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The awesome new mittens I’ve been working on? They look like this:
That’s right, folks, dinosaurs! I’ll be selling the pattern for these as well and will have several options for different dinos. The Triceratops is all written up, and I’ve got to figure out how to do the T-Rex so it actually looks like a T-Rex. I’ve yet to muddle out the stegosaurus, but that’s happening too. If you’ve got suggestions or requests for other dinos, just let me know! I want to have as many options as possible for these guys.
Like the sharks, the pattern will be in both adult and child sizes. I hope to get it up before the month is out, resulting in a pattern that will make perfect holiday gifts–I did the actual knitting of these (disregarding fiddling and figuring time) in like, three days.
These ones, in an adult size, are for the boyfriend, who love dinos and I’m sure will be noming on people all the time once I figure out the T-Rex. : )
I’m also knitting for me:
That’s a Classic Elite pattern, A Slouch for All Seasons, done up in Knit Picks Wool of the Andes left over from the sweater vest. I should have enough yarn, but it’ll be close. I’d be more worried if I hadn’t cut out two pattern repeats and only cast on 80 instead of 100. This hat looks to be done tomorrowish.
I’ve thrown my hat back into the ring for the Ongoing Wish Swap and claimed someone for a knit hat, so that’s coming up on the radar. I’m not doing Christmas gifts this year (except for my sister, which is a story for a later date). Stay tuned!
Pattern: My own, which will be available for purchase in both adult and child (like age 5-7 and 8-10) in the near future.
Yarn: A little of this and a little of that: Grey Cascade Ecological Wool, red Ella Rae wool, while Lily Sugar and Cream cotton, and random black crochet cotton from the thrift store. What I had around, basically.
Needles: US 6/4 mm for the main mitten bit and fin and US 7/4.5 mm for the red mouth parts.
I also made a little Samuel L. Jackson (like in the movie Deep Blue Sea) to go with them:
(He’s bald cause I don’t actually know about doll hair.)
Samuel L. Jackson is also my own pattern, though that I basically just made up as I went. He’s made from brown and blue (I used the last couple of yards) of Lion Brand Wool and the same black crochet cotton used above.
The sharks like to eat Samuel, especially when he’s making important speeches. : )
The pattern for these is currently being test knit and will be available for purchase through Ravelry soon. In other knitting news, I started more mittens. They are also awesome and I will be offering a pattern for them as well. What are they? You’ll see on Monday!
Pattern: Hilja Vest
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Amethyst Heather, 3.5 skeins (way less than I budgeted)
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm Knit Picks Options circular needle
Mods: Only CO 144 to make it smaller. Probably added length. Did fewer pairs of shaping. Basically, I made it up as I went until I started the V/arm holes. Then sort of made that up as well.
Serious moderation went into this vest. Basically, I didn’t know how to construct a v-neck or a vest, and the pattern taught me how. So now I can make up my own vests. Awesome, considering I fancy myself a budding designer (which you’ll see more of on Thursday).
Anyway, I think the vest came out super cute. I love the deep v (the depth is just about perfect, I think), and the fit is great for me basically making it up as I went along. I think the arm things/straps/not sleeves/shoulders could stand to be a bit narrower, but they’re mostly fine and I’m not really complaining.
I used less yarn than I thought I would, as I said. When I ordered a bunch of things from Knit Picks a while ago, I randomly threw into my cart five skeins of purple Wool of the Andes. I meant to use much of it here, but instead I only used three and a half. So now I have a skein and a half of Wool of the Andes, which will most likely end up in a cowl of some sort because I love cowls and they are quite quick to knit.
Coming up on The Adulterous Whore Club: a surprise, as I said, plus another super awesome thing. It will be awesome, trust me.
Thanks, Demetri Martin for that big of comedic gold. I think it’s funny at least.
Anyway, as the title suggests, I am knitting a sweater vest. Currently, it looks like this:
(sorry for the crappy photo–I wanted a post for today but was going to be too busy to write one, so picture and post writing happened Tuesday night.)
It’s this free pattern on Ravelry. I’ve had to make a lot of modifications because it only comes in a size large, and I am quite small. So I’ve basically disregarded the pattern except for basic directions for making a v-neck and where to cast off the sleeves.
