It's been knit: Cold weather gear

Woah! Would you look at that! Quality pictures. :)

Bis S's gear stats:

Hat pattern: Earwarmer Cap with the herringbone texture (size child)

Mittens pattern: A combo of one I found on Ravelry and my own numbers

Yarn: Paton's Merino in Pink Petal and my BFL Handspun

Needles: 8's and 6's (I think on the mittens)

Little S's gear stats:
Hat pattern: Earwarmer Cap without texture (size child though not as big as Big S's)
Mittens: Kidlett Mittenz on Ravelry (I think I made them a tad bigger than the pattern...yarn held double)
Yarn: Cascade 200 (brown) and Manos Del Uruguay ("recycled" from some longies I knit Big S years back that got slightly felted...perfect for this hat)
Needles: 8's and 6's (I think)

The hats were done first. Big S's mittens were done pretty quickly after the hats but Little S's weren't done until Halloween. I realized a few hours before heading out that it was flipping cold! She was a monkey and since the brown was the same color as her costume I hauled but. She had "monkey" hands as a result. They were a tad big then but she's grown into them already. Sad thing is it's only been cold enough to need mittens a couple times and the hats a few more than that. I totally love their sets this year and they are rarely getting to wear them. Hopefully I only have to upsize the mittens next year and they can use the hats again. We shall see.

Up next: Christmas stockings! Yes I know but I haven't posted the finished ones yet and they are deserving of it. Then if my sister behaves and gets me pictures already I can show you what I sent her (and it was a ton....7 hats, a soaker, a pair of socks, and a doll!). Then the 3 things I did for our Christmas. Then it's on to current stuff. At first it was only going to be one measly WIP but tonight I was begged for some Barbie clothes. Yes, you read that right. As of tonight I have done one dress and a pair of panties. See what I've been reduced to?

Fiber to FO: Handspun socks

I wish i had better pictures of this yarn! I also wish I remembered any details about it. I know I have the band around here somewhere. Anyhow, this was a braid I bought at the sock summit this last August. I had bought it due to the colors: oranges and browns and reds with a bit of a olivey green. Very fall. However, the way it spun up reminded me of my parent's wedding colors...the one that used quail feathers as part of the bouquet. The one done in tones that makes me think of aging pictures from the 70's. I wasn't impressed.
I finally broke down and knit them. I had done a kids sock in it but it was too thick (even though the yarn was maybe a sport weight. Maybe.) so I opted for some me socks. They are growing on me. I like the colors better knit up (and look how it stripes! that was unintended) but they still seem a bit dull and faded to me.

These are done in a unique way. This is the second pair I've done like this (the first pair will be blogged about soon). I was unsure of the yardage which makes most sock people recommend one thing: do them toe up. I however don't like the heel and foot when done toe up which makes sock people recommend one thing: do them cuff down. See the issue? So I opted for both. I did a provisional cast on and started at the heel. I worked the heel and foot from the top down. Once that was done, I yanked out the provisional cast on and knit the leg toe up! I think this is my new favorite way of doing socks. I have another pair ont he needles right now going that way.

Stats:

Pattern: Mine. Done over 38 stitches both toe up and cuff down. Leg ribbing is staggered to create a stairs effect on the back of the leg (1x1 ribbing with a stretchy bind off). Short row heel and rounded toe. (Pattern will be available soon)

Yarn: My handspun

Needles: 5's

Once I get the pattern written up I'll get better pictures. Blasted winter light!

It's been knit: Gift knits: Apple Blossom Cardigan

Near Christmas, a sister-on-law had her baby (after much waiting..the stinker was late!). The day she was born (naturally) I decided I neeed to knit something right then. I hopped on Ravelry and got searching. I ended up using the Apple Blossom Cardigan (sorry no link right now). I am so in love with this pattern I already have another one in the works (for a friend due this summer).


The pattern calls for icord ties but it just didn't seem like a sweater that could use those. I found these little heart buttons and decided to stick them on (2 of my increases ended up working perfectly for button holes!).

It was a super quick knit (yes my pictures suck but guess what!? My camera is back in action so no more craptastic pics :) ).

Stats:

Pattern: Apple Blossom Cardigan

Needles: 8's (this is a mod)

Size: Newbornish

Yarn: Random acrylic

Mods: Only 4 repeats of the lace pattern (pattern calls for 6 which would be huge on a newborn), size 8 needles (I think the pattern uses 10's), buttons instead of icord ties.

