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Sorry about my erratic posting schedule lately. IDEK. It’s not like I don’t have a ton of things to post. Anyway, I made a sweater.
Wine is always a good addition to project photos.
Pattern: It’s a raglan. No pattern.
Yarn: Recycled kitchen sink yarn: 40% Merino Wool 30% Viscose 20% Angora 10% Cashmere
Needles: US 10/6 mm
Ravelry tells me I knit this sweater in exactly two weeks, putting me on track (and slightly ahead) for my 12 in 12 sweater challenge. This is sweater number five.
It was a super easy knit. I had about half a skein left over (not that that means much since it was a recycled yarn) which I have since used in another thing, so that’s another sweater’s worth of yarn out of the stash. Yay! My yarn stash is my no mean excessive, but I have enough that I feel a little guilty buying more, so I’m working it down.
Excuse my silly faces. Anyway, this sweater. It came out exactly as I envisioned, which is a slightly oversized sweatshirt-type sweater that I can pull on if chilly or whatever. It actually fits well enough that I could wear it out of the house, which wasn’t really the intent. It is a nice bonus though.
Like I said, I have a ton of things I’ve been crafting, so hopefully I can get my butt in gear and type up a whole bunch of posts that I can schedule. Life’s been weird lately. I’m still nannying sort of, but I quit my regular gig. I’m actively looking for employment elsewhere as I have had about enough of children to last possibly the rest of my life. In fan news, I am working my way through Deep Space Nine. I started reading American Gods, but who knows when I’ll finish it. I watched the Doctor Who season finale and I’m not sure how I feel about it. Joe and I stopped reading the Jedi Academy trilogy, but I’m going to finish it on my own.
So I didn’t finish my Sakura Tee in time to wear Saturday. If I hadn’t gone out with some friends Friday night I probably would have made it, but oh well. As it happens, I finished it Monday.
Pattern: Sakura Tee from the summer 2012 Interweave Knits
Yarn: recycled cotton/acrylic blend
Needles: us 6/4 mm throughout
Mods: none really. Skipped switching needle sizes.
I’m pretty pleased with the way it came out. I wish I could have worn it Saturday, but oh well. It fits pretty well and it’s comfortable.
The directions were super simple to follow. The only trouble I ran into is that the front ends up a fair amount longer than the back. That’s easy enough to get around–just cast on more stitches for the back than instructed, but I wish I would have known that before I made it. I did not cast on extra stitches and I wish I would have. I just blocked the hell of out of it with a hot steam iron. The acrylic content of the yarn should keep the blocked length even after washing, which will happen in the machine.
For those playing at home, this is my fourth sweater of the year, which means I’m sorta kinda on track for 12 in a year. My next one will be a super simple, quick pullover out of some recycled wool/nylon/cashmere/angora (kitchen sink yarn, as I refer to it). Big yarn, big needles (like tens) and a slightly oversized/slouchy fit. Done from the top down probably with contiguous sleeves. Til then.
So I finished that sweater I’d been working on. It went pretty quickly, actually, and I’m super pleased with the result.
Pattern: None, I made it up as I went.
Yarn: Recycled hand dyed (by me) merino. About a sport or dk weight.
Needles: US 6/4 mm
For those playing along at home, this is my third sweater in my yearly sweater a month challenge. I’m a month behind, but seeing as I don’t actually need twelve sweaters, that’s okay.
I do quite like this sweater though. I’ve worn it every day since I finished it. It’s really comfortable and fits really well. There are a couple of things I’d do differently a second time around (which there won’t be, but you know). I’d do more plain rounds before starting the yoke. The pattern is kind of in my armpit and if I don’t lay it just right, it cuts me right across the nipple line, which I think is super unflattering.
Someone will probably ask, so no, I can’t write up the pattern. It’s a really simple round yoked pattern with a lace bit. The lace is Roman Arches from the Big Book of Knitting Stitch Patterns, but it’s basically just an arrowhead pattern without the rest rows. no special yoke shaping, just work three repeats then k1, k2tog around, repeat three times. Plus I fudged the numbers after each decrease row.
