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A two-fer this time! Two knits for the price of one post! I knit the set as part of a WWFY swap.
Pattern: Kitty Hawk, which is sadly no longer available to purchase (used to be through Sanguine Gryphon)
Yarn: Corgi Hill Farm hand dyes (I think on Polwarth)
Needles: US 2 and 4
Mods: Shortened the mitts by a LOT. Hat was as written.
You may recall I have knit this pattern before. It was easier this time around, mostly because I magic looped the mitts instead of fumbling around with dpns. And because I cut a ton of rows out of the mitts (otherwise they’d have gone all the way to the elbow).
The hat was just as speedy as before. I still really like the shape of it. Maybe one of these days I’ll make one. At the very least, I might make the hat band and wear it as a headband. Or I could pick up from the hat band and make a proper round hat. If I do make the hat as written, I might figure out how I can knit it in the round. Maybe with a purl stitch for faux seams… I don’t mind making the panels separately, but they are a bit of a PITA to sew up. Or something. It’s rare I knit something without editing the pattern in some way. It’s just how I roll.
The final FO in this particular batch of things for AnnaMarie (for whom I knit everything and I don’t ever care cause I get to use the loveliest of yarns).
Pattern: Spatterdash from a recent Knitty
Yarn: Cephalopod Skinny Bugga in Flash Art Butterfly
Needles: US 1 KP fixed and a Kollage Square
Mods: None, knit as written
Now, you can probably tell by the above picture why this are only “kinda” an FO. They do not have buttons. AnnaMarie said she wanted to pick them out and would sew them on herself, so I just did the knitting. Which was totally fine by me. I don’t like sewing on buttons at the best of times, never mind when there’s a frillion of them. I’m cool just knitting.
The buttons are, by the way, the reason I probably won’t make these again for me. The knitting was fine if sometimes a little fiddly and okay, the method of doing feather and fan was different from what I’m used to, but in general, the knitting was perfectly lovely. But the buttons. I’m not sure I can handle sewing on all those buttons, much as I might want the finished object. If I did make these again, I would probably just sew the flap down and skip the whole business.
Anyway, it turns out I lied last time about the number of finished objects remaining (I forgot about some socks). I have two (probably three by the time this post goes up, let’s be honest here), so the FO train rolls on. And on.
Part two of my vacation knitting! These are also for AnnaMarie.
(The oh-so-willing model is my brother, whom I roped in to helping me with pictures)
Pattern: Endpaper Mitts
Yarn: Cephalopod Skinny Bugga in Punchinello Butterfly and Bronze Moth
Needles: US 2s or 3s; I can’t remember
Mods: None, knit as written
Y’all, this pattern gave me fits. I have made it before with great success (until I accidentally felted them in the washing machine), but this time… I don’t even know. I made a total of three mitts, each completely finished and ends woven in, and I almost made a fourth. The first one came out fine. A little snug but fine. The second one had an extra repeat before the thumb that I some how failed to notice. The third came out way too big, though strangely in line with the second minus the extra repeat. Apparently after I finished knitting the first mitt, my knitting loosened WAY UP. Like WAY UP. At the point I finished the third mitt, I was COMPLETELY OVER THEM and wanted to knit ANYTHING ELSE, but I figured if Anna-Marie wanted me to redo them or one of them, I would. Fortunately, she said it was fine, which is good because there might have been bloodshed at that point.
You can’t really tell the size difference when the mitts are on. You can kind of see it in the above picture, but I stretched the smaller one a bit to make them appear to be the same size in the pictures. But they are definitely different sizes. I had wanted to knit some colorwork mittens, but this experience is giving me pause. Not a tremendous amount of pause, mind, since you know I tend to just jump right in to craft things. But still, pause.
When I was knitting these, I kept thinking the colors reminded me of ketchup and mustard. Neither of which I eat, but the colors are distinct. The pattern is pretty subtle, but still nice.
I have one more FO to show off and by the time I get there on the blog (since I delay the posts when I have a bunch of things to show off at once), I’ll probably have finished a sweater (worsted weight; started a sleeve yesterday) or seventeen sharks (okay, I only have three open orders, but still). Oh, I also have a weaving thing I need to finish up and maybe post about. So I guess it’ll be two more FOs (well, one is still a WIP but the weaving is all done). And then maybe I’ll try to get back on a regular posting schedule.
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.
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.
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.
I finished another thing! This was going to be the last of my WWFY knits for CorgiHillFarm, buuuuut then we agreed on a couple more projects. So it isn’t. But it is a finished thing.
Pattern: Cafe Au Lait
Yarn: Cephalopod Yarns Traveller in Winter Garden, about half a skein
Needles: US 4/3.5 mm
Mods: 2×2 ribbing instead of 1×1, different thumb probably… Basically, I just threw the stitch pattern into a mitt of my own design. As you do.
