You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘finished object’ tag.
One of my goals for this year (besides eat less crap and maybe lose a couple pounds) is to be more consistent with blogging. I finish a lot of things, so it shouldn’t be a problem, and it’s not like I don’t have the time to write the posts. I just put it off, I guess. I’d like to be better about posting non-FO posts instead of just the parade of finished things when they come off the needles.
As such, here’s a finished object:
(Sorry the picture is sideways and crap; it was raining and I wanted to snap a couple of shots as quickly as possible)
Pattern: It’s a sock. Top down, flap and gusset heel, wedge toe
Yarn: Wild Hare Fiber Studio Hand Dyed Pinnacle Sock Yarn in Peacock Strut
Needles: Addi Sock Rockets, US 1. I love these needles, y’all.
These socks were, as usual, super simple to knit. They’re mostly mindless. The second sock was knit mostly in line for things (or while walking around) at Disney World this past Christmas. They came out a little too big (not sure why–my other 64 stitch socks fit okay; maybe I’ll go with 60 for plain socks next time) and a little short (that’s my own impatience), but on the whole, totally wearable.
Despite the fit issues, I really do like the socks. I ADORE the colors and the yarn was fabulous to work with. It’s pretty cottony (if that makes any sense), which is how I prefer my sock yarn. I bought the yarn a couple of years ago at a craft fair in Alexandria called Craftermath. It was definitely a splurge (I don’t usually buy indie hand dyed sock yarn), but it was totally worth it.
I have about 40g of the yarn left. It’ll probably (eventually) get turned into another pair of socks with contrasting ribbing, heels, and toes. Then I’ll have two pairs of super pretty socks. : )
In other crafting news: I know I said I wanted to post things other than FOs sometimes, but as it turns out, I’ve been making some quick things, so I actually have two more finished things to show off. By the end of the second post, I’ll probably have two more. (Look, worsted weight hats are really quick and so is weaving). Maybe I’ll throw in a WIP post for the sweater I’m working on. I’m sure you guys don’t mind the constant parade of pretty knits one bit, huh?
The final FO in this particular batch of things for AnnaMarie (for whom I knit everything and I don’t ever care cause I get to use the loveliest of yarns).
Pattern: Spatterdash from a recent Knitty
Yarn: Cephalopod Skinny Bugga in Flash Art Butterfly
Needles: US 1 KP fixed and a Kollage Square
Mods: None, knit as written
Now, you can probably tell by the above picture why this are only “kinda” an FO. They do not have buttons. AnnaMarie said she wanted to pick them out and would sew them on herself, so I just did the knitting. Which was totally fine by me. I don’t like sewing on buttons at the best of times, never mind when there’s a frillion of them. I’m cool just knitting.
The buttons are, by the way, the reason I probably won’t make these again for me. The knitting was fine if sometimes a little fiddly and okay, the method of doing feather and fan was different from what I’m used to, but in general, the knitting was perfectly lovely. But the buttons. I’m not sure I can handle sewing on all those buttons, much as I might want the finished object. If I did make these again, I would probably just sew the flap down and skip the whole business.
Anyway, it turns out I lied last time about the number of finished objects remaining (I forgot about some socks). I have two (probably three by the time this post goes up, let’s be honest here), so the FO train rolls on. And on.
Part two of my vacation knitting! These are also for AnnaMarie.
(The oh-so-willing model is my brother, whom I roped in to helping me with pictures)
Pattern: Endpaper Mitts
Yarn: Cephalopod Skinny Bugga in Punchinello Butterfly and Bronze Moth
Needles: US 2s or 3s; I can’t remember
Mods: None, knit as written
Y’all, this pattern gave me fits. I have made it before with great success (until I accidentally felted them in the washing machine), but this time… I don’t even know. I made a total of three mitts, each completely finished and ends woven in, and I almost made a fourth. The first one came out fine. A little snug but fine. The second one had an extra repeat before the thumb that I some how failed to notice. The third came out way too big, though strangely in line with the second minus the extra repeat. Apparently after I finished knitting the first mitt, my knitting loosened WAY UP. Like WAY UP. At the point I finished the third mitt, I was COMPLETELY OVER THEM and wanted to knit ANYTHING ELSE, but I figured if Anna-Marie wanted me to redo them or one of them, I would. Fortunately, she said it was fine, which is good because there might have been bloodshed at that point.
