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Sooo I think we can safely say posting every day isn’t for me. Anyway. No new finished objects today, but I do have a bunch of stuff on the needles! Here’s a smattering:
Socks! I’m almost through the gusset decreases on the first one. The yarn is Wild Hare Pinnacle Sock in “Peacock”, and it is absolutely stunning. The colors are SO PRETTY. Unfortunately, the sock is kind of on the back burner thanks to everything else.
Big blue triangle shawl! The yarn is Berroco Ultra Alpaca. I got two skeins of it from Joe for my birthday last year, and I think it’ll be perfect as a gigantic triangle shawl. I’m not getting to work on it as much as I’d like though.
Catkin! I’m a bit further along than this, although not much. It’s in Skinny Bugga and it’s for AnnaMarie as part of a WWFY swap. I actually really enjoy working on this when I get the chance.
Alas, the thing that’s sucking up the majority of my knitting time is something I don’t have pictures of: shark mittens. There ARE pictures of shark mittens (on my patterns page and up in the header, and that’s just on the blog). I have to do teeth on a pair of adult smalls I just finished and I’m about a centimeter past the thumb divide (working two-at-a-time) on a pair of adult larges. And then I have a pair of child smalls to do. I need the money, especially with my upcoming move, but still. Sharks forever.
So moving: I’m doing it. Ideally in January (I say ideally, but what I mean is I’m pretty sure I’ll be evicted from my current place then soooo). I don’t have a place picked out yet (there are some issues), but I have been looking. There’s a place that I think would work out really well, but I have to discuss it with Joe. I tell you, apartment hunting is soul-sucking. Not as much as job hunting (which I’ve been doing as well), but still. Being an adult sucks, you guys. It really sucks.
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.
Man, the parade of FOs just never stops around here. I made some mitts for Anna-Marie!
Pattern: Susie’s Reading Mitts by Susie Rodgers
Yarn: Blue Moon Socks that Rock Medium Weight in Rare Gems Fire
Needles: US 5/3.75mm
Mods: I used a provisional cast on instead of sewing up the bottom hem. As usual, I mostly just threw the stitch pattern in to my basic mitts pattern
So these knit up super quick. The yarn is a bit light for what’s called for, but I think this worked out okay. Both Anna-Marie and I have tiny hands, so the small gauge means they fit really well. I’ve had this pattern in my queue for a while and I got a chance to knit it up here. I probably won’t make them again, but they are cute. I like the picot hem. But then I love a good turned hem.
The yarn was an absolute delight to work with. It’s a very round, dense yarn, which I really love with fingerless gloves. And hats. And everything. The color’s nice too, although I don’t usually tend toward red for myself (recent sweater project notwithstanding). There’s a considerable amount of the yarn left. I can’t recall if Anna-Marie wants it back, but if she doesn’t, it’ll make a lovely hat. (It will make a lovely hat regardless, but you know what I mean.)
In only tangentally related news, I think I’m out of FOs for the moment. I have several works in progress, so expect tomorrow’s post to be something that isn’t finished yet. Imagine that–you guys can see something I’m making it before it’s finished. Remember when I used to do WIP posts? It’ll be just like old times.
Day five, four posts, and four FOs. Aww yeah. Why yes, I have been knittin up a storm. I guess the logical thing to do would be to save some of these FOs so I’d have something to post if I run out of things to post near the end of November, but planning ahead has never really been my strong suit. Anyway.
Pattern: My own Jurassic Mittens, the allosaur and the triceratops.
Yarn: Recycled. All recycled. Wool.
Needles: US 8/5 mm
Mods: None? I mean, it’s my pattern. It sorely needs an update.
I made these for an Etsy customer. It was nice to knit something other than sharks for Etsy, but then again, the sharks have fewer parts to be sewn on and I can make the teeth out of felt. And the base mitten pattern is exactly the same. Anyway.
There isn’t a tremendous amount of stuff to say about these mittens, so here’s another picture.
