Yes, ACTUAL knitting content

I just realized it's been months since my last knitting-related post. Sorry, Knitters. I have a good excuse...

Socks, socks, and more socks. The months of January and February were completely devoted to sock knitting, and I was on a deadline for some of them.

The first pair I finished were some socks for Socks for Soldiers.



The picture is kinda crappy and is pre-blocking. They looked much better after blocking. The yarn is undyed Opal. They will eventually be dyed black by the SFS organizer (if I ever get them in the mail to her).

The second two pairs are for TechGirl's mom. I made TechGirl a pair of socks for her birthday last October. When her mom found out about them, she asked if I could make a pair for her. See, she has a medical condition that has caused her ankles to swell to the point where she cannot wear store-bought socks. So I had TechGirl measure Mom's feet and I made these socks:



The yarn is Opal. Just a simple cuff-down, 2x2 rib with a slip stitch heel flap. To accommodate the 13 inch diameter that I needed for the cuff, the leg and foot have 90 stitches. Working on size 1 Addi's, I ended up with a gauge of 9-9.5 stitches/inch.

They took about a month to finish. I'm a slow knitter to start with, and the 90 stitches of ribbing made things go even slower. It was all worth it though because Mom loved them. She said it was the first time in months that she's been able to wear socks without the cuff leaving grooves in her ankles. She loved them so much that she has asked for several more pairs.

So I started these:



Again, the yarn is Opal. I had it and the yarn for the first pair in my stash. I wanted yarn that is wool and nylon, and very hard-wearing. There are some lovely sock yarns out there, but many of them are not very sturdy. Opal wears like iron, so it was the perfect choice - and all the more perfect because I already had it in the stash.

This pair was also cuff-down, 3x2 rib, slip stitch heel flap.

The cast on I used for Mom's socks is one that I learned for my Socks for Soldiers socks. SFS socks have to have a cast on stretchy enough to fit over a 2-liter pop bottle. I learned this tip from someone on Ravelry: Cast on double the number of stitches and decrease every 2 stitches on the first row. Now, casting on 180 stitches by the long-tail method was a bit of a nightmare with the first pair of socks. So for the second pair, I did a crochet cast on. Much easier and I didn't have to try to leave a long enough tail for 180 stitches. Here's what it looks like when finished...



Yes, it makes for a rippled cuff, but that doesn't show when the sock is being worn.

Finally, the last pair of socks I finished recently was a pair of KU socks for Shane. He asked for a pair of ankle socks last fall. I told him I would have them ready by March Madness. Five months later I finished them. They have red toes, short row heels and cuffs, and blue insteps. I haven't been able to take a picture of them yet because he wore them right away and won't let me wash them until the Jayhawks lose. Superstitious, that one.

---

Thank you all for the kind comments about Abbey. They all meant a lot to me and brought me much comfort. I brought Abbey's ashes home today. The vet's office receptionist's husband makes beautiful wood boxes for pet ashes. Wendy bought one for me. It's quite lovely. When I showed Shane the box, he took it over to the couch and placed it on the arm where she used to sleep. I'll have to find a better place for her. I'm not sure why, but I feel more settled now that she's home.

On a more positive note, Shane is ready to adopt a new kitty. We agreed that we would try to find two cats to come home with us. We're going to the Humane Society Thursday during lunch to look around. Wish us luck.

2008 Wrap up

Guess I was a pretty busy knitter this year. Above are 25 finished objects. Not pictured is another toy I made for Riley that I forgot to photograph before giving to her last summer.

On to 2009!

Baby gifts

My niece Riley turned 1 yesterday. Her parents had a party for her, attended by adults. Unfortunately, the people she invited who also have kids were not able to come. So those in attendance were the 8 members of my family and 4 of Kevin and Christy's friends. It was quite interesting to watch all of these adults around the baby. She opened gifts with Mommy and Daddy while 12 adults stood in a semi-circle around them, taking pictures.

Anyway, for her birthday, I made her Kate. Only, this one is named Lil' Max, after Kevin and Cristy's cat, Max, who is also grey.



