It Was a Good Idea

I had this great idea. Natalie has a lovely dress for Christmas - the top is deep purple, basically eggplant. "I'll knit Ethan a sweater that will coordinate for pictures!" I said to myself. I really should stop talking. *sigh* I ordered yarn (Swish, the new KnitPicks superwash - sorry for the lack of a link today) - color: Bordeaux, which looked like it would be a good match. Hm. Not so much. The yarn is lovely - it just doesn't match the dress AT ALL.

Anyway, I decided to go ahead and knit the sweater. Perhaps we can figure something out for Christmas pictures. Who knows? If nothing else, Ethan will have a lovely sweater to wear this winter.

I'm using my handy reference book for the basic pattern numbers and decided to use Barbara Walker for the design. I chose to do a panel of the Triple-Braided Diamonds down the center. The rest is a little gem called Crossed Stockinette. It's very subtle, but I like the look of it. Just gives a bit of texture without adding any bulk.

In real life, the yarn is not this color. It truly is a wine color - not this odd shade of purple:





So far, so good with the pattern - that is one complete run of the cable pattern. It's just slow, the cabling.

In other news, my feet have been really cold today, despite the 75 degree weather, and I think it is mighty sad when I have to wear mismatched handknits simply because I haven't gotten around to knitting the mates to these socks.

KMKS Questionnaire

What are your favorite colors?
I love autumnal colors and bolds - not really into pastels.

Are you a new mitt knitter? How long have you been knitting mittens?
The only mittens I've knit are Knitty's "Fetching."

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
I like them both!

What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn?
No preference, really, since we have fairly mild winters...so I'll go with something soft.

Where do you usually knit mittens?
Wherever!

How do you usually carry/store small projects?
I have a few homemade project bags for small projects - otherwise a Ziploc bag.

What are your favorite mitten patterns?
I don't really have any favorites! I probably wouldn't knit anything bulky, just because I don't need mittens like that where I live.

What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques?
I don't really have any!

What new techniques would you like to try?
I'm open to anything. I like colorwork, cables, plain...whatever!

What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens?
No preference.

What are some of your favorite yarns?
Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Manos del Uruguay, anything alpaca (I'm not brand specific!), Lorna's Laces

What yarn do you totally covet?
Blue Moon Fiber Arts, Lorna's Laces

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
Don't know!

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?
Addis or KnitPicks for circulars, Crystal Palace dpns, Lantern Moon straights

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
I'd be Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
Love chocolate (prefer milk chocolate over dark) - like chocolate oranges, Toblerone, peanut butter cups

What’s your favorite animal?
I like dogs and horses, but I'm not into them enough to collect dog or horse stuff, LOL!

Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts?
Don't really need super warm mittens, but anything goes, really!

If you were a color what color would you be?
Orange or green

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?
Probably flowers

Do you have a wishlist?
No, but if you have questions about what I'd like, feel free to ask!

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today?
Nope!

Dog Art

My daughter, for reasons still unknown, believes she is a dog. A dog named Otis. She has been Otis for well over a year and a half now. She knows she is not *really* a dog, but she doesn't let that stop her. She refers to herself both as Otis, and as a dog.

Otis also quite likes drawing, coloring and arty things in general. Today she created this:



"This is just some piece of art done by a dog." - Natalie, age 4

Mom Socks

Another pair of socks finished! This is a pair of gameday socks for my mom. The blue isn't really quite right for Illini socks...really ought to be navy...but I dyed this yarn myself, so it just is what it is. I used Kool-Aid to dye the yarn and now that they have been washed, they have a faint fruity smell. For some reason, my old digital camera really has a hard time taking pictures of this yarn. Bless its old 2.1 megapixel heart, it does the best it can.





Yarn: KnitPicks Dye Your Own, dyed with various colors/flavors of Kool-Aid
Pattern: my own - 80 stitches on sz 0 needles, 3x1 ribbing, cuff down

Busy Bee

So I was a pretty busy little bee this weekend in the crafty department. I finished Fetching:



I started a pair of new stockinette socks, working two at once/Magic Loop (yarn is Regia, one of my first sock yarns and a gift from Rosemary):



And I even got out the ol' sewing machine and made a tote bag. No pattern, just made it up as I went. It's far from perfect, but it's functional. And a little retina-burning.





Today I finished my mom's socks, but they are drying so no pics yet. It feels so freeing to finish multiple projects!

