It's been knit: Easter stuff

Well thing. I had grand plans but only got one thing done. I have an excuse though. I'll tell you later. :)

This is this pattern. Super simple (not sure why it's rated as intermediate...maybe because of the two color ear) and super sweet. I didn't do a gauge swatch so not sure if it would really fit a 3-6 month old but this was intended for my neice. It sort fit her, just a tad short in length. As you can see though it can be squeezed onto the head of a 20 month old with no problem. :) The picot hem on here was fun and so dang cute! I did do it differently by doing 4 stitches and binding off 2 (instead of 3 and 1). The only thing I didn't like was that it has a natural propensity to curl. I think if I make another (without the ears mind you ;) ) I'd do a round or two of garter to help it stay pointing down. I love the look of it and it bugs that half the time you can't see that detail. That's the only mod I made to it though. You could very easily size this bad boy up. It's just a basic hat. I didn't attempt to alter sizing because 1. I didn't want to think and 2. I wasn't reading ahead in the pattern and assumed the ears were done differently. The ears are done seperately and sewn on at the end.

Overall I love this hat. The sister in law it was given to is due to have another tiny one and by the time easter is here next year that one will be the right age group for it. :) This was such a hit the oldest wee one asked for one that would make her look like a "horse! A pink horse!". :)

WIP: The I'm not going to kill it version

4th time is apparently the charm. As you can see the waistband has been completed. The body has been completed. The crotch gussets are done and seamed. All that remains is the legs and they are in the works. I'm actually really liking these now. I tried them on my smallest wee one to make sure they would fit the intended and uh...yeah. They will. With a bit of room to grow. I hope they aren't super huge baggy. Despite my issues with the waistband (that go beyond this infuriating amount of go rounds) I really like how these fit my kiddo. I got some new birthday yarn that is just waiting for me to use. I'm going to do a skirtie and use this set up as the undershorts. I think. I need to finish a different skirtie first. One of which I have not mentioned on here. That's how I roll. :)

An infuriating WIP

THAT is v4.0. It better damn well be the last. Although, as I sit here knitting on it (never having gotten past the total waistband really) its looking too small. I swear if I have to frog this thing and do a whole nother waistband I'm going to be ornry. I may burn the yarn.

It's been spun: Summer Berries

Summer Berries colorway
4 ounces total
2-ply
End yarn is 10WPI/Worsted weight
2 skeins

I think I'll end up doing a felted bag. I think it's the only thing to do with it really. It's a bit rough and lanoliny. I'm hoping washing will help with that. I'm pretty pleased with the way the colors turned out. I need to give it a good washing. Despite it setting thouroughly the lanolin seems to help rub the dye off. While I was winding it up the dye rubbed off on a few things. Not a big deal since the lanolin rubbed off as well making it rub in/off easily but still...who wants red/purple bleeding?

It's been spun: Lochlan

Some of my fleece I've been moving about. :)

Notes
Hand dyed (by me)

Wool

2-ply

About 2 oz. total

A small skein at 47 yds.

Somewhat between a sport and dk weight

Not sure if I'll knit this into anything. It's rather rough and while I love how the color played out it's not "me". I'm currently working on another batch (different colorway) that was processed a bit more. I'm hoping that helps with the overall softness.

There was some knitting recently but umm...it was ugly and was frogged. It took a day or two to knit and about 20 minutes to take apart. Talk about instant gratification. :)

It's been knit: Top-Down Timothy Cap

For me!! I cannot begin to tell you how happy this hat makes me. It's for me. It's my handspun. In a color I adore. It's for me. Fits perfectly....did I mention, It's for me?
I was hesitant to use this yarn. It's just so pretty and I didn't want to "waste" it on something like a hat. I wanted to horde it forever and ever but wanted other people to see it as well. I really liked the way this hat fit when I made it for the husband and have been trying to sneak off with his hat for the longest time.

He is on to me though and every time I picked it up he would casually say, "Make your own.". The other night on the way home from the store the wind was whipping in such a way that my ears burned. I knew I needed a hat. I decided to just do it and started that night. I got through the increases and went to bed. Worked on it all day yesterday and then finished it up this morning. It took less than a skein.

Stats:
Top down Timothy Hat

Size 6 needles

Fire Gorge handspun (less than one skein)- sport weight

Yarn held single
LOVE!