Ri took it out of the box and immediately hugged it.



It was one of those "awwwwwwwwwww" moments.

Kevin thinks the cat looks strange, but Ri loves it, so that's all that matters.

I followed the pattern exactly as written, except for yarn choice. The original pattern uses Lamb's Pride. I didn't have any, so I used what I had on hand (Caron Simply Soft and Encore Worsted), which is not as heavy as Lamb's Pride. In order to get a tight enough gauge, so that the stuffing wouldn't show through, I used size 5 needles. This resulted in a smaller toy. He's probably about 9 or 10 inches tall, which is 2 inches smaller than the one in the pattern.

I already have the yarn to make a Lil' Pants - one that looks like the brown tabby cat that Kevin and Christy have, named Pants.

---

Since Kevin and Christy were in St. Louis for Christmas this year, the family got together today to exchange gifts. I made 2 things for Riley for Christmas.

First up is a pink hat.



The yarn is some handspun, hand dyed alpaca that I bought at the Estes Park Alpaca Market in 2007. The pattern is from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders. This was sort of a last-minute addition. I wanted to give her a little something extra, and a hat seemed quick and easy.

The other Christmas gift I made for Ri is something that I'm particularly proud of: Ribbed Baby Jacket by Debbie Bliss.



I didn't keep track of when I started and finished this, but it only took a week or so. It is knitted in one piece starting from the back hem and ending with the front hem, with seams joining the sides and under the arms. Then stitches are picked up for the ribbed collar.



The pattern calls for a snap of some sort for a closure, but I preferred to use a button. I did a 2 row button hole and added this cute wood-like button.



The yarn is Dream in Color Classy in Good Luck Jade. I used about 1-3/4 skeins. I originally purchased the yarn (at My Sister Knits in Ft. Collins, CO - beautiful store and super nice people) with plans to make a baby blanket for my cousin. I realized a couple of months later that thinking 500 yards of yarn was enough for a baby blanket was a little stupid, and decided to make a sweater for Riley instead. I really love this yarn. The color variations are so subtle and pretty. I wish it wasn't so expensive 'cuz I'd love to make myself a sweater out of it.

So there you have it - just about the only Christmas knitting I did this year was for my niece. That made for a relatively stress-free holiday for me - at least with regards to Christmas knitting.

February Lady Sweater

I have a few things to post about that are 2008 FOs, and here is the first:

The February Lady Sweater.



Yes, I finished this ages ago (27 November, to be exact), but I keep forgetting to post about it. I started it back in October and was determined to wear it Thanksgiving day. I worked my little fingers off and finally laid it out to block on the Tuesday prior to the holiday.

This is not my first sweater. However, it is the first adult sweater I've made successfully. Previous attempts were all ripped out at some point except one, and that one turned out to be about 3 sizes too big for the recipient. It was perfect for her when she was 8 months pregnant, but other than that, I don't think it'll be getting much wear.


Check out the new couch!

Anyway, I seriously love this sweater. It fits absolutely perfectly, despite my fears that it wouldn't. The whole time I was working on the yoke I thought for sure it was too small. Even though my gauge was spot-on (a frickin' miracle in my world), I still doubted. It wasn't until I had finished the body and tried it on (for the hundredth time) that I was comfortable with idea that it was going to fit just fine.

The soaking and blocking did wonders to loosen up the fabric just enough to make the fit perfect. The girls have enough room up front, something us well-endowed chicks often have trouble with. The length is exactly where I want it, right at the bend between my hips and upper thighs.



The yarn is Cascade 220. I am in lurve with this yarn. It's reasonably priced, the yardage is quite generous, and it's pretty soft despite being plain ol' wool. I used about 5.75 skeins. I'm thinking I could easily get a long sleeved sweater out of 6 skeins - at roughly $6/skein from my LYS, that's a sweater for less than $40. What a deal!

The buttons came from As Cute as a Button. They're abalone - pale pinks, creamy colors, hints of blue and lavender. I wasn't sure about them when they arrived in the mail. I was a little concerned that they would be too light in color. But they are perfect.

