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So Monday’s Halloween but people celebrate on the weekend cause they have jobs and stuff. Unfortunately, I’m doing nothing for Halloween. Well, I’ll be knitting. And watching science fiction tv (finishing up Charmed and starting Torchwood next I think). And drinking. Cause I’m a grown up, that’s why.
So I’m bummed that all my friends are three hours away so I have no one to celebrate with. Maybe I’ll wear cat ears and sit on the porch with some candy. Maybe I’ll dress young and go trick or treating. *shrug*
Anyway, things are going slowly on the knitting front because I’ve been volunteering full time. I have substitute orientation on Tuesday, so after that I’ll be actually getting paid for all the work I’ve been doing. Which will be the exact same time commitment but I’ll have some money. Which I’m going to need if I’m going to move next year (and I am).
Here are some things I’m working on:
Lace Ribbons Pullover in mohair for WWFY. Possibly a long-term project.
Fingerless mitts which I’m sure I’ll finish up quickly. Also for WWFY and in EL Silky Wool.
And this sweater. My mother picked it up at the thrift store today for me to unravel, which I’ve started doing. It’s a very loosely spun thick/thin single in a nice blue. Some of it will probably get knit into an Urchin hat, but much of it I think I will attempt to respin into a thinner more even yarn. It’s a ton of yarn as-is and would probably end up as twice as much of an even 2-ply dk. So that’ll be nice.
Do you guys have any plans for Halloween? Tell me in the comments so I can live vicariously through you.
So I do not have any FO’s at the moment (though I have shark mittens that just need teeth). I did, however, sign up for two more WWFY swaps (with the same person) because apparently I just like hoarding yarn and not actually knitting anything for myself. I figure I’ll stock up now so I’ll have lots to knit when I’m desperately poor and need the money for rent and groceries and whatnot.
Anyway, so I’m knitting Lacy Ribbons in Douceur et Soie (basically Cracksilk Haze). It’s pretty:
In return, I got six skeins Noro Aurora, which is SPARKLY. Seriously, I love it:
I’m also knitting fingerless mitts, but that yarn was just sent today, so more on that later.
So the boyfriend is in town so I haven’t been posting, but I have been knitting! Convinced the boyfriend to help me with photographs, so the sweater I was knitting for a WWFY swap is finished and ready to be mailed off to its rightful owner.
Pattern: Karlsro from Noro Book One
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, seven skeins for the large
Needles: US 10.5 and 10, straights and KP options circular
Mods: None, knit as written
Despite the lack of clarity in the pattern (it’s not very well written and definitely not for beginners), Karlsro was a pretty easy knit and thanks to the huge gauge, knit up super quickly. It was mostly interesting enough to not be boring but simple enough that I didn’t have to concentrate.
This is obviously too big on me since I made a large and I am small, but it’s very stretchy. So I can sort of extrapolate how a small would fit. And since I get to keep the book the pattern is in, I can make another for myself, either in the Noro Kureyon I was sent for payment or in some recycled wool from an ENORMOUS brown sweater I got at the thrift.
As for the yarn: It wasn’t terrible. There was some VM and that was annoying. And there were a bunch of knots with color changes and that was annoying. But for the most part, the yarn did what I ecpected it would–it kinked up because it’s a single and the thickness varies quite a lot. But it’s reasonably soft and it does make a pretty sweater. Am I going to buy some for myself? Absolutely not. But I’m not racing to sell or trade the leftover either (though if you’re dying for four skeins of Silk Garden, we can discuss it).
My current knitting project is working on the Haruni I started a bit ago. I’m a couple rows into chart B. I also embroidered a thing, but I’m going to wait until I find a frame or big enough hoop before I photograph it.