Tragically Unhip

That's how I've been feeling lately. Blah? Yep. Frumpy? Mm-hmm. Not at all cool? Oh yeah. Wish I knew what the answer was. I've been wearing my funky scarf and got a new, cool handbag, but mostly I feel like a wannabe.

If anyone has the cure for the Tragically Unhip Blues, let me know.

Leftovers for a Cause

The power of the Borg has recently extended to charity knitting. Inspired by Rosemary and many others who are knitting for various non-profits, I decided to make good use of my Ribby leftovers and knit a small sweater for Children In Common. I had nearly 2 skeins of green Cascade 220 left, as well as most of a skein of black.

I ended up using the numbers for the toddler-sized pullover from the book, Style Your Own Kids Knits (a very handy book, by the way). I think it is close to a 2T size. It went together very quickly and I'm happy with the result. The second picture shows it in it's true drop-shoulder state.





In other news, yesterday I went to the lys and got buttons for my Ariann sweater. I had seen these before I bought the yarn and to my surprise, they do actually fit through the buttonholes!

The Borg is Back

Check it out: Episode 10

WIP's and a Fun Find

As usual, I have several works-in-progress. Since I've been posting pics of finished objects lately (rather than WIP's), I thought I'd give a status report.

The Ariann cardigan...going well. I'm almost finished with the waist shaping increases and have two buttonholes.



Father & Son socks, from the current issue of Interweave Knits...the yarn is KnitPicks Essential in Pine.



Fetching...I'm using acrylic for these *gasp* because my sister is allergic to wool. I've started the 2nd glove and am currently halfway through the cuff.



And finally...my fun find...clearly, these are storebought socks - but I was totally powerless to resist. Candy corn argyle. Perfect. :)

Ribby Cardi

I finally finished my Ribby Cardi. I started early in the summer and have worked on it here and there until I finished on Friday. It wasn't that it was difficult - I just got distracted with other projects. All in all, it is actually a fairly simple sweater to knit and I could certainly see myself knitting another one sometime.

The picture isn't great - it's hard to get something really good when you're having to take it yourself with the tripod and the timer.



Pattern: Ribby Cardi by Bonne Marie Burns
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: US sz 6 & 7 circulars
Modifications: none

My Funky Scarf is here!

My Funky Scarf Swap package arrived yesterday and I am pleased to report that I am thrilled with what I got! My pal was Kristin, aka BongoMama and she did very well. According to her note, she started my scarf five different times before she was satisfied (funny, that sounds awfully familiar to what I experienced with my own FSS project...). From what I can tell, she knit the scarf length-wise and put fringe on the ends. She didn't list what the yarns are, but I really like them. I rather fancy it to be sorta Death Eater Glam. (Non-HP-fans just smile and nod as that will mean nothing to you.)





Kristin also sent me a set of very cool magnets, adorable knitty notecards and best of all, my very first Moleskine notebook! It is the 3.5x5.5" size and has "squared pages" (like graph paper) and an expandable inner pocket - perfect for a knitty notebook!



Thank you so much, Kristin!!

A Quick Little Project

So I've wanted to make a needle case for my dpns (double-pointed needles, for those non-knitters) and just haven't gotten around to it until this week. Lots of people make very simple ones, which was really all I needed. I had bookmarked these instructions by Grumperina a while back and even purchased a placemat to use for the project. I finally decided to do it a few days ago and am quite pleased with the result!





I already had the elastic in my sewing stash and decided to use ribbon for the closure instead of narrow elastic (which I did not have in my stash). It is so nice to have all my dpns in one place now.

Ariann

The lure of the Borg was too strong.



Pattern: Ariann by Bonne Marie Burns
Yarn: Ultra Alpaca
Needles: 24" Inox circular, US sz 7

I'm ready for the 2nd of 4 decreases for waist shaping.

Spiderific

DISCLAIMER: I feel obligated to say that if you have spider issues, you may want to close your eyes and scroll down to the end of this post to see actual knitting content.

OK, now that we've addressed that, I'll get on with it.

This morning Natalie wanted to color, so I hooked her up with paper and crayons and she produced this, which she informed me was a drawing of Happy, Friendly Spiders:



There is, of course, a reason for her drawing spiders. We have this at the bottom of our deck:



We have to pass it whenever we go up or down the steps of the deck.

On it, lives this rather stout spider:



I'll admit, it does creep me out. A lot. But I really don't have the heart to tear down the li'l fella's handiwork.