Pattern: February Lady Sweater
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: 32" size 9 Addis, size J crochet hook
Started: early October
Finished: 11/27/08
Mods: The only modification I made was to do a crochet bind-off. I really liked the way Cristi's bind-off looked on her sweater, so I stole the idea. Otherwise, I followed the pattern exactly.



Love it!!

Chevron Scarf FO

When Yarn Barn had their annual sale last December, I bought the yarn to make the Chevron Scarf. I'd heard that knitting the thing was a chore due to finished size (70" long, I think). But after trolling through the completed projects on Ravelry, I just had to have one.

Initially, I thought I'd use these two similar colors:





Then I read that using contrasting colors is a better way to go, otherwise the lovely variations in the colors would get lost in the pattern. Keeping this in mind, I went back to Yarn Barn and got a skein of Koigu in a turquoise-y colorway. I thought it would look nice with the bottom of the above two skeins.

The yarn sat in my stash for almost a year, but when I finally started the scarf, I discovered that I chose my colors well...



Despite all the complaints I'd read about the scarf taking forever to knit, it only took me a couple of weeks. I was so in love with the color combination that I couldn't stop knitting it. I even balanced two skeins of yarn on a flight to San Diego in October just so I could keep working on it while I was traveling (I usually take only the smallest, simplest, single-skein projects on trips).

The finished scarf is only about 52 inches long. I'm not sure what happened there. The called-for gauge is 38 stitches per 4" in the chevron pattern. Now, that seems awfully tight for Koigu (the called-for yarn) on size 5 needles. I don't even get that tight a gauge with Koigu on size 1s, and I'm an uber-tight knitter. I checked my gauge a few inches into the scarf, and I got a little over 8 sts/in. on size 5s. One would assume that the scarf would then turn out much longer than in the pattern.



Nope. I knitted until I had just a few yards of the turquoise, then bound off. It's a decent length for a scarf, but it's not near the size it should be. I don't mind though - it works well for me. I can wrap it around my neck once, and the ends are wide enough the cover the top of my chest under the v-neck of my pea coat. I've even worn it a few times during the day at work. It goes really well with a pair of corduroys I wear regularly.

The first time I wore it to work, I was sitting at my desk, checking email, when I looked down to admire my handiwork and fondle the softness that is Koigu. And what do I see? A f@*!ing dropped stitch!


See that little bump in the middle? Dammit.

I honestly cannot remember the last time I dropped a stitch that I didn't notice right away and fix. Seems like a rookie mistake. But not fatal. I just anchored it on the back of the scarf by running some yarn through it and weaving in the ends. Now you can't even see it anymore.

Pattern: Chevron Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: one skein of Claudia Handpaints (the brownish one) and one skein of Koigu PPPPM (the turquoise)
Needles: 10" size 5 Clover bamboo straights
Started: 10/28/08
Finished: second week of November '08
Mods: The only thing I did differently from the way the pattern was written, was that instead of using the same color for the 4 knit rows at either end of the scarf, I did one end in the brown and one end in the turquoise. Otherwise, I followed it exactly.



I loves my scarf.

Knitted Kitty FO

Awwwww....



Pattern: Knitted Kitty
Yarn: Lamb's Pride Worsted in Lotus Pink and Cascade 220, in a dark purple, for the face
Needles: size 5 10" Clover bamboo straights
Started: 11/11/08
Finished: 11/28/08
Mods: I cast on more stitches for the head and body and worked more rows for each, but I can't remember exactly how many. These adjustments were made to accommodate the tighter gauge I wanted so that the stuffing wouldn't show through. Also, I worked a garter stitch icord for the tail.

So cute, I may just have to make a few more.

Oh, and if you ever need to make eyes for a knitted toy, this website has a fabulous tutorial (scroll down to "knittycat's Yarn Knot Eyes for Peeps Tutorial" link).

Almost Monkeys FO

In the winter of 2007, TechGirl asked me if I would make her a pair of socks if she lost a lot of weight. I said that of course I would, thinking that it didn't matter if she lost weight - I'd make her a pair of socks anyway. A couple of months later, she told me of her plan to have weight loss surgery. After 20 years of friendship, I knew how much she had struggled with her weight over the years. I was proud of her for making this decision, for doing the research to choose the right procedure, and for having the courage to go through with it.

