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(I can and do button all the buttons, it was just a little warm that day.)
Pattern: owls by Kate Davies, size small
Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool in coffee, about a skein and a half (ish)
Needles: 6.5 mm Knit Picks Options circular and plastic 6 mm dpns, Susan Bates or somesuch.
Modifications: Made it a cardigan. Probably increased length. Moved the waist shaping to the sides.
So I definitely love this sweater. It’s warm and cozy and PERFECT for fall weather when the temperature drops to 50 degrees. Plus, it’s super cute. I used a total of 13 smallish plastic tortoise-shell buttons, none of which match because honestly, who the hell has 13 matching buttons in their button stash? I’ll probably leave the owls without button eyes, though I do have some little silver beads that I might sew onto a couple of them.
And as for the yarn: I am a fan. It’s super economical (I paid like $15 for 476 yards of bulky weight goodness) and softens considerably after a bath. I noticed a little bit of growing, but I was actually quite pleased with that because my first sleeve was started too small and I wanted to add a little length. It came out to the perfect length, actually, and I’m super pleased. The yarn is a little pilly, but I suspect that’s because I do dumb things like lean my elbows on rough concrete and whatnot. And in any case, a quite run with a sweater shaver (which I need to procure…) will fix that right up.
All in all, this is a great sweater and I know I’ll get a lot of wear out of it. Especially since I’ve been wearing it as my outer layer since I sewed on the buttons. Very cozy.
Pattern: None. Started with Broad Street from Knitty, but that come out huge, so I made up my own, fingers down.
Yarn: Regia 4-ply in color 2004
Needles: US 3/3.25 mm
So I have this pair of machine-knit glittens that I got from Kohl’s and I love them to death. But I, being a knitter, decided I must make my own fingerless gloves as a foray into fingering yarn that isn’t knitted on giant needles into lace. I’d had a million pairs of fingerless mitts, but I decided my new gloves must have fingers, and patterns for those are somewhat harder to find. I love how these came out though, once I figured out what the hell I was doing.
And the figuring out took some time. The first glove i made was too big in the hand (I didn’t decrease enough after the fingers), the thumb was in a weird place, and the cuff, which I made while following Broad Street and didn’t want to frog, was grafted to the hand of the glove. Except the stitch numbers were uneven, so there was random decreasing and whatnot.
The second glove was much better. The thumb was still in an odd place and the ribbing started a bit late, but it’s a good, sturdy glove.
The third glove has a proper thumb, fit snugly, and has late ribbing to match the second. I’ll be keeping the last two, and the first one was… destroyed. I didn’t frog it, really, because I still had a fair amount of yarn left after knitting the next two. I did, however, chop the cuff off of it in order to knit the fingers of the third one.
In other knitting news: Owls is done and pictures were taken, so look for that soon. I also started a new project (socks) and will be starting a new sweater soon. So stay tuned. : )
This weekend is fall break at my school and I also have Friday off due to midterms for those classes being earlier in the week. Which means I have FIVE WHOLE DAYS to my weekend, which means lots of time for knitting! For example, I’m knitting these fingerless gloves:
(Even though I’ll probably finish them tomorrow or something ridiculous.)
Funny story about those gloves, which I will tell you in the FO post. For now, just know the first glove was a pain in the ass, and the second one is going much more smoothly (I say, as though I’ve actually done more than two and a half fingers).
Also, I’ve finished owls, and it’s blocking nicely on my bed. And in case you didn’t know, bulky wool takes FOREVER to dry. I’m hoping FO pictures of that can happen over Fall Break as well.
My plan is to start one of several things once my gloves are done: a triangle shawl, a lace scarf, or a lace-weight cardigan a la Featherweight (which I’ll either make up because I’m cheap as hell or give in and just buy the damn pattern and actually make Featherweight). Basically, I’m working with lace weight next. Thoughts?
(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!
So I’m knitting another sweater, making my total for the year 14 once this one’s done. To be fair, some of those were tank tops. So maybe I’ll go through what I’ve done and let you know when I’ve done 12 legit sweaters, long sleeves and all. Actually, I’ve only done a handful of those… We’ll stick with 14.
Anyway, I’m knitting owls by Kate Davies, everyone’s favorite bulky yarn sweater. I’m modifying mine into a cardigan because I’ll wear it more. Right now, I have the body done up to the short rows and the sleeves both knit. I started this on Sunday. There’s a good chance this sweater will be done before the week is out. Or at the very least, not much more than a week.
