FO: Another Noro Scarf

I finished another Noro scarf! Nothing really much to be said about it, actually. Details are the same as for the Trinnit scarf. Except for colors of course! I can't find the ball bands for this, but I *think* the colors are 274 and maybe 270? I don't know. I'm not sure who this is going to be for, actually. It's definitely not for me, it's not really my colors overall (which are, of course, green and purple). I think this is pretty, but I don't really love it. It was still a very fun knit, nice and easy with no thinking really involved. I'm glad it's done so I can move on to something else!

I did start a plain vanilla toe-up stock with the Mini Mochi in the Violets Rainbow (see what I mean, green and purple!). I cast on 24 and increased to 64 stitches which look like they it should fit. I'mgoing to do an afterthough heel to preserve the striping. I just needed a super-low-brain-intensity project. Since getting back from the hospital, poor DD is sleeping like CRAPOLA which means I am too, and I am just So. Tired.

And I have the new Monkies that are going well (heel is turned, finishing the gusset rounds). The KP Imagination Wicked Witch is quite possibly the prettiest yarn I've ever seen, really. I am wondering if I'd wear socks made out of it in a different pattern. Because of the alpaca (I think), it's a bit fuzzier than I normally like, but it's so gorgeous!

I am also just OBSESSED with learning to spin. OBSESSED. I think that hobby is 1-2 years off for me, just for time and space issues, but I really want to.

Around the Riverbend

Yes, I am actually following up on a promise to blog about an FO. And I even have pictures. So, here are the Riverbend Socks. The pattern is from Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters, the yarn is Regia Cotton Colors (I believe the colorway is 5407, but the ball bands are long gone, so who knows?). I believe I knit these on KP 2.5 mm fixed circs, using Magic Loop (of course). If I ever knit a pair of socks with DPKs, well, I don't know, I think we'll all be a little stunned.

Okay, so the pattern is the issue here, obviously, because this is a plain stockinette sock. On the one hand, I really like the yarn. It's lovely to knit with, has a really nice feel and I like the fabric produced on this size needles. I love the reinforced heel, I've never done one of these before. I really love the Riverbend design. Unfortunately....I do not love the fit. I've worn them a couple of times now, and they're baggy. Not horrendously, not so I can't wear them, but they bag around the ankles. I also think the cotton leads to a fabric that stretches out and doesn't bounce back (I'm not sure if that's the proper term or not, but these stretch as you wear them). Even brand new, they bagged at the ankle. Fit is apparently an issue with these new sockitectures. The thing is, I haven't (so far) really had fit issues in the other socks I've made. People on the Ravelry group talk a lot about how much you have to "tweak" the numbers to get them to work for you. I don't know, I'm just not sure I have that kind of time, you know? I can definitely wear these...perhaps the bagginess would have been alleviated by fewer stitches at the largest part? (Fewer decreases?) I don't know. Maybe I have narrow ankles. :) I just don't have the brainpower right now to do a lot of tweaking of anything.

I'd love to do some more socks from the book, I really do think it's such a neat idea, but I'm thinking now might not be the time for it. So sad, because I love the heel architecture. Maybe I'll do another pair, but not increase as much as she tells you to and see what happens. One thing I love about this particular architecture is that the increases are all on the bottom of the foot (can't take a picture because I've been wearing them all day and they're grubby). This means you could easily adapt any patterns to this architecture. I may try it, I may not. I'm glad I knit a pair (and finished them!), and I do think they're really pretty, I'm just a tad disappointed that I followed the numbers and they don't fit as well as I'd like.

Holy Cow, another FO!! AND PICTURES!!

What is the world coming to?
Anyway, hard to believe, but I finished ANOTHER thing!! This is Knitty's BYOB, and I found it a fun knit. I seem to have themes in my knitting sometimes, and lately it's been seed stitch.

I knit this using the recommended needles sizes (of course I didn't swatch, what are you thinking??) with the recommended yarn, which is Lion Pride Cotton-Ease. This yarn is not bad, actually. I'll have to see how it washes and dries, but it's a nice soft yarn and makes a pretty fabric, I think. I used about a quarter of the skein of the rose, about a third of the skein of the blue, and cut it down to the wire with the green - I had 4 grams left at the end. I was a bit nervous I was going to run out and trying think how it would look if I did the bind-off row in blue or pink. Interesting, I am sure. I wasn't about to go out and buy another skein of the green for one row, you know?

I notice that when I am feeling low on yarn, I change how I knit with it. Usually I pull out a good long lead so I am not constantly unwinding from the skein, but when I feel low, I stop that, as if somehow that will mean I use less yarn. The mind, it's powerful. Don't go in it alone.

I didn't make any intentional pattern modifications (that's right! They're not errors, they're modifications!), and I thought the pattern was well-written and easy to follow. I was a bit confused as to how the handles were going to be attach but it was easy to do, and quite clever, I think!

This sucker is BIG. In the loaded up shots below, I've got *four* cereal boxes in there, and there's plenty of room for more stuff. It does stretch a bunch. I'm a bit wary about really loading it up as I'm not sure how much weight the handles can realistically bear - a lot? Not much? Not an experiment I'll run at the grocery store, that's for sure. But I think it's really pretty, and I'm really working on using reusable bags, so this goes in my stash!

And the crazy thing is, now I've actually got NOTHING on needles! I have one more lace sock to do, so I'll probably get that cast on, and some more plain vanilla socks, and some other things. I've got a pineapple doily on the hook, which desperately needs the miracle of blocking. Which I don't know how to do. Yay, a new skill to learn!

