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My school apparently thinks Halloween is Friday, so I got to dress up twice, plus the Halloween party that I went to last week. Unfortunately, I only had one costume and it was difficult enough to come up with that idea to begin with. Somewhat unoriginally, I was a bat. While this sounds like the usual slutty girl costume, I assure you, it was not. And it had some pretty sweet diy elements. Check it out:
(imagine me wearing black pants and a black long sleeved shirt.)
Much of the costume was just me wearing black, which is pretty easy since I wear a lot of dark colors. The ears I crocheted from crochet cotton that I bought at a thrift store over the summer. I just crocheted triangles and then sewed them to a crocheted band. Easy peasy.
The wings were much more difficult. I got the idea from Craftster user EmilyinOrbit, who posted the wings she made here. Using some wire hangers, dollar store pantyhose, packing tape, and a whole lot of elbow grease (plus some crochet cords to keep the damn things on my back), I came up with these:
They’re not perfect, obviously, but they are awesome. One of the wings flaps a bit due to the way I affixed the hangers to each other and they’re quite crooked now after three days of use. I managed to get a mostly seamless outside edge, which I’m super proud of. I used three hangers and two pairs of pantyhose. The hangers, tape, and yarn I had on hand, so the total cost for my Halloween costume was $2.
I am, of course, planning ahead for next year, when I plan to be Little Red Riding Hood (again, not slutty). The sole reason for this costume decision? I want a cape. I want to knit an awesome cape (of course, I’ll wear it other times, like during winter. : ) I found this pattern on Ravelry, which will be the one I use. There will be some math to size it up, but seeing as I almost always get 5 sts to the inch in worsted weight yarn, I don’t have to swatch. Nyah nyah. Anyway, yes. I will be Red Riding Hood next year so I have an excuse to wear a cape (not that I need an excuse… And I may make another in a different color). I would have done it this year if I’d thought of it with enough advance notice to actually knit the damn thing. Plus I don’t have the right dress. Next year, though. Next year will be awesome.
And as for knitting: I finished the sweater vest, which you will see soon. I also started a new project that is HELLA AWESOME, and that will be coming soon as well. Stay tuned!
Pattern: Seriously, it’s just a toe-up sock with a short row heel.
Yarn: Cascade Fixation, less than a skein
Needles: US 3/3.25 mm
Not much to say here, folks. They’re socks. Simple socks in a squishy yarn. Lovely.
BUT WAIT. There’s more! I made another thing!
Pattern: White Lace Leaf Ornament
Yarn: Aunt Lydia’s Fasion Crochet Thread in white/silver
Needles: US 3/3.25 mm
Earrings! They’re just attached to cheapo Walmart earring wires and jump rings, but I needed some earrings, and I think these came out cute. I blocked them with a little glue so they’re stiff and not all bendy and annoying. Cute. Simple, but cute.
Okay, you all, I’m just about ready to roll out that surprise I’ve been talking about. In two days (more or less), it will be revealed. SO GET EXCITED. Or, you know, at least check back. Stay tuned!
To avoid the above problem, I made this cute little project bag!
Cute, huh? Just basic Walmart mystery fabric and a shoe lace (well, the lining is from a bed sheet), but I love how it came out! It’s small, so it’ll fit in my purse, but it’s large enough to fit a good size project. Maybe not a whole sweater, but it’ll at least hold my Featherweight-in-progress, which looks like this:
It’s going to take forever, but I think it’ll be super cute. Unfortunately, it’s not the weather for light cardigans, so this will probably be an ongoing project. In the mean time, I’ve started a pair of knee-high wool socks out of worsted weight to wear in my rain boots (regular size socks always fall off my heels and my toes get cold). I’ve also been working on a surprise for you all, to be revealed in a couple of days (probably). Stay tuned!
(Why yes, I am ridiculous.)
Pattern: My own, though it’s just a basic raglan cardigan with a picked up button band.
Yarn: Serendipity Tweed in “Poinsettia” and “Water Lily Leaves”, purchased on sale from Knitter’s Cottage in F’Burg
Needles: Knit Picks Options US 8/5 mm circular and bamboo dpns in US 7 and 8 (I only have three of the 8’s, so I had to improvise a little)
So I totally love this sweater. As I said before, I love things that look like watermelons, and this sweater fits the bill perfectly. It fits wonderfully, especially the sleeves, which have a little bell thing going on. Perfect for both fall and spring. I know the colors don’t really go with fall, but I don’t care.
