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If you’ve followed me here from The Adulterous Whores Club, welcome! I hope you’ll stick around! To start things off on the right foot with the new blog here, here’s a short post about some socks:
Pattern: It’s a 40 st. toe-up sock with a garter stitch short row heel.
Yarn: Cascade Fixation
Needles: US 3/2.75 mm dpns
I love knitting socks out of Fixation. The turn around time is amazingly fast–I knit these almost entirely today on the train from DC to Virginia Beach (though I started the toe of the first one yesterday on the Metro). They’re thick, cushy, and comfortable and great for wearing in the spring and fall. Love ’em. I have at least another ball in red and another ball in purple, so I’ll probably be making more. : )
I have two more finished knits that I’ll be showing off soon, and an interesting challenge/contest that I’ll be talking about later. : ) Stay tuned!
I finished the Monkey socks I was knitting for a swap. : )
Pattern: Monkey by Cookie A.
Yarn: True Love Fibers merino superwash sock yarn in “Further Under the Sea”
Needles: US 1
Mods: None!
Okay. Guys. I’ll talk about the patttern and the socks in a sec, but first: This yarn? AMAZING. Holy crap I loved knitting this yarn. Squooshy and plump and wonderful. And soft! I generally think socks in 100% merino are a bad idea (cause that’ll wear through in a hot second) but this yarn is so wonderful and lovely. I’m so happy I have more to knit (I received a skein in a reddish pink in return for knitting the socks.
Sadly, these are currently en route to their owner and not in my sock drawer. Sad. Because they’re lovely. The pattern is great too–this is the first of Cookie A’s patterns that I’ve knit, and it was great. The pattern was simple and easy to memorize and these socks flew by. I love ’em. Sadly… not for me.
These socks were my first top-down and my first flap/gusset heel. It went pretty smoothly. I can’t say I really like the plain stockinette heel (I think I’d just continue my pattern down the heel flap) or the way the heel turn fits, but I may be able to fine tune that. I don’t really knit top-down socks that often, but I’d love to find a good tutorial on how to knit a flap heel toe-up, if for no other reason than to play with fit issues.
Anyway, if you’re reading this, I’m hopefully on my way to DC. : ) On Tuesday I’ll have a post about some swap crafts and after that? Who knows….
Happy Wednesday all, and a belated happy Memorial Day to those in the US. I hope it was suitably barbecue-filled (mine wasn’t; we flea bombed the house so I had to be out of the house all day and went to the movies with my sister. But I digress).
Anyway, so I drove all the way out the Jo Ann’s in Virginia Beach on Friday for the Memorial Day sale (and also because I’d never been to that Jo Ann’s before). I did not know that it was one of the smaller ones, but I managed to buy things none the less. Simplicity sewing patterns were 5/$5, so I bought three along with some elastic and some fabric.
Now, why are these going to become daring adventures? Well… I don’t usually sew from patterns. I had no idea how Simplicity patterns will fit. Was I going to make a muslin? Hell no! Brinn sews with abandon!
And, as it turns out, things worked out rather well. I’ve since turned the fabric into the shorts pattern I bought:
They are a bit snug. I cut the pattern for a 5/6, which is a 32″ hip (which is my hip measurement). Apparently Simplicity thinks teens don’t actually have asses (which I do have). I also had to improvise the button because the waistband wasn’t long enough. I fully intend to make these again, but I’ll have to make a larger size. Since I already cut out the pattern pieces, I can’t do it according to pattern, but I should be able to wing it to make them larger.
The fabric I used it some sort of cotton/poly blend. I don’t actually know about fabric, so I can’t really tell you more about it. It works well with the pattern, though I suspect a knit would allow the shorts to actually fit properly.
Yay, I finished my first socks for my outstanding sock trades!
Pattern: Skew Socks
Yarn: Regia Nation Colors
Needles: US 1
Mods: None!
