Catching up on the FO's

I was just uploading pictures ot Ravelry and did a quick count of my projects. For this year I finished 35 complete items!! 35! Go me.


First up is a very basic beanie style hat. This began as the Gobble Gobble Turkey thanksgiving hat from Beadwhore but once I got to the feathers and decided I liked it as is. It fits S perfectly.
This is the Reverse Bloom flower washcloth from Weekend Knitting. I used some of the Lorna's Laces I had eft over from the MIL hat to do it. I started doing Danica but my mom is not a scarf gal. She is a luxury bather though and this seemed perfect for her. I do realize wool for a washcloth is odd but it's about the squishiness and luxury of the item...not whether she can scrub off mud. I didn't bind off, I just broke the yarn and pulled through the 8 stitches. It kind of puckers but I figure once it gets used everything will even itself out.
This is an Earwarmer for my dad. This baby is awesome! Nice and thick. I used Paton's Classic Merino (navy blue) and Brown Sheep Wildfoote in Purple splendor. The band has two strands of that and one of the Paton's. The body has one of each. The blue band has 2 of the paton's. I added extra short rows and extra body rows (4 or 5). I wanted it super long and since I can't seem to get that (MIL's hat is not long enough for my liking) I made sure to add lots. Better safe than sorry. Size medium/child (the one with 88 stitches). Zigzag texture. I know it'll be late but that's my fault for starting late. I hope he likes it. It's in his two favorite colors so he may just by default. :)

And the second viking hat for my sister. I finished this a bit ago but never got around to blogging it. Same as the other but with ear flaps insted of braids.

Hello again

I'm back though I don't have plans of posting a ton right now. I'm mostly posting now because I am bored out of my mind. We are in Houston right now and my knitting isn't co-operating. I've frogged a few items (that were supposed to be for Christmas), didn't bring everything needed for other projects, and added more to my list.

My sister and I were talking the other day and I had an idea. Every year we ended up scrambling at the last minute to finish gifts (we tend to make most of ours) mostly due to a lack of well thought out early planning. Things llike lack of funds can stop any plan in it's tracks. :) So this year we are doing this a different way. We both have written up our lists of people and are going to do some math to split them up by 12 (cause there are 12 months a year) and work on that many gifts a month. Now her list will be a lot less than mine (for instance her husbands side has 6 people including newphews and neices....mine has 11 NOT counting neices and nephews....there are currently 21 grandkids...yeah...theres a lot) so that will be discouraging but that's ok. We can keep each other motivated and hopefully this will make the gifting season a lot less stressful. we're going to add in birthdays and what not as well. Hopefully this will make me a more focused, efficient knitter. I'm needing some structure in that regard lately. I'm tired of just flipping back and forth between projects.

I've also decided to pick, at the most, 4 projects (outside of my holiday stuff) to work on a month. I always have these grandiose ideas of whipping out a million projects a day and then get frustrated and irritated that that plan isn't working. Maybe this way I can tame the continuous "to knit" list floating about in my head and focus more on the item and the technique rather than getting it on and off the needles as soon as I possibly can. It's about quality, not quantity right?

While here in Houston I have gone to a yarn shop. Just one though. I came out with a skein of Lorna's Lace's Shepard worsted in the Vera colorway and some Regia Design Line (2 skeins) in some red colorway. I haven't broken into that yet. I have been using the LL though. I made an earwarmer cap for my MIL who (crazy I tell ya'!) is still walking to work despite it being freezing there (it's currently 34 and that's the warmest it's been in 2 weeks). She mentioned she likes beanie style hats but wants something to cover her ears and neck. After I bought the LL I had plans of making me some socks but the colorway was not sock friendly so onto the hat I went. After a trial and error in the adult/large size I frogged it and went down a size which was fine since it fits better than the adult/large anyhow. It turned out gorgeous I think. I want to keep it but I'm not about to go outside walking and have no need for it. I hope she likes it. I can't wait to give it to her.

This was pre-blocking. I did manage to add a little length but not as much as I wanted. I had added extra rows while knitting but I think my gauge was off cause it was just barely touching the bottom of my earlobes here. I need to remember to tell her the farther back she was the front of hat the more it'll cover her ears. It should fit her well though. She doesn't have as much hair as I do and I want to say her head may be a tad shorter in length. I don't know why I bothered doing the texture band since you can hardly see it but it's the tree one. And this is the first one (I've done three now) where my decreases worked out and didn't leave me slightly pointy up top. Not sure why but I'm very pleased.

The rest of the skein (cause it was massive) is being used to make Danica from knitty for my mom. I am LOVING entrelac. First time doing it and am flying through. I'm almost tempted to the do the entrelac socks in my IK. We shall see.

Taking a break

I know I haven't been the most reliable blogger as of late but I need to take a break for a bit. There's been a recent tragedy in my family and I am just going to hang low. I may blog every now and then but now I'm taking the pressure off mysef to show up and do it. I'm hoping it won't be long. Just enough time to mull things over.

Another almost wordless, poor picture quality post

Size newborn
Elastic waistband
Short rows
I cord bind off

Pleased as punch

Baby Viking Hat- for neice C. 1 of 4
Being modeled by munchkin S.
Earwarmer Cap in size toddler for munchkin S.
FINALLY! THE washrag pattern. Has been tweaked to suit me. :)
Boa scarf for S's dress up box. God awful yarn.

No substantial psot today. Just pictures and maybe a quickie tagline. :)

In case you thought I died..

here is a photoless, rather bland post. :)

Since the last time I was here I finished an Earwarmer hat for big S. Yeah that's it. Nothing else. It was a weekend trip project and it's a few rows short. It fits fine but I have large headed kiddos so I'm thinking I'll frog back past the beginning of the decreases and add in a few more. Oddly enough I had the same nipple effect going on with this one as I did with the husband's earwarmer. Curious.