Well, a year and a half after her surgery, she is wearing a size 4. I don't know exactly what her starting weight was, but I'm sure she's lost well over half her body weight. She looks great!

I kept my promise and made her a pair of socks.



I based them on the Monkey pattern, though they bear only a slight resemblance. First, I replaced all the purl stitches with knit stitches. Then, because I needed to have an 80 stitch instep, leg, and cuff, I did two of the pattern repeats on the top of the foot and two repeats on the back of the leg, and inserted plain knit stitches in between. Also, I did slip-stitch heel flap, and worked the sock toe-up.

The cuff is a little different than what I usually do too. I did a k3, p2, k1, p2 rib. It turned out pretty nice.



I will definitely be using that cuff again. It's much more interesting to knit than a 2 x 2 or 1 x 1 rib.

My intention was to have the socks done in time for TechGirl's birthday in early October. Due to the Peacock Shawl I gave to my mom, I ended up not getting the socks finished and sent off until early November. She's had them for a couple of weeks now and says she likes them. I really hope they fit. I'm used to making socks for myself and my brother - trying to fit someone long distance is a little more difficult when they can't try them on.

Here are the details:
Pattern: Almost Monkeys
Yarn: Regia Kaffe Fassett in Mirage Storm
Needles: 40" size 1 Addis
Started: 8/25/08
Finished: 10/19/08
Mods: see above
Notes: This is the first time I've used a Regia yarn. It was a bit scratchy at first, but I got used to it after a while. I think it will wear really well. The colors didn't pool much at all. Overall, I was pleased. I'd use it again - good thing because I have another two skeins in the stash in a different colorway.

Peacock Feathers Shawl FO

My mom has always used a fountain pen. Since her high school years, an old fashioned fountain pen has been her weapon of choice for all non--check writing purposes. When I was a little girl, her favorite ink color was peacock blue. For years, there was a pot of peacock blue ink in one of the drawers of the ugly green chest that was in the kitchen. She would tip the closed jar slightly so that ink would collect in the reservoir near the top. Then she would dip the nib of the pen into the reservoir and pull the little lever-thingy on the side of the pen, drawing the ink into the barrel. Eventually, she discovered fountain pens that used cartridges filled with ink.

But always there was the peacock blue ink - kind of teal, kind of turquoise. That color will always be associated with my mother's steady, beautiful hand.

So when I first saw the Peacock Feather's Shawl pattern from Fiddlesticks Knitting, I knew I had to make it for her. And since her 60th birthday was a couple of weeks ago, I had the perfect excuse.



I ordered the yarn (Jagger Spun Merino laceweight in... get this... "Peacock"!!) and pattern from Sarah's Yarns. She just happened to be having a sale on Fiddlesticks patterns at just the right time. I started the shawl on 1 July.


"I Pledge Allegiance..."

I have worked on other things since then, so I figure I spent about 2 months knitting on it. It's one of those patterns that starts in the center of the top of the shawl and gets wider with each right side row. There were 495 stitches on the last row. 495!!



The final width ended up being roughly 72 inches, which was a big surprise. As written, the pattern is supposed to give you a 80-something inch shawl. I used the recommended size 4 needles. But, I didn't do a swatch, and since I am such a tight knitter, I ended up with a smaller shawl.



The smaller size worked out really well because my mom is a small woman. I was a bit worried that it would end up too large for her. The final size is just right for her.

I really liked this pattern. I didn't run into any problems with it. There are a ton of charts (9 altogether, I think), which I much prefer to written-out directions. And the charts are only for the first half of the shawl. Once you pass the halfway point, you knit the same charted row again, reversing all of the k2togs and ssks to slant in the opposite directions. Sounds complicated, but it wasn't too hard to follow. It's actually really intuitive. I would definitely knit another Fiddlesticks pattern. They're really well written.

