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Pattern: Toe up socks. Short row heel. And I threw some cables on the foot.
Yarn: Red Heart Heart and Sole, Watercolor Stripes
Needles: US 1
So I finished the cabled socks I was working on. Once I got the yarn, the second sock took like, two days to knit up. Win. They fit pretty well, though one is a lot more snug than the other. As for the yarn… I like Red Heart’s sock yarn. It’s cheap and it’s no-frills. What I don’t like about this particular batch is the colors. I dunno. I don’t like this colorway. It was really pretty in the skein but it looks kind of crappy knit up. Which is unfortunate, since I LOVE the Spring Stripes colorway (in a shawl I made) and the Toasted Almond colorway (the last socks I made). I’ll just avoid this one in the future. **shrug**
Anyway, I know I said after I finished the socks I’d go back to Girl Friday, but I joined another round of Ongoing Wish Swap over on Craftster, so I’ll be knitting some wristwarmers for that before I go back to the sweater. The mitts are super cute though, and I will definitely have pictures of them when they are finished. : ) Stay tuned!
As anyone who knows me will attest to, I have a serious love for baby knits. They’re small and quick, they don’t take much time and they’re SO CUTE. So when my friend Sarah told me her cousin was having a baby (the shower being this weekend) and asked if I would be interested in a commission from her for several baby things, I jumped at the chance. Also cause it meant I got to buy nice sock yarn. : )
So here’s what I came up with:
Pattern: Top Down Bonnet with Anime Character
Yarn: Trekking XXL
Needles: US 3/3.25 mm (or whatever the metric is)
Mods: I followed the size for the child using a smaller yarn and needles, hoping it would come out about baby sized. I think I accomplished that. I also, obviously, left off the face features.
Pattern: Mostly an amalgamation of various baby sock patterns. Mostly I made it up. No idea when they’ll fit the kid but I imagine they will at some point. Also, I did one cuff down (I started with a pattern) then did the other toe up, as I prefer. Both have a wedge toe and short row heel.
Yarn: Trekking XXL
Needles: US 1
Pattern: Steggie Bib
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Lime
Needles: US 6/4 mm, which made for a super squishy and wonderful seed stitch.
Mods: Changed the icord ties to crochet chain/single crochet because it was faster that the icord would have been.
I totally love this bib. The pattern was fun, it’s super cute, and the cotton-ease is SO wonderful and squishy on the 4mm needles.
Anyway, I hope the parents-to-be like the things I made for Sarah to give to her cousin. At the very least, they were lots of fun to make.
So I’m knitting a sweater. It looks like this:
(Well, it’s a little farther than that now–I finished one of the fronts too.)
It’s Girl Friday from the Fall 09 Knitty. The yarn is Valley Northampton, which was originally earmarked for a Berocco pattern, Mayer. I didn’t really care for the waffle stitch, though, and the ribbing was written oddly–it has you cast on for a ton of stitches then just says “decrease 45 stitches evenly” across a 118 stitch row. No thank you. Frogged and debated over other cardigans before settling on this one. I think it will be nice. I am changing a few things though, most notably the lace pattern. I don’t really care for the purl stitch tabs, so I’m changing all the purls to knits. Makes my wrong side rows nice and easy–they’re just purled all the way across.
I’m knitting the smallest size, even though my bust measurement is 32″, and not the 29″ that is the smallest age. The designer says the lace is stretchy and I presume it’ll open up when it gets the severe blocking I’m planning for it though, and I’m going for negative ease anyway. I’m hoping for a longish sweater coat style that I can wear as a jacket or under my winter coat or when I’m chilly (kind of like how I wear my owls cardigan). I’m highly looking forward to wearing it. : )
Here’s something I do not have on the needles:
It’s a sock. Yep, one sock. One little cabled ankle sock. Why am I showing you this sock, and not a pair of socks in an FO post when I usually don’t bother with WIP posts? Because it’s only one sock. And it will be a while before the second sock is completed. Why is this?
Cause I freakin’ lost the rest of the yarn.
