Life on Laffer

Lazy

2012-01-19T22:49:00.000-05:00

Ugh. Sorry. I promise a giveaway to close on the 14th of January and next thing I know it's the 19th. I've been a little under the weather lately which has left me super sleepy and without my knitting mojo (I just heard your audible gasps!). So I'm just here to announce the giveaway winner.

#14 affiknity

Congratulations! Please contact me as soon as you can with your mailing address so I can get this out to you. As always, if I don't hear from the winner within seven days, I'll have to redraw. I'll be back soon with something more knitting related!

Happy Blogiversary and a Giveaway!

2012-01-09T18:01:00.000-05:00

You heard me right! It's that time of year again. Since I started this blog close after the new year in 2010 (can you believe it?) I like to save my year end wrap up/goals for the new year post until then. This also buys me a little bit of time to think about last year's goals and reassess for the new year. I set three goals for myself last year: knit myself two sweaters, four pairs of socks, and fix the knitted garments that are not wearable so that they become so (or frog them). How did I fare? Well, there were definitely two sweaters knit (Essential Cardigan and Rocky Coast Cardigan. The Dorflinger Tee too but I'm a bit more busty than I was this time last year so it doesn't fit as well any more). I managed to knit myself not only four, but five pairs of socks this year. My feet appreciate the fibery goodness. Finally, the fix-its. Hmmm, that did not come to fruition as I had planned. I still have the same two projects that need to be fixed (the Montana Tunic and Rosamund's Cardigan, and probably Adam's Baseball Jersey too) but I did decide instead of just frogging the original Aran Necklacce Camisole, to reknit it in a more weight appropriate yarn. I'm pleased with meeting the sweater and socks goals but really want to get those finished items that are just not quite right taken care of. So with that said, here are this year's knitting goals:

~~Stop buying yarn and knit solely from stash.~~ Just kidding!
Either finish or frog the Montana Tunic, Rosamund's Cardigan and Adam' Baseball Jersey. If this is not done by this time 2013, then all projects will be frogged, washed, and reskeined (except Adam's sweater. I'll just give that bad boy to the Salvation Army).
Knit four pairs of socks for myself. I have enough sock yarn to do a pair a month but I want to be reasonable. And now my feet know the joys of wearing handknit socks so it's going to be hard to change this goal every year.
Knit five sweaters for myself. I have the yarn bought and selected for these specific projects already so it's just a matter of getting it done. I know I only knit three for myself last year but after reviewing my year's progress. I actually did 10 adult sweaters in 2011 (6 were samples!).
Finally, work on publishing two designs. I say two because I've had these two kicking around in my head for a while so what's keeping me from getting them on paper and knitted up?

I'm all about attainable goals but I also like the idea of a challenge. I think the five sweaters and the designs will be challenge enough for 2012.

And as always, to reward you, my wonderful and loyal readers, for sticking it out to the end of this long post and for checking in with me week after week, a small token of my thanks. And what better way to say thank you than with Malabrigo?

Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Sealing Wax

To be entered to win, leave a comment under this post by January 14th. I'll draw a winner sometime next week. This giveaway is open to all of my readers, worldwide (how many of there are you?). Thank you again for your readership and for the support in my new endeavor! If you haven't checked out the new podcast, go listen!

Garter Stitch Eternity Scarf

2012-01-06T18:01:00.000-05:00

This kind of scarf/cowl has been in the back of my mind since the fall when many stores began debuting their fall lines. It seemed everywhere I went there were these lovely, chunky cowls in a simple textured stitch. Being the knitter I am, I would stop and admire/investigate each one thinking, "I could totally make one of these". While lovely, they always tended to be knit in some kind of acrylic or acrylic blend yarn. In my mind I was imagining one knit in a yarn similar to that of my favorite scarf. I finally got my act together a couple weeks ago and did a quick gauge swatch and then knit this cowl up. It is so warm and cozy, the must have kind of accessory if you live in a cold weather climate.

You can wear this a couple of ways: long and loose (as seen in the top photo), kind of tucked into your coat like a real scarf; wrapped double into a cushy cowl; or folded in half, one end pulled through the other. I'm favoring the second and third option since I prefer my scarf to be wrapped up as close to my face as possible.

For this scarf I used over two hanks of Misti Alpaca Chunky but you could probably get away with two if you cast on fewer stitches.

Garter Stitch Eternity Scarf

Finished Size: 48" circumference and approximately 8" width

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky, 3 hanks

Gauge: 14sts = 4"

Needles: US10.5 40" circulars

CO 168, join for knitting in the round by purling first stitch. Be careful not to twist stitches!

(Purl 1 row, knit 1 row) repeat 6 times.

Knit 3 rows.

(Purl 1 row, knit 1 row) repeat 3 times.

(Knit 1 row, purl 1 row) repeat 3 times.

Knit 4 rows.

(Purl 1 row, knit 1 row) repeat 6 times.

Purl 1 row.

Bind of in purl stitch.

Weave in ends and wear with pride!

Ravelry Link

Stash Enhancement

2012-01-02T17:03:00.000-05:00

No trip to California is complete without some yarn shopping. I'm sure that doesn't surprise you. My plan was to pick up some yarn for my friend Amy as a thank you/Christmas gift. I went into each store with only her in mind but somehow a couple of skeins found their way into my suitcase.

My goal was to specifically find some worsted weight Anzula yarn (she's a dyer from Fresno, just in case you didn't know). When I go out of town I like to buy things I can't get in Akron and this had been my plan since the beginning of December. The first yarn store I went to only carried Azula yarns in fingering weight. For me that's fine, but Amy has enough fingering weight yarn for a small army (or at least to make enough socks to warm a small army). I had promised I would look for worsted or dk weight for her.

So instead I bought this skein of Dreamy (75/15/10 Merino, Cashmere, Silk) in the color Country Green for me.

I bought this skein of Squishy (75/15/10 Merino, Cashmere, Nylon) in Paprika just in case I didn't get the chance to go to another yarn store before I left. I figured it was really pretty and Amy would still like it, even if it was fingering.

Of course I did make it to another yarn store where in addition to the amazing red MCN worsted weight Anzula (sorry, I didn't get any pictures of it) for Amy, I also bought two skeins of Madelinetosh Merino DK in Betty Drapers Blues. You know, one for her, one for me. I really want to start working on some socks with the new yarn but have made myself a schedule to try to stick to for the month of January. I do have a few finished items to share with you but it's been pretty cold outside so I haven't been able to take pictures yet. I'll try tomorrow, although it is my first day back at school. Does it make me greedy hoping for a snow day tomorrow?

Skyp Socks II

2011-12-30T21:51:00.000-05:00

I've had this yarn around for such a long time that I started to feel like the socks were taking a long time to knit as well. The truth is though, I knit these in a little over a month (of course I had the yarn wound up some time before that).

This was the main project I worked on while I was in Fresno for Christmas and my dedication to them paid off. The night before I left I made sure to finish the foot and turn each heel this way I could just kind of zone out and knit the leg on the plane or wherever.

I knit these two-at-time, toe up for one main purpose. Having only 250 yards of yarn to knit socks with scares me. I was worried that I would knit one sock the proper length then run short with three inches of foot on the second sock left. I figured if I started at the toe on both and only made it to four or five inches of leg on each, at least they would match. While my plan did work (to have a matching set), it turned out that I didn't need to be worried. I ended up being able to knit the leg to 7" before doing a 1" cuff. I have a sock with an 8" leg and I still had yarn left over. I probably could have gone to 9" even but was ready to cast off and wear these bad boys! I used Jennie's surprisingly stretchy bind off and did a quick jig around the house.

I've mentioned before that I can't find a lot of info on this yarn although I believe it to be sportweight, 100% superwash Merino. No matter, since I wasn't very impressed with the yarn anyway. It was loosely twisted and there were even areas where the plies had no twist at all, just kind of fuzzed up next to each other. I've worn these socks once since they were finished and already there's pilling on the heel and foot. Only time will tell how these will wear but in the meantime I'm going to get some good wear out of them.

Pattern: Simple Skyp Socks by Adrienne Ku (Free!)

Yarn: Honeypot Yarns Washable Wool

Needles: #2-40"

Began: November 18

Completed: December 24

Ravelry Link

A Christmas Surprise!

2011-12-25T19:01:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a wonderful and relaxing holiday! As I mentioned several posts ago, I have a special surprise for you (albeit a bit earlier than I had anticipated). My friend Mary and I have started a podcast! This has been an idea churning in the back of my mind for quite some time now and, while it's still a work in progress, it's released and available for listening. We're working on getting some music and a logo so go subscribe and stick around for the fun.

You can check us out at wooljunkies.com.

Throw Back

2011-12-19T21:27:00.000-05:00

Last week I decided to make a gift using a technique I hadn't used since I was nine: cross stitch. I found some really cute patterns at Subversive Cross Stitch and one in particular that I thought my friend Mary would love.

This took me a few nights to complete since I was trying to finish the Featherweight Cardigan first (it's done, by the way!). I used a smaller gauge fabric than called for since I couldn't find something larger in white (they only had a dirty brown that was supposed to pass as off white) at the craft store I went to. I was very excited to give it to her today. Her dog, Devo is a good friend of Timber and Hazel's, and to all other dogs for that matter. This has been the only Christmas gift that I've made this year and it's kind of nice not having to worry about whether or not I'll finish my projects. For tomorrow's flight, I've packed the Audrey in Unst cardigan, sport weight Skyp socks, and two balls of gray sock yarn for my dad. He requested a pair of socks, pointing out that he's the only one in the family who I haven't knit for. When I asked my mom if he wanted them for Christmas she said, "oh, no. He just wants them." Since that's the case, I'm not going to push myself to finish them before I leave California. I'll probably cast them on during the plane ride though. We'll see if the mood strikes me.

Weekend Work

2011-12-18T09:24:00.001-05:00

Grrr. I just typed up a whole post and in a second it vanished. And thanks Blogger for then letting the auto save kick in to save nothing. Ok, take two.

Since it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here I decided to spend yesterday with a hot drink, cuddled in blankets watching Meet Me in St. Louis and working on my sample Featherweight Cardigan. Not that I'm complaining about the lack of holiday-type weather. We have holiday weather far into April, minus the Christmas cheer.

I've mentioned before, my plan is to finish the Featherweight before I leave for Christmas. And the time spent on it yesterday proved fruitful. I have only one sleeve left, some end weaving, and blocking.

Thanks Mary for letting me use your head!

In case you were wondering, my hat was a hit at the party! There were plenty of exclamations of "You made that?!" and a request to buy one. I'm going to rework the chart a little and write up the pattern. I'm aiming for the end of January and hoping life doesn't get in the way of that plan.

Things to Come

2011-12-14T15:04:00.001-05:00

There is the disticnt possibility that the new year is going to bring a lot of exciting changes around these parts. In addition to a collaboration of sorts, my two year blogiversary is coming up. I can't believe the time has gone so quickly. I promise to get something good to giveaway!

The point of this post, however, is not blogiversary stuff. In next years business there may be the opportunity for me (the blogger) to involve you (the reader) more frequently. For starters: Questions. I would like to help you answer any yarn/knitting/crochet questions you may have. I can't tell you how I will answer them, but please, if you have a question or need any kind of advice ask away! If you're not sure what kind of questions would be appropriate, think technical, suggestions, etc. Keep in mind that I'm a teacher, not a psychologist so don't get too carried away! Send your questions to my email with Question in the subject.

Second, I am looking for sponsers for this upcoming project. If you area associated with any sort of fiber goodness (designer, spinner, notions maker, etc) and would like to become a sponser, please email me as well and I will fill you in on the details. Right now I am looking for one sponser a month. I have high hopes for next years venture and can't wait for the opportunity to share it with you!

Because I Can Never Leave Well Enough Alone

2011-12-11T16:48:00.000-05:00

My school's holiday party (the adult version) is this Thursday and we're supposed to bring a gift for a white elephant type exchange. My issue with this type of gift exchange is that some people find awesome gifts (and sometimes go over the limit to do so) that everyone wants, and some people buy crap that no one wants. Now, lest I offend anyone, I love a good gift exchange but I absolutely will not spend money on something that could potentially be thrown away the following day. Also, when I give a gift, I actually want the recipient to enjoy said gift. Shocking, I know. Anyway, I was talking with another teacher in my school about this and she mentioned that last year there were some really coveted gifts like various Christmas decorations and such. I lamented that I wouldn't know what to buy (and really don't want to go shopping) so maybe I should just make something. Now, the debut of my little fox was a big hit with the teachers in my building so just mentioning that I should make something turned into cries of "A fox?!"

I don't want to make a fox for this exchange since there's the distinct possibility of someone who isn't really into wearing fake knitted animals receiving it like, say, Mr. Principal. So I brainstormed and decided a hat in the school colors might be fun. And because I can't leave well enough alone (poke, poke, hey Well Enough! You home?), I decided to knit it Fair Isle, with snow flakes. Oh yeah, and go ahead and design the chart as well. Because when I show up, I show up.

It still needs to be blocked, although I'm a bit worried about colors running. And I also need to decide on a topper. Tassel? Pom-pom? Nothing? Let me know what you think.

I'm hoping this will be well received, especially since the following day is "Hat and Scarf Day". Which leads me to my next confession. As if I didn't have enough to do this week, I've decided to knit this hat for myself. The little antlers are already felted and drying.

Will I keep my sanity this week? Stay tuned.

Gift Knitting

2011-12-06T17:21:00.000-05:00

At this time last year I was deep in the throes of gift knitting. This is the time of year that many knitters are burning the midnight oil. Ordinary homes have been turned into something of a needle arts sweatshop. The phrase "live and breathe knitting" is putting it mildly. I took a quick look back at some of my projects and last year I knit six gifts for my family. That may seem minimal but allow me to do a quick recap.

For Adam:

The dreaded Baseball Jersey. And no, I still don't want to talk about it.

For my boss:

A great pair of Paraphernalia Socks. I wish I had kept them.

For my sister-in-law:

A Cedar Leaf Shawlette. LOVE this color (Mal Silky in Topaz!).

For my parents:

The cranberry colored Sunny Spread.

For my mom (it was technically a birthday gift but since her birthday is a couple weeks before Christmas, I'm including it)

A faux Noro-striped scarf.

For my brother (and my pièce de résistance)

a sweater made using EPS.

Just thinking about last December makes me tired. And this year? Well, let's just say I already sent my mom's birthday gift. It's from Amazon. Sometimes you just have to set some limits for yourself. It's not that I'm not knitting this month (I'm not sure if "not knitting" is ever an option). I've started working on a new sample for Hannah in Tern by Quince and Co. This yarn has a really interesting, almost microfiber kind of feel (it's 75/25 wool/silk).