The knitting of this sweater was mostly fine and wonderful, but I ran out of yarn before getting to the end of the sleeves. I did manage to pick some more up a couple days later though (AND there was a skein in my colorway AND it was still on sale). The yarn is lovely though. Soft and lovely and light enough to be a transition sweater, but the wool keeps the shape. I love cotton/wool blends. Truly, it’s great. The colors bled a little in the wash, but it wasn’t really huge, and when I wash it, I’ll add a little vinegar so it doesn’t run any more.
In other knitting news: I’m up the the owls on owls, so that will happen soon. I also started a pair of fingerless gloves, so those will happen too. Stay tuned!
Pattern: It’s a toe-up sock. My own. Short row heel because they’re awesome and smooth.
Yarn: Cascade Fixation, less than a skein if you can believe it.
Needles: US 3/3.25 mm metal dpns from a garage sale like, eons ago.
So sock knitting is pretty cool. I only ever wear ankle socks, so they knit up reasonably quickly. I haven’t knit many socks and I’ve yet to actually use fingering weight yarn, but socks are awesome. These socks… These socks are amazing. A, they cost me about three dollars to make, which for sock knitting is basically free. And they knit up HELLA FAST. DK weight yarn knits up really quickly. Oh, and they’re so squishy and comfy and amazing. And I love them.
So basically, I’ll be knitting socks now.
I’ll still mostly be knitting sweaters because I love knitting sweaters, but socks will also happen. I’ve got like, four more balls of Fixation that will probably become socks (at least one in a lace pattern), and there will be leftovers, which will be made into little, like half socks that you wear with ballet flats. Yeah.
So I’ve just today cast on for Foliage out of some Lion Wool not because I need more hats but because I need MOAR LACE. Or something. Next up on the knitting agenda is Owls, I think (modified into a cardigan), since I got my order from WEBS today, or most of it anyway. I ordered two skeins of Cascade Eco Wool (one in grey and one in coffee) and four balls of Valley Yarns Northampton in a lovely purple that will probably become a lovely cardigan, possibly the ubiquitous DROPS jacket or possibly Girl Friday from the latest issue of Knitty.
Foliage first, though. Then Owls. Then probably some more hats when Owls gets too big to take to class. Stash busting should… probably happen.Though really, once I use up the Eco Wool, there will be lots more room in my stash. But I don’t plan on buying anymore yarn for a while. Stash busting! It’s happening! Or something.
I am obsessed with things that look like watermelons. I love the combination of green and pink, and I love when objects have that color combination. LOVE. So when I saw this while browsing around the Ravelry forums, I knew I had to have it (non-Rav link; to issue one of Petite Purls). Sized up to fit me, of course.
I bookmarked that just about when the pattern came out, though, which was several months ago. Seeing as I really should knit up the projects I have planned before I buy more yarn (college student budget and all that), it sort of fell by the wayside, despite how much I wanted to knit a tank top like that.
And then, last weekend, while happening past the local yarn store in Fredericksburg, Knitter’s Cottage, I noticed they were having a sale. So of course I went in. And found Serendipity Tweed on sale for six bucks a skein, so of course I bought three, two of green and one of red. And then, noticing I had a total of like 600 yards of yarn that I could knit on eights for a nice, drapy fabric, I realized I could knit a whole cardigan! I scoured Ravelry for inspiration, wanting (mostly) to knit something with raglan sleeves (because I haaaaaaate set-in sleeves). And then I found this cute little sweater.
So here’s what I’ve been working on:
The cotton/wool blend will be perfect for the last warm days of fall before it slides into winter (and, of course, it will be amazing for spring). And I finished my super secret knitting project, so for right now, it’s all Watermelon all the time. Probably it won’t take me a whole lot longer to do since I have plenty of knitting time in several of my discussion-based classes.
Next up on the needles is going to be a wool sweater for which I need to order another skein of yarn (Cascade Eco Wool, which I’m getting from WEBS along with Evelyn Clark’s Knitting Lace Triangles and some various other things, probably some Valley Northampton for a sweater and some Huntington sock yarn for some argyle socks). There’s still the inchies swap to be posted (one set was sent to my house instead of to me at school, so I’m waiting until it gets sent here to post). There’s also the super secret project, but that won’t get posted until December. But you will see it eventually, I promise! Stay tuned!
Pattern: Studio Shorts available on Ravelry here.