FO (with pictures) and some musings about Knitting and Life.

• A couple of random thoughts - I usually title my blog post before I write it, because I'm pretty concrete on this blog (and in life), so I know pretty much what I want to write. I'm wondering if I'll have time to get to the musings, as I have preschool pickup pretty soon.
• I am very envious of people's wonderful photography of their FOs. I have taken classes and stuff, but when I'm doing pictures of my things, I just tend to snap and go. Maybe someday I'll work on that.

Okay, and on to the FO, which really counts as TWO because it's a finished sock. Apparently I finished this sock about...14 months ago, though I can't find anything on the blog about it. These are the green stripy sock I have been muttering about for MONTHS!! Done! Details:

Yarn: KnitPicks Felici in Argula (no longer being made)
Needles: KP 32" 2.5 mm (Magic Loop)
Pattern: None. I know! Me! And it actually worked out fairly well. Socks really aren't hard once you've done a pair or two and have a sense of the typical construction. (I know, such an expert, right? I've done...7 or 8 pairs, that's all!) Anyway, I cast on using Judy's Magic Cast-On. I cast on 32 stitches, and then did an increase every other row for 9 knit/increase row pairs. I did the increases at the sides, so knit 1, increase, knit to next to last stitch and increase in that, knit 1, switch to second half and to the same. I did that so I had 68 stitches. I knit for a while and thend decided that this might be too loose, so I decrease down to 64 stitches. I did a double-wrapped short-row heel, which I do like though I think, for self-se triping yarn, I prefer an afterthought heel so you don't mess up the stripe pattern. I knit around for a while and then did 1 inch of 1x1 ribbing and used EZ's sewn bind-off. I wish I had made the whole foot at 64 stitches but it's fine. I wish I'd made the leg longer but I was so bored and sick of it that I didn't. Lesson learned.

I'm still not great at the transition back to the leg or foot once you've done the short-row heel. I didn't pick up any extra stitches this time, but I will next time, as there are small holes. Not a big deal, not even enough to stitch (more of a gap, really) but I think it would look better without it. Also, on this second one, I actually dropped a stitch, not once, but TWICE. Rather than rip back to fix it, I just used a crochet hook. On one of them, I caught it right away so it was super-easy to fix, the other I had missed it for a round or two, so it looks a bit muddled but it's on the back so it's not really visible. I am so over these socks, I wanted them done. I really don't drop stitches regularly at all, so I have no idea what was happening. I think I was going too fast. I am so happy they're done and I'm having a joyful day wearing them!

Okay, no time for musings because my DD is awake and wicked cranky. Poor boo. I've been doing a lot of thinking about why I love knitting/crafting so much, and what role it plays in my life, that I'd like to try and get out, but now is not the moment. This moment is for keeping my beautiful little girl from eating the camera cord.

I'm seeing stars.

I don't think I actually posted about this project, that I had finished it. This is the replacement for DS2's other blankie, the one I fried in the washer and dryer after the unfortunate stomach flu incident.

This is a crocheted star blanket, made from Lily's Sugar'n'Cream, color chosen by DS2. I can't remember what hook size I used. It crocheted up fairly quickly, and it's not that big. Big enough that he can snuggle, but not big enough to use as an actual blanket. They don't do nap at school and he doesn't nap here anymore (hah! he hasn't napped in at least a year), so it's more of snuggly lovey for him. I haven't washed it yet, but I know the cotton can go through the washer and dryer just fine (and hopefully I won't need to sanitize it any time soon).

I'm not sure how people avoid this issue, but I don't like in crochet in the round how the very first thing you're doing is a chain of 2 or 3 (or whatever you need), rather than an actual sc or dc or what-have-you. As you can see in the valley on the left side, it looks a little different. DS2 doesn't care, so no worries, but it would annoy me if I'd worked hard to make a full-size blanket for something and had that happen. How to avoid? I don't know.

FO: Pinwheel Blanket

It's DONE! It took me a good 2+ hours just to bind off this bad boy, but it's done! Okay, I admit it, I was lazy and didn't do a great job of weaving in ends. When I say "didn't do a good job", what I really mean is "I didn't do it, I just tied knots and snipped them close." Don't tell, okay? I love this blanket! As you can see from the pictures, I haven't blocked it (yet), and I'm not decided if I'm going to, as I think it's going into rotation immediately. I realized that I can't find the other blanket I knit for DD (which is going to make me crazy until I do find it), and we're having weird, cool rainy weather. Besides, when I was taking pictures of her on it, she urped a bit on it, so I *think* that means she wants it. :)

Details

Pattern: Genia Plank's Pinwheel or Round Blanket (ravelry link here, you should check out some of the projects people have done, they're GORGEOUS!).
Needles: KnitPicks Options, size 8 for the blanket. size 10.5 for the bind-off. Various cord lengths.
Yarn: Bernat CottonTots. I really liked this yarn, actually. It wasn't too rough on the hands, and makes a nice, drapey fabric. I'll have to see how it washes and dries before I commit fully to it. I used .7 skein of the light pink, 1.6 skein of the lilac, 1.04 skein of the variegated, and .95 skein of the dark pink.

The pattern is either confusing or has a typo at the very beginning, where it jumps from Round 2 to Round 5. I chose to interpret that as you knit around for Rows 3 & 4, but I don't think it matters *all* that much. For the edging, I switched and did one round of knit with the dark pink. The next round I kfb every stitch to double my number of stitches, then did seed stitch, which makes a non-curling ruffle. I definitely made some mistakes, mainly I have a few spots where I forgot my YOs and then didn't notice on the knit round, but that's okay. I'm not thrilled with how the variegated pooled overall, but that's the fun of working with variegated yarns, right? And now some pictures!!