I did start a rather large project. The largest to date actually. The Bonsai Tunic. And you know what? I have the back finished! It took about a week and the only issueI ahd with it is my yarn overs. And really I only had an issue with those on a particular pair of rows. They aren't that open either. I've never hadd open yarn overs. Someone mentioned over on Mothering that pulling the yarn over from one direction results in a twisted one essentially and pulls it tighter and to try the other direction. It would make sense I was doing them wrong/twisted. I knit that way for close to a year! I haven't started the front yet but am going to tonight. I want it to be done for Thanksgiving so I need to get cracking! I'll try doing the yarn overs the other way to see if it helps. I went to block the back piece the other night when I finsihed it and after I tossed it in my washer I went searching for my pins. They are gone. I had to shake it out and lay it flat. I'm going to re-block it though once I get some pins to see if I can't get my lace to open up a bit. Hopefully the front works out better in that regard.

I have the toe of one sock waiting for me. That's all there is of the sock. The tot yanked the needles one day while I went to the bathroom and I have yet to put them back in. I really should since the weather is getting chilly. I had a fleeting thought the other morning to frog the finished one (it's my previously used and then frogged and reknit Art Yarns) and make some mittens to keep tiny hands warm. Still considering it.

I also need to get cracking on some holiday knitting and some longies. The newborn sizes still fit but 1. I only have two pairs of actual longies and 2. they are starting to get short. They aren't noticeably short right now but to me too short is when they no longer cup your heel. :) Anal? Yes.

Belated stuff

First up is the ballband washrag from MDK. This one is for my kitchen. Plain ol' Peaches and Cream cotton in red and orange. I love it for the colors since it so very fall and happen to be our wedding pictures. I hate it because I think this pattern sucks. It's a fun knit but I really don't get the hoopla over this. I made mine shorter by three bands and it's still too much to fumble with. I like smaller easy to use rags. This one is bulky, especially when I bunch it up trying to get into nooks and crannies. Yeah I know, I could not bunch right? But because of the awkward size I need to bunch it so that using it is somewhat easier. I think I may just be a bit too picky about my rags. I can see this being nice for my floor though. I am tempted to knit up a mop cover and give it a try. Before I do that though maybe I'll just stick this one on first and give it a trial run.






Next is some nursing pads. Done in Cascade SassyStripes (left overs from the tarot bag and the EarWarmer Cap...single strand instead of the double like those two projects were) and one size 2's. When I got them done I no longer needed them. I might gift them to someone but I can't think of anyone who would appreciate them really. One sister in law might but she's not due for a few months so I got time to decide. The one on the left is showing the side that actually goes against your nipple. Lovely looking decreases I think. The right shows the side that goes against your bra. Lovely little increases. And no your eyes do not deceive you. One is bigger than the other. How that happened I'm still not sure.







The husband socks. The ones he's been begging for forever. The ones that I had wanted to have done for our anniversary. The ones that got finished yesterday. In the month AFTER said anniversary. :) The pattern is Gentleman's Plain Winter Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. I changed the heel but only because I had a higher stitch count and didn't want to attempt to figure out the Dutch Heel she uses. I'm lousy at math and seeing as I've never done the Dutch Heel before I didn't want to start with tweaking it. I love the toe on here (wide toe) and am thinking of using it on my next pair. I do need to block the second one a bit but he refused to let me yesterday since he wanted to wear them. The yarn is Trekking XXL but I can't remember the color. I know I have it somewhere but I don't feel like looking. :)




Here's a shot of the side. Due to the higher number of stitches I began with and the different heel I had to decreases a TON! I think there are 30 decreases there. That's 60 rounds of gusset shaping. Yeah he better like those socks.

Pictures say a thousand words

and there are none in this post. :)

The husbands second sock is on it's way. I am about ten rounds into the ribbing (it has 30). I was putting off starting it since the husband did something great (at my very insistent nudging :) ) and bought me the new Knit Picks Harmony wood DPN set!! It's been 5 days since they shipped and so far nothing...I'm getting impatient! I want to use them already but since they aren't here I needed to start the sock. I'll switch out once they get here.

I finished up a pair of wool nursing pads. It didn't take long at all. However, I have no need for them now. :) By the time I finished them leaking was no longer an issue. I got the first one done in a few hours and then lost momentum so by the time the second one got started and finished it was probably a week or so.

I also finished up a ballband rag for my kitchen last night. After it was done and people left my hosue I cleaned up. Did dishes, wipe down counters, and spot cleaned my floor. It's ok. Not sure what the big to do is about these. Yeah they look cool and they are a super fast addictive knit but as for cleaning. Eh. I like my first one far better (my first washrag that is) but it has a hole in it now and I needed a back up. I think I'll make more in that pattern. I did make my ballband shorter than the pattern says so it is an awkward rectangle shape but it just seems too......full/fluffy to be a comfy rag. It's longer than my first rag but the feel is soooo different (same brand cotton and everything) and isn't as easily grasped. I don't know. Maybe I expect too much from a washrag.

I also have another Swirl sock finished. I did this one in Artyarns (the color I frogged awhile back) and love it. I want to start the second one but I need to get the second husband sock finished. I want to finish his by Saturday for our anniversary and I know if I start mine it won't get touched.

I started a large (by large I mean worked on size 15 needles!) mietered square. I'm going to finish it up and then work a nice thick border and slap it under my dish strainer. I also have a pair of Picky Pants OTN. I'm goin to frog whats done on them though. I joined a sock group on Ravelry the other day and was looking through their post archives and found one on various toes, heels, and cuffs. Someone recommended a 3x1 rib for a cuff so I frogged back on my Swirl sock (I had been on there looking for a stretchy bind off since I was at that point on the sock) and used that. It snapped back into place after I took it off! It was great. So I am going to try it out on the waist of this pair of Picky Pants. I also plan on frogging back on my Regia Silk socks and redoing the cuff and bind off on those as well.

