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I finished my first pair of socks!
Specs:
Pattern: Striped Footies from Lion Brand
Needles: US 5/3.25mm dpns
Yarn: Lion Wool in Purple and Vanna’s Choice in grey
Modifications: Didn’t do striped and just did the toe and heel in a different color. Other than that, I followed the pattern as written.
They fit properly, but the fabric made with the small needles is really thick and stiff, so I think for future socks, I’ll use a larger needle. They’ll wear out more quickly, but if I continue to use acrylic for the heel and toes, it shouldn’t be too bad. These would have only taken a day or two, but I was also working on Lime, the Cavern Cardi (pics to follow soon). They fit alright though, like I said, they’re pretty stiff and they look a little wonky, but I’ll wear them in boots or something where a little thickness might be a good thing.
I’m definitely planning to make more socks, though not with sock yarn since I just don’t have the patience. Maybe eventually, but for right now, I’m going to keep with the worsted weight.
I actually am working on this sock pattern (but in worsted weight, obviously). I finished one whole sock and just finished the toe increases for the other one. I am using Caron Simply Soft and US 6/4mm dpns (5) and though the fabric is still a little thick for my liking, they are coming out pretty well. Because I’m using acrylic, there’s very little stretch, so off of my foot, it looks huge and weird, but it fits nicely. Nice and squooshy. : )
Also, I’ve decided short row heel = ❤
Since Lime is done (as I said, pics to follow), I’ve also done a pair of fingerless mitts for my friend. But I need something bigger. Hmm…
Greetings, all. A couple of knitterly things have been in the works lately. For one thing, I recently started the Cavern Cardigan in Lion Brand Cotton-Ease in Lime (I had it on hand and have been meaning to make a light little summery/springy cardigan). I’m going to have a bit of trouble with the sizing because I’m small, and the size of the pattern is medium/36″ bust. I’m either going to have a lot of ease of a lot of fiddling. We’ll see. That’s being worked on.
Other things: I made a hat!
From a chart I found on Ravely. Unfortunately, it came out weird. My large gauge made the motif too wide and also I fucked up the chart a couple of times. Also, it was coming out too long, so I hurried with the decreases, making it really bunchy. It now looks like this:
Yep. But I made some other things too:
It’s the Zune/iPod Wallet found here on the Internets. I used Red Heart Strata in this blue color, which would have been a lot nicer if they hadn’t included the black and white bits. *shrug* I made one using the pattern exactly for my iPod and cast on a couple more and knit a couple extra rounds to make a similar one for my boyfriend’s Creative Zen mp3 player. It’s really a quite useful little cozy because it means I don’t have to search through my whole purse for my headphones and because the cord isn’t EVERYWHERE, the headphones will last longer. So that’s good.
Pictures of Hey Teach are… nonexistant yet. I’m waiting for the weather to warm up and stop being wet so I can take spring-type pictures in the sun. Patience, children. Also, I’m expecting a swap package some time in the realm of soon, so you have that post to look forward to also. : )
Unfortunately, it is still quite cold, both in Virginia Beach, where I live, and in Fredericksburg, where I school. The sun, however, is shining, and I took advantage of it, snapping this lovely wip photo of my cable cardigan:
But as I’ve said, it’s still cold. I’m home on spring break, but my bedroom, where I spend much of my time, is freezing because the heat doesn’t reach back there. As a result, I had to whip up these:
I used Caron Felt-It in colorway Evening Mist and 4.5mm dpn’s. I used my basic mitten pattern, but I knit these from the top down to make sure I had enough to finish both mitts (I did, with yarn left over). They came out a little too large and I had to rip back the thumb gusset on the first one a few times before I figured it out, but I like them. They’re soft and squishy.
The yarn is interesting. I have a little left over, and I think I’m going to felt something–probably a little bowl. From what I’ve seen on Ravelry, it felts pretty well, which is to be expected seeing as the yarn is pretty much roving.
One last thing: right before leaving school for break, I whipped up this:
A holder for my double-pointed needles (and also crochet hooks). I bought some dowels recently to make my own dpns, so once I finish them, I’ll be moving my crochet hooks elsewhere. I still need something for them and also my circular needles (of which I need many more sizes… Especially 6’s and 7’s).
I love mittens. I love making them and having them and wearing them… They can be simple, with a really nice yarn or with a really simple yarn and complex pattern. Fingerless or convertible, red or blue or green or yellow… I love them all. A mitten is the ultimate in small, portable projects. They can be made with almost any weight of yarn and they only take a couple of hours, unlike socks, which have (generally) small gauge and take a fair amount of time. I love mittens. In the last couple of days, I’ve made a couple of pairs:
(Red Fingerless mitts made with Caron Simply Soft Tweed and a bit of wool from a thrift store sweater to work on stranding for my friend Dalia who requested them.)