Yeah. I brought the socks to knit at Seaworld in lines and such when I was in Florida over Christmas and New Years. I finished the first sock in a line for a roller coaster (the new Manta, which, by the way, is AWESOME) and must have left my fanny pack open somewhere in the park and the ball rolled out. I mean, I bought the yarn at Michael’s with a 40% off coupon so it was only like, $3.50 and it’s definitely not difficult to find more, but I’m totally bummed because of the rigmarole. It’s doable, just annoying.
So that’s what I’m knitting. In addition to that Featherweight Cardi which is taking FOREVER. It’s definitely not my only project. I don’t think I could ever be in a serious, monogamous relationship with a cardigan knit in lace weight yarn in stockinette. Can you say boring? The finished thing will be awesome… I just have to finish knitting the damn thing.
Pattern: Ice Queen by Rosemary Hill
Yarn: Plymouth Baby Alpaca Lace
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm Knit Picks Options circ
Mods: Did stockinette lace but went down a needle size.
It’s very pretty, but as you may be able to see, it’s a bit too short to actually do anything. Plus, because the yarn is so soft and thin and the pattern is a bit too wide, it mostly just does this:
So I frogged it, and now it looks like this:
The pattern was great, though, super easy to follow, I would just need more pattern repeats so it’s long enough to wear properly. The yarn I used, Plymouth Baby Alpaca Lace, is also great. Not really splitty, very soft, and great to work with. Definitely will use again (probably). It’s a great laceweight. : )
So, yeah. Frogged. It didn’t take that long and I knew I wasn’t going to wear it, so now I have a whole ball of alpaca lace. I’m thinking I’ll make Swallowtail again to replace the one I may or may not have lost (I can’t remember if I told you guys that or not–basically, I had it slung through my backpack strap and it fell out without my noticing). Oh, and by the way, frogging already-blocked alpaca lace sucks. It sucks a lot.
Sorry for the radio silence, people. I totally thought I scheduled this post for the first and apparently accidentally wrote the tenth. So… here’s the post. Also, I hope you’ll forgive me for not doing a 2009 wrap up post. I’m not really into wrap ups. Anyway, here’s some mitts:
Pattern: Endpaper Mitts, by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in some shade of purple (lost the ballband) and “Fog”
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm and US 3/3.25 mm
Mods: Went up a needle size for the ribbing because I didn’t have any 0’s, and it’s a good thing I did since the cuff came out a bit snug anyway.
So… I fail at reading directions and managed to fuck up the thumb gusset on the first one of these , but I think they came out well regardless. I managed to not completely screw up the colorwork and my floats are loose enough that I can actually get the damn things onto my wrists. And they’re pretty. : ) Though, I have to say, I meant to make the medium (and use a US 2 needle) but for some reason read “3 mm” as “US 3” so I ended up using 3.25 mm needles, though I doubt that really made a huge difference.
Still, like I said, I like how they came out. : ) Very toasty and very comfortable.
Ahem. I claimed Claire313 for a slouchy hat + surprise. Here’s what I sent her:
Pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret
Yarn: Grants Knitting Worsted (Vintage wool from a thrift store purchase) in Tangerine
Needles: US 8/5 mm and US 10/6 mm dpns.
And here’s the surprise I send, a little knit Totoro:
Pattern: None, really. I looked at the crochet version and knit from there.
Yarn: Some white Sugar ‘N’ Cream and random sport weight acrylic.
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm
Knitting that is. I’ve done few commissions over the last couple of weeks:
Bufanda Del Diablo
Pattern: It’s garter stitch. Seriously.
Yarn: Lion Brand Fancy Fur in “Bold Black”. Three skeins.
Needles: US 15/10 mm
So, yes, Bufada Del Diablo. The Devil’s Scarf. A, novelty yarn. B, two strands. C, apparently the two skeins I had in my stash weren’t enough, so I literally drove all around town today trying to hunt down more. I tried Dollar Tree, Big Lots, Michael’s, and two different Tuesday Mornings before I found a skein in a clearance bin in AC Moore. BAH.
