Lots of stuff

It has been way too long since my last post, and I actually took kind of a break from knitting for a few months. But I'm back at it with a pair of socks -- I'll post a picture when I finish them... or 5 months after I finish them. The yarn is BEAUTIFUL but it's that variegated purple yarn that I was using for those "Spot Check Socks", but I'm worried about how it will look knit up. We will see! The pattern I'm doing is the Berlin Muster one I've done before and loved, but I'm being reminded now how much of a headache it is. You have to follow the chart so closely or else you mess up.

Here are my finished projects from winter:

1) Felted Fair Isle Hat. I was actually intending for this to turn out as a beret but it didn't really look like a beret at all and just looked like a big hat. So I felted it! And it worked pretty well. Kind of tight in one area but not bad! So that was exciting. I made up the pattern based on looking at other fair isle patterns, and when i got to the decreases, completely improvised. It luckily worked. :)


I also made these ADORABLE little felted star things that are supposed to be ornaments but they are just little stars right now. I don't have pictures of them but I will take some and post them because they are really cute.

2) Shifting Sands Fingerless Mitts. Okay. Just for the record, before I knit these guys, I was SO not a believer in fingerless mitts. What was the point? They don't keep your hands warm because your fingers are the parts that get cold. Well I was wrong. I love them! Granted, they're not for outdoors in the harsh winter of South Bend, Indiana. But they are great inside in our cold, carbon-friendly apartment! They're very comfortable, and I'd wear them around the house all the time to keep my hands warm while I'm on the computer or doing stuff around the house.

I used some of my purple Malabrigo yarn that I love so much to make these and they feel so amazing on my hands. They do pill, but I've read that a textured pattern like this helps to keep the pilling down. But I love the color and the pattern really highlights the kettle dyed yarn so well. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. And knitted up so quickly!


3) Glittens! I don't really know what the proper name for these are, but I am also so proud of these! I bought this yarn at the South Bend Farmers' Market (from Alpacas of Algaesia) and it is so soft and great on my hands. I've been wanting to make a pair of these convertible glove/mittens for a long time now, so I am happy to say I've marked this one off the list.

Mittens...


Gloves!


That's all for now!

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.