You can’t really tell the size difference when the mitts are on. You can kind of see it in the above picture, but I stretched the smaller one a bit to make them appear to be the same size in the pictures. But they are definitely different sizes. I had wanted to knit some colorwork mittens, but this experience is giving me pause. Not a tremendous amount of pause, mind, since you know I tend to just jump right in to craft things. But still, pause.
When I was knitting these, I kept thinking the colors reminded me of ketchup and mustard. Neither of which I eat, but the colors are distinct. The pattern is pretty subtle, but still nice.
I have one more FO to show off and by the time I get there on the blog (since I delay the posts when I have a bunch of things to show off at once), I’ll probably have finished a sweater (worsted weight; started a sleeve yesterday) or seventeen sharks (okay, I only have three open orders, but still). Oh, I also have a weaving thing I need to finish up and maybe post about. So I guess it’ll be two more FOs (well, one is still a WIP but the weaving is all done). And then maybe I’ll try to get back on a regular posting schedule.
Look, y’all. In my defense, I was out of town for two of the four weeks I didn’t post anything. Internet was spotty and time to post was even spottier (my mother, with whom I went on the trip, along with my younger brother, is sort of a nut about planning and doing things on our biannual trips to Florida to visit the grandparents). I did do a fair amount of knitting (what else are you going to do in an hour wait for Space Mountain?), which I can post over the next week or so. Today’s post is a shawl I finished on December 15 and apparently never got around posting about. Anyway.
Pattern: Catkin
Yarn: Cephalopod Skinny Bugga in Hermit Crab and Crown of Thorns Starfish
Needles: US 4/3.5 Knit Picks Options circular
Mods: None, knit as written
I made this for AnnaMarie as part of a swap. Ravelry tells me it took over a month to knit, but I’m sure I was working on other things besides. Although, to be fair, it does use almost two entire skeins of fingering weight yarn as it is (apparently) a square shawl with a neck hole in the middle. You can tell that it’s supposed to be square shaped by looking at people’s blocking pictures (or when you block the one you made, I guess). Maybe you can tell from the other pictures too, but spatial awareness and reasoning has never really been my strong suit.
I am highly doubtful I’ll knit this pattern again for myself, but it is quite lovely and I would like to have one. There are a whole host of two- or three-color shawls I’d like to have/make (Faberge, Catkin, Color Affection), but who knows when I would get to them. I certainly have plenty of shawls and scarves at the moment. (We won’t talk about how I just put up a WWFY post for a couple of big circular shawls.)
Catkin was pretty fun to make though. The different sections break it up so you never get bored, and once you get the hang of them, each section is pretty intuitive. Bugga, skinny or otherwise, was a delight to work with, as always. Such excellent colors that get in those yarns. And so soft.
If I ever do make one for myself, I’ll probably wear it delightfully sideways as in the picture above. It’s a little quirky, like me. I would like to knit another cape of some sort though as my other one gets plenty of wear. I’m pretty sure “cape” and “capelet” are just nicer ways of saying “poncho” for people who were scarred by the 70s, but that’s okay. They’re warm and comfortable and they stay where you bloody put them (I’m looking at you, shawls).
Let’s see. In fandom watching news, I have finished watching Fullmetal Alchemist (original and Brotherhood), and I’m pretty sure I never told you I’d started. I’m planning to do a sort of anime binge watch before Katsucon in February so I can get a lot more things. Previously I went to anime conventions cause they’re a fun excuse to dress up in costume (from any genre, really; I’ve seen cosplayers do everything from Anastasia to Star Trek to the Ancient Aliens guy) and be a big nerd in a group of big nerds. But I’m gonna watch some anime this go round so I get the full anime con experience. Next up on the list is Cowboy Bebop, which used to be on Cartoon Network all the time when I was in high school but I have never actually seen. Feel free to leave suggestions for others to add to the list. So far I’ve got Cowboy Bebop, Black Butler, Attack on Titan, and Inuyasha. And maybe Gundam Wing.
Anyway, in other news, I am still apartment hunting. I finally finished reading I Jedi, so Joe and I are going to move on to the Hand of Thrawn books soon. Oh, and you should all go check out the Harry Potter Medicinal Re-Read, wherein a bunch of people are re-reading the Harry Potter books and posting about their thoughts and feelings. My friend Kevin (of Made-of-Fail, for the curious) is a part, and I’ve done some editing for his posts. It’s a super fun project and a lovely, thought-provoking, and nostalgic read.
I made a scarf! I’m not really sure where I found the time to knit 400 yards between all the sharks and stuff for AnnaMarie, but I guess I managed it.