FO: Top Down Ruffly Baby Hat

Okay, forgive the diaper background, I just wanted something less distracting than the random swirly of my ironing board. I'd love to be one of those people who takes really beautiful, artsy shots of my knitting, but (a) I really don't have the time and (b) I'm not that detail-oriented, really.

So, I finished something! This is a prototype for a pattern I'm writing (yikes, that sounds so official!), and I can see what I need to do differently next time.

This is a top-down baby hat with contrasting ruffle. I'll take a picture tomorrow of DD wearing it, but I wanted to at least post that WOW, I finished something! So, details.

Pattern: My Own
Needles: KnitPick Options, size 6, 40" cable for Magic Loop
Yarn: Takhi Cotton Classic, leftovers in my stash

Notes: The main thing I'd do differently next time is make the body longer. This is barely 5" (because I ran out of yarn!), and it needs to be about 1/4 to 1/2" longer. I would also make the ruffle a tad longer, just one or two rounds maybe, but a bit more. I did the last two rounds (pre-bind off) in seed stitch, and I might do the whole ruffle in seed stitch, or I might not do it in seed stitch at all, and block it. The picture above is post-blocking, and here's a shot pre-blocking.
This may actually be the very first thing I have blocked (not including the acrylic baby sweater before I knew that you can't actually block acrylic). I did a steam block by soaking a pillow case and wringing it out, and then putting the hat the way I wanted (I didn't actually pin it) and steaming the ruffle so it'll lay flat. I am hoping I didn't do TOO much, and hopefully it'll look cute on her.

Another FO!

I guess it counts as an FO as I haven't decided if I'm actually going to block it or not. I finished the baby sweater that I talked about here. I ended up doing the cuffs and bands in the purple Tahki Cotton Classic, and I think it works really nicely. I wanted the buttons to contrast, and I think the pink and green are cute. I couldn't decide which ones I liked better, so I went with both!

It's *definitely* not perfect. I put the bottom button on a tad too low, and I am too tired to fix it at the moment, and honestly, I probably never will. The top button hole is really loose for some reason, and I have no idea how to fix it. I just went with simple yo/k2tog buttonholes since these buttons are really small. I am not sure if I picked up too many stitches for the button bads, but I think they're fine. Since I watched the video at knitting help, I found the actual picking up of stitches not so hard, but the whole "pick up 3 stitches for every 4 rows" thing baffled me. There are some other imperfections but overall, I think it's cute, and hopefully this baby will actually turn out to be a girl, so she can wear it. At this point, I'll be honest and admit that I really just don't like knitting sweaters all that much. I am sure that makes me weird, but that's okay! I'm sorta used to it by now.

One other frustration is that my son spilled tea on the coffee table and a little got on the sweater, so I need to pour some boiling water on it and see if it comes out or not. I am not in the mood to do it tonight. Mostly I am just thrilled to have another project (particalrly this one since it was a distraction project anyway!) off needles!!

I really really need to do some NICU knitting, or do something for donation - my soul needs a boost.

A FO with a PICTURE!!

Can you believe it? I found the cord for the camera (it was actually already hooked up to my computer, I don' t know when DH did that!). So, here's at least ONE small sample of what I've been up to.


This was made as a donation for my son's preschool silent auction (this was last year's endeavor). These were knit using Tahki Cotton Classic, no pattern, I just sort of winged them. They were knit using my KnitPicks Options (what else) size 5 needles, magic loop. This is actually the second hat - the first I cast on 72 stitches, which gave me a hat circumference of 12" (I was getting 6 sts/inch), which will work on a very new baby, but not for long. So I redid it with a cast on of 80 sts. I can't remember the length I knit to, about 7"? Then I did decreases starting on 8, every round. I thought it was cute as is, so no i-cord. The socks are 32 stitches, 2x2 rib for the cuffs (about 3.5 inches in length), short-row heel, knit the foot to approx. 3 inches, then the decreases every other row (4/decrease row), and a grafted toe. Very simple and easy, and I had to squeal several times at the cuteness. Can you tell I have baby girls on the brain? :) I may have to bid on them myself.

In other news, because what I really need to be doing is starting a new project, I, um, started something new. DS2 has requested a "green blankie" so we went to Joann's and picked out some Lion Big Fat Chenille (that's not what it's called but I am too lazy at the moment to look it up). He picked the color "basil," which is really pretty. I'm not certain about the yarn, in terms of quality, and how well it will wash, but it was easily available and it's VERY soft and cuddly. At first I was going to crochet something, but I'm not a great crocheter and this yarn is so not a good yarn for a novice crocheter (too fluffy to see what you're doing). Then I just cast on a bunch of stitches and did a random pattern but I didn't like it. So I'm doing YET ANOTHER diagonal eyelet-edged blanket. I've only done a few rows, but I think I'm going to frog it and start over with a slip-stitch edge as I just like that better than the straight garter-stitch edge. I bought two skeins of the yarn, so we'll see how big the thing ends up. It's a snuggly blankie, not an actual "cover you you up and keep you warm while you sleep" blankie, so I don't think it truly matters. But yeah, another garter-stitch blanket. Ah well, they're good zoning out projects.

I also started the second Falling Leaves lace sock. I've not even got the toe done, so I don't feel like I'm in a groove with it. But, I'm in desperate need of socks.

