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Knitting that is. I’ve done few commissions over the last couple of weeks:
Bufanda Del Diablo
Pattern: It’s garter stitch. Seriously.
Yarn: Lion Brand Fancy Fur in “Bold Black”. Three skeins.
Needles: US 15/10 mm
So, yes, Bufada Del Diablo. The Devil’s Scarf. A, novelty yarn. B, two strands. C, apparently the two skeins I had in my stash weren’t enough, so I literally drove all around town today trying to hunt down more. I tried Dollar Tree, Big Lots, Michael’s, and two different Tuesday Mornings before I found a skein in a clearance bin in AC Moore. BAH.
Anyway, this scarf is for one of my mother’s friends at work. She’s paying me for it, so it’s not like I just make scarves and run all over town for random people my mother knows. I am giving her a cut rate deal though, mostly cause it helped get the damn yarn out of my stash.
Next:
Pattern: My own Shark mittens
Yarn: Cascade Eco and Ella Rae
Needles: US 6/4 mm and US 7/4.5 mm
These mittens are for a girl I know at school. I was in the post office at school before break, and I had my mittens on cause it was cold. She complimented them and asked where I got them. When I told her I made them, she asked if I do commissions. And I most certainly do. : )
Next:
Pattern: My Tissue Cozy.
Yarn: Lily Sugar ‘N’ Cream in Hot Pink, Strawberry, and Playtime
Needles: US 6/4 mm
I don’t actually have a recipient in mind for these, as I’m putting them up for sale on my Etsy and my Artfire. Or, I will. At some point. Yeah.
And last but not least, this cowl:
Pattern: None. It’s a garter stitch rectangle with buttons and button holes.
Yarn: A strand of vintage wool and a strand of acrylic
Needles: Uh… US 9 or 10? I don’t remember.
A big, chunky cowl to keep you warm for winter. : ) The buttons are hand-made by me out of Fimo (or similar brand; I don’t recall) clay. It’s super cozy, and I’d keep it for myself but I can only use so many cowls, ya know? Available on Etsy or Artfire.
The pattern for the Jurassic Mittens is available for purchase through Ravelry! (Ravelry account not required for download.)
Jurassic Mittens: US $6.50
Included in the pattern are directions to make the following dino mittens:
– Triceratops
– Stegosaurus
– T-Rex
Sizes: Children’s S (Children’s L, Adult) Shown in Adult
Children’s S: Ages approx. 5-7, 5” palm circumference
Children’s L: Ages approx. 8-10, 6” palm circumference
Adult: Should fit most adult hands, measures approx. 8” around palm, length is to fit.
Finished measurements: 6” (7”, 8”) (palm circumference)
Gauge: 5 sts/7 rows per inch stockinette
Yarn Required:
MC: 150-200 yards worsted/aran weight yarn, green (sample used Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride)
CC: 20 yards worsted weight yarn, red (sample used Ella Rae Classic)
CC2: 10 yards worsted weight yarn, off-white (sample used reconned thrift store sweater yarn)
CC3: 4 yards worsted weight yarn, white (sample used Lily Sugar ‘N’ Cream)
You will also need:
-Set of 5 US 7/4.5 dpn’s
-Stitch marker
-Stitch holder or waste yarn
So I claimed sunspotted for a Calorimetry, some hair things, and some scrapbook paper.
Pattern: the ubiquitous Calorimetry
Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool, Coffee
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm metal straights
Mods: CO 88, fewer short rows, closed up some of the holes.
Here are the hair pins I made:
They’re glued and sewn onto bobby pins and they were kind of a bitch to make, but they’re cute, I think. I had a hard time getting the bobby pins to stay in the glue straight. It was a learning experience, at least.
There were also a couple sheets of scrapbook paper, but you don’t need to see those.
Coming soon: A couple more swap things. Some knitting. And the dino mittens pattern!
Pattern: My own, which will be available for sale… soonish. I need to knit a steg mitten.
