn't entirely happy with the shaping ... the socket turned out a little long, and the bulb part was a little too short and flat on the top. But I figure since it's just a cat toy, who cares?

I also gave my brother his Viking Hat. The beard is a little narrow. When I get time, I'll knit a wider one to replace it with. But he loved it, and aside from the beard being a little too narrow for his face, it fits pretty well. And the beard does hug his face nicely, it just doesn't cover as much of his cheeks and jaw as I think it should.

So, with those two projects done, I've been working on a few others. I'm trying to design and knit a cowl using the feathery edging from Icarus. I've got the design finished and yarn purchased (I'm using Alpaca with a Twist Fino in a light blue ... it feels completely amazing!) but I haven't had a chance to wind my yarn into a ball yet. I've also been trying to find/come up with a good design for a lacy bookmark for a swap we're doing in Hufflepuff in the House Cup. I tried one out already, but I wasn't satisfied with it, so it's back to the drawing board. I'm using Kidsilk Haze for this, in black. It's the first time I've worked with Kidsilk Haze. It's softer than I expected ... I think I like it. Which is good, because I'm probably going to have around 200 yds. left over, even if I don't frog the bookmark I already knit from it. And I am open to good bookmark suggestions, by the way. I'm looking for something rectangular, maybe with a scallop or v at the end, and lacy and pretty and delicate.

And I've been working on Mom's Hermione Hearts Ron hat. I've finished 3 repeats of the cable and lace pattern. The pattern calls for 4 repeats of the pattern before you start decreasing, but I need to measure the hat first. It's looking a little long. I may need to start decreasing before that point. Mom's head is only slightly larger than mine, so if it fits me well, it should fit her too. I tried it on earlier, and it's just a little loose on me (good, since she needs an extra half inch to an inch, plus hats that are too snug look weird on her). It also reaches from the middle of my ears to where my skull starts to flatten at the crown, so I'm thinking I'll be cutting out that 4th repeat. But we'll see.

No pictures of that yet because my camera batteries are dead and I'm not sure where the replacements have disappeared to. I'll have to find some before the end of the month so I can post a photo showing I've completed both of the first two hats for my OWL.

And then I have to finish the rest of my class assignments, both for the House Cup and for the Nerd Wars challenge, which works basically the same way. Fortunately, I can use the same projects for both challenges, as long as I can find a category to fit each of them into. The Icarus Cowl will count for both. I'm also planning a knit murloc for Luke and a black wool pouch to count for both challenges. The lightbulb only counts for the House Cup, sadly.

Oh! And speaking of the House Cup ... point totals are in for the first month. I earned 66 points! I turned in 3 class assignments for 15 points each and one "detention" project (a project that started the month as a WIP) for 10 points. And I got bonus points on each of my class assignments ... 1 bonus point for Earpaper, 7 bonus points for Saroyan and 3 bonus points for my Lord of the Earrings. My new goal is to top those amounts this month, but that may not happen ... it is a short month, after all, and I have spent a significant portion of the first week working on my OWL and swap projects. But we'll see.

The Big Reveal! Or, The Viking Hat Is Finished

2011-02-04T00:44:00.001-06:00

No explanation is needed, I think. This is, of course, perfectly normal.

Viking

2011-01-28T13:30:00.001-06:00

I have made it through the hat portion of my brother's Viking Hat.

The bobbles aren't as close to the top of the brim as they appear in this picture. They're closer to the center.

I'll be starting the horns soon (today). And of course I still have to add a beard.

I hope it fits. I think it will, but that's always a concern when I'm knitting blindly with only a vague idea of head size.

Koolhaas

2011-01-24T08:30:00.000-06:00

I got a photo of my beautiful sister-in-law wearing her Koolhaas!

Photo "borrowed" from her Facebook. ;)

Head coverings

2011-01-23T20:53:00.002-06:00

I finished my "Earpaper" tonight!

Random observation: I think my hair looks great in that photo! And I can't figure out why. I didn't do anything different ... just my regular cheapo Suave shampoo/conditioner and kids' detangler. But it looks nice and chocolate-y brown and smooth and silky ... I love it!

I finished the knitting yesterday, washed it, then soaked it in a tea/coffee mixture for 10-15 minutes to tone down the pink. I blocked it (flat) overnight then sewed the ends together and wove in the yarn ends today. I like my earwarmer almost as much as my hair in that photo! Well, okay, maybe not that much, because my hair and I have a well-documented love-hate relationship so it's pretty exciting to have a good hair ~~day~~ moment. But I do like the earwarmer.

As usual, there's a few other photos, and more information, on Ravelry.

Then I immediately cast on for my brother's Viking hat. Yay, FINALLY I get to start my OWL! Haha. Assuming I don't get ~~seduced~~ sidetracked by other projects, this should go pretty quickly. It's a fairly basic hat with a bottom hem, except for the horns and beard, which are knit separately and sewn on later. I'm improvising the design, but I've got it pretty well figured out already. I'm trying to keep good notes on what I've done so that I can write up a full pattern later. I know you're interested in it, Jessica, and maybe a few other people will be too. I'm thinking about offering it as a free PDF-format pattern if it turns out well ... what do you think?

Oh, and by the way, here's all the yarn and needles I'll be using for my OWL projects, along with swatches of each yarn:

From left to right, top to bottom, you have my Caron Simply Soft Eco yarn in Natural plus a swatch of that (done on size 4 needles) for the Viking hat horns (first column); Red Heart Super Saver in Cafe, for the Viking Hat beard, with the aforementioned size 4 Knitpicks circs, plus a swatch of that yarn (also done on the same size 4 needles) and the Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller Bamboo Ewe yarn and swatch (yep, on size 4s) in Mercury for the body of the Viking Hat (second column); Road to China Light/Silken Jewels in Blue Tourmaline and a swatch (I really put those size 4s to work ...) for Mom's Hermione Hearts Ron hat as well as Knitpicks Andean Silk in Cinnamon with matching swatch (you guessed it, 4s) for my own Robin's Egg Blue hat (third column); and my size 3 dpns, the Patons Kroy sock yarn in Mercury, the completed gamer glove, embroidery floss in various colors and my Kroy swatch (hah, fooled you, this was done on 3s!) for Luke's Gamer Hat (fourth column).

I don't know how I managed to make the same set of size 4 circular needles work for all those different yarns, most of which are worsted weight and therefore shouldn't work well on 4s to begin with, but I did. The Road to China is sport weight, so it was no problem, and the Bamboo Ewe and Andean Silk both felt like light worsted and gave me a good, soft, drapey-but-not-too-loose fabric on the 4s. (The bamboo and silk probably contributed a lot to that drapiness. Both yarns feel amazing in the swatch.) I regularly knit Simply Soft on 5s, and since the horns will be stuffed with polyfill, the slightly smaller/denser gauge worked well for that. The Red Heart Super Saver is the only thing I even considered using a different needle for. Red Heart feels like a heavy worsted to me (it's actually listed as an aran weight, in fact), and since it isn't particularly soft, the gauge swatch feels pretty dense and a little stiff. But after considering the alternative, I decided to go ahead and use the 4s. After all, the beard on this hat isn't purely decorative. It also protects the bottom half of the face from the elements. A loose, floppy beard just wouldn't do as well. The fabric produced on 4s should still be loose enough to curve around the face with the hat but dense and stiff and heavy enough to stay there, even in the wind, and actually block the cold somewhat.

One last random observation: my cat is laying in the armchair, snoring quite loudly. Oh the joy of having pets. But she's so cute!

Blog Maintenance

2011-01-20T11:29:00.000-06:00

In case you haven't noticed, we've been doing some maintenance on our blog. Our FOs and WIPs are now listed on separate pages (links are above the blog posts). We also have an About Us page and a page for useful links.

We've also added a list of our labels to the left sidebar to make it easier to find posts about a certain topic.

We moved the FOs and WIPs to their own pages because our sidebar was getting too long and unwieldy, especially after adding the labels. We're looking for a new layout that will look good, better suit our needs and will allow us to show our WIPs (with progress bars, which can't be used on the WIPs page) and recent FOs on our main blog page, along with all the information currently there, without making the sidebar 50x as long as the average screen. So far we haven't found what we want, but we're still looking. We're also planning a new look/feel/color scheme for the blog, so keep an eye out for those upcoming changes!

2011 a new begining

2011-01-19T21:34:00.003-06:00

OMG 2011 already. I typically like to set myself up with a knitting goal for the year. 2010 was the 10shawl2010 project/challenge. Which I loved. It was definitely a challenge for me tho. This year I wanted something a little different. I started off thinking I'd put myself on a strict yarn diet. After a few variations of that idea. I think I'm going to play it simple and just try to knit more from stash and buy less yarn. Easy enough right? Hush you let me believe what I want!

I also want to try to challenge myself to make at least 1 blog post a month. Even if it is just my typical fo parade post. At least if I do that I wont be making 3-4 end of the year blog post in January of the next year (hehe).

2011 has already started off as a good knitting year for me. I have 5 FO's to show you.

first up Nathan (my 6year old) asked for a new pair of mittens. I made him a nice blue pair last year. He still loves and wears them. But this year his favorite color changed. And he also requested that he have warmer mittens. well ok lets be honest first he asked for gloves. Because what kid actually picks mittens. And I do plan to knit him a pair of gloves. But since he wanted something warmer I talked to him about the advantages of mittens and warmth. I also picked a VERY warm pattern. And knit them out of wool. :)

Pattern: Yummy Mittens by Beth Brown-Reinsel
Yarn: Ella Rae classic in green (leftover from dino sweater)
needles: us 5, 6, and 7
started: December 28, 2010
finished: January 3, 2011

They already look worn in this picture. Because they are. He wears them daily. And has even played in the snow with them. The only thing that I would change if I were to knit them again is that I'd make the cuff longer so it tucks into his sleeves better. I thought when I was making them that I was doing this. but clearly I was wrong.

Next I cast on a hat for myself. With the winter heavily upon us it was clear that we didn't own enough warm winter wear.

Pattern: Embellished Helmet Hat by Bobbi Padgett
yarn: Malabrigo in Azul bolita
needles: us 9
started: January 8
finished: January 9

It was a very quick knit. But I totally misjudges my gauge. Its about 3 inches larger than it should be. I decided that I kinda liked that and kept it. It covers my hair nicely when in a ponytail or bun and still comes down and covers my ears. Its knit with the malabrigo held double. VERY WARM!

After that Nathan clearnly needed a new hat to match his new green mittens. He just couldn't continue to wear the blue hat. He decided that he wanted it to be the same as the blue hat tho. so another Thorpe was in order. I decided this time that I wouldn't hold the yarn double but instead I planned to line it with fleece (pictures to come). I also have yet to add the little ben10 symbol to the front of the hat. Trust me when I say Nathan has not forgotten this tho.

Pattern: Thorpe by Kirsten Kapur
yarn: Ella Rae classic green
needles: us 6
started: January 11
finished: January 12

now this hat posses a little of a problem. The cast on as written is very fiddly. You cast on 4 stitches. 1 onto each of 4 needles and try as you may not to twist them and then start increasing. I struggled with this like it wasn't funny. Finally I gave up on that. I cast on my 4 stitches but left them all on 1 needle and didn't join. Instead I slide the stitches down as if I was doing an i-cord. I then started the next row of increases moving the stitches onto the other needles as I got to them. It worked out so much easier. I've taken a close up of the top of the hat so you can see the results.

Its very neat and tidy and if you didn't know you could never tell that I did anything different at all. :) success!

My sister had been asking me to knit a family member a pair of socks for months. I got the yarn back in September or something. But just couldn't force myself to cast on. My sister let is slip that the reason she wanted hand-knit socks for her was that she goes outside in just socks a lot and her feet are very cold. Was hoping that they hand-knit socks would be warmer when she goes outside in just socks. CRINGE! yeah that makes me want to cast on right away! but I gave my sister my word that I'd knit them. And I had this yarn just sitting there. So I finally did.

Pattern: normal k3p1 rib with short row heel and round toe. us woman's size 4
yarn: knitpicks stroll kettle dyed in grasshopper
needles: us 0 (2.0mm)
started: January 3
finished: January 15

apparently it takes a long time to knit socks you dont want to knit. but since I didn't want to knit them I knit the 2 hats while these were on the needles. sigh. I hope she likes them and doesn't wear them out in the yard!

I am a navy wife. I live in a navy community. We move around a lot and dont always know people when we get here. I've been blessed this time with a fantastic group of other wives. We get along and we really help each other out. As such Donna (knitting group leader) is throwing a baby shower for a fellow navy wife that doesn't knot many people in our area. To be honest I've never even meet her. But I appreciate what Donna is doing. not to mention she is having a girl and you know how I love knitting little girly things!

Pattern: Clochette by Caroline Dlugy-Hegwer
yarn: some random pink baby yarn in stash (acrylic) and some knitpicks swish dk green
needles: us 5 for the hat. us 4 for the stem and 1 leaf. us 2 for the other leaf
started and finished: January 16

the final 2010 post

2011-01-19T21:20:00.005-06:00

That about wraps up 2010 for me. It was a very nice knitting year for me. Even with Ryan being young and us having moved last January.

To finish up the year I knit Justin his 9th pair of socks. I think it was a thank you for letting me knit all those lace pieces that took so much concentration. He really stepped up with the kids while I knit feverishly (hehe). love you honey.

Pattern: our basic k3p1 rib with slipped stitch heel flap and round toe
Yarn: more of JulieSpins MCN 355 (we love this stuff!)
needles: us1 (2.25mm)
started: October 10, 2010
finished: December 28, 2010

I knit on these when the lace was to much. Or when with my new knitting group. I mentioned that I taught a neighbor to knit. Well she really took off with it. We've taught several other neighbors and friends. We have a 42 member stitch 'n bitch that we run together. It meets up once a week. Sunday nights. I would work on these socks at those meetings since I wanted to chat, or was running around teaching. The lace just wasn't a good idea since it required more thought and being paid attention to.

that ends Jessica's 2010 catch up. :) it was a great year. I had 28 knits. WOW. what a busy year.
‎10 shawls
7 pairs of adult socks
7 kid knits (sweaters, hats, toys, mittens, etc)
2 adult sweaters
2 accessories (earrings and clutch.. tho the earrings were technically crocheted) :)

10shawls2010

2011-01-19T20:48:00.003-06:00

The last you heard of the challenge I was showing off Aestlight. Which was my number 6th shawl. I took a break to knit the Lorna's Laces samples. Then went into high gear to get these finished before the end of the year. I mean at that point it was pretty late in the year and I needed 4 more shawls.

Amie was awesome enough to do a Bridgewater KAL. We first talked about it in August. Decided we'd start the first week in September. Well the first week came and went and neither of us had even ordered yarn yet. It took us longer to decide what to knit it with than we thought. Finally I settled on Malabrigo Lace.
And O I'm so glad I did. I picked a color and then was instantly disappointed when it showed up. way more variation than I was hoping for. BUT it looks amazing in the shawl and I'm glad I went ahead and knit with it.
So coming in at number 7 is Bridgewater.

Pattern: Bridgewater by Jared Flood
yarn: Malabrigo Lace in polar morn
needles: us 5 (3.75mm)
started: October 12, 2010
finished: December 18, 2010

This shawl was a lot of work. It wasn't hard but its big! I absolutely loved working on it. Even tho each thing was pretty simple to do, it managed to stay interesting. (I will try to get a picture of it in action... I was unaware that we'd failed to do that already hehe)

On to number 8. I knit another Annis. I needed something that would be a quick knit. It was already the middle of December and I still needed 3 shawls. I'm horrible disappointed with this shawl. I had some cone cashmere that a friend gave me. It was total crap. Hard on the hands to work with. Crisp but not in a good way. Then to make it all worse when I was blocking the threads started to break! this is my annis disaster but it still counts as my number 8.

Pattern: Annis by Susanna IC
yarn: cone cashmere red
needles: us8 and us 10
started: December 19, 2010
finished: December 20, 2010

After the annis disaster I needed something to pick my spirit up. I knew from the very beginning of 2010 that I wanted Ishbel to be one of my 10. So I finally got around to purchasing the pattern. I pulled out some very lovely special yarn and got to work.

the results totally amazing. exactly what I needed to lift me back up.

Pattern: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: JulieSpins Vera Lace in concorde
needles: us 5 (3.75mm)
started: December 21, 2010
finished December 23, 2010

Was such a joy to knit. Julie is amazing with her colors. My pictures don't do them justice at all. This is a new yarn for her. Its amazing. A little like malabrigo. It is a laceweight single. Its crisp to knit with but softens up nicely and blooms some when washed. I wouldn't hesitate to work with this yarn again (and nicely so since I have almost half this one left and 2 others in stash!).

To round out the year I picked something a little different. A shawl that had only been knit a handful of times on ravelry. something simple but with some detail.

Pattern: Whipped by Mary Ellen Langieri
Yarn: Knitpicks gloss lace in sterling
needles: us 4 (3.5 mm)
started: December 24, 2010
finished: December 26, 2010

I did change the main body stitch to just plain garter. In the pattern its a more textured knit that I didn't care for.