I read somewhere of one knitter's plan to end 2008 without a stash. I so could not do this (my knitting time is so limited) but I think it's a cool idea to try! I can't afford anything right now ayway, and in about 3 months, my knitting time is going to be severely curtailed.

OH! I forgot to mention, I found out that there's an actual real-life yarn store in my new town! AND there's a knitting group at the library, twice a month! If this town had a coffee shop, I think it would be perfect.

Oh my god, it's been a MONTH.

I can't believe I've let so much time go by since updating! Sorry!!

I think it's because I actually have some pictures I want to post, but I haven't gotten them off the camera yet. So, this will be a quick update on the knitting (and life too) and I'll try and get pictures up soon, because really, a knitting blog without pictures is actually sort of boring. And, I've actually been doing a lot of knitting!

I finished something! I did a baby hat and socks for my son's nursery school silent auction fund raiser thing. They came out, IMO, so adorably that I had to squeal just a teeny, tiny bit.

I am closing in on the home stretch of a baby sweater too. This one was kind of a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants sort of project. I had about 1 1/3 skeins of Plymouth Yarn Fantasy Naturale. In looking at the color card, I'm guessing I'm using 9490, which is a pink/aqua/blue-lavender/white multi. I was enamored of this yarn, but now that I've knit a whole sweater with it, I'm sort of over that. It's a bit splitty and rough. I did a top-down, raglan cardigan (this pattern, to be specific). In my usual way, I didn't swatch, and for some reason decided to knit the whole thing on 6s instead of 8s (to make it closer to newborn size? That might have been my rationale). It's pretty small! I was also fairly sure that I wasn't going to have enough yarn, but I just did it anyway. Yay me! I ended up having enough yarn for the body and sleeves. I was at Spark alone on Saturday (totally random moment to myself), and found some Tahki Cotton Classic in three different colors that I thought might work for a contrasting trim. I am not usually the most visual of people, so I was SHOCKED when ALL THREE coordinated beautifully! I picked out two teal/aquas (one lighter, one darker) and a blue-lavender that I thought might work. IT TOTALLY DID! I chose that one, as I'm less of an aqua fan, personally. So, I've done the bottom band, the cuffs, and the neck band so far, and it's quite cute. It's only going to fit this baby for about 30 seconds, but that's okay, I'm having fun. I still have the button band to pick up and knit, and I've got to find good buttons. I foresee a trip to Windsor Button in my near future, once I get the bands done.

Some thoughts. You might note that the Fantasy Naturale and the Cotton Classic are totally different weights. I also noted that, and just chose not to drop down the recommended 2 needle sizes, and I think it works. I don't really like knitting sweaters all that much. I think I prefer knitting things where the whole size pressure isn't so great. I can't imagine making a sweater for myself. Given that I swore I wouldn't do lace, and here I am planning to do a lace shawl, I'm not sure how much weight to give that statement, so take it for what it's worth. I also really really hate picking up stitches. In part this is because I don't *really* know how to do it, and I tend not to like things that make me feel, you know, incompetent. The knitting help video did help in this process. My next baby sweater is definitely going to have an integrated button band, like this one.

In other knitting news...well, I'm just plugging away on the blanket too. I really want to get a lot of stuff done soone, so I can get back to SOCKS SOCKS SOCKS. I've had to throw out three pairs of (machine made) socks recently, so I'm really getting low. I think I need to just do some basic stockinette socks, so I will have something to wear.

In non-knitting news, the new house is awesome (and feeling more like HOME and less like "the new house"), though I have no idea how I'm going to keep it clean. Our condo is on the market (*crosses fingers*). Commuting to Cambridge is a pain, but it's nice to have a chance to keep in touch with people. I have a feeling that once we're not going in for DS1's preschool anymore, we really won't be going in much. Pregnancy is progressing. I popped a couple of weeks ago, and all of a sudden I'm really looking pregnant. I also started seeing a chiropractor a couple of weeks ago, so I'm no longer in agony, limping all over the place. That's a good thing. I still need to find a dentist, a local pediatrician, a vet, etc., but at least my back doesn't hurt anymore.

Okay, I'm off to take a bath and go to bed. No knitting for me tonight.

Finishing off 2007 with a bang!

I managed to complete all my knitting in time for our holiday in Western MA! And, except for SIL's booga bag (which was a hit, and coincidentally, is the same colorway as the bag features in the pattern), I even have pictures!

So, first, the mini-fetchings. All were done in Debbie Bliss Cashmerino, all using Knitty's Fetching pattern. For the red pair (for the youngest recipient), I did 16 instead of 18 rounds on the palm. I used the Magic Loop technique, and I used Addi Turbos, 40" in size....I can't remember, I think it was size 3 (which I think is 3.5 mm, but I'm not sure, and I'm too lazy to go look, sorry). I was down to the wire on these, and regretted breaking my "no knitting after 9:30 pm" rule, with the last thumb on the black ones. I've never really figured out how to successfully pick up the thumb stitches, and I always have little holes. Well, on the last black thumb I also ended up dropping stitches here and there (it's REALLY hard to see what you're doing when the yarn is so dark!) and it was sort of a disaster. BUT, the black did hide most of the errors, I got them all fixed (one way or another), and the recipient (a 7 year old boy) was *thrilled* with them. All three kids loved them, and slept in them every night! :) I was fully prepared for the kids not to be too excited so it was an added bonus that they were such a hit.