Annnnd now, in fandom news: I am rereading Rogue Squadron (I say rereading–the first time it was read to me aloud, so I’m sort of reading it for the first time). It’s the best thing ever and I’m completely in love with it. Wedge is one of my favorite Star Wars characters (after Mara Jade obviously because Mara). I also started watching Once Upon a Time. OH MY GOD THIS SHOW. I completely adore it, OMG. It’s so good. I’m completely hooked on the plot. It doesn’t hurt that everyone is completely gorgeous (wow, how many times can I use the word “completely” in one paragraph?). And Emma and Mary Margaret have some really sweet knitted hats. Some of which, I’m sure, I will attempt to replicate. Anyway, I’m almost through season one and it’s SO GOOD. Netflix, ilu.
Wow, two days and I’ve already failed at NaBloPoMo. In NaNo, if you miss a day, you can always make it up by writing more the next day. Unfortunately, that isn’t really the case here unless I post twice in the same day. Which I suppose I could, but still. Anyway, I’m going to continue trying to post every day. Maybe that’ll be the only day I skip (ha, like that’ll happen).
Anyway, you’re not here for meta blog talks; you’re here for posts about knitting. So here’s some knitting:
Pattern: Veyla by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga in Strawberry Crab, a negligible amount of the skein (seriously, there’s 90g left).
Needles: US 3/3.25 mm double points
Mods: None; knit exactly as written (shocking, I know)
Sooo these are completely gorgeous and I never want to give them up. I will, of course, because they’re for AnnaMarie, but I completely love them. The yarn is gorgeous, the pattern is gorgeous, the buttons match perfectly… Sigh. I do have a pair of these mitts I made myself (in some lovely cashmere no less), but oh, these mitts. I’ll pine for these mitts. (Okay, I probably won’t, but they are seriously pretty.)
I’m pretty sure these won’t be my last pair of Veyla. I knit these up in two days (of course, that was pretty constantly knitting) and I adore the pattern. Course, when I make some for me, I’ll have to use a slightly less gorgeous yarn, but I’ll aim for a nice deep jewel tone. My Veylas are lavender, which is fine and all, but like, did you see these mitts in this yarn?
*fans self* Oh my.
Day two of NaBloPoMo and it’s another finished object! We’re on a roll so far.
Pattern: Pauline by Kristen Hanley Cardozo
Yarn: Juniper Moon Farms Marlowe in Georgiana, about three-quarters of a skein
Needles: US 8/5 mm
Mods: I did a twisted cord instead of garter for the ties. I used an icord bind off for the last 20 stitches and did an applied icord edging for the rest.
I’m pretty chuffed with my new hat. It covers my ears really well, and it’s super cute. It took me just a few hours to knit–I started it on Wednesday evening (got about an inch in) and knit most of it at work on Thursday. Super quick. I did have to measure with my hand because I forgot a tape measure. I know my hand is about 7″ from wrist to tip of middle finger, so I knit until it was about half an inch shy of that. Perfect.
I took these photos before blocking because I wanted to catch the light (it’s so hard to get pictures of knits during the work week with the days getting shorter and having to work until 5:15). I did block it though. Well, I steam blocked it, which is the most I really ever block anything (except weaving, which gets the whole bath and everything).
(Um, ignore my face)
This pattern ended up being perfect for the yarn. I have a little 30 yard ball left over and who knows what I’ll do with that, but this is absolutely the pattern for this hat. The merino/silk single SHINES in all that stockinette. It’s not my usual color palette (it’s a bit light for me; I tend towards more jewel tones), but it’s MINE. Especially since I paid full retail price for this yarn, and it wasn’t cheap. I don’t feel bad about it though, cause I bought it at an LYS (in Frederickburg) and I like supporting local businesses, plus I like Juniper Moon. I can’t really afford to participate in her CSA (boo!), but I could buy a ball of Juniper Moon yarn.
Coming up on Chez Stitch Brinn Stitch is actually another finished object probably (I’m typing this on Friday and I miiiight be able to finish this project by tomorrow. Which is today if you’re reading this on post day) and I have some pretty yarns to show off. Because (of course) I’m doing more WWFY swaps, and showing off the pretty yarn I get in return is excellent blog fodder when I’m trying to post every day. Who doesn’t want to see yarn glamour shots? No one, that’s who. No one. Or maybe yarn muggles. But probably no one.