That finished off my 10shawls2010 challenge. I feel so accomplished and proud. Throughout the year there were several times when I thought about giving up on the challenge. Especially there towards the end when I had a lot to knit in very little time. I'm glad that I was able to see it through. I owe Amie and Justin a lot of thanks in this. If it wasn't for Amie doing 2 of the lace kal's with me this year, I would have never finished. And Justin. honey I love you so much and I love that you let me neglect the housework to finish the challenge. You are an amazing man. I love you!

Lorna's Laces Sample knits

2011-01-19T20:28:00.003-06:00

For a couple years now I've been sample knitting for Lorna's Laces. Here are the latest sample knits. This time I was lucky and knit 3 items for them. Usually I'm only asked to knit 1. But I offered to knit more than 1 this year. Its so much fun working with Lorna's Laces. I knit samples for them to take to trade shows. Its to show off their gorgeous yarn and colors.

I get awesome yarn in the mail that is to be knit up into pre-selected patterns. This was the yarn for this order. Its Helen's Laces in Monkeyshines, Honor in Tomfoolery and Shepard Worsted in cedar.

I knit the honor up into a sweet little girls size 4 shrug. If you haven't knit with honor yet... you are truly missing out. The stuff is amazing. So soft and incredible drape. Such a treat!

Pattern:Whirligig Shrug by Stefanie Japel
Yarn: Honor in Tomfoolery
Needles: us 6 (4.0mm)
started: November 18, 2010
finished: November 19, 2010

Next up a simple little sundress also size 4

Pattern:# 266 Little Girl's Sundress or Jumper by Diane Soucy
needles: us6 and us8
yarn: Shepard Worsted in cedar
started: November 20, 2010
finished: November 22, 2010

Last but not least is the lace sweater.

eyelet increases up the sides (under the arms)

eyelet increases down the center of the back

Pattern: Featherweight Wrap to Knit by Val Love
Yarn: Helen's Lace in monkeyshines
needles: hmmm I dont remember. But I do remember I struggled to get gauge
started: November 23, 2010
finished: December 9, 2010

I personally am not a fan of the eyelets down the back and the sides. I like that there are increases there to add drape, and shape. But I'd prefer a M1 I think. Or a paired increase. But since this was a sample knit I stuck to the pattern. Its knit in a size small (i believe). Its must be meant to be worn big. Its not close fitting at all. I was able to try it on and I'm no small.

playing catch up

2011-01-19T20:01:00.004-06:00

Time to play catch up again. This will be the first in a quick series of post to get caught up. I have 17 FO's to blog. I don't really want them all crammed into one post. So I'm going to break it up slightly.

a little felted clutch.

prefelted

prefelted with iphone for reference

felted with iphone for reference

I lined it (it was a BITCH!)

Pattern:Melissa Wristlet by Christy Verity
Yarn: patons classic merino grey
needles: us 10.5
started and finished: September 26, 2010

a pair of amazing crocheted wire w/beads earrings.

pattern: Beaded Wire Curlicue Earrings by Michelle Ryan
hook: 1.25mm
34G beading wire and 10/0 seed beads in emerald.
started and finished September 29, 2010

a little cabled sweater. 12month size

A friend saw my knitting and inquired about me knitting for her. Sure fire way to get me to knit for you, have a little girl! Took us awhile to pick the pattern. Then we went yarn shopping. This little sweater was fun to knit tho. A little challenging but that's part of the fun.

Pattern: Top-down Baby and Children Cable Yoke Jacket by Cotton & Cloud
Yarn: Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Solids & Heathers
needles: us 8
started: September 27, 2010
finished: October 7, 2010

Peyton's pigtail hat.

isn't she adorable? Like I said surefire way to get me to knit for you. Have a little girl! They are just so much fun to knit for. I wanted to make this hat for a very long time. One of my neighbors has the cutest little girl that always has her hair in pigtails. I must have asked her mom if I could make the hat a dozen times. Then finally I just knit it. It was a HUGE hit. The mom then quickly picked up knitting and knit both her girls matching pigtails hats. :) YAY!

Pattern: Nippertails by Jenn Jarvis
Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Tesoro pink
needles: us 5
started: October 20, 2010
finished: October 21, 2010

Oh my gosh ... can it be? A post? From Amie?

2011-01-19T14:44:00.004-06:00

Wow, time flies. I didn't realize it had been so long since I'd posted here. Eight months! I fail at this whole blogging thing.

The good news is that I found the camera that went missing in winter 2009. So I can post good photos again.

The other good news is that, due to some slow weeks at work and an increased craving for fiber, I've had time to knit!

I didn't get a lot done over the summer or fall, but Jess and I did start another KAL. We both started Bridgewater by Jared Flood. We spent quite some time finding the right yarn ... I ended up with some Colourmart yarn in the perfect pale gray. I love it. But then I got busy with Christmas projects and life in general and set it aside temporarily. Jess finished hers. I'm almost halfway through the center garter-stitch square. Lots left to go! I'm anxious to get back to it. I'm really happy with it. I'm double-stranding the center for extra warmth and squishiness, but I'll do the lace edgings with only a single strand to emphasize the delicateness.

I haven't added the project to Ravelry yet, but I'll try to do that later. I'm at work now and don't have the yarn information handy. If I do that, I'll try to remember to also post a photo here.

Part of the reason I was too busy to finish Bridgewater is that I taught a knitting class! It went unbelievably well. I had 13 active students, and they were all outstanding students. Also very encouraging. So encouraging, in fact, that several of them convinced me to teach another, more advanced class this spring. So, starting in April, I'll be teaching colorwork.

Then came Christmas. A few months before Christmas, I was looking at hat patterns on Ravelry, and my sister-in-law spotted Koolhaas. She went on and on about how cool it was and how much she liked it. So, for Christmas, she got this:

I had some issues with that project. I followed the pattern, finished it, blocked it, looked at it and realized it was pretty short. 2" short in fact. That was on Dec. 23. We celebrated Christmas on Dec. 24. So what she actually received in her wrapped package looked more like this:

Then I ripped back to the last row before the decreases, added a repeat and reknit the crown. That's the version you see on my head in the first picture. It fit her much better with the extra repeat, but I was unable to get a photo of her wearing the final product. So far. She loved it, though.

I finished Koolhaas this month. I've had a very busy month, due in no small part to the fact that I'm competing in the Harry Potter Knit/Crochet House Cup on Ravelry. I was sorted into Hufflepuff (GO BADGERS!), which I absolutely love. My housemates are awesome. Seriously. They're great. I highly recommend the House Cup to all knitters/crocheters/spinners/weavers/dyers, especially those interested in Harry Potter. (Although, honestly, that's not a requirement ... the projects don't have to be HP themed or anything.) And I highly recommend that all new players request to be sorted into Hufflepuff, because we're the best house! ;)

Basically, the HPKCHC requires that each player complete one project each month for three months. Easy, right? Projects have to fit into a "class," but categories are pretty broad. And if you're good enough with creative storytelling, you can make just about any project fit into at least one class. For example, this month's Charms assignment was to complete a project already completed by a first-year player other than yourself. Transfiguration required players to create something based on a non-HP book. Flying's assignment was to create something to keep a person warm or something made out of animal fur. You get 15 points for each homework assignment you turn in (or 5 points for a project you started but didn't finish), and the house that earns the most points over the three-month term wins the competition. There's even a Detention category for WIPs ... each player gets points for the first Detention project they turn in each month. I used Koolhaas for a Detention project and got 10 points just for completing it. I've also turned in Charms (a Saroyan) and Transfiguration (earrings based on the Lord of the Rings) for 15 points each. I'm on a roll!

Charms (Saroyan):

Transfiguration (Lord of the Earrings):

Now I'm working on an earwarmer based on Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts, which I'm called my Earpaper. I needed something to match the convertible Endpapers I got in a mitten swap. I'm using pale pink alpaca and brown wool.

Progress so far:

I'm about halfway finished. I plan to turn this in for my 15 points in Flying when I finish it, which will hopefully be soon.

I'm also working on a bigger project, an OWL, which is just a big project that takes longer than a month but less than three months. I've promised some people some hats, so I'm making four hats for my OWL: a bearded Viking hat for my brother, a cable and eyelet "Hermione Loves Ron" hat for Mom, Luke's gamer hat (finally!) and a Robin's Egg Blue hat for myself. I haven't started those yet, but I'll need to start soon.

Most of these projects are available (with more information and photos) on my Ravelry.

Another Lace FO

2010-10-17T13:22:00.004-05:00

Yes I finished the lace. Sorry I'm so bad at blogging. You all knew I was doomed. A couple days of post back to back is a sure sign that there will be a lapse hehe. Anyways...

The lace is finished and its gorgeous. A lot of compliments on it already and I've not even worn it anywhere. A gorgeous design with gorgeous yarn always makes for fun knitting time. The project went pretty quickly too.

Pattern: Aestlight Shawl by Gudrun Johnston
Yarn: JulieSpins M420S in Impatiens
needles: 3.75mm
Start: Sept 16
Finish: Sept 26

the only mod I made was changing the gauge to try to compensate for having less yarn than required. It worked as I didn't run out of yarn. :)

If I were to knit it again however, I would bind off the garter stitch section before continuing along to the next stage. The entire leaving them live just barely makes sense. I actually think it causes more issues than it solves. It was a great knit tho. very lovely.

Lace Cast on

2010-09-21T10:02:00.005-05:00

Because knitting needs more than just FO post.

Its obvious that the weather is turning crisp and cool. Its knitters weather. Not that the heat of the summer really slows me down. But this is definitely the weather that calls to knitters. Cool enough that you don't sweat to death while knitting. Cool that the air reminds you that winter is coming up. That all those woolies will be useful soon. That mittens and hats and sweaters and things will soon need to be pulled out and worn to help keep you warm. Not that any of those things have anything to do with my latest cast on. But maybe it more explains why I've made several post recently (hehe).

I frogged a pair of socks that just weren't working out and started some lace that hopefully will be beautiful. I am working with "JulieSpins M420S in Impatiens". A GORGEOUS color. I instantly feel in love when I saw it in her shop. And even more so when it showed up at my house.

If you haven't knit with anything from Julie yet you are truly missing out. She also does divine spinning fibers.

I'm very happy about this decision. The yarn is just so pretty. It'll be much more appreciated as a shawl than socks hidden away in my shoes.

Twist Complete!

2010-09-20T18:55:00.003-05:00

To start with this:

and end with this:

Always makes me happy. To wear something that I made myself... something that I think looks good. It is something that I take pride in. Something that I am proud of. I made this! I'm not ashamed.

I bought this pattern forever ago. Back when I lived in VA. Last fall sometime. I got the yarn over a year ago. Traded a friend for it. It was/is perfect for this sweater.

The yarn is "Lambs Pride Superwash in red wing". I don't normally use superwash. For several reasons. 1.) Its expensive. This yarn retails for $10.20 a ball (Although it appears it is on sale right now at webs for $7.69. I used 7 for this sweater). 2.) I really don't mind handwashing sweaters. In fact I will probably always hand-wash this one. But sometimes a yarn comes along that you just can't say no to. My friend had 2 sweaters worth of this in her stash in the same color. I was looking for red sweater yarn. So it worked out well for both of us. When I first started knitting with the yarn I was very iffy about it. It was very fuzzy to work with. It was scratchy. I just wasn't sure about it. I swatched and washed my swatch (to try to measure accurate gauge). The entire time knitting I just kept hoping that the final product would turn out soft like my swatch and not all scratchy like the knitting. Its not the softest, but it does soften. Another thing to note is that the yarn does not frog well. If you just frog once your ok. I however, pulled out seam a few times and the yarn eventually started just falling apart. I read another review that said that it doesn’t pill but rather that it just gets fuzzier. As I mentioned before I already don't care of the amount of fuzz it has, so not really looking forward to it getting fuzzier. Although not pilling would be nice. It has Great stitch definition. So my cables look awesome!

Pattern: Twist by Bonne Marie Burns
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Superwash Worsted in Red Wing (7balls)
needles: us 5 and 6
Start: August 8th
Finish: Sept 20 (there were several breaks of no knitting in there)

It is knit in pieces then sewn together. The pieces were pretty simple to knit. I followed the pattern almost exactly. I added about a half inch to the sleeves (I like longer sleeves).

The seaming took a long time. I was being pretty perfectionistic about it. I ripped out the sleeves 4 times before I decided they were attached good enough. I kept getting little puffy tops. That I wasn't all that happy with. The right side is still a little more puffy than I'd like. But I was at give up phase in the seaming. I just couldn't take it apart a 5th time. Its not horrible... but its not perfect either.

After its all sewn up. You pick up stitches and knit on a little hood. This is the first time I've picked up stitches and thought I did a good job. Usually I'm hyper critical. But usually its obvious that I've picked up stitches. I can never get it to look flawless. Except this time. I'm very proud of how it turned out.

this is the back of the hood

this is one of the front sides. what do you think? pretty good, right?

Other mods I made. I grafted the top of the hood closed. The pattern called for a three needle bind off. But I didn't care for the ridge that gives. I wanted a more seamless look. Other than that the only other mod I made was that I picked up all the button band stitches at one time. I didn't follow the pattern for this one either. The math says to pick up 4 for every 5 stitches to get the number required. I didn't care for the look of this. So I did a traditional 2 for every 3 stitches. Which I think looked a lot better. O, I used a three row button hole "this one". 7 of them... I still need to find buttons.

Amie's Birthday Socks 2010

2010-09-18T00:13:00.003-05:00

In Standard Amie Birthday Tradition I knit her another pair of socks. These are the 5th pair of Birthday socks. :) loving it, and so is Amie's sock drawer.

Now all year I had grand ideas of what the 2010 bday socks would be. Then before I knew it it was August and I was out of time. So I grabbed some yarn and flipped through several books. I pulled out some lovely Knit Picks Gloss that I'd been saving for her. I started knitting away. 3 days later I had 2 broken needles and less than half a sock and realized I was running way short on yarn. No way were these turning out at all. Which was in no way a result of the pattern. I do plan to try these again in the future. The pattern/yarn/needle combo just wasn't working at all. first mistake was I was knitting them way to tight (something around 13st/in). Second mistake was not enough yarn to start with. Just doomed from the start really.

Pattern: "Lombard Street"
needles: 2.0mm (us0)
started: August 20, 2010
ended/not finished: August 23, 2010

So I went to the yarn closet and looked through all the yarn. I couldn't find anything that popped out at me for good bday socks. I just kept standing there amongst all the yarn saying "I dont have any yarn". My 5 year old now thinks I'm crazy. He was like "uh mom there is yarn EVERYWHERE" and kept pointing to all the yarn. I just couldn't find anything that would work. So I remembered seeing a particular yarn at A.C.Moore that I wanted to try (I was there the previous day). So I jumped in the car and drove there. Came home with some nice pretty new yarn that was destined to be Amie socks. I got started right away. 3 days later I had 2 beautiful socks that I just loved. They weren't super complicated socks. They weren't anything special at all... but they were special. I absolutely loved knitting them. Yes they only took 3 days. That is because they are a simple k3p1 rib with a short row heel and basic wedge toe. The yarn totally makes these socks jump tho. Its a thicker than normal sock weight yarn. Its very sock. The thickness makes them knit up super fast. They were wonderfully squishy, and I was sure they'd be perfectly warm for those cold snowy KY winters. I can't wait to get some more of this yarn and knit myself a pair. They were exactly what I needed after the fiasco. They made me ultimately happy to knit them. I was a little sad that they went quite as fast as they did. Here they are on sock blockers that are to big (I'm getting new ones before her next pair).

Pattern: basic k3p1 rib
Yarn: Patons Kroy Sock FX in cameo colors
needles: 2.25mm (us 1)
Start: August 23, 2010
Finished: August 26, 2010

a picture from Amie. Evidence that the socks do in fact fit. Alongside all the other goodies I put into the package.

a chocolate lamb
a couple lego sheep
hand sanitizer
foot scrub and lotion

Happy Birthday Amie. I'm glad you like your socks.

Update from Jessica

2010-09-17T23:30:00.006-05:00

Like Amie I always mean to blog. I write out little blog entries in my head. Full of descriptions and links and pictures. Awesome blog entries, really. They just never make it onto the computer.

So like always I'm behind on blogging FO's. So here is my attempt to catch up. Which results in another FO parade from Jessica.

I'm still attempting to do the 10shawls2010 challenge. Although I'm kinda scared that I'm miserably failing the challenge. I've completely 5. And have 2 more started. Which means I need to GET KNITTING! I have yarn and patterns picked out in order to complete the challenge. I just keep picking up other projects, lace or socks or the latest a sweater. But here are a few of the lace pieces that I have managed to finished.

#3 was a gorgeous one to knit. Haruni

Pattern: Haruni
Yarn: Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash Colorway Dornröschen a gift from Cheryl
Needles: 3.75mm (us 5)
Start: April 28, 2010
Finish: May 10, 2010

There isn't a lot to say about this lace piece. It was wonderful yarn and a fantastic pattern. I want more of this yarn so bad. It was fantastic to knit with. I want to make socks with it all day long everyday. I dont know that I would knit lace with it again tho. Not because it isn't good for lace. But just because I like lace with skinnier yarn better. This yarn is a bit thick even for sock yarn.