My plan is to get this done by the time I head out to California for Christmas, which is two weeks away. I'd like to work on some selfish knitting over my break and maybe a new sweater or some socks?

Bayside Pullover

2011-12-04T15:29:00.000-05:00

If you've been wondering what I've been doing all November, here it is. Another Coastal Knits sample knit has been completed and sent away. This one is the Bayside Pullover, designed by Hannah Fettig.

This particular sample was knit in Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine in a chocolaty brown color. While it is a really simple pullover, I love how the cables add some visual interest.

Hopefully I'll be able to knit myself one in the coming year (because I'm sure it won't happen this year!).

Pattern: Bayside Pullover by Hannah Fettig

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine (about 2.5 skeins) color #1279

Needles: #5

Began: November 12

Completed: December1

Ravelry Page

Skyp Socks

2011-11-17T16:48:00.000-05:00

After all the hullabaloo of Blogtoberfest, I've kind of been slacking on getting a post up. Not to say that I haven't been knitting (you know I'm always knitting). I've just been lazy about picture taking and post making. This week though, I managed to get outside before the sun went down (earlier, and earlier) to get some pictures of the Skyp Socks I knit to swap with the teacher at my school.

This was a very easy knit but I wasn't completely loving the yarn so I kind of dilly-dallied on finishing these. I had chosen this yarn because I've heard that they wear extremely well. My big hang up on gifting hand knit socks is that while I love to use more luxurious yarns, I'm not always certain the recipient will care for them properly and, even if they do, there is always the chance that a loosely spun yarn will wear through quickly. So like I was saying, I chose the Trekking. At my LYS there wasn't a whole lot of non-striping options and I was really going for a more solid/tonal look. The teacher did tell me that green is her favorite color so I settled for this skein.

I didn't initially realize this pattern is written for sport weight yarn and chose to knit the 56 stitch size. Thank goodness for ribbing because before blocking I was a bit worried these wouldn't fit even my small feet. But they blocked out to the correct size. One wonderful surprise, despite my disenchantment with the yarn, was the fact that the completed socks used only 60 grams of yarn. That leaves me with enough to make a second pair for myself if I want!

Overall, while not in love with the socks, I will definitely knit this pattern again. I'm thinking of using a more colorful yarn next time so the faux-cable really pops.

Pattern: Simple Skyp Socks by Adrienne Ku (Free!)

Yarn: Zitron Trekking (XXL) (color #337)

Needles: US1.5

Began: November 1

Completed: November 14

Ravelry Link

Rikke Hat

2011-11-03T23:25:00.000-04:00

I finished a new knit last week all in the name of good, old-fashioned swapping.

This squishy goodness was knit for my knitting-group friend Joanna. She is the knitting group's resident needle crafter, hand-stitching designs on paper to create some really awesome greeting and holiday cards. So of course when she asked if anyone in the group would be willing to exchange some hand knits for cards, I jumped at the chance. Literally. I shouted, "ME!"

Her request was a nice slouchy hat to go with her black leather jacket (she's so cool). I was a little worried because Joanna has a smaller head circumference than I do so I was going to have to pray to the knitting gauge gods and hope things turned out alright. Thanks to all the garter stitch in this pattern, the brim is super stretchy and not only does it fit her little noggin well, it actually fits mine pretty good too (because you know I tried it on before I gave it away). Since the pattern calls for a DK weight yarn and we had decided on the Polar Morn colorway of Malabrigo worsted, I cast on fewer stitches on a slightly larger needle than called for. After the brim, I knit the hat the length called for (9") before starting decreases. I had more than enough yarn, with a tiny ball leftover.

Because of the in-the-round garter stitch, there is a jog where you switch from knit to purl but I actually don't mind it. It looks more like a seam to me than a messy switch so I didn't freak out about it. I gave the hat to Joanna at knitting last night and was happy to get a couple quick photos of her wearing it.

I know I say this a lot but I definitely need one for myself! I have a couple great skeins of DK in my stash that I think would make an awesome hat. Or I might have to break down and buy a skein of Malabrigo. How terrible would that be?

You can check out Joanna on her Christmas TV blog or in her Etsy store (if you do, get a look at that squirrel greeting card! So cute!).

Pattern: Rikke Hat by Sarah Young

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Polar Morn (less than a full skein)

Needles: #5 for brim, #9 for hat

Began: October 27

Completed: October 29

Ravelry Link

Starting Over

2011-11-01T20:31:00.000-04:00

I've finally managed to rewind the yarn I frogged from Audrey. So now comes the horrendous task of starting over. I'm sure you're well aware of how painful it is to knit almost an entire sweater (at least 70 percent!) only to find it doesn't fit. I ripped it out with the best intentions of completing a properly fitted sweater in the end but I've kind of lost the wind in my sails. After ripping it out I did the knitting equivalent of eating a pint of ice cream while watching a romantic comedy: I knit some instant gratification items. You know, like this and this. Oh yeah, and this, this, this and this. Needless to say, October was a productive month.

It's probably time I just bite the bullet and get Audrey finished (again). But I have to knit those socks first.

More to Come

2011-10-31T22:19:00.000-04:00

It's the last day of Blogtoberfest and I've kind of slacked off. I was busy with report cards this weekend and kept putting off taking a picture of my most recent finished object but I'll get one soon. In the meantime I've finally picked the yarn for my socks/yarn bowl swap.

I've never knit with Trekking before but have heard that it's a pretty hard wearing yarn. My thing with gifting hand knit socks is that while I love a beautiful pair of socks in a lush yarn, I want to make sure they last and stand the test of time. Now I'm trying to find the right pattern. I want something that will look great but with a pattern that is easy to memorize and kind of intuitive. Any ideas?

Lahna Tea

2011-10-29T19:30:00.000-04:00

What does one do when their little brother starts a new internet business? Like any good sister, they post about it on their blog. My brother has recently launched an online tea store that sells loose leaf tea and teaware.

I'm not much of a tea snob (similar to a yarn snob only with tea) but I have to admit that he has pretty good taste when it comes to tea. He made me a few cups the last time I was in California and they were delicious. For someone new to loose leaf tea, he suggested starting with either of the oolang teas or the green tea. If you're interested you can visit his website here or his Facebook page. As an added bonus, shipping is free all of November.

Cambrian Cowl Giveaway Winner

2011-10-28T22:44:00.000-04:00

It's been a long week in these parts, what with another round of parent/teacher conferences, my annual observation and evaluation all bundled up into a week where we had an assembly, end of quarter assessments and a holiday party. Ugh. It's 9 o'clock on a Friday night and I'm ready to go to sleep. But not before I announce the winner of the Cambrian Cowl giveaway!

#2 lori

I've been a long time reader of Lori's blog. Congratulations Lori! I hope you get good use out of this! I will email you in the morning but in the event that you read this before then, please email me with your address.

New Stuff

2011-10-27T21:37:00.000-04:00

Last night I cast on for something new with a skein of Malabrigo that has been lingering in my stash since 2009. I had balled this yarn way back when I didn't yet have a yarn ball winder. Today, I received my very first yarn bowl! And if you're wondering, since I had already cast on my new project, instead of pulling out the few rows I had, I unwound the entire ball of yarn only to thread it through the hole and wind it back up.

This was made by the computer teacher at my school. We arranged to have a trade of one yarn bowl for one pair of hand knit socks. I haven't started on her socks yet (I'm going to have to get cracking on that this weekend) but this morning she came in with five yarn bowls for me to choose from. She hadn't made these before but said she was just trying out some fun things now that she had.

I love it!

One for You, One for Me

2011-10-25T21:56:00.000-04:00

I really can't wait to give away the Cambrian Cowl. I know it will make one of you so cozy and warm this fall. But you didn't think I was going to go around with a cold neck did you?

I made a second for myself last week (uh, fastest knit ever). Remember those gorgeous buttons I showed you? Well here they are. Even better on a finished piece. And they should. The cost of the buttons was more than the cost of the seven skeins of Misti Alpaca. It hasn't been quite cold enough to wear it but you know I'm going to jump at the first chance to put on some hand knits.

Pattern: Cambrian Cowl by Alana Dakos

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky

Needle: US10

Began: October 22

Completed: October 22

Ravelry Link

Coastal Knits Blog Tour

2011-10-24T07:00:00.001-04:00

Those of you who have been following my blog for any period of time are probably aware that I'm a sample knitter. I LOVE sample knitting. What better way to spend my time than by knitting some awesome designs by knitwear designers I admire? I've been knitting for Alana of Never Not Knitting since July of 2010 but had already been an admirer of her patterns. A few months later I was contacted by Hannah of Knitbot asking me to sample knit for her as well. Knitting for these ladies has been such a pleasure. They both have very distinct styles, but there is always something so wearable and current with their designs. So imagine my delight when Hannah mentioned in an email way back in January that she and Alana were planning a book (could you imagine knowing since January and having to wait all year? Painful, I tell you).

When I received my copy in the mail I was in awe of just how professional and lovely it was. Since so many other people have raved about it already, I'll just say that you definitely should own a copy of this book. You'll want to knit everything!

Since I've already knit quite a few projects from this, I thought I would review them a bit and share with you my experiences.

My first sample from this book was Alana's Wildflower Cardigan. My version was knit for the second trunk show (these ladies are popular!) out of Madelinetosh Pashmina in a color called Isadora. The knitting of this pattern went smoothly as Alana's patterns are very clear and descriptive. Getting started was only a slight challenge. The pattern calls for a gauge of 28 stitches to 4" on a size 5 needle. Apparently I'm a terribly tight knitter and ended up having to go down to a size 2 needle! Getting started knitting a sweater on a size 2 needle can be very scary but I was actually able to zoom along with this project and finish in about three weeks. Who doesn't love a sweet little cardigan with pockets? And these pockets have flowers on them! My favorite part of this design is the lovely scalloped edges. It's such a delicate and feminine detail that, for me, makes the cardigan. I could rave about this cardigan for days and am already planning the yarn to make my own.

My second knit was the Panoramic Stole by Hannah. If you are looking for a simple and versatile wrap, this is it. My version was knit out of The Fibre Company's Canopy Fingering. This yarn is warm and lush something you'll want to knit a fall/winter item out of. This is such a simple and pretty wrap that is easy enough for new knitters and would also make a great take along project since the pattern is easy to memorize.

My final sample piece was the Branching Out Mitts, also by Hannah. These may have been my favorite sample knit from the book. I've never done Intarsia until these mitts but these were a wonderful project. When knitting for these designers (whether samples or for personal use) I tend to really trust their yarn choices and this is no different. The mitts are done in Blue Sky Alpaca's Melange, a sport weight yarn. The fuzz and heathered color of the Melange is very forgiving to Intarsia. It also blocks out very nicely, allowing you to get more even stitches and a smoother fabric. The pattern used less than a ball of each so I'm thinking this should be on many a knitter's holiday gift list.

In addition to these three samples, I helped with Hannah's Bayside Pullover surgery (mentioned in Episode 60 of Never Not Knitting), and have even knit two of the patterns for myself (see my Rocky Coast Cardigan). If you'd like to see any of these knits in person check out the Coastal Knits trunk show as they might be coming to a city near you. And if you can't wait, then go order the book already! You definitely won't regret it.

Now, if you've seen my Cambrian Cowl recently and thought 'my, that looks cozy', well it is, and here's your chance to win it. That's right! Just leave a comment below and I'll choose a winner on Friday, October 28th. In case you're concerned about allergies, the cowl is 100% alpaca and comes from a smoke-free, dog-friendly home.

Thank you to both Alana and Hannah for including me on this wonderful project! I look forward to many more inspiring designs coming from these two. And don't forget to check out the rest of their Coastal Knits blog tour!

Mini-Fox

2011-10-23T17:17:00.000-04:00

I know there are plenty of people out there who are in the midst of the hexipuff craze. And if you don't know, check it out but be careful lest you get sucked in as well. I'm not a hexipuffer because I'm a bit too product-oriented and I'm not sure if I'd have enough steam to make it to the end of that project. Despite my lack of hexipuffing, I love Tiny Owl Knits. I hadn't knit any of her patterns though because I felt that they might be a bit too whimsical for, say, a regular Tuesday. Until now.

If this isn't the cutest thing ever, I don't know what is. The new school I work at goes big for Halloween. I generally don't and only have one costume on hand (an Indian princess dress a friend made three years ago. She even fringed the bottom and beaded it. She's awesome.) that I can go to. But you know how some things just need to feel new? When I saw this I thought "what Native American wouldn't love a nice fox pelt for winter?!" And there you have it.

Look at these tiny toes!

Right now I'm using a hook and eye closure to keep it on. Tiny Owl Knits recommends a magnetic closure and I think that will probably work a lot better and keep it from drooping.

I wish I would've had some black fingering weight yarn but instead used some Blue Sky Alpaca Sport in a color called Pumpernickel for the legs and ears. Finding the foxy red color was pretty easy since for some reason I had the color in my mind and knew I could find it in Ultra Alpaca, and I did! This little guy used less than one skein of this yarn. If you're interested, the pattern comes with directions for both Mini-Fox and a grown up Mr. Fox.

Pattern: Mr. Fox Stole My Heart & Mini-Fox by Tiny Owl Knits

Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light (color #4280 Mahogany Mix, Blue Sky Alpaca Sport (Pumpernickel), Knit Picks Palette (Cream)

Needles: US4

Began: October 22

Completed: October 23

Ravelry Page

Guess What

2011-10-22T21:40:00.000-04:00

Cambrian Cowl

2011-10-20T21:14:00.000-04:00

The weather hasn't changed around here but for you, dear reader, I braved the drizzle to take a few pictures of my finished cowl.

The Cambrian Cowl is another pattern (this one by Alana Dakos) from Coastal Knits. If you are looking for something quick to knit this fall, this is it. I knit the entire cowl in only a couple of hours.

I went looking for buttons yesterday and I found a couple that I liked but when I returned home I found these lovely clay buttons that I had stored away. These were made by my friend Jenn of Landen Road Designs. I had them stashed away for a special occasion and this was it.

Are you in love with this cowl too? If you are, stay tuned because you'll be in for a special treat!

Pattern: Cambrian Cowl by Alana Dakos

Yarn: Misti Alpaca Chunky Solids

Needles: US10

Began: October 17

Completed: October 20

Ravelry Page

Still Going

2011-10-18T23:47:00.000-04:00

You know me, can't stop knitting just because I finished something. Yesterday I started and finished a new cowl for the upcoming winter. Oh yes, started and finished. At least knitting. I need to buy buttons and sew them on. Either way, it's at a wearable point now and laying to dry so it's done. The only thing missing is some pictures. The worst part of a Midwestern fall is the dreary days when there is no where near enough sunlight to get a decent photo. So instead I'll entice you with the yarn it's knitted in.

