Hemlock Ring Blanket

Mystery knit revealed: A wedding gift for my sister and her husband!



I spent all summer knitting it, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. It does still ripple a little, but from what I can tell, most people's Hemlock Ring Blankets do.

No real adjustments, except I made the flower a couple rows bigger.



Overall, I loved the pattern. It was difficult and challenging and required a lot of concentration in the beginning flower part, but once you get the pattern down, it's fine. Though, I still messed up and had to do some parts over! Luckily, I got it figured out.



The yarn I used was Cascade Ecological Wool, as the pattern was written for. I was hoping to knit it in something softer, but this was really the best option I found when I went into the yarn store. It wasn't my favorite, but it certainly seems durable, and it did soften up some after washing it. But the funniest part was that when I did this pattern, I did the full extension by the Rainey Sisters, and when I was halfway around the bind-off I RAN OUT OF YARN! Keep in mind that Ecological Wool only comes in 450-yd skeins, so I was freaking out a little. But luckily I found a friendly ravelrer who sent me extra yarn she had :) Phew!



So, yay! Finished (and finally blogged)! And, more importantly, happily married!! :) :)

Hiatius from blogging, but never from knitting!

So many things! I'll go over them quickly. I lost my camera case a little while back, so I improvised and knit up a new one with some of my extra Peace Fleece, the same yarn I used for my sweater.

And what would a camera case be without an embroidered sheep on the back?

I also started a pair of Spot Check Socks, but I probably will never finish them. I'm not going to have enough of the green yarn and I'm not extremely in love with the color combination. I think it's a fabulous pattern for variegated yarn - it shows off the spectrum of colors without overwhelming the eye. But of the projects I've seen, my favorites are when the solid yarn is a color within the spectrum of the variegated. Oh well. Maybe I'll frog them someday when I have a solid color that I like more.

And for Kristen's baby shower!! I made up a chart for a cardinal because if the baby is a boy, my cousin Charles refuses to let him wear a blue hat in the hospital lest he unconsciously be swayed to cheer for the wrong team in his impressionable infantile stage. I love how it turned out, but I really need to work on my tension while color knitting.

And I've resumed my argyle hat project from a year ago!! This time not making the hat in the round, and it's much more manageable. I'll go back and do the criss-crossy lines afterwards because it sounds like that's easier.


And now for my current project!! It's a mystery knit! ;) I arrived in Beirut not quite two weeks ago and on the long plane rides over this is what I did while I wasn't sleeping. It's coming along nicely, but I still have a long way to go!

Here's a bit more of a hint at the pattern, some knitters may recognize it from its stardom on Ravelry. It's a fun knit, but does require concentration, at least every 5th row.


Well that's all for the knitting! I have (of course) already found out where a knitting store in Beirut is, but have yet to visit. Sounds cute though. I'm sad though because I apparently missed some competition or contest they had going on with a display of a bunch of people's work. Maybe next time! Maybe they have some knitting at the sou' (the market that they have every few days). I'll keep you updated!

Mrs. Darcy Cardigan

Finished!!!!!
Pattern: Mrs. Darcy Cardigan
Needles: US 9, Addi Turbo -- THE BEST EVER. I'm addicted to these needles.
Yarn: Just barely over 3 skeins Peace Fleece Worsted, color: Shaba Green, from the Red Purl, of course :) The yarn is a little itchy, but if I'm wearing it over a long sleeve shirt, it doesn't bother me usually. I just need to wash it with some lanolin, I think.


Modifications: I made the bottom part under the twisted rib a little bit longer, but it still feels a little short. Next time I make it I will probably do it longer and maybe start with fewer stitches and increase for a more fitted sweater. I also had read that the shoulders tended to be a little small, so I made the sleeve cap a couple rows longer than the pattern called for, but I realized afterward that the problem is that they would fit better if there were one more increase before starting the sleeve cap. But my shoulders end up fitting fine. I also did the decreases on the neckline more spaced out to make it a narrower neckline, and I like how it turned out. I wrote out all the exact stitches for my mods so maybe I will post those on my Ravelry in a few days.


