Stitch, Brinn, Stitch!

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January 23, 2011 in life, sewing | Tags: corset, fancy clothes, friends, hair, victorian ball | Leave a comment

Sorry I’ve been away for a couple of days. I’ve been busy and mostly have only been knitting shark mittens because I swear to god, I’ll be knitting them for the rest of my life.

OH WAIT I’ve also been doing some sewing.

So last night was a thing at my school called the Victorian Ball, in which people get dressed up in elaborate Victorian garb (much of which they have made themselves, like Rachel, who made bloomers, a slip, a petticoat/underskirt, a dress, a bustle, and a vest thing (and probably some other stuff I’m forgetting) not to mention she also wore a corset she bought.

So yeah. Victorian Ball = SRS BISNESS. You can actually see some pictures of how SRS it is on my friend Caitlin’s blog, where she posted pictures of everyone in their fancy clothes.

I didn’t actually go to the ball (I went on a double date with my lovely boyfriend and two of our friends), but I did go to the after party, at which I didn’t want to be one of the few people in jeans. Also, I like pretty clothes. I got all dressed up to go to dinner (cause I’ll take any excuse at all for fancy clothes):

OH WHAT’S THAT THERE? That would be a corset that I made! For totally free!

The outside fabric and lining fabric I got for free from a scrap bin at a Renaissance Fair. I didn’t have any grommets, so I just used tabs of bias tape which I’ve had forever and probably stole from my mothers sewing things (she doesn’t sew anymore anyway). It has some issues and it isn’t boned, but I totally love it.

In case you were wondering, the skirt (which is basically my favorite skirt) came from a yard sale and the blouse from a thrift store. The shoes also came from a thrift store. So basically, this outfit = cheapest fancy clothes ever. We won’t talk about my stockings (which I bought from Sock Dreams and were… not as cheap as the other stuff.

Also, because I am SOSOSO proud of it, my hair:

It took forever, no lie. I did two french braid pigtails (which took a while cause I had to remember how to do side french braids), then pinned them across my head. It’s basically the most complicated and awesome hairstyle I’ve ever worn. I LOVE IT. It needed a good healthy coat of hairspray, but for being hekd up only on the ends with bobby pins, it was pretty secure.

These pictures were taken at night with the flash and the self-timer so they’re kinda crappy, but I hope to get some better pictures of the corset later this week. I also started a new sewing project which was phenomenally quick and is almost done, and of course, a million shark mittens. Also so WWFY socks.

Let it never be said I have nothing to make.

FO: Kitty Hawk Hat

January 16, 2011 in knitting | Tags: finished object, FO, hat, knitting, swap, wwfy | 3 comments

A couple of days ago, I finished the hat that matches the Kitty Hawk mitts I made.

Pattern: Kitty Hawk
Yarn: Sanguine Gryphon Bugga! in Oak Timberworm and Oleander Hawk Moth.
Needles: US 2 and US 4.
Mods: None, knit as written

So this hat was a lot of fun to knit. It has a really interested construction, and it goes by REALLY quickly. Each of the panels for the top were done in roughly an hour each (I knit them in class; the front and back took a little longer than the sides). I sort of used mattress stitch to sew everything together, but the top seam looks a lot better than the side seams.

When I finished the hat, I showed it to my boyfriend (as I do, and also because I intend to make the hat for myself eventually), and he wasn’t crazy about the shape or the points at the top. I personally LOVE the shape–it’s so interesting and it’s different from the usual rounded top hat. It’ll definitely stand out in a crowd. I can’t wait til I have a moment to knit for myself. I want to make this hat (in addition to a million other things I want to knit for myself).

Til then, it’s shark mittens and socks for other people.

FO: Birthday Sweater

January 14, 2011 in knitting | Tags: boyfriend, finished object, FO, knitting, sweater | Leave a comment

Heeeey, remember that sweater I was making for my boyfriend’s birthday? Well, I finally finished and photographed it. Over a month after it was supposed to be done (the boy’s birthday was December 9). But now it is done!

