2007/2008

I did quite a bit of knitting in December that I didn't post, so I'll try to squeeze it all in one big post now.



I know this first one isn't knitting, but I made these lavender sachets for several people this Christmas and some for myself as well. I simply sewed some square pillows of cotton fabric I got at WalMart and filled them with lavender I bought at LocalHarvest.com.




Pattern: Irish Hiking Scarf
Yarn: Lion Cashmere Blend
Needles: size 8 bamboo

I made this for my mom in just two weeks. This is my second IHS and again it was a quick knit. I love this yarn for this project.



Pattern: Honeycomb Fingerless Mitts
Yarn: Louet Sport
Needles: size 2 dpns

I made these for my sister. I love the pattern and yarn, but if I made them again I think I would shift the pattern a few more stitches from the thumb; it tends to shift that way when you wear them.



Pattern: Winecozy
Yarn: Sugar n Cream cotton
Needles: size 5 dpns

I made this for my aunt for her birthday which is just a few days before Christmas. Again I knit this in the round, and it was a very quick, fun knit.



Pattern: from EZ's instructions in Knitting Without Tears
Yarn: Paton's Classic Merino
Needles: size 5 dpns and circular

I made this hat for my dad. It looked much better after washing and blocking than it does in this picture. I absolutely had to wash it because this yarn smelled like a barn mixed with a craft store. I will never use Paton's classic merino again, I just didn't care for it and it reeked.

I think the hat turned out well though and didn't stink after being washed. I copied the fair isle pattern from a picture in Knitting Without Tears. Next time I'll go with Lion Brand if I absolutely need craft store wool.

Pattern: Punk Crochet Wrist Wamers

Yarn: Lion Brand Lion Wool

Hook: size H

I made these for my sister as well but I heavily modified the pattern. I made the bobbles as follows:

bobble: work 4 double crochet in one sc leaving the top loops on the hook. yo and draw through all loops on hook (5 loops). ch 1 to close bobble.

I skipped the ch1's on the next row to keep the same number of stitches in each row and didn't increase at all as the pattern does. I believe there were 25 or 26 stitches in each row of the hand on mine. And I do actually like working with Lion Wool. For a basic, affordable wool yarn I think it is very enjoyable to knit with, isn't scratchy and looks nice as well. And it doesn't smell like the zoo and potpourri.

That's it for 2007. In 2008 I have plans for several baby projects, in the next six months my goddaughter and two second cousins will be born. I also want to work on more Norwegian color work mittens, some more lace and I don't know if I'll have time but I have a strong need to make Jeanie from the Winter 2007 Knitty.

Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Winecozy

I've been incredibly busy the last week or so wrapping up the semester and of course trying to get ready for Christmas. I promised myself I wouldn't knit/craft gifts because I always regret the pressure, unfortunately that promise was broke about a week into December. Now I'm trying to stick to a strict production schedule, and as long as no surprises crop up in the next week and a half, I think I may be alright.

In the meantime, I made this little winecozy from Knitty:

Pattern: Winecozy

Yarn: Sugar 'n Cream Cotton

Needles: size 5 dpns

This was an extremely quick knit and I only did a few things differently from the pattern. First and foremost I knit this, quite naturally, in the round. The author of this pattern claims to hate circular knitting??? One of the only things I hate in knitting is seaming, so I didn't waste my time with that on this project. Also, the pattern says to work 8" in stockinette stitch, which was about right for the bottle I was trying it on, but then I continued to knit 6 more rows for the ridge, otherwise it would have been too short. I also knit two, and possibly should have done three, extra rounds after the ridge was formed, otherwise the bottle was sitting on the ridge, making it more tippy that it would have been without it. Finally, although I love to crochet, I didn't bother with any crochet trim.

Aran Island Mittens

Pattern: Aran Island Mittens from Folk Mittens
Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool DK
Needles: US 2 for cuff US 3 for mitten body

I finished these about a week ago and finally got around to sewing in the ends this morning. I love this pattern (once I copied and blew up the painfully tiny chart), but was disappointed with the yarn. It splits extremely easily and the stitch definition was odd, as if the yarn doesn't have any elasticity. For example, no matter what I did the reverse stockinette stitches where two needles met were always stretched causing a noticeable vertical line of exaggerated stitches. I even tried, although not very hard, to even them out by pulling their neighboring stitches a little more taught, but it didn't help at all. It's unfortunate because otherwise it's a warm, soft, comfortable yarn. Except for the full ball I have leftover, I will never use this yarn again.

The mittens themselves are comfortable though, and I was pleasantly surprised that they were the perfect length for me as charted. I didn't make any alterations to this pattern except to use the smaller needles for the cuff, which I wish I would have done for my angora mittens.

Beginning Peacock Shawl

I've completed the first chart of my Peacock Feathers shawl. The pattern so far is easy, and the charts are fantastic. I love the yarn, but I'm not completely sure of the color with this pattern yet. I don't think I'll be able to tell if I'm happy with it until I get into the larger feathers in the pattern.

More Squares

I'm about half way done with my afghan squares, having done four of the color combinations and have four sets of three squares left to complete. I may end up making more than the pattern calls for since I'm under gauge, but I'll just have to lay it all out and decide when I have the number of squares in the pattern done. These are two of the last color combos I recently finished:

I've also been plugging away at the aran cable mittens and only have the thumbs left. I should have finished photos in the very near future.

How will I ever get anything done again?

I finally got my invite to Ravelry. I should have joined earlier, but tried to avoid it altogether since I barely have time to knit let alone blog. I had things to do this weekend, but all I want to do is hang out looking at projects and work on my own just so I have something to update!

Squares

I've been trying to stick to planned projects only, and (tried to) put a freeze on all yarn purchasing, until I inadvertantly found a free pattern for a cute afghan and couldn't resist. It's just a fun, extremely easy crochet project with lots of color.




This is just one color combination of 8. The squares go quickly, and with the large gauge it'll be done in no time if I stick to it and don't give into anymore distractions or tempations.