The last of the Christmas knitting

I know I said sewing pics but this is a knitting blog and I do have knitting pictures so it only makes sense that they would be posted first. :)

Here is my mom's mug cozy. Exact same as the other two but in a random brown acrylic. No idea if she likes it yet as I haven't been able to get out to her house to give it her. Hard to see detail I know but brown and black and red yarn are not very camera friendly.

This is the Top Down Timothy Hat. I found the pattern on Ravelry. This is the top. And why, yes, yes that IS my handspun. :) I'm rather fond of it. I used size 6's and did everything as written except for the cast on.At first I thought it was too snug. Heck, it fit me rather nicely and I don't have nearly as big a head as he does. :) I blocked it out and while it ended up being a bit over blocked (in my opinion since the ribbing flattened a bit...but not too much as it goes back to shape with some stretching) it ended up fitting him well. It was a bit snug at first but as he's worn it, the fabric has relaxed a bit. He took it snowboarding this morning and said it was great. Warm, long enough to cover his forhead and ears, and not too snug on the band at all.This is the "right side". Out of bordeom I threw in a couple cables though they are tiny (1 stitch ones) and short. Hard to see amongst all the color anyhow.This is the "wrong side". I much prefer this one. I like the majority knit stitch look going on. Only drawback is you loose the cool top one this side. I do have a bit leftover in this and the entire small skein of the solid brown. I might make something out of it but I don't know what. I'm interested in what my yardage was. I really need a yardage counter!

I'm feeling rather productive lately. Not sure if I really am or not but the feeling is definitely there. First up. the first skein from my Freyalyn's Fibers sock bats! It's another 14 ply/fingering weight yarn. It's currently BACK on the wheel though as my plying sucked horribly and it was a mess. Well not really but the parts that were spun tight enough to actually stick needed to be washed while the parts that weren't overspun didn't. Meaning when it did get washed some stayed and the rest sort of fell apart. I wasn't too pleased with it. I'm naming it "Cherry Glen" after the iris with the same name. Hard to tell in this picture but the colors remind me of it. I started this on my drop spindle and then transferred it to my wheel. Not sure I should have done that. I got to impatient to be done so I spun faster on my wheel than I was on my spindle. As a result the wheel spun portion is less even, the second ply (which was totally wheel spun) wasn't as long as the first, I have more slubs and more overall fuziness. Quite irritating. Let this be a lesson to take your time. Just because you can whip through something doesn't mean you should. :)

These are cabled mug cozies from here. Super fast and easy. The second one is a bit smaller (these were for my dad and his lady friend ;) ). I started the second one Friday night and brought it with me on Saturday when we drove down to see them. I finished it in the car but had forgotten to grab an extra skein (I didn't use a whole skein...just grabbed one that was floating free in the closet) and was cutting it close. I happened to have some size 6 needles in my bag and bound off with that (instead of a size g hook like on the first). Both cozies have about 6-10 rows less of the final 4x1 ribbing near the top and neither have i-cord ties, instead they have a 20 stitch crochet tie. The second one has 3ish rows less of the garter stitch topping and a regular knit bind off (the first has a crochet one). I much prefer the first one but they both turned out nicely and fit the mugs they were intended for. I have one more about to be started for my mom (in a brown). They are super fast and an enjoyable knit. My dad got his on Saturday and since Im lame and forgot the bag for them he got to "open" them then. He really liked them. They are nice and squishy too so it'll be nice on the hands.

Stats:

Lion Brand Wool Ease

Size 6's, 8's, and a g hook

Less ribbing at the top

Less garter on one cozy

Ok, off to work on the last one.

New to do list:

1. Finish mom's cozy

2. Finish the husband's hat (looking awsome by the way in my handspun)

3. Finish fiber bags and fiber (stupid blasted machine that won't work!)

Coming soon: some random sewing pictures. :)

Trade longies are done...

and well on their way to the intended home!

I hope they fit. I tried them on the youngest wee one since her and the recipient are about the same size and they fit her pretty well. I tried them on over a larger prefold and the body stitches stretch a bit but not too bad I don't think.

