Entries categorized as ‘finished object’
I don’t have a big stash. Don’t misunderstand me, it isn’t small either. Let’s just say it is contained, and I prefer to call it stash-with-a-purpose. Most of the yarn was purchased with projects in mind, and I just haven’t really gotten around to knitting them. There are just a few random balls that I am not quite sure why they are there. Almost like the yarn is breeding because they are all blends. One of these is a ball of Debbie Bliss Super Chunky Cashemerino. Why I have this ball of yarn is a mystery. First, I am not a fan of Debbie Bliss yarns. Second, I am not a fan of chunky weight yarn either. Bulky, yes. Chunky, no. Must be the name. Anyway, this is some expensive yarn folks. I paid $18 for 75meters. I need to find a purpose for it to feel like a complete knitter.
Pattern: Foliage from Knitty Fall 2007 (the bulky version)
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Super Chunky Cashemerino (duh)
Needles: US10
This was intended for a little girl I know. I was confident I wouldn’t be able to knit a full size version since I was a little short meterage-wise. So I knit just 1.5 repeats of the leaf pattern. While it is not too big on her and she could wear it, her mom will look much better in it. Being that it is a chunky yarn, it knit up quick. Kind of a two for one project….that ball of yarn is out of my stash and I accomplished a knit super quick.
So, I told myself no new sweaters until I lose about 20 pounds. Here I am…end of February, down about six pounds, and sick to death of accessories. I desperately want to cast on Icelandic Star. I even have quite a bit of Lopi Lite in my stash from a different project I will never knit. Must stand strong so I can believe I WILL lose that 20 pounds. So, I have decided to put the needles away for a little bit. Read. Spin. I even went to the library yesterday and got some books. I find myself looking longingly at Nooks, but know that I REALLY don’t need one and they go against everything I stand for. I just love me some electronic gadgets that make me feel cool.
Categories: Hats · finished object · me
Pattern: Multnomah by Hello Knitty (rav link)
Yarn: Noro Kureyon Sock in Color S40
Needles: US3
Isn’t it purdy? I love it. I like to leave it laying around and just stare at the lovely color changes. It is not remarkable knitting by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoyed knitting it UNTIL the very last two feather and fan repeats. I kept fouling up and tink-ing back. Let me tell you – those last rows are LONG. :) This is my first triangle type shawl and even though I understand the math and how large the rows can get by adding 2-4 sts ever row, nothing could prepare me for how long it would take to knit rows that long.
After many, many attempts to photograph this “shawlette” on me, and this is what I have. I always see staged pictures of these “shawlettes” and thought they would be bigger on people. They aren’t. Now I am a big girl but not THAT big of a girl and this thing barely goes around my neck . Still. I can see where fashion savvy people like them. I felt very European wearing it around the house. I think it is a good look for picking up Legos….don’t you?
Here is my favorite story about this “shawlette”. It is blocking beautifully on some foam mats and Bubba says to me, “I like your volcano thing, Mom.” Huh? Volcano thing? So, I go into the room and ask him what he is talking about. He points to the blocking Multnomah and says, “This volcano.”
Sure enough. It is a volcano. I love perspective. :)
Categories: finished object · shawls
Pattern: Mitered Mittens from EZ’s Knitter’s Almanac
Yarn: Some delicious handspun I bought years and year ago
Needles: US5
A very, very long time ago (2004?) I bought some handspun at a yarn expo. About 200 yards of not-quite-aran weight yarn. It is purpley, blue, & cranberry and destined for this pattern for forever. I don’t know why I didn’t cast on sooner probably because six years ago pithy instructions intimidated me and the lack of needle guidance REALLY intimidated me. Now I am pretty confident with what gauge I will get with what needle and certain weight yarn….particularly heavy worsted.
Hello? Lamb’s Pride Worsted.
The pithy instructions are not that pithy since it is an easy garment. The only thing I didn’t do was knit all the way to the top then snip a stitch to unravel for a thumb hole to pick up. Call me a pansy, but I opted to knit some waste yarn on seven stitches to designate a thumb hole then later took out the waste yarn to knit the thumb. Worked out nicely and because of the miter, the lack of thumb gusset is not that uncomfortable.
I DID knit them at a smaller gauge than called for. I didn’t want largish mittens, but a closer fit so I could still help small children with their mittens or zip zippers. Overall, I really like these mittens and see them as being very practical for the month of February.
On a personal note, man are we sick. Usually this means the small children are lying around with fevers. Nope. Not this time. The adults are ill. Poor Terry has had a fever for five days now. Very nasty cough. We are off to the doctor this morning for him. Now I have been married to this guy for 13 years. He has NEVER been this sick. He was contemplating going to work because “I’ve never missed this many days of work” – can you say big, new project at work he’s behind on? I finally talked some reason into him that adults who have a 101 degree fever deserve to be at home despite having missed three days of work. I don’t have a fever so I am holding down the fort. The kids are bouncing off the walls.