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy in Marlin, about two skeins
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm Knit Picks Options and 16″ circ
Mods: Went up a needle size cause the sevens were closer and I knit fairly tightly. Left out the huge increase row because my thighs are not half the size of my hips and instead increased about five stitches around the back to accommodate my ass. Skipped the short rows in the front. Probably added extra short rows in the back.
These actually went by quite rapidly once I got the right amount of stitches around the hips, and I think I would definitely make these again. It’s so hard to find shorts that fit, and once I got a drawstring in these, the fit is perfect. And they’re sooooo comfortable. I love Knit Picks Comfy. It feels like kittens on my thighs. : ) I think I would decrease right before the ribbing. The ribbing on the waist isn’t really stretchy at all, and I think a smaller circumference would help that.
I’m extremely pleased with these though. The pattern is staying on my queue.
In other knitting new: super secret project is coming right along. Started another secret project (but probably only secret til next week or so since I’ll be giving them to the recipient then). Unfortunately, super secret projects are really all I’m knitting lately.
Fortunately, my partner for one of my swaps has already sent, so I’ll be showing you that by mid-next week ish. I’ve also been working on my inchies, and I’ll be ready to send out soon. Plus there’s a Post Secret swap (which I am thankfully not organizing). I love swapping, and I’m sure readers are fond of them since they provide tons of blog content. Stay tuned!
So, I don’t know if you can tell from previous pictures I’ve posted on this here blog of mine, but I weigh about 110 pounds, sopping wet. I’m a tiny little person. So I’m not sure what I was thinking when I blindly followed the directions in my shorts to k1, Kfb around the circumference after I joined the legs. This is what I got:
Yeah. Those are not going to fit. The legs fit perfectly, but there is literally a foot of extra space at the hips.
I though about giving up and moving on to other things. But when I tried them on, the yarn felt so soft and lovely on my legs that I decided to take the plunge and frog back to the join and reknit them, this time without the huge increase row. At this point, I’ve reknit back up to the waist ribbing, which took half the time as before because the rounds are half the size. I’ve had to add more short rows, but I think the size now is just about perfect.
Once again, I have multiple works in progress on the needles. I usually prefer to only have one at a time, but one will take a while and is less than thrilling to knit (the super secret project), one is almost done, and one I started (once again) so I’d have something to knit at Busch Gardens.
I can’t show you pictures of the super secret project, but here are the other two:
A pair of shorts because I felt like knitting shorts. I have very few shorts beause I can never find any that fit. : ( These are almost done.
I also started a light weight lace scarf in a yummy alpaca yarn in a lovely maroon color. I bought it at the Knitting Corner, another yarn store in Virginia Beach that I hadn’t been to before this summer.
Like I said, the shorts are almost done, so look for an FO post about that soon. I also have inchies and a swap coming up, so stay tuned!
Pattern: My own! This is my first sweater I designed myself! I based it on Lillie, but I didn’t want to do it in pieces and I wanted to make some mods anyway, so I just made it up as I went. It’s top-down, raglan style.
Yarn: Knit Picks Comfy in “Marlin”, fourish skeins
Needles: Knit Picks Options US 8/5 mm circ and some Clover dpn’s
I LOVE this sweater. It doesn’t much resemble my original sketches for the sweater, but I love how it came out. The fit is perfect, I love the angle of the fronts, and the cotton makes it perfect for layering over tanks in fall/spring. Perfect for back to school! I could probably wear it on cool summer nights too… Immediately after I finished it, I put it on over a short red dress I had on, and it looked fantastic, so I’ll definitely have to put it in rotation.
The buttons came from a swap (the Craft my Wish Swap, if you recall), and I used four of I think the five i was given. I think they fit quite well. And the yarn? The YARN. I’m in love with this yarn. It’s kitten-soft thanks to the microfiber acrylic and cool and pretty sturdy thanks to the cotton content. Did I mention it’s soft? Plus the color I used, Marlin, is such a lovely deep blue. And slightly shimmery. Amazing. AND, as a bonus, I only used four of the eight skeins I ordered, so I have enough to make something substantial. WIN. No idea what I’m going to make with the left overs, but I am quite happy to have it in the stash. I would definitely order this yarn again, and I probably will with my next Knit Picks order (whenever that will be).
Also: This marks number 12 in my dodecathon of sweater knitting! Since I finished in July, I may well go ahead and make 24 sweaters this year. Maybe. Right now, I’m in the mood for lace. Complicated lace, after the seemingly endless miles of stockinette in this sweater. And I did just buy some yummy alpaca lace in a lovely maroon color…
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 