I noticed the other night when I went to grab the pattern from my projects page that I had used size 6 needles on the first one. I grabbed mine as the pattern downloaded only to see that the pattern writer actually used 8's with the yarn held doubled. Not sure how I missed that the first time around but it makes sense as to why I needed to block it severely. I decided to stick to my unintentional changes and do the same for my hat. After all I love his hat so much why change it up? I'm glad I did. It fits perfectly! Mine is a slightly heavier weight yarn than his was so it won't need blocking. Makes me happy since I want to wear it right now. :) With his hat I much prefer the "wrong side" (the side that shows the knit portion of the ribbing as the thicker part). With mine though I love them both. I do like the wrong side a bit more but only because it's easier to see the color transitions due to the overall smoothness of the fabric. (Picture 1 is the wrong side..the other 2 are the right side).

WIP it.....

Into Shape/ Shape it up/ Get straight/ Go forward/ Move ahead/ Try to detect it/ It's not too late/ To WIP it/ WIP it good....yikes. You havin' flashbacks? I am. On bad songs and bad word play. :)


Two socks, toe up, Magic Loop style. Don't know what type of yarn it is (blogged here). 56 stitches and perfectly fitting (so far!).

Another Top Down Timothy Hat, this time for me. Out of my own lovely handspun (named Fire Gorge). Almost done! Started it last night. I noticed while looking at the husband's hat on my Ravelry page I used size 6 needles. I don't know why. The pattern calls for size 8's with yarn held doubled. I didn't do that either. I like his so much I'm continuing with the unintentional (though now intentional) alterations. This is a thicker yarn than his so hopefully it'll be as nice fitting. It's lookin awfully small.

A hybrid. Curly Purly waistband+Shoaker pattern+Picky Pants pattern (for leg portion). This is on pause as I have yet again had issues with it. Yet again? That lovely waistband has been redone three times. THREE (3). The first time I misread or miscounted (not sure which) and had 70 stitches. I needed 72. I realized this after 2 inches of 1x1 ribbing and a couple short rows and a needle change. Second time I had a hole. Not a small hole. One large enough to fit my thumb in BUT I had 72 stitches. Third time....well if I frog it it will be due to my not reading ahead and appropriately planning my project (read: short rows not lining up with the rest of the pattern details). I'm waiting to hear back on this though so we shall see.

It's been spun: Red Merino

Stats:

Merino 2-ply

12 WPI/sport weight

2nd skein- unsure of yardage as I haven't checked it yet. :)

Used: Dragon Lady Designs

I love these little sttch markers. I was sitting here knitting with a friend one night and lost yet another stitch marker. One of my favorite ones has gone missing and it's mate was washed and fell apart. I can put it back together but haven't yet. Frustrated I thought to myself, "I should check the PhatFiber box!" Sure enough I had a few. I picked these for the bright colors. I love them! The cherries broke (the green circle part of the stem) but I was able to fix it. Note to others: don't accidentally step on these!

My favorite is the pepper. It makes me happy. I thought the yellow one was a lemon but I'm not sure. Neither is my friend. Despite being rather substantial these are quite light weight. I normally dread having to use stitch markers. They seem fumbly and get in the way etc. but these oddly enough, don't. I actually look forward to needing to use them. My friend really liked the cherries. I think I may get her some as a gift. She's a newbie knitter and just finished her first item! She deserves some loveliness. :)

It's been knit: Striped longies

Project Specs:
Size small
Backside increases and short rows
9 inch inseam
Purl round before bind off
I-cord bind off
Garter stitch crotch
This is another pair for a friend. This is pair 2 of 4. The third is in the works. The yarn is Wool of the Andes in Pampas Heather (the green) and Cobbleston Heather (the grey). I wasn't sure I was going to like how they turned out but they're growing on me. After the first leg I was ready to frog them and try to get something....with more....oomph.

Lucky for me they aren't for me. :) I like them but the intended mama loves them. They are bigger than the first pair (the blue ones) but that's ok. She's happy about that. The rest of the pairs are going to be the same sizing.

Just gotta finish up the rest of the pairs and get them mailed off!