Categories: finished object · mittens
Yarn: From 13 mile Farm Montana Lamb and Wool…predator friendly, plant dyed
Needles: US 7 and US 9
So, remember how I said I don’t have any knitting resolutions? That is not true….I need to knit up some of the gift yarn that has been given to me. Over the last year I have received some very nice yarn as gifts from people. People who have gone out of their way and hunted down something they knew I would like. It is all beautiful and I plan to go out of my way to make sure I knit it from the stash instead of hoarding it. This yarn is a start….it is a gift from Jessie who visited several yarn shops in Montana and
even toured a mill. It is plant dyed and very rustic. Have I ever mentioned how happy I am to find vegetable matter in my yarn? I reminds me that the material comes from a living thing. Rustic yarns rock. It is my first plant dyed yarn ever. It did bleed quite a bit on my hands while I was knitting; however, when I soaked them for blocking they didn’t bleed too much so we’ll see how it goes wearing them.
The pattern is from
Indigirl, Amy Swenson. I love all of her designs because they are simple in construction but still beautiful. No complicated seaming and usually lots of cables. Anyway, I am sure you are all familiar with her. I have been reading her blog for forever. As soon as she put this pattern on her blog, I knew I needed to knit them. My above photo makes them look goofy. On your hand they are just gorgeous….I tried my best with photo below. Does not do the arrowheads justice though.
Good news? There were two hanks of this yarn…now I will knit a pattern from a book I received as a gift from my friend
Katrina.
It is cable-y too but calls for a smaller gauge, but I think it will work nicely with this yarn.
Categories: finished object · mittens
Pattern: Swirl Shawl by Lijuan Jing
Yarn: Jojoland Melody MS08 (purple,green,blue – 2 balls) MS27 (orange,green,purple – 1 ball)
Needles: US 6 DPNs (5 inch needles, very important)
All finished, took me long enough, huh? It is beautiful. Terry didn’t even recognize it when I brought it out. Blocking makes a big difference. I blocked it a little stronger to make the hexagon very pointy. I like it. The store sample and the pattern picture are softer hexagons, almost like they just steam blocked it.
The next question is….how the hell does someone wear this thing? I am not an accessory gal unless is has a very practical purpose like warmth. This scarf is more decorative. Do I need a shawl pin? Do I just tie it around my neck? Who knows. Maybe I will just drape it across my table in the sunshine.
Categories: finished object · scarves
I managed to squeak these out. I finished them the afternoon of the 31st. They fit okay. A little long since I needed to finish the pattern repeat, and it made the sock a smidge too long.
So, how was everyone’s New Year? We went downtown for Anchorage’s “Fire and Ice” celebration. Ice skating in “town square”, fire jugglers/eaters/hoopers, and general fun. At 8pm there were fireworks, which were actually very good. It is perfect for people with smallish children since you know we turn to pumpkins if we stay up later than say 10pm. This year the boys did good….they made it to 10:30.
Here is the gem though….they slept until 8am. I can’t remember the last time I did that for they never have.
Resolutions and recaps seem to be a theme on the blogs. This is
one I particularly liked because she is such an interesting person. Resolutions here? None knitting-wise really. I just cleared my Ravelry queue and filled it with things I want to knit with yarns I have. Will I stick it? Probably not. All it will take is a trip to the yarn store or a new pattern, and I will be back to my old habits. Besides all of my will power needs channeled to my New Year’s resolution…..to lose 40 pounds. *sigh* Not really a New Year’s resolution, I have been working on it since October when I went to the doc and found out stuff that I didn’t want to hear. It is complicated, medical, and quite honestly boring but boils down to lose the weight and I will feel much, much better. Don’t worry, this won’t become a weight loss blog.
Anyway, I hope every one had a happy, happy New Year and are looking forward to what 2010 has to offer.
Categories: finished object · me · socks
Pattern: End of May by Mandy Powers over at zigzagstitch
Yarn: Cascade 220 leftover from Bubba’s vest
Needles: US4
From the moment I saw this pattern on Mandy’s blog, I knew I had to knit it. I love everything about it. The double thick hem. The flower motif. It is very purdy. When I had enough yarn leftover from Bubba’s vest, I promised myself I could cast it on when I was done with Muskrat’s vest.
It was a quick knit. Here is a shot of the hem. Not my best work as far as tacking down goes. I am not really sure how you consistently tack down the stitches with all the floats from the stranded work. There is quite a bit of puckering luckily though it doesn’t show through too much on the RS.
