Frosted Socks with Sprinkes

I finished another pair of socks yesterday. These are Zigzagular Socks, the yarn is Madelinetosh Twist Light, and the colorway is Holi Festival. I kind of loved/hated the way this colorway was knitting, and in the end I loved them. This yarn is especially soft and lovely.

I had to knit these quickly, as once I settled on a yarn and a pattern I had 5 days until my sister's birthday. I completed them in 4 days.

They look like Animal Cracker frosting and sprinkles, yum!

Waving Lace Socks with Kool Aid Overdye

I seem to be on a knitting binge right now. I made these socks in 2 days over the weekend. Then immediately cast on for a sweater and another pair of socks.

These are Waving Lace from the book Favorite Socks. I actually own a pair of socks in this pattern that I received in a swap, but this was my first time making them. An easy knit, though I made the heel flap shorter than the pattern.

The yarn is Madelinetosh Sock in Tensha Bead, from the thrift store. It's more pastel than I typically like, so I overdyed the socks with Ice Blue Lemonade Kool Aid. This might have worked out better if I'd let the socks soak longer before I dyed them, so it's a bit uneven. I may overdye them one more time to even it out a bit.

I will gift these to one of my sisters.

I have 4 days to make another pair for my older sister's birthday this weekend. Wish me luck!

Simply Waterlily

It's been a while since I last posted any actual knitting content. Here are some socks that I made in about 10 days. I bought the yarn at the thrift store, it is Madelinetosh Sock Yarn in Waterlily. Not a color I would normally pick, but I do love Madelinetosh.

The pattern is Simply Ginny, so that's a repeat of for me, I made another pair of these about 8 years ago.

Since finishing these socks I started on another skein of Madelinetosh sock. Expect to see that finished project soon, though I may overdye the socks, as they are very pastel, and I am not big on pastel.

Ugh.

That moment when you look at a whole day's worth of knitting and go, huh, why aren't those mirrored decreases? Oh crud, because I did not pay enough attention. Rip, rip, rip, start over. Sigh.

Highlander Shawl

There's nothing like being practically trapped in the house for 5 days by snow to make you want to knit up something extra snuggly.

This stole has been on my list for a few years. My criteria was a yarn that was extra soft and with not single ply so that it wouldn't pill up terribly. Ushya Yarn is 98% merino and 2% nylon, with a chain construction, and it feels lovely. It did develop a fuzzy halo after blocking, but it seems like it's going to hold up pretty well. It's also not too weighty, which was my concern with such a bulky yarn. My blocked gauge worked out to about 2 stitches to the inch, so it's a pretty fat knit, and I think that gives the stole a nice dramatic appearance.

My hope was to knit this pattern in a day, and I pretty much made my goal, but once I blocked it and weaved in the ends I noticed a few mis-crossed cables, and I ended up having to cut into it and re-knit a third of the shawl, which only took a few hours.

I am planning to give this away, and I am hesitant to do so, as it's sooo soft and l am growing attached to it. I haven't taken it off since it came off of the blocking board this morning.







Highlander's Stole by Wenlan Chia, from Twinkle's Town & Country Knits
4.5 skeins Mirasol Yarn Ushya, held double
US size 36 needles
finished size: 15in x 50in

Something in my Web

Here's a peek at something that is almost complete. All that remains is a tiny amount of seaming, weaving in ends, and picking up and knitting little sleeves.

Birthday Socks

I had an emergency knitting moment on vacation last week. I was two days into our trip and I'd already blown through two projects and was stalled on a third, so I was out of knitting! I drove the 45 minutes to Bainbridge and grabbed an easy sock pattern and some lovely merino sock yarn and I was back in business. I knit these to the toes in two days and then set them aside for a few more days and then finished them up this morning. Six days from start to finish, not too shabby. I hope my mom enjoys them!



Try and ignore my daikon legs, yikes!

Churchmouse Basic Sock pattern in 2 x 2 ribbing
Madelinetosh 100% Merino sock yarn in Glazed Pecan
US size 1 1/2 Bamboo DPNs

Baby Sack

Friends of ours recently had a bitty little preemie baby, and I wanted to make something snuggly to keep her warm, so I knit this owl sleep sack in less than a day. An easy knit requiring little of my attention. The actual yarn is a softer shade of green than the neon as interpreted by my camera.

Owlie Sleep Sack
Berocco Vintage Yarn
Size 7 bamboo DPNs

Blue Waffel

Hello! This picture was taken while on vacation on the Kitsap Peninsula for four days. We enjoyed a private beach, vast lawns for Bocce games and Badminton, several 1000 piece puzzles, late-night board game marathons, and ten children running wild. And loads of knitting time.