Welcome to NaBloPoMo day one! NaBloPoMo, wherein I attempt to post on this blog every day for the whole month of November. Last year I got about five days in before I accidentally skipped a day and the year before I think I made it two whole weeks. Maybe this year will be the year I accomplish it. Or maybe I’ll totally forget tomorrow. One of those.
Anyway, we’re starting the month off right with a finished object. And not just any finished object, but a sweater!
Pattern: Camille Cardigan from the Winter 2012 Knitscene
Yarn: Recycled super bulky 70/30 cotton/wool, the whole sweater (seriously, there are like ten yards left)
Needles: US 11/8 mm
Mods: Welllll, I followed the directions for the shoulders and sleeves (the Contiguous method) and then I just sort of made it up as I went. It’s a pretty simple cardigan, and I’ve made cardigans before. I did so some of the short rows in the collar, but I did leave a lot of them out.
You guys, this sweater is number twelve for the year. TWELVE. True, this one took me five days to knit BUT STILL. TWELVE. Everything from here on out is a bonus (and I’ll probably be making at least one more because who doesn’t need more work cardigans?) I’m completely thrilled with my number twelve, and I’m pretty sure I will wear it all the time. It’s simple, well-fitted (but roomy enough for clothes underneath), and classy enough for work.
Let me tell you about this yarn, y’all. It’s gigantic. My gauge is like 2.5 stitches per inch. It’s recycled (of course), and it used to look like this:
I have no idea what the yardage is (probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 500), but I used almost every single yard. I was a little worried I was going to run out when I did the button band/collar, but it worked out alright in the end.
The buttons, incidentally, are also recycled. They came off of this sweater:
Except I apparently had another button that matched, because this sweater appears to only have five buttons and I definitely sewed on six to my sweater. Maybe there was an extra button sewn into the tag at the side seam. Some sweaters have those.
Anyway, I love my new sweater.
It’s warm and snuggly and soft. I even like the bright red color, even though I tend towards cooler colors usually. Love this thing. LOVE.
Happy Halloween, folks! I’m pretty sure I have no plans (some friends had a party last weekend; I was Little Red Riding Hood–I’ll take any excuse to wear my capelet), but there’s knitting to show off!
Pattern: Nalu Mitts by Leila Raabe
Yarn: Cephalopod Yarns Traveller in Kalamazoo, about half a skein
Needles: US 4/3.75 mm
Mods: I did my plug&play mitts as usual, although I did use the cast on number from the pattern
I made some mitts! They were super quick and the pattern was easy to follow. I don’t usually care to knit 1×1 twisted ribbing, but I liked how the cables flow from the ribbing in the pattern, so I went with it. It looks stunning in this yarn, y’all. So glad I went with it.
These came out a little bigger than I would have liked. The pattern calls for casting on 46, which is just a bit too much, I think, for Anna-Marie’s hands (and mine as well) I usually cast on about 40 for dk weight yarn and US 4 needles for our tiny hands, which works out pretty perfectly. Not that I’ll make these again because there are too many other fun mitt patterns to try, but still.
I really love this yarn, y’all. It’s so pretty. It was SO lovely to work with. Cephalopod (and before them Sanguine Gryphon) has such gorgeous colors. Love them.
Next in the never-ending line of FOs from chez Stitch Brinn Stitch is a cowl I made for Anna-Marie of CorgiHillFarm (seriously, go buy her stuff, it’s amazing; I have, ahem, several braids).
Pattern: Pretty Thing by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: Filatura Di Crosa Superior, about half a skein
Needle: US 6/4 mm (that’s bigger than called for but I don’t have a 16″ US 4 and I knit tightly)
Mod: None, knit as written
I would definitely classify this as a smoke ring. It’s just a soft little wisp of a thing, but it’s so soft. The yarn is mostly cashmere, and it feels like wearing a kitten (so says Anna-Marie). It’s a gorgeous pattern and so simple to knit: only 119 stitches around and 61 rows. It knits up in no time.
(ignore my face please)
It would have been completely easy street knitting except for the yarn. Knit up, the yarn is gorgeous and soft and warm and lovely and just so nice. All those words. During the knitting, though? Oh, the knitting. It’s stringy, splitty, and a tiny little barely-there strand that made knitting k2togs a PITA. It was Not Fun to work with, especially for the first couple rows before there’s anything there to pull the knitting down.