Pattern: EZ’s Seamless Hybrid
Yarn: Six skeins of Knit Picks Comfy Bulky plus a skein of Comfy sport and half a skein of Comfy fingering, all in Planetarium.
Needles: US 9/5.5 mm
Mods: It’s a very basic sweater pattern. None.

So this sweater… it was an adventure. I started out with high hopes. “It’s in bulky weight!” I thought in October. “It’ll take no time at all!”

And then I ran out of yarn. Six skeins is apparently not enough for a man-sized sweater. So I contacted Knit Picks, the ISO forums, mentioned it in-blog. Nothing. One person had half a skein, which wasn’t gonna cut it. Knit Picks apparently DISCONTINUED the Planetarium line of Comfy Bulky. IDEK. I ended up ordering a skein of Comfy Fingering and two skeins of Comfy sport and using half of it to finish the sweater. Fortunately, the gauge is very similar.

It turns out, though, that six skeins might have been enough after all. It’s a bit too big on Joe, as you can possibly see. I think it’ll shrink in the wash (it’s mostly cotton) and it’ll fit, but I originally knit the sleeves way too long and there was a lot of waste as I picked out the cast on edge and tried to ravel up (apparently decreases will NOT frog in either direction and will, in fact, make you cry sad, sad tears).

Overall, though, despite all the struggles with this sweater, I think it came out well. Joe likes it, and that’s what matters to me, really. He loves cotton, and the sweater is indeed very soft and smooth. Knit Picks Comfy is a pretty good line of yarn–I have a sweater made out of the worsted weight. The first sweater, I actually ever designed, Lilith, which I still wear pretty often.

Anyway, a very happy (belated) birthday to my love, Joe. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll go back to knitting a hundred pairs of shark mittens (I got a ton more orders yesterday).

WIP: Kitty Hawk Hat

January 11, 2011 in knitting | Tags: colorwork, hat, knitting, swap, wip, work in progress, wwfy | 2 comments

As I mentioned the other day, I am currently working on the hat that matches the Kitty Hawk mitts I recently finished. I’m using the same yarn (Bugga!). The hat has a really interesting construction technique: You knit the hat band (in the round like a stockinette scarf knit in the round) then pick up stitches for a front panel, back panel, and side arch panels, finally seaming the panels together to form the crown of the hat. I think it’s turning out super cute so far:

That’s the back of the band and the back panel (about 1.5 repeats of five done). I have to do some creative stitching to clean up the back seam (the directions should direct you to graft it but it doesn’t), but other than that, I think it looks nice. Here’s what the front looks like:

It curled something awful when I was done knitting the band, but HOLY GOD STEAM BLOCKING IS AMAZING. I’m pretty sure I’ve extolled the virtues of steam blocking before, but let me just say again: AMAZING. You lay out your knitting, hold a hot iron over it, push the steam button and push everything into place. And then it is DONE and it is BLOCKED. No waiting forever for it to dry. No pinning. No desperate squeezing to get excess water. Steam and DONE.

Amazing.

FO: Kitty Hawk Mitts

January 9, 2011 in knitting | Tags: college, fingerless mittens, finished object, FO, life, steampunk | 1 comment

OMGWTFBBQ it’s a finished thing that isn’t shark mittens!!!

Pattern: Kitty Hawk (the mitts; I’m still working on the hat)
Yarn: Sanguine Gryffon Bugga! in Oak Timberworm and Oleander Hawk Moth.
Needles: US 2/2.75 mm dpns
Mods: None. Knit as written.

So these mitts? Super freakin’ cute and steampunk-errific. Yes. I love how they came out and am sad I do not get to keep them (they’re for a WWFY swap). However? PITA to knit. There’s a bunch of rounds of reverse stockinette, and reverse stockinette does not play well with double pointed needles. I got some terrible laddering that was mostly covered up with a good steam block and the straps, but if you look closely, they’re still there.