Considering that I haven't managed to knit anything in months, finishing two projects and nearly finishing two more was a major accomplishment!

This is a free pattern that didn't require too much of my attention to knit. The real challenge was figuring out how tightly to double-wrap the six stitches without pulling the yarn too tight and making holes. A fun knit, and the end result was a slightly large hat reminiscent of a bathing cap. I love it, and my Oma requested that I knit one for her birthday as well.



Waffel Hat
Cascade 220 yarn
US size 7 bamboo circular and DPNs

Slogging Away

I decided that my Brunswick cardigan was turning out too long, and in addition the button band was pulling the front of the sweater out longer than the back. So I took some scissors to it and picked back up the stitches (wow, does it take a while to pick out and pick up those stitches at this gauge in a bottom-up sweater!) and restarted the ribbing. As I am skipping the 1 x1 ribbed button band edge on this re-knit version of the bottom ribbing and it's not pulling the front out so long, so I think it will be an improvement.



And spinning yarn at school the other week went wonderfully, with most kids getting the hang of it amazingly well in under an hour! A couple of kids took their drop spindles along to the playground to keep working. So. Cute. And here is the leftover wool, made into some quick felted balls.



I've also been organizing knitting supplies (wow, how did I end up with seven #6 circular needles? I have a ton of needles! ) And I frogged eight projects, including an almost complete shawl and four barely started hats that I was never going to complete. Feels good to not have a bunch of projects laying around that I don't intend to complete!

All that remains are three (almost complete) blue sweaters and a blue shawl that I am currently working on.

Sweater In Progress

This sweater has been sitting in a bag for maybe three years. All that was needed was a yoke and a bunch of finishing. This week I knit the yoke, and the top ribbing has been knit and ripped out and re-knit three times. I did an OK job of sewing up one snug sleeve. One to go and a lot of ends to weave in, and then to address the lack of any form of closure, which is definitely needed on this tight little sweater. Hopefully I will get this all squared away and will post finished photos soon.

More Leg Warmer Fun

It's a repeat of my last finished project, another pair of leg warmers. This pair is for my 8 year old.

The original pattern is sized for an adult and on #13 needles with super-bulky yarn. I went down to a size 10 1/2 needle and heavy worsted/bulky yarn. These came out a little bigger than the last pair, which worked well since my 8 year old didn't want long straps on the back, so I skipped the knit rows and just made the buttonholes and bound off the straps.

Again, this is a nice clearly written and easy to understand pattern. It has plenty of different cable crosses to keep you occupied, and it definitely requires paying attention. A fun knit, and I love the yarn colors!









Twisted Ankles Leg Warmers
1 skein Katia Azteca yarn
US size 10 1/2 bamboo circulars

Blue Spats

I am working on a shawl, but it's a bit slow-going, so I needed a relatively quick project so I wouldn't get bored. I cast on for these leg warmers on Wednesday and finished the knitting on Friday. It helps that the kids and I have been home sick for days and watching old movies on Hulu, thus lots of knitting time.



The original pattern is sized for an adult and on #13 needles with super-bulky yarn. Since I made these for a 7 year old I went down to a size 10 1/2 needle and heavy worsted/bulky yarn. The original is supposed to come out to something like 9 inches across and these were around 6 inches before blocking, which was purely guesswork on my part, but the sizing worked out well.

I had in my head that this would be some mindless knitting with a few cables, but there are only a few straight knit rows, and an entire page of cable descriptions, which is at least twenty different cable crosses to mess up. I only had to drop down and correct a mis-crossed cable twice, so not too bad. I also mixed up the wrong-side and right-side rows at the beginning of the first leg warmer and didn't notice until I was about to cast off. So that one was knit twice.

This is a very clearly written pattern, with excellent written instructions and charts, and the cables for one leg warmer are mirrored for the second leg warmer. A fun and quick pattern!

Someone insisted on sparkly buttons. I did have to run to the fabric store since eight buttons are required, and my expansive button stash did not include many groups of eight buttons.

What really attracted me to this pattern were the cables and the straps across the back. And I love the way it knit up in this multi-color yarn, which is a woven wool/acrylic blend with a soft felty/squeaky feel that was fun to knit.





Twisted Ankles Leg Warmers
Feza Yarns Fanatic
US size 10 1/2 bamboo circulars

Bed Socks

I sleep in socks and slippers every night. Weird, I know, but I have a nerve pain issue that makes my brain think that my feet are excruciatingly cold, and insulating my feet is the only things that makes it so that I can sleep. So my favorite slippers are falling apart, and I need to knit a new pair, but I figured in the meantime I would try knitting some thick socks.