Stats:

Size medium

Short rows

10 inch inseam

Hand dyed yarn by me (I think I'm calling it Ireland...it just makes me think of there)

Cat Nip Yarns Licorice Twist

Garter stitch cuff

Elastic waistband

As a result of hand dying the yarn the legs are very much different from each other. I originally dyed the yarn for us. It was an experimental idea and it turned out quite well. I had thought I had enough but when I reaized I didn't I dyed the solid green for contrast. When I started up on the trade they are for I decided this yarn was much more them. I took it with me to my sisters house and started knitting. Split for the legs and split the ball in half (to ensure the same amount of yarn). Only I had forgotten how the yarn had taken the dye. See the darker leg up there? That's actually the outside of my ball. The other leg was closer to the inside. The way I dyed it made the outside much darker. Not a big problem really. When I split though the darker leg had a large chunk of much darker spots. Very little of the lighter stuff. I ended up cutting off a good chunk for that reason. I think they turned out ok. The mama said she likes them. The yarn changed patterning on the entire thing. Despite my own personal ocd tendencies I do like that and wish they were ours. Even the husband was dissapointed that they aren't. :)

New down to the wire list:

1. Finish S's coffee cup cozy

2. Start on Mom's

3. Finish the husband's hat (yup, found a pattern and think it'll work)

4. Sew G's stocking (the next couple posts as a result are going to be sewing related...I have some things I finished I want to share).

I'm pretty sure that's all I need on that list. I have to finish another hat but that's not for Christmas. It is on the list though. We are travelling tomorrow (weather permitting....please oh please!) so maybe I'll bring that and the husband's hat to work on.

Coming down to the wire...

1. Finish bags and fiber samples (through the drum carder...more on that later)- 70% done
2. Trade longies- 10ish rows and a quick washing/lanolizing before mailing. Finish by Tuesday.
3. Hat for the husband- Hmmmm.

More yarn and some knitted stuff

Just plain ol' washrags. Bottom one is dark brown (there are actually 2 of those but one was in use at the time of the picture) and the top one is "Shaded Brown" or something like that. It's in the bathroom. It wasn't meant for there but it is and it's lovely. Both were done on.....8's? Yeah. That sounds right.

The remaining lavender BFL. Hard to see but there is a penny in there. Again, 15 WPI. It's currently on the needles as a hat. Because the first hat sucked ass and looked ridiculously stupid on my head. Lavender is not my color nor are hats my "thing". Le sigh.

Version 3.0

Once again. My shorties turned longies. While at K's house I grabbed the newborn pair I had done, frogged all the other stuff I had done on the legs, frogged the newborn pair, and reknit the legs. Again. But this time they actually match the body and look good. :) I did the cuff a bit different this time. Well sort of. I bound off in the tiny bit of body yarn i had left. Gives it a little punch. I like them a lot this way. I'm glad I did it. I'm surprised I had enough for the legs. I have so little left of the newborn pair I couldn't even do another drawstring. I'm so so glad I did it this way though. I actually like them now. :)

Warning: Spnning, not knitting, content

Last weekish I took my wheel down to the only shop that deals with wheels in an attempt to get my maintenece kit. I had the forsight to call ahead and see if they had it in the first place. The lady said she had a half kit and to bring my wheel with me and what they ddn't have we could figure out. So glad I did! I got t all fixed up and working and came away with a lazy kate (bobbin holder) and some merino. Today's pictures brought to by the awesomeness of a working wheel (how many of you instantly heard Seasame Street voices with that sentence?).

Lavender BFL (blue-faced leicaster): part of the fiber swap I did (from flapjack on MDC).

15 WPI (wraps per inch)

2-ply/light fngering weight

Currently becoming this hat. I have about 5 more ncrease rounds left to go on it. It's knitting up nice and evenly and looks great (in my opinion). can't wait to wear it. I'm not normally a hat person, much less a slouchy beret/tam type but I think this will work. Especially with the new hair cut coming up. :)

"Sand Dunes" (my name) Merino bought from the wheel people.

16 WPI

2 ply/ light fingering weight

Next up to becoming a hat (for the husband)

I love how this turned out! It was black ,grey, white, yellow, a darker orangy yellow, and brown. I seperated out allt he chunks of color and then divided them into twog roups. I wanted even singles! The BFL had one single that was longer (hence the two skeins) so I was hoping to avoid that. I did a bit. I didn't have much left over and it was all one color (I plied it and am going to use it as a solid coordinating color). Once spun, I wound off each ply and plied them together usng one end from inside a ball and one from the outside. I like the barber pole effect. I did a swatch the other night and it knts up nicely. We shall see what it looks like in a pattern though.

I have another skein (red merino I bought last year) drying right now. Another 2 ply though I don't know the WPI yet. once I get pictures of that I'll post it/them. I do have some knitting content (with pictures though nothing to amazing) so stay tuned. I'll try and get them up n the next day or so.