These were super quick and fun to make. And the yarn is absolutely gorgeous–plump and squishy with lovely colors. I should make more fingerless mitts for myself. Course all of my long-sleeved shirts have extra long sleeves so I end up not needing them because the sleeves cover my palms, but still. I should make some for myself.
In life news, things are going pretty swimmingly. I’m hoping to trade up in jobs soon (waiting to hear back about one and there’s an opening in the office where I work currently that I’m going to apply for). I’m planning to move out of where I currently live in December, so I really need a better job in order to finance that move.
In fandom news, I was going to start watching MacGyver or Breaking Bad or Supernatural or a hundred other things and then Joe and I watched Children of the Gods and now I’m rewatching Stargate: SG1. What actually happened is that I put on the movie Stargate on a whim, decided I wanted to watch the SG1 pilot, and got sucked in. Sam Carter is simultaneously the more adorable and most badass thing ever, so you can understand how I was pulled in. LOVE HER. I probably won’t watch all ten seasons (and anyway, I’d be skipping the episodes that are terrible but there are SO MANY GOOD ONES in the first season, I don’t even) because of series rot, but still. Why can’t someone pay me $60k a year to watch science fiction tv shows and make things? That’s my real career goal right there.
Not the disease or even the Robert Browning poem (which is excellent, btw), the fingerless mitts pattern:
Pattern: Porphyria
Yarn: MadTosh Merino DK in “Flashdance”, about half a skein
Needles: US 4/3.5 mm
Mods: Well I used a dk instead of a fingering, so basically I just took the stitch pattern and made it up as I went.
This is pair two of the first round of WWFY swaps for my new best yarn friend AnnaMarie at Corgi Hill Farms. Like the first, they were super fun and fast to knit in a yarn I am completely in love with. The stitch pattern for Porphyria is interesting–it looks like a cable, but it’s not actually. Kept me on my toes.
The MadTosh is absolutely gorgeous. The color saturation is amazing. The base is pretty nice too–really sproingy and squishy. The US 4 needles were a wee bit too small for the yarn, but the resulting mitts are gorgeous. The fabric is pleasantly dense without being unyielding. I might have added another stitch repeat to make them slightly bigger, but they stretch nicely.
I had to redo the thumb a couple of times before I was happy with it, but the result fits really well. The recipient’s hands are sized similarly to mine, so they should fit her well too.
I’d definitely like to knit this pattern again for myself. I might even use the same yarn since I have about half a skein left from the first pair that I get to keep. I also have another skein in return for the next round of knitting, so I can make a matching hat or cowl or something. If I make these mitts again, I’ll probably go up a needle size to make them just a wee bit less snug.
What did I get for knitting these mitts and the previous pair, you ask? (As if the gorgeous leftover yarn wasn’t enough.) I’m glad you asked, because I got THE MOST GORGEOUS braid of fiber ever:
60/40 BFL/Tussah Silk. Colorway Senoma. OMG DYING IT’S SO PRETTY. I have like three other spinning projects (only one of which I’ve mentioned at all and has any significant progress on it) so I should wait, but OH I want to spin it. Immediately.
In life news, I am leaving this evening to head up to New York for the long weekend. It’s to visit my grandparents but also it’s to pick up my car! My grandfather owns a business buying and reselling cars, so I asked him to keep an eye out for me. He found a 2003 Pontiac Aztek and it’s mine, all mine! I’m super excited. I’ve been without a car for a while (I rely on my boyfriend’s to get around) and I’ve never had one of my own. I am thrilled and there will definitely be pictures of my baby when I get home. (And bumper stickers, especially geeky ones, are a go).
Sooo I’m doing another set of WWFY trades. Which works out to be awesome for me since I’m getting awesome stuff in return and getting to work with really nice yarns that I could not afford on my life. The first round (of at least three) was a couple of pairs of fingerless mitts. Here’s the first pair:
Pattern: Framed Cable Mitts
Yarn: Sundara Yarn DK Silky Cashmere in the colorway “Where the Tame Things Are”
Needles: US 4/3.5 mm
Mods: I only cast on 40 to better fit a smaller hand. I probably mucked up the thumb too, but it came out all right.
These mitts were super lovely to knit, y’all. They only take about 30g of yarn, which is just a couple hours of knitting time. The cable pattern is kind of hard to see in the variegation of the yarn, but it was fun to knit. A great, fast knit to cleanse the palate.
Plus also: THE YARN. Dear Jesus, what a soft yarn. I kept stopping the knitting in order to pet them (and they still only took a couple hours). The colors are really pretty too and in a simple stockinette or ribbing would really shine.
I love these things. I would have loved to keep them. I can’t. BUT. For the next round of knitting, I get my very own skein of Sundara DK Silky Cashmere. *excited squeak* I’m gonna make my very own ribbed mitts and wear them all the time.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 