Melissa's Kre8tions

**This first pic is borrowed from the PhatFiber blog...I started spinning this up before I started taking pictures. I loved her simple packaging and wish I had gotten some pics of it before hand.**

Pretty huh? I spun this little bit up on my drop spindle. I was having issues with my wheel so I pulled it out and got to work one evening while waiting for a friend to show up. There's not much to say about this fiber except that it ROCKS! The colors are lovely and the fiber is soft. There was no dye transfer or shedding. It drafted easily and I got a nice little mini skein from it.

I made it into a small two ply. Not sure what I'll make it into. A ball? Another heart? Nothing? Leave it on my mantel since it seems to gather plenty of ohh's and ahh's all by itself? I love that she got some grey in the colorway. Grey that stayed. Hard to see in my pictures but once spun I thought it was going to dissapear. Not so! Once I plied it, it popped back out and provided a nice complimentary contrast (oxymoron?) to the blue.

**I know I said there was a bunny coming up....I got distracted by the fiber though. And some other knitting. Soon, I promise.**

My give away package

My give away package has made it to the winner! She chose the Modern Spots Spindle Bag. The little blue one in front is a sample of fiber. Hope she likes it!

I just got a message from her over on Ravelry. She blogged about her prize so I thought I'd share here. Who doesn't love a little bit of a self promo? :) Really though, who doesn't love a new knitting blog to add to the list? DawningDreams .....definitely check her out....if you scroll down you can see she has an Etsy shop! The shop...I'm not normally a costume type gal but I am lovin' the gold mask!

I dream of a Harlot

**I have knitting (though not a bunny) and I have spinning (samples) and I have reviews (of accessories)...however this is their only mention today.**



I stayed up late last night. The husband was on a trip and would be back in the wee hours of the morning so it gave me an excuse to. When I did finally fall asleep I dreamt a dream so lovely that my sister could see the cool factor. And she's not a knitter. Nor does she care about knitterly things.



I dreamt of the Yarn Harlot. This is my first dream of her. I don't own any books sadly, I've never seen her tour, but I do read her blog. So on to the dream!



It starts with me sitting here with my family in the morning. The phone rings and someone on the other end asks if I'd like to have the chance to have a photo shoot with her? Like they need to ask! I throw on some shoes, tell the husband to watch the kids (even he understands the awesomeness of this int he dream) and to the store I fly. Once there we get to talking and she's showing me her displays, one of which is a very limited idea of her stash. Naturally my eyes are popping out of my noggin. She asks, "Would you like a skein?" I say sure (really, who would turn that down!) and walk towards the table. Now when I say it was limited it was only a couple rows (of mostly sock yarn) and only one layer. By the time I start picking skeins up it's suddenly her whole stash on this table. She encourages me to climb on the table and "really get in there! You'll be amazed at what you find!". I was on the hunt for something autumnish. Soon she is on the table with me trying to help me track it down. I am near having a heart attack at the idea of diving through HER stash with HER when it dawns on me. No one is going to believe this. Not without proof. I have an A-Ha! moment and she asks me if I found my skein. I turn and politely say, "No. Would you mind taking a picture of me in your stash though? This would be an awesome picture!" she obliges and hops down to ger her totally awesome and highly technical (in a completely dream state fashion) camera. It's proving to be a pain though. Her settings are off and it's not wanting to take pictures. So we browse through pictures. She's explaining them to me and as she does i notice text appearing below them. Then it dawns on me! All she does is talk about them and then upload them. She never really has to blog because her camera does it for her! I'm in awe. I'm sitting there in disbelief when she tries to take another picture. I look down in an attempt to compose myself and that's when I notice. I'm wearing two different socks. I point it out to her and she says it's no biggie. I say yes it is and to look. I am wearing one red hand knit sock and one red and white striped sock. Two totally different looks. In fact the striped one is in real life not a sock but the pattern of a shirt. She sort of groans at the very obvious mis-match and we decide to abandon the picture (of me in her stash and of us together...I was very sad about this). That's when she tells me we are running late and out the door we go. We are part of a production! Production? She takes me to this old school telling me this is where her kids go and hands me my costume. Turns out we are doing a traditional Scottish dance in traditional Scottish clothing. We all get dressed (theres lots of people at this point) and get in line to march down this old hallway. We start marching but I am still so star struck I march backwards so I can continue talking to her. I finally turn around as we near our destination and she grabs the tails of my costume and gives them a good shake (like you would a rug) and I think to myself, "I feel like a giant leprachaun".