This hat is the Irish Hiking hat pattern that I can't find again (my google-fu seems to be lacking today), but it was a nice pattern, and an easy knit. I accidentally knit it on size 9s instead of 8s, and dropped one of the cable repeats because it seemed SO huge. I made it deeper than she called for as well, because, well, I like hats deeper. It ended up fitting my husband (who has a huge head) quite well, but was too small for the recipient (my BIL, who has HUGE head apparently), so my husband is keeping it and I'll do another one for BIL. I think I'll drop the needle size and add back an extra cable repeat and add at least another inch, maybe two. It looks sort of weird but it does fit well.


Here's the fetching inspired-inspired hat, which I am loving. It's not quite as wind-proof as my fleece hat, but it's quite warm for most weather and I love it. (Not the best picture of me...)

And, I finished the monkey socks! I love them so much!!! I am really happy with how they came out. I started these in August and I've been working on them on and off, and it's so great to have another pair of socks done! I have been loving all the handmade socks I've done so far, and wearing them a ton (pretty much all my other socks are old and sad, and slowly getting thrown away due to holes) so I really need them! YAY! I promised SIL a pair of handknit socks too, so I'll have to figure out some good yarn for her. She really liked these but I just couldn't waite find it in my heart to give them to her. I am a bad person, I suppose.

I also managed to get two cable repeats done on my Double Braided Cable scarf, and I think I'll do two more, probably, since the recipient (who doesn't know he's getting this!) seems to like shorter scarves. I am a bit unsure how to block this, as it's superwash wool. Is that an issue? It needs some blocking because even with the garter stitch edge, it's still rolling a bit. It's quite pretty though, and I'll have enough left over to do some hats or something.

So, I'm feeling pretty good and inspired at the moment. :)

Fetching-Inspired-Inspired Hat Done!

I'm not sure where the camera is, so no pictures at the moment. Maybe tonight.

The hat is done and it IS long enough! Woo hoo! This makes me happy. I ended up modifying the pattern a bit. Where she has you doing 8 rounds of st, I did 14 (I think). I then did one round of decreases, 5 rounds of st, then alternated a decrease round and a round of st until the end. For the last couple of rounds, I did decreases (so 16 to 8, and then 8 to 4), and then did not do the last knit round (I didn't like the little bump it made).

I think it's going to be toasty warm. I wore it around the house a bit, but I was self-cleaning my oven, so it was really hot in the kitchen. My head was quite warm though. I am going to wear it out in a bit when we go to pick up DS1 from school, so I'll report back. But, at least it fits, and I think it's cute!

Two, COUNT 'EM, TWO FOs!

So, I managed to get some knitting done this weekend! The first object was a quick little project that I'll be sending off tomorrow or the next day. One of my very dear internets had a hysterectomy today (she's younger than I am), and I figured she needed a little cheer-me-up surprise. So I knit her a uterus, and I plan to fill it with these, or these, perhaps.

I am pretty sure she'll think it's funny (and not too tasteless). I did modify the pattern quite a bit, mainly in that I added a picot cast-on (because wouldn't you like a cervix with a frilly edge?) and made the whole thing quite a bit smaller. I added a braided tie cord. The yarn is some Red Hat acrylic I had hanging around, and I love the colors. I used KnitPicks Options in a size 8 (I think). Gauge is not particularly important in this project. I'm going to add some Sudoku (and new pencils!), and perhaps a Nora Roberts or two. I think it's a nice surgery recovery kit.

On to the second finished object, which pleases me much less. Oh, I'm quite happy to have this done and off the needles. It would have been a quick-ish knit if I'd, you know, kept working on it, but it got dropped for a while. I decided to finish it today because, well, it's cold and I need a hat that actually covers my ears.

Pattern: Artyarns P51: Flat Top Hat by Iris Schreirer
Yarn: Artyarns Supermerino in Colorway 108
Needles: Knitpicks Options in Size 7

First, here at the pictures:


Now, some thoughts. Overall, the knitting is fine. However, there are some things that I'm just not thrilled with. I *love* the feel of the Artyarns Supermerino, it is SO soft and makes a really nice fabric. I just, as I've mentioned before, don't love the way they do their dying on the variegated yarns. I'm not dissing the yarn, it's so pretty, but it's just a matter of personal taste. They do more...monochromatic with little (3 stitch) bits of other color interspersed. I think you can see it in the picture. I guess I like how Koigu designs their yarn better. Simply a matter of personal preference.

Overall the pattern was well written, easy to follow. These modular knits are really clever. I got cocky on the last triangle and instead of crossing off every line or two as I did them, I just plowed ahead, and late in the game realized that I had gotten turned around on where I was doing my skp's. Whoops! I just finished it and it's fine, but I learned that lesson. :) I didn't like how at the end, after you've done the 3-needle bind-off to join your top triangles, you really had a big gap at the center that you have to sew together. I've read that other people have that issue, so perhaps it's not just me. Another small peeve is that I got gauge exactly, and the hat is quite snug on me (and I have a pretty small head). It's going to be warm, but leave a wicked hat head! Also, I feel like when the hat is on, you really don't see the cute construction, and it just looks...shapeless. I will wear it, but it's sort of a bummer. At least I didn't feel like I'd put hours and hours of work into it, you know?

But, yay for getting something done that's been lingering! (And yay for a warm hat!) This leaves currently on needles: Monkey 2, Braided Cable Scarf, and the diagonal baby blanket. Then I need to finish the green stripy socks and Falling Leaves socks...and then, who knows what?

I think I'm going to end up eating my words that I had no interest in ever doing a lace shawl. The whole idea of something that really requires blocking scares me....but I am thinking of doing this in this (maybe in Grape Hyacinth). And perhaps ordering these and this for my husband to give to me for my birthday/Christmas present. Hmmm.