So… I am disappointed these socks are not for me. Because I love them. And the recipient even has my same shoe size. So I’m totally jealous. They’re totally great socks. And the pattern is wonderful and fascinating. They knit up pretty quickly, and even though they’re stockinette socks, the increases and decreases keep you interested. Fun and wonderful for self-striping yarns. I’m totally going to make another pair from this pattern for me at some point.
I love the way the stripes swirl around the heel. : )
I’ve started, by the way, the second pair of swap socks, and they are wonderful. The yarn is SO NICE to knit with. But more on that later. : )
For Ongoing Wish Swap! I love that swap, guys. Anyway, I claimed lindyv321 for an address book, some inchies, and a wisty surprise. The wisty surprise didn’t really work out, but the address book is really cool (and probably took over two hours anyway).
First, the inchies:
I’m quite proud of these, actually. They’re very simple–a background and words or picture. I like ’em. Especially the stripey one. I also included a few extra bases (newsprint and striped scrapbook paper) cause I didn’t want to make more, and she had inchie bases on her list.
Now, here’s the address book, which is Alice in Wonderland themed:
(front, and it actually is square and not trapezoidal)
(back)
It was a ton of fun to make, and I like it a lot. For the front, I found an image of the Cheshire Cat online and drew it out myself, referencing the image (and I did the same with Alice on the back, only that was harder). I stamped out the quote on cardstock (the one on the back I just wrote out), then covered the whole thing with Mod Podge and glued on a stretched out piece of tee shirt for a closure.
The base book is just something I found at the dollar store. I had previously found a smaller one that I liked a lot better, but it disappeared somewhere in the house and I had to get a new one. This one (which is binder style) was the only kind they had, much to my chagrin. Still, I think it came out totally awesome, and I’m super proud of the Cheshire Cat.
I also included this card:
I like it a lot. Just a cut out of cardstock, which I spot printed with a green ink pad.
Yeah. Ahem. Anyway, I occasionally knit for money. Or yarn, as the case may be. Ahem. Look! Knits!
Pattern: Sort of Paton’s Monkey Around Sock Monkey, but I also just made things up as I went.
Yarn: Acrylic stuff from my acrylic stash. The blue came from a learn-to-knit kit, I think.
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm dpns
Mods: Many, since I just looked at the basic shapes and knit as I pleased.
Inn’t he cute? I knit him for a woman I know at school. Her daughter is pregnant and loves sock monkeys, so she commissioned me to make one for her! It was tons of fun to make and it came out super cuddly and wonderful and I briefly considered knitting one for me. Only to be stopped when I remembered I have no need or space for stuffed animals. He’s cute though.
(modeled by my sister)
Pattern: My Dinosaur mittens
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers and Berroco Ultra Alpaca
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm dpns
Mods: None! Cause they’re my mittens!
I’m pleased I was “hired” to make these cause I’ve been wanting to try out the smallest size of my pattern but had no kids to knit for. I think they came out cute. : )
I also sent along this card:
The picture is cut out from a little picture book of dinos I got at a library book sale. It’s highly unscientific (it’s from like, the 80s I think, but there are nice pictures. I think I’ll make a similar one and send it to Joe. : )
The arrangement for these mittens was set up through the Ravelry group Will Work for Yarn. As such, I was paid in yarn: One lovely, wonderful skein of Dream in Color Smooshy in colorway “Punky Fuchsia”. It will become socks. With contrast heels and toes because the yarn is 100% superwash merino, and I will wear through that shit in a hot second. I need some nylon in my socks. So I’ll just add some with leftovers of another sock yarn.
As you may have been able to tell, I am on a definite sock kick lately. Here’s my latest pair:
Pattern: Easy Adjustable Lace Panel Socks
Yarn: Premier Yarns Serenity Sock, one skein in Indigo
Needles: US 1
Mods: Well, the pattern is written fully, but it is presented as a lace panel you can also throw into whatever socks you want, so that’s what I did. I took my usual 54 stitch toe-up sock with garter stitch short row heel and threw some lace on top.