That is Misti Alpaca Chunky (I think, either that or maybe Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande). I've said it before and I'll say it again, I think baby alpacas are my favorite kind of alpaca. And I have not just one ball of this, but seven! What makes it even better (if that's possible) is I bought this from a friend in my knitting group for ten dollars! This kind of awesome score makes knitting with this yarn even that more enjoyable.

Rocky Coast Cardigan

2011-10-17T21:41:00.000-04:00

I had high hopes of getting some good pictures of me wearing my new cardigan but the lighting was weird today and just turned out too dark. However, we're getting some family photos done in a couple weeks and I plan on wearing this in some of the pictures so you'll get to see it on me then.

In the meantime, it's finished! If this wasn't the fastest sweater to knit, I don't know what is.

So would you like some details? My gauge was initially just a bit over what was called for so I decided to knit the 40" instead of the 36" (I'm a 32"). After blocking, my finished cardigan measured at about the 36" size. I used a total of 9 skeins of Organik with only a small bit leftover. For the sleeves, I did only one decrease after the first complete round and one more set of decreases before starting the ribbing. I had originally knit the first sleeve as called for and it was way too tight on my arm. The skein I used for that first sleeve was also a bit darker than the yoke of the cardigan (which of course annoyed me to no end) so I was going to rip and reknit that anyway. I used a 7mm needle to bind off the ribbing which achieved the perfect amount of ease. I also used the 7mm needles to do the sleeves since I'm well aware of my tension issues from knitting flat versus in the round. And don't forget, I did all the cables without a cable needle!

I could rave on and on about the how lovely the drape of this sweater is and how Organik is a wonderful yarn choice but you really should try it for yourself. And this color? Doesn't it just scream fall? When I first got this yarn I wasn't sure how the color would turn out as a knitted piece but now, I feel like the color helps to make this the perfect autumn cardigan. Can I also point out that this is my first Hannah Fettig design that I've knit for myself? I know! I can't believe it has taken me so long to get around to making one. I love how simple and essential her pieces are. They can fit into any wardrobe. I'll be looking forward to getting a lot of use out of this one in the upcoming months.

Pattern: Rocky Coast Cardigan by Hannah Fettig

Yarn: The Fibre Company Organik in Magma (9 skeins)

Needles: US10.5 for body, US9 for ribbing, US10.75 (7mm) for sleeves and bind off

Began: October 8

Completed: October 16

Ravelry Link

This is a Celebrate Color project!

Not Quite Ready-to-Wear

2011-10-16T21:41:00.000-04:00

I spent pretty much the entire day today working on the final collar ribbing of my Rocky Coast Cardigan and it paid off because it is done and in the blocking process now! I simply cannot wait to wear this sweater! I'm kind of hoping it will be dry enough for me to wear tomorrow but probably not. Since I knew I wasn't going to finish until after dark, I snapped this quick picture when I was still a few rows from finishing the collar.

So far, from what I can tell when I tried it on before blocking, it is super cozy and may turn into my go-to cardigan this fall.

In the Meantime

2011-10-15T20:30:00.000-04:00

Even though I had yesterday off I've been super busy running all sorts of errands that I haven't had a chance to do during the school week. This means I haven't had a chance to take any new pictures. Regardless, I've been knitting and now have a sleeve complete on my Rocky Coast Cardigan. I've knit it twice so technically I should have both complete but no, just the one. I'm hoping to get the other pretty much done tonight and get the final ribbing done tomorrow. There's also a handful of small accessory type projects I'd like to start next week. I'm hoping to have some pics to share tomorrow!

Hanging My Laundry Out

2011-10-13T20:19:00.000-04:00

Since we were blessed with some sunshine and a nice breeze this afternoon I thought I would take advantage of the weather and do some washing of the hand knit variety.

Now that I have a lovely little collection of hand knit socks, I've been trying to take turns wearing each pair so one doesn't over wear. Some are wearing a little more quickly than others and you'll probably see a blog post about that soon. In the meantime, I'm just enjoying looking at this little rainbow of fun. Like tiny flags swaying in the breeze.

I should also mention that I forgot that I left these out there and the next time I looked it was raining. Whoops. They're indoors now.

Knitting and an Apple

2011-10-12T22:12:00.000-04:00

I spent some time with my wonderful knitting group this evening. It has grown and changed (all for the better) since I've been a member. Meeting up with these fun ladies is always a highlight of my week. Tonight, I mentioned that I didn't have a post planned for today so Mary kindly let me take some pictures of the group for the blog.

I'm sure all knitters say this but I think my knitting group is the best.

And finally, I have a tiny finished project that I made at the end of August. My friend Deb was having a not-so-ideal time as a first-year teacher so I thought what better gift to give a teacher than an apple (and knitted, no less)? I got the idea from Alana (she always has great ideas) and whipped this cutie up with some DK weight Noro Maiko.

I omitted the finger hole and instead of adding pellets to weigh it down (those puppies are $8 a bag and I only needed about an ounce!) I added about thirty cents worth of pennies and fiber fill to create a fun little paper weight.

Pattern: Finger Foods by Susan B. Anderson

Yarn: Noro Maiko, Debbie Bliss Wool/Cotton (stem), Wollmeise (leaf)

Needles: US3

Began: August 30

Completed: September 3

Ravelry Link

Autumn Yarns

2011-10-11T21:28:00.000-04:00

It seems to me that I've been in some kind of autumnal craze. I've already shared with you my love of all things pumpkin, but lately all my yarn purchases are reminiscent of a brisk fall day.

My most recent purchase was a gorgeous skein of The Plucky Knitter's merino/cashmere/nylon fingering weight yarn in a blazingly autumn color called Trusty Rusty. I generally have a "thing" about ordering yarn online; I like to touch and fondle the yarn before I buy. But I've heard such crazy wonderful things about The Plucky Knitter and just happened to be home during an update and have the cash in my PayPal account. Somehow this yarn jumped into my online basket and made its way over to my house. When it arrived I was stunned by its glow and sheen and am now buying into the hype.

The second is Barking Dog Yarns Achilles which is an 80/20 merino/nylon blend. This indie dyer is located in my hometown of Fresno. The colorway is oh-so-golden and called, what else? California (you know I couldn't pass that one up).

I'm hoping to make some very special socks for myself out of these yarns but I can't bear to wind them just yet. Are you in some sort of fall color craze too, or is it just me?

Cableing Without a Cable Needle

2011-10-10T21:33:00.000-04:00

Let me preface this by saying there's plenty of tutorials out there on how to cable without a cable needle. Mine is not particularly special except for the fact that this is how I do it and this is my blog. I know there's a lot of knitters out there currently knitting the Rocky Coast Cardigan (myself included) which, as I said yesterday, is a pretty cable heavy design (although easy cables!) and hanging on to a cable needle the entire time (or in my case, sticking it in your hair for safe keeping and then forgetting where you put it causing you to get up and shake everything up around you) can slow you down. This will save you time by not having to put your yarn down to switch tools and keeping you in knitting motion.

Disclaimer: I really only do this with a heavier weight yarn that has the ability to kind of stick to itself. So, no silk. But a nice weighty wool or alpaca would be fine. I also did this with some sport weight linen. Those stitches could stand up by themselves.

Ok, let's get started. The first thing you do is knit to the point where your cable will start (in case you couldn't figure that out).

For a cable that is right slanting (generally known as a cable back in which the first half of the stitch crosses in the back) you will skip the first two stitches and slip your right needle into the next two stitches purlwise from the front.

At the same time, you'll use your right index finger to press the first two stitches on the wrong side of your knitting on to the right-hand needle.

Now for the scary part: slip the four stitches off the needle (you can do it! This is part where a thick, stiff, or sticky yarn comes in handy, in case you let one go they won't go disappearing down the fabric). You should have (from left to right) two stitches on and two stitches being held behind the right needle.

Now, with the left-hand needle, pick up the two held stitches.

Got them? Good. Place the two stitches on the right-hand needle back onto the left-hand needle. You've now re-oriented the stitches.

Now knit across as you normally would.

And there's your cable!

Now, if you're trying to make a left-slanting cable (also known as a cable front in which the first half of the cable stitches cross in the front) you'll start by skipping the first two stitches on the left-hand needle and putting your right-hand needle into the next two stitches through the back.

You'll hold the first two stitches against the right-hand needle with your thumb.

Go ahead and slip all four stitches off the needle (don't forget to breathe!).

Now, with the left-hand needle, pick up the two held stitches.

Place the two stitches from the right-hand needle back onto the left needle.

Now your stitches are re-oriented.

And knit across them as you normally would.

You're such an awesome cabler now (kind of). It definitely takes some getting used to but once you get in the swing of things you'll be able to pick up the pace.

Organik

2011-10-09T19:06:00.000-04:00

My initial plans yesterday consisted of frogging my Audrey and reskeining the yarn. However, those plans were thwarted by this:

Notice something missing?

Oh yeah, that would be the handle.

I've been following the Rocky Coast Cardigan knit-a-long in the Coastal Knits Group on Ravelry and finally decided to wind some yarn and swatch. Mid-yarn winding, snap, and the handle was off. I had a "what the?!" type of moment and called Knit Picks customer service. My new winder will be on its way tomorrow morning. Crisis averted. This of course means that I haven't frogged Audrey yet because I don't care to do that without the winder.

In the meantime, I swatched for a couple projects and eventually cast on for the Rocky Coast Cardigan. This is going to be an open front, cabled cardigan knit out of The Fibre Company's Organik yarn in Magma.

At this point, I've knit through two skeins the Organik (pattern calls for nine) and it is working up beautifully. Once this project is done I don't know if I'll be able to sing the praises of the Organik enough! Not only is it soft, it has a really lovely sheen that kind of makes the whole thing glow. Over on the KAL forum, a lot of knitters were concerned that because this is a single spun yarn there would be a fair amount of pilling (oh, the dreaded pilling!). The designer, Hannah Fettig, recently posted on her blog information about the yarn and why this luxury yarn is also a workhorse. I was definitely sold but in case you haven't had the chance to see this yarn in real life (I know my LYS doesn't carry this) I thought I would offer you a quick comparison between the Organik and some Malabrigo Worsted.

I think it's easy to immediately see that these too are not as alike as one might initially think. Although the Organik is very light and full, you can tell that it holds together better than the Malabrigo. I also gave both yarns a few twists in the opposite direction and the Mal unspun pretty quickly while the Organik sprung back into place.

Don't get me wrong, I love Malabrigo with the best of them but if you're considering the Organik for your sweater, it will be well worth it and I bet it will last for quite some time.

I've already divided the sleeves for my sweater and am working my way down the back. This is a cable heavy pattern (although an easy cable) and being able to cable without the cable needle makes things go much more quickly. I'm sure I'm not the only person doing this but I thought, for those out there who are interested and unsure how to go about it, tomorrow I'll post a little tutorial on how I cable without the needle.

Sideways Grande Hat

2011-10-08T18:55:00.000-04:00

I think this was just the thing I needed for my knitted pick-me-up.

I cast on for this Thursday, just in time to lay in bed and watch my TV shows. I picked it back up on Friday afternoon and after a couple hours, I had a new hat! And just in time for 80 degree weather, no less.

This hat has a really interesting construction. The entire thing is knit flat then seamed up the side to the center of the top. The cables are knit and twisted separately. I ended up using almost all that was left of my yarn. I was nervous that I would run out and that it might come out too big so, on the advice of many other Ravelers, I cast on 36 stitches.

I've never been much of a hat wearer. I think that has something to do with never having to wear a winter hat until moving to Ohio. But this might just be one that makes its way into my regular winter wear rotation.

Bring Eli Home Hat

2011-10-07T17:38:00.000-04:00

Knitters are kind and generous people (I'm sure you know that by now). My friend Mary is one of those people. Let me tell you a quick story:

Sara Edwards is the mother of a three year old Eli, who in March 2010 became the victim of parental abduction. Eli left the country on a planned trip to Turkey with his father. Only after they left did Sara find out that the father, Muhammed, had no plans to return to Ohio and had managed to secure a divorce only a few days after arriving in Turkey. Since then, Sara has worked tirelessly to fight for custody and to bring Eli home to Ohio.Of course this fight comes with a cost. Many events have been planned to help raise funds for this cause.

So of course, Mary did what many yarn crafters would do: she decided to write a pattern and sell it with all proceeds going to the Bring Eli Home fund.

The Bring Eli Home Hat is a slouchy hat worked in a crocheted seed stitch pattern. The detachable strap is used to cinch the hat around one's head. This fun and easy pattern and would even be a wonderful "learn to crochet" project.

This pattern uses approximately 300 yards of worsted weight yarn on an H (5.00mm) hook.

The pattern can be purchased here on Ravlery. I believe that the pattern can be purchased with or without a Ravelry account.

If you would like to donate to Sara's work to bring her son home, you can do so here.

Resting

2011-10-06T18:07:00.000-04:00

Since I managed to come down with a cold today, I've spent most of my afternoon in bed or on the couch. I have a couple of really exciting things (at least I think so) coming up this month so stay tuned!

In Need of Something Else

2011-10-05T22:29:00.000-04:00

Thank you everyone for all your kind words of encouragement. I really appreciate them. However, let me start by sharing the cold hard facts:

It won't fit. I'll have to reknit.

What is the overall problem? Well, I knit the wrong size actually. Oh yes, even I do those things. I should've knit the second to the smallest size and instead I did the smallest which, if I had paid attention, I would have realized obviously wouldn't fit. My gauge was pretty close to correct so why I thought the sweater would knit up a different size, I have no idea. Perhaps I was overly confident (even though I've told my kindergarteners "being a braggart is unbecoming"). Who knows? Right now me and Audrey are in a "cooling off" period. I'll probably frog it tomorrow and wait until the weekend to get started again (or maybe next weekend).

In the meantine, I did what any disheartened knitter would do: look for a new project. Specifically one of the instant gratification kind. I took one of my squares for my Mitered Crosses Blanket to knitting group but have started considering something small and full of instant gratification.

Right now I have my eye on the Sideways Grande Cloche from Boutique Knits. Even better, I'm thinking about using some leftover balls of Elann Peruvian Highland Chunky that I have leftover from the Dorflinger Tee. Call it avoidance or whatever but right now I could use a knitted pick-me-up.

Sizing Trouble

2011-10-04T16:33:00.002-04:00

I knit and knit and knit away on my Audrey in Unst cardigan last night, even stayed up past my bedtime, just so I could bind off on the shoulders. I bound off, got out of bed and tried it on. And what do you know? It seems awful tight. Like, might-be-too-small awful tight. Like, I-should've-knit-the-next-size-up awful tight. It was too late for me to feel overly anguished, so I just went to bed.

