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So I volunteered to do another WWFY swap. I’m knitting a Liesl in 100purewool merino singles, which are lovely and soft and amazing. Currently, the sweater looks like this:
I’ve restarted this sweater like five times because the cast on edge didn’t seem long enough, but I think I’m going to trust the pattern and see what happens. It should relax during blocking anyway.
In return for knitting a whole sweater, I received 250g of sock yarn:
Two skeins of Premiere Serenity Sock, a skein of Lang Jawoll sock yarn (for ankle or possibly colorwork socks) and a skein of Ms. Gusset, which is lovely and beautiful and I’m so pleased I now own.
So yes. I’m gonna knock out this Liesl (which will go pretty quickly since I’m using 6.5 mm needles), then try to dye up the yarn and knit my cape so I can get my sock knitting on for Socktoberfest.
So that’s the plan. : )
As I mentioned previously, I got an order on Etsy for a pair of baby shark mittens, and I finished knitting them yesterday:
Pattern: Deep Blue Sea
Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool and some vintage wool (I swear, this stuff never ends)
Needles: US 6/4 mm
Mods: I apparently made the snout pointier than I usually do.
Baby shark mittens are adorable. They are also hella quick, despite what the Ravelry project page will tell you about the time I spent knitting them (it says like a week, but I was working on other things). Also, I love knitting shark mittens. They’re so cute and fun. : ) Definitely one of my favorite things I’ve ever knit.
In other knitting news: Socktoberfest is fast approaching. And I knit socks now. So THAT’S HAPPENING. I’m planning to knit as many socks as I can (plus my Halloween cape. And a Liesl sweater for a WWFY swap). I think I can probably do at least one. Both the sweaters are in worsted weight, at any rate.
So Socktoberfest. Who’s with me?
I recently finished another OWS claim:
Pattern: None, but I think I’ll write it up.
Yarn: Let’s see… From bottom to top, Cascade 220 Superwash, chain plied wool from a thrift store sweater, Soy Wool Solids, and vintage wool I bought at the thrift store.
Needles: US 6/4 mm dpns
So these came out a little big for me, which is fine because I have small hands and I realize normal people have larger hands than me. Regardless, I really like them. I love the garter stitch cuff and the overlap (onto which I’ll probably sew a button when I get around to re-knitting them for myself and also so I can write down the pattern this time) and the fingers. I’ll knit my finger cuffs a little shorter so my fingers don’t feel quite so squished cause my fingers feel a little squished in worsted weight knit cuffs.
Currently on the needles is something I’ve been planning for a while (it’s one of the first designs on the knitting design page of my notebook (used for sketching/school notes/fiction/poetry scribblings), and I think you guys are gonna like it when I show you pictures. It’s not my usual style–instead of chunky and whimsical, it’s more dainty and feminine, but still. I think you’ll like it. : )
I finished a hat for an Ongoing Wish Swap claim. For those who aren’t familiar with OWS, it’s basically a chain swap–person A posts a listC B makes something on that list and posts their list; C makes something from B’s list and posts their list. The swap on Craftster is on it’s 62nd round (there’s a new round every month), so it’s been going on forever. I’ve been participating off and on for about a year and a half, and it’s definitely my favorite swap. Usually, you know exactly what to expect.
In this case, I claimed Burgz for a Vortex hat:
Pattern: Vortex, from Knitty
Yarn: Lion Brand Lion Wool (in Deep Teal) and Plymouth Galway (in grey)
Needles: US 9/6 mm I think. Possibly 6.5mm.
Mods: None. Knit as written.
So let me tell you about this hat. It’s… odd, to say the least. I for one could not pull it off even a little bit. It is not my style. The regular, non-point version? Sure. Yeah. This? Not so much.
But it’s not for me. It’s for Burgz, who specifically requested it via her OWS list. And even though the pattern was kind of a pain in the ass and I was glued to it for the entire construction of the hat, a hat is a pretty small thing so it worked up quickly and came out mostly how it’s supposed to.
Anyway, I hope Burgz likes it!
Since I finished my striped vest, I’ve been working on a bunch of things off and on. I started (and okay, finished), something for OWS. I started a pair of baby-sized (meaning four-year-old-sized; anyone under ten is a baby as far as I’m concerned) shark mittens for a customer (well, his mother is the customer, obviously) on Etsy. I made a swatch.
Wait, what?
Yep, I made a swatch:
In some lovely wool/cashmere/angora that I got from a thrift store sweater. What’s it for? Well, you will just have to wait and see.
There’s also this happy pile of wool/angora/cashmere (less cashmere though):
That will be dyed a lovely red so I can knit into a capelet for my Halloween costume. And also to wear.
I also started another OWS thing that requires me to chain-ply some green lace weight yarn I frogged from a thrift store sweater, and it’s taking approximately forever since I’m using a spindle and it’s not really something I can take everywhere. So slow going. But going.
And unrelated to knitting, I also made a peach crisp. (I used this recipe.)
Which sounds like it should be healthy because it’s full of peaches, right? Except no. Cause it’s got a ton of brown sugar and a stick of butter. So yeah. Not so healthy. But delicious.
Delicious.
So I finished that pullover I was working on. Mostly because I decided it was a vest.
Pattern: None, I made it up as I went.
Yarn: Plymouth Galway (grey) and a wool/acrylic mix I frogged from a thrift store sweater and overdyed from pastel pink to purple-ish.
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm
So yes, the striped pullover is now a striped vest. Which I may or may not write up a pattern for (I probably will). I really was going to knit a proper pullover with set-in sleeves and then I screwed up the armscye shaping, ending up with something like a racerback and the sleeves would have required some serious short rowing to fit in the holes. So I said “Fuck it!” and went with the vest.