(Grey Vanna’s Choice and a couple of yards of black Caron Simply Soft for a commission knit. : ) Was paid for these ones, which is lovely. Got to feed the stash somehow.)
And my favorite of my recently completed mittens:
Owls! Or more specifically, Give a Hoot. I modified the pattern a bit, essentially just using my basic mitten pattern and putting the owl cable bit on the back of them. I also made the purl bits around the owl smaller–a selvage of two rows and stitches instead of four. They’re a little bit snug/short, but that’s not really enough to deter me.
Also, the eyes on these are little silver beads–actual silver. I have a bunch of these little beads and am not entirely sure what to do with them all. Maybe I’ll turn some of them into stitch markers. : )
Currently on the needles, I have the second sleeve of a sweater I’ve recently started. It’s the cabled cardigan from the Fall 2006 issue of Knit Simple, which I bought offline several weeks ago. The Ravelry page for the cardigan is here. I’m using Burgundy Vanna’s Choice and doing the sleeves in the round and the body as one piece to cut down on seaming, which I hate. I’m also working on/starting the Norwegian Star Earflap Hat (Rav link) because A, I love hats for the same reasons I love mittens and B, I want to work on colorwork. I’ve recently done Entrelac (just practice) and I can do cables and lace. It seems colorwork is my next big knitting adventure. : )
After much time and much vacationing in Florida, I come bearing pictures of all the FO’s I did over winter break. I finished a ton of things, including two hats, two calorimetries, a shrug, and some other things. Pictures!
Hat number one: cable and rib hat of my own divising, based on the pattern from the cable and rib scarf which resembles the Irish Hiking scarf/hat, though that wasn’t intentional.
Bernat Softee Chunky, size 8 dpn’s and a circular, knitted rather loosely.
Two calorimetries, one of which is a gift, and one of which I may keep for myself or may be a gift.
Random blue acrylic from the stash and hand-dyed wool from a thrift store sweater. The pink, hand-dyed one was done using tie-dye, and I crocheted the buttons for both myself due to lack of buttons. I adore this pattern because it knits up, no joke, in two hours. Yay. I only cast on 80 for both, and that was plenty long enough. I repeated row 5 enough times to get 22 stitches on either side of the marker. On the blue one, I used a wrap and turn thing (s last stitch wyif, turn, s1 purlwise, p1, etc.) to make the holes smaller, which worked wonderfully.
Circular shrug:
Made with Caron Simply Soft and size 8’s. CO 200, which worked out fine. Made for my sister for Christmas. The damn thing took FOREVER to knit, and I was very much glad when it was finished. (It is totally finished, seaming and all, I just don’t quite have pictures of the finished project quite yet.
Another hat:
Random blue acrylic and blue Simply Soft, size 8 dpn’s and a circular. Made for my brother for Christmas. Just a simple stockinette with a roll brim.
Coffee Cozies:
Mostly various colors of Red Heart Super Saver in very small amounts I had in the stash. I started browsing a list of various stitches, and that’s how I did the checkerboard one, but I mostly just used variagated yarn or stripes to do my basic coffee cozy: CO 13 or 15 and keep a garter border for three stitches on each side, stockinette in the middle. Continue for nine inches or to fit, sew together. I don’t really know to whom these will go but, there is one that I know the recipient of:
That is my sad attempt at embroidery. It’s a dinosaur; can you tell? Well, I tried.
Currently on the needles, I have a scarf for a friend (which needs to be finished by Monday) and a ladder yarn scarf for my mother, but who knows when that will get finished. In the planning stages, I have a beret (the Meret, actually), a Talia vest (from Knitty) and various unbloggable (well, until much later anyway) things. Also, I bought a bunch of tees, so looks for some t-shirt tote bags on Etsy (and here) soon.
I finally finished my cable cardi after many weeks of its hibernation because I didn’t have enough yarn at school with me. Pictures!
Yarn: Wool, reclaimed from a thrift store sweater
Needles: 5.5mm circular for the body and 5mm straights for the collar.
I got the buttons from a thrift store sweater, and I had to add an extra one in the corner so the edge of the collar wouldn’t flop over. I made the button holes too far into the collar. Despite that, I loved the easy construction of the sweater. It was a lot of fun to knit and I loooove the end product. I started wearing it almost as soon as I finished it. : ) It fits very well and is very comfortable, even over just a tank top, which is how I was wearing it. I would definitely recommend this pattern if you don’t have the patience for a whole sweater with sleeves.