I have since started another sweater, the Sakura Tee from the summer 2012 Interweave Knits. I’m challenging myself to finish it by Saturday so I can wear it to Maryland Sheep and Wool this weekend. It’s gonna be close but I think I can do it.
Sooo it ended up being a little while since my last post. In my defense, I didn’t have a good way of taking pictures. My phone was out of commission and I lost my camera charger. All has been remedied, at least partially.
Anyway, I have a finished object to share. I made a pair of fingerless gloves for a WWFY swap.
Pattern: None, but I’m pretty chuffed with it so I might write it up. It’s been ages since I’ve written or released a pattern. It’ll probably be free.
Yarn: recycled wool/angora/nylon, overdyed not by me.
Needles: US 6/4 mm and US 1/1.25 mm
The yarn I used for these was a heavy lace weight/light fingering. I wanted to make these as quickly as possible, so I tripled the yarn to get a worsted weight, with which I made the body of the glove. I knew worsted weight would be too thick for the fingers. The recipient wanted half fingers, otherwise I would have left them off.
What I ended up doing was just using the yarn untripled (as the weight it actually is) and knitting the fingers out of that.
The result is pretty nice. The body of the mitts worked up super fast because it’s in worsted weight and the fingers took practically no time at all. Maybe an hour per glove including weaving in ends?
I’m definitely going to make a pair like this for me and take notes this time. The pattern will probably be in one size and you can change needles to change sizes. Maybe I’ll write more than one size.
I’m doing lots of other knitting and weaving too. I have some really cool inkle bands to show off but I need to get pictures. In fannish news, I finished watching Star Trek Next Generation and started on Deep Space Nine, which I like. I took a break to rewatch some Stargate Atlantis and have feeli.vs because I adore that show. And Joe and I are still working through the Star Wars EU. I like science fiction. In other.breaking news, water is wet.
I made another pair of socks out of sock yarn scraps. They were pretty quick.
Pattern: Top-down sock. Flap/gusset heel, wedge toe
Yarn: Sock scraps, including KP Stroll, Cascade Heritage, and Regia
Needles: US 1. Sock needles.
Whoo, they’re so exciting. By which I mean they are socks and a very utilitarian object.
I have the yarn ready for another pair, though I haven’t cast them on yet. I’ve been working on a sweater and the gloves I showed in the last post.
In life news: I am returning home tomorrow from Virginia Beach. Then back to life as usual (with bonus job hunting!) until May, when it’s MDSW followed by Steampunk World Fair (which, shit, I need to do some sewing). Those two weeks are going to be ALL MY MONEY. So I’m really gonna need a decent job by June. I’m working on it.
I have a couple of WIPs I’ve been working on at amusement parks and such. Knitting’s a great way to pass the time in long lines for rides, but I’ve also been putting the project bag on my wrist or tied to a belt loop and knitting while we walk around (especially since at parks like Animal Kingdom and Busch Gardens, there’s a lot more walking and less ride-going-on thanks to the zoo portions). Here’s what I’m working on:
Scrap Socks 3: The Scrapening. No lie, this is about four days of knitting. Each of the color blocks was completed in about a day. I have a couple more gusset decreases before I cruise down the foot and finish. Fast socks are the best socks.
Gloves I’ve had on the needles for a couple months. The yarn is a strand of cashmere and a strand of navajo-plied silk. I’m using the Phalangees finger method. Bit out of season now, but winter will come again.
I’ve also been working on inkle bands. I have a finished one on which I practiced some pick up techniques. I’ll have to get some pictures of that soon.
What’s this? More knitting? AWW YEAH. Just finished up some scrap socks made with leftovers from other sock projects.
Pattern: Top down sock, flap and gusset heel, wedge toe
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted in Tea Party (the majority of the socks), Red Heart Heart and Sole
Needles: US 1. Whatever that mm is. 1.25 I think?
Mods: None, it’s a sock
They fit pretty well. They get a little wavy where I changed yarns but that isn’t so obvious when they’re on and it doesn’t affect the fit any.
They’re socks so there isn’t a tremendous amount to say about them. I like socks. I have another pair on the needles (also using scrap yarn). The Ravelry project page is called “Scrap Socks 3: The Scrapening”.