I made some things for a swap. They are not particularly ground-breaking, but I quite like how they turned out. : ) I claimed Craftster user SciFunk for felted nesting bowls and something else I had yet to determine. Here are the felted bowls:
I used Lamb’s Pride, Lion Wool, and some orange wool (I think Cascade 220?). And another color of Cascade 220. I like making these little bowls. They’re super quick and a great way to use up small bits of wool. Crochet a bowl, throw in the washer and dryer and hit it with some steam and an ironing and you have cute bowls.
After much dithering and pouring over SciFunk’s list, I finally decided what else to make for her. Dog toys was on her list, so I whipped up three rope toys:
I used strips of t-shirt fabric from some left-over sleeves (from the university shirt-quilt I’m making and will show pictures of eventually). Cut off the hem, cut the sleeve open, and cut across for a straight strip. Tie a knot in the top, braid, and tie a knot in the bottom. Voila!
The thicker ones used both sleeves of each shirt (so there were six strips) and the thinner one used one sleeve (three strips). They took about 10 minutes to make all of them and that’s only because the bottom knots in the thicker ones were a little difficult to tie. If my dog actually enjoyed this sort of thing, I’d make some for him, but he doesn’t.
One of my OWS partners recently received what I sent her, so it’s high time I showed it here! I’m pretty pleased with how everything came out. I claimed her for a minion ami (from the movie Despicable Me) and some felted nesting bowls.
I used some acrylic I had kicking around. I didn’t really follow a pattern but I looked at a couple crochet versions and sort of made it up as I went. I think it came out pretty well. The eye is made out of felt cause I didn’t want to crochet a little circle (it would have been too thick). I think he came out pretty cute!
The yarns used for the bowls, all leftovers from other things, are, from outside in, Lion Wool Solid, Berocco Alpaca Ultra, a different color of Lion Wool, and Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride. I crocheted them and chucked them in the washer then steamed/ironed them to smooth out the wrinkles.
My partner (LuckDragon on Craftster) seemed to like what I sent her. : ) I’ve just claimed someone else for a set of nesting bowls, so expect to see them again here soon.
Well, after a few weeks of knitting whatever the hell I wanted, I’ve decided to take on a couple more Will Work for Yarn trades. I’m also still knitting a sock. The sock, so far, looks like this:
Pretty simple, smooth going. But I’m putting it aside to work on soakers for a swap. The pattern in question is the adorable Turtle Butt soaker. The yarns in questions are a variety:
The mostly-knit one is one that I am finishing (the grafting and the leg cuffs). Then there’s a medium in black and pink and a large one in grey and blue/green. In return, I received a skein of Lorna’s Laces Shepard Worsted in Flames, a skein of my partner (SeptemberSocks)’s hand dye (same colorway as the blue/green above) and two colors (two and three skeins) of Alpaca Cloud (in Smoke and a darker grey). So yeah, I basically win. At least one of the colors of Alpaca cloud will become a giant shawl and we shall just see about the others.
Stay tuned for some swap stuff and the inevitable progress on the soakers. Also, I started a sewing project that I promise to show you at some point before it’s actually done.
So I finished a thing for OWS. I actually finished several things but like a dummy forgot to take pictures and this one I haven’t sent off yet (so if you’re Quaggy on Craftster, you should probably not look).
Anyway, I made a totebag, based off of this one on her wists. I tried to copy it at least in spirit, though I’m pretty pleased with what I came up with:
Pattern: I made it up as I went. Might put together a pattern. Might not. It’s pretty simple. Make hexagons. Sew them together. Make handle.
Yarn: Acrylic from an estate sale (which I suspect to be Red Heart Super Saver). The purple multi is Jo Ann Sensations Rainbow Boucle, which I actually bought at Jo Ann’s a few years ago. Cause I’m classy.
Hook: (yep, this is crochet! Gasp!) I/9 5.5 mm. I crochet kind of loosely though.
