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So I volunteered to do another WWFY swap. I’m knitting a Liesl in 100purewool merino singles, which are lovely and soft and amazing. Currently, the sweater looks like this:
I’ve restarted this sweater like five times because the cast on edge didn’t seem long enough, but I think I’m going to trust the pattern and see what happens. It should relax during blocking anyway.
In return for knitting a whole sweater, I received 250g of sock yarn:
Two skeins of Premiere Serenity Sock, a skein of Lang Jawoll sock yarn (for ankle or possibly colorwork socks) and a skein of Ms. Gusset, which is lovely and beautiful and I’m so pleased I now own.
So yes. I’m gonna knock out this Liesl (which will go pretty quickly since I’m using 6.5 mm needles), then try to dye up the yarn and knit my cape so I can get my sock knitting on for Socktoberfest.
So that’s the plan. : )
I received today what is posssibly the greatest OWS thing ever. bergman claimed me for oven mitts and a wisty surprise. The oven mitts are super pretty, and will get lots of use:
The wisty surprise she included is the greatest thing in the history of ever and something I’ve had on my wists for a while:
Dear Bergman,
Here is all of my love.
– Brinn
I recently finished another OWS claim:
Pattern: None, but I think I’ll write it up.
Yarn: Let’s see… From bottom to top, Cascade 220 Superwash, chain plied wool from a thrift store sweater, Soy Wool Solids, and vintage wool I bought at the thrift store.
Needles: US 6/4 mm dpns
So these came out a little big for me, which is fine because I have small hands and I realize normal people have larger hands than me. Regardless, I really like them. I love the garter stitch cuff and the overlap (onto which I’ll probably sew a button when I get around to re-knitting them for myself and also so I can write down the pattern this time) and the fingers. I’ll knit my finger cuffs a little shorter so my fingers don’t feel quite so squished cause my fingers feel a little squished in worsted weight knit cuffs.
Currently on the needles is something I’ve been planning for a while (it’s one of the first designs on the knitting design page of my notebook (used for sketching/school notes/fiction/poetry scribblings), and I think you guys are gonna like it when I show you pictures. It’s not my usual style–instead of chunky and whimsical, it’s more dainty and feminine, but still. I think you’ll like it. : )
I finished a hat for an Ongoing Wish Swap claim. For those who aren’t familiar with OWS, it’s basically a chain swap–person A posts a listC B makes something on that list and posts their list; C makes something from B’s list and posts their list. The swap on Craftster is on it’s 62nd round (there’s a new round every month), so it’s been going on forever. I’ve been participating off and on for about a year and a half, and it’s definitely my favorite swap. Usually, you know exactly what to expect.
In this case, I claimed Burgz for a Vortex hat:
Pattern: Vortex, from Knitty
Yarn: Lion Brand Lion Wool (in Deep Teal) and Plymouth Galway (in grey)
Needles: US 9/6 mm I think. Possibly 6.5mm.
Mods: None. Knit as written.
So let me tell you about this hat. It’s… odd, to say the least. I for one could not pull it off even a little bit. It is not my style. The regular, non-point version? Sure. Yeah. This? Not so much.
But it’s not for me. It’s for Burgz, who specifically requested it via her OWS list. And even though the pattern was kind of a pain in the ass and I was glued to it for the entire construction of the hat, a hat is a pretty small thing so it worked up quickly and came out mostly how it’s supposed to.
Anyway, I hope Burgz likes it!
I recently participated in a swap on Craftster themed around bookmarks. It was a group type swap–you’re put in a group of five, and you craft four bookmarks to send to your groupmates and receive four different ones in return. It took me a while to decide what I wanted to make, but in the end, I decided on embroidered corner bookmarks:
(If you recognize the book, I’ll love you to death. It’s my favorite.)
I really like how they came out. I used a dollar store flour sack towel for the base, and the embroidery took next to no time at all. The sewing up was also very simple. Cute. I like ’em.
I also really like the bookmarks I received in return:
The one with the key is currently marking the correct week in my planner. The beaded one was residing in the novel I was reading (And Another Thing by Eoin Colfer), but I finished it and started re-reading HP & the Deathly Hallows, and that’s a big book, so I’m going to replace it with the green corner bookmark. The other ones will probably take up residence in my various school textbooks–one will probably mark the current reading in my Norton Anthology for my British Literature class, at least.
So I have not been blogging as much as I would like. Part of that is that I was sick in the middle of this week and wasn’t sleeping (four hours of sleep over two days is… fun. Not.), but also I’ve not quite settled into the swing of things back at school, and once I do, it’ll be easier to blog more often.
I have, however, been knitting. I recently did a swap on the Will Work for Yarn group on Ravelry for some swatches (for photographing jewelry) in return for a shawl pin and some leftover Malabrigo:
The darker swatch was knit it Malabrigo, so it’s more like in return for a shawl pin and a bit of yarn, I got to knit with Malabrigo, which is almost just as much of a reward as the first two things.