In life news: Still in Florida. Which, by the way, is driving me completely bonkers owing to my completely fucking insane/idiot family members, the weather, and the spotty internet connection. Oh, and my phone that doesn’t work because I’m dumb. I think I can fix it (eventually), but still. UGH. So there’s knitting and I’m rewatching the Avengers in ten minutes bursts. I need to catch up a whole bunch of Geek and Sundry YouTube content as well as Castle, Doctor Who, and Game of Thrones. DON’T SPOIL ME.
What’s this? Knitting? Indeed it is! I finished a languishing knitting project, a vest I designed. This is also my second sweater type object of the year. Whoo!
Pattern: none, and I basically made it up as I went, though I did start from a design sketch.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Cotton Fine
Needles: US 4/6 mm
I had originally designed this to be a pullover with sleeves and I even started one, but I ended up ripping it. The arm hole came out too big and the sleeve was really baggy. Putting in ribbing tightened it up, and now I have a functional vest/tank top.
I have it styled as a vest in the pictures and I’d like to wear it that way, but it won’t look nearly as good on me as it does on Elizabeth. I will probably wear it as a tank over a cami. I’m going to take it to Florida, so maybe I’ll get some pictures I can add to the ravelry page.
I actually ended up wearing it out like this and it worked okay. Like I said, not as good on me as on Elizabeth.
I actually do have a picture of the vest as I will usually wear it. It’s a WIP picture from before I added the sleeve and then took it off again. So the ribbing hasn’t been added, but you can get the general idea.
In life news: I have made it down the Florida and its spotty internet connection, so posting will happen probably not that often. I was trying to root my phone (an Evo 4G LTE) so I could tether it to my laptop and managed to fuck it all up, so I can’t post from my phone like I usual would. I’m still trying to fix it. Pretty sure I can, but it’ll take some finagling.
So I made a pair of crazy socks with some leftover sock yarn. Ravelry will tell you these took several weeks, but that’s mostly because I left them at some friends’ place for a couple weeks and didn’t get a chance to retreive them until recently. Anyway:
Not so crazy, you say? Yes, the colors do rather get along here. That is, until I take my shoes off:
Aww yeah, check that crazy sock action. I completely love them, even though they came out a little shorter than I thought they would. It’s great to have another pair for the sock drawer.
I knit them toe up with a wedge toe and afterthought heel. I like a flap and gusset heel best but the afterthought heel is rapidly gaining my favor.
I have a bunch of things on the needles and the loom as well. And I have a super brag thrift store find post coming soon. Crafting is definitely happening here, as well as reading. I’m on a manga kick lately thanks to Katsucon. I’m currently reading Ouran High School Host Club after being absolutely enchanted by the anime. And I’m still reading the Thrawn trilogy with Joe. We’re on the last book and surprising no one at all I’m sure, I completely adore Mara. Look for SW crafts here probably soon.
Sooooo this past weekend was Katsucon, an anime convention I attended in National Harbor. It was super mega awesome fun though I completely neglected to take any pictures. I did, however, dress up in costume because that’s how I roll. I recently watched and read the anime/manga Fruits Basket, so one of the days I dressed up as Tohru Honda. There are no pictures, but I basically just wore a cute dress. But I also make a cat-form Kyo to carry around.
Pattern: none, made up as I went along
Yarn: 100purewool.com merino singles, a skein and a half almost exactly.
Needles: US 2/1.75 mm
I’m pretty pleased with the way he came out. He is super cuddly and a perfect use of yarn that’s been kicking around my stash for a while. I will have to cosplay Tohru again so I can carry him around some more. Maybe I can sew or appromimate Tohru’s school uniform for next time.
Speaking of Katsu and Fruits Basket, as a result, I’ve been on quite the anime/manga kick lately. I just watched Ouran Highschool Host Club and I got the manga from the library. I’m currently reading the Library Wars manga.
And speaking of cosplay, here is a bonus picture of me in a red wig I bought for cosplaying Amy Pond, Mara Jade, Ariel, and other redheads.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 