Yarn: Lamb’s Pride in Kiwi, Ella Rae Classic in Red, scraps of white Sugar ‘N’ Cream
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm
So these are finally finished and gifted to the boyfriend for a birthday/early Christmas gift. They came out really well, I think, and he loves them. : ) I suspect there will be epic dino vs. shark battles this winter (especially since I might knit my sister a pair of one dino and one shark for Christmas).
As for the pattern: It’s mostly finished because the base mitten is the same as the sharks. Really, the only thing that’s holding it back from being done is that I have to knit up a stegasaurus both because I need to knit the plates to write up a pattern and because I want some pictures of a steg to put in the pattern.
So I’m sort of working on it. I suspect it’ll be available sometime in the next month (cause I’m home for winter break).
Coming up more immediately: Swap stuff. I’m spinning away. A couple of finished knits. You know.
It’s been a stash-building couple of weeks. Last week, there was the green roving from the Ongoing Wish Swap (which I’m already halfway through spinning). Then, for my birthday, it was a fiber-pallooza! First, there was this wonderful handdyed green fingering weight:
(Unplanned Peacock Studios, Superwash Merino Fingering, Frog colorway, 100g)
It was a lovely birthday present from my good friends Jon and Sarah. (Thanks, you two!)
Then there was this GORGEOUS merino superwash roving from Fiber Optic on Etsy, from my fantastic, amazing boyfriend:
And THEN there was a new spindle! Whoo! Also from my fantastic boyfriend. : )
(Faux Jade whorl, .9 oz, from KnotMyDayJob on Etsy; yes I had to test it out.)
And then there were the Ravelry destashes. Let me give you a word of advice: Do NOT browse the destash board at two a.m. when you can’t sleep. It is BAD for your bank account. Exhibit A:
Crown Mountain Fiber Farm, In the Skies colorway, 8 oz.
Exibit B:
Regia Silk sock yarn.
Exibit C:
Five skeins of Knit Picks Palette.
So… yes. Stash-hance.
Alright, y’all, the pattern for Geometric Spirals is up and ready! Since it includes a chart, I’m not going to post it here like I did for Lilith and the Tissue Cozy. This means you’ll have to mosey on over to Ravelry to pick up the pdf. Deets/Link below.
Geometric Spirals
A free pattern, available for download.
Yarn: 100-150 yards worsted weight in MC and 30 yards in CC
Needles: US 8/5 mm dpns and 16″ circular needle
You will also need a tapestry needle and a stitch marker.
Finished size: To fit 20″-23″ head (should fit most adult heads)
This post has been a long time in coming. FINALLY, this is the super secret knitting patten I’ve been talking about since probably July.
Pattern: Counterpoint by Jennifer Crawford, available as a free Ravelry download
Yarn: Plymouth Encore, one skein of each black and white
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm straights, probably from a garage sale
Modifications: Went up a needle size because I didn’t want the scarf to be too difficult/uncomfortable to wear. Other than that, knit as written. I think I got 6.5 octaves.
Now, I’ve knit some fairly complicated things in my knitting history. I’ve done cables and lace, sweaters with shaping, fiddly gloves, and I’ve used teeeny little yarn and fairly small needles. I’ve done color work and entrelac and all sorts of sewing up. All of this absolutely pales in comparison to this scarf, which is absolutely the coolest thing I’ve ever knit. Now, I’m sure illusion knitting is old hat to many knitters, but I don’t care. This scarf probably took me twice as long to knit as it should have, simply because I couldn’t stop admiring it long enough to just knit the damn thing. It’s beautiful and wonderful and cool.
This has been fairly long in the planning. About a year ago, I was browsing Ravelry with my boyfriend in the room, and he thought this pattern was super cool. I’d made him a scarf for his birthday last year, but it was a pretty plain cabled scarf is Bernat Satin Soft – lovely, but nowhere near as nice as this particular pattern. I kept it in the back of my mind and didn’t actually buy the yarn until July. I started knitting in August, working on it off and on in between other projects, both on deadline and just because I wanted something different.
I will say that there was a significant learning curve to getting comfortable with illusion knitting. I couldn’t knit a stitch without the chart and I had no idea which knits or purls were doing what and what was creating that super cool patterns.
