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I’m currently feeling the Christmas crunch thanks to my apparently booming Etsy business. I currently have seven outstanding mitten orders plus a Marzipan Cowl someone requested. So I’m knitting my fingers to the bone.
Here’s some things I finished recently:
Teal Spiffy Spats in Vanna’s Choice acrylic (didn’t have any teal on hand). I usually don’t like acrylic, but Vanna’s Choice is actually quite nice. Kinda smooshy. Just fine for items for sale.
Sharks in some wool I dyed, as usual. I took some glamor shots.
I finished those last week sometime and have been knitting away since then in between my regular job. I have, in the last couple of weeks, watched seasons 1-5 of New Doctor Who and 1-2 of Torchwood. I am now completely obsessed with the Whoniverse, so expect crafts on that front. I’m currently watching Torchwood: Miracle Day and holy Christ, it’s gripping. I’m getting less knitting done than I ought to because it’s so gripping I forget to knit. That rarely happens.
And yes, I’m a huge dork.
So I finished some things today for Etsy and got them in the mail. And I remembered to take pictures! Well, 2/3 anyway.
Pattern: Spiffy Spats (pattern linked on the patterns page)
Yarn: Recycled wool dyed grey
Needles: US 9/5.5 mm
I also made some sharks:
And the kitty try to play too is Stretch, a recent addition to my house of cats. Here’s a picture:
He’s not very bright and he kind of always has that clueless look and he annoys the other cats, but he’s nice. And enormous (he weighs like 20 lbs). : )
Yeah, yeah, bad pun. Anyway, since the start of fall, my Etsy shop, wherein I sell custom knit shark/dino mittens and spats and patterns, has been doing very well. My needles are pretty busy which is good cause I need the money. Anyway, here’s what I’ve been making lately for the shop:
A pair of baby sharks, going to Canada.
A single shark to be used as a puppet.
And some black spats. I’ll be mailing everything off tomorrow, and I just got two more orders for spats and an order for shark mittens. So get used to seeing those things for the time being.
In the time between finishing those knee socks and starting more WWFY socks, I managed to finish knitting a thing for ME ME ME! They are spats:
Pattern: Spiffy Spats, located further down this post and also ravel-able here
Yarn: Cascade Ecological Wool, about 50g
Needles: US 9/5.5 mm
These spats are great for A. keeping your ankles warm and B. looking awesome while piloting your airship. They are named for my friend Spiffy, who is the most steampunk-eriffic person I know and also likes knitting and ruffles. They come in one size (but the ribbing is quite stretchy) and knit up in just a couple of hours and are SUPER easy to make. They would look awesome in a variety of colors, but I made mine in grey to match things.
You will need:
– About 50g heavy worsted weight/light bulky yarn
– A set of 5.5 mm dpns or a long circular for magic loop
– A stitch marker to mark the beginning of the round
– An iron with a steam setting (trust me on this)
Things you should probably know:
– Knit, purl, increase (kfb), cast on, bind off, knit in the round
Abbreviations:
K: Knit
P: Purl
CO: Cast on
BO: Bind off
KFB: Knit into the front and back of the stitch
SPATS (knit two):
CO 36. Place marker for beginning of round and work in 2×2 rib (knit 2, purl 2) around for each row), slipping the marker as you come to it for 20 rows or until desired length.
Increase row: KFB around.
Continue knitting ruffle: Knit in stockinette (knit every row) for 8 rows or until ruffle reaches desired row.
Work two rows of seed stitch:
row one: k1, p1 around
row two: p1, k1 around
BO in seed stitch.
Finishing: Weave in ends. Block the crap out of the spats (seriously, this step is important to getting them to lie flat). You could wet block too, but unless you were knitting them in mud, steam is sufficient. Sew on cute buttons, rock your spats.
That’s seriously it! I told you they were quick and easy!
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 