Okay, off to update my Ravelry projects since I finished something!

FO!

And it technically counts as TWO, right, because it's a PAIR of socks! I know, a FO that isn't a hat or a dishcloth! I am so excited. But, on to the details.

Yarn: Plymouth Sockotta "Fake Isle" in 6674. Purchased eons ago and the ball band is long gone, but I'm sure that's what this is.

Needles: 2.75 mm Knitpicks Fixed Circs, 32". (Have I mentioned how much I adore these needles?)

Gauge: ? I could go measure but the socks are in the other room.

Pattern: My own. There wasn't even really one. I cast on 32 stitches using Judy's Magic Cast-On, and then increased until it looked like it would fit but not be too big (60 stitches).
Then I knit stockinette until it was about 8 inches (I think my foot is 10", so that left 2" for the heel). Then I knit one-half row on waste yarn and reknit it for the afterthought heel. Then I knit for a while until it seemed long enough (60 rounds), and then did 10 rounds of 1x1 ribbing. Bind off was EZ's Sewn Bind-Off.

Thoughts: Technically, I am happy with these socks, for the most part. Remember how I was raving about the afterthought heel? *enh* I was not feeling the love on this second sock. Maybe because I had hit that point in the project where sticking the needles into my eyes sounded more appetizing than finishing, you know? (Oh, you don't?) But yeah, picking up the stitches from the waste yarn is a PITA. I also wasn't thinking clearly and picked up two extra stitches at the beginning of the heel, instead of the one (I was looking for 4 extra stitches over all), but it all worked out. Here's the deal. I love knitting socks. I love wearing hand knit socks. BUT I have yet to find a heel construction that I love. So far I've tried short-row heels (top down and bottom up), heel flap and gusset (top down and bottom up), afterthought heels. I am sure there's lots more that I'm missing but they all annoy me at this point. Oh and I am also a tad concerned that the purse-string closure of the after-thought heel leaves a small bump that's going to be a bummer on my heels. That's why I *have* to finish all socks-in-progress (SIPs) before I try Cat Bordhi's new sockitectures, because I fear I may never go back. :) Her short-row heels look less irritating than the classic short-row construction.

My other beef with these socks is the yarn. Now, Plymouth Sockotta, IMO, is not a high-end sock yarn (Webs has it for $8.99 per 100 gram ball, so much much less than the $24 for 2 50 g skeins of Koigu that I just spent!). It doesn't feel like a high-end yarn either. It feels more string-like to me. This isn't a complaint. The resulting fabric is a little rough, but certainly wearable and comfortable enough, I think. This yarn gets good reviews in terms of durability of the resulting socks, which is very good. It's machine washable, which is EXCELLENT. It wasn't a pain to knit with (like the TOFUTsies, for example). My main beef is with the self-patterning aspect, which is as much a beef with my own personality as anything else. With variegated colors, I have learned to release control of how it looks because, well, you don't have any! The yarn is going to do what it's going to do. It's helping me in my pursuit of Zen calmitude. BUT, this stuff, man, it made me so anxious! Sometimes the patterning did what it was supposed to do, sometimes it didn't! To be honest, I'm not even sure WHAT the purple was supposed to do! The dying wasn't consistent, so for example, with the green, there wasn't always the same amount of space between green parts, and the green parts weren't all the same length. AND, the patterning wasn't consistent. Now, I personally prefer fraternal twins in my socks, I feel like in contributes to the hand-made funkiness of them, but if you are someone for whom this is an issue (L, I mean you), then don't use this yarn! So, the yarn is okay, but it's not good for me. I think the socks are *fine*, and I'll wear them with joy, but the pattern kerfuffle will bug me just a bit.

All in all, a worthwhile project, I learned some good stuff, blah blah, but time to move on! I cast on Monkey #2! Woo!! I just love Koigu.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go eat some of my Trader Joe's Peppermint Jo-Jos Cheesecake.

Does this count as a FO?

So, I am currently OBSESSED with Cat Bordhi's new book. As in, even though I'm not working on anything from it, it's the only book I took to the Berkshires this weekend (and I am a VORACIOUS reader), and I read it each night before going to bed. I cannot wait to try these patterns!

So, when I got home, I spent some time poking around online for the letter stitch markers to see if they were for sale yet (they're not). So...I toddled off to my local bead store (LBS?) and made some! This picture is really dark; I think they're a lot prettier than this! I am not entirely convinced that the 9 mm split ring is the right size, I think it may be too big. She does have some patterns on larger needles, so that's fine, but I might make another set with a smaller size. I need to file down the ends of the posts a bit too, as they're sharp from the wire snippers and might snag, but all in all, not too shabby for $13 and about a 1/2 hour of my time! I haven't done any wire and bead work in FOREVER, and I felt very clumsy. I have a feeling if I made a bunch of them, I could really get into a rhythm.

Now I just need to knit: 1 green stripe toe up sock, 1 monkey, 1 falling leaves and finish the sock I've got going now, and THEN I can start some new socks!! Hah, like that's going to happen any time soon? Ah well, a woman can dream, right?

1 Year Today

Happy blog-aversary to me! I can't quite believe it's been a YEAR since I started blogging. In some ways, this blog hasn't turned out to be what I thought it would be...more serious musings on life, knitting, parenthood, etc. It's turned out mainly to be a record of, well, my knitting. :) That's okay, it may just mean my thoughts aren't all that deep right now. I recently had this exchange with my older son:

Me: And after lunch, we're all going to take naps!
DS: Actually, mama, you're going to sit on the couch and stare off into space.