Hopefully by Saturday, should everything go as planned, I should have 6 FO's to show. I'll have at least 3 since they are already done....I say by Saturday since the camera will be back home by then.

Up and coming

1. Sock 2 of Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock
2. Socks for both wee ones
3. Socks for K
4. Hooded Kaftan for the walking wee one
5. Seasame from Magknits for moi
6. washcloths for the kitchen
7. pad for under the dish strainer
8. boxes for the toys in the living room

A slew of knitting

First up is the Adorably Ewe longies I got. I-cord bind off on the legs..a nice little roll to make it look finished but nothing obvious. Short rows on the butt and an elastic waistband. I am loving the waistband. I have put off trying this particular one for some reason...not sure why. I have been debating how to do the waist on the winter longies I plan on making the oldest wee one and this is it! Since she's potty trained it will make it easier for her to get them up and down on her own, it has a nice finished look to them, and I don't have to worry about it not fitting/growing with her. I love these longies! Nice and soft. They are big even though they are newborn size (they fit the 2 year old) but I don't care. That just means we can use them longer. :) I would totally buy from her and am glad I have a friend addicted to wool (she won them....her daughter is in mediums hehehe)!

Next is the husband's sock. I finished the first one! It only took me about a week to do but I blame that on having a baby and not on my slow knitting. :) It actually wasn't that bad. I thought for sure I would get really bored with it, especially since it's so long but I didn't. I altered some things (of course!). The stitches count is higher (75 for the cuff and decreased to 73 for the heel), the heel is different (it's the basic one from The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns), the gusset is longer (the pattern has you decrease down to 8 less than your cast on number so I kept with that....it ended up being a LOT of gusset decreases), and then an extra decrease in the toe portion. I had to redo the two twice actually. the first time I did it I had 22 stitches per needle. I just went with the flow and did the toe as written without rearranging stitches after my first decrease round. I quickly ran out of stitches on needle 2 while having too many on needles 1 and 3. So I frogged back, decreased my first round, and then rearranged stitches according to the pattern. MUCH nicer! I had the husband try it on last night and he said it was too short...his toes were curling! I did not want to redo the toe again so I decided to block it (which may be a first time for me :) ). He only needed about another 1/4 inch so undoing the 2 1/4 inches that the toe alone makes up was not an option for me. I wet blocked it...got it wet, stretched it out, and pinned it down last night. I had him try it on again at lunch and what do you know! It worked! So glad I went that route. He claims I am a knitting cheater. I claim that I am a knitting pattern follower since the pattern says to block it. :)

Now this. This is something special. Two ladies that are part of a client of ours sent us a gift box as a congrats on the new baby. This was one of the items. A handknit jacket. The walking wee one loves it! The left cuff is unrolled to show the length. it fits her perfectly! The hood attachment and construction is what gets me. There is a drawstring caseing on it! It's attached via a section of ribbing. I have been looking at a lot of hoodies/hooded jackets for her the last little while since it's starting to get chilly and she'll need something. I have yet to see a pattern design that has either of those qualities. Maybe it's not so unique but man it's neat to see! I wasn't too sure on it when I pulled it out. It's not my colors and the jacket itself is rather bulky/heavy. It also screams of an older generation/style. My opinion does not matter though as it was quickly yanked from my hands by a toddler. So I put it on (her not me) and wow! Does wearing an item change the way it looks! It's looks so cute on! Now I don't have to worry about whipping something out as quickly as I was planning. She has something to wear for now. I don't know how long it will fit her but I have a feeling she will keep wearing it after it no longer does. She's a bit determined in that regard. :)

Still here

I was just busy...you know..off having a baby and all. :)

I do have an FO to show you despite that busy little event!

Stats:

WHW wrap

Size newborn

BFL yarn (unknown colorway and supplier...this was part of my Knitty Board sock swap package)

Icord bind off

The new one is tiny....a little more than 6 pounds so everything I have made it a tad large on her. I expected the same of my Curly Purly soaker. Maybe it's just me and the soaker knowing I was less than pleased with it (at first...I totally loved it after I fixed the cuffs) but it does not fit. The oh so fabulous waistband that made me finally break down and do it (because honestly you can only read about something that is oh so fabulous for so long) is oh so not fabulous. At least for us. I put it on her (over a sposie no less! I was eager to try it out but her cord was not off yet so we were sticking to sposies since her cloth sits high...I digress) and my lord did she scream! I yanked it off as fast as I could and those 2 minutes it was on left indents in her stomach. Maybe she has a mongo buddah belly? Who knows but it did not go over well. And even though the pleats are great the actual cast on edge does not stretch to the same degree the rest of it does (and I knew that would be the case) and is kind of a barrier in that regard. Why do you care? Well that meant I was one cover short. I needed something pretty quick so I whipped up the wrap in a matter of a couple days. I'm glad I only made the one CP soaker. I am hoping it was just a defective cast on edge. Either way, I won't be making more and have plans to frog the one and reuse the yarn for another wrap. The day I finished it I also got a very sweet pair of Adorable Ewe newborn longies in the mail as a surprise. They are huge on her! My potty trained 2 year old can wear them. Granted they look like biking shorts on her but they fit none the less. :)

Shockingly enough I have had the same amount of knitting time as I did before having another baby. This whole sleep all day thing newborns do tends to allow for that. :) That there is a sock. For the husband. Yes I know...even more shocking than the fact that I am still knitting. I'm using the Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks with a few modifications. The husband has some nice shaply legs so I added 5 stitches to my cast on. I also did less ribbing and less of the stockinette portion. The pattern ends up having a 9 inch leg! I think this one is only about 7 inches. I had him try it on last night when I got ready to do the heel (I didn't want to get the heel done and find out it didn't fit...that was harder to bear than say knitting 7 inches and then not having it fit...call me crazy) and it fits great! I decreased down to 73 stitches for the heel and am doing the basic heel from The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns. I tried to tweak the patterns heel (Dutch heel) to fit with the number of stitches I had but it wasn't working. I was getting tired of fiddling with it and no one had answered a post I made on MDC. I am just about done with the heel flap and then I'll turn it. Then comes the boring part.....many inches of stockinette for a long big man foot. Oh the joy. I am surprised at how quickly they are going (well this one at least). I plan on having them done for our anniversary and if I can manage to get by the dreaded SSS they should be done long before. He's excited. He could barely contain his glee last night as he tried it on. I wish I could have kept them a surprise but there was no way I was going to do a whole pair of socks for this size foot and not know if it was going to fit. All future pairs can be a surprise.