I woke up thinking that since this is superwash wool, there is the possibility of it stretching. After all, I did wash and block my swatch. The pattern calls for 0-1" of negative ease. Last night it seemed a bit more than that. I'm not sure what's more disappointing: the idea of having to rip out the entire body and reknit or the fact that I was already imagining myself wearing it next week. I'm in the process of washing it right now and then am going to block it out and see what happens before I do anything drastic. I may be starting those socks sooner than I anticipated.

Socks from Stash

2011-10-03T18:11:00.000-04:00

Despite the fact that I've completed my four pairs of socks this year, there are several things that have me itching to cast on another pair. Let's start with the cooler temps (duh). Somehow, hand knit socks just keep your feet warmer. Maybe it's the love knit into every stitch? Perhaps. This month is also Socktober. Oh, you've never heard about Socktober? Kind of like Blogtober, it's a month of sock celebration! And finally, I found a skein of sport weight yarn in some really exciting fall colors that has been lingering in the back of my stash closet for some time.

I purchased this skein back in 2009 around the same time I started knitting. I was more of an impulse buyer then, picking up skeins that just sort of caught my fancy but never with any real purpose. It was also mislabled as a 1150 yard skein of fingering weight. I think you can tell that it's not but of course, being the novice knitter I was, I read the label, had an "ooh, pretty!" moment, and made my purchase.

The company is Honeypot Yarns and I really can't find much information on them. From what I've seen on Ravelry, I believe this is their sport weight Washable Wool (250 yard skeins). I've never heard of this dyer (before or since) and am interested to see if anyone else has.

I really love the orange and purple tones together. Something about this color variation makes me think of falling leaves and autumn sunsets. I can't wait to cast on but I'm so close to finishing my Audrey in Unst that I'm going to plow away on that first. Wish me luck!

Rainy Sunday

2011-10-02T18:06:00.000-04:00

What better way to start your day on a dreary October morning than with a hot cup of coffee (or tea; pick your poison) and a pumpkin doughnut?

I'm not normally a big doughnut fan, but come October, these hit the spot (and the early morning pumpkin craving). Turns out there's plenty of people in my knitting group with the same love of all-things-pumpkin as myself.

In addition to some sample knitting, I decided to shave a sweater today (oh the things you say when you're a knitter). The Essential Cardigan was finished back in May (on my birthday, no less) and how foolish I was to be concerned that I might not get to wear it until fall. It's been in regular rotation anytime I was headed to a chilly movie theater or classroom and, while I love the yarn it was knit in (Naturally Harmony 8 Ply), it has managed to pill something fierce.

Luckily I have an electric sweater shaver that I bought at Target ages ago. I've used it on not only woolens, but tee shirts and more. I bought it before I was a knitter and am so grateful to have it now because it makes keeping my knitwear in tip-top shape much easier.

Blogtoberfest

2011-10-01T23:24:00.000-04:00

Oh, where has the time gone? Life on Laffer has been anything but calm lately. Without going into too much detail, there were a couple of weeks where both of my in-laws were hospitalized and I was running between two different hospitals like a cab. Things are finally calming down now and I'm starting to feel like a regular person again. Thank goodness because I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep it up.

Anyway, it's that time of the year again. Along with cooler temps (uh, 48 degrees today? Brrr!) comes Blogtoberfest. I participated last year and was actually able to maintain the daily postings right until the very end. I'm hoping this year will help me get back into the swing of things. Since it was so rainy today (and too cold for me to come out from under my blanket) I wasn't able to get any new pictures of my works-in-progress.

I'm currently knitting away on my Audrey in Unst cardigan. I bought the yarn for this back in November and have been waiting to get it on the needles since then. I started this about three weeks ago and have sort of just picked at it when I needed some emotional relief. You know how it is. It's a bit further than this; I've separated the front and back and am working on the front panels now. I really can't wait to get this done. This is a cardigan I've been wanting to add to my wardrobe for some time now.

Well that's the tidbit for today. Since October is a long month there will definitely be more to come!

Wollmeise Technicolor Dreamsocks

2011-09-12T07:00:00.010-04:00

I had a couple people ask me how these socks were coming and well, voila! They're done! They are fantastically garish while being surprisingly squooshy and comfortable.

I knit these socks magic loop, toe up, two-at-a-time. This was my first time doing socks toe-up or two-at-a-time and I was surprised with how quickly they worked up. I don't think I'll start exclusively knitting my socks two-at-a-time but it was nice to finish and realize, hey! I'm actually done! I also knit a different toe that did increases in six places evenly around. I found this toe in Cat Bordhi's Personal Footprints for Insouciant Sock Knitters. The way the increases are done definitely creates a much rounder toe which I think fits better than most sock toes.

I did my standard short row heel (which is from the Lifestyle Socks) and finished by using Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off. Considering I tried three different bind-off methods before this one (lace bind-off, sewn bind-off, and regular going up a couple needle sizes), it really is surprisingly stretchy. I was a little worried about the length of the leg since by the time I finished the green mini-skein I only had five minis left. The leg ended up a bit over 5" (I generally go for 7") and while I do have that lone skein of Wollmeise stashed away, I didn't really want to break into it for a mere 5-10grams.

Now you know what this means, right? I've actually knit four pairs of socks this year and have accomplished at least one of my year goals that I set back in January! I feel like I've been on a sock knitting kick this year so I wouldn't be completely surprised if a couple more pairs pop up before the end of the year. But for now, I've put away my new socks and looked adoringly at my little collection of handknit socks just waiting for cooler weather.

Pattern: My own recipe

Yarn: 11 Wollmesie minis for a total of about 65g

Needles: #1.5

Began: August 8

Completed: September 8

Ravelry Link

Water Lilies Socks

2011-09-08T16:47:00.000-04:00

Last night was my knitting group's annual Birthday Swap. It's our biggest swap of the year, where we celebrate everyone's birthday at once (I'm positive I heard more than once last night someone ask, "when's your birthday" followed by "today"). My recipient was Chantal (Chauntal? She's a tricky one) who mentioned that she'd love a pair of handknit socks since she's only learning to make socks herself. So, in addition to some skeins of Collinette (you know, to make socks with) and Malabrigo (just for the love of it) I made her a pair of socks.

I think she actually squeed when she opened her package. That's like music to a knitter's ears.

The yarn for these is ThreadBear Fiber Arts Black Dog Hand Dyed Sock Yarn. There was no colorway listed on the label but the yarn reminded me of a Monet painting; gorgeous hues albeit a bit muddled. I believe the Michigan yarn shop where the owner would dye these skeins up has since closed. Either way, I received this yarn as a gift through a swap two years ago. I've been saving it for something special and this was it.

The socks were done cuff down, where I worked about 8 rows of stockinette before doing a yarn over/knit two together combo, then another 8 rows before picking up stitches and knitting the top of the cuff down to create the picots. I love me a good picot.

They fit the recipient perfectly (thank goodness) and I have more than enough to knit a second pair for myself (because I'm greedy like that).

Yarn: Black Dog Hand Dyed Sock Yarn (100% superwash Merino)

Needles: Leg and foot US1, heel and toe US0

Began: August 24

Completed: September 4

Ravelry Link

How to Celebrate a Knitaversary?

2011-09-03T14:43:00.000-04:00

By going yarn bombing, of course! Let me start by saying, I totally forgot that today was my two year knitaversary (it's not something I pencil in on my calendar, you know?). I kind of remembered it was sometime in September and just happened to check my blog for this time last year and sure enough, it's today. The yarn bombing was just happenstance.

My knitting group decided some time ago that we needed a good old-fashioned yarn bombing. There are a lot of details involved with finding a place to do such a thing (especially if you want to get permission first) and it all lead to this weekend. This weekend Akron has an event called Art in the Square and of course, what better time to yarn bomb than when a place will be filled with artisans and those who love handmade goods?

In the wee hours of the morning (7am feels wee on a weekend) we headed to Highland Square to cover some stuff in yarn. There were yarn balls (made from wrapping yarn around balloons then covering with glue and letting them dry), yarn chains, pom-poms(pons?), and lamp post cozies.

My lamp post cozy was made from a strip of crocheted fabric that I sort of re-purposed. I've been very busy with school starting that my goal of knitting or crocheting a lamp post cozy fell to the wayside. Luckily, I had a huge piece of crocheted fabric from a time when I thought it was a fun idea to crochet a Snuggie out of Red Heart Super Saver (obviously, that was a time long ago). I measured its width (4 feet) and since I needed a strip that would be approximately 7 feet long by 1 foot wide, I measured to about 13" and cut a strip off the bottom. I intended to crochet on another three feet but lost interest somewhere around the additional 6". I think it ended up about 4 1/2 feet long.

My lamp post cozy is the purple and blue one here in the foreground.

Overall, it was a lot of fun. I'm wondering how the balls held up as it's been sweltering here. I think the whole event turned out much better than I anticipated, although I wasn't really sure what to expect. I think this may become an annual event which means of course next year's will be even better!

School Socks

2011-08-27T10:43:00.000-04:00

Just in time for the new school year, my School Socks are finished. They only took me something like eight months to complete. Eh. Whatever.

I must admit, I love having a plain pair of stockinette socks on the needles. It's really nice to be able to just grab your project bag and know you won't have to worry about counting or patterns or anything.

Even though I had to frog the original sock (due to size issues, of course) once I got some momentum with the socks, they flew off the needles. Each sock took maybe two or three days. At this rate I just may make my resolution of knitting four pairs of socks this year (I have cast on for my scrappy Wolmeise socks but have only made it past the toe). It's still too warm here to be wearing wool socks, but now I'm actually starting to look forward to fall and, dare I say, winter when I can finally start wearing some of the handknits I've amassed in the last couple of years. I am now on the lookout for shoes to wear to school that will show off my handknit socks. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Yarn: Malabrigo Sock in Azules and Lettuce

Needles: #1

Began: January 17

Completed: August 22

Ravelry Link

I'd also like to mention that my two year knitaverary is coming up rather soon. Of course I'm hoping to do something fun for it but things at my house have been quite transitional lately. I ended up getting hired to a different school just this week. I know you're thinking, didn't that already happen? Well yes, and then it happened again. And this just happens to be a school district I was desperately trying to get hired into all summer. I ended up having something like five interviews and then was hired on Tuesday, the same day as kindergarten open house, and then school started Thursday. So now I'm playing a frantic game of Catch Up. My hope is to not let the blog suffer for too long but in case you start to wonder what in the world is going on, now you know.

Thistle Baby Afghan

2011-08-21T21:31:00.000-04:00

I've been super-duper busy these last couple of weeks so this couldn't come at a better time (meaning, now I have something to blog about!). I mentioned in this post that I had worked up a fun and easy baby blanket and would soon be releasing the pattern. Well, here it is. Let me introduce the Thistle Baby Afghan:

The yarn used for this piece was Knit Picks Swish DK. Swish DK is a superwash merino which was really a pleasure to work with. This blanket is made by crocheting four large squares, seaming, then crocheting on the border. I'm hoping that people will find it simple but modern and, oh! What a variety of color combinations you could use.

This is my first pattern published with the Knit Picks Independent Designer Program. I must say, I was really pleased with how friendly, supportive, and responsive the IDP team was. Right now there is nothing else in the works but I'd love to work with them again.

If you'd like to check out the pattern, it's available right here.

Mini-Skeins

2011-08-06T16:28:00.000-04:00

I had a really awful week, although I won't go into details here. Let's just say, I did my best to make lemonade but sometimes it's easier said than done. Either way, I tried to make some "me time" this week and it's gotten me thinking about a new project.

About a year and a half ago, in the height of my swapping phase, I swapped some yarn for these mini-skeins. No, these aren't just regular mini-skeins. They're mini-skeins of Wollmeise.

This is back when I had grand ideas of knitting a sock yarn blanket (which has yet to come to fruition). I have a ton of mini-skeins hanging around, some of them really too gorgeous to get rid of and some just eh, and I'm kind of from the school of Waste Not Want Not. A couple weeks ago I decided to weigh my mini-skeins of Wollmeise to see just how much I have and would you believe there's almost 70g of yarn here? And you know what that means: socks. My plan is to do this pair of socks two-at-a-time, toe up; both new techniques for me. I figure this way I can ensure that the foot is the correct length and if I run out of yarn I can shorten the leg.

Now, here's another secret. I have a skein of Wollmeise tucked away in my stash (I know!) so if I really need the extra yarn, I can always wind that up. But I'm not quite ready to break into that skein just yet.

Baby Blanket with No Name

2011-08-03T13:50:00.002-04:00

With all the sample knitting going on around here, I haven't really had a whole lot to share recently. It seems as though my summer has flown by in a whirl of samples, summer school, and job searches. It hasn't all been for naught though, as I've landed a full-time teaching job! I'm really excited about this even though it means a 45 minute commute this school year (the school is in Cleveland) and taking me out of my element (it's 5th grade!). I've spent the last ten years with preschool and kindergarten aged students so it's definitely going to stretch my teaching in a new way. I'm up for a challenge though (and hey, I can teach 5th graders to knit, right?).

So with no new yarn related content to share, I thought I'd share an finished project from last year.

I started working on this crocheted baby blanket last year for a friend of mine from high school who was expecting her first child. I had an idea in mind in regards to colors and construction but couldn't settle on a pattern. I was thinking simple, modern, flexible. I couldn't find anything that fit my mental picture, so I did what any yarnista does: improvise.

And voila! This baby blanket was born. I used five different colors of one of my favorite yarns for a baby, Berroco Comfort. This yarn is a superfine acrylic/nylon blend which makes it machine washable (babies have a really bad habit of spitting up on nice things and the tendency for explosive poop). Another issue I took into consideration was the fact that baby Andrew was due in August and the family is living in my hometown of Fresno. August is Fresno is otherwise known as Face-of-the-Sun month with temperatures hovering around 100 degrees Fahrenheit for the majority of the month. (Quick side story: my first car was a vintage VW Beetle with no air conditioning. I used to drive in the summer only in the early morning or at night. If I drove during midday it had to be with the windows all down. I would compare it to being inside a blow dryer. I also remember my first day of college, walking to class in shorts, tank top, and with my shoulders and back drenched in sweat from my back pack) Anyway, my point is, no wool for this kid.

The blanket worked up pretty quickly and was sent off to live with its new family. The best part of gifting projects is when you get a picture sent to you with the baby actually using the new blanket.

I have the pattern written up and it will be available soon!