In other knitting news, I’ve had a brilliant idea for both a knitted thing and a pattern that will be available with it. The pattern is largely knit up, I think, I just have to test a few things to make sure it will work. Trust me, it will be AWESOME.
Pattern: Esme by Amy Pickard
Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool in coffee, left over from owls.
Needles: US 10/6 mm, which I did not realize until just this moment is a needle size UP from the pattern rather than DOWN, as I originally thought. Fail.
Modifications: Tightened the brim a bit, probably lengthened the bit before the decreases. Mostly, I knit as is.
I think this hat came out quite nice. Despite my fuck-up with gauge, the hat fits and (provided I arrange my hair just right) actually looks kind of cute on me. I like it, and I will actually wear it out as the temperature drops but isn’t quite fuck-appearances-I-just-want-warm-ears cold. It’s a fall hat. Lovely. AND I used up one of the two balls of Cascade Eco I had left over from owls. I have another large one, and I’m not sure what I’ll do with that (felted slippers, maybe). But stash busting is always good in my book, especially when it results in hats. : )
Coming up: A sewing thing. Probably some knitting things (I just started a vest) and maybe another (better) surprise later along the way. Stay tuned!
Pattern: Srsly, it’s a toe-up sock with a short row heel. And some increases to fit my calves.
Yarn: Lion Wool in Cadet Blue (bout a quarter of a skein) and Ocean Blues (two FULL skeins)
Needles: US 6/4 mm dpns
So I wanted socks to wear in my rain boots to keep my toes warm in the snow. These definitely fit the bill. They come up to my knees (actually, a bit over) and are super warm. Because they are wool, my feet will still be able to breathe, but even if snow gets into my shoe, my feet will stay (mostly) warm and dry. Win.
And as for the yarn: The variegated has been marinating in my stash almost since I started knitting–I bought it on sale at Micheal’s before I knew I didn’t like variegated yarn and I hadn’t been able to find a use for it. When I decided to make the socks, I knew I didn’t want to have ANY left, so I knit until I had just enough yarn left for the cast off. This resulted in a left over length of yarn (after weaving in) of about a foot on one sock and about two inches on the other sock. WIN.
The blue in the heel and the toe I was a little more worried about. I knew I wanted contrasting heels and toes (because I really love that look) and I only had about a quarter of a skein. I thought it was going to be close and I would run out on the second toe. Fortunately, I had plenty and I even have a couple of yards left. Not sure what I’ll do with them though—Maybe I’ll make a scrap hat one of these days. OH, or, I have some purple that would look lovely in a hat with a blue stripe. : )
In other knitting news: I started (and finished, actually, except for blocking) a hat from some left over Cascade Eco. Featherweight, as I said, is on the back burner and in the mean time, I’ve been working up small projects to burn through some stash. I’ve recently decided that I can’t buy more yarn until everything (or at least, all my good non-acrylic) yarn fits in the bin I have at school. This includes a whole skein of Cascade Eco, four balls of Valley Northampton, and most of a cone of Jaggerspun lace weight. We’ll see how that goes. At the very least, I’ll have lots of hats and mittens and things.
(I can and do button all the buttons, it was just a little warm that day.)
Pattern: owls by Kate Davies, size small
Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool in coffee, about a skein and a half (ish)
Needles: 6.5 mm Knit Picks Options circular and plastic 6 mm dpns, Susan Bates or somesuch.
Modifications: Made it a cardigan. Probably increased length. Moved the waist shaping to the sides.
So I definitely love this sweater. It’s warm and cozy and PERFECT for fall weather when the temperature drops to 50 degrees. Plus, it’s super cute. I used a total of 13 smallish plastic tortoise-shell buttons, none of which match because honestly, who the hell has 13 matching buttons in their button stash? I’ll probably leave the owls without button eyes, though I do have some little silver beads that I might sew onto a couple of them.
And as for the yarn: I am a fan. It’s super economical (I paid like $15 for 476 yards of bulky weight goodness) and softens considerably after a bath. I noticed a little bit of growing, but I was actually quite pleased with that because my first sleeve was started too small and I wanted to add a little length. It came out to the perfect length, actually, and I’m super pleased. The yarn is a little pilly, but I suspect that’s because I do dumb things like lean my elbows on rough concrete and whatnot. And in any case, a quite run with a sweater shaver (which I need to procure…) will fix that right up.