Another FO- My first hat!

I finished up this LTK Earwarmer Cap for the husband last night. I'm quite pleased with it. I've had the pattern for awhile now but never got past the cast on. There was something about it that made me think it was far more difficult than it was. Maybe it was the short rows. Who knows? I did have to redo the top of it and I'm still not sure about it. I did it according to the pattern to the T. No questioning it at all. Even when I thought I was running out of yarn. When the husband tried it on this morning he had an odd little gnome style point going on. I frogged back and attempted to fix it. My decreases aren't lined up as a result (I think I only had to do three sets so nothing major) but I think it turned out pretty well. I tried it on myself and the point seems to have gone away. Though the wee one had it on earlier and I could see a slight one still. I even tried it on a ball (as another picture...not because I was worried or anything lol) and there is a slight bump. I'm hopin based off the wayhe wears hats it won't be there but if it is tough. I'm not redoing it again. I'll just sew in some darts or something to kind of anchor it down.

Stats:
LTK Earwarmer Cap
Size XL
Cascade Sassy Stripes yarn: doubled
Diamond texture (though you can't really tell in the picture)

The munchkin has claimed it as her own so I am thinking I need to whip her up one. It only took me about a day. Not being able to sleep until 3 in the morning helps fuel your knitting. :)

Nautie, nautie

Seems I've been a naughty blogger. :)


A reader of this dear blog alerted me after I had posted last that I was a tease. A picture tease. I talked of my love of a simple change yet I provided no proof of it. I did send her comparison pics but thought to myself when I realized I hadn't blogged about a recent FO that I should post them here as well. No reason to hold out on some goodness after all.

Here is the before. I've posted it's details before so no need for that. The cuffs here were done as recommended...a 1x1 rib (for about one inch) in the needles used for the first portion of ribbing (so size 5's here). Since my knit bind off can be tight I used my failsafe icord bind off. I liked it but didn't love it.

And this be the after. I realized one day as I was lanolizing that I had woven in the ends so the night I decided to do that I fixed the cuffs as well. Now they are my standard garter ridge and icord bind off. See how much crisper it looks? It doesn't seem to be drowning in leg cuff. Funny thing is it's the exact same amount of yarn in both pictures. I had done about 10-12 rounds of ribbing and got my basic 4 garter ridges with it. I was surprised. Even the husband thought it looked far better. Best to stick to what you like I guess.










Now for the nautiness. Remember the sock from before? The lovely spiral one in the clown yarn? The yarn is a tad whorish. It's been around my needles a few times. A couple of those times it has even moved into the idea of being an FO only to move out pretty quick. Not a monogamous yarn by any means. It seems to have found a suitable mate though and has only left behind a little bit of itself. Nothing major at all.









Introducing Nautie. From Knitty.

Stats/Mods:
Body yarn: Lion Brand Magic Stripes (Jelly Bean color for those interested): doubled
Head yarn: Tatamy Tweed in Oatmeal
Needles: Size 3 (the pattern calls for larger but I had none at the time)
Tentacles: 6 as opposed to 8. The first three (the ones done in the face yarn) are still attached. The pattern asks you to decrease down to 6 and then bind off those remaining ones. I just kept them live, added one stitch to get my working 3 for the icord and went about my business. Both have them in both yarns.
Face: Also attached. The pattern calls for seaming which I didn't want to do. I placed a purl row on the body to help with placement (the face is placed 4 rounds in) and then continued on with the body until it was time to bind off (I did an icord of course...mostly to give the edge of the shell a sort of rolled edge look without having a rolling edge). Because of my bind off my face was looking small so I added an extra 6 rounds since the original 6 were hidden by the fact that I didn't have a curling edge.
Eyes: Done in the body yarn.

Super easy and loads of fun to knit. The wee one much prefers the straight one though, I prefer the coiled.

Nothing really

It's funny how changing up one or two details in a pattern can completely change the final look of it.

When I had done my curly purly soaker I had done as the pattern suggested and did about an inch of 1x1 ribbing for the cuffs. While I liked it overall it wasn't one of my knits that I was excited to show off. There was something missing that just wasn't me. I had no idea what it was. After I finished up the last two (the larges) I realized it was my cuff choice and I decided to change them out. Up until last night though I never did it. Not because it was difficult but mostly because I'm lazy. :) I am so caught up on everything cleanign and knitting wise that I have nothing to do. The only reason I want to do something is because I feel like I should. I'm so not used to having something that needs to be done that I can't fathom just going with the flow and picking something up when it strikes me. So last night as I lamented this to a friend I decided to fix the cuffs. I frogged the ribbing and did my standard garter ridge and icord cuff. Oh how I love this little soaker! Even the husband commented on how much better it looked. It's crisper looking (for lack of a better term) and appears finished. Not sure why but the original version looked like it was missing something. I think there was just too much brown (I did more on the waist than I wanted remember). In the end its the exact same amount of yarn since I jsut used what was there but 4 garter ridges look less imposing than 10 rows of ribbing you know? I love it now and am actually tempted to make another. We'll see.