#4 in the challenge is a Tiny one. Barely qualifies for the challenge.
Annis

Pattern: "Annis"
Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Mist
needles: 3.5mm and 4.5mm (us 4 and 7)
Start: July 12, 2010
Finish: July 13, 2010

A dream to knit. Super fast. the yarn is super soft. A little on the fuzzy side to work with. but super strong and blocks REALLY well. I might have a mild aversion to alpaca. which makes me wonder if I'll use this yarn again. I dont like all the fuzz and fly aways that happen when knitting with it. The end result however is totally worth it. Super soft!

Then I knit #5; which is Traveling Woman. I was making a shawl for my MIL for an event and wasn't sure the annis was big enough for what she wanted. So I whipped this one up just in case. She loved both and quickly took them. Said she couldn't decide so why not take both if I was ok with it. Which I was. I made a mistake while knitting this one. Its pretty obvious. But I'm trying my best not to fixate on it.

Pattern: "Traveling Woman"
Yarn: Knit Picks Sock Blank that was hand dyed for me in a swap
needles: 5.0mm (us 8)
Start: July 13, 2010
Finish: July 15, 2010

Next up in the getting caught up arena is my latest Lorna's Laces Test/Sample knit. I love knitting for LL. Amanda is fantastic to work with. Always a pleasure. And this time was an added treat. I got to knit a Kate Gilbert pattern. It was a work in progress pattern at the time so I had several emails back and forth. And even a phone call!. Yep I was super excited. I ended up chatting with her for a while about life and such after sock talk was over. Fantastic lady. I hope I get to knit for her again. The Sock was beautiful. A cable tree that comes up out of the heel and wraps around the foot. LOVE!

Pattern: "Twin Oaks By Kate Gilbert"
yarn: lorna's laces Shepard Sock in Patina
needles: 2.0mm (us 0)
start: May 8, 2010
Finished: May 13, 2010

I also knit a pair of socks for Amie's mom. She commissioned me to knit them. Mom saw some of the socks I've been knitting for Amie. Last years bday pair specifically. Then hinted that she might like a pair of socks. So since socks aren't Amie's favorite. She turned to me. I was paid with this. A gorgeous hank of lace weight. Just to knit a pair of socks, can you believe it!? Amie bought the yarn and had it sent to me and I knit away on another pair of Kai-Mei socks.

Pattern: Kai-Mei by Cookie A. from Sock Innovation
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll in Sapphire Heather
needles: 2.0mm (us 0)
started: May 20, 2010
Finished: July 5, 2010 (seriously lost mojo while knitting these for some reason)

Best laid plans ...

2010-05-14T21:20:00.002-05:00

I always plan to blog. Really, I do. I just always forget. Or I decide that I don't really have anything interesting to blog about, which is sometimes true. But not always.

For example: I finished that helmet liner. Haven't blogged about it yet, though, have I?

Also want to change the blog theme to something springier, but I haven't had a chance to work much on that, either. Obviously, since we're still all brown and cream.

And I started my table runner. I'm using the Moroccan Days/Arabian Nights stole pattern with some pretty significant modifications. Most significant: my table runner is going to be MUCH, much smaller. That stole ends up 30"x90". My table is only 30"x54" or something like that. So obviously I had to make the pattern much skinnier and quite a bit shorter. I basically had to rewrite the whole pattern in order to do this. I'm leaving out two charts entirely, and about 2/3 of another. I'm shooting for about 12-15" wide and 78" long, which should be long enough to run the length of the table and have just the points hang off the ends. Which is the second most significant modification: I'm making the ends come to a point.

I'm also knitting the whole thing in one piece, instead of knitting two halves and then grafting them in the center. I didn't think a center graft would look very attractive sitting in the middle of my table. Especially the beaded 3-needle bindoff used in the original pattern. I'm sure it looks very beautiful in the stole, but I might want to put something in the middle of the table, and I don't want it to be wobbling back and forth on a seam.

I am leaving the beads in though. I love the way the model stole looks in the pale gold with deep, rusty red beads, so I'm copying that. I'm considering some drop beads in the center of each point, but we'll see. That'll depend mostly on whether I can find any pretty drop beads that match my seed beads. Which are freaking tiny, by the way. I'm trying to string them on my yarn (pure tussah silk from etsy seller stickchick ... it's gorgeous and so affordable!) and it's a huge pain. These are supposed to be size 11 Delicas (dark red and silver-lined), but they are the smallest 11s I've ever seen. I'm fairly certain that my size 14 crochet hook will be huge compared to these, and I'm pretty sure I've never seen a beading needle small enough to go through these. Don't get me wrong, I love them. They look gorgeous sitting here on the yarn as I'm stringing them. They almost look like a solid, metallic fabric. And I think the delicateness of them will help make sure they don't overpower the lace. But they're a pain. I'm having to string them by hand, one by one. And I have to string about 2,150 of them!

This better be worth it.

Pictures to come later. We're borrowing the in-laws' camera for vacation next week, so I'm hoping to snap a few shots of all my recent projects while we have it.

a little dyed lace

2010-04-28T09:55:00.004-05:00

I finished up my #2 for 10shawls2010. At the rate I'm knitting lace I wont finish the challenge successfully. But its fun non-the-less.

Pattern: "Swallowtail by Evelyn A. Clark"
Yarn: Knitpicks Gossamer in Sunrise
Needles: 3.5mm
Start: April 4
Finish: April 18

I then overdyed it with grape koolaid. The sunrise was a really pretty color but totally stole away from the lace design. Making it a more solid color makes the lace pop out so much more. love the results.
This is #2 lace for two reasons. It was the second in my challenge and also the second swallowtail I knit. The first one was done in the same yarn. Which like I said took away from the lace. so when I finished this one up I over dyed both of them. The first one I did in black cherry koolaid. This is what they looked like before (the first one I knit is blocked the new one is not.

After they were their nice new color I blocked again. This time much more aggressively. I love the final results.

I also finished up my pink promise socks that I started back in October. They were a test knit. I finished the first one and half the second before putting them down. Then they were misplaced in our move. I found them when cleaning up the craft room the other day. Pulled them out and finished them up. Just in time for Mother's Day too. Not a true "mother's day" gift. MIL already tried the one on (back in october or november or something). I'm sure she expected them for christmas (haha). But Justin and Nathan are taking a trip down to VA mother's day weekend and they can deliver them then.

Pattern: "Pink Promise Socks by Cheryl McLeod" (rav link)
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in whisper
needles: 2.0mm
Start: October 11, 2009
Finish: April 25, 2010

The pattern is a really neat knit. she designed then as part of the SKA October challenge. They are designed to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness. All proceeds from sales of this pattern will be donated to the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
They are a toe up design that is similar in style to Yarnissima. With a twisted stitch ribbon up the side and yarn over ribbons at the cuff. With a stretchy moss stitch pattern across the top and leg. With a pop of cable ribbon on the heel. She also recommended "Jeny's surprisingly stretchy Bind off" which is surprisingly stretchy. a great addition to toe up designs. I think it is both stretchy enough and "neat" looking. I was never a fan of the sewn bindoff because I could never get it to not look messy. Other toe up bindoffs were also either a little messy looking or not nearly stretchy enough. I encourage you to try this one if you haven't already. not at all hard to do. you dont have to measure out yarn before hand either.

All work and no play makes Amie very sad

2010-03-31T16:09:00.006-05:00

Very little time to knit lately. But when I've had time, I have been knitting! I've been working on helmet liners for the state DAR to donate. I'm still on the first one, but with any luck, it should be done tonight or tomorrow. I have a ton of yarn, so there's no problem there. I'm just going to keep knitting them until I run out of yarn, time or patience for 2x2 ribbing.

I'm not sure how I'll include these on my progress bar, since I don't know how many I'll end up knitting. Hmm. I'll have to think about that.

More info is available on Ravelry. I won't copy it all here; it's not that interesting. ;) And I'm at work and have to make this quick.

But here's a quick picture:

That was taken last night. The ribbed portion goes around the neck and the stockinette portion (the top of the Pac-man-esque shape) is worn like a hat. There's more ribbing to be knitted around the face opening after the hat portion is completed.

In that picture, I'd only knit 10 rows of the hat. The pattern calls for it to be knit in stockinette for 4" before beginning to decrease, so I still have at least one or two more days of knitting left to do.

Jess playing catch up again!

2010-03-23T22:01:00.004-05:00

I've been busy. I always seem to be playing catch up on here. Finish several things and then blog them all at once. I really need to work on that. But as I see it those seem to be what most bloggers say. hehe.

This little guy is one of the reasons I've been busy. This is Ryan (although I think most of you know that). He is 8 months old! And truly a handful. The sweater he is wearing is another thing that kept me busy for a bit.

Its my interpretation of Rocketry. I used the "tulip baby pattern" because I had it. The two sweaters (Tulip Baby and Rocketry) to me seemed so similar I didn't want to buy the other pattern when I already had this one. So I made the changes that I thought made it look more like Rocketry. Which included changing the colors. I did smooth color changes. Which actually isn't in either of the patterns but I liked it better. The other difference is the ribbed button band. Mine isn't exactly like Rocketry, but I'm happy with it. It fits him perfectly. Although that didn't happen without a little work.

The technical stuff
Pattern: "Rocketry"
Yarn: "Knit Picks Swish Worsted" in Coast Grey, Dublin, Jade, and Dark Navy
Needles: 3.75mm and 4.5mm (us 5 and 7)

This is the failed attempt. The colors just were not working for me. So after consulting Amie we decided that although all the colors I picked were nice. That bright blue had to go. And instead of doing smaller stripes more often just make them bigger. So I started over. I'm very pleased with how the finished product turned out.

Searching for buttons was a disaster but settled on some little blue star buttons. They are a pain to actually button but they get the job done and look ok doing it.

Next up is some mittens for Nathan. Nathan is the son that is hard to knit for. Or so that use to be the case. Lately the kid doesn't stop asking me for things. I asked him several times in the winter if he wanted me to make him mittens and he kept saying no. Until we moved to NY. He realized his hands were cold and mittens were warm. So he asked for some. With the fail of Ryan's sweater I had an extra ball of blue. Which happens to be the favorite color of all three boys in my life. So I quickly knit up these mittens.

Nathan loves them. Even if they were finished on the first official day of spring. He has already worn them often enough to make them worth it to me. Not to mention I was smart mommy and made them slightly bigger so that they "should" fit him when cold comes around again.

Pattern:"Classic mittens"
Size: 5-7 year old
Yarn: "Knit Picks Swish Worsted" in Deep Ocean
needles: 3.5mm (us 4)
notes: if I were to knit these again I'd use a smaller needle size for the ribbing. I might actually knit them at a tighter gauge too.

And last but not least. Do you guys remember this?

I FINALLY got around to sewing the zipper into the "dino sweater". I knit this sweater a year ago. A YEAR AGO PEOPLE! Nathan wore it very little. First because it was a costume not a sweater. And second because it didn't have a zipper. I bought the zipper 6 months ago. Finally got the courage to sew it in this week. I used "this" as a guide. Went and got the tape and pins. Pulled out the sewing machine and away we went.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. Didn't take near as long. I learned a lot. First time adding a zipper to my knitting. First time putting my knitting into my sewing machine. Also it was the first time I used the zipper foot on my sewing machine. I do feel accomplished. I'm very proud of the sweater. I had Nathan try it on and it does still fit him. I'm hoping he will wear it all spring. Until he outgrows it. In which case it will get washed and stored and revived when his brother gets older.
Its not perfect by any means. My sewing skills need a little work. The line is a bit wonky. But Justin agreed that Nathan wont care. Justin tested the zipper out and says it will hold up just fine.

Now just because I can and really want to share. This is our St. Patty's Day meal.

Details, details

2010-02-19T11:08:00.003-06:00

I finished all the pieces of the HellSackboy last night, except for the head. Today I have to knit the head and buy a zipper, sew it all together, stuff it and embroider on some yellow eyes. Then knit a brown utility belt (probably just a narrow strip), items to go on the utility belt (small knitted rectangles for pockets, a tiny gun and rosary? I have no idea how I'll knit a rosary ...) and a tan overcoat. Then it'll be done.

So here's what I've done.

For the record: I'm using Alan Dart's Sackboy pattern. And it is great.

I started with the body. I knitted the lower portion with black -- about 9 rows -- to serve as part of his shorts. Then I switched to red and finished the body.

Then I began the legs. I worked the lower 6 rows in black for the boots, then 7 rows of red for his legs, and finished with another 5 rows of black for the legs of the shorts.

The tail is an i-cord of varying sizes. I started out with 8 stitches and worked 9 rows, then decreased to 6 stitches and worked another 8 rows, then decreased to 4 and worked another 8 rows, then finally decreased to 3 and worked 8 more rows. Decreased to 2, knit one more row plain, decreased to 1 and ended it. I'm going to insert a red pipe cleaner in this before sewing it to the body so it'll be poseable. (To make that more clear: the tail consisted of 39 rows total. CO 8, work even 9 rnds, dec-to-6 rnd, work even 8 rnds, dec-to-4 rnd, work even 8 rnds, dec-to-3 rnd, work even 8 rnds, dec-to-2 rnd, work even 1 rnd, dec-to-1 rnd, BO 1.)

The left arm was worked as specified in the pattern, except with red yarn. Easy.

The right arm was pretty fiddly. It started out as specified in the pattern. After the first 5 rows, though, I switched it up. Rows 6 and 7 were reverse stockinette, and on row 6, I increased every other stitch (using kfb increases, because that's what the rest of the pattern uses). On row 8, I switched back to regular stockinette, decreasing 3 stitches evenly across the row. Rows 9-11 were worked even in stockinette. Rows 12-13 were reverse stockinette again, and on row 12, I added back the 3 previously decreased stitches. On row 13, I decreased those same 3 stitches again and switched back to regular stockinette. (See what I mean? Fiddly. And I haven't even gotten to the worst part yet.) I cast stitches on and off for the thumb just as the pattern specifies, except I had more stitches overall at this point -- 18 sts, as opposed to the pattern's 12. I worked 2 more rows even, as the pattern specifies, then I completely deviated from the pattern when I got to the fingers. I needed 3 fingers, all the same size, and I couldn't figure out how to get anything like that from the pattern instructions. So instead, I split the stitches into 6 groups of 3 sts each (I only had 15 sts, so I did 3 m1 incs evenly across the row while I was splitting up the stitches) and worked them all separately for 5 rows even, binding off each group after the 5 rows. This gave me a LOT of ends to deal with, but fortunately, they'll be hidden inside the toy anyway, so I don't have to do a spectacular job of weaving them in. And when I fold the arm in half and sew up the seam, I'll match up the 2 opposite "fingers" and sew them together, creating 3 identical, blocky fingers.

Clear as mud? I'll write up my modifications step-by-step when I finish, in case anybody wants to recreate my HellSackboy for any reason. Right now, this is more or less me writing notes to myself so I can remember what I did when it comes time to write out the step-by-step process.

Anyway, yes, the right arm was a pain to work. But it looks pretty good.

Now, for the head. I'll mostly be following the pattern, but I'm making one change. Zane said he prefers to have a big, open-mouthed grin, like in the crocheted Sackboy here. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to accomplish that yet, but most likely by binding off and then casting on stitches a row or two later. Like one big buttonhole. Then I'll work a mouth separately and insert it. I love that the girl on Craftster used a cd to make the mouth, but if that turns out too big or small for my toy's head, I'll just use stiff plastic canvas or something. I'll probably knit the inner mouth, though, instead of using felt ... I'll just knit it in black and then duplicate stitch the tongue on.

Then, I'll sew it all together, adding a zipper to the body and a pipe cleaner to the tail, and stuff. Embroider on eyes, knit the utility belt and coat, and voila. HellSackboy!

Zane better feel special, too. I don't go to this much trouble for just anybody.

HellSackBoy

2010-02-18T16:32:00.003-06:00

I started a knitted, stuffed toy for Zane today. He asked me for a Hellboy version of Sackboy, the star of the PS3 game Little Big Planet. Not too difficult; Sackboy is a knitted figure to begin with (and Simply Knitting offers a free Alan Dart pattern) so all I have to do is make the necessary modifications to turn him into Hellboy. For the most part, that just means choosing the right colors.

I'll post more details and pictures later. Right now, I'm just too tired. I have a cold. And I took Benadryl last night to help me sleep, and I'm pretty sure it's still affecting me now.

This is my second Ravelympics project. I don't think I'll have too much trouble finishing it before the 28th. Except that I'm a perfectionist who has to add in all the little details. But whatever. I'll get it done. Sometime. Hopefully by the 28th.

One project down

2010-02-15T21:24:00.003-06:00

And unknown amounts more to go.

I finished the Ravelympics/Vermont/colorwork hat I was working on. See?

Cool looking top decreases, right? I thought so. Granted, I semi-designed them ... based on my normal decrease pattern and a part of the original chart.

Anyway. It's not perfect, but I'm pretty fond of it. And I finished it early this morning. Took me 3 days and 7 hours. Not too shabby.

