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So, before we get to the FO: Bad news, bears. I did not get the job I was hoping for. Good news: More time for crafting and therefore blog posting. Bad news: My only income is my Rav pattern store and my Etsy store (so like, buy my shit please). Good news: The intent to move up to Fairfax with my boyfriend is back and stronger than ever. Bad news: Not sure who’d hire me for less than a year since Joe’s planning to go to grad school next year.
Anyway, that’s enough good news/bad news.
Pattern: Box 96 Pullover from IK Summer 2010
Yarn: Recycled 60/40 cotton/acrylic sportish weight.
Needles: US 5/3.75 mm KP Options (I seriously love these needles)
Mods: Removed the roll brim in favor of garter sleeve bands. Crocheted the lace bits to the sweater. I didn’t knit the roll edging at the bottom but started right in on the decreases. It’s stocinette, so it rolls, but not much. And I still might do a row or two of sc along the bottom.
So I totally fell in love with this vest when IK Summer 2010 came out. It stuck in my brain. I eventually got the magazine from someone on Ravelry and have just now gotten around to making the vest. And I love it. I totally love it. The V is a bit deeper than anticipated, so I have to wear a tank under it if I wear it as a shirt.
It did come out a titch too big because I steam blocked it and there’s a substantial acrylic content. It’s got a lot of cotton too, so I think a spin through the washer and dryer should shrink it up a bit. And it does fit as is, I just might have to wear a belt as styled.
I can never remember whether I’ve told you about the 12 sweaters/12 months challenge I participate in on Ravelry (the group is here, but this marks number nine fr the year. I frogged a couple I made (some Leah versions), but I still made them, so I’m right on track for knitting 12 sweaters this year. Also, not all of them were for me.
I’ve pulled out the yarn, needles, and pattern book for Karlsro, a wrap sweater from Noro Book One. I knit a version for a WWFY swap and I rather liked the pattern, so I’m starting one for myself in a brown recycled wool. Y’know, once I finish all the shark mittens. : )
So for the last couple of days I have been (and will be for the foreseeable future) very, very busy. I started volunteering at the local elementary school (here’s hoping they’ll be hiring….). This has left me with little crafting time as it’s quite a tiring affair, but I’ve been knitting a bit.
Here’s my Box 96 pullover so far. Have edging and lace yet to knit (sorry for the crappy pic).
I’ve also been working on a few pairs of shark mittens for sale. Still have lots of knitting to do. I’ll keep you updated. : )
So the other day I did a bunch of sewing. Like, a LOT of sewing. I think I mentioned a while ago that I was working on a t-shirt quilt with all the shirts I got at UMW. I set up my sewing machine and got to work. First I sewed the strips of squares into a finished top:
Then I sewed the backing on, which is a sheet I got from the thrift. It was a challenge, considering the sheet was waaaaaaay bigger than the top (I used a King and a Full or Queen would have been more than sufficient):
Finally, I top-stitched around the outside and in the ditch of all the squares (for which I had to refill my bobbin three times). And of course, hassled my brother into holding it for the picture:
It’s a little wonky and a little puckery (sewing knits onto wovens is… difficult), but OH I love it. I made a t-shirt quilt a couple of years ago but didn’t bother to actually quilt it and it makes a huge difference. LOVE. I didn’t bother to include batting (didn’t have any), so it’s a pretty light blanket (basically two sheets), but I love it and it is great. : )
Incidentally, I just yesterday ran into a tut on a blog (I forget where exactly) about quilting without binding. Apparently some people were like, “This is a cool new thing!” and I’m like, “…I don’t like to sew binding.” So yeah. I guess I’m right on trend with my miles of top stitching. : )
*awkwardly shuffles to the front*
*taps mic*
Hello?
Well, it’s certainly been a while, huh? Two and a half weeks. Do I even have readers left?
I know it can be irritating to read posts that are just apologies for not posting, so I’ll keep it brief: As I mentioned before, I spent some time in DC and then I spent some time in the hospital (I’m fine now, it was a mental health thing). I just got back to Virginia Beach yesterday and spent most of the day cleaning.
I haven’t been doing a whole lot of knitting, but I’ve sort of been working on the first of a pair of Skew socks:
I also did/am doing some unravelling:
(A 60/40 cotton/acrylic with horrible seams)
(lambswool/angora/nylon)
(wool/nylon)
Oh, also, while I was in DC, I visited a yarn store (Knit and Stitch = Bliss in Bethesda) and purchased a skein of Malabrigo worsted in Noviembre:
So I’ll go back to the knitting and then I’ll get back to the posting. : )
Judging by the projects i currently have on the needles, I’m in something of a green jag (unsurprising seeing as it’s one of my favorite colors). Also, still on the sock jag. I’m working on two projects more or less simultaneously, so neither is finished, but one’s getting there.