I finished up a sock the other day but it's not going to stay in sock form for very long. I was using the fantastically lovely Swirl Sock and just used up a skein of Lion Brand Magic Stripes (only half a skein a sock though) in my stash. I have no problem with this yarn. It was my first official skein of sock yarn even. It just doesn't make for a good sock. The yarn is dry and scratchy and doesn't seem to want to soften up. It makes perfect toys though so it's goign to get frogged and made into something else...I'm thinking the Nautie toy from Knitty. I know it's not worsted like the pattern calls for but I rarely follow directions so who cares? :) Not only is the yarn icky to the feel but it reminds me of a clown. I don't want to think "clown" when I look down at my feet.

So there it is. I do like...I just wish it didn't suck as footwear. I used a thinner yarn, smaller needles, and only did the swirl on the front of the sock (the pattern carries it around the leg). I also did a ribbed cuff with crochet bind off (as opposed to the picot one in the pattern). I love the pattern though and am making a real pair. I found some needles I thought I lost and now I can do it in the right size needle and weight of yarn! The husband has been complaining about his lack of hand knit socks so I suppose he should get a pair. I do have four skeins of sock yarn here that were bought with him in mind. I suppose I should use them. Too bad he won't wear tube socks!

It started as late night boredom..

well kind of. Our current tub is an old claw foot one. We live in an old/former opera house and our apartment was actually one of the original dressing rooms. Over the years the shower has been rigged with some cleverness to also be a shower. Being older we don't have a lip/curb/whatever that goes around our tub where it would be attached to the wall. Our tub just sits there in the bathroom with one lip against the wall. Nothing fancy. As a result we have no where to put things like soap or shampoo etc. Soap has been an issue forever. We normally just stick it in a little tupperware bowl and either balance it carefully on the lip against the wall or carefully on the faucet. It has a tendency to fall. A lot. The husband prefers to shower so not only does it fall but it gets set on the bottom of the tub and gets to take it's own personal bath. Which is good because every time it falls it gets dirty. It's a rough life.



So last night as I was soaking in the tub I was staring at this soap getting more and more irritated. The husband asked for some solution since he too was tired of the life it lives. Why did it not dawn on me before (before you say buy a hanging shower caddy don't think it hasn't been an option...however when we are shopping it's generally the last thing on our minds until we get home...we're slackers) to knit a soap sack? I have talked about it before when I was making my sisters but our tub situation was different then. It wouldn't have been such a highly praised item at the item. It would have been just an item. Here though it's a godsend. For us and the soap. :)

NOTE: This pattern is now a PDF (through Ravelry) available for purchase.
Super simple but with a little oomph in there. Ours is now hanging from the part of the faucet you pull up to switch to shower mode (hence the wet spot on the actual bag in the picture). I started the bottom orange last night and got to my color change and then went to bed. I finished it up in about an hour this morning. The mancub is looking forward to using it tonight. :)

I love small FO's

And copy and paste. Both of which will be present here today. :) I'm sure there are a few of you who will read all about these in a few places. What can I say? I'm a lazy blogger/poster....I like copy and paste. :)

Just another pair of Picky Pants Longies. ONLY this time! the body yarn is Mosaic Moon Organic Wool in the Sunny Days colorway. I have had that yarn forever and have been dying to use it. I had started a pair in the same yarns for DD (size small) but for some reason never got around to getting past the waistband. Not sure what happened.

Stats:

Knit Picks Wool of the Andes for the waist and cuffs

Mosaic Moon Organic Wool (OMG the softness of that yarn....even DH fondles them )

Longer ribbing in the waist

Longer lengths (before the gusset section I bumped the length to 4 inches as opposed to 3 3/4 and the legs are about 4 inches as well I think)

Size newborn

Backside increases only

Garter ridge and icord bind off on cuffs

Crochet drawstring (with a strand of both yarns)

For those who don't like pooling: the only spot where it did anything funny was at the leg split. Once leg (the left) has a section of yellows and orange-yellows and the other leg has the reds and pinks. Not sure how that happened or why since it was still in the body section and not the actual split of the legs. I never had to tweak anything to get it to stay consistent. This yarn rocks!!! It is sooooo soft and the colors are fantastic and don't pool (at least on a newborn size ) and are sooooo soft.

Fruity looking

I finally have pictures of a recent soaker. This was the second in a set for a trade (the first was the Elijah CP soaker).

Stats:

Needles 5, 6, and 8

Size Large

2 short row sets

Unknown hand dyed fishermans wool (leftovers; I can't remember if they were dyed with Koolaid or Wilton's Cake Dye)

Garter ridge and icrod bind off on cuffs

The original deal was with the WHW wrap pattern and using those colors and doing stripes. When we reworked things out I asked if she still wanted stripes and she said sure, she also liked surprises. I decided to still go ahead with the stripes and had to figure out how to do it. I had the least amount in the orange and the green so placement was tough. I didn't want to run out and have something silly looking. As it is now it reminds me of a bowl of fruit. It's really not crooked/offcenter either. I think it has something to do with how I had it angeled in the window to optimize the light to show the colors. I got surprisingly accurate color in them. I hope she likes it!

Could it be?

That I have a pair of matching socks and in less than a week? Why yes, yes it could be. :)

Things were hectic there for a couple days while we got settled in (we went on a trip) and nothing was in the right place. The charger for the computer was somewhere, not that it mattered. The plug is a three prong and the outlets here are two pronged compatible. It took some major cleaning to find a 3 prong one (it was hidden behind some HUGE boxes) and in that time the battery went dead. Last night I did find the camera and the cords that accompany it. During all the hustle and bustle I got to work on the second sock in my Regia Silk pair. Total knitting time was about 4 days. I started it the night before we left town and it sat in my bag untouched until the day after we got to our destination.

Disregard the slightly odd pictures. I was sitting on a yoga ball and the balance was off. We also have two windows in that room that are 5 feet wide EACH. We get a lot of natural light and it's hard to make it cooperate at times. :) The stitches are not really as stretched as they appear in the second picture. In fact looking at my foot they aren't stretched at all.