I'll do Zane's HellSackboy next, but I'm not casting on for that one just yet, even though I am on a deadline and my new goal is to finish as many projects as possible. Right now, no knitting. I'm just going to go catch up on all the sleep I didn't get last night because I was too busy finishing this hat!

Looks like a hat ...

2010-02-14T02:47:00.005-06:00

Well. So. Remember how I said I'd be lucky to finish my fair isle hat before the end of the Olympics/Ravelympics? Well, I was wrong about that. I'm not quite on the home stretch yet, but I'm close. I'm 10 rows away from starting the decreases. I could very conceivably finish this hat today, only 2 days after starting it and with 15 days to spare in the competition.

I can't believe the knitting is going this quickly. I mean, I've knit hats in a single day before, but they were plain stockinette hats with worsted weight yarn and size 5 circular needles/size 6 dpns for the top. I've barely knit any stranded colorwork before, and what I did knit was with worsted weight or heavier. And it was certainly MUCH slower than my normal knitting pace. We're talking hours to finish a 20 st x 10 row swatch. Plus, smaller needles and yarn require more stitches, and therefore more time, to fill the same amount of space as larger yarn and needles, and I am noticeably slower on dpns than I am with circs. So how in the world am I managing to knit a fully-stranded hat on size 3 dpns in only 2 days?!

This is completely unexpected, and it baffles me. I was betting on 4 rows per day for my average. Um, yeah. Try 34 today. I only have 29 rows left, 19 of which take place after the decreases begin, which means they're all getting shorter and shorter. But even if you ignore that, if I only worked 2 rows per day, I'd STILL finish in time for a Ravelympics medal.

But I'm not going to do that. I'm going to finish this hat as quickly as I can, then I'm moving on to Zane's HellSackboy. I'll include it with my Ravelympics projects too, and I should be able to finish it easily. So I'll also include another project from the top of my queue. I just haven't figured out yet which one I'll start after the plushie. Luke's gloves aren't eligible, but the matching hat is. So is my hat and glove set. I'm just not sure which I want to knit most. I want to get Luke's hat out of the way, but it's another hat knit with fingering weight out of size 3s, and quite frankly, I don't know if I can take it this soon after working the Vermont Hat. I don't know. I'll figure it out later.

In the meantime ... today's progress:

It looks like a hat, but it fits like a glove. Maybe it's because it's 3 a.m., but I find that little pun extremely funny right now.

This hat also happens to be insanely comfortable, and I can't wait to wear it. I need to measure and make sure the length is working out properly before I start knitting tomorrow; I may even be able to shorten the hat a little. It also has a few ladders, but I think I can easily take care of those with blocking.

I think I now have the fair isle bug. You know, to go along with my lace bug and my cable bug?

Hi, my name is Amie, and I'm a knitaholic.

Olympian challenges

2010-02-13T01:57:00.004-06:00

Short blog post tonight, because it's 2 a.m. and I've been knitting almost non-stop since a little past 9 p.m. I so did not realize it had been that long! :) That's good, though, because I have a lot of work to do in a small amount of time.

You see, Jess and I are both participating in the Ravelympics. I'll let her blog about her own project, but I'm competing in both the Hat Halfpipe and the Nordic Colorwork Combined events with the same project: the Vermont Hat. Knitting started tonight at the same time the Olympics opening ceremony began, and the challenge is to complete your project(s) before midnight on the last day of the Olympics. This gives us ... 17 days? I think?

Yes, my only goal is for one hat. Yes, hats are my niche. But this one is slightly different. For one thing, it's fair isle. Much, much slower than my normal hat-making. Also, I'm using fingering weight yarn (Knitpicks Palette) on size 3 needles, which is quite a bit smaller than my normal dk-to-worsted on 5s. It's going to be a real challenge for me to get finished in such a short time period, especially since I'll be at work for the majority of those days and my knitting time will be limited. But I'm excited about the prospect, and hey, maybe the Ravelympics will be just the inspiration I need to push me to finish.

Oh, and by the way, that original hat was worked in worsted weight yarn, and the top is solid color. The second color is only used around the "tube" part of the hat (technical term there). I didn't like that (stupid perfectionism!) so, as usual, I modified it. First I modified the hat to work with fingering weight, then I added extra colorwork designs to the crown of the hat, all the way up to the decreases. The last row that uses the second color is only 2 rows away from finishing the hat, and the next-to-last row would've been a solid-color row anyway. I'm kind of proud of my modifications on this one.

For now, anyway. Ask me again when I'm rushing to complete all that colorwork on the last day of the Ravelympics.

I will, however, explain what I did later if it works out well. I won't provide my complete chart, because that would be copyright infringement, but I can show off what I added and explain my other mods.

This is my first real fair isle project, by the way. I've done some practice stuff, and a little bit of intarsia, but I've never really done any large-scale stranded colorwork. I think I enjoy it. Which is probably a good thing, since I am completely in love with a lot of stranded colorwork patterns. Oh the prospects.

So, now that I've bored you with all those details, wanna see a picture of tonight's progress?

In case you can't tell from that terrible photo, my yarn is green and white, just like the pattern photo. It's Palette colorways Edamame and Cream, if you're interested.

I got through 5 rows of ribbing (on size 1s to help it do what ribbing's supposed to do: pull inward and stay snug around the body) and 5 rows past that, the first of which was just a solid color. I probably won't average 10 rows every day. That would be asking too much. Although, I have to admit, I was knitting 132 sts of 1x1 ribbing on size 1 Boye needles, which is no easy feat ... that didn't exactly go quickly, either.

Still, I like how it's turning out, and I'm 1/12 of the way to the decreases, not counting the ribbing or the solid row immediately following it. If I can work 4 stranded rows per day, I should be ready to start the decreases 11 days from now, leaving me 5 days for the decreases. That is definitely doable, since there are only 19 rows of decreases and the rows are shorter, ending with only 12 stitches after the last row.

I can do this. I can do this! But I might need you all to cheer me on. I respond very well to compliments and encouragement. ;)

More information on both Jess's Ravelympics project and my own is available on our respective Ravelry pages, which have been conveniently linked for you on the sidebar. Because my perfectionism doesn't just apply to hats.

Icarus KAL Jess's version (hehe)

2010-02-11T13:27:00.004-06:00

Ok well Amie talked me into knitting this one with her. Trust me it wasn't hard for her to talk me into it at all. It was on my list of lace pieces I wanted to knit. I already had yarn I wanted to use in stash. And if I'm going to completely my 10shawls in 2010 challenge I'd better get to knitting. So I quickly picked up needles and yarn and got to knitting.

Pattern:" Icarus Shawl by Miriam L. Felton"
Yarn: Lacey Lamb by Jade Sapphire Exotic Fibers in color 313
Needles: US 3(3.25mm)
Notes: left out 1 repeat because I didn't want to run out of yarn. I had less than 10 grams leftover.

This was a fun pattern to knit. There were a couple times that I wished it wasn't so big. But overall it was a very nice knit. I'm not sure I'll ever knit it again. But if I did I'd add beads and change the last knitting row to only 2yo instead of 4 (Amie mentioned this to me when she was finished and I was still knitting but I decided to stick with the pattern this go... I'll take her advice next time hehe)

I'm extremely happy with this project. I absolutely love how it turned out.

Nerdy

2010-02-10T14:32:00.003-06:00

As you'll see on the sidebar, I'm halfway finished with Luke's Gamer Gloves, which are an adaption of Knitty's Cigar gloves.

Here's the first of the pair:

Keep in mind that my husband's hands are quite a bit larger than my own. That glove is pulled tightly around my hand and pinned at the palm so the Tetris block design is stretched out and shows up well. On his hands, the design is centered both vertically and horizontally. The fingers also fit, and the gloves don't reach almost to his elbows.

This is the right hand glove, obviously. I'm 5 rows into the second glove now. It will have a blue L-shaped Tetris piece on it. (L for left, or for Luke.)

He chose single Tetris pieces for the design because he wanted something simplistic, from a retro game, that wasn't instantly recognizable to the whole world. By themselves, these aren't automatically identifiable as Tetris pieces, at least not to non-gamers.

In order to be authentic, these pieces would both need to be the same non-descript greenish color, since that's all you got on the original Gameboy. But Luke wanted something a little brighter and more noticeable. So we went a little more modern for the colors. Which means this t-shaped piece actually should have been yellow, but he's not a huge fan of yellow, so we just went with red instead. Creative license. Most people won't know it's "wrong" anyway.

The matching hat will have 4 designs in a ring around the bottom: Zelda's triforce, Mario's P wing, an energy tank from Mega Man and the screw attack symbol from Metroid.

The P wing and the screw attack are a real pain in the butt to chart, let me tell ya. Especially when you keep either losing the chart or changing your gauge for the project, which changes the number of stitches allowed for each design. This will be the third time I've created a chart for this stupid project.

At least the triforce, the energy tank and the Tetris blocks are easy.

Oh, by the way, these gloves and hat are made from Patons Kroy sock yarn in a now-discontinued gray. The designs are added using brightly-colored embroidery floss, and the outlines are in black Knitpicks Essential/Stroll sock yarn because it was handy and I didn't have any black embroidery floss on hand.

I'll upload my charts to the blog when I finish, just in case anyone else ever needs to knit a P wing or an energy tank.

Oh, and by the way, these gloves are called gamer gloves for another reason, too, not just because of the designs on the backs. They're designed so that he can wear them while playing games. That's why I left off the tips of the thumb, index and middle fingers; those are the ones he uses most often when playing. His right hand is almost always either on the mouse or the right half of the controller, and that doesn't require the use of his ring or pinky fingers. Left hand is slightly different -- WASD games use the ring finger a little more and occasionally even the pinky -- but he'll deal.

Blocked

2010-02-02T15:13:00.006-06:00

Pictures of Icarus!

(Disclaimer: the pictures aren't great, due to a combination of poor lighting in my apartment, an uncooperative camera, my lack of a dark-colored towel to block on, a nosy cat and the fact that I was teetering on the edge of the bed to take the shots. But the lines in the shawl really are straight, I promise; they're distorted because of my weight on the bed the shawl's laid out on. And the yarn is actually a natural cream color, despite the fact that it looks almost gold in some of the pictures.)

Click on the pictures to see them bigger.

I couldn't get the whole thing in the shot ... I was too close. Darn my height (or lack thereof)!
I had to settle for the arched look on top in order to get the points pinned out correctly. If worst comes to worst, I'll spritz the top part with some water and re-block just that portion. I don't know. Maybe the scallops won't be noticeable when I unpin it, or maybe I'll even like them. We'll see.
I love how this picture really picks up the yarn's sheen. It's not that noticeable in real life, sadly, but it's still pretty.

Another shot showing off the silky sheen and the pretty points. (Yeah, so I like alliteration, so what?)

Detail of the bottom point. I thought this turned out especially well. Again, the points are even and the lines are straight when I'm not standing on the bed.

And the bottom from another angle, showing how the straight stockinette lines branch out into the feathers along the edge.

I'm pretty proud of this one. I love the way it turned out.

Vital statistics:
Pattern: MimKnits' Icarus, originally printed in Interweave Knits Summer 2006
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr laceweight in white
Needles: Size 3 Knitpicks fixed 24" circular (nickle-plated)
Mods: Cut out two repeats of chart 1 because I'm only 4'10" and didn't want my shawl to look like it was eating me
Finished size: 60" across the top (My target size! Yay!)
Pros/cons: In general, I love this shawl. However, the yo4s in the next-to-last row were overkill, in my opinion. I understand that it makes it easier to block the points out, but even after tugging and adjusting as much as possible, I ended up with a big loop of yarn just hanging there on each point. (You yo4, and on the next row you purl into one loop and drop the other 3.) I'm not sure what I'll do about those loops yet, but the yo4 just made an excessively big, loose stitch. I think a double or triple yo would have worked just as well and wouldn't have left all that excess yarn hanging.

Now I have to find something to make with the leftover Zephyr. I definitely got my money's worth out of that cone. I bought it from Sarah's Yarns for $50, and so far, it's produced two stoles, a wedding garter and now Icarus. And I probably still have half a cone leftover. I definitely recommend it.

I'll try to get pictures of me wearing it eventually, but no promises. It's cold and snowy out there, and I'm cold-natured! Plus, I'm really not even a shawl person. I just wanted to knit this.

More photos and progress details on Ravelry.

FO!

2010-02-02T00:13:00.004-06:00

Finished!

I finished pinning out Icarus at about 11:45 p.m., meaning I finished in about 3 weeks and 22 or 23 hours. I'm satisfied with that.

I'm also pretty satisfied with how the shawl turned out, too. It's exactly 60" across the top, which was my goal, and looks very pretty all stretched out there.

I'll get some pictures tomorrow before I unpin it.

Yay for FOs!

Now, on to Luke's gamer gloves/hat set. Which I'm already frustrated with because he decided the already-finished glove "doesn't feel right" even though he had previously given it his approval. Grrr. This is why I don't knit for my husband. He is way too indecisive. It would have nice to know that the glove's thumb gusset didn't feel right before I finished the rest of the stupid glove!

I just want to get this project out of the way so I can move on to the fun stuff. I ordered yarn for another hat and two sweaters today, and I have plans to order yarn for another shawl whenever the girl gets back in touch with me. And I have yarn stashed for a hat and gloves for myself. Plus I have to knit Zane a plush toy. I probably don't have the right yarn in stash for that, but psh, it's a toy ... Walmart yarn will do just fine, and I can pick that up any time.

Almost finished

2010-01-31T23:12:00.002-06:00

I finished chart 4 of Icarus tonight. Just 4 rows of edging! I figure I can work at least 2 of those before bedtime tonight, the other 2 tomorrow, bind-off and wash/block on Tuesday. At the latest. Yay!

Icarus progress

2010-01-27T00:50:00.006-06:00

I haven't blogged much about Icarus, but I've been posting occasional updates on Ravelry. I decided I needed at least one WIP post about the project, though, so here it is.

I just finished knitting row 8 of chart 3. That means I'm halfway through the chart. I have 8 more rows, then one more 24-row chart, then 4 rows of edging. Then I'll be done.

I cut out two repeats of the first chart. You are supposed to work the entire chart, then repeat the last 24 rows 5 times more. I only repeated those rows three additional times. This is a huge shawl. As written, the pattern makes a shawl that's 72" wide, which is way too big for a 4'10" girl. And my shawl got big fast. I was aiming for around 60" wide, and I think I overshot that. Even without the two extra repeats.

I guess we'll see once I finish it.

Reference pictures for those who may not have Ravelry or be familiar with the pattern can be found here and here as the book cover.

And mine, as of tonight, looks like this in crappy pictures taken with my webcam because I can't seem to find the real camera:

Close-up of the feathery portion:

I have to say, these rows are taking forever to knit now, but I am really enjoying the project overall. I love seeing the pattern emerge. I check it every other row to see if it's changed. And I can't wait to get it finished and wash and block it so I can move on to my next beautiful, exciting pattern.

I think it has finally happened, folks. I, product knitter extraordinaire, have been transformed. Now I knit more for process than product.

I probably won't even wear Icarus more than once, if even that. But that isn't the point, really. I love the way it looks!

Just an update

2010-01-21T11:24:00.004-06:00

Jess and I are both working on the Icarus shawl as a mini KAL. I started first, but she's catching up quickly. As of yesterday, she was almost finished with her 3rd repeat. As of right now, I've just started my 5th repeat. I'm almost positive I'll be stopping and moving on after 5 full repeats (unless I change my mind when I get to the end). I'm not sure about her, but I think she'll probably end up cutting out one repeat as well, to conserve yarn.

I don't feel like hunting down my WIP photos to post them here, but I'll post photos later. In the meantime, we both have project pages on Ravelry (mine; hers)with all the pertinent details.

I will say that I'm impressed at how quickly this shawl is going. It's a laceweight shawl on size 3 needles. Every other row has 4 stitches more than the previous ones, so it grows pretty quickly. I'm already up to 400-something stitches per row, I think. But I just started on ... Jan. 11? And I feel like I'm nearing the end. I just have to finish this repeat, do one more partial repeat and work the edging. Granted, the edging is pretty big, but I still feel like the end is near.

FO!

2010-01-18T12:37:00.003-06:00

Mom's Printed Silk Cardigan is finally finished. It's been presented and photographed and here's the evidence?

I am really happy with how it turned out. It looks better in person than it looks in the picture, not that it looks terrible in the picture. It just needed to be adjusted slightly in the shoulders and the ribbing needed to be tugged down an inch or so. It does fit, it just needed some adjustment. But Mom hates pictures and was trying to run away, so I had to take the picture quickly.

Anyway, she's really happy with it. I'm pretty proud of it, and I think it looks really good on her. The style is very flattering to her body, and Mom looks good in that deep orange color. She also happens to love that color, so that works out well.

And there's another thing that makes this sweater kind of special. When I was in the preliminary planning phase of this project, I enlisted my stepdad's help with some reconnaissance, basically. I checked her bra size to make sure I was correct about her measurements. Together, we also measured the bra strap from hook to loop, just for additional peace of mind about how big her underbust area is. And then, I found a similarly-shaped shirt in her closet that I knew fit her very well, and we measured that.