No pictures of it yet on the baby..every time she has worn it (a couple from the sounds of it) I haven't been around them that day. :)

Gift Knits: A sweet little sweater

(Two posts in one day...boy, aren't you lucky!)

The nice thing about having knitting friends is when the occassion calls for it, you get awesome handknits! Another friend sent me a sweater (Seamless Baby Kimono for the curious) before she was born 9the baby that is, not the knitter). When I first got it I was sad to see that the wee one would likely not wear it in the right season. I have tiny babies that don't grow fast. Note to others: when you'd like to be proven wrong, say the idea/notion out loud. The universe has a way of providing. :) The wee one was indeed small (being early does that to one) but she has grown FAST! The weather here has been freaky just like the rest of the US so we've managed to get by with thicker jackets/sweaters. This one is perfect! I only have to cuff the arms a tiny bit. She has growing room but it fits great. It's my favorite top for her and we use it often. So on to the good stuff...a picture!

(Ahhh! Good ol' quality cell phone pic in the dead of winter lighting....always a lovely result.)

Gift Knits: Monstery longies

(I'm a slacker and missed my own blogiversary...better luck next year I suppose!)

Back when I was pregnant (she's 2 months already!!) a friend offered to knit me up some longies. She'd done some faux monster/cranky pants and I wanted some. She showed me her yarn colors, I picked, and she went to town. They are one of my favorite pairs now. They look so stinkin' cute on and they fit really nice (we use different patterns)! Since the wee one was early all her longies were super long on her (like the entire length of her body could fit in them...not quite but close enough). She took a couple weeks to grow into them (and even then they were cuffed). This is one of the pairs that no longer needs to be cuffed (the Manos pair and handspun pair I did are also this way) and I am going to be so sad when they no longer fit. I can see the appeal of monster pants for sure! Without further ado, here are some pictures!

(This pictures is hers....I have yet to get a good shot of them in my house.)

(Who doesn't love a picture of handknits on wee ones?)

Stay tuned...

I have quite a few kindasorta catch up psots coming. Ones with lots of pictures (good ones!). All are Christmas knitting (see? Only kindasorta catching up since the only reason they aren't posted yet is due to laziness on my end). There'll be an item count too of what all was knit this last year. I'm interested to see that number since I didn't feel particularly productive.

I have a plan for my knitting this year. In an effort to get on track and finish up various things I made of list of unfinished stuff. One of which is level one for the master knitter program. Not too long ago the harddrive on my computer died (again! BACK UP your files) and I lost ALL of the q&a portion to it. I'm still quite ornry about it and as a result have ignored it. This should be done already! I've written out my list of books I want and am going to be nabbing them from the library soon. I'm not knitting anything until I finish this level! The only thing that will be knit is the hat as the end project for it. I don't have too much left to do. It's ridiculous and irritating (to me) that I haven't finished it yet. I'm looking at this as a chance to answer my questions better (hence the list of library books) and really do it well and not rushed through. There will be actual posting about it now as well. (This does not apply to spinning as well...gotta leave something open for myself)

Once that is finished I am wanting to do one of a couple things. My ideas are: 1. knit only from my Ravelry queue (7 pages worth!). I will have 'rules" for this but for the most part it'll be knit only from that and I can add as many patterns as I want but can't delete anything. We'll see. Still tinkering with that. My other idea is to knit only socks for the year. I made 3 pairs since September and my sock love has been renewed (now these pairs were done on thicker yarn and bigger needles but it gave me a boost). I only have 2 pairs of matching socks. The husband now has one (after being on the banned knit list for losing the first pair) and the oldest has one sock. Read again: ONE SOCK. Not a pair. Just one single sock. She keeps asking why I haven't made the other one yet and told the husbands mom at Christmas she was glad to get socks from her because "Mom won't make my other one". There is no reason there should be a lack of sock pairs (matching ones...I have a couple "pairs" but they couldn't even be deemed faternal twins) in this house considering 1. I have an insane amount of sock yarn and 2. know how to knit them. :) Still trying to decide which one I want to go with. I won't decide til level one is done.

My blogiversary is in 2ish weeks. Thinking of doing a giveaway but I don't think my readership is that high anymore (what with the distinct lack of posting). I do have a loose goal of blogging at least once a week for the year. Hopefully I can stick to that.

I'm feeling twitchy. I have nothing on the needles right now. NOTHING. I cast off my last project last night. I don't have anything on my wheel either (though I do have a bit on my spindle). There is a distinct lack of fiber stuff going on right now.