I'm surprised they striped as similarly as they did. By the time I got to the heel on the second sock the likeness stopped though. I don't mind....pooling and non matching striped items don't bother me. :) The second sock is a round or two shorter than the other one. It was hard to tell until I got it all done though. It's not enough to make a huge difference in fit and it may very well not be noticeable at all once they get worn and washed a few times. That may be the problem and not a lack of rows actually. The first sock was worn often in fits of admiration so it was looser to begin with when I finished up and was comparing. They seem to be fitting the same right now.

I am about halfway through the second trade curly purly soaker right now. I got started on it later than I planned and yesterday dealt with a sick toddler so progress was slow. I am so liking it! The mama likes stripes and surprises. Our original agreement was for a WHW wrap done in stripes but that changed. I still wanted to do them though so figured out a set up for the CP soaker. I'm on my third color right now (of 4 or 5....still decideding on the last color and whether or not I want to use it). I guess I'm a little less than half way through. After this color I will be.

I am about to start on another pair of socks (for my sister) and am looking forward to it. I am thinking I'll do them cuff down. I go back and forth on it though. I really like the toe for my toe ups and am not a fan of the shape of toes for cuff down. They are too pointy and goofy looking I think. Once on you can't tell but I'm shallow. I admit it. I am all about the looks. :)

One down, one to go!

The mom did want cuffs after all. Same yarn as the waist (Cascade 220) done on size 5's. Picked up 55 stitches per cuff and did a basic garter ridge with icord bind off. I am so thrilled with how they turned out that I am going to take the ones out on my newborn soaker and redo them in this pattern. Not sure why I never considered it before. I am so in love with this soaker. I think I will cast on for the second one tonight after bedtime for the wee ones. Maybe. I have a lot of cleaning to do.

Knitting Mojo

There is something to say about motivation. I cast off my lovely sock yesterday and set it aside and told myself, "DO NOT start that other sock until you finish the half done soaker sitting on the floor next to your foot." It wasn't quite half done. I was doing a large Curly Purly soaker and was about 5 inches into it. I needed to get to 6.5 before starting leg decreases so I was a little less than half but close enough. I wasn't sure I was going to have enough yarn. I have never done a large in anything so I wasn't sure I had enough yarn. I even had it weighed!! I was very nervous...I thought about doing a stripe of the solid I used for the waist to stretch the yarn a bit but decided to just plug along and get it done. I finished the soaker less than 12 hours after finishing my sock! The mom is worried about havinga soaker that will cooperate with chunky thighs so I sent her the pics of it so far and am just waiting on her to see if she still wants cuffs. I know the free Tiny Birds soaker pattern mentions taht adding a cuff makes leg openings larger and the legs on the CP are already 12 inches so I told her that and am just waiting on her reply. I like it without cuffs (which is saying a lot for me) but have no problem adding them.

There is the front. I'm very pleased with how it all turned out.

And the back.

Stats:

Size 5, 6, and 8 needles

Waist is Cascade 220

Body is LTK Farm Yarn in the Elijah colorway

Size large

2 sets of short rows

p2tog instead of ssp for leg decreases

I have been dying to use this yarn forever but not because it's a "me" yarn. About a year or so ago I was going to do a trade with a mom who bought the yarn and had it shipped to me. We both thought one skein would be enough for what she wanted but when it got to me we noticed it wasn't going to be. Instead of wanting it back she told me to keep it and use it for whatever I wanted! I have tried to use it for us a couple times but it never felt right so in my closet it has sat. I showed it to the intended mama and she loved it. I hope she likes how it looks knitted. I am pretty pleased with it all.

How's that for a size comparison!? That's my newborn CP soaker sitting on top. I knew the large was bigger but all by itself it doesn't seem that much bigger.

Amazing what motivation does

It really is. I started a sock the other day (not with the yarn throw up pictured before) with some FANTASTIC birthday yarn. Regia Silk sock yarn to be exact. Very nice yarn. The colors are oh so purtty and the yarn is oh so soft and it is just nice. I was surprised to see it stripe since for some reason I didn't think it was going to. Don't ask me why I thought, it was very obvious it would due to the long strips of color in the yarn. It also is darker in the ball than in the skein and darker knit than in the ball. I am so happy with it, it's silly actually. It just makes me smile to see it and feel it. I used Wendy's toe up pattern for a sportweight sock (yes Regia is fingering weight but it all worked out very well) with a gusset. I love me a good gusset and heel flap and that pattern satisified that. I do want to get a textured heel flap and I know Wendy has one for that. It happens to be her fingering weight toe up sock. I decided against it though because it used short rows in the heel and I'm just not a short row fan.

There is no mate to it yet but only because I need to finish up other things real fast. I have a soaker about half way finished I need to finish (it's part of a trade) and then I need to start one more (same trade). I think though that being so eager to have a mated pair I'll finish them off pretty fast. I managed to whip out this sock in 2-2.5 days. I was going to do a pattern on the top of the sock but opted for a plain ol' stockinette one when I saw how nice it was looking that way. Very happy I went that route. I think a pattern would have taken away from the overall look of the yarn. And it fits perfectly!

The colors are pretty accurate here despite having a hard time with the pictures. They are a tad darker in real life but nothing major. Oh and I used my standard magic cast on as opposed to the one in the pattern.

The tumultuous life of yarn

That lonely ball of yellowish ArtYarns is sitting there lonely because behind it is the mate. Being worked into a sock. That ball (the one behind it) became: this sock. A very basic top down sock done on size 3's while watching the Notebook. Here lies the trouble...when I learned to knit I taught myself using the videos on Knittinghelp.com. Excellent way to go about it in my opinion. If you can manage to pay attention that is. :) Turns out I had been knitting my stitches twisted for the first 11 months. It wasn't until a friend pointed it out that I even realized it. The problem? That sock was knit entirely twisted. It fits but it's a tad snug and odd on the comfort level. That was done on 64 stitches on size 3's. I just made a pair of socks on the same needles with the same kind of yarn and my cuff on those was 52. HUGE difference in fit and everything. Since learning about my "improper" knitting (I hesitate to use that term since it's not really improper...just not condusive to sock knitting) I have thought about this sock. It's mate was never knit. So last night you know what I did?