Aren't the buttons cute?

I blocked all the pieces, and then seamed them all together, which was much less painful than I was anticipating. Though I just kind of made up what I was doing at the shoulders. Meh. It works I guess.

The whole thing took me about 8 weeks but it really should have just taken me like 4 or 5. Oh well. I ran out of yarn twice and then had to bum a ride off a gracious friend (Thanks again!) to the yarn store when my car was broken.

But it's done. Yay. Also, Trevor's hat is like SO CLOSE. Next week. Like Tuesday. I promise.

Forever-Scarf is FINSHED!

And isn't it pretty on her? :) It did take me forever, but I do think the finished product looks really nice. Especially after I blocked it. I didn't realize what wonders blocking does for such little trouble! I was dreading blocking, but it was so not bad. I just soaked it for like five minutes, till the yarn was saturated, pulled it out and laid it out on a towel. Then I put another towel on top of it and walked on it so that it'd dry more. Then pinned it out, and let it dry overnight. And then it was good to go in the morning! Amazing! So easy! And it really retained its shape. I will never question the greatness of blocking again.

The details... (also on my Ravelry)
Pattern: Clapotis
Needles: US 6
Yarn: 3 skeins of Blue Sky Alpaca & Silk
Modifications: I did 4 repeats of the increases instead of 6 repeats. Then I did 2 extra repeats of the straight rows.

That's it for the Clapotis! Finished finally. Then I went about a week and a half without knitting anything (It was rough.. my needles were starving!!), but I got more yarn yesterday, to start on the adorable Mrs. Darcy Cardigan. I cast on last night, and worked on it all day today. Made quite a bit of progress!

Exhibit A (morning):

Exhibit B (evening):

Aaaand, I got some yarn for a hat for my sister's fiance.

Well, is that enough pictures for one post? If you can't tell, I'm happy to be knitting again. I also bought some sleek new needles that I'm making this cardigan on. They're so slick and fast. Love 'em. Worth the $15.95 I guess.. eek! But they are great.

The end.

Quickest Project Ever

I made this cowl in less than 24 hours. I even blocked it because it went so fast. That's a big deal. I've never blocked anything before. It helps that school hasn't really picked up yet, but it was just a really quick and fun and pretty knit. I had been wanting to try this pattern for a while now, and it was a nice break from my clapotis for my mom, that is still taking me forever. I'm actually getting close to finishing the clapotis though, but I ran out of yarn (as expected), so I'm getting some more today.

Anyway, back to the cowl. Pretty pattern, especially with this yarn. It is very similar to the pattern for Beth's hat, and the yarn is almost the same, too, just slightly lighter than the purple in her hat. I like it, but it has a bad habit of slouching. I even made it on smaller needles than the pattern called for, but it won't really stand up straight. Can't figure it out. And I couldn't have made it even smaller because then I'm pretty sure I couldn't get it over my head.
Well, enough of the goofy pictures, I was just having fun with the color accent on my camera, but the true color is in the photo below.

Also, the details.
Pattern: Crofter's Cowl (available on Ravelry)
Needles: US Size 7
Yarn: Malabrigo worsted merino, about half a skein.

That's it. More yarn today, hopefully I'll finish this forever-scarf by next weekend.

XOXO.

Appropriately Timed

Just finished my first sweater ever!! And I wore it today and it kept me warm in weather that feels like it is -30 degrees out. YIKES. WHY DID I COME SO FAR NORTH FOR SCHOOL???? I don't understand. At least my knitting gets put to use.























But yeah. It's a sweater. I'm so proud and excited! And I finished it in just under 3 weeks! Not bad, huh?

Again, here is the pattern: The Laura Sweater
Yarn: 2 skeins of "I Love This Yarn" ($2.79 a skein. SCORE!) from Hobby Lobby
Needles: US size 8

I have a few notes on my ravelry about this pattern because I was trying to adjust it to my size/gauge and I didn't do a swatch because I never do swatches because... I'm lazy. It's a little tight in the shoulders and the collar tends to puff out at the bottom but some people have said they liked the look of it? Dunno. Whatever, IT IS A SWEATER AND I MADE IT. And that's cool. I want to do a winter photo shoot wearing it outside when it warms up a tad.