Here's the wrap-up:
Pattern: Peacock Feather's Shawl from Fiddlesticks Knitting
Yarn: JaggerSpun Super Fine Merino Laceweight, in Peacock
Needles: size 4 29" and 32" Addi Turbo Lace needles
Started: 7/1/08
Finished: 10/3/08
Mods: none. This pattern is not one that you can alter. It pretty much needs to be knitted as written.

And mom? She loved it. (And so did Grandma. I think I'm going to have to make a shawl for her sometime soon.)

Totally Autumn FO

It's been almost 2 weeks since my last post. Sorry about that. I blame the following...



I had the idea in mid-August that I would make my close friend S an afghan for her 40th birthday. I searched around on Ye Olde Intarwebs and discovered Totally Autumn. Smallish in size - cool. Chunky yarn - great. Big needles - super. I could knock out this baby in no time!



Um, nope, not so much. I forgot. I'm a pretty slow knitter who doesn't like working with big needles. They give me a pain in my right hand that is not so fun. So having only about a month to finish this thing meant a month of furious knitting.

At least the yarn I chose was yummy. Knit Picks Swish Bulky in Verdant Heather. I can't believe how soft this stuff is. And cheap. In a good way.

The color is perfect. It coordinates with S's living room perfectly.



I love the little red and blue fibers that run throughout the green. And I couldn't resist taking some pictures the morning after I laid out the afghan for blocking. The light was coming into B's room in such a way as to really show off the texture of the stitches.




It looked like a mass of tangled yarn before blocking, but did that cool thing that lace does when it's blocked. It opened up nicely and the stitches popped. Good to know that trick works with bulky yarn as well as lace weight.

Overall, an interesting knit. I worked the smaller size as written except that instead of working rows 1-23 before the ending 8 rows of garter, I only did rows 1-13. I was worried I would run out of yarn so I stopped a little short.

Pattern: Totally Autumn from Knitty
Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Bulky in Verdant Heather
Needles: 29" size 11 Clover bamboo circs
Started: about the 3rd week of August 2008
Finished: 9/18/08
Mods: Shortened the whole thing by 10 rows.
Notes: Easy pattern to follow, lovely results, great yarn. S really loved it. I can't wait to see it in her living room.

Eleanor Socks FO

Waaaaayyy back in May, I made a pair of Eleanor socks. They counted as my May socks for the Sock a Month Knitalong. I finally managed to take some pictures of them last week before burying them in my sock drawer until fall.



The pattern is from Monkey Toes. It was really easy to memorize.



It's lacy, but not too much so. I had to alter the pattern a little to get the right number of foot and leg stitches. It's been a while, but I think I added 2 purl stitches each on the left and right sides of the sock to bring the stitch count up to 60. My slightly wide ankles usually require a 72 stitch leg when I get a gauge of 8-9 stitches per inch. But this pattern is pretty stretchy, so I was able to go down to 60 stitches.



I worked an eye of partridge heel flap. It looks pretty nice with this yarn.



Oh yeah, the yarn. I used Tofutsies. This is the first time I've used it. I know a lot of people aren't that thrilled with it, but I really enjoyed working with it. The cotton content meant that it wasn't as stretchy as I would prefer, but it's really soft stuff. The colors in this skein are light pink, dark pink, yellow, and a bit of grey. They reminded me of pink lemonade.

Because of the lack of stretch, I had to increase the cuff to 72 stitches on the last row before the bind off. Otherwise, I couldn't get the sock over my heel.

Pattern: Eleanor, from Monkey Toes
Yarn: SWTC Tofutsies, I can't remember the color number
Needles: size 1 32" Addi
Started: 5/3/08
Finished: 5/30/08
Mods: As mentioned above, toe-up; 4 additional purl stitches; increased cuff by 8 stitches before binding off.

Flower Petal Shawl FO

Last fall, I ordered 6 balls of black Andean Silk from Knit Picks with the purpose of making the Woven Trellis Scarf (Ravelry link) for a friend for Christmas. I'm not sure why, but the project just didn't grab me. The construction is intriguing, but after getting into it, I realized I wasn't enjoying the knitting at all. I ripped and made the friend something else for a gift.