So I like these socks. They’re taller than I normally knit them because I split the yarn into two balls with my mother’s sort of reliable kitchen scale. They weren’t even, but I started with the smaller ball and knit until I was sick of knitting it (which was before the yarn ran out). I like ’em. They fit well. The yarn stretched out a little by the end of the day when I wore them (Wednesday, in case you were wondering), but once I throw them in the washer and dryer, they’ll be good as new again. It’s the bamboo. That stuff stretches.
Currently, I am knitting a couple of things. I’m knitting some dino mittens on commission (more on that later) and some more socks. I started Viper Pilots! Well, I had started them before then proceeded to knit the chart upside down, so I frogged and knit something less complicated (the socks on this post here). But I’m starting them again. And they’re going to be awesome.
So… I made another OWS claim recently. I claimed Faux_Valentine for some monster-themed goodies and a wisty surprise. For the monsters, I made another monster chunk:
out of Sugar and Cream and Serendipity Tweed. I also made an iPod cozy:
out of Wool-Ease and some nylon Fun Fur I had around. Cute, right? I like him. I decided at the last minute to make one more plush, so I knit up this:
out of some “Sullivans Crinkle”. I don’t even know. Glitzy/furry stuff from Big Lots. I love his big teeth though. : )
The wisty surprise I made was based on this bracelet from her wist:
And here’s my version:
I used a zipper from the ones that hngoodlett sent me and I bought some lace trim at Hancock Fabrics. There’s also some felt on the back. I didn’t have a jewelry clasp, so I used ribbon. I really like how it came out. : )
Welcome to Raglan month (well, April apparently was) and NaKniSweMoDo number six!
Pattern: Featherweight, mostly for the cast on number and divisions.
Yarn: Regia Silk sock yarn, two skeins in a lovely pale blue
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm
Mods: Clearly, shorter body and shorter sleeves and thicker yarn.
Okay, it looks a little funny on Elizabeth because her wide shoulders and tiny tiny waist make her distinctly apple shaped, but my proportions are more balanced, so it looks a lot better on me. I like it a lot, I have worn it a couple times already. I usually wear it open, like the first picture, though I often pin the bottom closed with a bobby pin or something. It’s a great layer over tanks and tubes (I’m awkwardly uncomfortable in tube tops even though I have a ton of them). The only problem is that the back section is a little too wide, and if I use this pattern again, I’ll cast on fewer stitches for the back section. I certainly don’t intend to knit Featherweight in lace weight again (oh god), but I could maybe use another little shrug like this ones. It’s totally casual–throw on and go–and that’s great.
Also: the yarn. It gets a bad rap on Ravelry for being pilly, and I wouldn’t make it into socks because of that, but as a shrug, this yarn is wonderful. It was such a joy to work with cause it’s SO SOFT. Plus, Regia is a pretty great company. So yes. Yarn love here.
I finished spinning this a bit ago, but KnitCroBlo week delayed my posting it. Look: pretty handspun!
Fiber: 4oz. Crown Mountain Farms superwash merino in “In the Skies” purchased from a Ravelry destash
Weight: Sport to worsted-ish
Ply: 3 ply/navajo plied
Yardage: 174 yards
Spindle: A maple one I bought off Etsy. Half was plied on my Schacht Hi-Low
Soo…. I’m completely in love with this yarn. It’s soft and squishy and wonderful. I didn’t get as much yardage as I had hoped, but that’s alright. I’ll have enough for the project I’m intending to do with it (eventually), which is to knit it into the yoke (and hem) of a round yoked pullover. I’m thinking it’ll be super cute. Plus the colors: I love the colors.
I have four more ounces of this fiber, which I’m highly thrilled about. If you’re a spinner and you’ve never used CMF, ohmigod, GET SOME. It’s so soft and light and smooth. It drafts like butter and the colors are amazing. I got mine in a Ravelry destash, and I’m always trawling the ISO/Destash board on Ravelry for more (I’d order from CMF directly, but the shipping is really high–like $10 to ship 8oz).
Yes. Love this stuff.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 