Busted.

Anyway, in honor of my 1 year anniversary of this blog, I thought I'd post a picture of an ACTUAL FO.

I feel like my knitting is sort of reflective of my life right now. I have a ton of projects in flight, I'm really nowhere close to finishing any of them, and they're piled fairly chaotically in the bin in the living room, as well as strewn about the couch. I need to get organized, I need to get some things DONE. I actually started this dishcloth almost entirely so that I could actually finish something! How sad is that?

On with the project.

Yarn: Sugar'n Cream self-striping in Baby Stripes
Needles: Size 7 Clover Bamboo
Pattern: Snowdrop Lace from the Dishcloth Boutique

I am not loving this, to be honest. I mean, it's perfectly FINE. But, I think I'd like this yarn better for a hat or something. I'm not sure the stripes and the lace pattern actually really work. It's pretty, and it makes me happy to use it, but I don't think I'll use any more of the striping Sugar'n Cream for dishcloths. I think I prefer variegated dishcloths.

There is one thing that I am loving about this though. Did you ever have someone do something really nice for you, completely randomly? Something pretty outrageously generous? Someone (who is fabulous) did that for me. She sent me a random box of wonderful PRODUCTS from Origins, a company we both love. This box included the Ginger Soap. I *love* the smell of ginger, especially now. I don't get a lot of downtime in my life, or a lot of pampering. As a full-time mom, I provide quite a bit of it, but I'm not so much on the receiving end. I find it ironic that when I *had* the space in my life for me time, I was not healthy, (emotionally) enough to enjoy indulging myself, but now that I am, there's no time! But anyway, I digress. :) There's something pretty neat about using a special gift on a cloth that you made yourself. Every morning, I use that soap and feel...taken care of.

And the best part is that after the first time, I burst out of the shower announcing "I smell gingerlicious!" Now my 2 year old has picked up the term, and uses it all the time. "You smell ginger-wishous, Mommy!"

Now I have to take my gingerlicious self off to work on (what else) a sock.

FOs: Rosemary Shawl and more Fetching

Given that I haven't posted a FO picture in about a month (and those were all dishcloths), I have a couple of other types of things to show.

The first was actually finished quite some time ago, but I hadn't sent it to the recipient until recently (and if you're reading, friend, I loved your email and I'm truly not ignoring you!). This was a triangle shawl (my very first shawl) out of Lion Suede. I *love* the colors in this colorway, but I was frustrated with the lack of consistency within the dye lot - not only from skein to skein but WITHIN a skein as well. It's OBVIOUS (to me at least). But, the shawl was really pretty and snuggly and I think my friend liked it. I think I knit this up on size 9s? I used my KnitPick Options (which I loved, as always). This picture is horrible, but I was packing it up to send off (which took way too long), so I was really in a hurry (as you can see by the unmade bed! Oh the shame of it!). I was pleased with how the eyelets on the hypotenuse came out, as I had to sort of make up the pattern there. I had lots of fun with the math of this project, both in trying to figure out how long my sides needed to be to get a 60"-62" hypotenuse, and also getting the eyelets to work with the number of stitches (I wish I'd written down what I did).

The second FO is a pair of Fetching for my friend. I haven't sent them off yet (tomorrow, Fred!), but she knows they're coming (though she may have given up hope at this point!). The one modification I made to the pattern was that I made the hands a few rows shorter as she has eensy little hands! I hope they're not too wide. As always, I really loved knitting these. It's such a nice pattern, the yarn is delicious, and I had fun experimenting with different shapes of cable needles. I found that I liked the flat needle better for the cable in back, and the U-shaped needle better for the cable in front.

With the completion of these, I can now start new projects. I started a Zokni Sock today while I had the babysitter (I gave myself a couple of hours off, it was so lovely). I like the pattern but I had to write it out as I'm not adept at charts yet. I still need to do Monkey #2 as well. I need to do a couple more NICU hats and get those off, as they haven't had anything from me in months and probably think I disappeared.

My baby blanket is on hold, but I just heard that an old friend had a baby girl (didn't even know she was pregnant) so maybe I'll finish it up for her. I'm waiting on more buttons for the Fruit Salad Cardi, once I get those, I'll post pictures (if you promise not to laugh at my slightly funny shaped baby sweater, babies are boxy, right??).

In other news, we're house-hunting with a vengeance, which makes me so anxious I can barely breathe (it's just my nature, nothing to write home about), so expect a lot of knitting these days. It calms me.

Jumping off the Bandwagon and some FOs!

So wow, I haven't posted in a way too long. I've actually been doing quite a bit of knitting - I've been on a dishcloth RAMPAGE! :) So, a few things I've finished.

First, the funny looking dishcloths:

What is there really to say about these? They're funny looking. The bamboo cloth is also just smaller than I like. Oh well.

These next two, I'm much happier with. I think I wrote about needing more dishcloths, so I bought a whole bunch of variegated yarns on sale at AC Moore ($1/ball!). I really like the bee stitch cloth in this yarn, the colors are fun and happy, sort of like fruit stripe gum! I originally started the DW pattern in this yarn but it just didn't work, and I think it looks much nicer in this stitch. I also just love this garterlac pattern. I've got more to do, but these are so fun and easy.