Once I was about a centimeter in to the knitting, it was much better. If I got annoyed with it, I just stopped knitting and petted it for a while. And it is only 61 rows. I highlighted each row as I was working it, and that let me keep track of where I was really easily. I don’t often work from printed patterns (I usually just bring them up on a computer or phone or something and work from there; it doesn’t help that I don’t have a printer at home), but I do like it for charts.
I will almost certainly make another of these for me. I won’t use lace weight (I’ve learned that lesson), but I think it would be really nice in something with some body. Something to make it stand up a little instead of pooling around the throat (which is fine, just not generally what I want in a cowl). Maybe I’ll combine some cashmere and some silk or a cashmere/wool blend and knit it out of that. I have about half a skein of the Superior left. Maybe I’ll hold it together with something sturdier and let the cashmere halo make it soft like kittens.
In the mean time, it’s shark central over here and I’m knitting a bunch more things for Anna-Marie. I also had time to knit a separate thing for me, but you’ll hear more about that later. I’m planning to participate in NaBloPoMo again this year, wherein I attempt to post every day for the month of November. I’ve attempted it for the last couple of years, but I’ve yet to be successful. Maybe this year.
In fandom news, I’ve finished my rewatch of SG1. Sam Carter is still my favorite person ever, but Vala is a pretty close second. I’ve since started watching the Justice League, which is delightful. My feelings about the Justice League can pretty much be summed up thusly: If you don’t love Hawkgirl, you’re wrong. I watched Batman: Year One and Justice League: Doom the other day and then last night I watched an episode of Justice League that had Cheetah, but she wasn’t voiced by Claudia Black, which was super disappointing. Incidentally, Nathan Fillian makes the best Green Lantern ever, and he should be Green Lantern in all the things. In general, I prefer Marvel heroes to DC, but I do love what a great job DC does with continuity in the Animated Universe. If you’re interested in hearing (reading) me geek out over Justice League and other nerdery, my Twitter account is a good place to go. And yes, we’re still reading I, Jedi. Joe’s got a pretty terrible cold, so that’s kind of put a damper on the reading. We’ll finish it one day.
I made some socks!
They sparkle!
Pattern: It’s a sock. Cuff down, gusset/flap heel, wedge toe
Yarn: Berroco Sox Metallic in Fruit Cocktail, about 60g of 100g
Needles: US 1/2.25mm Addi Sock Rockets
These are pretty standard socks, so there isn’t a tremendous amount to say about them. They fit pretty well, although the cuffs are little shorter than my usual, which explains why they only took just over half a skein. I could make a whole other pair if I used coordinating heels, toes, and cuffs (which I very well might; I could probably get away with just different heels).
I completely love the yarn though. It isn’t my usual colors, but it SPARKLES. I love the metallic thread. LOVE. I’m like a magpie, I swear. Aside from the sparkle, it’s a pretty good, basic sock yarn. I have no idea how it will wear, but I think it will be okay. I bought the yarn in an actual LYS (shocking, I know). I finally got around to visited Uniquities after attending a couple of their fiber events. Not that I’m lacking in sock yarn, but I might go back at some point and get some more of this yarn. It was lovely to work with and I do love a sparkle.
On that same trip, I also picked up the thing I was actually there to get, which was a new set of sock needles. I’d previously been using a Knit Picks US 1 fixed circular, which was working okay, but the finish was starting to wear on the needles. I bought them before KP switched their production to China so the quality is still pretty good, but I wanted a newer set anyway. I actually wanted to try out Chiagoo, but I ended up getting Addi Sock Rockets since that’s what the shop had.
I like the needles quite a bit. The cable is a little long for knitting one sock at a time, but I think it will be perfect for knitting two at the same time. I’d still like to try a couple other brands of sock needles, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to another LYS. Plus I have to worry about my bank account because it’s not like I’m going to go to an LYS and ONLY buy ONE set of needles. We all know sock yarn would be coming home with me and I’m supposed to be saving so I have move.
Anyway, socks. They’re simple, they’re utilitarian, and they’re fun to knit. Especially if the yarn sparkles.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 