Ravelry Link

Reskeining

2011-07-20T16:45:00.000-04:00

I had some free, non-sample knitting moments this afternoon and decided to do some frogging. Remember the School Socks I started way back in January? I had gotten to about 2" before starting the toe and finally decided to try them on only to find they were a wee bit too tight. Since they're done in Malabrigo Sock, I wanted to make sure they are snug but not so snug that they rip when I try putting them on. That was back in March. They've been languishing around the house (first downstairs knitting basket, dining room table, guest/yarn room, bookshelf, now sewing table) since then. It really breaks my heart to frog a sock that's practically finished but I'd rather wear socks that fit than finish a sock that won't. So I ripped and found out the yarn was curly as heck. The old lazy Andrea would've just caked it up and knit on (I did that initially) but the new Andrea, who knows how yucky knitting with super kinky yarn can be (because the old Andrea already tried it), decided to wash and reskein the yarn.

So here's to socks that will fit!

Keeping Up

2011-07-18T16:25:00.003-04:00

For the last several weeks I've been managing to knit one block of the Mitered Square Afghan each week. That is, until last week.

Last week I didn't knit one single block. I didn't even cast on for one. I feel my mitered square mojo slowly slipping away. With my sample knitting schedule full pretty much through the end of August, I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep on track as I had hoped. To make matters worse, I've realized that having an afghan that is only three squares wide might still be too narrow for what I'd consider a throw or lap blanket. I've started toying with the idea of making it 4x4 squares. Meaning: I'm not as close to being done as it seems. I was initally planning on doing four rows of three squares (and none of the funny all garter spaces) but now am thinking two rows of four square, and two rows of three squares plus the funny garter spaces.

To top it off, summer school has been a huge drain on me and I wonder why I thought it was ever a good idea.

Aran Necklace Camisole: Take Two

2011-07-12T17:51:00.000-04:00

Oh, does this pattern seem familiar to you? Perhaps you recall me knitting it last year? That's right. Another pattern that I've now knit twice. If you're wondering what happened to the original version, well, nothing. It's crept around my closet for the past year without ever being worn once. Yes, it was originally a bit too short but I did get extra yarn to add some length. But the more I thought about wearing it, the less pleased with it I was. The yarn I used was a worsted weight cotton/linen blend and was just way too heavy for a summer garment. So, a couple months back I decided to buy the called for yarn from a Raveler destash and give it a second go.

The finished garment is much lighter weight than my original and perfect for summer. With all the stockinette abounding in this project, it also worked up pretty quickly.

I made modifications similar to the first such as joining the front and back at about 5.5" instead of 7". From the join, I then knit for 12" instead of 10.5". I think this second version is a much better length on me than the first, but I wouldn't have minded an extra inch. However, just knitting this length I already used up every last bit of yarn. I ended up only having enough left after the 12" to do the purl row, then two rows before binding off.

The Berroco yarn (NaturLin) was not as rough as I had anticipated, although there was a lot of vegetable matter. But I guess it doesn't matter because it has been discontinued. If you're going to knit this (I'm definitely not, second time was the charm) definitely use a sport or dk weight yarn. I don't know what I was thinking last time. I guess that doesn't matter now either since the original is now headed to the frog pond.

Pattern: Aran Necklace Camisole by Caroline Bautista
Yarn: Berroco NaturLin in #6303, 4 skeins
Needles: #4 for cables, #7 for stockinette
Began: June 29
Completed: July 9

Ravelry Link

Lettuce Paraphernalia Socks

2011-06-27T23:03:00.000-04:00

These socks are making me insanely happy! Can you believe, two finished project posts in two days and a pattern I've actually knit twice? I can't either. And do you know what this mean? It means I've actually made two of four pairs of socks for myself this year (per my blogiversary resolution). Please don't scoff at me those of you who have been knitting a pair a week since January.

All I could think about today was getting a chance to get outside to take pictures since I finished these last night. I decided to do pictures in the front yard instead of the back. It always worries me a little that the neighbors will wonder what I'm doing but I really love the socks so I didn't notice anyone looking.

After everyone's helpful suggestions on how to reinforce the heel (and all the positive comments on the Malabrigo Sock), I decided to knit the socks on smaller needles than I normally do. I knit the leg and foot on a US1 (getting a gauge of about 9.25 stitches to an inch) and the heel and toe on a US0 (with a gauge of 11 stitches to an inch, ouch). The pattern calls for a gauge of 7spi, which seems a little loose to me, especially for this yarn. Because of my smaller gauge I had to reknit the first sock twice. I didn't try it on or measure it until I finished the toe (what was I thinking?) and it was far too small. So I pulled it out to past the heel and reknit it based on the largest size indicated in the pattern. After finishing the toe, I tried it on again (what's with me and the not measuring?) and it was still too small.

I went ahead and knit the second sock, making sure to measure the foot as I went. I ended up having to had about 15 extra rows to the pattern before the toe in order to get a size that would fit. Once I finished sock #2, I pulled out the toe of sock #1 and added the rows. I used the same yarn that I had just frogged so the bottom of the sock looks kind of lumpy and loose. I'm hoping that will even out with wear and washing, but in the meantime, it's in the crook of my toes so I'm not going to stress over it too much.

Now to pick another sock pattern I can carry around with me.

~~And maybe to buy more sock yarn.~~

Baby Chalice Blanket

2011-06-26T16:25:00.000-04:00

The Baby Chalice Blanket is finally done. I know I only started it a month ago but it has taken far longer than it really should have. I started this blanket with two balls of yarn. I had looked through the other projects on Ravelry and it seemed like it would be enough to make a decent sized blanket. However, I ran out of yarn with two and a half pattern repeats to go. It didn't seem like too big of a deal since I had asked Adam when our friends' baby was due (who this is for). He assured me in July so I thought I had more than enough time to finish. This running-out-of-yarn-double-checking-due-date was on the 13th of June. On the 16th I received an email saying that little baby Henry decided to come a month early! Baby and mom are fine, but the blanket was so not ready (please don't think less of me just because that was my initial reaction).

I started emailing people on Ravelry with the same color of yarn (no time to worry about dye lots!) and was hoping for a quick reply. (If you're wondering why I didn't check the yarn shop, I did. I had purchased the last two balls of that color.) I finally contacted a woman in Ohio who was willing to sell me the yarn. I explained to her my quick need for the yarn and she heads to the post office that evening so it will ship out Saturday morning. Now I wait. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday all pass by with no yarn. I start to wonder where in the depths of Ohio this yarn is coming from? Finally on Friday it arrives... from Cincinnati. It seriously took a week to make a four hour trip from Cincinnati.

Either way, it showed up and I hit the needles running. Now it's all washed and ready to head out to Virginia tomorrow. This is such a lovely pattern and I really hope they like it. It's not an easy pattern to commit to memory (hello, 20 row repeat) so I had to carry my pattern with me everywhere. I cast on 103 stitches (instead of 83) and did ten repeats of the pattern. After blocking it grew to 31"x40". If I were to do this again, I'd probably use smaller needles to achieve a denser fabric since after blocking the lace really opened up.

Overall, I think it's a beauty and the color just makes me so happy (Summer Sky Heather, what's not to love about that?).

Pattern: Baby Chalice Blanket by Lykkefanten (free!)

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in color #1910 Summer Sky Heather, 3 skeins

Needles: #9, 5.5mm

Began: May 22

Completed: June 25

Ravelry Link

I Should Be Studying

2011-06-17T17:21:00.001-04:00

But instead I've decided to postpone it another half hour or so. After signing up for summer classes (three over the course of ten weeks), I've realized this is not what I want to be doing with my summer. Granted, this Saturday marks the end of the first five weeks so it is almost over. But not quite yet. And I really don't feel like developing an integrated content text set for 4th grade standards. Just don't feel like it.

I would like to thank all of you for your comments on the Malabrigo socks. It does make me feel a little more confident that they'll be wearable. I finished the first sock last Saturday after knitting it twice (a tale for another time) and since my hands were really hurting from the little needles, I gave it a rest. This week, after some sample swatching, I cast on for a new project, the Mitered Crosses Blanket by Kay Gardiner. A project this size means, what else? New yarn!

In preparation for this project, I managed to come home with ten skeins of Lamb's Pride Worsted a few weekends ago when I visited the Great Lakes Fiber Festival. I was pretty proud that that was all I came home with because I had the mindset (and cash money) to come home with way more.

I had originally wanted to make this blanket in a machine washable yarn but once the Lamb's Pride was in, there was no going back. Last week I decided to purchase a bag of Noro (I know, right?) and while I'm not 100% crazy in love with this colorway (#215) I really wanted more muted Noro colors rather than the crazy Noro colors.

I cast on Tuesday (the day the Noro showed up) and knit up my inaugural square in three days. I've figured if I do one square a week I could possibly be done by the end of August, in time for fall. However, I'm not going to hold myself to that otherwise I'll feel the self-inflicted guilt if I don't have it done by then. I'll probably use this as a carry along project since I still have my Malabrigo socks to finish and a baby blanket for some friends that is on the needles as well.

I am trying to weave in and knit in ends as I go to spare myself the anguish of weaving in a bajillion ends when I'm ready to seam. If you look closely, there's only four ends that I wasn't able to knit in. I'm planning on making this a total of 12 squares (instead of the 10 in the pattern with the rectangles) but I guess I have enough yarn that if I really wanted, I could make this even bigger. But I don't want to get carried away just yet.

Malabrigo Monday

2011-06-06T15:56:00.000-04:00

My latest sample knit is off the needles, washed, blocked, and on its way to its new home. So now I can be a little selfish again. I've started knitting a second pair of Paraphernalia socks last week for my evening class knitting. You're probably wondering if I ever pay attention in class, aren't you? Anyway, I cast on for a second pair of these socks (they're for me this time) in a skein of Malabrigo Sock that I've had for a while. I really love this color but have heard some scary things about socks in Malabrigo. Like, you walk in them for two seconds and your toes pop out. Or something like that. Since I've started these socks I've been thinking about reinforcing the heel and toe. But how to do that is the problem. I've never done that before and am not really sure about the best way to go about doing something like that. So of course I ask the people I trust.

What would you do? Have you ever had this problem with Mal Sock? Do you normally reinforce heels/toes of loosely spun yarn?

Just Stuff

2011-06-04T17:20:00.000-04:00

Just thought I'd give you a quick update on what's going on around here. This past week has been super busy with work stuff and I still have my sample knit on the needles, so there isn't anything finished quite yet. I am almost done, however, and I can guarantee you this is going to be another fabulous and comfy knit from Hannah.

This was also a great week for mail because I won a great new crochet book by Linda Permann on Robyn Chachula's blog, Crochet by Faye. When I got my package I found that Robyn had included a skein of Spud & Chloe Outer in the color Sandbox! I love Spud & Chloe so I'll have to brainstorm something fun for this skein.

I also received a wonderful birthday package from my online friend and blogger, Zina at His Glory Hand Knits. In it was a great skein of fingering weight yarn she had hand dyed herself as well as a little project notebook and some really darling stitch markers. I felt very spoiled!

To top it all off, guess what I found this morning?

Spring

2011-05-30T13:15:00.000-04:00

I don't think I've ever been so happy as I am this year to see spring arrive. Yes, spring. Some of you (especially those living in warmer climates) may find this odd. Perhaps it's been spring where you live for months already (don't be a show off. I used to be like that too). Here in northeast Ohio our weather has been so wishy washy for far too long. A warm day surrounded by eight days of rain and chilly weather has not been uncommon. I've been talking to my plants, encouraging them to keep at it and low and behold, I finally noticed this weekend that the lavender in my yard (which is also way big this year) is finally blooming!

And do you remember my lone peony that bloomed this time last year? Well this year it looks like I'm going to have four bushes full!

This is the second year that my flowers have been planted. My dad and I put in the brick and plants in 2009. It's funny because all the plants looked so puny then.

And now look at them!

In knitting news, I do have a project on the needles but it's a secret (of course, right?). I also started a baby blanket for some friends of ours that are expecting a little boy in June. So as much as I want to cast on for something else (another pair of socks maybe?) I really think I should finish my sample knitting and make some headway on the baby blanket. It doesn't look like much right now, I've only done one pattern repeat. The free pattern is the Baby Chalice Blanket. I'm using two skeins of Cascade 220 in a lovely heathered blue color.

Hopefully there will be some progress soon!

Dragonfly Socks

2011-05-23T15:57:00.000-04:00

My first pair of socks (for myself) in the new year and done. Hooray! Now just three more to go and I can meet my New Year's goal. Either way, I'm pretty pleased with these socks especially after the rough start with a different pattern.

Now for the moment of truth. Perhaps you are wondering if I managed to knit these out of one skein of Shibui Sock (that's 191 yards). No, I was not. I ran out with about a quarter of the foot left. You can see on the bottom sock where I had to join the second skein. Strangely enough, despite these being from the same dye lot, the second skein is a bit more tonal/variegated than the first skein (which seems almost solid to me). I didn't really notice the color difference until I started knitting with it, although I probably should have. Looking back at the stash picture I took when I bought the yarn, you can tell one skein is definitely not as solid.

No biggie, though.

The lace pattern was very easy to memorize and that definitely helped to keep the project moving quickly. I started the second sock Saturday while riding the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad and was through to the heel by the end of the trip. I finished them yesterday while on the phone with my mom. I felt like I was just zooming along.

The only thing I would do different, were I to knit these again, would be to do an extra lace repeat on the leg (maybe two) because they're just not quite long enough for me. Also, the cuff and leg are a bit loose and I would try knitting the cuff/leg portion on a smaller needle (I used a 2.5mm). It's not saggy per se, but it could definitely stand to be a bit more snug.

I almost didn't post this last picture since the last time I posted a sock picture with dog legs in the background a horrible incident followed not long after. But this was just too cute to pass up. Those are Timber's tiny toes (I call them his ballet slippers) behind me and Hazel's speckled leg behind him.

Pattern: Dragonfly Socks by Jocelyn Sertich (FREE!)

Yarn: Shibui Knits Sock in #1765 Blossom (approx. 1.2 skeins)

Needles: 40" US1.5 (2.5mm)
Began: May 12
Completed: May 22

Ravelry Link

Free to a Good Home

2011-05-21T17:38:00.001-04:00

Because I sure don't know what to do with them.

Email me if interested.

Breezy Cardigan

2011-05-20T15:43:00.001-04:00

I know a lot of you have been fawning over this picture of Hannah Fettig's lattest design, Breezy Cardigan. Well, it's available now and you know what that means...

I can finally share my sample knit with you!

The Breezy Cardigan has to be my favorite design of hers yet. The length is great for both the sleeves and body. I knit this on 3.5mm (#4) needles to get gauge and was suprised by how quickly the body came together. I think it's because of the stockinette that you can just knit away and then all of a sudden look down and have four inches complete.