It's at that point that one my chitlins woke me up so I have no idea if we all danced well or not. :)

So thank you Yarn Harlot. I had a blast. :)

bwahahahaha

Up next: Kangaroo Dyer and a pattern

If you read the PhatFiber blog you've seen the post for Kangaroo Dyers. It is sooo pretty! The one in the corner is a superwash wool (75%) and nylon (25%). The colorway is Flower Garden and that "sample" is 100 yds.! The others are (from left to right) green 70%/30% Kid mohair and silk, blue 100% silk, and brown 80%/20% alpaca/silk. I had a hard time coming up with my packaging. I had lots of ideas but none really panned out. I love hers. Simple but straightforward. I plan on using the smaller 3 for more hearts and the main one for the pattern below.

A Joey's House "Bartlett Bunny". Perfect for the samples in the box (the pattern even states that!). It uses a tiny amount of yarn. When I opened it up the oldest wee one tossed it aside (she was ripping through it like mad!) and then once she relaxed she saw what it was. Intrigued she asked a million questions and then stated very clearly: "You can make this for me. I want it in pink.". Good thing I had already paired it up with the yarn from above which has passed her pink inspection...just enough to be counted but not enough to burn the corneas out of my eyes.

I'm actually looking forward to this one. I have been avoiding doing anything due to dissapointment in my longies. I have been eyeing these for days though. I even pulled them out and set them in plain site so I'd get going. The pattern seems like a perfect extra for baby gifts. There are loads of baby bearin' ladies in my family so I'm sure I'll make many of these over the next little while.

A giveaway!

Clicky!Clicky!

Check it out. PhatFiber has been doing mini profiles of everyone involved. That link there is me. I'm doing a giveaway so go check it out and leave a comment.

Oh and........


I made my first sale! I'm totally thrilled! It's been the kick in the pants I needed to get the rest of the fiber into some bats. I have one more to do and then am done with this batch. I need to get some new (and better!) pics tomorrow. I'm having an issue with the Chocolate Brown and Summer Berries bats since they both have a good amount of reds in them.

It's been knit: Nougat longies

These remind of the nougat you find in candy bars. That's where all my joy in them ends though. I hate the way the legs changed so much. I tried knitting more stitches, I broke the yarn and started in a different spot, I knit from both ends of the ball. Didn't matter. This is what I got. I could deal with that though. Once they were on it wasn't so bad and I'm sure I can find a cute shirt to go with them. They bleed though. Like crazy amounts. The night I washed and lanolized them my sink looked like it had liquid rust in it. The longies faded. I was pissed. Then the wee one got sick and threw up on them. I washed them again and my sink once again looked filled with rust. The didn't fade as much but the peachy color looks greyish now. I'm surprised considering this is/was a commerical yarn...I would expect this amount out of a hand-dyed skein but not out of commerical. It's still bleeding. My diapers have splotches of orange everywhere (and oddly enough some purply/red). Oh well. She needed more longies and these will work. I used up all the yarn on these. I split the ball for the legs an just knit til I ran out before switching to the cuff. It barely is long enough! I was pretty pelased with that amount of luck. When I washed them (both times) I blocked in some extra length so now they are about as long as I would have made them if I had had more yarn.

Stats:

Pattern: Picky Pants

Needles: 8's

Size: Small with increases and short rows

Yarn: Red Heart Knitting Worsted Virgin Wool (don't bother tracking it down....you won't...it's ancient and I got it for .50 at a thrift store back in November.)

It's been knit: A manly cowl

Our car died. Not today or anything but a week or so ago. This means that when the husband has to get to and from work he's most likely walking. We live in a winter state. A COLD winter state. School was closed yesterday because it dropped below -20 degrees. Anyhow, that first night it was broken we were talking and the grim realization hit him. He asked me to knit him a scarf. Which is just crazy nonsense. I hopped on Ravelry and hoped I would find a manly cowl. I did and it's lovely! It's the Tyler Cowl (Ravelry link). I think it turned out very nice.