So in a way, it was a joint effort. He didn't help with the actual knitting, but he contributed what he could to the sweater. Considering the circumstances, that makes the sweater just that much more special for Mom. And for me. He always helped me arrange surprises and gifts for Mom. This was our last "covert operation" together. I'd intended to get his opinion on the buttons and stuff, too, but by the time I got to that point, he was too far gone. I don't doubt that he'd approve, though.

The sweater got put on hold several times, and I had a few setbacks, but I'm happy with the overall project.

Here's a recap of the pertinent facts:
Pattern: Printed Silk Cardigan from Interweave Knits, Spring 2008, 34" size
Yarn: Knitpicks Shine Sport in Terra Cotta (purchased 15 skeins and used a little less than 10)
Needles: Knitpicks size 3 24" circulars
Buttons: Five JHB-brand 5/8" buttons made of coconut, purchased at Hancock Fabric in Owensboro, KY
Mods: Adjusted stitch and row count to compensate for gauge differences, customized length to compensate for body differences (and my own mistakes) and worked the sleeves in stockinette with a 3-row ribbed border to match the bottom hem of the sweater body. Also didn't do a sewn bind-off because I wanted something a little firmer and quicker to work. The neckline's big enough that the neckline ribbing doesn't need to stretch that much, anyway. So I chose a bind-off that better matches my cable cast-on. I ended up knitting 2 tog tbl, then placing the new stitch back on the left needle (after twisting, to keep it from being stretched out) and repeating the process across the rest of the row.

I definitely plan to knit another one of these. This time, though, it'll be for me. I'm thinking Shine Sport in Harbor, but I haven't decided for sure yet.

I also need to figure out what to do with the ~5.25 balls of leftover Shine from this project.

Crap.

2010-01-04T14:28:00.005-06:00

Well, crap. Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap crap. Crap! (Which, by the way, is not really the word I would like to say here, but oh well.)

I have slacked on blogging because life has been crazy, but I have been knitting. I am almost finished with Mom's sweater, finally. I was sewing up the first of two side seams today. Everything else is done, I just had to sew up the sides and weave in the 4 ends of the side-seam-sewing yarn and it was ready for a wash and block. (Yeah, I know, I was supposed to seam the side and the sleeve at the same time, but I went ahead and did the sleeve ... I wanted to make sure it would fit Mom.) I was a little over halfway through, up to the center ribbing, and I realized something was NOT. RIGHT. I was only at the center ribbing on the front piece. I still had about an inch and a half to go on the back before I hit the ribbing.

So I'm sitting here, pulling out all the nice little stitches. And here I thought this seam was going so well. Taking forever, but working out nicely. But oh well, I'll just go back, find where I got off track, make sure all the decreases match up properly and work in any ease from one side being stretched out or whatever the problem was. Right?

Not right.

See, when I started looking at the decreases, they actually did match up. They're off by one row. Not a problem. I can deal with one row. But wait, if all the decreases match up, then why is my seam so off ... oh. Oh no. Oh yes, folks, that's right: the back piece has six sets of decreases. (Which is the correct number.) The front piece, on the other hand, only has five.

Crap. (Did I mention that part yet? Well, I'll say it again for good measure. CRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPP.)

Counted the decreases on the other front pieces. Again, five. So here's my dilemma. I can go back and add another set of decreases (10 rows) to each one of the front pieces, or I can go back and take out one set of decreases (again, 10 rows) from the back. Technically, I was supposed to decrease 6 times, which would mean the back is the correct piece. But here's the other dilemma. The decreases are completed before the center ribbing, before the textured pattern, before any of the armhole/neckline shaping. You're telling me I have to rip all that out just to add 10 rows? To each piece? No way buddy. That's just not gonna happen. No, what I'm gonna do is cut off the bottom ribbing on the back piece, frog 10 rows and knit the ribbing back on. This may leave me with an extra set of decreases. I'm not sure how many rows I worked before starting the decreases. But I don't care. It's only 2 stitches, it's not really gonna make a difference. It'll also make the whole thing 10 rows shorter, but, hey, that's just a little over an inch. So it'll be an inch shorter. Fortunately, it was a little too long on Mom when she tried it on the other day, anyway. Plus, it's a cotton blend. It'll stretch. That 10 rows will never be missed.

But it means I have to rip out this entire seam, cut off the ribbing, rip out 10 rows, knit the ribbing back and start this seaming process all over again. It's not the end of the world, but it still makes me want to cry. Just a little.

And the kicker? I have no idea how I managed to miscount the decreases on not only one but both front pieces. My own notes clearly say to work a total of 6 sets of decreases. And I distinctly remember thinking that when I was working the fronts. I just counted wrong. In my own defense, I'm not stupid, but I knit those two pieces while my stepfather was in the hospital dying from cancer. I blame my distraction for my sudden inability to count to six.

Guess what? (Warning: lots of pictures below!)

2009-10-01T16:01:00.007-05:00

I finally found my Baroness Beret! It was crumpled in the pocket of my former favorite sweater (only former because Luke accidentally shrank it in the wash). I dragged the sweater out the other day when temps dropped, and lo and behold, there was my beloved hat.

So, since I know you've been waiting for months for these pictures (hah) I won't keep you in suspense any longer.

It turned into more of a slightly-loose beanie than a beret, but I think that suits me better anyway.

It's slightly crooked on my head here.

Top view of the hat on a jug of pretzels. Since the jug lid is white, you can't tell too much about the pattern, and the closure at the top looks a little strange because the hat isn't pulled across the lid evenly. But you can kinda see the star-shaped decrease pattern, which is what I was going for.

Yeah they're all webcam photos. I was excited when I found the hat and went for the closest camera. I'll make Luke get better pictures some time. Or I'll make an attempt with the camera timer, but that's harder to do outside and the light in our apartment is horrible. Anyway. I'll get better photos. And I'll try not to wait months this time.

In the meantime... I DID get the better photos of the printed silk progress, just like I promised.

Side view; you can see that my left-leaning crosses are not nearly as neat as the right-leaning ones. This always happens to me. Maybe some day I'll figure out why and correct it, but I kinda doubt it, since I follow directions exactly. But they look a lot better after blocking anyway.

Close up. You can tell that the column of knits between the decreases gets a little stretched-out and makes very obvious vertical lines. I don't mind it terribly, but I'm hoping it becomes a little less obvious with blocking.

This one's blurry, but it really shows off the impact of the embossed diamonds pattern.

Again, not a terrific picture, but it shows how the embossed diamonds look almost like a check pattern at a different angle. It's funny. At one angle, they're the embossed diamonds like in the previous picture. At another angle, it looks checked, like this. And looking straight down at it from above, it looks like vertical ripples, like I mentioned yesterday. (The same thing happens when looking straight up from below, but the individual columns of stitches are more emphasized from below. I prefer the view from above. Mom's short anyway; it's not likely anybody'll be looking straight up at it.)

Another semi-close-up, pretty much just because I can. From this angle (maybe a 45 degree from below?) you can see the individual columns of stitches rippling up but the diamonds stand out more, at least to me. I love this shirt. It's almost like a Rorschach inkblot. What do YOU see?

If the color looks off on this one, that's because it is. Well, actually the color is off on all of them; this one is actually the closest to the real color. It was WAY off when I first uploaded it, though, and I did a quick correcting job on it. I wasn't concerned with making it perfect, just not gray. Aside from the color weirdness, it's a fairly good close-up of the bodice.

At least some of these are about to go up on Ravelry to replace yesterday's crappy webcam pictures.

Aaaaaaaaaand, while I'm here ... I never posted finished photos of Lelah, so here's a couple. (I intend to replace the yellow ribbon with white, but yellow was closer to me at the time. Also, the straps are convertible. Yay!)

I'm back

2009-09-30T16:26:00.003-05:00

I've been slacking on the blogging. Life gets in the way. But I have been knitting ... a little. I managed to get the back piece of the Printed Silk Cardigan finished. Now I have a little less than a month to knit both fronts, knit both sleeves, sew it all together, knit button bands and neckband, buy buttons, sew the buttons on and do a final wash and block. Easy, right? Hah.

These aren't good shots of it, because I'm at work. I worked with what I had. What I had was a bulletin board, a ton of push pins and a built-in webcam on my laptop. At least this should give you an idea of how the stitch pattern looks, although in person it is slightly more subtle. And it gives more of a vertical ripply, ribbon effect.

This also has not been blocked. Dimensions are slightly off at this point, and the stitches aren't as even as I'd like. But I didn't want to do a full block until I had all the pieces done.

On to the pictures!

(I promise, that weird wavy thing at the bottom is from the camera. The shirt doesn't really look like that.)

Notice that Blogger clips the pictures along the right side. The whole thing can be viewed on my Flickr account or on Ravelry. There are a couple of other pictures up on Flickr, too, but they're not good at all and don't really show any of the detail. That's why they're not posted.

knitting complete

2009-09-30T10:44:00.003-05:00

I added them up... there are at least 15 projects that I've either completed or that are close to completion right now. Not a single one of them are blogged about. Hmmm I keep thinking I'll remedy this. but in reality I probably wont. I'm just so bad at it.

I know at least 3 of the projects that are being worked on right now will eventually get blogged about. Most likely when they are complete. they are larger projects. I'm pretty good about blogging those. But all the socks and soakers and what not I've done. I'm not sure they'll show up on here. They are up on Ravelry. so really if you are antsing to keep up with my knitting go look there. I keep rav updated. although not always with pictures.

Just wanted to share that I am actually knitting. Just not blogging. I think I should teach Nathan how to blog for me. hehe. He loves taking pictures. He'd probably get a real kick out of it.

Amie's bday socks 2009

2009-09-30T09:42:00.005-05:00

Since 2006 I've been making Amie socks for her birthday. This year was no exception.

Amie's Bday socks 2009

Pattern: Kai-Mei by Cookie A from "Sock Innovation"
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock in Peach, tiny bit of KnitPicks Gloss Bare
Needles: 2.0mm (us 0)
Start: August 20
Finish: August 27
notes: easy pattern. I used up ever last inch of peach and then did toes in white. The gloss is a bit thicker than the shepard sock, but I think they worked well together.

birthday!

2009-08-31T21:24:00.003-05:00

i got awesome birthday socks today from the world's best sock-knitter! love 'em, jess. perfect fit, extremely well-made (as always) and very comfy. what pattern and yarn is this?

i tried to take pictures, but i had to use the flash and it washed them out. i'll have to wait till daylight.

and the socks even came with a card signed by my favorite 4-year-old boy (and 3 other pretty cool people).

thanks, jess!

Shrug

2009-08-27T19:46:00.004-05:00

The shrug is finished. I may have already mentioned that, but I can't remember. Here's a picture, though.

Ignore the fact that the shrug does not match what I am wearing. I'd just gotten home from work and threw the shrug on for a quick picture before it got too dark.

Also ignore the general suckiness of the picture. I asked Luke to take it, and he didn't want to because he was watching a tv show. Which he had downloaded, so it's not like he was missing anything by going outside to take a picture. But he was pouty and impatient and didn't bother to wait for the camera to focus or any other silly unimportant things like that, so the picture's pretty crappy. But it shows the shrug, and that's the important thing, I guess.

Also, by the time I coaxed him outside to take the picture, the sun had gone behind the building and everything had a bluish tint. So the color is way off in the photo.

I'll have to get better pictures later to put on Ravelry. In the meantime ...

Back to work

2009-08-21T23:23:00.003-05:00

As of about 11 tonight, I am back to work on the shrug. Photos soon. I need to finish binding off the first sleeve, then I'll try it on and get photos. But I was afraid I'd forget to blog if I didn't do it now.

Update: photo. Trying it on didn't really work because it's still very much in a state of un-contruction. But here it is draped across my chest, even though it will not cover my chest (back and upper arms only) when finished.

Progress

2009-08-19T16:44:00.005-05:00

I have made a little progress on the Printed Silk Cardigan. Other things have prevented me from working on it much, including an impromptu quick shrug project (more on that later), but I have worked on it a bit.

Wanna see pictures? You know you do... (Ignore the wrinkles, it was wadded up in my bag. Definitely will need blocking and maybe ironing when I'm done.)

Whole piece so far:

Stitch definition:

Artsy! (Looks long, doesn't it? It's only 16" right now and should be about 18" once washed.)

I should also note that those pictures have not been touched at all, as far as post-processing goes, so the colors may be slightly off. But they look pretty close on my screen.

(Photos and project notes are also available on Ravelry.)

At this point, I am a few rows past the first decrease row. I spent some time figuring out how many times and how often to decrease to get the fit right. I'm going to be doing a lot of math to make this sweater work. But Mom's worth it. And this much of the math is already done, and it'll be the same for the front, so ... looking on the bright side ... I'm nearly halfway finished with the math! Most of the measurements are in inches, not row counts. I should be okay.

Speaking of being halfway done. There are six inches of waist-shaping decreases in this sweater! But the good news with that is that once I finish the decreases, I'll be almost up to the center ribbing, which I'm supposed to begin once my finished piece reaches 10.25". I worked 3.75" before starting the decreases. Do the math. That only leaves .5" -- about 4 or 5 rows -- of stockinette between the last decrease and the center ribbing. And after the ribbing, I get to start the fun part. I say fun. I mean potentially complicated, as far as math goes. But at least it'll be interesting. I think.

So yeah, now I just have to plow through the 51 rows of waist shaping, and everything will be just peachy. I think I've worked 6 of those 51 rows so far.

Oh yeah, and my impromptu shrug project. Long story short, I have a dress that I really like but am uncomfortable wearing. I think I'll be more comfortable if I have something to wear over it. (Basically, the top is loose and flowy and not my normal style, and I think I'd prefer something more modest.) This is the dress I would like to wear to a friend's wedding at the end of the month. So, 3 days ago, I found a simple pattern, dug out some stashed yarn and started a shrug. Two days ago, I finished all the stockinette and started the ribbing on one sleeve. I was almost finished. But I left it in someone's car and can't get it back until tomorrow evening. I'll post pictures when I get it back. It may be finished before I get the chance to do so, but hey ... it was a quick project.

Last thing: remember, the Printed Silk Cardigan is a birthday gift for Mom, so please don't spill the beans!

It is begun! (Or, Lessons in Gauge.)

2009-08-10T10:49:00.005-05:00

First things first: yes, I did finish the straps on Lelah in time to take it on vacation. They stretch a little more than intended and work much better when crossed in the back, but that's okay. I ended up not actually wearing it on vacation, but that's okay too. I just need to get a white ribbon to thread through the eyelets and I'll be pretty happy with it. I didn't bother blocking, but I don't think it really needs it.

Now, the more exciting news. I have started my next big project: a printed silk cardigan for Mom, as a birthday gift. It's a surprise, so shhhh. She knows I was thinking about knitting the sweater and even helped me pick out the yarn color, but she thinks I was looking at it for myself. She also doesn't know that I've started it or even bought the yarn yet.

I'm using Knitpicks Shine Sport in color Terra Cotta. Don't be fooled by the picture on the web site. The color name is accurate. It's actually rather dark, very much like real terra cotta. Maybe a little more orangey. But definitely not the pinky, salmon-y color that shows up on my screen on the online color card. Oh well. Mom'll still like this color, I think, and I think it'll look okay on her. Not as good as a salmony pink. But she does like orange, and this is sort of like a deep burnt orange color.

I love this yarn. This is the second time I've used it, and I still can't get over how nice and smooth and silky it is. Definitely the best cotton I've used, by far. But I am having a slight problem with it. I can't get gauge. I'm apparently not the only one, either. A lot of people on Ravelry made this sweater with Shine Sport and had trouble with gauge. But it's kind of ridiculous. The recommended yarn, Fiesta La Luz, is quite a bit lighter than the Shine Sport, in terms of yards per ounce, but it appears to be a slightly heavier yarn weight. (That sentence would not make any sense to non-knitters, I know.) La Luz is DK, as opposed to the Shine's sport weight, and the gauge is 23 sts/4" on 6s whereas Shine is 24 sts/4" on 3s-5s. So you would think they'd be close enough to make it work. You would be wrong.

This is where the lessons in gauge part comes in. The gauge called for in the pattern is 25 sts/4". I swatched on 5s. WAY too big. 25 stitches was more like 5 or 6 inches. I swatched on 3s. Very close. Until I washed the swatches and they grew. My 4-inch swatch became a 4.5-inch swatch. Non-knitters, I know, that doesn't seem like a big difference, but do a little math. The pattern calls for 6.25 stitches per inch. The smallest size, which is the size I need to make, asks me to cast on 113 stitches, for a finished piece (the back of the sweater, in case you were wondering) of just over 18". So then do the math for my knitting on 3s. 25 sts/4.5" is about 5.5 sts per inch. Again, it doesn't seem like a significant difference from the pattern's recommended gauge, until you figure out how much of a change that'll mean over the whole sweater. If I followed the pattern as written and cast on 113 stitches, my finished back piece would be 20.5". 2.5" too big. And the front would be that much bigger, too, for a total difference of 5".