Now for some knitting content! I played around with a new stitch pattern last night...I'm potentially frogging the old cabled scarf I started (last winter) for my dad and going this direction instead. (thankyouverymuch Barbara Walker and your Treasuries)

Swallowtail

A lovely knit, except for those blasted p5tog's. Hooray for pointy needles!

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl by Evelyn Clark, from the Fall 2006 Interweave Knits
Yarn: Schaefer Anne fingering weight
Needles: KnitPicks Options, US sz 6

Surprise Socks & Cute Faces

I decided last Sunday that I needed to knit a pair of surprise socks for someone I don't really know. It's a woman from church. I was knitting at the retreat I attended last weekend and she came over and whispered, "I wear a size 8 shoe, just so you know!" LOL! As fortune would have it, she was the one who received my Arrowhead Lace Scarf in the giveaway! Like I said, I don't really know this woman, but I do know that she has cancer. I also know she attends the Saturday night service (as do we). So I decided that it would be fun to knit her a pair of socks as a surprise. I hope she likes them!

Since I wanted to get these done ASAP, I decided to go for more of a house sock. I chose Louet Gems Topaz (technically a light worsted), which I hadn't tried before. Of course I didn't have a pattern in mind, so I decided to be brave and create my own. I knew I wanted 48 stitches total, so I looked around to find a stitch pattern that would work with that. I ended up finding one from the 2nd Barbara Walker Treasury - the stitch pattern is called Seaweed, but I think it has been slightly adapted to work. I don't have the 2nd Treasury (just the 1st), so I'm not exactly sure. In any case, I did it toe-up and decided to use a short-row heel.

So I am pleased to present my Kelp Socks! If anyone is interested in having a copy of the pattern, I would be happy to type it up - just leave a comment.

Pattern: Kelp Socks, my own Magic Loop, toe-up pattern based on the B. Walker Seaweed stitch
Yarn: Louet Gems Topaz in Sage (light worsted)
Needles: KnitPicks Options, US sz 4
*note: I think this stitch pattern could easily be adapted to work with fingering weight*







Since I had the camera out this morning, my children insisted I take their pictures too.

Ethan, 2 1/2


Natalie, 4 1/2

New Things

In the wake of finishing some things that had deadlines, I thought it would be nice to do a quick little project.

Enter, the Garterlac Dishcloth. It's very fun to make! Go try one.


Non-knitty, but I love my new Kleenex box!

Funky Scarf

I finished my scarf for the Funky Scarf Swap today. I tried a few different thing because I really wanted to incorporate two yarns, but in the end, I decided to let the artyarn shine and just use the second yarn as embellishment. I think it was the right choice.



Artyarn: "Too Many Cosmopolitans" by Yarn Wench
Fringe: Taos number 009
Beads: handcrafted glass beads by Elite Better Beads

The scarf is garter stitch over 10 stitches on size US 10.5 needles.

I hope my pal likes it!

Can't Help Myself

So I finished the Diamond Fantasy Shawl, right? And I said to Rosemary, "I think I will force myself to finish my Scribble Lace scarf before I start any new lace project." Sounded good, eh? Very logical, as well as practical.

So what did I do instead? (pardon the dark picture...totally does NOT do the yarn any justice, but it's nearly impossible to get a decent flash-free picture inside my house)



Uh, yeah. I did. Swallowtail from the current IK magazine, done in Schaefer Anne on sz 6 needles. I'm halfway through the first border chart and let's just say that purling 5 together is not a lot of fun.

In my defense, I did work on the Scribble Lace. I've put several more repeats on it and I would say I'm probably 3/4 of the way there. But there are limits on how long you can work Kidsilk Haze on enormous (and slick) Addi Turbos without going a little crazy.

Then again, I suspect I've already passed the "crazy" mark...

Really Finished

The Arrowhead Lace scarf and the Diamond Fantasy Shawl (scarf) are now both blocked and officially finished! See previous post for specifics if you missed them.

Arrowhead Lace Scarf - the colors really photographed well this time:




Diamond Fantasy Shawl (scarf size) - the colors here are pretty close, maybe just a hair lighter than it appears in person:






**Edited to add: In case you are interested in the Briar Rose yarn, Sweet Freedom is not available at the moment - but I've been assured that Grandma's Blessing is very, very similar!

It's so nice to have some finished objects!