This is how he intends to wear it (yes I know he looks like he could rob something...I've mentioned he pull it down when he goes into buildings...hehehehehe). Doesn't it look nice with the hat as well? He must be on my good knit list again.This is his, "I'm only doing this to humor you" face. I much prefer the cowl pulled down like this. I think it looks oh so nice. :) This only took a couple days to do. One of the wee ones got sick so I took a day off since she wouldn't let me knit. If I hadn't though it would have taken about a day. I cast on late one night and did about 5 rounds before going to bed.

Stats:

Pattern: Tyler Cowl

Needles: 6's and 10's (pattern calls for 5's and 10's)

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease in black....yanked from my Feb. Lady Sweater.

It's been knit: Oh how my heart beats....

Yay for the new camera!!! So here they are. The hearts made from Stash Up Yarn's sample from the Phat Fiber box. The smallest one was done on 1's (maybe 1.5's), the next on 3's, and the last on 6's with the yarn held doubled. I used this pattern. Last year when I made the husband's hearts someone posted that link. I attempted it shortly there after but didn't like the feel of it. I think I may have been using yarn way too big at the time. I pulled it back out for these though and am in love with it! The bigger one is modified. I wasn't sure how much yarn I'd have left after doubling it (I still have some!) so I only increased until I had 32 stitches and when it came time to do the lobes I decreased 2 (down to the 14 stitches) and then went from there. I decreased down to 6 stitches without a knit round in between. I love it.

We aren't here for a pattern review though! On to the yarn.

I love it. You hear me? I LOVE IT. The sea cell is indeed crunchy but this yarn is about the dye job. The colors rock, there isn't any bleeding, the shades compliment each other. I used three different needles size and made various changes and I have PRETTY hearts. There isn't any ugly pooling! Now granted these are a small project so who knows how it would work out on a larger item but the few times I have had ugly pooling on a small item it has been hideous on a large one. I have a feeling the prettiness is there on large items too.

I do have plans of buying some. I really like the sea cell. It makes me want to squish these all the time. I prefer the fabric knit on 1's. This is a fingering weight sample so I expected that but as far as ease and drape and what not I prefer them. I have knit socks on 3's and while you could easily do that I think, for me, the fit will be much better on a smaller needle. I knit tight and like tight knitting though. :)

Oh happy day!!

See that? That, dear readers, is coming to my house! So what right? Not so! This means I will have actual pictures! Pictures that have a smidgen of decent quality. Posts without the phrases, "Sorry for the crappy pic" or "cell phone pic" ANYWHERE. I am very excited. I have things to take pictues of (such as the hearts out of the first yarn sample!) but I am waiting. Waiting oh so very impatiently for my new camera to get here so I can take some pictures worthy of a blog post.

(Isn't the husband such a nice fella'? That was bought as a present for me when I groaned about the injustice of cell phone pics and my etsy store...I think he's a keeper. :) )

Stash Up Yarn

The first of many!

This is from Stash Up Yarns. They do hand-painted yarns. This one is 70% superwash merino wool and 30% sea cell. I'm excited about that. I haven't used sea cell before, though I've seen it mentioned on many a blog. First impression: lovely. It's squishy (I saw someone mention the sea cell can be "crunchy"...not sure if it's due to the amount in this or not but I have no crunch) and the color is awesome! It has spring but doesn't loose it's shape when you pull it. I've had to re-cast on a few times (I was in a mood for fast and was picking needles too large) and it still has it's twist. No color has come off on my needles either! That's kind of important when you dye something. Details. :) I'm going to make a Mochi Mochi heart (or two if I have enough) for the oldest wee one (I want to make a bunch for Valentine's Day). I racked my brain trying to figure out what I could knit with all these samples and that seemed perfect to me. So that'll be my "swatch". Stay tuned! :)

WOOHOO!!!!

My PhatFiber sample box got here today and it rocks! I have patterns and fiber and yarn and lots of little things (like stitch markers). There is a ton in there!

Because I like reviews and I know you like reviews and we all love knowing how an etsy shop's products line up I'll be making my next couple posts all about my goodies. I'll spin the fiber, knit the yarn, and use the rest. Then I'll come tell you all about it. Think of me as an enabler. :)

Oh these are just funny...