That won't work. I don't want to give Mom a sweater that is 5" too big for her. That IS a significant difference.

(Okay, my actual gauge was more like 5.25 sts/in. I couldn't remember exactly how big my swatch was after washing, so I just guessed. The basic principles are the same.)

So it looks like I'm going to be doing lots of math. I figured out how many stitches I'd need for the correct measurement, figured out the stitch count for the repeat (repeat of 16 stitches + 1 + 2 for edge stitches) and ended up casting on 99 stitches. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping it fits. Most of the lengths are measured in inches, rather than row counts, so I shouldn't have a huge problem there. I'll just have to do some fiddling with the increases and decreases. And I'm hoping that changing the stitch count doesn't mess up the embossed diamonds pattern. The alternate sizes change the stitch count by 12 and 14 stitches, not a whole repeat, so it's a little confusing.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm using 3s (rather than the pattern's recommended 5s) to get this gauge? That's why I don't want to drop any more needle sizes. I have a feeling I'd have to go down to 1s or even smaller to meet gauge. I really do NOT want to knit an entire sweater in two months' time on needles that small. It'd be like knitting plate armor, anyway. The drape is already a little stiffer than I'd like. 5s were too loose, though, and rather than trying to find 4s I like and cast on even fewer stitches, I'll deal with the slight stiffness. I'm sure it'll work out just fine.

It is looking rather nice. I've already made one small modification, in addition to changing the stitch count. The pattern doesn't have any sort of border along the bottom edge. It's just pure stockinette from the bottom cast-on to the waist ribbing. Rather than combat the curling, I worked 3 rows of 1x1 rib at the bottom. It'll match the waist and neckline ribbing, and it should keep the bottom from curling upwards. I think 2 rows would've looked better, but I was afraid it wouldn't be enough to combat the curl and would just flip upward. So 3 rows it is.

Pictures to come later! I know, I wrote out this long post and now I'm not posting pictures. But I don't have the real camera handy and I want to show off how nice the yarn looks. So just pretend I've included pictures. (P.S. I'm 10 rows in on the back piece.)

Oh, and for my own personal reference ... I cast on yesterday, Aug. 9, 2009. My goal is to have the sweater completed before Mom's birthday on Oct. 27.

Wish me luck.

-Amie

Progress on Lelah

2009-07-29T00:22:00.003-05:00

I haven't posted anything in several days, but I have managed to get a little knitting done. It's almost finished!

My goal is to have it ready-for-wear by vacation. (We leave next Monday, Aug. 3.)

ignore the bra straps! they will be replaced with (convertible) spaghetti straps. and a white ribbon will be threaded through the eyelets just under the bust.

(to explain: by convertible, i mean that the spaghetti straps, which will be i-cords, will have hooks attached to the ends, and there will be a series of eyes sewn to the inside of the top hem of the shirt so the straps can be moved or removed.)

Meh.

2009-07-22T12:27:00.004-05:00

Again, no pictures. I have been knitting a little here and there. I finished the lace portion of Lelah and I'm almost halfway through the stockinette. I added bust dart-style increases from bottom to center so it'll fit just right (without adding elastic to the top, since I'm adding straps) and I plan to do decreases along the side "seams" (so they'll be hidden) from center to top to compensate for those extra stitches. I'm pretty happy with how it's turning out so far, although it is still just a little sheer and may still have to be lined.

The only problem is that this week is completely crazy (fair week) and I don't have time either to knit or to take pictures of my knitting. Maybe after July is over.

I also didn't have time to register my projects for the county fair, like I'd planned to do. :( Sad.

Finally, the good FO pics!

2009-07-09T14:27:00.004-05:00

Yes, I'm still here. I haven't posted lately because I haven't been doing much knitting. Well, okay, that's not really true. I'm knitting. But I'm working on super-secret surprise gifts that I can't post here for fear that the recipient will see them.

I've worked on Lelah a little, too, but I haven't made much progress on it. I'm about halfway through the 9th repeat of the lace pattern. The new plan is to work 11 repeats of the lace then start the stockinette. I'll switch to smaller needles for the stockinette portion so it's more solid and not see-through. Much smaller needles -- I'm thinking 4s or 5s for stockinette, and I'm using 10s or 10.5s for the lace. I'm hoping to be able to wear the top by itself, without a bottom layer or a lining, without flashing my bra to the world.

More interesting: I finally got around to having someone take good, high-quality photos of Hey, Teach! They show off the whole top, the way it fits, the stitch detail, etc. The pictures also show how the buttonband still gaps a little; I'll eventually work a narrow, tight crochet row (probably one row of single crochet, worked with a small hook) to draw it in a little and hopefully make the buttonband less floppy. I'll probably also work a row around the sleeves at the same time so they fit a little more snugly and are a bit puffier. I just haven't done any of that yet. I can (and do) wear the shirt as-is. I need to do all that soon, though, because I plan on entering Hey, Teach in the county fair!

Ignore the bumpiness on the bottom section of the shirt-- it's just wrinkled from where I've been sitting at the desk all day. This fabric wrinkles like nobody's business. But that's okay, I still love the top.

Photos courtesy of Jacqueline Jordan. (Yes, she's my editor. She has a photography business on the side. Check it out!)

Hey Teach! Complete!

Back view (Wooo wrinkles!):

Thank God the shirt's made out of 100% cotton, hehe. I can remove the wrinkles fairly easily without having to worry about damaging the fabric.

Stitch and button detail:

If you look in the lower left corner, you will see that I had a bit of a rowing-out problem with the stockinette, as is normal for me. Blocking took care of most of it and you can't really tell when it's being worn. Even I have to lift the hem of the shirt and look at it at an angle to see the slight bumpiness/ridginess.

And a side view that makes me look completely shapeless. It's just because the top was flaring a little over my stomach and at the buttonbands, and I didn't realize it. I'd have smoothed it out if I'd noticed. It doesn't really matter; this picture shows the shape of the top, and the sleeve, quite nicely, I think.

And no, I'm not really headless. I told her to focus on the top, to get as much detail as possible, and to feel free to cut my head out of the pictures because, as you know, I hate pictures of myself. :) And also, my face looks weird today. (A combination of being tired, drinking a Mt. Dew Game Fuel that turns my lips blue and just a bad appearance day. Yesterday was a good appearance day. Can't expect two in a row!)

Another new project

2009-06-30T11:00:00.004-05:00

I started a Lelah (no link, because it's a pain in the butt to find the pattern now, I'm mostly going off memory) to alternate with Luke's hat. Turns out Patons Kroy isn't much fun to work with. It's a little scratchy. I've barely gotten past on the ribbing on the hat and I needed a break already.

I can't remember exactly which yarn I'm using for Lelah. It's a bamboo/acrylic blend from Hobby Lobby. It's mostly acrylic, if I remember right, bu I decided this wasn't the sort of project that would need a hard block. And I love the silky, slinky drape of it. It's very nice. And blocking will help even out the work, it just won't open up the lace any more. Which is fine. I kinda like it the way it is.

Here's progress so far:

Color is fairly accurate, maybe skewed just slightly to the blue side. It's a pale turquoise-y color. I like it a lot.

I'm working on the 6th repeat of the fishtail lace. The pattern calls for 7-8, but I'm using smaller yarn (light DK) so I think it's going to be more like 12 or 13 repeats for me. That's fine, as long as I don't run out of yarn. I only bought 2 balls. I've still got quite a bit of the first ball left, though, and haven't broken into the second yet, so I think I'll be okay.

I'm using my Addi Turbos (size 10, or maybe 10.5, I don't remember for sure) for the lace pattern, but I'll have to go way down for the top stockinette portion. I'll probably use 4s or 5s for that. Maybe even 3s. I want it to be as solid as possible.

I also plan to put straps, but I can't decide whether I want to do regular tank-top style straps with a square neckline, gathered straps to create a slightly more interesting neckline shape or simple i-cords. I guess I'll decide when I get there. It may depend partly on the amount of yarn left.

I'm thinking either matching i-cord or white ribbon for the tie.

Maybe I'll eventually find and post the link here. In the meantime, you can find Lelah on Ravelry. (Yes, I know, I could link that, but then I'd have to go find it, and well...yeah.) There's nice fo on there with tank-style straps, though.

ETA: Okay I grabbed the second ball of yarn when I went home for lunch. It's Naturally Caron Spa, 75% "microdenier" acrylic and 25% rayon from bamboo, in the Ocean Spray colorway. The color on that site is pretty accurate on my monitor.

And, okay, fine. Lelah. Or, on Ravelry, I like this one.

Productive day

2009-06-27T13:18:00.006-05:00

I found a new yarn store yesterday. We went to The Village Knitter in Newburgh, IN. I love it! They had a pretty good selection of yarn. There were a few notable things they didn't have, like Lamb's Pride, but I can't think of anything notable they don't have that I like, anyway. Nice selection of the stuff I do like, and it's organized by yarn weight, which is kinda nice. Prices are comparable to any other yarn store I've ever been in. And most importantly, the women there were unbelievably nice. I was wearing my Anne Elliot, and they all oohed and ahhed over it. :) I was around the corner from where they were sitting, and I heard one of them make a comment about how the shirt I was wearing was really cute. They discussed it for a minute, debating whether it was handknit or not, and then when I stepped back out into the open they called me over and praised it. It made me happy.

I didn't buy any yarn, but I did pick up some Crystal Palace needles. Size 5, 16" circs. Yay for new hat needles! My old ones had disappeared.

Plus, the store itself is really kinda cool. It's in downtown Newburgh, a block from the Ohio River, in the middle of the antique district. The buildings are all old and cool-looking, and it's a nice little downtown area to walk through. Reminds me a little bit of a much less busy, much smaller Gatlinburg or maybe Pigeon Forge ... lots of little stores to visit, and it's the perfect area to walk through, instead of driving.

I still like Enchanted Yarn and Fiber, too. We just don't get down to Russellville very often. We're in Owensboro all the time, and Newburgh isn't that much farther. We also visit Evansville fairly regularly, and Newburgh is on the way (assuming we take that route). And I like Special Things, too, but it's nice to have a couple of different options.

Pretty happy with my discovery. Luke liked the area too. He didn't care that much about the yarn store itself, not being a knitter, but he liked the area.

In non-knitting news ... Luke and I also stopped by the drive-in on our way home yesterday. That was fun. $8 per person for two new movies, not terrible quality, and it was a nice experience. Plus, I could knit while watching the movie and not offend or annoy anybody, since we were alone in our car.

It was a good day.

Oh, almost forgot to mention, the ladies at The Village Knitter definitely know what they're doing. They had several very nice samples there, including what appeared to be a mohair-blend (I'm thinking maybe Kidsilk Haze) Estonian Lace Garden. That was exciting. I still like mine better, of course. But it made me happy to see the shawl, point it out to Luke and have him recognize it as something similar to my shawl. And it was very well-done. The slightly fuzzy yarn did well with that pattern. Good to know...all the other samples I'd seen were done with smooth yarns with little to no halo.

hey jess...

2009-06-24T03:28:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure if you've seen these or not, but the first reminds me of you and the second reminds me of Justin (obviously). Thought you might be interested.

Sparkle Flake dishcloth
Hero dishcloth

another Jessica FO parade

2009-06-23T11:11:00.005-05:00

Because I haven't posted since April but I have been knitting I have several projects to share. This is going to be a bit longer of a post. But hopefully I'll get back into the habit of posting fo's as a finish them instead of months later. We can hope anyways right.

First a test/sample knit for Lorna's Laces. This one was knit towards the end of last year. And apparently I wasn't bothered enough to list the actual start and stop times.

Pattern:Candy Dots Cardigan by Jackie Young
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Green Line Worsted in Mirth, Whisper, and Bittersweet
Needles: US 6 and 8 (4.0mm and 5.0mm)
Notes: a cute childs cardigan. I knit it late in the year, early in my pregnancy. I was exhausted most of the time so the actual knitting tool longer than it should have for me. Its knit flat and sewn together. not my favorite construction but its a nice shape. I knit the 6 month size. The yarn was a pure dream to work with. I'd use it again in a heartbeat. Lovely drape. Awesome color availability. Really a very nice yarn to work with. since it was a sample/test knit I no longer have the sweater and can't attest for the longevity of the yarn.

Next up we have Justin's 7th pair of socks. Another basic k3p1 rib sock with a slip stitch heel flap and gusset, round toe. These are knit from Smooshy in Black Parade. Which is a black yarn with just enough blue in it to not drive me completely crazy. I wasn't as impressed with the smooshy this go. I knit with it before and loved it. This time it just didn't seem as nice. The finished product is great. But it was a little stringier to knit with. perhaps I got an off skein. Justin loves them and wears them to often (meaning they are making regular appearances in his work boots and showing some felting on the heel as a result).

Pattern: Justin's basic sock recipe
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Black Parade
Needles: us 0 (2.0mm)
Start:April 7th
Finish:May 20th

I decided that I needed a fast project just for me. So I knit up a malabrigo hat. Last year when I made justin 2 hats, his dad a hat and his cousin a hat all from malabrigo, i'd also purchased some for me. But had neglected to knit it yet. Easy fast hat pattern.

First pictures shows the detail on the hat a little better and second picture is a little more color accurate.
Pattern: Utopia Hat by SmarieK
yarn: Malabrigo worsted
needles: 4.0mm (us 6)
Started: June 7
finished: June 7

I decided to surprise Justin for Fathers day with his 8th pair of socks. Again his basic k3p1 recipe. But I got an awesome yarn. JulieSpins MCN 355 (80% merino 10% cashmere 10% nylon) in Bright Space. This is by far one of the nicest yarns I've ever worked with. It is a bit thicker than some other fingering weight yarns. When Justin pickd up the socks the thickness was the first thing he noted.

Pattern: Justin's basic sock recipe
Yarn: MCN 355 (Rav link)
Needles: 2.25mm (us 1)
Started: June 8
finished: June 20 (just in time)

And since the father's day socks were a surprise project I had to find something to knit on while Justin was home (which was more often than I realized). So I knit Natalie an Elenka. Which went extremely fast. I have been promised a picture of Natalie wearing the dress. So hopefully will be able to share that with you. She tried it on for me and I was very happy with its fit.

Pattern: Elenka
Yarn: cotton-ease in orangeaid
Needles: us 7 (4.5mm)
started: June 11
finished: June 17

See told you I've been knitting. I actually even have 3 more projects finished and 1 in the works. But I'll save those for another post. This one is long enough already. Oh also all projects are documented in Ravelry, so if you by chance want more info on anything you can check it out there or feel free to leave a comment.

I'm still here!

2009-06-23T10:47:00.002-05:00

Not much knitting going on around our house lately. Why, you ask? Well, two reasons. One, I've been trying to get the place cleaned up (a necessary evil). Two, I took my knitting bag on a weekend trip with me and now I can't find it. I'm almost 100% positive it made it back into the car when we left, but I don't remember seeing it after that point and I can't find it anywhere in the house. :(

I'm not too concerned about the knitting itself, because I hadn't gotten that far and it's an easy project. I haven't posted about it yet here, but as you see on the sidebar, I have started a new project: a gamer hat for Luke. It's just a plain gray hat, except it has Nintendo-related symbols around the edge. Specifically a triforce (from Legend of Zelda), a screw attack (Metroid), an energy tank (Megaman) and a P-wing (Mario). I'll post my charts here if they turn out well in the knitted product. But it may be a while before that happens, because first I have to find my knitting bag (with all the yarn and needles, which I am worried about) and then finish the knitting. I'm duplicate-stitching the designs on after the main hat is finished. I originally planned to knit them in, but it's more trouble than it's worth. Duplicate stitch will work just fine.

The basics: Patons Kroy sock yarn in a dark gray color, size 3 dpns and embroidery floss for the symbols because it's cheap and comes in a lot of bright colors and is about the right size if I use all 6 strands together. I couldn't think of anything better to use. No other yarn I saw had all the right colors, and you can't beat the price for embroidery floss, especially when you have to buy several different colors.

So, I'll post images and a chart whenever I can.

Meanwhile, Hey, Teach finished blocking and I wore it. I love it and got several compliments on it. The button band still gaps; I think it's just too floppy. I'll probably eventually crochet a narrow edge on it to help it keep its shape. The sweater also wrinkles like you wouldn't believe. I'm really happy with the finished product, though, and I'll post good-quality pictures of it begin worn as soon as the weather (and Luke) cooperate.

Block it ... block it good! (AKA Day 20)

2009-06-19T01:30:00.004-05:00

I dug up some motivation, and some pins, and began the blocking process on Hey, Teach. I didn't do a full wet block this time, just spritzed with warm water mixed with a little tea tree oil. (I already had the oil in the bottle, and I figured its antibacterial properties wouldn't hurt anything. I just hope the oil doesn't do anything weird like discolor the yarn. Surely it won't; there are wool washes with tea tree oil in them.)

I used quite a few pins, though, to make sure everything was as even as possible, and I think it worked out to my benefit. The ribbing is all laying flat, and I stretched it wider to take out the flare. It worked. As long as it holds its shape when dry, things will be good, and I won't even need to crochet a border anywhere. Here's hoping.