As a bonus gift, here’s a hat I also recently finished:
Various balls of cheap acrylic left over from other things and 5 mm dpn’s. This is my first hat made with the top-down method, and I like it a lot.
Also on the needles: A teddy bear (Heidi from The Knitted Teddy Bear), a pair of mittens (Ravelry link), and a circular shrug (also a Rav link) for my sister for Christmas. Because of course I can finish it by then.
First: I finished my Mrs. Darcy Cardigan, which is actually a vest because I didn’t feel like knitting sleeves and also I didn’t have enough yarn.
It’s a little bit lumpy on the sides, but I really like the buttons. Also, it’s really warm, which is surprising considering it’s a vest. Ah, wool. I’m a big fan of this vest, and there’s a good chance I’ll be making more in different colors.
I’ve also been working on a cabled cardigan which I’ve finished almost all the way to the sleeves, but I ran out of yarn:
The yarn in question was once a sweater that I found at the thrift store. The label said pure wool, so I picked it up for cheap and unraveled it. Now it will be a pretty cardi to keep my torso and neck warm. : )
I’ve also been working off and on on this simple striped garter scarf:
It’s for a friend’s (Jon, boyfriend of model/armwarmer recipient Sarah in previous photos) Christmas present, which I may have mentioned in a previous post.
All of this means I have the following projects on the needles:
– Garter scarf
– Cabled Cardi
– Cabled Scarf (which I don’t have pictures of currently, but will include in a later post)
– Ballet Cardigan (which will most likely get frogged)
And I still need to come up with awesome scarf patterns for Christmas presents. Also, I need to start an iPod case for my sister and a scarf for my mother (which I can’t start until Thanksgiving since she bought the yarn). I’m also planning golf club covers for my father and I don’t even know what for my brother. What the hell do you get 14-year-old boys for Christmas/their birthdays?
So I finished the body of my ballet-style sweater. It looks like this:
I started a sleeve, but I may have to rip it back because I don’t think it’s wide enough. In any case, I’m taking a break from that sweater because I dislike the large gauge, which is surprising for me since I hate small needles. *shrug*
I’m chugging along on my Mrs. Darcy Cardigan. I said I was putting it down because of the yarn thing, but I cast on for one of the front panels anyway. I probably won’t be able to finish it, but if I can, that would be awesome. I’m thinking I might make the sleeves out of some Simply Soft I’ve got in my stash. The blacks aren’t exactly the same, but oh well. I may also frog a never-finished afghan for the black Red Heart–that probably won’t be the most comfortable, but I’ll wash the sleeves to soften them before I sew them to the body. *shrug* We’ll see.
Despite having two sweaters on the needles already, I am seriously considered using some cream wool I recycled from a thrift store sweater to make this cardigan mostly because I love the collar. I’d probably try to make it close all the way though. Maybe more buttons. : )
Also, I have a FO:
They are the Irish Hiking Armwarmers and my first foray into cables (without a cable needle). Foray successful, despite teaching myself from my cell phone while walking in downtown Fredericksburg. They’re made from some light blue Red Heart (stash yarn) for Sarah’s Christmas present (she’s the model in a previous post). I’ll definitely be doing more with cables (and maybe even use a cable needle this time).
It’s been cold for the last couple of days and I’ve been itching to do some knitting that isn’t just scarves and rectangles. The result? I’ve cast on for two sweaters, only one of which I actually have enough yarn to make.
The first sweater I started is the Mrs. Darcy Cardigan. I’ve heard that the pattern is rife with error, but it’s really cute and I figure I can just wing it and see how it goes. I’m doing it in black with yarn I bought at the thrift store, so it will be really easy to match. I’ve finished the back and blocked it:
(Sorry the lighting is terrible; I didn’t feel like hauling a large piece of cardboard outside for a progress shot.) I’ve since put this aside in favor of another sweater.
On a recent trip to Walmart, I picked up four skeins of Bernat Softee Chunky on a whim (they were like, $1.50 each. Can you blame me?) and had no idea what to do with them. I wandered around Ravelry for a while and eventually stumbled upon this ballet-style wrap sweater from Lion Brand which uses bulky-weight yarn and large-ish needles, which I just happen to have. It also only calls for 500 yards of yarn, and I have about 600. Perfect. Here’s a progress shot, in the crappy lighting of my window sill:
It’s actually a solid grey color-not mottled at all, as it appears here.
I’ve also been working on various Christmas things, including a scarf in school colors (depressingly blue and grey, for Mary Washington) for a friend. Most of my Christmas presents will probably get done over winter break and will be given in January when I return for spring semester (mostly because I will have more time due to not have exams/class).
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 