Pattern: None–it’s a triangle. I did use a garter tab cast on though
Yarn: Berocco Ultra Alpaca, two skeins
Needles: US 10.5/6.5mm
Now, when I say I used two skeins, I mean I used two full skeins. I didn’t want any leftovers, so I kept a careful eye on how much I used. When I was winding the second skein, there was a break in the yarn that resulted in a second ball. I eyeballed it, decided it was probably enough for the yo row and garter border, and resolved to knit in pattern until I got there. As it turned out, that little ball was exactly the right amount. I had less than a yard of yarn left at the end.
As you might well imagine, two full 100g skeins makes for a good sized shawl. It’s kind of hard to tell in the picture, the wingspan is about five feet. It’s large enough to wrap around myself or tie like a shrug. I love it.
The yarn, incidentally, is fabulous. Super soft and warm. Fairly sheddy during the knitting process, but I’ve lived with cats (four cats, to be precise), so shedding doesn’t bother me at all. And it’s not as bad as the Plymouth Alpaca Primo I’ve worked with before. Ultra Alpaca is a bit out of my price range (seeing as my price range is about $25 for a sweater tops, which is usually just recycled yarn and the occasional Elann bag) and I think it’d be a bit warm for a sweater (at least where I live now), but I bet it would make a super hat. And it does make a lovely scarf/shawl).
Having cast this off, I have hella startitus and I want to make all the things, but I need to power through some shark mittens first. I’m grateful for the income, but still. I added it up the other day, and it turns out that I’ve knit 108 pairs of shark mittens since I started selling them. And that’s just sharks–there are also a couple of pairs of dinos that I’ve made. 108 pairs. That number just blows my mind.
Another cowl! I made this one first, actually, but no matter. My sister asked me to make her an infinity scarf/cowl for Christmas, and I complied. (I say for Christmas, but it’s mostly just because she asked–I would have made one in February too).
Yarn: Acrylic? Joe’s grandmother actually gave it to me in the form of a half-knit sweater
Loom: Bergere
Reed: 5.5 dpi
Weave: Tabby (it’s almost always tabby here)
The weaving on this cowl took me a bit longer than the black one, but then I did put it down for a couple of days. It’s a pretty open weave so I had to be more careful about beating, and that’s sometimes more concentration than I’m capable after work. The bulk of the weaving was done on a Sunday. And the seam is the same as the other one.
My sister recently moved to North Carolina, so I expect her winters will be a bit milder than in Virginia (although Virginia Beach winters are frequently pretty mild too), so I thought the open weave would be okay. Plus I wanted to use the yarn. It’s a white strand with a metallic blue ply that makes the whole thing a sort of ice blue color from a distance.
Anyway, I’m pretty pleased with how it came out. I hope my sister likes it, but she’s notoriously hard to please. I figure she can always give it to her roommate or send it back to me or whatever. I enjoyed weaving it, and that’s what matters.
Wow, posting every day kind of went down in flames, huh? Anyway, I made a cowl:
Yarn: Recycled 50/50 wool/acrylic
Loom: Vergere (24″ LeClerc)
Reed: 5.5 dpi
Weave: Tabby
I’ve called it the Hanukkah Cowl because it’s kind of a Hanukkah present. Joe’s sister asked if I would make her an infinity cowl, and I agreed. Since I finished it just a couple of days before Hanukkah (which started Wednesday night), I’m calling it a Hanukkah gift. Even though I’m not usually a gift person. I like making things for people, but usually only if they ask for something specific. I do make/buy gifts for Joe, but he’s really the only one with any regularity.
This wove up super fast. I mean, it’s worsted weight yarn on the loom, so yeah. Fast. I finished it in like two days of weaving in the evenings after work. The seam is about five total sewing lines–I zigzagged the ends of the fabric and cut off the fringe, then sewed a right-sides-together straight seam. And then I zigzagged the seam allowance down to the wrong side. It actually blends in fairly well. I don’t have a picture of the seam, but it’s fairly hard to see. I mean, it’s bulkier than the rest of the fabric, so it’s not impossible to find, but still.
I love the way this yarn wove up. I beat fairly loosely and it tightened up nicely. I have another skein or two of this yarn–maybe I’ll make another scarf or cowl or something. Not sure who for cause god knows I don’t need any more scarves (not that that stops me).
Anyway, I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving yesterday if you’re in the US and a lovely Thursday if you’re not. Be kind to Black Friday salespeople (Joe is one of them).