So I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve got going on here. It was pretty quick to make (I made up a couple of hexagons per day in between other things and crocheted them together as I went). I haven’t made any large-scale crochet projects in a while (and I don’t usually, as I prefer knitting). It was nice to use different hand muscles, though I must admit I overdid it on a couple of days and make my hand sore. : /
I lightly steamed the body of the bag to make it less stiff, but the gauge is tight enough that I don’t think it needs a lining. I didn’t steam the handle because I wanted it to be stiffer/more sturdy, and I think I accomplished that.
I also finished another thing, knitted this time. I made a shorter version of my Leah vest to work out the shaping (and also cause I wanted it). I still have to take proper pictures of it, so I’ll leave that for another post. In the mean time, I’ve cast on for a hat with a nice big brim for shading my face from the sun.
Also, there’s that graduation thing happening on Saturday. You know, no big. : )
So I finished knitting the second pair of Manly Arans which means I can MAIL THESE SUCKERS OFF AND KNIT FOR ME ME ME ME!!!!!! (Okay, I have some OWS stuff, but it’s little things.)
Ahem. I’m pleased, in case you couldn’t tell.
Pattern: Manly Aran Socks by Wendy Johnson
Yarn: Cascade Heritage Paints
Needles: US 1, 40″ (for magic loop)
Mods: None.
They are more or less exactly like the other pair. I knit the cuff as long as I thought I could (turns out I was a little off and I have a tiny bit left over). They are too big on my feet (obviously), but they are DONE DONE DONE. They just have to be mailed off.
I have since cast on for a pair of sockettes (socks for wearing inside flats) and see it as a marker of self control that I haven’t cast on approximately a billion things.
So my partner recieved my Whedon swap package the other day, and I have to say, I am EXTREMELY pleased with what I made. It’s been a while since I’ve done a proper swap cause I’ve been busy, but this swap was just the thing to flex my themed-crafting muscles. Plus I’m totally obsessed with the Whedonverse, so this was perfect!
In addition to the Willow doll I made that I showed you last week, I made two other things, both involving the same craft (plus another one). The first thing I made after Willow was a cross stitch:
Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! Plus dinosaurs (which I just sort of made up as I went). I used a font generator (I used the Amsterdam font) for the quote pattern, and I have to say, I love the look of this font in cross stitch.
I did some coloring in of the dinos with pastels as I did not want to fill them in with cross stitch (that would take FOREVER) and I didn’t want them to just be white. I think it came out pretty well.
The last thing I made, which took me til Tuesday to figure out and til Wednesday night to finish making (and the swap deadline was Thursday) was a zipper pouch:
With a cross stitched Kaylee from Shindig! I used this pattern for Kaylee and did the same pastel shading for her face cause I didn’t have white girl flesh-colored thread. Though I did pick some up at Michael’s the other day.
The lining is just some polyester muslin-type stuff I pulled out of a thrift store curtain.
I super love how this came out, cause guys? THIS IS LIKE QUILTING. I notoriously lack the patience for quilting because you need like, straight lines and corners and constant pressing. Who has time for that? I’d rather just crochet an afghan. But I managed to piece the front of this pouch together without too much trouble (and I did press everything often). I also actually used my zipper foot to install the zipper which made it approximately a billion times easier to do.
Still working on the giant man socks. I’m almost halfway up the leg. The end is in sight!
I received my package for the Whedonverse swap (on Craftster) from FiberAlchemist today! It’s the best thing ever and she’s great! Seriously people, have your wisting fingers in the upright and read position.
She sent me magnets!
Dollhouse! Bufffy! PUPPET ANGEL.
She sent me a hooped embroidery!
This is my favorite thing Cordelia Chase has EVER said in all seven seasons of Buffy and five seasons of Angel. She says it in the Buffy pilot.
She sent me paintings of the Scooby Gang!
They look amazing! Just like the characters! AMAZING.
And finally she sent me the best swap thing I have ever been sent EVER:
It’s a pillow! With Wash! And so many tiny stitches! And so many words! And SHADING. And soft soft dinosaur fabric.
So basically, FiberAlchemist is the best thing ever! Hence all the exclamation marks! YAY.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 