When I make these for myself, I think I’m going to flip ’em inside out. That way, I can knit stockinette instead of reverse stockinette and the patch thingy that comes out of the twisted rib will still stick out but I won’t have horrible joins. I’m also going to make them shorter (less ribbing, less plain knitting between the patch thing and the thumb gusset) cause it’s sort of a pain to wear long mitts under a sweater or long sleeves or whatever.

That being said, it’s an ADORABLE pattern, and I love the finished result. I love how the finger ribbing is picked up a couple rows down so you get that two layered look. I love the twisted rib cuff (even if I hate knitting it). I love that patterned patch thing. I love the straps. I love the thumb. I seriously love these mitts. It will be a while before I get around to making them again for me, but when I do, I am going to love them.

In other (non-knitting) news, my LAST SEMESTER OF COLLEGE EVER starts tomorrow. (At one cause I don’t do that early classes thing). I am both totally stoked and totally terrified to think about graduating at the end of the semester. So don’t be surprised if my blog attendance drops a bit while I get into the swing of the new semester. Cheers!

And Now for Something Completely Different

January 7, 2011 in Misc. Crafts, paper craft | Tags: decoupage, knitting, miscellaneous crafts, paper crafts | 1 comment

So the other day I took a couple hours off from knitting because I was sick of shark mittens and I wanted a different sort of project. So I whipped out my Styrofoam mannequin head, my collection of yarn labels, and a container of mod podge, and a couple of hours (and MANY little bits of dried mod podge everywhere), the result was this:

I’d been planning this project for a while, at least generally. I’d been saving my yarn labels to decoupage something, and I’m really pleased with how the mannequin head came out.

Now, instead of just a prop for modeling hats, it’s also a decorative conversation piece. : ) The making of the thing was pretty simple–glue on labels, smooth down, coat with mod podge. I originally tried to use an old credit card, but that wasn’t really working on a rounded surface, so instead I just used my fingers. It was super messy (I was COVERED in mod podge), but it was effective. The mess wasn’t helped by my upending the bottle of mod podge all over the floor (glad that stuff dries clear), but it was fun nonetheless.

In knitting news, I am still doing it. Though thankfully, not shark mittens. I am almost finished with a pair of Kitty Hawk mitts, and I just started the matching hat. It’s cute, but I’ll be pleased when I’m done with it.

Knitting the Same Things

January 4, 2011 in knitting, stash | Tags: FO, knitting, mittens, stash, yarn | Leave a comment

Don’t worry, dear readers, I have indeed been knitting. I’ve been knitting a lot. It just so happens that I’ve been knitting the same thing over and over and over. I’ve been working on approximately a million pairs of shark mittens. Here’s a pair I finished this morning:

Same yarn I always use, Cascade Eco, and some red Valley Northampton for the mouth. They went pretty quickly and were mostly unremarkable. Fortunately, I only have one more pair to knit and then I can start working on other things. Other swap things. I can’t wait to be knitting for myself again.

A non-shark mittens thing I have been doing is some stashing of yarn. I had to order some more yarn for my boyfriend’s birthday sweater (which is still not done), but Knit Picks is discontinuing the Planetarium colorway of Comfy Bulky (why, I have no idea) but I ordered some comfy sport and some comfy fingering to hold together to finish the sweater, which will hopefully work. Since I was already paying shipping and I like yarn, I also threw in some sock yarn:

Stroll in Shoreline Twist (which is Ravenclaw colors, which will result in bitchin’ Ravenclaw socks)

Stroll Handpainted in Tea Party

I also recently bought a couple wool sweaters at the thrift store to unravel for the yarn. I finished the first one yesterday, resulting in four skeins of a very pretty red worsted yarn:

It’s about 514 yards, most of which will most likely be used for mouth parts of shark mittens. But maybe something else. The sweater was like, four dollars, so I’m thinking this was a pretty good deal. I washed another sweater this afternoon, an undyed beige, and once that dries, I’ll have some more yarn to unravel (and also dye). Yay!

Holidays + Vacation with Boyfriend = No Blog Posts.