The hardest part for me was the sleeves. I know I get a different gauge in the round than flat so I always change needle size but I was still having a problem getting the correct gauge. I finally got gauge but then started having trouble with ladders! I had to restart the first sleeve several times but eventually got going with magic loop. I think I knit one sleeve on the way to California in March, and the other on the return flight to Ohio. After fighting with and finishing the sleeves, the ribbing was no sweat.

Assuming that I find time to knit something else for myself this summer it's definitely going to be a second Breezy Cardigan. I have already picked out the yarn, too. I may have mentioned that I start tossing the phrase "it's my birthday!" around when it gets within a week of the actual day. So in order to celebrate last week, I bought myself a skein of Wool Candy Souffle, a 70/20/10 alpaca, silk, cashmere blend. The sheen on this is unbelievable.

Hello, gorgeous.

Oh, We're Halfway There

2011-05-19T17:20:00.000-04:00

Halfway to a pair of socks, that is.

I started these initally as the Wasabi Peas Socks from the summer 2010 Interweave Knits. However, even though I really like this pattern, the stitches and my hands were just not a good match. The pattern is made up of a series of kfbf and p3tog and after breaking two pairs of needles, bending a third, and going to bed with aching hands I decided to go with something else. This Dragonfly Socks pattern has been in my queue for a while (and is free). I've managed to squeek one sock out of approximately 25 grams of Shibui Knits Sock yarn.

I'm going to try to get both pairs out of the one skein. I weighed it (although I don't have a digital scale) and it looks to be right around 23-25g. It's going to be a close one.

Essential Cardigan

2011-05-13T13:46:00.001-04:00

I finished the Essential Cardigan yesterday, just in time for 80 degree weather, humidity, and thunderstorms here in Northeast Ohio. Despite the heat, I did wear it for an hour yesterday because I felt like it (and I was in the house making minimal movements so as not to induce sweating). It fits awesome.

I convinced Adam to snap a few photos for me during his lunch hour since today is my birthday (I know, right?). I said I needed a least six pictures because he normally wants to do one and then go inside. He took six and I've finally realized how he sees me:

from up high.

I may have mentioned before that he's 6'4" (even though Amy swears up and down he's not tall) and I'm about 5'2". I had to explain to him that he needs to put the camera at my level so it doesn't look like he's taking pictures from a mountain top. This is what I get:

sigh. As my dad says, beggars can't be choosers.

Anyway, this is a really great sweater. You may recall (or not, as it was last summer!) that I bought this yarn from a store going out of business. I purchased nine skeins for $26! Since I ended up using only about six and a half skeins (even though the pattern calls for eight for the size I made) that's less that $19 for this sweater. The yarns is Naturally Harmony 8 ply and it has this great fluffy texture that makes for a very soft fabric.

I decided on plain, brown, wooden buttons to match the color of the cardigan. This is just a simple cardigan, nothing fancy shmancy. I picked these up at JoAnn's for $3 total. I think this cardigan is really quite a steal considering it's handmade.

I'm also pretty pumped about how the shoulders look. The second came out a lot better than the first and I really didn't think the first was too bad. I generally don't mind seaming, I kind of like the way two pieces pull together when you tighten the mattress stitch. It can be time consuming though, as I spent the better part of an afternoon putting this bad boy together (taking a break to go see Thor. It is my birthday week after all). The button band was also really time consuming. It's four inches of broken rib on size 4 needles. It reminded me a lot of working on the Spring Ribbed Cardigan. For some reason though, this seemed to take longer.

I'm pretty much in love with this sweater. I think it's going to make a great casual addition to my wardrobe and I also think this means I made my goal of knitting two sweaters for myself in 2011! That is if we count the Dorflinger Tee.

Pattern: Essential Cardigan by Laura Grutzeck

Yarn: Naturally Harmony 8ply in #703 (~6.5 skeins)

Needles: #4 for ribbing, #5 for stockinette

Began: August 30, 2010

Completed: May 12

Ravelry Link

So Close

2011-05-09T14:21:00.000-04:00

I'm still here and still chugging away on the Essential Cardigan. In the last several weeks, I've picked it back up with hopes of wearing it before it officially becomes too warm for a cardigan. I was pretty close to making it too, but after a very long and cold April it seems to finally be warming up. Grrr. I guess it's my own fault considering I did start this back in cough cough August. Either way, I did get the one sleeve set in today. It came out ok. There's some puckering on the front part but I'm not convinced yet that some serious blocking won't fix it. I think once the collar and ribbing are done and it's been blocked one more time, it will lay just fine.

This is my first time setting in a sleeve so I'm not looking for perfection. At this point I kind of just want it done. While trying to get a few pictures earlier, Timber decided to get in on the action.

Everglades Socks

2011-04-25T16:24:00.000-04:00

I finished these socks Friday night but the weather has been so miserable this weekend that I didn't have a chance to get outside to get some pictures.

Of course, as I was preparing to take these pictures, it started sprinkling again.

Although I wouldn't pick this color again, I think they turned out ok. I'm hoping to send them to my mom this week so she might have a chance to wear them before it turns summer in Fresno. I just checked the weather there and it's already about to hit 80 so I'd better hurry.

The yarn I used for these seems like it is going to make a very sturdy pair of socks. I'm hoping I won't have to worry about replacing/fixing these for some time.

And they even turned out all nice and matchy-matchy, just like I like!

Yarn: Wisdom Yarns Marathon Socks -Miami in Everglades (about 75g)

Needles: #1.5

Began: April 6

Completed: April 22

Ravelry Link

Knitting in Class

2011-04-21T23:23:00.011-04:00

Things are coming along with my mom's sock, henceforth (I just watched The King's Speech. I feel the need to be more formal. And get a Corgi) referred to as the Everglade Socks. These day, most of my sock knitting is confined to my Wednesday night class. When I mentioned this to my dad he said my behavior was "rude as hell" in the most loving way that only my dad could put it in. I tried to explain that I felt that I learned better when having "a manipulative in my hands to help me concentrate". He just laughed. Unfortunately, that really has been my only time for knitting lately (not to mention it's a three and a half hour evening class and it's all I can do to keep my eyes open).

In last night's class I managed to get about 5" done on the leg of the second sock (I had started the cuff the night before, but still). That's what I call a productive night. And you know me and my type-A personality, I had to make sure they match. It's so far so good. While I still don't love the color of the socks, it's not as horrid as I had anticipated. I've decided to just go with it since my mom did pick the yarn and did ask for plain stockinette socks. I figure I'll see if she even likes hand knit socks (I know, I know. Who wouldn't?) before deciding if I'll knit a second pair for her in a different color or pattern.

I think these might just make it to California in time for Mother's Day!

Dorflinger Tee

2011-04-19T19:55:00.001-04:00

I had high hopes of getting some pictures of my new sweater/tee this weekend. Of course, as I should have figured out by now, the weather in Ohio never cooperates when you need it to. Saturday was rainy on and off, Sunday (picture day) was windy as all get out, I thought maybe yesterday but it was too cloudy by the time I got home and oh yeah, then it started raining. Today, same story. So I'll just give you what I was able to get on Sunday. I had Adam take the pictures (which I swear come out worse then when I just set the self-timer) and while trying to get the first one, I nearly blew away.

I ended up using over 3 skeins of Elann Peruvian Highland Chunky. Considering each skein is only 76 yards, I think that's pretty amazing. And yes, the yarn really is only $2.48 a skein. $2.48 a skein! I bought 5 skeins for this project and even though that was obviously more than I needed, it cost a total of about $15 (that's with shipping). What is better than an awesome finished piece for a mere $15? Nothing, I tell you. Well, maybe a few things, but it's pretty darn good.

This is for sure going to see consistent use. For starters, it fits like a glove. I knit the smallest size and while I knew the measurements would fit, I didn't exactly swatch thoroughly. I mean, I did make a swatch, but only did it in stockinette and kind of stretched it to fit. It was fine in the long run (although I wouldn't suggest swatching all willy nilly like that). This is also the perfect layering piece. Just warm enough to wear in the 45 degree weather we've been having lately (you heard right. It's spring, isn't it?).

I thought this picture would've been ok had he not cut off my head and the top of my shoulders.

I already wore it to a family dinner this weekend where it received a great reception! Hooray! Now I'm trying to pick my next project while I finish working on my mom's socks (one down, one to go). I have a few things queued but am open to any exciting suggestions (as opposed to boring ones).

Pattern: Dorflinger Tee by Mandy Moore

Yarn: Elann Peruvian Highland Chunky in Garnet, 4 skeins

Needles: #11 (8mm)

Began: April 10

Completed: April 15

Ravelry Link

Mojo Maker

2011-04-15T20:18:00.000-04:00

Tonight, I am really excited. I've finally finished a knitting project, for myself! Can you believe it? Neither can I! If you can recall (I couldn't, I had to check my projects on Ravelry), the last project I knit for myself was all the way back in September! I know, right? I think I am definitely long overdue for some selfish knitting. So what might I pick for my first selfish project of the new year? Well, considering all my time constraints lately, it had to be something that would knit up pretty quick. While I'd love to start some laceweight projects, or even sportweight ones, I needed some kick back in my mojo. I decided on the Dorflinger Tee, which I've had queued for ages the yarn for since January. When I finally had two minutes to myself Sunday, I cast on. And...

it's currently blockin! Hooray!

Although I have no photos (yet), I'll show you these:

and:

Would you believe that this was taken Thursday? I knit on it Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday (each for only and hour at most), and finished the sleeves and wove in ends tonight. It was like knit knit knit bam! sweater.

Awesome, I tell you. Awesome. Pray for good weather this weekend so I can get some pictures!

Fail

2011-04-10T14:35:00.001-04:00

So I realize that I totally fell through with the Knit and Crochet Blog Week posts. Last week turned into the kind of week I dread. Too many projects due, too much lesson planning not complete, and oh, I attended a educator's job fair so I spent most of the week putting packets and resumes together. Then, the day of, I got up at a quarter to five just so I could be there extra early to get a spot in line. This week has been pretty similar (minus the job fair) and I'm counting down the days until school's out. I'm going to attempt to catch up with the posts I missed last week, but I make no promises.

I have been knitting in the meantime, but since it's all been sample knitting, I have nothing to show for it. At least not yet. HOWEVER, if you'd like to get a sneak peek at what I recently completed for Hannah Fettig, check out her website. I guarantee this is going to blow you out of the water. You know how I always say, "Now I need one for myself" then never make one? This may be the one to break the trend.

I got started this week (in my evening class, no less) some socks for my mom. This is from the yarn that she bought way back when my parents were visiting for Thanksgiving. I'm hoping to finish sometime before Mother's Day. Does it still count as a Mother's Day gift if the mother bought the yarn?

I'm kind of not feeling the colors in this yarn. It reminds me of camouflage. So not my mother. I'm hoping the striping will look cuter once it's knit up.

The weather is gorgeous today so we spent some time outside with the pups at the metro park. Now to just wait for things to bloom.

I love how only Timber's face is in focus in this picture.

Tidy Mind, Tidy Stitches

2011-03-30T00:00:00.002-04:00

2KCBWDAY3

I've been a little afraid of today's post. The topic for today is to share how you organize your yarn and I'm not what most would call organized. I am to some extent, but not as much as I would like. Yes, I have all my yarn listed on Ravelry, but I like lists. And that's about where it ends.

So I'm going to just do it. I just went ahead, walked upstairs and took a few quick (yet surprisingly painful pictures) of where my yarn is stored (and I threw up a quick thank goodness that I had put all my yarn away before I went on my trip last week).

My main yarn storage space is in the closet of my guest bedroom (I urge all guests to not hang anything up, or even open the closet for that matter). It is stored in bags and boxes next to an old (unused) vacuum and my wedding dress (as well as other various boxes from when I moved in 4 years ago, but those are out of sight). The doors to this closet generally stay open and the bedroom itself is used only a few times a year.

Now let's break it down:

In this blue storage box you can see much of my acrylic stash. This is mostly unused and from over a year ago. I also have extra small project bags in here. Hmm, now I feel like going and organizing it. Oh! And that's my niddy noddy made out of PVC pipe in the background.

These are some of my yarn bags. You can get a glimpse of the yarn for my Essential Cardigan (when I finally get back around to working on it), the yarn for the Audrey in Unst cardigan (when I get around to actually starting it), some Fibre Company Organik, and three bags full (I know!) of Classic Elite Fresco in an burnt orange type shade.

And finally, the enormous vacuum sealable bag which basically holds the rest of my yarn stash. I would say most of what I acquired in my first year of knitting is in there, after that, well, I've shown you the overflow.

This is the little basket, in the guest bedroom as well, where I keep the leftover bits of yarn. I mean really? Does anyone throw away yarn if you still have a gram or more left? I don't. I think it may be an obsessive compulsive sort of thing.

My final yarn storage space is in this wicker laundry basket I bought at Michael's years ago for $5. This basket is in the dining room in the corner next to where I like to sit at work at the table. Lately, this bag has been holding any new yarn arrivals that come into the house. I also have all my mini-skeins down here. I brought them down from upstairs one day to kind of sort through them and they haven't made it back up yet. There's also a couple projects in this basket, the beginnings of the Essential Cardigan and the School Sock, I think.

See, now aren't you proud of how honest I was? I do care for my yarn. I keep most in their plastic bags or move them in with another yarn to share its bag. I would love to have all my yarn organized in neat bins or on a shelf in a brightly lit room but let's call a spade a spade. That's just not how I roll.

Match + 1Up

2011-03-29T00:00:00.002-04:00

2KCBWDAY2

For this post, we're supposed to reflect on how we've grown as knitters/crocheters over the past year. I did a series of posts this year on where I came from and how much I'd achieved in a year so I'm not really going to bore you with the details of that (you can go back and read them if you'd like). In the past year, I've learned to knit sweaters, I've done cables, I've made socks, have become a sample knitter and even published my own crochet design. I'm hoping that the following year will prove as eventful. I do feel as though I've grown as a knitter. I want to keep challenging myself with new things and try to keep from getting stagnant.

Since we're all into reflecting in this post, I thought I'd share with you a new piece I recently knit for Hannah Fettig. Now that Hannah has previewed the photos of her new cardigan, the Spring Ribbed Cardigan (which should be available for sale by the end of the week), I can finally share with you my finished project!

This is a great, lightweight cardigan for spring. It is knit in The Fibre Company's Savannah DK in Pink Grapefruit, a blend of 50% merino, 20% cotton, 15% soy, and 15% linen. Despite the makeup of this yarn, it turned out to be surprisingly delightful to work with. The yarn was not splitty, although I would not suggest using it with the Knit Picks Zephyr needles. I started the cardigan on those needles and it was all I could do to keep going. The drag caused by the yarn on the needles was dreadful. I switched to my Knit Picks Harmony needles and all was well again.