First, there’s the artichoke socks I’ve been working on:
I’m currently cruising down the foot. They’re interesting enough to make for perfect television knitting. I finished watching through SG1 and a spotty re-watch of SGA (I re-watched the ones I like and now I’m sad there’s no more because OH I love that show). I’m currently about three episodes into Stargate: Universe and four episodes into the first season of Game of Thrones (which I like, but OH DEAR it is depressing as hell. Daenerys (WHATEVER) is hella awesome though).
My internet knitting (a simple project I work on when I’m trolling Ravelry or my Google Reader account or whatever) is the Box 96 Pullover from IK Summer 2010. I’m working it in a delightfully bright green cotton/acrylic mix I recycled. This is the back so far:
I like this pattern because it’s got year-round wear potential–as a tank in warm weather and a vest in cooler weather. And yes, I know people tend not to wear BRIGHT BRIGHT green in the dead of winter, but you know, I also wear white after Labor Day. So there. : )
I have returned from my week at the Outer Banks! It was super fun and I had a blast playing in the ocean, jet skiing, playing Scrabble and relaxing with the boyfriend. I unfortunately took almost no pictures (too busy playing!) and I did very little knitting. I did, however, get a lovely tan. Also, I did snap this shot of Joe when we went on a pedal boat ride:
I also did some shell hunting and seeing as I woke up at five this morning and was out of the house at 7:30, returning to Virginia Beach at 10:30, I had some crafting time. With a couple little shells, I whipped up some stitch markers.
I like this one because the stripes look like Nemo:
They’re quite small; the Nemo one is the size of my pinky fingernail. I don’t know how long they’ll last (the shell are not especially sturdy) but I’ll enjoy them while they do.
Today was a WWKIP (World Wide Knit in Public) Day event at the D’Art center in Norfolk. I went and though I didn’t take any pictures (cause I don’t really know anyone and I feel weird about snapping random photos of people) I did have a lot of fun. I finished a pair of socks (which I’ll post about later) and worked on my WWFY sweater. I also got lots of swag!
A bag, some mags, a button, some samples of Miss Babs yarn, a Euclan sample, and some coupons/business cards. I’m never thrilled with Knitter’s, but there are a couple of cute things and there’s a dress in the Debbie Bliss mag I might make (out of cotton, not pure silk like suggested cause I’m not crazy).
There were probably about 50 people there total. I sat with a group of lovely women who welcomed me (as I’m sure I looked SUPER confused upon arriving, not knowing anyone there). Of COURSE I didn’t get their names, but they were lovely. I sat down, pulled out my sock to knit and started to flip through the Knitter’s mag. One of the women there (not at my table but wandering around) came over, saw me flipping through the mag and said, “Oh, I have to give you something! I’m with Knitter’s and you’re actually looking at the magazine!” So she gave me a Juniper Moon Fiber Farm button (yay!) and a tape measure.
Everyone who came got a ticket for a door prize drawing (there were a LOT of prizes), two if you brought a charity knit (I didn’t but I SHOULD HAVE). They drew a bunch of tickets every half hour or so. I had arrived at 12:45. I left at 4:45. I kept listening to the numbers–not mine, not mine. Finally, the Knitting Guild President (the sponsor of the event and the woman who was running things) said, “Is there anyone who’s still here that hasn’t won something?” I raised my hand.
I was the only one. She drew the last of the tickets and I did win (finally) but I was literally the last person to win anything. Gah. I won a book and some yarn:
I’m not crazy about either but I’m thinking I can trade the book and the yarn will probably be a shawl or scarf of some kind. I don’t especially care for the 47% acrylic, but I’ll deal. After all, I won it!
It was nice to hang out with other knitters who know what they are doing, can knit more than garter stitch and know what ssk, MadTosh, and US 6/4mm mean. I had a lot of fun and I will definitely be looking for more KIP events in my area next year.
Today was the first day of the Pungo Strawberry Festival, an affair celebrating strawberries, farmlands, and Virginia Beach. There are tons of food vendors, arts/vendor booths (mostly jewelry, embroidery/bags, and soap this year), and a 4H tent. I went with my sister and though we didn’t buy anything, we spent a lot of time in the 4H tent, which was filled with pigs, sheep, and cows. Fortunately, I remembered my camera this year (I forgot it last year).
These little guys (St. Croix) were only two months old:
There was also a section called the “Fun Barn” which was sort of closed off from the rest of the tent–for a donation of a dollar, you could pet chicks, ducks, goats, a sheep, a pony, and some pigs. There were also chickens and rabbits, but they were in small cages with small holes (and they didn’t get close enough to pet).