Knitted Gifts Galore!

Here is a long overdue post. I'll try and be concise because I have a lot of things to talk about and I usually ramble..

Finished Objects:
1.) Beth's Dashing Wristwarmers!

Beth picked out the yarn (and paid for it!! What a perfect deal for both of us!). She picked out nice yarn too. The charcoal colored yarn is 100% baby alpaca wool, turned out gorgeous and so warm and fuzzy and sooo soft to knit with. It doesn't have great stitch definition, which the pattern does look good with, but I still like this pattern with the alpaca wool. They didn't photograph very well, but you can see the cables in real life, and the wristwarmers have a great texture and body to them. Knitted on US size 5 needles.

2.) Beth's Meret

This gorgeous yarn is Malabrigo merino wool. It was fun to knit, and it felt perfect on bamboo needles. I trimmed the wristwarmers in this wool too, and the alpaca was used for the rim of this beret. Knitted on US size 7 needles. Maybe a little tight of a gauge, but it worked. I agonized and agonized about blocking this hat (Beth can attest) but in the end, I didn't. I think it would have looked prettier lying flat if I had blocked it, but I like the shape it has when worn without blocking. And it was finals week, so yeah...

Of course, we closed out the evening with a fabulous photo shoot of Beth in her matching warm accessories.
OK. Now fast forward to break-knitting.

3.) I'm working on a Clapotis for my mom. It was supposed to be done by Christmas and a surprise. Now it is neither of those things. Oh well, such is life.
Just look at that gorgeous yarn. 50% silk, 50% alpaca by Blue Sky Alpacas.

I'm not even doing the full version of this wrap and it is still taking me forever. I think I'm also a little annoyed because I'm knitting it at a pretty loose gauge, using size 6 needles for what I would normally use probably size 4 needles. Well, I got a little bored, and so I have moved onto my new project....

4.) MY FIRST SWEATER EVER. OMG.

I'm getting there slowly but surely. I was just able to try it on today, how fun. It is going to be for my sister, but she has warned me that turtlenecks aren't her thing, so maybe I will end up keeping it.
Haha, so obviously I'm not stopping at this awkward length of a sweater, and I will attach sleeves, too. But I was so excited to try it on! It's going to be a real sweater! And the best part about this pattern is that it's knit top-down, meaning NO SEAMS. Wow, awesome. Also funny that I chose this color yarn. I'm kind of sick of it now because it is just about the exact same color as the one for the clapotis for my mom. But nice sweater color, no? Oh another funny thing. This yarn was SO CHEAP. Hobby Lobby. I swear I got enough yarn for the whole sweater under $5. Not bad, huh?

5.) Number five isn't a gift from me, but rather gifts FOR me. Sadly, no pictures yet. But descriptions!! Elizabeth came back from Australia with some yarn for me from New Zealand... An outrageous pairing of animal hair: sheep and POSSUM. what. I know. But she swears it's all the rage in New Zealand. It's really soft anyway. And such pretty colors. Purple and green, my favvvvss :)

And Joe brought me back yarn from the Aran Islands!! So much too! And so pretty. It's like a maroon-ish color, but more pinkish than the stuff I've been working with lately. Fuschia. It is a lot though, so I want to try and make something big maybe (This is fun, knitting big things..). Or a few little things that match.

Ok, that is all. I'm done. PHEW! What a giant post. And this is just the beginning of my pictures. If you are not satisfied you can see the rest on my flickr page.

Also, I want to apologize to Ellen, because my post is too long and too soon after hers. So read hers now please, her mittens are beautiful. :)

Ellen's first pair of mittens

Hey everyone! Its Ellen and I have finally posted on the knitting blog. These are my first pair of mittens!!! Exciting right?! I gave them to my mom for Christmas. I am working on my second pair and they are looking even better! So I hope that everyone is having an amazing beginning of 2009. :)

See you all back at school.