I knit this sample in the 36" bust size (which I am not even close to) but I would knit it again in this size if I were planning to wear it over layered tees and long sleeves. Since there's no closures, I don't think the bust size needs to be spot on to fit nicely.

I also really like the collar/banding on this cardigan. It just seems that the wide band makes the overall effect very flattering yet casual at the same time.

The hardest part of sample knitting is sending away the finished piece (especially when you want to wear it the rest of the weekend). A knitted garment is always labor intensive, no matter how delightful during the process. Then it's all grown up and headed to Hannah's house!

Pattern: Spring Ribbed Cardigan by Hannah Fettig

Yarn: Fibre Company Savannah DK, 7 skeins

Needles: #4

Began: February

Completed: February 27th

Ravelry Link

A Tale of Two Yarns

2011-03-28T00:00:00.004-04:00

It was the best of yarns, it was the worst of yarns.

The point of today's post was to look at two yarns that you love or hate and talk about the specific aspects of each. But, since we're talking about contradictions here, I think I'm going to start with two yarns that I've used and loved at some point. One, I think many of you will agree with and the other, well, let's just say I hope you don't take me off your blog roll after this.

One of my all-time favorite yarns has to be Malabrigo Silky Merino.

Topaz: isn't this color just gorgeous!?

I can never get over the sheen and drape of this yarn! In case you've never used it, Silky Merino is a single spun blend of merino wool and silk. It has excellent drape and the colors are so rich and vibrant.

Diana's Blossom Scarf. Don't ask me who Diana is. I have no idea.

I was so excited when I was able to use Silky Merino in my design for Interweave Crochet. I had suggested this yarn because of the drape and its lightweight-ness. I think it's perfect for a fall or spring scarf.

Cedar Leaf Shawlette

I think one of my Silky Merino dreams would be to knit a sweater in it but I'm afraid it might pill. That scares me. It also wet blocks out big. Like, a scarf can go from 50" to 70". Crazy big. So maybe a sweater isn't such a great idea. It's just so soft and lightweight I love the thought of having a whole garment. But maybe another Cedar Leaf Shawlette is called for instead?

Overall, Silky Merino is my go-to scarf yarn. I think I'll be making a yarn order after this.

The other yarn that I tend to use mainly for blankets that will be gifted is... wait for it... acrylic! (Cue ominous music)

Yes, I've said it. I use acrylic. My reasoning is that I generally don't trust my recipients. Afghans are big. Who is going to hand wash one? Not me. Superwash wool, you say? I'm on a tight budget and as much as I'd like to make myself an afghan out of Cascade 220 superwash, it's not quite in the cards right now.

But it's not as bad as you think. I've started finding acrylic and acrylic blends that are inexpensive and actually soft.

Berroco Comfort comes in all weights (sock, sport, DK, worsted, and chunky) and is a blend of nylon and acrylic. It is super soft (honest!) and for around three dollars a ball (about 200 yards each) it's a great price.

The other acrylic I found to be really soft was Caron Simply Soft. I was a little hesitant with this one but it was really a nice yarn to work with. It washes like iron and is even softer afterward (at least I think so). Also, the price was great. I think I ordered 7 skeins for an afghan (about 300 yards each) and my price with shipping was about $27. Not bad, not bad.

I like to think that all yarns have a place. There are definitely more I'd like to try. I did a quick rummage through my stash and found seven skeins (some with partners!) that I haven't used or even tried before.

On my list of things to try, (from bottom left to right) Madelinetosh Tosh Sock in Dahlia, Three Irish Girls Kells Sport Merino in Zuzu's Petals, Dream in Color Everlasting in Amethyst, Madelinetosh Tosh Lace in Cherry, Becoming Art Agave Heavy Fingering in Looking In, Becoming Art Suave Sport in Cranberry, Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash in Rittersporn, and Shibui Knits Stacatto in Chrome.

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week

2011-03-27T16:04:00.000-04:00

Click me for more info!

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week begins tomorrow and instead of writing lesson plans (who really wants to know the metric system anyway?) or preparing for the HUGE assignment I have due Wednesday, not to mention the tutoring sessions with my ESL student this week, I've decided to get a few posts ready. Responsible, right?

I'm hoping that this will help jump start my blogging. This semester has been extremely taxing and I've been feeling like I haven't had any time for myself. It's been all work, work, work and even though I just spend the week in California, I spent a lot of that time sick (again!) and worrying about the work that I had left behind. Also, our local Humane Society's annual Bark in the Park fundraiser is getting close again and I was kind of bummed that I didn't think far enough in advance to start planning for it. I didn't want to do another yarn raffle, even though it turned out awesome (Timber and I were third place as individual fundraisers raising over $400!), because of the amount of planning that had to go into it. So I dallied and now I'm thinking it's just too late. I'm not really sure what I could do to raise money at this point. I was thinking knitting a lace shawl to auction off, etc.? If you have any ideas, please let me know. I've kind of come to terms with the fact that sometimes you just have to let some things go. So unless I can come up with some stellar idea by the beginning of next week...

So far, I have tomorrow's post prepared and will prepare Friday's post today as well (I think it will be kind of fun!). Each day of blogging has it's own topic so it's requiring me to think ahead a bit. Will you be joining too?

The Brother's Sweater: An Update (or The Things I Said)

2011-03-22T17:40:00.000-04:00

Once my brother had received his Christmas sweater last year, I told him that I was definitely going to get pictures of it on him the next time I was home in California. Well, here I am. I flew in over the weekend and let me just point out that a trip from Akron to Sacramento will provide one with plenty of uninterrupted knitting time.

Anyway, I managed to convince my brother to do a brief photo shoot yesterday (convincing sounded something like this: "I didn't slave away for nothing. Put on the sweater now.").

So now, for your viewing pleasure, some pictures of the actual Brother's Sweater on the brother:

"Stand by the bushes. Look outdoorsy."

"Puff out your arms more!"

"I need a picture of the saddle shaping!"

"You're fine. You look great."

Patty's Reading Mitts

2011-03-15T07:00:00.000-04:00

At the beginning of the month, I wanted to whip up a nice little thank you gift for a teacher I had been working with. I decided on a pair of fingerless mitts in an intense blue shade. I kind of underestimated the time I would need to make these, and waited until the last minute (meaning: I started Thursday and Friday was my last day working with her). Despite the last minute, these are a pretty quick project, maybe an estimated time of around 6 hours or so.

Now, don't think I've started timing myself or anything. I gauge time by how many movies I have to sit through! I knit these during The Pianist and The Godfather (both lengthy movies but two of my favorites).

I went with the smaller size of these (42 stitch cast on) because I wanted them to be snug. I also used a worsted weight yarn instead of DK. This is Ohio, after all. You want warm hands, not just kind of warm hands. I thought that the seaming of the cuff and top would be time consuming and kind of fiddly, but they went together quickly and easily.

Overall, a fun and quick project. Perfect for last minute gifting. I was aiming to gift them on Friday but didn't make my cut off. They were a bit late.

Now I keep asking myself why I still haven't knit a pair of fingerless mitts for myself!

Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts by Janelle Masters

Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Azul Bolita

Needles: #5 double points

Began: March 3

Completed: March 6

Ravelry Link

Felted Crochet Slippers

2011-03-12T14:17:00.000-05:00

These slippers have been done since Monday but the weather here in Northeast Ohio has been its normal, irregular self. It was dreary and rainy most of the week, followed by a snow storm that dropped about 5 inches here on Friday morning. Strangely enough, it's sunny, windy and about 45 degrees. That's Ohio for you. I still find it strangely funny how warm 45 degrees can seem after a Midwestern winter.

I just can't get over how stinking cute these slippers are and how easy they were to make. After felting on Sunday, they were fully dry by Monday morning. I stitched the strap and button on Monday night and, ta-da!, a fun pair of wool slippers.

These buttons are hand made by one of my knitting friends, Jenn, the artist behind Landen Road Designs. She had my name for our Stitch 'n Bitch Anniversary Swap and gave me a lovely package full of yarn and a ton of her buttons. Don't you just love it when someone so talented is a part of your knitting group? I hadn't had a chance to use any of my buttons yet, so when I started thinking what buttons might look good, I went through my (meager) button stash first. I think these are fun and unique, and give the slippers just the right amount of pizazz.

The yarn I used, Lion Brand Fisherman's wool, is the same yarn I used for my Brother's Sweater. I used just a bit over two skeins for that project so there was quite a bit leftover in that third skein. I definitely have enough to make a second pair of slippers. I weighed my slippers before felting and they used just about a third of a skein (approximately 150 yards). The yarn also felted up like a dream. I mentioned in my last post about that I was worried about too much stitch definition but I think you can tell that that didn't really turn out to be such a big problem.

We're seeing my mother-in-law tomorrow (along with Adam's grandma and cousin, to celebrate all the March birthdays in the family) and I really hope she likes these!

Pattern: Felted Crochet Slippers by Bonny Smith

Yarn: Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool in Nature's Brown

Hook: I (5.5mm)

Began: February 28

Completed: March 7

Ravelry Link

March Means Crochet!

2011-03-06T13:09:00.000-05:00

Since March is National Crochet Month (designated by the Crochet Guild of America) I thought I'd make my first post in March crochet related. And it really is perfect timing. My mother-in-law's birthday falls in March and last year I let Adam be in charge of choosing a gift for her. Needless to say, he waited until the last minute then asked if I could make her something. So this year I thought we'd just avoid all the commotion and I just went ahead and said, "I'm making your mom slippers for her birthday." I did have him help pick the yarn out of my stash so he could at least be somewhat participatory.

The pattern I decided to use is the Felted Crochet Slippers. These seem to be a crochet version of the French Press Felted Slippers and while I almost chose that pattern, I figured I could probably work up the crochet version much faster. And I did.

These took a total of about two and a half hours to crochet. I did the first slipper last Monday, crocheting a row at random moments throughout the day, and the second slipper and straps last night in a little over an hour. Not bad. One of my main concerns with the crocheted version of the slippers was how well they would felt. I saw a few versions on Ravelry where there was still a lot of stitch definition and they didn't look very felted.

My other concern was the sizing. My mother-in-law wears a size 7 and the pattern comes in small (size 5/6), medium (size 7/8), and large (9/10). I went with the small because I know that the felting will ultimately stretch some.

I tried these on, all damp and steamy, post-felting and they are just a smidge big on me (I wear a 6 1/2) so I think they'll be fine for her.

I'm also pretty pleased with how well they felted! I used Fisherman's Wool (Adam wanted "something neutral" and liked the color) and felted the slippers for about 17 minutes, and the straps for 5 minutes more.

While you can still see through some of the stitches, it's pretty dense. Now just to find some buttons while I'm waiting for the slippers to dry. Then a wee bit of assembly and they'll be done. I can't wait!

Really?

2011-02-28T18:00:00.001-05:00

Thank you everyone for all the well-wishes. I did manage to make it back to work on Wednesday and Thursday, just in time to get another snow day on Friday (yay!). And, since I had today off as well, it has made for a nice long weekend and I'm finally starting to feel like myself again.

I did finally finish something on Saturday (yay again!) but it's a sample of an unpublished pattern so it'll have to wait for a bit (no yay).

After finishing the sample knit Saturday, I was looking around for something to work on over the weekend. I thought, why not work on my school socks? I decided that since these were coming out just a smidge too tight (I could have cast on 4 more stitches) I would cast on for a new school sock. I started the cuff with my (third) new pair of Kollage square circular needles and made it a mere four rows after the 10 row cuff and...

you may notice in this hurried and poorly lit photo that the tip of the needle isn't actually attached to the cord. When it came off in my hand (for the third time!!) I actually shouted, "Aww, come on!" I'm finding the workmanship of these needles to be quite shoddy. I mean really? Three different sets? I can see one. Two, what are the chances? But three? I've sent an email off to Kollage and was told that they would forward it to the owner of the company. I'm going to wait a day or so to see if I hear back from them before I go back to my LYS, which I'm starting to feel bad about. Even though I know I'm not the one causing the problem, I feel bad returning again and again with these problem needles. It's not like I'm knitting steel wool, it's sock yarn for heaven's sakes!

Stalled

2011-02-21T17:33:00.000-05:00

Oh goodness. Can I even begin to explain to you all the things that are causing obstructions in my ability to blog? Let me start with the most recent, as I sit her with my TheraFlu, I seem to have actually come down with a flu/cold. This weekend it has been chills, cough, congestion (both nasal and chest), and body aches. Ugh. Thankfully I had today off but I still have to face tomorrow (with unfinished lesson plans, none the less).

My school socks have been stalled too, about two inches before the toe, due to my crazy needles. For these socks I've been using my Kollage square circulars and I am now on my third set. That's right, third. With the first pair, the needle came off the cable when I was only through the cuff of the first sock! I took them back to my LYS, who kindly exchanged them for me and I continued to knit on. The needle came off the cable of the second pair after I had made it almost to the toe of the first sock. Yes, I'm still on the first sock! I now have my third set of these needles and am hoping to make it through to the second sock. I mean really, I'm knitting a sock, not pulling a freight liner with these needles.

I was feeling stalled with my sample knitting as well (anything else?!). For this piece I'm knitting with the Fibre Company's Savannah DK which is a Merino, cotton, soy, linen blend. The needles I was using were the acrylic interchangeable tips from Knit Picks and they were causing a lot of drag on my yarn not to mention they are a bit too flexible and I kept feeling like if I put too much pressure on them they might just snap. I finally switched to my Harmonies last week and now I'm speeding along. Hooray!

On a more positive note (and to not leave a post photo-less) we were visited by our friend Devo last weekend (Mary is Devo's mom). Needless to say, all pups were thoroughly tired by the end of the day!

Stash Enhancement

2011-02-13T19:17:00.000-05:00

Let me just start by saying, secret knitting (such as sample knitting) can cause a lapse in blogging. I'm still chugging away on my most recent sample knit but can't share it with you (yet). Which is why I've resorted to showing you pretty pictures of yarn that has managed to make its way into my house recently. I generally don't do "yarn shots", I prefer to share projects. But when life gives you yarn, you smile and say thank you.

First up is a gorgeous skein of Becoming Art Agave heavy fingering (80/10/10 superwash wool/cashmere/nylon) in Looking In. This is destined to become a beautiful pair of socks for me! I think I deserve to be a little selfish now and then.

Also recently moved into the neighborhood is this to-die-for skein of Dream in Color Everlasting. It's a hand dyed, DK weight, superwash wool. I'm not kidding you when I say I opened up the package and actually gasped. It is SO vibrant in real life, the actual color is hard to capture.What will it become? Something delectable, no doubt.