So the sleeves of this thing are knit in the round, from the wrist to the armpit. Upon embarking on this sweater, it didn’t occur to me to check to make sure I had the right needles. Except for the ribbing, the pattern calls for 6.5 mm needles (I know, they’re fucking huge). I have 6 mm dpns, so that’s what the sleeves are knit on. But check out these needles:
THEY’RE SO LONG (that’s what she said; tee hee). Seriously. They’re like a foot long. They’re some plastic Susan Bates nonsense that came from a garage sale back when I first started knitting. I mean, they’re pretty smooth and work well with the wool yarn, but still. Huge.
As I said in my last post, I finished Watermelon, so I’ll have pictures of that soon, probably in a couple of days. So that will happen. Stay tuned for knitting. And maybe some other crafts if I feel like it (probably not).
(Sorry for the shitty night pictures.)
Pattern: Foliage by Emilee Mooney
Yarn: Lion Wool Solid in Cadet Blue
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm dpns and circs
Mods: …None. Astonishing.
So my hat came out too large, which was unfortunate. Not that I needed another tight-fitting beanie-style hat. So I blocked it taller so it came out as more of a beret. I’m not sure how I feel about it on my head, but at the very least, it looks cute on the Styrofoam head. The ribbing also came out too big, but that was fixed with a crochet bow. *shrug* I’ll probably wear it a bit. Maybe I’ll gift it. We shall see.
In other knitting news: I finished Watermelon, ends woven in and buttons sewn on and everything. So that will happen soon. I’m also working on (yet another) sweater, and seeing as it’s in bulky yarn (Cascade Eco) on 6.5 mm needles, it’s going pretty fast. I suspect I’ll be done by the end of next week.
Unfortunately, knitting is really all I have time for, thanks to school. That would also be the cause of my rather erratic posting schedule. My apologies about that, but I am trying to post more frequently. Probably not frequently enough for NaBloPoMo (post a blog post every day), but more frequently none the less. Knitting will happen. Crafts will happen. 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.
So I’m still truckin’ on the Watermelon cardigan. It looks like this now:
Why yes, I do knit like a fiend. I tried it on, and thought it’s a bit smaller than I would have liked, it’s super comfy and fantastic. I hope to have it done this weekend (but who knows if that will happen).
I’ve also off and on been working on a spinning project:
That would be an ounce of random wool I got with the spindle I’m spinning it on. It’s probably going to stay a single, and I’ll make some sort of cowl or something with it. Only sort of related: light-fingering weight yarn spins up SO SLOWLY on a spindle. I want a wheel. Unfortunately, I have nowhere to put it, so for right now, I’m delegated to spindling.
Speaking of spindles: I want a lighter one for spinning lace-weight. Any suggestions? I want a fairly inexpensive one because A, I’m cheap as hell and B, I’m a poor college student that just spent $60 on yarn from WEBS.
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!
FO’s, that is. One I finished rather a while ago, and the other is something I whipped up during a movie because my current project was too complicated for movie knitting.
Pattern: None, just a chart of a design I made up.
Yarn: Random scraps of acrylic yarn
Needles: US 8/5 mm I think
This was a present for my friend Sarah, whose birthday was in early June. I spent a week frantically knitting it and sent it off to her in time for her birthday, but I forgot to snap a picture. Fortunately, she is my roommate at school this year, so I snapped one for Ravelry and for the blog.
Pattern: Calorimetry
Yarn: My handspun!
Needles: US 8/5mm straights
Mods: Cast on 88, did far fewer row 5 repeats
My first FO with my handspun!
This pattern is perfect for just a little bit of yarn, which is exactly what I had. I actually have a fair amount of yarn left over, though I’m not sure what to do with it. Perhaps it can be a stripe on a crazy handspun hat. The barber-poling of the colors looks great, but kind of obscures the ribbing. I don’t really care though; it still looks awesome. And I made it! From wool to yarn to dyed yarn to FO. : ) I will definitely be getting a lot of wear out of it come winter because it’ll add a bright splash of color to my winter wardrobe and so I can brag that I made both the Calorimetry and the yarn itself. WIN.
Coming soon to a blog near you: Inchies. Beatles things (part of which is SO FUCKIN’ COOL I can’t stand it), and more knitting. I started an awesome cardigan and scrapped a project I’d been working on for a few days (it just wasn’t working out). Stay tuned!
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 