Anyway, this scarf is for one of my mother’s friends at work. She’s paying me for it, so it’s not like I just make scarves and run all over town for random people my mother knows. I am giving her a cut rate deal though, mostly cause it helped get the damn yarn out of my stash.
Next:
Pattern: My own Shark mittens
Yarn: Cascade Eco and Ella Rae
Needles: US 6/4 mm and US 7/4.5 mm
These mittens are for a girl I know at school. I was in the post office at school before break, and I had my mittens on cause it was cold. She complimented them and asked where I got them. When I told her I made them, she asked if I do commissions. And I most certainly do. : )
Next:
Pattern: My Tissue Cozy.
Yarn: Lily Sugar ‘N’ Cream in Hot Pink, Strawberry, and Playtime
Needles: US 6/4 mm
I don’t actually have a recipient in mind for these, as I’m putting them up for sale on my Etsy and my Artfire. Or, I will. At some point. Yeah.
And last but not least, this cowl:
Pattern: None. It’s a garter stitch rectangle with buttons and button holes.
Yarn: A strand of vintage wool and a strand of acrylic
Needles: Uh… US 9 or 10? I don’t remember.
A big, chunky cowl to keep you warm for winter. : ) The buttons are hand-made by me out of Fimo (or similar brand; I don’t recall) clay. It’s super cozy, and I’d keep it for myself but I can only use so many cowls, ya know? Available on Etsy or Artfire.
The pattern for the Jurassic Mittens is available for purchase through Ravelry! (Ravelry account not required for download.)
Jurassic Mittens: US $6.50
Included in the pattern are directions to make the following dino mittens:
– Triceratops
– Stegosaurus
– T-Rex
Sizes: Children’s S (Children’s L, Adult) Shown in Adult
Children’s S: Ages approx. 5-7, 5” palm circumference
Children’s L: Ages approx. 8-10, 6” palm circumference
Adult: Should fit most adult hands, measures approx. 8” around palm, length is to fit.
Finished measurements: 6” (7”, 8”) (palm circumference)
Gauge: 5 sts/7 rows per inch stockinette
Yarn Required:
MC: 150-200 yards worsted/aran weight yarn, green (sample used Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride)
CC: 20 yards worsted weight yarn, red (sample used Ella Rae Classic)
CC2: 10 yards worsted weight yarn, off-white (sample used reconned thrift store sweater yarn)
CC3: 4 yards worsted weight yarn, white (sample used Lily Sugar ‘N’ Cream)
You will also need:
-Set of 5 US 7/4.5 dpn’s
-Stitch marker
-Stitch holder or waste yarn
So I claimed sunspotted for a Calorimetry, some hair things, and some scrapbook paper.
Pattern: the ubiquitous Calorimetry
Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool, Coffee
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm metal straights
Mods: CO 88, fewer short rows, closed up some of the holes.
Here are the hair pins I made:
They’re glued and sewn onto bobby pins and they were kind of a bitch to make, but they’re cute, I think. I had a hard time getting the bobby pins to stay in the glue straight. It was a learning experience, at least.
There were also a couple sheets of scrapbook paper, but you don’t need to see those.
Coming soon: A couple more swap things. Some knitting. And the dino mittens pattern!
Pattern: My own, which will be available for sale… soonish. I need to knit a steg mitten.
Yarn: Lamb’s Pride in Kiwi, Ella Rae Classic in Red, scraps of white Sugar ‘N’ Cream
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm
So these are finally finished and gifted to the boyfriend for a birthday/early Christmas gift. They came out really well, I think, and he loves them. : ) I suspect there will be epic dino vs. shark battles this winter (especially since I might knit my sister a pair of one dino and one shark for Christmas).
As for the pattern: It’s mostly finished because the base mitten is the same as the sharks. Really, the only thing that’s holding it back from being done is that I have to knit up a stegasaurus both because I need to knit the plates to write up a pattern and because I want some pictures of a steg to put in the pattern.
So I’m sort of working on it. I suspect it’ll be available sometime in the next month (cause I’m home for winter break).
Coming up more immediately: Swap stuff. I’m spinning away. A couple of finished knits. You know.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 