I unraveled it. I frogged the whole thing. That is some kinky yarn! Granted it has been sitting in twisted stitches for about 7 months. It has been wound up and stuck back in the closet next to the other ball. I do have plans to reknit it (correctly of course!) but man.....frogging an entire knit garment (no matter how small) can certainly take the wind out of your knitting motivation sails. :)

Have no fear! Your package is near!

Dear swap pal (you know who you are):

I am a bad swapper. This we know now. However, tomorrow morning/afternoon I will be able to send you a tracking number for a box. A box filled with what I hope are lovely enough things that you will forget how long it has taken me. I hope the extra little goodies make the tiny ones they are intended for just as happy! And now for a sneak peek:

Do not fret! They are not as neon as they appear to be. I'll share details but I'll wait until you get them so as not to spoil all the fun for you. :) I will share this though: the heel is one from a pattern you plan on trying out! Great minds think alike no?

He's not as crooked as he appears to be either! Again, I'll share details once you get everything. Yes I am sharing pictures but only to provide a little somethin' somethin' for your curiosity.

And with that, I pack up your box and place it in front of my front door to trip over (and thus not forget). I'm looking forward to tomorrow!

Sincerely,

A craptastic swap pal

Tiny shorts

Just my basic set up. :) The yarn is Cascade 220 and fisherman's yarn. That yarn was donated to me and is the leftovers of the skein. The funny thing is that was my sister's yarn. She kool-aid dyed it one night (I was visiting and helped!) and then she ended up selling it. I have no idea how many people it went through but it ended up at my house. There is some blue streaks in there but they are pretty light. The yarn does dye your hands when you're knitting with it.

These are so soft and flexible! The yarn has more spring to it, for lack of a better term, than my other pairs. In comparison to these the others are stiff. There are soe wonky spots on the cuffs but more because I am a space cadet and don't know how to pay attention. :)

A couple more things knocked off!

Not off the list but at least they are off the needles. :)

First up is a play crown. The other day I was reading through my many blogs and saw mention of Knitting Daily so I went and checked it out and saw patterns I had forgotten about. One of which was this crown. I knew the wee lass would love it and I was right. :)

MODS/STATS:

size 8 needles (the pattern calls for 3's and 4's! )

recycled wool hand-dyed by me with Koolaid

i-cord bind off

When it came time to connect the points (I did the 1 large and 2 small as recommended for the girl version) and cast on the remaining stitches for the band I used this calculator to get an evenly spaced increase set up. The pattern says to do a knitted cast on for the first side and then the backward loop cast on for the second. I didn't like either of them especially since my yarn is soooo thick. So I joined the round and then increased. I also did fewer band rounds than the pattern said to. I probably should have done a couple more since it seems a tad short and the points don't stick up when she has it on. It's slightly snug but only because I chose the smallest band. it fits great though and she can get it on and off easily. I also did a small section of the band in stockinette. I like the look a lot. I do think I should have done it using the numbers for the girls band so that she could use it more. It went sooo fast though (a couple hours) that if the tot wants another it wouldn't be a big deal to do it again.

Up next is my version of Knitty. It was originally just some bedtime knitting. The husband has been gone for 10 days and as a result neither me or the gal have really slept very well. So once bedtime hit we'd turn on a movie in the bedroom and while she watched it and mellowed out for the evening I'd knit. Yesterday I decided she NEEDED to wear it today to the playgroup. So I started hauling ass and finished it up this morning at 2:36 (I know the exact time since I was telling myself knit solidly for x amount of minutes before checking my progess on my bind off) and when I was done weaving in ends it was 2:45. This morning I reinforced the ties and snipped ends and it was done! Definitely worth the lack of sleep finishing it up. :)

Stats:

Tatamy Tweed in Oatmeal and Lime (cotton/acrylic blend)

Size 2 (the smallest listed)

Mods:

Size 5 needles (called for 6)

Worked in the round

Ruffle is per the directions in my Picky Pants patternRuffle is attached via picked up stitches. I changed to my second color, did a purl round, knit one round, and then continued per the pattern (my decreases are different to take into account the 4 stitches minused when converted). Once everything was bound off I piccked up stitches using my purl row as my marker. I screwed up and was knitting the wrong direction so ended up with another row of purl. I turned around and knit 3 rounds before beginning the ruffle.Bind off is I-Cord bind off (it took me 2.5 hours!)Straps are crochet ties to allow for soem growth and to keep the fit. The chest on this sat really low when I used the straps recommended in the pattern. I think the girlie is just short torsoed so even though everything is the right length it's still long on her. Plus it helps keep her clothes on if she can't untie it. :)

I do have a more frontal shot but the bottom started curling. Here you can see more of the details though they aren't as up close as the ones on my camera. Vista is no longer compatible with my camera and until I can retrieve the pictures on there this is what you get. :) Once I get them off though I will post since I did get one of the top portion. I am very much in love with this and very very proud of it. My sister has asked for one for her wee little gal. :)

TWO fo's

Yeah, I know. A miracle in and of itself. :)