And here's a few pictures of the blocking process:

The color is off, obviously, but it actually doesn't look too bad on the actual sweater. It's a little washed out but not horribly different. The towel it's laying on is actually burgundy, not purple, though.

The more I work on Hey, Teach, the more I like it. I'm hoping it'll dry quickly, especially since I just spritzed instead of soaking it in water, so I can wear it.

Luke is impressed by the whole thing, but especially by the i-cord, hehe. He looked at it earlier and asked me if I made "this rope thing" too. Then I had to explain how I made it. He picked it up and fondled it awhile, admiring it.

I'm glad somebody likes my i-cord, at least, because I'm not a fan. It looks fine, but not good enough to get me past the tedium of knitting it, hehe.

And, as an added bonus, I was finally able to get some pictures of Hew since I had the camera out anyway. Unfortunately, none of them turned out well. This is the best we got:

I'm planning on crocheting a row or two around the edges of the sleeves to tighten them up. Ribbing would work better, I think, but I'm pretty sure I don't have enough yarn left for enough ribbing to do the trick. But I don't like the sleeves being all loose like that. Oh, and they look lumpy in the picture, but I promise my arm isn't lumpy. I had the white shirt's sleeves wadded up inside Hew's sleeves. Definitely gonna have to hem the sleeves on the white shirt.

I was gonna get pictures of the Baroness Beret tonight, too, but it's gone missing. I'm sure it'll turn up, and I'll get pictures when it does.

Here's a link to the original post about Hew, but for your convenience, I used almost 4 full balls of Elsebeth Lavold's Classic AL in color 05 (Aged Wine) with size 4 needles.

All in all, I'm satisfied with Hew, but not thrilled with it. (Anne Elliot Spencer is much better.) But I LOVE Hey, Teach.

Finishing up

2009-06-17T23:15:00.004-05:00

Well, what more can I say? Day 19, and ... It's finished.

I have yet to block it; I admit that I'm kinda putting that off because it takes so long to dry. (Especially since the air around here has been really damp lately.) And I think I may need to pin the ribbed edges, which means I have to find pins.

My goal is to be completely finished in 3 weeks (21 days of actually working on it). I think that should be pretty easy. 1 day to block, drying time doesn't count because I won't be actively doing anything to it, and then 1 day for crocheting along the edges (if necessary) once it's dry.

But aside from that ... voila!

If you look closely at the picture of the back, you can kinda tell where I had to be creative to get the eyelets threaded correctly, right in the center. It wasn't a mistake, exactly; I did the math and couldn't get things to work out how I wanted, so I opted for the least annoying solution. There's actually an extra eyelet there in the center, and the i-cord is just threaded through the stitches on either side of it. I guess it would've looked better to leave that eyelet out entirely, but it would've made it more difficult to find the right stitch and I didn't think of the obvious solution (a stitch marker) at the time. It doesn't look bad, anyway. I doubt anybody'll notice if I don't point it out to them.

I'm so pleased with this sweater. The ribbed bind-off edges (on the buttonbands and the neckline) are still flaring quite a bit, and I'm thinking that if blocking doesn't do the trick, I'll crochet a tight border on to pull it in and keep things in check. I don't know yet though. I'm really not terribly fond of the neckline ribbing anyway, so I may just cut it off and replace it with a crochet border. That would be narrower and I think it would look better. But we'll see.

Overall, I'd call it a successful project. Now I just have to work up the motivation for the final blocking so I can wear it.

For reference purposes ... another link to the pattern so you can compare mine to the original. Yes I used the entire outfit for inspiration. (I just didn't feel like changing into khakis for webcam pictures.)

It tooks cute over other shirts too, but I really love it over that white button-up. I had to tuck the white shirt's sleeves up about a half inch, since they're slightly longer than the Hey, Teach sleeves, but I think I'll end up hemming them anyway.

And I still have to take better pictures, with a real camera, once the final blocking is complete. In the meantime, you'll just have to deal with these, though. It was late last night when I finished it and Luke and I both worked today.

Oh, and you can blame Luke for the suckiness of these pictures. He was the one pushing the button, since I had to stand too far away to get the whole sweater in the shot.

-Amie

the end is near! (or, day 18 of the hey, teach project)

2009-06-16T12:06:00.005-05:00

Hey, Teach is so close to being finished that we can just call it an FO, right? Right? Okay, well, no, not quite, but very very soon. I finished the second side seam last night. All the ends are woven in. (Except for the two on the i-cord, because I forgot about them, but I'll take care of those as soon as I post this.) The buttons have been purchased, and the needle is threaded to sew them on as soon as I find the bag they're in. Then I'll wash it and pin it to my block board and leave it to dry. (I thought about blocking it last night and sewing the buttons on later, but it was late and I was tired and didn't feel like spending forever hunting down pins and then arranging this sweater juuuuuuuuuuuuuust right to pin it down. You understand.)

Also, I don't think I'll need to redo the bind-off on the neckline. It still flares a little, but it looks much better when it's being worn. I think blocking will take care of it. I may be wrong, but I think it'll be okay.

So anyway...wanna see?

It gaps a little right now, but that's just because I used paperclips to hold it closed for the picture. This is what it looks like without the clips:

And yeah, I know, I'm wearing a shirt with longer sleeves than the sweater, but it was clean and comfy and I really like this shirt. Deal with it. ;)

So for the important part: Hey, Teach fits like a dream. And I am VERY happy with it. That makes 3 wearable projects that I am entirely happy with! (Anne Elliot Spencer, Baroness Beret and now Hey, Teach.)

Yay!

Hey Teach, Day 17

2009-06-15T17:13:00.002-05:00

I got the second sleeve sewn in, and I managed to get one side seam sewn. I even wove in all the ends! All that's left now is to sew the other side seam, weave in those two yarn ends, sew on the buttons, thread the drawstring through the eyelets and do one final wash/block. I should be able to get that all done tonight, I think, if my meeting doesn't last too terribly long. Then I'll just be waiting for it to dry so I can wear it. Maybe if I leave the blocking board in my car, it'll dry faster. Hmm...

Sleeves:

Seam:

It looks a little loose because the other side is just hanging there, completely open, and because I'm wearing a thin tee shirt underneath. I think it'll fit pretty well with a nice button-up shirt.

It's good to know that at least one thing is working out the way I want it to right now.

almost finished

2009-06-14T01:00:00.002-05:00

Day 15 of Hey, Teach: I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped because I ended up sick and took a 5-hour nap (!) in the evening. I did manage to get the shoulder seams sewn and the neckline ribbing finished. I may have to pick out the bind off and redo it; I used a loose bind off and it flares a little. I'll just have to wait and see how it looks after blocking. It may be okay.

Ignore the too-large sleeves that I have yet to alter on that shirt. I haven't figured out yet exactly how to go about minimizing the sleeves and nothing else. Also, pretend that Hey Teach has sleeves and the sides are sewn together and there's buttons sewn on.

And a close-up of the neckline ribbing and the shoulder seam:

That ribbing is a little bigger than I expected, but oh well. I don't mind it enough to rip it out and bind off a row sooner. Although I might do that if I have to redo the bind-off anyway ... maybe. We'll see.

And, because I'm tired and I'm fairly certain I won't be doing anything else tonight, I'll go ahead and post progress for today, Day 16. No picture because I don't have the sweater handy and don't feel like getting up to get it, but all I accomplished today was the sewing-in of one sleeve. It took a little longer than I'd expected because I had to ease it in very carefully and I had trouble finding a sewing method I liked. I finally dug up a size E crochet hook and slip-stitched it in. I'm satisfied with how that turned out.

I'm hoping to get the other sleeve sewn in tomorrow, and maybe the side seams as well if I can find my tapestry needle. And I bought buttons the other day, so I need to sew those on. Then weaving in all the ends (except the neckline ribbing, in case I have to redo the bind-off) and the final wash and block. I'll get there, soon. It would be even sooner if I didn't feel like crap.

Oh, and for the record, I still have one full ball of yarn and most of another left over, with nothing left but sewing that one sleeve, the side seams and the buttons.

Two weeks!

2009-06-11T11:20:00.005-05:00

Well, I passed the Day 14 benchmark, and while I didn't manage to get the sweater completely finished in two weeks ... I did get it all the way to the first blocking stage. Yesterday I finished the buttonbands, which marked the last of the big pieces of knitting. Last night I blocked. Nothing major, since this blocking was only for sewing purposes and I'll do a real wash and block after the whole thing is complete to help settle the seams. I just soaked all the pieces in a sink of warm water and fabric softener and patted them out in the correct size and shape on some towels. No pinning or anything. The pieces stretched a LOT when they were wet, especially the back pieces, but I think I managed to get it back to the proper size when I smoothed it out on the towels. I hope. If not, I'll try to take care of it when I do the final block.

And let me tell you ... this yarn? So impressed with it. It blocked like a dream. I mean, seriously, all I did was get it wet and softened and laid it out flat. And it looks great. The stitch definition is perfect, everything looks nice and even, the lace is nicely-defined, and all without the use of pins or anything. I can definitely recommend it.

Without further ado ... more pictures (from a real camera!) than you really need of the blocking-in-process:

All the pieces laid out to block:

Close-up of the front, showing the lace:

I thought this was kind of a cool picture, and it shows the stitch definition well:

And, one sleeve:

I was good. I kept it to 4 pictures. (I have several more ...)

I know the buttonbands still look weird. I didn't mess much with them. I'll take care of those with the final wash and block. This time I was mainly concerned with the arms and shoulders. And yeah, these were taken inside at night so the color's a little bit off and I can't correct it very well without Photoshop. But it shows the stitch definition and all that. :)

And just because I can, here's a gratuitous picture of my cat.

Crappy picture, but I was trying to get ready for work and Luke was still asleep, so the lights were all off except that one lamp. I thought she looked cute there on my pillow.

I wanted to make sure the fronts matched up to the back, so I layered them. It'll take longer to dry, but everything will be the same size, and that's worth it.

I slipped some white paper between the layers to help keep the moisture where it belongs (and help it evaporate) and to help show off the lace in the pictures.

The pieces are on my blocking board in the living room floor now, still drying. That's the worst thing about cotton, it takes forever to dry naturally. Maybe I'll take a hair dryer to it at lunch or when I get home tonight. I'm anxious to get back to work!

Next step? Shoulder seams and neckline ribbing. Once that's done, all of the actual knitting will be done and there will be nothing left except for sewing the sleeve and side seams, sewing on buttons, weaving in ends and that final wash 'n' block. All of which I could theoretically finish today, if the pieces would dry and if I had buttons.

DRY! DRY! DRY!

Woohoo!

2009-06-10T12:00:00.004-05:00

As expected, I completed the right front of Hey, Teach last night. I didn't get a chance to work the buttonbands, but I'm about to start on those.

I did realize that I made one minor mistake. I was supposed to put the neckline stitches on a holder, and instead, I bound them off. No big deal, though. I'll either pick up stitches for the neckline (and do the same on the back so it'll be consistent) or I'll snip a stitch and undo the bindoff. Either way, it'll be pretty simple. I'm not worried about that.

I'm thinking that binding off would look better, because I have to pick up stitches along the vertical edges anyway and it would be more consistent. BUT I think using live stitches would be more comfortable: no potentially uncomfortable seam across my chest/back.

Any suggestions or opinions? They are, as always, very welcome.

And now, for today's photo. This is, what, Day 13? Doesn't look like I'll make it in 2 weeks. But it won't be much longer than that. I can deal with that.

I really hope I can finish the buttonbands today so I can block these tonight. I'm ridiculously excited to see how it looks all blocked and sewn together. I just hope that blocking it so it looks really good doesn't make it too big. It shouldn't, but I'm a worrier.

By the way, I know the pattern says to block, sew the shoulder seams, do the neckline ribbing and THEN do the button bands. I'm choosing not to do all that. I think it'll look better if the neckline ribbing goes across the top of the button bands, as well as the rest of the sweater, which means the button bands have to be completed before the neckline ribbing. And the only reason for the blocking and sewing is that those are prerequisites for the neckline ribbing, so those can also wait.

I do have to go find and buy buttons at some point soon though. I haven't picked those up yet, and I'll need them once I start putting this together. I'll probably end up with something pretty similar to those shown in the model photo on the pattern. I like the wood, and I've seen some very similar ones at Wal-Mart. Which is good, because Wal-Mart is pretty much the only option I have. Well, or Hancock Fabric, if I wanna wait till the weekend. I don't want to wait.

Closing in

2009-06-09T11:56:00.002-05:00

I'm closing in on the final stages of Hey, Teach. Last night I finished the stockinette portion of the second front half. Nothing left now but the center ribbing, lace, button bands, blocking, sewing together, neckline ribbing, weaving in ends and final wash/block. It sounds like a lot when I list it, but that's all small stuff.

And I expect to finish this half today. In fact, I'm so sure of it, I'm going to go ahead and change the progress bar on the left sidebar to reflect its completion.

Here's where it was as of last night:

Expect to see a photo of it completed tomorrow. And maybe, depending on how well today goes, the button bands too.

I need to find my camera so I can get good pictures of the finished object! And I need to find it soon, because I have a feeling this project will be completed very soon. Yay!

I also bought fabric yesterday to make a skirt...I think they'll be cute together. If I'm right, I'll post a photo of the whole outfit once I finish it all.

Image heavy to make up for my blogging failure

2009-06-08T13:33:00.006-05:00

I am a bad blogger! Not only did I skip posting this weekend -- that's excusable, because I was really tired -- yesterday, I forgot to take a picture of Saturday's progress before I started knitting again. *hangs head in shame* I know, I know. I was doing so well, too!

But! All is not lost. I remember where I was at when I stopped Saturday night, and I'll explain both with words and a diagram.

First things first. Friday (Day 9) progress:

I completed the left front. There seems to be an error in the pattern. The armhole shaping seems to be on the wrong side. Either that, or I'm crazy. But I made it work (by following the armhole shpaing instructions for the right side), so even if I'm crazy, I'm obviously not THAT crazy.

Also, it's only the left front to people looking at it. It goes on the right side of the body. But that's not a problem, because the other side (what they have marked as "Right Front") is the opposite, so it works out fine.

Also on Friday, I knitted the first of two sleeves. I decided I'd go ahead and get the small stuff out of the way. It didn't take long at all, being very tiny and lacy.

Day 9 progress:

On Day 10 (Saturday) I didn't get much done. I was busy all day long, and only managed to snag some knitting time while I was in a pavilion at a public lake listening to 50s and 60s music. (My dad, who runs a karaoke and dj business, had to do a "sock hop" at Diamond Lake Resort.) But the thing didn't start until 7 p.m., so I didn't get to knit for long before it got too dark to see what I was doing. I started the second sleeve but didn't get too far. I might've kept going if I was knitting stockinette, but not lacy sleeves with shaping. Therefore, I stopped after the ribbing and half of one repeat of the lace pattern.

See? My stopping point is marked here. (Lovely little Paint diagram...)

I showed Dad's friend Dave the finished sleeve. He looked at it, then held it up to himself (upside down) like a fig leaf. Yep.

And, as you can tell, yesterday (Day 11) I finished that sleeve off. I also started the right front and got through the ribbing before I got too tired to continue.

So, to review, I have now completed the back, both sleeves, the drawstring, the left front and a small portion of the right front, all of which are shown here in this not-very-good, blurry, angled, too-bright picture that I worked hard to get (had to pick up the laptop and hold it in just the right spot, at just the right angle, while pushing the button):

(Back with drawstring threaded through it, "left" front, both sleeves and "right" front in progress)

I tried editing the picture with Picnik. I'm not sure how much it helped. I don't have Photoshop working on this computer yet. I turned the sharpness way up so you could at least see the laciness a little bit. It still kinda looks like crap, though, at least on this computer. I promise, the sweater looks MUCH better than the picture of the sweater does.

What all of this means is that once I finish this right front I'm working on, which shouldn't take long, all I have left to knit are the button bands. Then blocking, sewing, weaving in ends and possibly another blocking to make sure it looks as good as possible and it'll be ready for wear. Oh, and the neckline ribbing. I keep forgetting about that. It's only 2 rows, though.

The end is in sight!

-Amie

day 9

2009-06-07T01:28:00.001-05:00

day 9: i finished the sweater half and found a slight error in the pattern. i also knit the first sleeve.

but no picture or details tonight, because i'm tired. i'll post those tomorrow along with day 10's progress.

-amie

Day 8, and the knittin' is good

2009-06-05T10:57:00.003-05:00

The sweater fronts are going pretty quickly. One more repeat of the lace pattern and I'll already be up to the armhole shaping. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine that I'll be able to finish the left front today. That'll just leave the right front, sleeves, button bands and finishing, which just involves sewing the 5 pieces (back, left front, right front and sleeves) together, weaving in ends and washing/blocking.

I'm still pretty happy with how it's turning out.

Added bonus: you get to see my lovely Green River Firefighters Association hat, which they gave me because they like me (it's mutual) and the tropical surf scene Jacqueline drew on my dry-erase board. You can't tell in this picture, because the knitting covered it up, but there's a shark in the lower left corner of that picture. And the surfer is saying, "Whoa." Like Joey Lawrence.