I started these in mid-January, and they were a fast knit on #6 needles. The only thing that slowed me down was those periods where I didn't knit on them for several days at a time!

This is a free pattern, so I won't quibble too much about the pattern writing, but I will say a few of the directions are a little vague or confusing for first-time sock knitters, but I know enough about socks construction that there weren't any challenges.

These are only moderately warm, so I won't be able to ditch the slippers, but they are comfy and a very cheery bright blue!



Easy Aran Socks (Ravelry Link)
Cascade 220 Superwash
US Size 6 DPNs

Melon Wedge

Wow, I finished something! I knit this shawlette in about 4 days. It may not look like much, but when some of the rows go over 500 stitches that is a lot of knitting! I do love this linen and mohair yarn and the color, but I am underwhelmed with the result.




Citron
US size 4 circular
1 1/2 skeins Louet KidLin laceweight yarn

Sweater is Done!

Ok, so I'm proud that I actually finished this, and in 15 days too. It's my first adult sweater besides a shrug that I made about 10 years ago. And it looks good too (love a little negative-ease!), I'll try and get some modeled shots soon.

Snow Day Knitting

There is snow on the ground, so it's perfect weather to work on another sweater.

Another means in addition to the two that are between 75-95% finished, but let's not talk about those. Let's talk about the Camilla Pullover. Pretty! It's knit in Aran weight yarn on 10 1/2 needles, so it take surprisingly little yarn. I have knit up to the underarms and now I am knitting the second sleeve.

Two skeins of this yarn are from the thrift store, and I am breaking a knitting rule by using more than one dye lot of this color Cascade 220, but I swear I can't see any transition between skeins, so I am going with it and making a very affordable sweater.

Another garter stitch sweater, I know, how surprising of me! And similar to the yet to be finished Forecast sweater, this sweater is also knit in the round, so it's alternating knit and purl rows. Just guess how many times I can mess that up? Dozens of times apparently.

Here's hoping that being housebound by snow means lots of knitting time!

Weekend Plans

This weekend I am...

making tiny fabric yo-yos for a project at school...


trying to remember what I thought would be a good project to make with the kids out of walnut shells. Anyone have a good idea? Little mice perhaps...


and knitting a tiny scarf on toothpicks for a doll. I could have found some sock DPNs if I'd felt like looking.


I am not doing anything with the skein of lovely sock yarn that is on a timeout for turning into a mass of yarn barf that has already taken 3+ hours of untangling. I am also not working on any of my current knitting projects as I'm feeling bored of them and am resisting casting on for another shawl or sweater.

Bento and Cape

I spend a lot of time packing lunches and I am finding that these PlanetBox containers really simplify things for me. Plus I love that they are free of plastic and my kids are really into eating their lunches out of them, and they report that friends are really interested to see what they have for lunch each day.

Below is what my six year old wanted for lunch...



clockwise from top left: golden kiwi and pomegranate, popcorn, homemade brown & white rice crab sushi and tamari, cucumber flowers, piece of Dagoba chocolate

About a week ago I cast on for the #3Lace Capelet from Vogue Knitting Spring/Summer 2010 in Louisa Harding Grace Silk & Wool. As usual I am getting tighter than gauge, and for some reason I didn't go up a needle size, and I am hoping I don't regret that decision too much. I plan to block the heck out of it and hope for the best.

Bobble Weather

Today was rainy, then sunny, and now it looks like rain again. I need a nice snuggly sweater.

I started Forecast in January of '08, and it's been sitting in a bag ever since I knit down past the underarms and then had to make a decision about when to start the waist ribbing. I really am that indecisive sometimes.

Once I tried it on again I started the ribbing where I left off, and I think it's going to work out OK, though I may go back and shorten the ribbing by an inch or so, and try and cast off a little more loosely.

The sleeves have gone pretty quickly so far, but yesterday I knit for two hours, then noticed I messed up the sleeve ribbing and ripped back. Today I though I saw a problem, ripped back three inches, and then realized that the part I had just ripped was not a mistake. Time to re-knit the same part once again!

I love this color so much! You may notice that this looks like some really wonky garter stitch, but it's something in the shadows and how my camera interpreted the stitches. I swear it looks way better in real life, though I do admit to a little laddering from the DPNs. But I think it will block out nicely.

So it's just a bit further on the sleeves and then some button bands. I'm in the home stretch for my first adult sweater! Maybe another week or so and it will be ready to wear!