The first is a soap sack I made to match the balband washrag for my sister. Someone on MDC posted a free link to one and I actally have made two. The first one I followed the directions and after seaming decided it sucked. The pattern has dropped stitches which is fine and dandy but seeing as they are an entire row seaming looks sloppy. The pattern says to seam starting a stitch in from the edge but due to the nature of dropped stitches it just pulls funky. Disappointed in it I quickly cast on for the second. They don't take long at all and were great for using up the little bit of yarn leftover from the skein. The second one I tweaked a tad. Ok maybe more than a tad. I used all the numbers for the pattern and did it in the round. Each side (when done flat) was 15 stitches so I cast on my 30 and off I went. I did use some solid red to add some contrast. The first one I didn't use any red and it looked....off. This is where I started tweaing. The pattern said to knit 4 rows stockinette, the set up row for the dropped stitches, a purl (or knit since it was in the round) row, and then do it all over again. The flat version I ended up with 6 sections of the dropped stitches. While it didn't look bad I wanted something more solid looking. So in my tweaked version I did 8 rows of stockinette between the first and second set of dropped stitches and only 6 after the second set. I do think I should have gone for one more since only two sets look off but all in all it's cute. My sister likes it. I frogged the first one and am redoing it. Once it's all done and ends are woven in I just need to add drawstrings and off they go! I am hoping I will have a tiny bit of the original yarn to make the drawstrings with since I will be using the solid red on this one as well. I doubt it but it would be nice.

It's funny how changing your stitch count and stitch pattern results in a different look for the yarn. This is not nearly as patriotic as the washrag which makes me happy. Not that it matters. :)

The second FO is my first every Curly Purly soaker. Not sure I like the pattern. It's written as if parts of a conversation are missing...you know how you feel lost coming into a conversation and while you can pick up whats going on all those details from the beginning would make it less vauge? That's what this was like for me. Add in that I have never done a soaker and I had a hard time. I frogged the back three times before getting it right and the front ended up being WAY too long despite following directions. Luckily between the brain power of a friend and myself we were able to figure it out and get things squared away. It still looks crazy insanely small to me but when i compared it to my Picky Pants that are newborn sized as well it all matches up. I asked a gal I know to bring hers to the next playgroup though so I can compare. The friend who helped me last night (I started this days ago but she was unable to come over and help me out until tonight so it sat until late yesterday evening) couldn't remember what hers looked like at various points during the knitting of one she did so it was a big guessing game. I think we got it though.

This picture does not do it justice. Looks very uneven for some reason. I used 5's, 6's, and 8's. The solid is dark brown Cascade 220 and the body is Classic Elite Yarns Beatrice in color 3253. I love this yarn. The wee one has a pilot cap in the same combo. Nice and thick even if it is spun poorly/loosely. Newborn size with 1x1 ribbing on size 5's for the cuffs with an I-cord bind off/finish. I think I'll make more but am unsure at this point. I like the soaker and can't wait to see what it looks like a real person but I'm a bit put off at the trouble I had making it. The pattern itself is not hard, I think it had more to do with my lack of soaker making. Pants and shorts are easier on my brain for some reason. :)

And because I needed to see how it fit here it is being modeled. :) The doll has a pull tail that activates a music unit in his gut. It has some junk in its trunk and it seems to fit fine which is a relief. But dolls are built different than humans so we shall see. :)

I do wish I had started the bodyyarn sooner though. I wasn't sure how much the pattern would use and since the yarn is thick but the ball is small I was unsure of how much I actually had. I like the solids of my wasitbands longer to begin with it but it's a slight dissapointment that I don't have more of the lovely body yarn to show off.

Nothing major

Just a list.

* finish purple socks
* frog back and restart blue socks
* make 2 more longies/shorties and begin the 4 soakers/wraps
* begin kimono tops
* finish second ballband washrag

There are so many more things I want to work on right now and will likely start since I'm a bad knitter. However, this is my main list for now. I really need to get a move on. I've been feeling so motivated and actually felt like I was making progress. Yet when I do a quick inventory of it all I'm not that much further ahead. I am really wanting to get started on some things for the wee one, like the kaftan in my Debbie Bliss book. I have a hard time with knitting time management. :)

Another knitting deadline avoidance FO

In true fashion I cast on for something in order to avoid the knitting glaring at me. I have been wanting to do a washrag but misplaced a pattern I was wanting to try. So the other night I grabbed some cotton my sister gave me with the intent of actually making her washrag(s) she asked for. Oh almost a year ago. Yup. True slacker. I decided to get over my initial lack of desire to try the ball band washrag and make it. I have this habit of avoiding (sometimes very aggressivly) anything that is picked up by general masses as great. Whether that be a clothing style, movie, music, food. I'd rather come to the love of the item myself without being part of the herd. Silly, yes I know.

Stats:

size 8 needles (instead of the size 7's listed)

Peaches and Cream (?) cotton yarn- my sister grabbed a bunch of skeins of this from her tiny little "dollar store" wanna be in her tiny town. I no longer have the band for the yarn so I can't be for sure.

Mods: I only completed 11 of the 13 strips. I am not a fan of long/larger washrags and I know my sister is the same way. This is the perfect size.

I only used one yarn. Not a big fan of the multicolored ones (though they are lovely and they do inspire me to knit washrags), plus the yarn is multicolored and I was worried about the visual assault.

I have a tiny bit left over and despite what I said above the picture will use two colors. I split the remaining yarn into two smalls balls and will use them for the ends. I'll use a solid red in the center. In the skein the yarn looked less patriotic and more nautical. Once knit though that changed. She says she doesn't care since she is jsut a fan of knit washrags period. My grandma used to make her them all year round. Since getting older though she isn't able to and my sister is feeling a lack of washrag love. Hopefully these do it for her.

Another FO! Oh my!

Are you totally amazed? :)

These actually have been waiting to be finished for days now. Just wasn't feeling the love and therefore didn't want to finish them.

Stats:

Waist is 1x1 ribbing

Black yarn is Cascade 220

Backside increases only

Body yarn....ummmm...it's supposed to be Punk Rock Girl but it's very unlike the other versions of the colorway I've seen. It was donated and only a bit of it was used since the giftee needed something she could switch around with one girland two boys. Not sure what kind of yarn.

Cuffs are garter stitch with I-Cord bind off.

The stitch counts are newborn but the lengths of things are closer to smalls.