By jumping off the bandwagon, I mean...I think I'm going to frog the Jaywalkers. I just don't love how these look, I'm concerned at the tightness of the fabric, and well, I'm not into them. So, I figure it's better to cut my losses and just be done with them. *sigh* I know the knitting blog-o-sphere loves these, but the pattern just isn't doing it for me. There are other patterns I'm more interested in that will suit me better, I think, and I also just need to do some straight up, plain old stockinette socks. I want to get more done. So, rather than not start something that I really want to be doing because I haven't finished the thing I'm not enjoying, I'm just going to call it off. I can't decide if this is a good thing or not, but I do feel measurable relief at the idea of not finishing the Jaywalkers. I think it's the right decision.

FO and some planning...

I finished some things AND managed to take pictures, so let's see what they look like!
Okay, so the picture isn't too great, but you can get a sense of the stitch pattern at least. This is the Bee Stitch cloth. I tried this cloth earlier in the Crystal Palace cotton chenille, and it didn't work at all (who knows why!), but it was great in this yarn (Sugar'n'Cream). It's a super easy pattern, and I love the texture that the stitch creates! It shows of the variegated yarn wonderfully too!

The rest of the FOs are NICU hats. First, the Lemon hat. Quite cute! I'm trying to make my hats a little longer because I think I make them too short. I also did the Raspberry hat. I think it's adorable, though the texture stitch was a bit of a pain in the ass. Both of these are done with Magic Loop, in Tahki Cotton Classic, size 4 needles. The next hat is the Raspberry hat. Also adorable, but the texture stitch was a bit of a pain in the ass. The last picture is two hats: one I knit a while ago, next to another hat that was supposed to be a gift for a friend but I never got my act together to send it so I've got to do something else for them. It's the same yarn, Plymouth Fantasy Naturale, but just different number of stitches. I sort of like the patchy one, it makes me think of easter egg camo!
I also have one more big project that I finished, and it's really pretty, but it's a gift, so I need to send it off (this one I really do have to send off) before I can post the pictures. It's one of the bigger things I've done, and while it was a simple knit, it's really pretty and I'm happy with how it turned out !

On to the next projects! I just pulled out a baby blanket that I'm doing, also out of Crystal Palace Cotton chenille, but in the Painted Iris colorway. Oh. My. God. This is so beautiful! But, the person it was originally intended for is having a boy, so I may have to finish it and keep it for the next girl baby that comes along. I have enough of the yarn to do some washcloths for myself, so I'll be able to keep some of the beauty for myself! Perhaps I'll do one for this friend in the Baby Blue or the Seascape colorway (or maybe the fruit salad, that would be fun!). I love this yarn for baby blankets! Given my issues with color consistency in the Lion Suede, I'm not sure about doing more big projects with it. Which is a bummer because it's perfect for baby blankets! At least for northern babies! It's so soft and warm! Anyway, enough about baby blankets.

So, that leaves on the needles...Jaywalkers. *sigh* I am afraid that they're going to be too small and I'm just stalled on them! I really *want* to be knitting socks...I just don't love the tiny needles! I somehow managed to bring home a skein of Tofutsies, and I'm actually *gasp* trying to swatch it up! I am going to do a non-short-row-toe up, heel flap and gusset heel, with this. I think I need a scale to make sure I don't do one sock too long! I am also planning on getting some of these, so I can do lace socks more easily...What do you think, go ahead and order 1, 2 and 3s? Or just get the 1s and assume that I won't need the bigger ones? That'd certainly be cheaper! But it's almost a new month and a new allowance!

I just need to finish the leaves for one of the other NICU hats I've done (an apple, so cute!), and then I'll take them over and drop them off (or send them in). It's funny, I don't remember being excited to knit last summer, but I'm going strong this summer!!

FO: Peapod Hat

I finished this hat just in time (the first picture is a better representation of the color, but you can't see the top detail, hence the second picture, where the color is really off) - the birthday party for the boy is tomorrow! We got him a present for him (beach toys!), so this is really more for his mom. I am really pleased with how this turned out!! I don't take pride in design usually, as, well, I'm not typically the designer! I tend to knit from patterns. I'm a concrete thinker and I'm good at following directions. I know it's just a simple roll-brimmed hat, but like the pumpkin hat, it's really exciting for me when I have a vision in my head of how I want something to look, and the FO actually LOOKS like it! :)

Yarn: GGH Samoa in 94 (Dark Green) and 116 (Mint).
Needles: Knit Pick Options in size 5, 40" cord for Magic Loop
Pattern: My own!
New Skills: Probably the peas and leaf. I looked at a bunch of patterns and sort of made it up as I went along. I don't usually do this (and when I do, it doesn't really work out so well for me most of the time), so I'm happy with it.

I did a gague swatch for this, because I did actually want it to fit the kid. The hat fits tightly on my 2 year-old's head, so I am pretty sure it'll fit a 1 year old. I'm *loving* the Samoa. The yarn is so lush, and just feels wonderful - almost a suede-y feel to it. I love the colors too. Now I just have to find a place to order it from since I've never seen it around here! I bought this yarn of the recommendation of the lovely lady at Wildefiber in Santa Monica, and I'm hooked, HOOKED, I tell you! Unfortunately, I'm also broke, so no more yarn for some time.

Yay for getting something done! I've got another NICU hat almost done, I just need to add leaves to that. I also learned to crochet granny squares today, that was fun! I need to figure out how to incorporate crochet into my crafting life. Oh, and I started another baby blanket from Crystal Palace Cotton Chenille in Painted Iris, and it's just gorgeous! Almost makes me want to have another baby! ;) It's a simple eyelet border diagonal knit, so simple I could actually watch a movie while knitting it. I love this yarn so much.