December 30, 2010 in blog, life | Tags: holidays, knitting, life | 1 comment

So… yeah. Sorry for the radio silence. I’ve been on vacation this week (since last Thursday and through Saturday) and haven’t had a lot of blog fodder. But I hope everyone had/is having a lovely holiday. Mine’s been pretty low-key so far, lots of shopping and resting, and my boyfriend and I are currently going through the Joss Whedon show Dollhouse (I’ve seen all it of it; he hasn’t; I think it’s brilliant and I love it).

I’ve been knitting, but mostly shark mittens. I currently have I believe three more pairs to knit, and then I have a bit of a break. Still lots of WWFY/swap knitting though. I recently received a package that had been sent to my house in like, September for a WWFY swap so now I have two pairs of socks to add to the queue. Fun. Like I said before though, once I’ve finished this round of swapping, I’m going to take a break and knit for ME ME ME.

I hope everyone has a fabulous New Year’s tomorrow. I’m attending a costume party (a fairy tale-themed murder mystery party) as Little Bo Peep. It should be lots of fun. : ) And as for resolutions, I don’t really have any other than to do better and be happy. How about you? What are your resolutions?

Some WIPs for the Holidays

December 22, 2010 in knitting, life | Tags: gift, knitting, life, mitts, sweater, wip, work in progress | 1 comment

It’s hard to believe it’s almost Christmas, isn’t it? This Saturday is the 25th, which means if you haven’t finished your gift knitting by now, there’s a good chance you’ll be up all night on the 24th, trying not to pull your hair out. I am not experiencing this stress, mostly because I’m not really celebrating any holidays this year. I’m spending Christmas and New Year’s with my boyfriend, who is Jewish and does not celebrate Christmas. Though I must say, I’m sort of feeling the lack of Christmas spirit.

Next year I think I’ll have a tree, a little table-top one, which will be the only size that will fit in our apartment next year. Perhaps I’ll wrap some gifts and make some cinnamon rolls. Spend the day in my pajamas and watch a holiday movie.

But this year, I’ll probably be eating Chinese foot and frantically trying to finish the billion trade and commission knits I have. Not to mention this:

(Sorry for the crappy flash picture. I may or may not have woken up this afternoon at three.)

It’s a muchly-finished sweater that was intended as a birthday gift to my boyfriend. We agreed to exchange gifts when I came to visit over Christmas so I had a couple extra weeks to finish it (his birthday was Dec. 9), but now I’ve run out of yarn and Knit Picks doesn’t appear to be selling that color. I’ve put in a desperate request to the ISO forums on Ravelry, but if any of my readers have some extra Comfy Bulky in Planetarium, PLEASE let me know.

I’ve also been working on this:

It’s one almost finished Kitty Hawk mitt for a WWFY swap. I started it because I was sick of shark mittens, but a nearly elbow-length glove in fingering weight yarn takes FOREVER. I’m going to finish the mitt, knit a pair of shark mittens, knit a hat, knit some more shark mittens, then perhaps knit the other mitt.

I currently have five pairs of outstanding shark mittens that I have to knit. So yes, I’ll be knitting these ittens forever.

FO: Monkey Socks

December 18, 2010 in knitting | Tags: bugga, finished object, FO, knitting, socks, yarn | Leave a comment

I finished the first item for my latest WWFY swap, a pair of socks:

Pattern: Monkey
Yarn: Sanguine Gryffon, Bugga! One skein in Metallic Fly
Needles: US 1, two at a time magic loop
Mods: Regular rib instead of twisted rib cause I hate knitting twisted rib

These would have been done a lot more quickly if I hadn’t had to knit so many damn shark mittens. Not that I mind the profit, I just also like knitting socks. I have a bunch more things to knit for this person and also a bunch more shark mittens. So yeah.

But about the socks. I like ’em. They’re too big for me, but they’re not for me and the recipient has larger feet than me, so that’s good. The yarn is wonderful. Soft and squooshy, as a yarn with cashmere in it is bound to be. And I got lots of it in return for all the knitting I’m doing. : ) I really like this particular swap, but I think I’m going to take a break from swapping after I finish everything. There are things I’d like to knit for me.

But socks. I like those.