A friendly and reliable couple has come along as well. These two skeins of Knit Picks Stroll Heathers sock yarn will become a pair of socks for my brother's birthday next month. He chose the color and said red socks will be "kind of fun" and will complete his hand made wardrobe (of which all he has is the sweater I made). He did tell me, "I like hand made things" and I asked, "like what? Dinner?" So we'll see if the socks get any actual wear. In his defense though, my mother has informed me that he wears his sweater to work (out of the house!!). Always welcome news to any gift knitter.

I also had a bit more enhancement last month, but we'll leave it at this. I'll save January's stash for when I'm in desperate need of another blog post.

Have you had any great stash enhancers lately?

Snow Day

2011-02-01T18:39:00.000-05:00

I'm sure I'm not the only one who stayed home today due to the weather. I was woken up at a little after 4am by the University weather alert telling me that the main campus was closed, which hardly ever happens. Seriously, it generally only happens once a year. There was one in December but it was the week after classes were over (how convenient). Either way, it does me no good as I didn't have a class scheduled for tonight. Adam however, works for the University so I woke him up to tell him the news. He asked, "how do you know" and before I even answered was already turning off his alarm. Ha! Unfortunately I wasn't able to fall back asleep because I was worried that my school wouldn't get closed for a snow day (which happened recently) and I'd still have to go. It just wouldn't be fair. At 5:40a I got the message that my school was indeed closed and was finally able to fall back into a sound sleep.

I tried to use today to be productive and I was able to finish a sample for Alana. It will be on display at Stitches West in a few weeks.

This is her Amelie sock. It is written for whichever method of sock knitting you may choose (dpns, magic loop, or two circs) which I think is pretty awesome. And the yarn? It's Becoming Art Agave Light Fingering in a color called Looking Out. This yarn is really a dream to work with. Its a 80/10/10 superwash merino, cashmere, nylon blend and comes in generous skeins of 560 yards. This yarn would also make a gorgeous shawl.

I was able to get some more swatching done today as well. One is for another test knit using Savannah DK from the Fibre Company.

I've never used this yarn before and was pleasantly surprised to find out how luscious it is! It's a surprising blend of wool, cotton, soy, and linen. It has a delicate sheen and is super squishy. This is going to work up into a lovely garment.

In other, slightly related news, I was reading Cold Mountain last night as a part of the book club my brother and I have started for ourselves. I came upon this passage that would probably make any knitter laugh:

The had begun walking to town in a chill, mizzling rain. Against it, Ada had worn a long coat of waxed poplin, and Ruby had on an enormous sweater she had knitted of undyed wool with the lanolin left in, her claim being that the oil turned water as well as a mackintosh. The sweater's only failing was that in the damp it broadcast the fragrance of an unshorn ewe.

Here's hoping for another productive snow day! Or does that make me greedy?

January Slump

2011-01-30T15:49:00.000-05:00

As far as finished projects go, January has not turned out to be one of my most productive months. It's not that I haven't been knitting, it's mostly that I've been working on some big sample projects that take a lot of my time (and of course, none which I can blog about).

I did decide this month to get started on my sock knitting resolution. A plain stockinette sock is a simple enough project that I can take with me and not have to worry about counting or patterns. So I cast on my newly titled School Socks. No, lime green and blue are not my school colors. These socks got their name because they are only worked on while I have class at night. And since I only have class on Wednesday nights and every other Tuesday, they're not seeing a whole lot of action.

Enough action, however, to have reached the heel and a couple of rows of the foot in two weeks' time. I figure at this rate, I'll finish them in a month or so. I like the plain sock because I can still look at the professor and ~~act like I'm listening~~ pay full attention during the lecture.

This coming month will be full of swatching (some of which has already been started) and finishing which will all hopefully lead to more blogging.

Confetti Scarf (or Super Cozy)

2011-01-20T18:21:00.000-05:00

In the midst of my sweater turmoil and some sample knitting, I was able to manage to whip up this super cozy scarf.

It was swapped away last night at my knitting group's annual anniversary party. This will be my second anniversary with the group and unfortunately I had an evening class that went until 9pm so I totally missed it. Boo. Either way, the scarf swap is a ton of fun (I made this one last year, remember?) with much chatting, eating, knitting, and swapping.

This scarf was made out of one skein of Araucania Aysen, a merino/alpaca/silk blend. It is just a basic bias knit but it makes for a super cozy scarf and right now in Northeast Ohio, all I can think is "super cozy". It was swapped away to Stacey, a great knitting friend that I don't see often enough. I hope it keeps her warm!

Yarn: Araucania Aysen (1 skein)

Needles: #9

Began: January 8

Completed: January 14

Ravelry Link

Adam's Baseball Jersey of Doom

2011-01-17T17:48:00.000-05:00

It is finished.

Would one say that I'm fully happy with it? No. But it's over now and I really don't want to think about how difficult this thing was to put together. The knitting was the easy part. Blocking, a cinch. Everything blocked to exactly the right measurements. The assembly, well, it started to take its toll.

Here is my issue with this pattern (I think we all knew this was coming): there are no instructions on assembly whatsoever. You cannot expect a person to just magically put this thing together correctly without even a hint of how to go about it. There are schematics for the front/back and sleeve pieces but no schematics on a finished, put together sweater. Not even a measurement on how wide the head opening should be. Oh yeah, and that error in the saddles? You need to decrease every row not every other row. It will not fit. Let me give you some measurements. The saddle of the shoulder will measure a total of 8.75". The top of the neck measures a total of 13.25". Am I the only one realizing that even if you start seaming on the little decreased piece on each side (only 1.5") that will still leave an extra 1.25" leftover with no where to go? Ok, and what about the shoulder decreases? That should be a total of 8.25" which will be seamed to a piece that should measure 7.25". Hello Mr. Discrepancy.

I'm pointing to where the saddle should begin to be seamed on the shoulder. And I realize it's weird that my ring is on my index finger but my fingers get real skinny in the winter and my rings fall of, so I've switched fingers for a bit.

Either way, I guess I should be happy that at least Adam's head will fit through the sweater now.

I've re-blocked it to measurement (again). I don't know if I'll be particularly sad if he doesn't wear this sweater much. Despite all the work I've put into it, I'm kind of angry with the sweater. I think the thing that makes me so angry is that my brother's sweater, knit from 2500 miles away without ever actually seeing my brother and using only my merely adequate math skills, fits like a freaking glove. It's kind of heartbreaking. On the bright side, I joined the Knits Men Want group on Ravelry to get some help with this sweater, entered a giveaway and won one of the samples knit in this book (the green one). So at least Adam will have one handknit sweater this year.

On a note regarding the yarn, I love Wool of the Andes! It's definitely not as rough as I thought it may be and was very hardy. I only found a couple knots in a few skeins and considering I used a total of maybe 13 skeins, I think that's doable. If you're looking for a reasonably priced wool to use for a garment, I would go for this one.

Pattern: Baseball Jersey by Bruce Weinstein

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Onyx Heather and Arctic Pool Heather

Needles: #7

Began: November 20

Completed: January 16, 2011

Ravelry Link

And since you've now read through all the complaining, how about I announce the blogiversary winner?

The winner is #23

photoknitdog

Thank you for your readership. I'll be trying to contact you this week or you can email me so I can send you your prize! Happy knitting!

The Saga Continues

2011-01-16T18:04:00.000-05:00

If you think that this is the post where I'm announcing the Blogiversary giveaway winner, you're wrong (meaning there's still time to enter).

And, if you're looking at that photo and thinking my, isn't that collar small? Then you'd be absolutely correct. This sweater is becoming the bane of my knitting existence. It's making me start to hate all my other knitting, no matter what it may be. When I first blocked this sweater (back when it was still in pieces) every piece (both sides of body and both sleeves) blocked to the exact measurements called for in the pattern schematics. I seamed it together and everything fit fine until I got to the saddles of the shoulders. They are way, way too long to leave any sort of opening that anyone other than an infant could fit their head through (and even that's questionable). I've ripped and re-ripped the blasted saddles and will need to do even more ripping tonight. I had Adam try it on last night and when he couldn't fit it over his head, I actually started to cry. I should also mention that when I had him try it on last weekend after my seaming marathon, the sweater (whose original, blocked length from armpit to waist was 18") had somehow shrunk up two inches and was now much too short for my 6'4" husband. Which, needless to say, pissed me off to no end. I'm assuming that the seaming cause the sweater to shrink up some, but really? Two whole inches? I'm one hundred percent absolutely positively sure that the length had been 18" (both pre- and post-blocking) but now it wasn't. Now, I know my husband loves me but he's not the kind of guy who will wear an ill-fitting sweater just because his wife made it for him. He was tugging at it saying, "this is little. Why is it so small? Can you add two inches?" I was able to vigorously reblock it back to the correct length but is seems to want to shrink up again. So, if you can imagine that was last weekend and now the whole head-can't-fit-through business this weekend perhaps the crying makes more sense.

Blogiversary and a Seaming Monster

2011-01-09T16:53:00.001-05:00

For those of you keeping track, today is my one year blogiversary and I've spent it thus far seaming the knitted demon that is Adam's Baseball Jersey. Now, I really don't mind seaming. Ever since I learned mattress stitch when I knit the Playful Stripes Cardigan I've been intrigued by the magic that seaming creates. It can look kind of scraggly and not quite right, and then you pull the ends and it all comes together perfectly. This however, it proving to be a test of my patience and skills.

The sides of the body and the seam up the arm were easy, no sweat. But now I'm on to setting in the sleeve which I've never done and am kind of just flying by the seat of my pants. The pattern isn't very much help. The directions say something to the extent of: Set in sleeves, seam shoulders, good luck. This isn't just regular set-in sleeves either, you'll need to do the shoulder and saddle seaming as well. And with the amount of seaming that needs to be done, I've kind of called it quits for today. I've been sitting at my dining table for close to three hours and am starting to worry about blood clots, fatigue, and the crick in my neck setting in and becoming permanent.

I've only managed to set in half of one sleeve (in addition to the seaming of the sleeves and body). I was really hoping I'd put this all together today but I think I need a break (and a cup of tea). I did tell Adam that he could just wear it like this. That we'd put in some safety pins to keep it together but that he'd be fine otherwise. He'd look great. It would be really breathable. He could just tell people his wife is from California and has a unique sense of style. Unfortunately, he's no stranger to my antics and just kind of ignored me.

So on to the required blogiversary reflection.

I've been kind of holding off on sharing any of my 2011 resolutions because I wanted to do so today. I tend to make only a few simple resolutions so that I actually keep them. In 2009, I resolved to try to live greener. I began recycling most of my trash (I haven't made it to composting just yet but then I don't have a garden and don't know what I'd do with the compost) and using green cleaning products. I also changed light bulbs and unplugged things we didn't use on a regular basis (toaster, stand mixer, etc). There were several other changes I made but I need to move on (the neck crick is acting up).

Last year I made three resolutions. I did not knit the Christmas stockings but I did do a pair of colorwork Totoro mittens. Since mittens are a smaller project, I think it was a good start. So we'll say this was accomplished. I still want to knit the stockings and I think I found a pattern that I like better than the ones I had originally planned on doing. We'll see.

I did start cooking more often. I would say that I probably average 5 nights a week (pretty good considering sometimes I would start cooking when I got home at 7pm). The other two nights tends to be leftovers or eating out. Mostly leftovers though. We have definitely cut back on our eating out splurges (which got way out of hand one year) so I'm very happy about accomplishing this one. The good thing about it is that now that I'm in the habit of meal planning and freezing, I'm sure it will stick through this year too.

My final goal was to update the blog more frequently. Done.

My goals for this year are pretty simple as well:

1. Fix the knitted garments that I don't wear so they are wearable or frog them. I got started in this on the last post but my goal is to be realistic about my knitting. I don't spend hours knitting a sweater not to wear it and there are a couple that I don't wear only because there's a small thing that needs to be fixed (like it needs to be lengthened or shortened, etc.). Specifically, there are three garments that need some adjustments (this, this, and this).

2. Knit at least four pairs of socks for myself. Now that I have a pair of knitted socks all I can think of is the luxury of having an entire drawerful. They are so much warmer and more comfortable than regular socks.

3. Knit at least two sweaters for myself. I love sample knitting and I love gift knitting but it's been quite some time since I knit anything for myself. When I think "well I last knit the socks for myself in September and that wasn't that long ago" I also have to remember that I have finished almost 15 projects since then. I want a sweater and I have the yarn for it so it is going to happen.

I think these are all pretty doable, don't you? And since you have stuck through this awfully long post, dear reader, I think you deserve a little something too. One of the things that I love about blogging is all the wonderful feedback I receive from my readers. If I need an opinion, I just ask and then there's two dozen people to act as a sounding board. Everyone is so helpful and kind. Thank you.

Anyway, my point is, if you leave a comment under this post you will be entered to win a skein of Malabrigo Rios in the color Azules.

If you blog about this post, leave a second comment linking to your blog and you'll get a second entry. This giveaway is just for you readers to show my appreciation. I'll draw the winner using the Random Number Generator in the post where I share about the finished baseball jersey. When will that be? Well when it's done and photographed, that's when. And considering I start back to school tomorrow, it might be some time.

So, here's to you, wonderful readers, and another year of blogging fun! Cheers!

Unworn

2011-01-07T11:09:00.000-05:00

I had been thinking for some time about the February Lady Sweater that I finished knitting at this time last year. Not only was it my first knitted garment, but it was one of the first things I had ever knit. I took a class on it, found some really lovely buttons, learned to increase and decrease, learned about life lines and counting (and counting and counting). Overall, I had invested a lot of time and energy into this sweater.

And do you want to know how many times I've worn this sweater? Once. There's always been something about it that I just don't love. The color is not exactly the brown I had hoped it would be and the sleeves are a bit too poofy for my liking. I think I prefer cardigans that close down the front, not just the top (or at least have the option to close down the front). I don't love the neckline and how the garter stitch leaves it looking somewhat unfinished. Looking at this photo, I don't think it looks terrible but again, I just don't love it. We all know how it is when you don't love something in your wardrobe. It sits in the back of the closet unworn. It's not bad enough to give to Goodwill but not enough to your liking to actually put on. Last week I tried this cardigan on again and made a decision.

So now what? Do I attempt another sweater with the yarn? I can't really put my finger on if it was the yarn or the pattern (although I'm leaning more toward pattern) that I didn't really like. I did receive a copy of New England Knits for Christmas and I saw this project done in this yarn (Berroco Vintage) on Ravelry. Or should I just make some house socks?

Ravioli

2011-01-03T19:02:00.000-05:00

Yesterday's ravioli turned out wonderful! They took about three hours total to make and looked like darling little cheese stuffed pillows.

From this:

To this:

Sorry about the tiny pictures. I forgot my camera so Adam took these on his phone.

And for those who were asking, the tamale recipe is posted.