In the pattern, she notes that the hat is long and to start on Row 17 for a shorter hat. Just FYI, she is not kidding. I figured I wanted it longer to cover ears, so I started on Row 1. The hat fully covers the ears and still has quite a bit of length. I think you could easily knit the hat from row 17 and still have a lovely hat that covers the ears.
Did you know there are
matching mittens too? I am *SO* going to knit them. They will be a gift for someone else, I think.
Categories: Hats · finished object
Yarn: Lamb’s Pride Bulky in Grassy Knoll and Cranberry Swirl
Needles: US 9
So, I have a nephew. He lives in WA and sometimes in the winter he needs a hat. Now my brother is much hipper than I am and wants my nephew to look hip as well. When he requested a hat for his son, the words “snowboarder” and “cool” were used to explain what he was hoping for. This pattern instantly came to mind because it is a cool yet very practical hat. Then I had a vision of Bubba and my nephew wearing identical hats only in their respective favorite colors. Well, I assure you Bubba will not be caught dead in this hat, but I think my nephew will like it because it is pretty cool.
All of Kirsten’s designs are fantastic – she is such a prolific designer. I can’t believe how many she creates. I am doing the mystery sock for Socktober.
I knit the medium size. The hat was a bit long in the green version, so when I knit the cranberry one I knit it a little shorter (1/2 inch) and really like the results. Not in the eyes quite so much.
What is is lately with Muskrat and sticking out his tongue lately? I don’t have a single picture that doesn’t have him sticking out his tongue. Goofy kid.Don’t you love the green hat? It is knit from the new Lamb’s Pride Bulky variegated. It is fantastic. A bit of pooling but nothing too dramatic. I think it is a cheap substitute for Malabrigo, in my humble opinion.
So, what’s up with all the knitting lately you ask? Well, aside from the fact that winter is rapidly approaching and I always crave knitting in the fall we have been sick. Bubba is moving on day two of a fever. If I had to guess, I would say he has the swine flu but that sounds so ominous. Either way, I have to keep him home tomorrow so he is 24 hours without a fever before he returns to school.
Categories: Da boys · Hats · finished object
Pattern: Basic Vest from Ann Budd’s Handy Book of Patterns
Yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport in Stone and Buddy Blue
Needles: US5
Vest number two complete. I like this one better probably because I love this yarn so much. I think this is such a great yarn – Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport. Cheap in price. High in quality. Tons of great colors. Plus I love knitting things at a smaller gauge – they feel like grown up knits as opposed to knitting something in a worsted weight. Silly, but there is it. The stripes are not as good as the last vest, but he wanted one color stripes.
I was a little more thoughtful about the ribbing at the neck. I left two stockinette stitches at the base of the V and did the decreases on either side of these two stitches. I think it came out cleaner. The only thing I would have done different is kept these two stitches from the knitting below live instead of picking up new stitches.
Let me just say, for both sets of pictures for the vests bribery was involved. There may have been an exchange of a cookie for pleasant picture taking. Somehow I don’t think that these knits will see a lot of action beyond the school photo requirement. Too bad. I think they look so freaking adorable in these vests. Along the lines of little boys when they wear tuxes in weddings and such.
Categories: Da boys · finished object · vests
Pattern: Basic V-neck vest from Ann Budd’s Handy Book of Patterns
Yarn: Cascade 220 in two greens and a bit of yellow
Needles: US8
I am on a quest for vests. Last year I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t the boys be so handsome in sweater vests for their school pictures?” This year I thought to myself, “I need to make that happen THIS year or it will never happen because fall is kind of busy for teachers.” So, here is the first of two vests.
Knit at 5 sts/inch for a kiddo size 6-8. I decreased the number of stitches by 15% for the bottom ribbing. The body was knit in the round up to the armholes and then I knit back and forth and joined at the shoulders with a three needle bind-off. The ribbing in the V-neck is wonky. I don’t know how to do it properly, all I know is the instructions in the book are not good for V-necks. There is more to the decreasing at the point to make it look better, and I thought I had it licked but looking at these photos makes me feel otherwise.
The stripes oh-my-gosh the stripes. I love the end product, but I was saying foul things about the two-colored stripes as I was weaving in ends. My weaving in has gotten better over the years, but I still think they are not overly invisible now couple that with having several in one spot *sigh*. Let’s just say don’t get to close or you can really tell how many ends there are.
Speaking of getting too close – see the mark of brotherly love? Apparently, Muskrat and Bubba got in it the other night. Something about not wanting to talk about the super bomber and the other wanting to talk about biplanes. I don’t know. All I know if he has a wicked bad bruise and scratch marks down his face. I will look back on the photos as “The Time when Muskrat could not use his Words.”
Categories: Da boys · finished object · vests