Then, all of a sudden, I got it. And now I’m fairly confident I could design my own illusion-knitted garment (though I find they’re mostly confined to scarves and dishcloths) fairly easily. My advice for those just starting illusion knitting, I would say to keep at it until it clicks. Because it will click. It just takes a little work first.
Take two of this hat pattern!
Pattern: My own! Will be up here and on Rav in a couple of days. Cause everyone loves free hat patterns.
Yarn: Cascade Eco Wool that I’ve been using for EVERYTHING and also some handdyed reclaimed sweater wool
Needles: US 8/5mm dpns and bamboo circ.
So it came out a little large, but I, at least, am pleased with that because that means it covers more of my head in the dead of winter when it’s actually snowing (so like… late January) or even if it’s just slightly chilly. Also, I seriously love this color I dyed. I used tie-dye over last winter to get this lovely mottled pink-purple. Yay! I only had a little bit, and it turned out perfect for the color work. Yay color work!
Anyway, to get some practice with pattern writing (and because I thought someone might like to make it), I’m writing up the pattern. It has a colorwork chart. It’ll probably be up here in the next couple of days as it’s finished, I just have to flip the chart upside down. And I’m LAZY. Or, actually, we’ll say busy cause it’s almost finals week and I should be studying. Yes. BUSY. Heh.
Okay, so things are going to reverse order from what I said Sunday. Turns out I left the hat I was going to publish somewhere I can’t actually get to it quite yet, so instead you get socks! Whoo hoo!
Pattern: It’s a toe up sock with a short row heel.
Yarn: Red Heart Heart and Sole, one skein, colorway “Toasted Almond”
Needles: US 1/2.25 mm metal dpns
I used a basic toe-up sock pattern with a short row heel and increased to 64 stitches. This resulted in socks that are a bit too big, but not so much so that I can’t wear them. Amazingly, my gauge is something ridiculous like 9 spi, so these should wear pretty well, despite them being too big. The next time I make plain ankle socks (and it will be soon… I’m already looking at Knit Picks for a fix of sock yarn), I’ll only go up to 56 stitches and I think they’ll fit better.
Also, despite this being a “cheap” sock yarn, I liked it fine. It was cheap–with a coupon, I think I got it for like $3 at Micheal’s, but I liked knitting with it, and it’s comfortable. And the colors are fine. My socks don’t match, but I’ve been known to wear mismatched socks when I can’t find a pair anyway.
In unrelated news: I received one of two Ongoing Wish Swap packages yesterday, so that’s happening. Plus I finished that hat that I was going to show you today. I’m glad I’ve got all this blog fodder because my current knitting is working on my Featherweight Cardi, and that is sloooooooow going. Lace weight on 4mm needles. Yeah. It’s simple stockinette though, so it’s fine for all the work I’ve got going on this week.
Okay, so maybe I lied. Turns out I figured how to gain internet access, and that means you all get an early post! Whoo! Anyway, as I said, knitting has been happening:
(Sorry for ridiculous edited photos. The second one (the next one after this) has the most accurate color.)
Pattern: It’s a triangle with eyelets. Do you really need a pattern?
Yarn: Combo yarn I got in a swap. I believe it’s silk and cotton.
Needles: US 10/6 mm Knit Picks Options circular
(This is the most accurate shot of color.)
This came out exactly how I wanted it too: large and warm. It’s a lovely scarf. It’s cotton, so it’s not the best fiber for winter, but until I get around to knitting a wool triangle scarf, this will do. Plus I love the yarn. The light green strand, the silk, is shiny and soft and the cottons are nice too. The tweed bits are interesting (though I think I’d have preferred to leave them out).
So what else is going on? Well, Ongoing Wish Swap is happening. I’m expecting two packages hopefully in the next two weeks, otherwise I’ll have to wait until I get back to school after winter break. I’ve also finished a hat, which I’ll hopefully post on Monday. I’m also working on a pair of vanilla socks, as I mentioned yesterday, I think, and those will probably show up on Wednesday. After the socks, there might be another break in posting as it’s the last two weeks of the semester starting Monday (a week of classes and then a week of finals), and I have a ton of schoolwork to finish in that time. But I’ll give you a better update then. Stay tuned!
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 