All in all, this is a great sweater and I know I’ll get a lot of wear out of it. Especially since I’ve been wearing it as my outer layer since I sewed on the buttons. Very cozy.
Pattern: None. Started with Broad Street from Knitty, but that come out huge, so I made up my own, fingers down.
Yarn: Regia 4-ply in color 2004
Needles: US 3/3.25 mm
So I have this pair of machine-knit glittens that I got from Kohl’s and I love them to death. But I, being a knitter, decided I must make my own fingerless gloves as a foray into fingering yarn that isn’t knitted on giant needles into lace. I’d had a million pairs of fingerless mitts, but I decided my new gloves must have fingers, and patterns for those are somewhat harder to find. I love how these came out though, once I figured out what the hell I was doing.
And the figuring out took some time. The first glove i made was too big in the hand (I didn’t decrease enough after the fingers), the thumb was in a weird place, and the cuff, which I made while following Broad Street and didn’t want to frog, was grafted to the hand of the glove. Except the stitch numbers were uneven, so there was random decreasing and whatnot.
The second glove was much better. The thumb was still in an odd place and the ribbing started a bit late, but it’s a good, sturdy glove.
The third glove has a proper thumb, fit snugly, and has late ribbing to match the second. I’ll be keeping the last two, and the first one was… destroyed. I didn’t frog it, really, because I still had a fair amount of yarn left after knitting the next two. I did, however, chop the cuff off of it in order to knit the fingers of the third one.
In other knitting news: Owls is done and pictures were taken, so look for that soon. I also started a new project (socks) and will be starting a new sweater soon. So stay tuned. : )
This weekend is fall break at my school and I also have Friday off due to midterms for those classes being earlier in the week. Which means I have FIVE WHOLE DAYS to my weekend, which means lots of time for knitting! For example, I’m knitting these fingerless gloves:
(Even though I’ll probably finish them tomorrow or something ridiculous.)
Funny story about those gloves, which I will tell you in the FO post. For now, just know the first glove was a pain in the ass, and the second one is going much more smoothly (I say, as though I’ve actually done more than two and a half fingers).
Also, I’ve finished owls, and it’s blocking nicely on my bed. And in case you didn’t know, bulky wool takes FOREVER to dry. I’m hoping FO pictures of that can happen over Fall Break as well.
My plan is to start one of several things once my gloves are done: a triangle shawl, a lace scarf, or a lace-weight cardigan a la Featherweight (which I’ll either make up because I’m cheap as hell or give in and just buy the damn pattern and actually make Featherweight). Basically, I’m working with lace weight next. Thoughts?
(Why yes, I am ridiculous.)
Pattern: My own, though it’s just a basic raglan cardigan with a picked up button band.
Yarn: Serendipity Tweed in “Poinsettia” and “Water Lily Leaves”, purchased on sale from Knitter’s Cottage in F’Burg
Needles: Knit Picks Options US 8/5 mm circular and bamboo dpns in US 7 and 8 (I only have three of the 8’s, so I had to improvise a little)
So I totally love this sweater. As I said before, I love things that look like watermelons, and this sweater fits the bill perfectly. It fits wonderfully, especially the sleeves, which have a little bell thing going on. Perfect for both fall and spring. I know the colors don’t really go with fall, but I don’t care.
The knitting of this sweater was mostly fine and wonderful, but I ran out of yarn before getting to the end of the sleeves. I did manage to pick some more up a couple days later though (AND there was a skein in my colorway AND it was still on sale). The yarn is lovely though. Soft and lovely and light enough to be a transition sweater, but the wool keeps the shape. I love cotton/wool blends. Truly, it’s great. The colors bled a little in the wash, but it wasn’t really huge, and when I wash it, I’ll add a little vinegar so it doesn’t run any more.
In other knitting news: I’m up the the owls on owls, so that will happen soon. I also started a pair of fingerless gloves, so those will happen too. Stay tuned!
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 