Which I am actually very very pleased with. It’s hella cute over short-sleeved blouses and this way it won’t be so hot to wear indoors. Pullovers with sleeves are great when it’s 30F and I have to walk a mile to get to class but not so awesome when the inside temperature is like, 70. Yeah. So vest!
I can’t wait til the weather cools down and I can wear it with that blouse and some dark-wash skinny jeans. And my awesome cowboy boots. That is an outfit I will be ROCKIN’ in the winter time.
So, does anyone remember when I made this tote?
I made it out of a t-shirt and some canvas fabric like, two years ago, and listed it on my Artfire shop. Well, it sold yesterday! I didn’t even know Artfire listings stayed up that long, but apparently they do. Whoo! I take any excuse to make cute cards, so I’m including this in the package:
In other news, I did some sewing the other day. I needed another project bag because while I am mostly project monogamous, sometimes I have a couple, so I needed something to store the one I’m not currently knitting.
The outside is part of a dinosaur sheet I bought at the thrift store, and the lining is part of a pillow sham. I’m a big fan.
It’s currently holding the beginning of a sleeve (of the grey/pink striped pullover). I’m not done with the body yet (I just finished the waist decreases and will start the bust increases shortly), but the long rounds were a little boring, so I started the sleeve:
The sweater will probably take another couple of weeks (possibly less), especially since I have swap stuff too. : )
So I have not been blogging as much as I would like. Part of that is that I was sick in the middle of this week and wasn’t sleeping (four hours of sleep over two days is… fun. Not.), but also I’ve not quite settled into the swing of things back at school, and once I do, it’ll be easier to blog more often.
I have, however, been knitting. I recently did a swap on the Will Work for Yarn group on Ravelry for some swatches (for photographing jewelry) in return for a shawl pin and some leftover Malabrigo:
The darker swatch was knit it Malabrigo, so it’s more like in return for a shawl pin and a bit of yarn, I got to knit with Malabrigo, which is almost just as much of a reward as the first two things.
I have also been working on that sweater I mentioned before. It currently looks like this:
I’m up to some waist shaping at the moment. It’s working up at a fair clip–worsted weight and two-row stripes will do that. I think I’m going to love it when it’s done, thought I still haven’t decided if I want to .do a v-neck or a scoop neck. I’m currently leaning toward scoop (I do love me a good scoop neck), but I could still be persuaded otherwise.
I also just finished up a swap, but I’ll talk about that another time so I can show you all the pictures for it at once. I also think I’m doing another WWFY swap (involving WOLLMEISE, which I’m pretty stoked about), so that’s pretty exciting. I have lots of things planned for the near future (birthday present for boyfriend, capelet that I’m designing as part of a Halloween costume (and also just to wear) but for which I also have to dye some yarn). Stay tuned!
So my first week at school has been pretty busy, hence the lack of posting. That isn’t to say I haven’t been crafting–I have definitely been crafting. And organizing. My craft area sort of looks organized (which if you know me at all is something of an accomplishment). I’ve been busy knitting for swaps (and as I mentioned before, I started a sweater for me). I recently finished two items for an OWS claim:
Pattern: Mary Jane Slippers for what seems like the hundreth time.
Yarn: Vintage wool, which I’m trying desperately to use up since I’m not crazy about it.
Hook: 3.75 mm (f)
Mods: I don’t think any.
I’ve made this pattern so many times I sometimes forgot it’s not my pattern. I don’t usually repeat patterns and certainly not to the degree of this one, so I sometimes forget I’m not just makin’ it up. : )
Pattern: None; I knit the brim flat and picked up stitches for the top part of the hat.
Yarn: More of that vintage wool. I’m down to less than 50g I think.
Needle: US 7/4.5 mm
This yarn frustrates me (nothing wrong with it; I just don’t like the color and I had a lot of it), but I like how the hat came out. It’s cute. I love seed stitch. : ) Not much to say about it; it was pretty easy to make.
In other crafting news, I recently received a crap ton of fabric from an OWS claim, but I’m waiting on one more OWS package, so I’ll just show you all at once. I’m also knitting up some swatches for a WWYF swap (one in linen stitch ❤ and one in stockinette) for which I received a lovely shawl pin. I'll show you that when I show you the OWS stuff. I also recently finished a thing for a friend's birthday, which I will try to show you on Monday. It's super cute.
I finally finished my ribbed socks!
Pattern: None. It’s a ribbed toe-up sock. With a gusset/flap heel.
Yarn: Cascade Sassy Stripes yarn, two skeins
Needles: US 1 circular (for two at a time magic loop)
They came out pretty well and were fittingly mindless to keep in my purse. I liked knitting them. As I said, I’m not crazy about the colors, but the yarn was cheap and they’ll go in my shoes. One of them is a little snug in the leg because I accidentally decreased too many to make the ribbing work above the heel, but it’s not so tight I can’t wear it. They’ll be perfect come winter time.
Speaking of winter, my next project that I’m about to cast on for is a simple pullover for winter–grey and purple two row stripes, short v-neck, seamless set in sleeves. I also have a couple of swap stuff for OWS coming up, as well as a possible personal swap on Craftster and my boyfriend’s birthday present. Which is largish but doesn’t need to be finished until December, so I’ve got plenty of time.
In other news, I am moving back to school TOMORROW. And I’m totally thrilled. Especially to set up all of my crafting stuff in my crafting corner, which I will totally show you all pictures of when it’s all set up.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 