(By the way, I look annoyed in the picture. I wasn't. I was smiling the whole time, except, apparently, the minute I pushed the camera button.)

Back in action

2009-06-04T11:05:00.003-05:00

Since this is a slow work week, I had time to knit yesterday. After nearly killing or embarrassing myself to show the finished back (don't ask), I kept going. I decided I didn't want to start a new ball of yarn without finishing the old one, and I didn't want to join new yarn in the middle of a piece unless I had to, so I worked on the drawstring instead.

45 inches of 3-stitch i-cord:

I hate knitting i-cord. But at least it's done. I originally intended to knit 36", but then decided it was too short. And I had yarn left anyway, so I kept going. I thought maybe I'd knit to 48" but I ran out of yarn first. Oh well. 45" is good enough. And since this is 100% cotton, it's liable to stretch, anyway.

Then I started the left front. I got through the bottom ribbing and 32 (of 44) rows of the bottom stockinette. Just 12 more rows of stockinette, decreases, center ribbing (which will be the trickiest part yet, because I have to space the eyelets correctly and hopefully end up with the correct number in the end) and then the top lace pattern.

I got a little goofy/silly taking this picture. It reminded me of a veil. You know the ones.

Or a ninja scarf/bandana/handkerchief/thing. Either way.

I really do love this pattern so far. And I've barely made any mods at all, which is unheard of for me, as you know.

Day 6 for real

2009-06-03T14:02:00.003-05:00

Since I didn't get to knit for several days, thanks to medical issues of various sorts, this is the real day 6 of Hey Teach. I'm not counting the days I didn't get to knit.

I finished the back!

Ignore the fact that it's bunched up and is sticking out in weird places and just general sits awkwardly. That's only because of the extreme discomfort I experienced trying to take a picture that showed how it was fitting me. (It was paper-clipped to the straps of my tank top, which was then flipped around backward, choking me in the process, and I obviously turned my back to the webcam and reached behind me to click the button. Yes. Difficult.)

I'm pretty happy with how it's fitting. When I first finished the back and looked at it, I thought it was going to be way too long and there was no way the ribbing was going to fall at the right spot on my ribcage. But it had just gotten stretched out lengthwise during knitting. I tugged on the side edges to make it fit around me correctly and that corrected the length problem as well. Yay!

Oh, and the back took less than 2 balls of yarn. I probably have enough yarn left from the second ball for one sleeve or for the drawstring. And I still have 5 balls that I haven't touched yet. (Jess, how many did I give you? How much of this yarn did I have anyway?! I'd already used part of it, and I know I gave you some, and I still had 7 balls left!)

Now to start the front pieces. I'm estimating 6 days for both of those, since that's how long the back took, but obviously it depends on the amount of knitting time I have. Then the sleeves, the i-cord drawstring, the buttonbands and the finishing.

I can't wait to finish and wear it.

Technically Day 6...

2009-05-30T15:00:00.002-05:00

No progress picture of Hey, Teach today because I made absolutely no progress yesterday. I didn't knit. At all. Other stuff got in the way...long story. I can't guarantee there will be any knitting time today either. Oh well. At least it's a no-deadline project, so I don't have to feel stressed and guilty when more important things keep me from working on it.

-Amie

Work. Meh.

2009-05-29T11:37:00.004-05:00

Work is getting in the way of my knitting, and I don't like it! I was hardly able to get any knitting done yesterday (again) because I had to do newspaper work instead. Bleh. I was only able to work 6 rows yesterday, from the beginning of the armhole shaping to the end of the actual shaping. Now I have to work even until the armholes are big enough, do the back neckline shaping and the shoulders and the back piece will be finished. Unfortunately, I have to work late again tonight (high school graduation) so I probably won't get to do much today either.

I don't like that. But, alas, the adult world requires it of me.

Since I haven't made much progress and it probably wouldn't show up in a large picture, today I opted for a close-up that shows the armhole shaping. Voila:

There is very little armhole shaping; all the pattern has you do is bind off 4 and dec 4 on each side over a total of 6 rows. Then you just work even the rest of the way up the armhole. That doesn't seem like much to me, but I'm going to trust the pattern and hope I don't have to frog anymore.

And hopefully I'll be able to get more knitting time this weekend!

-Amie

Day 4!

2009-05-28T14:55:00.002-05:00

I didn't get a lot of knitting done last night, because I was preoccupied with bringing the blog up-to-date and giving it a more sophistocated look. So today's picture looks very similar to yesterday's. But is there progress, I promise! I finished that 2nd repeat of the lace pattern I mentioned yesterday, and now I'm about to begin the armhole shaping. I forced myself to not knit any on it today until I'd photo-documented my progress from yesterday, so here I am.

(I'll be honest, I'd rather be knitting, but I don't want to slip into the bad habit of not blogging my progress.)

But I am gonna make this short so I can get to the fun knitting part! So, without further ado, day 4's progress:

Off to knit armholes now!

Moving right along

2009-05-27T13:14:00.005-05:00

Day 3 of Hey, Teach. I didn't get as much done last night as I would have liked. I finished the center ribbing, checked the pattern for the next row and quickly realized I left something out: the decreases that are supposed to be done before starting the ribbing. I toyed around with a few ideas (dropping stitches and picking back up as decreases, working a decrease row after the ribbing, etc.) but I didn't think any would look right. So I bit the bullet and ripped back. It was only 6 rows anyway, but I hate frogging, and I hate knitting 1x1 ribbing. Oh well. I decided 9 rows of ribbing was too many, anyway. So I redid it with decreases and only 7 rows of ribbing. I'm much more satisfied with that.

I'm 1.5 repeats into the bodice. I think I'll finish the 2nd repeat before I need to start the armhole shaping. That's only 6 rows, though. I'm getting close to finishing the back! If only I can keep from screwing up again, it'll be good.

Today's photo:

Also, because I can't remember if I ever posted this anywhere or not (probably not), I knit CanaryKnits' Anne Elliot Spencer last summer. I'm wearing it today. I love this little sweater. I never got around to sewing the buttons on, but I think it looks cute with a ribbon laced through. And you can't even tell the buttonholes are only on one side.

Photo!

I know I've said this before, but it is so good to be knitting again.

Hey, Teach Progress: Day 2

2009-05-26T11:32:00.002-05:00

I really intend to keep better track of my projects, and this is the best way to do it. Plus, with the handy built-in webcam on my laptop, there's really no reason for me not to post pictures. (But I promise I'll take higher-quality shots of the finished objects.)

So, here's Day 2 of my Hey, Teach project. It doesn't look too terribly different from Day 1, except that you can see I've started the ribbing that goes just under the bust. I also took this shot with the piece held up to me so you can see the size and fit better. I know this is only the back piece of the cardigan, but it still seems like I'm flying through this project. That's the way I like it, though; I hate working forever on a project and not getting anywhere. I just hope the lace doesn't slow me down too badly.

Oh, you can't really tell in the picture, but I decided to add the eyelets for the drawstring. I'm doing an extra row of ribbing (to make a total of 9) so the eyelets will fall directly in the center, vertically. That's the last row I knit before bed last night.

Enough rambling; on to the picture!

This picture is also a lot more flattering to me. Hehe. In the last one, I was sitting in bed and had to lean way back at a weird angle to get the shot. In this one, I was able to put the laptop on my desk at work and just stand in front of it.

-Amie

Hello world!

2009-05-25T02:25:00.006-05:00

I'm back! Now that I have a working computer (and a nice shiny laptop at that), a camera, an easy way to upload things and time to knit those things, I actually get to post here again! It feels great.

WARNING: Long post ahead! I've been gone a while, and I have a lot to say!

I just finished Hew, but I haven't taken any good pictures of it yet, so I won't post those yet. I've also done some other stuff in my absence from blogging, but nothing major and nothing I have pictures of. I didn't get a lot of knitting time when I was working two jobs. Everything's coming together now though. (It feels better than you can even imagine.) I'll have to remember to get pictures of Hew. And my version of the Baroness Beret (PDF link), which turned out more like a slightly loose beanie than a beret, but I'm really happy with it. I've also been working on-and-off on Bayerische during lulls between projects, and I actually have good pictures of my progress on that, but I'm not sure where they're hiding at the moment so they'll have to wait a while.

Oh, I also knit a black hat for a Wal-Mart coworker, but it was kind of a nightmare to get the sizing right on that one and we just won't talk about it.

I think that's pretty much all I've done, except for a basic baby beanie and booties. And part of a baby sweater that got lost and wasn't found until after the birth, so it's now been set aside to wait for the next boy baby. Except not really the next, because the next one gets something extra-special. The sweater's made of baby blue acrylic, anyway...I can do better than that for special little boys that are born to special knitter friends. ;)

Anyway, in the meantime, here's stats on the Hew and the beret.

Hew
Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Classic AL, color 05: Aged Wine
Needles: Size 4 bamboo unknown brand (whatever it was I purchased at Knit during my honeymoon in Charleston!)
Started/Finished: completely unsure; this was my go-to project for several weeks whenever I had a few spare minutes to knit between phone calls and meetings and proofing pages at work
Comments: I love this sweater/shrug/bolero/mini-sweater/boobholder. I hated knitting the thing. First of all, my gauge was off. I don't remember exactly how much, but it was off. Also, the pattern was too large and had to be sized down, just like most things I knit for myself. So I figured out the necessary math and got started. I knit and knit and knit and never seemed to get anywhere. It was the never-ending sweater. Then I finally got to where nothing was left but the ties and the neckband...and promptly ran out of yarn. I found a girl (lifesaver) on Ravelry with one skein in the same colorway/dyelot that she didn't plan to use and was willing to sell me for the original purchase price. So I got it and got back to work, only to get barely more than halfway through the neckband and run out of yarn again. No way was I buying more yarn; this was supposed to be a stash-busting project. So I ripped the entire neckband and reknit a smaller one. I didn't have enough yarn to go all the way around the back, so I just knit the neckband to the top of the sleeves and sewed it to the back of the sweater. It poofs up a little on the shoulders, but it doesn't look bad. Kinda like a design feature, actually. Plus, I'm pretty sure it'll settle down once I finally get around to blocking the sweater. Incidentally, I think there would've been too much fabric bunched up around my shoulders if I had knit the neckband all the way around, so...well, let's just say the entire sweater was a learning experience. And a real pain in the butt.

Baroness Beret
Yarn: Misti Alpaca sport/fingering in cream; I don't remember the yarn's exact weight or colorway because it was originally purchased for use as a Christmas gift. (I didn't skimp on the gift. I just decided to use rose-colored yarn instead.)
Needles: I think size 3 metal dpns...they've kinda been the needles of choice lately for anything that will work at all on them
Start/Finish: No idea; it's been a while. It didn't take long to knit, I know that. And I guess it had to be some time in January, because I know I didn't start until after Christmas, and I wore the hat during the infamous ice storm of late January/early February 2009.
Comments: Unlike Hew, the hat was a completely enjoyable knit and I love the finished product. I had doubts when I first started knitting. I didn't think I'd like the beret shape on me. And, to be honest, this hat turned out more like a beanie. But I love it. The slight fuzziness, the color, the lace pattern, the size, it's all perfect. I would like to say that I'll definitely knit the pattern again, but I can't think of any other color that would work as well with it and with my clothes and complexion, so maybe I won't. But I'd definitely recommend the pattern to others. And I may end up knitting it for other people, as well, just for the sheer pleasure of knitting it again.

So, enough FOs...now time for a WIP. I've been seriously knitting-deprived lately, so I picked a new project pretty much as soon as I finished weaving in ends on Hew. Now I'm working on Hey, Teach from Knitty from stashed Pakucho organic cotton yarn. I've loved that sweater ever since the pattern was released, but I wasn't sure where my stashed Pakucho was, and I didn't have a shirt I wanted to wear under it anyway. Long story short, I got a shirt and found the yarn, and voila. I swatched this afternoon, cast on tonight and am about 6" into the back piece. So far I'm pretty happy with how it's working out. I'm knitting the smallest size, as written for once, with size 7 Clover bamboo circs. The smallest size, even though it's an XS, is a little bit too big for me, and the modeled sweater looks like it has just a wee bit too much ease for my taste, so I'm knitting at a slightly smaller gauge than called-for (4.69 sts per inch instead of the called-for 4.25 stitches per inch). I did some preliminary math, and it seems like that should fit me pretty much perfectly, so here's hoping. If all else fails...blocking works wonders, especially on lace.

Oh, one modification. I'm thinking about knitting eyelets in the center ribbing and running an i-cord drawstring through, as suggested in the pattern. I haven't decided for sure yet, though. Opinions?

And, just because I can ... a picture! I didn't feel like running out to the car for the real camera, so it's just a webcam shot. But still, my first picture in months!

It's really tan, not a barely-brownish white, like it looks in the picture. Lighting is bad in here, especially without a quality camera.

I have 12 more rows of stockinette before the center ribbing.

It feels great to be back in the land of the living!

-Amie

FO update

2009-04-17T15:14:00.003-05:00

A little catch up. I've been knitting. But not sharing as much as I should. I've also been spinning, but I'll save that for another post (tomorrow perhaps). These are a few things that I've finished lately. I really should try harder not to let things pile up between blogging. A couple of these were actually started before the dino sweater I already blogged about. But the dino sweater I'm still VERY proud of and I couldn't help sharing that one right away. anyways... here are a few projects.

Pattern: SKA March 2009 Mystery Sock Pattern
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Rockin' Sox
needles: US 0 (2mm)
started: March 3, 2009
finished: March 23, 2009
notes: a KAL with SKA on ravelry. mystery socks are a lot of fun. You get a clue each week and at the end of the month you have a pair of socks (well as long as you knit each clue twice each week). These are destined for a friend, but still haven't made it into the mail. Having fun putting together some other goodies to go with them. The yarn has been renamed sockin sox. It was fantastic for the price (100g for $12), but not sure I'll work with it again. Will wait and see how they hold up to wear and washing.

Pattern: Cables & Corrugations by Cat Bordhi
Yarn: Fleece Artist Somoko in Blush
needles: 2.25mm (us 1)
Started: March 2, 2009
Finished: April 14, 2009
notes: these are my favorite toe up socks to date. I'm not a big fan of toe up knits. But these fit perfectly and were fun to knit. Cat Bordhi keeps things interesting. and even tho this yarn has a bit of mohair in it, I find it very soft and squishy and nice. I'm not a big fan of mohair, but I do like this yarn. Will give further review after washing.

Pattern: variation on "Miss Dashwood" and "organic cotton knit booties"
Yarn: Lion Brand cotton-ease (original) in bubblegum
Needles: us 6 (4.0mm)
Started: April 8, 2009
Finished: April 10, 2009
notes: knit for a swap. I swapped out the bobbles on miss dashwood with eyelets and ran a ribbon thru. On the booties I did sort of the same thing. Changing the cuff to add eyelets for a ribbon to be used. Was a very quick knit.

Nathan's Dino Sweater

2009-03-17T21:31:00.005-05:00

Pattern: "Steggie by Julia Farwell-Clay"
Yarn: 3 balls of Ella Rae Classic in green (29)
about 13yds of KnitPicks Wool of the Andes in tomato (red)
about 13 yds of Plymouth Yarn Galway Worsted in blue (11)
needles: US 6 and 7
started: March 12, 2009
finished: March 16, 2009

When I saw this pattern in Knitty on March 11th I knew immediately I HAD to knit it for Nathan. I started contemplating yarn right away. I looked online, thought about ordering. Then I just went to the yarn store with Nathan and came home with a green he was happy with. I had blue and red in stash (Nathan decided it had to be just like the boys on knitty...). I started knitting it the next day after measuring him several times. The body worked up fast. I went to get the red and blue for the sleeves and realized I didn't have "the blue". Another trip to the yarn store. I came home with a blue and finished up the sweater. My first time with intarsia, and I must say a lot easier than I was fearing myself into thinking. 4 days for a sweater which included having to run to the yarn store for more yarn, and a day blocking so I could seam it properly. I'm pretty proud of this one. It came together very nicely and quickly. Nathan says it needs a zipper, which I'm having no luck finding local so I'll order it. no big deal to make him happy. But he also says its not a sweater but a costume. I'm pretty sure he thinks its Halloween only... but I did manage to talk him into wearing it today out and about. Several people commented on how cute it was. And then off to the knitting group to show it off. :)

Another Tulip Baby Sweater

2009-03-06T13:08:00.003-06:00

Pattern: "Tulip Baby Cardigan from Dream in Color"
Yarn: Jo-Ann Sensations Tesoro in white, pink, purple, and blue (its discontinued)
needles: US 5 and 7
started: Feb 24, 2009
finished: March 5, 2009

This one is for a dear friends little girl. Would have finished this faster but I ran out of blue yarn and since its discontinued took me a bit to track some down. I love this pattern. Its so cute and such a fast easy knit. I'd recommend it to anyone and will most likely knit several more up before I'm finished with it. I still love this yarn too. So sad that its discontinued. Its such a nice squishy soft superwash wool. Perfect for little baby knits.