So, what to do with this yarn that was now part of my stash? I did a little pattern searching through Ravelry and came up with a project that I have seen many times on the Elann website, but never thought much of - the Flower Petal Shawl.



I would have to order a few more balls of yarn, but the Andean Silk seemed like a perfect pairing with the pattern. I wanted to make a shawl, but because the yarn is black, I knew a lacy pattern was out of the question; any patterning would be lost in the black. The Flower Petal shawl is perfect: mostly stockinette with enough yarn overs to create the shape of the shawl, but not so many that they became obscured by the yarn.


once i had it pinned out, i had shane come into the living room to see my "bat wings".

I started the thing months ago. I didn't have a deadline on it, so I could take my time. I was reminded halfway through it what I don't like about triangular shawls - they just get bigger and bigger and bigger. I didn't count how many stitches were in the last row, but I'm sure it was in the 300s.

Once the main part of the shawl is finished, 15 points are worked as the edging. I wasn't sure I'd have enough yarn, but I made it with about one foot of yarn left. Oy.



The thing that's really cool about this design is the way that the stitches flow diagonally from one panel to the next.



It gives a depth to the finished piece that it wouldn't have if the stockinette was set in horizontal rows. The above picture is of the shawl pinned out on the floor - it's flat but it doesn't look flat. It looks folded like a fan.


i know i'm pale, but i swear i don't normally glow like that. damn sunshine.

The final blocked size ended up being a bit smaller than in the pattern because I used a size 8 needle, and I'm a tight knitter. I didn't measure it, but I would guess it is between 65" and 70".



Let me tell ya how much I was sweating modeling these pictures. It was about 90 degrees outside and 150% humidity. The wool in the yarn was actually starting to make my arms itch because it was so hot outside. Thanks to Shane for taking the pictures.

Here are the details:
Pattern: Flower Petal Shawl from Elann.com
Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Silk, 9 balls, in Pitch
Needles: 36" size 8 Inox silver
Started: 2/15/08
Finished: 7/11/08
Mods: None. I worked the pattern as written. It's very easy to memorize, so I didn't have to refer to the pattern at all until I started the edging.
Notes: I really liked this pattern. It seemed to take forever because of the endless stockinette, but I really like the way it turned out. Especially after blocking. Blocking is amazing.

Moss Grid Hand Towels FO

With a month's notice, I was invited to a wedding for a woman whom I have worked with for many years. I knew she was getting married, but I didn't know when too far in advance. So, while I would have loved to have made her an afghan, I only had time to make three hand towels. (aside: If I had known it would take me so long to finish the hand towels, I would have made an afghan instead. The wedding was 2 months ago. Oh well, at least I made it within the 1 year window.)

Here we are, the Moss Grid Hand Towels from Mason Dixon Knitting.



I knew M's kitchen was decorated with these colors, so I hope she likes them. She is currently trying to sell her townhouse in town because she and her new husband are trying to buy a house in Lincoln. I hope she decorates her new kitchen the same as the townhouse.



They turned out pretty big, maybe 18" long each. I used CotLin from Knit Picks, 2 whole skeins and a little of a third skein of each color. The yarn is a DK weight. I used size 7 needles, which gave me a nice drapey fabric, but should give room for shrinkage without making the towels too much smaller.



I really love this yarn. It's the first time I have worked with a cotton/linen blend. It's very soft. An added bonus is that working with it didn't hurt my hands at all. I will definitely be using this yarn again. I'm really glad that I have almost a complete skein left of each color so that I can use it for a little something for myself. I'm thinking of some wash cloths for the bathroom.





The pattern is really easy. I would definitely use it again.

Here are the details:
Pattern: Moss Grid Hand Towels from Mason Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Knit Picks CotLin, 3 skeins each of Moroccan Red, Creme Brulee, and Swan
Needles: 24" size 7 Clover bamboo
Started: 4/1/08
Finished: 6/26/08
Mods: I changed the moss stitch border to make it a little wider since I was using DK weight yarn. I can't remember how many stitches I added, but I think it was between 2 and 4. Otherwise, I followed the pattern exactly.