That’s my sister’s hand. The sheep had a heart on his head.
These little pigs were so cute! Their names are Jack and Jill.
Posing next to a grown up duck. He was super soft.
Petting a baby duck (well, that’s my sister’s hand). I got to hold one of these little guys (not in this picture, that’s some kid whose family owns the ducks) even though I wasn’t supposed to. He was super cute! That alone was worth my $1 plus $5 parking (though that was split between me and my sister).
We also saw lambs competing in an obstacle course. They didn’t like it very much though. It was pretty funny and the lambs knocked over the jump bars more than they made it through. Also, apparently lambs really hate having wet feet. Seeing children trying to get their lambs to put two feet in a little kiddie pool was pretty funny. They were Not Having It.
It was a pretty fun trip. My sister and I went to Skinny Dip (frozen yogurt bar) afterwards and drove around Pungo attempting to get back on the right road. More knitting stuff tomorrow or Monday!
I finished the socks I started just the other day, possibly because I used a larger needle than I usually knit socks with.
Pattern: It’s a cuff-down sock. Regular toe, flap/gusset heel.
Yarn: Yarnbee Walk Away, colorway “For Kicks”
Needles: US *2*, a circular I bought at the Yarn Club, a new LYS in Virginia Beach
So these socks are knit a bit loose than I usually knit socks but the yarn is also very thick for sock yarn–it’s almost like a light sport weight. The socks are pretty comfortable and I suspect that once I toss them in the washing machine and dryer, they’ll tighten up a bit. They fit pretty well and the yarn is soft enough.
Knitting with the yarn was kind of a PITA though. It’s kind of like corespun–it’s wooly on the outside, but there’s a core thread of elastic/nylon and the two fibers stretch at different rates, so the wooly bit kept getting bunched up on the core thread. That was annoying. Also, the core shows through in a couple of spots.
On the whole, I’m pretty happy with the socks though. The color is quite lovely and I even got them to match! (Mostly–one is about a row ahead of the other.) I’m sure they will get lots of wear this winter when it is cool enough to wear mid-calf-high wool socks. Now I have three pairs like that!
In case you haven’t noticed, I’m on something of a sock kick lately. Currently I have another pair of footies (for flats) on the needles (from the Ravenclaw yarn). I’m also about halfway through a shrug I’m designing (and hoping to finish with 380 yards–it’s gonna be close). Got some real work done on grown-up things yesterday and tonight I’m off to a pedicure with my boyfriend’s mother and sister (which is lovelier than it might sound–I quite like them). Still have to figure out how I’m getting back to Virginia Beach next week, but right now, I’m just going to relax and try not to kick some poor woman in the face when she inevitably tickles my very ticklish feet.
So apparently I forgot to blog about this hat I made, which is sad because it’s totally awesome and I wear it all the time.
Pattern: Wind and Sea from “Knitting in the Sun” (preview on Amazon)
Yarn: Recycled Linen/Cotton blend
Needle: US 6/4mm
Mods: None, actually. I knit exactly as written.
Like I said, I completely adore this hat. It’s lightweight, blocks the sun and looks SUPER cute. It is really light so it tends to blow off of my head unless I hold it down if there’s a breeze, but I found that putting a stretchy headband (I have a Goody one) around my head over the hat keeps it in place (I didn’t figure that out until after the photoshooot).
The construction is quite interesting–it’s knit from the outside in and then millinery wire (or 18 gauge jewelry wire, which is what I used) is crocheted into the brim by sandwiching it in the channel of the crochet stitch. It was pretty awkward to do, but it basically blocks the hat for you, so I’ll take it.
I definitely love this hat, and I might make some more in different colors and also in thicker yarn. The yarn I used, a linen/cotton blend from a thrift store sweater, was thinner than the called-for worsted weight, so the spaces in the stitches are larger than they should be. I might try to make this again with kitchen cotton stripes since it knits up so fast (that way if the Sugar ‘N’ Cream doesn’t work and is too heavy I won’t be out a lot of time. I’m definitely going to try again though, perhaps in a thicker linen/cotton (or this yarn held double), but dyed a different color.
In other knitting news, I just finished the gusset of my most recent socks and am currently motoring down the foot. Good pictures are going to be difficult when I finish since it has literally been raining all week and will probably continue. I’m going to the zoo with Joe and a friend of ours on Monday though, so I hope the weather’s nice for that. I’d also like to get out to Lake Accotink before I leave (probably next Thursday, probably by train), but I’m not sure if the weather will cooperate. Though really what I need to do is buckle down and find a damn job so I can move up here permanently. Wish me luck (on the job thing and also the weather).
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 