I have also been working on that sweater I mentioned before. It currently looks like this:
I’m up to some waist shaping at the moment. It’s working up at a fair clip–worsted weight and two-row stripes will do that. I think I’m going to love it when it’s done, thought I still haven’t decided if I want to .do a v-neck or a scoop neck. I’m currently leaning toward scoop (I do love me a good scoop neck), but I could still be persuaded otherwise.
I also just finished up a swap, but I’ll talk about that another time so I can show you all the pictures for it at once. I also think I’m doing another WWFY swap (involving WOLLMEISE, which I’m pretty stoked about), so that’s pretty exciting. I have lots of things planned for the near future (birthday present for boyfriend, capelet that I’m designing as part of a Halloween costume (and also just to wear) but for which I also have to dye some yarn). Stay tuned!
So my first week at school has been pretty busy, hence the lack of posting. That isn’t to say I haven’t been crafting–I have definitely been crafting. And organizing. My craft area sort of looks organized (which if you know me at all is something of an accomplishment). I’ve been busy knitting for swaps (and as I mentioned before, I started a sweater for me). I recently finished two items for an OWS claim:
Pattern: Mary Jane Slippers for what seems like the hundreth time.
Yarn: Vintage wool, which I’m trying desperately to use up since I’m not crazy about it.
Hook: 3.75 mm (f)
Mods: I don’t think any.
I’ve made this pattern so many times I sometimes forgot it’s not my pattern. I don’t usually repeat patterns and certainly not to the degree of this one, so I sometimes forget I’m not just makin’ it up. : )
Pattern: None; I knit the brim flat and picked up stitches for the top part of the hat.
Yarn: More of that vintage wool. I’m down to less than 50g I think.
Needle: US 7/4.5 mm
This yarn frustrates me (nothing wrong with it; I just don’t like the color and I had a lot of it), but I like how the hat came out. It’s cute. I love seed stitch. : ) Not much to say about it; it was pretty easy to make.
In other crafting news, I recently received a crap ton of fabric from an OWS claim, but I’m waiting on one more OWS package, so I’ll just show you all at once. I’m also knitting up some swatches for a WWYF swap (one in linen stitch ❤ and one in stockinette) for which I received a lovely shawl pin. I'll show you that when I show you the OWS stuff. I also recently finished a thing for a friend's birthday, which I will try to show you on Monday. It's super cute.
So I also recently claimed puzzler for some slippers and some notecards. I turned to my trusty slipper pattern and…
Pattern: Mary Jane Slippers from Oh My Goodknits
Yarn: Lion Wool in Dark Teal or somesuch
Hook: 3.75 mm/F
Mods: Made them longer to fit a US size 9/10ish foot.
This is possibly the fourth or fifth time I’ve made slippers from this pattern. It’s a good pattern and it consistently produces good slippers. Also, it’s HELLA fast. Like, two hours for the pair maybe. Very fast. One of these days I’ll make a pair for myself maybe, but in the meantime, they’re great for swaps. Everyone likes slippers, right? : )
Anyway, I also made notecards, as I mentioned above:
I stuck with simple cause that was Puzzler’s request and I really like how they came out. Especially the turtle. I love the turtle. The next time I have to congratulate someone via card, I’m totally making another one. : )
PS: Don’t forget about the giveaway to win a copy of one of my patterns!
For the August iteration of Ongoing Wish Swap, I claimed Juicebox29for some cold weather goodness, when I decided to make in the form of pretty mittens:
Pattern: Bella’s Mittens
Yarn: Jo Ann Sensations Rainbow Classic, a furry bulky acrylic I’ve had forever.
Needles: US 8/5mm
Mods: None, really. I had intended to make the cuff shorter but then I… didn’t.
I like how these came out. Not enough to make them for myself, probably, but I do like them. Even in this fuzzy acrylic. It is a pretty color (I did buy it for a reason), but in general I prefer working with smooth wool.
I like these mittens a lot, as I said, and the pattern is good, if a little confusing. There are definite pattern repeats, especially of the cuff, but the instructions are written line by line so there’s no way to really memorize the pattern. I would have liked a chart I think. Still, they came out pretty well, even if I did goof and cross the cables every six rows instead of every seven. Oh well. Cute, as I said.
Oh, also, reminder! Don’t forget about the giveaway to win a copy of one of my patterns!
So I recently participated in a swap on Craftster wherein I swapped kits to make a craft with other people. It was sort of round-robin style. The kit I made (a drop spindling kit) went to sugaree. I included a how to spindle pamphlet, a little sample of my early handspun, a drop spindle, some fiber, and a drawstring bag to hold it all:
The bag:
and the fiber:
I included about 30g of alpaca fiber and about 125g of domestic wool top (from the pound I ordered when I started spinning) that I dyed. I call the colorway “Ocean Madness (It’s No Excuse for Ocean Rudeness)”.
The kit I received in return was from ChrisSews and it was for making jewelry. She sent so much cool stuff!
Here’s everything:
Tons of findings:
Tons of beads:
as well as instructions and materials to make these earrings, based off some on my wists:
I can’t wait to make the second earring so I can wear them, but I don’t think I’ll really be able to until I go back to school. There’s a lot of little parts and I don’t want to lose anything, so I’ll wait until I’m settled in my apartment at school and have a work space that belongs to me.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 