I made some more yarn on my super amazing spinning wheel! I started with this:
I spun it worsted, short forward draw (which I think is how I’ll usually spin things on the wheel) and two plied it. The fiber was super great (it’s the same fiber as this) and it spun up like a dream. I drafted mostly end to end.
I had hella tension issues with this though. For some reason, the take up was super slow compared to the twist. This is probably because I don’t have a break band on the flyer, though I didn’t have that problem with the targhee. I’m going to fashion a break band out of some leather scraps I have, but I’m not really sure how I would go about attaching it. Maybe I’ll just lash it on there somehow.
A good, strong thwack evened out a lot of the tension issues. It’s not perfect and there are some spots that are definitely overspun, but for the most part, it softened up a lot.
Anyway, I got a total of 156 yards of a dk weight. I think it’s destined to be a hat of some kind. I mean, for the foreseeable future, it’ll just be stash because I have about a jillion other things to make first (two pairs of shark mittens; two pairs of mitts and a shawl for AnnaMarie), but still.
In life news: apartment hunting is soul-crushing. SOUL CRUSHING. That’s right, Joe and I are looking for a new place to live. Most likely a small studio or one-bedroom apartment, but that’s really all we need. The goal is to move in January right after the start of the year. I can’t wait to get out of my current place–it’s become untenable for a variety of reasons. But we’ve found some good options, so I’m sure we’ll find something. I just have to find myself a new job now. (And let me tell you, that is SO MUCH WORSE than apartment hunting).
Anyway. In fandom news: I think I mentioned before I was all caught up on Once Upon a Time. I don’t know if any of you saw this past Sunday’s episode, but OH MY GOD. sjkhsaf. Yeah. Anyway, I’ve started watching Lost Girl, which is basically a combination of the show Angel and that first episode of Torchwood with the sex energy alien. I completely adore it though. And I’m still reading Rogue Squadron. Oh my, but those books are good. SO GOOD.
Remember when I said that the first day I missed, Nov 3, might be the only one? Yeah. Hah. Anyway.
Pattern: Battle Gauntlets
Yarn: Verdant Gryphon Mondegreen (blue) and a bit of AnnaMarie’s handspun for the braid
Needles: US 4/3.75mm
Mods: Plug and play, kids. Plug and play.
These are another pairs of mitts for AnnaMarie as part of our ongoing WWFY swap. I think they came out rather well, which is surprising given all the trouble I had knitting them. I had to restart them like three times. The first two times I screwed up the braid. The third try came out WAY too big. The forth time (cause I REstarted three times) finally worked. The cuff actually came out a bit snugger than anticipated, but not so much so that they’re impossible to wear.
The cuff makes a nice, sturdy fabric–perfect for gauntlets. I was worried the hand would come out too big, but I fixed it with a somewhat unconventional thumb. Instead of shifting just the increased stitches to waste yarn for the thumb, I borrowed a couple from the rest of the thumb. Perfect fit.
The yarn was a dream to work with. Very soft, not at all splitty, great depth of color. Not that I would expect any less from someone who used to be half of Sanguine Gryphon. Super lovely.
In fandom news, I finished the first Rogue Squadron book (named, of course, Rogue Squadron) and will start Wedge’s Gamble tomorrow. I’m all caught up on Once Upon and Time (and in Wonderland) and OH MAN it’s so good. I was a little concerned when (spoiler) at the end of season one, and season two was a little weaker, but season three is right on form. The stuff about Henry and Peter is super good and I was the rest of the season now. So I’m not currently binging on anything, but I might start Star Trek: Enterprise. Joe watched some of it and said it was pretty good. And I want to get back to Voyager but the first season was just so terrible. For now, I’ll just keep up with the shows I watch that are currently on (QI, Once, Castle, Shield, Arrow (omg Arrow is so good), the Daily Show, and the Colbert Report). Lots of good knitting time.
Sooo I accidentally skipped posting yesterday. Whoops. Anyway, I finished the yarn I was spinning, the first yarn on my new wheel:
It came out more or less exactly as intended–a heavy sport/light dk two ply with decent yardage. I got 240 yards and it did puff up a little in the wash. I spun it woolen with a short forward draw.
The spinning went by SO FAST. Less than a week. And the plying I did in just a couple of hours. I could only fit about 2 ounces on my bobbins so I had to splice the two halves together to get one skein. The join is pretty thick, so I’ll have to work on that for the next skein.
As I said, I’m going to send it to Lisa, who sent me the wheel I spun it on. Seems right she should get the first product of the wheel. I hope she likes it–and I’ll get to spinning the next skein!
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 