The official Etsy packaging

(Four colorways: Jack Frost, Ice Drops, Chilled Forest, Winter's Dusk)

This was very much not what I had planned on nor envisioned but it works. I'm signed up for next month to have a spot and I'm debating whether or not to do it. If I do I need to start now so I can get better packaging. I was very stressed and did not give myself enough time to get everything done. Oh well. It was a good lesson/experience. These were somewhat time intensive in assembling. I was able to stuff and tie one night while I slept in the living room (a throwing up baby in the bed is never good...I'd rather clean it off the carpet). It took forever!

This is almost all of them. I think there were 7 missing at this point and I finished them up the next morning. I tried to get a picture of the actual fiber but it proved to be more difficult than I was willing to entertain. There is not an even number of packages for each color way. I originally started out with just Jack Frost but dying is a fickle thing and I ended up with three different colors. I split them up but only had 39 samples. I really wanted a box of my own so I came up with Chilled Forest for the last and final batch. I really hope they spin well. I tested a small batch of Jack Frost (or maybe it was Winter's Dusk) and it spun very nice and even.

Lime and Violet are getting a box. I'm actually nervous. I have listened to their podcast for awhile now and know they are honest in their reviews of items. I hope they don't think my stuff is crap. :)

A recap

Belated but there you have it. :)

Total items knitted for 2008:
39

Item brakedown:
Mittens: 1 pair
Washrags: 5 (2 idiots dishcloth, 1 ballband, and 2 tribbles)
Diaper covers: 14 (3 soakers, 1 wrap, 9 shorties/longies, 1 skirtie)
Socks: 4 (3 singletons and 1 pair of baby slippers)
Hats: 2 (one beanies and one self pattern)
Toys: 10 (5 eggs, 3 hearts, 1 Sheldon turtle, and 1 Robbie the fish)
Cozies: 3 (all cable mug cozies for Christmas)

Skeins of yarn spun:
9.5 (9 whole plus the one mini skein)

Item brakedown:
1 skein Superwash Sock bat: "Cherry Glen" 14 wpi
1 skein with mini skein of contrasting Merino: "Sand Dunes" 16 wpi (used for hat)
3 skeins of lavender BFL: "Spring Kiss" 15 wpi
1 skein Alpaca/Tussah Silk Blend: "Graham Cracker" 20 wpi
3 skeins of Red Merino: 1 navajo plied, 1 single, and 1 2-ply: 2-ply is 13 ply. Other skeins are not measured yet.

Not too shabby I don't think. :) I replied the sock yarn and am much more pleased with it. It just needed extra stick to it. I'm working on some Cotswold Lamb roving right now but there isn't a picture yet. It's undyed/natural so all you'd see is a blob of white anyhow. :)

I think I am going to keep track of the amount of yarn I use this year. There are various widgets and I think it would be interesting to see what I use up. I have a pair of longies in the works right now which I'm tempted to frog for that reason. That and they are ugly. They look like carpet from the 70's. I have another pair of longies in the works for Allie (where the blue pair went) but I won't frog those. I'll just do some simple math to figure it out based off how much I have left in the end. Oh so scientific I know.

Never before seen stuff

This is a horrible picture I know. This is more of my red merino. The big skein has been done for sometime. The small skein I happened to find sitting in a bowl of potpurri. Not sure why. It's only a 1 ply but I plan on fixing that. No idea how big the ball is weight wise. I am getting a yarn meter in the mail this week and will finally be able to give yardage!!!! I am so damn excited about that. It's a 13 wpi (the main ball). I'm pretty pelased with it. I'm working on the last bit (!!!!) right now. I replied the sock yarn and am currently soaking it. Now that I got enough twist for it to hold together it doesn't want to let go of the extra twist. I'm getting mroe and mroe irritated by it.

This is a creation of my own. I needed to make a hat for someone that was long overdue. This is jsut the back. I'm calling it "Red's Riding Hood" and will be writing out the pattern here soon. Best of all? Chunky yarn. Well that might be the best part. I'm not a fan of chunky yarn and have no desire to knit with it again. :)

These are the first of 4. They are for a friend who had a baby, bought the yarn and had it sent to me, and then waited ever so patiently while I sat on my duff not being nearly productive enough. :) They are a newborn with increases and short rows and an 8 inch inseam. Just some Wool of the Andes in Onyx Heather and Sapphire Heather. I was so sad to send these away. They are just gorgeous!

:)