Update Time!

I finished the handspun sweater I’ve been working on…

It’s the 97-18 Tailored Cardigan by Drops Design – a free pattern which I modified only slightly in my version. I worked without seams and used a three needle bind off for the shoulders. Also, I used small size but medium length throughout. I think in the body I could have gone a little longer still.

I ended up with a little more yarn than I needed, even!

The grandbaby isn’t here yet but should be here any day now. I’m so excited! I’ve made a little blanket – probably the last in the ‘baby collection’ for now.

It uses the ‘curve of pursuit’ idea though not the pattern (since I don’t have it). I like it very much….

I am now working in spinning some beautiful GREENS – again, superwash merino from The Black Lamb in Port Hope.

I was mixing up the colours in a certain-yet-random-way and NOW I’ve run out of some of them. So, I’m working on making a coordinating yarn to go with the 770 metres, or so, of the first yarn. There is a tunic I want to crochet. Badly.

We’ll have to see how it goes….

The Snowdrift Sweater!

Check it out

I had this idea in my head for a while and finally felt like spending the time to make it. It’s seamless (my favorite) and bottom up. I didn’t use any exact ‘method’ to shape the sleeve caps — unless ‘guess-as-you-go’ is a method, lol. A little bit of raglan shaping, a little bit of set in sleeve shaping and a few short rows to make it all work. Not bad, if I do say so myself. It’s my very first sweater design

The slippers were driving me nuts!! You can really only knit about 18 pairs before you want to run screaming down the street. You may have guessed, I’ll be putting off the rest of my slipper-test-knitting until after Christmas (…if then, the way I feel right now). The slipper pattern itself seems to be excellent but I’m trying to test knit every size in different wools for a true pattern test. I’d hate to say that something works if I haven’t tested it myself.

Happy knitting!

Loving These Curves!

Aren’t they fantastic?!

Winter’s On It’s Way…

The geese are flying, the leaves are beginning to turn and the nights are getting COLD!

Winter seems to be around the corner, here in Ontario. I’ve decided to concentrate on gifts and warm woolies now – with carpets and such as a bit of relief at the end of the day

I’ve completed a set for my son. It’s a matching scarf/hat set made with my Silverlights Handspun superwash merino (rovings purchased at The Black Lamb in Port Hope), using the ‘Rainy Day Scarf’ pattern for the scarf and a variation of that stitch in my hat pattern.

What do you think?

Now I’m working on a Drop Stitch Scarf for my daughter, using the leftovers from a sweater project last year – the Amoroso Malabrigo worsted. I have about a ball and a half left over so I’m really keeping my fingers crossed. In my perfect world I’d have enough left to make the hat as well.

I’m quite nervous waiting for an appointment I have coming up with a surgeon. I’ve got some sort of cyst (yes-think cyst) problem going on and have already had an ultrasound. In about a week and a half I’ll have a better idea what the actual problem is.

Keeping myself busy is the best I can do.

Yay For Quick Knits And Felt!

Another vase…

I used multi-stranded palette and mystery blended roving to make this larger version. I’m planning to fancy it up with some needle felting once it’s dry This vase (and the earlier one) are loosely based on the Felted Needle Vase pattern. I varied the number of stitches to begin with as well as adding extra stitches to play with size increases.

Those booties…fulled (but maybe not enough yet!)

I didn’t put anything into the wash with the felting items, for friction, so I’m thinking these need another go — I can still see the stitches.

A simple bag…based on the Little Coco Bag pattern, modified in a few ways. My yarn was Patons Classic Merino in a denimish blue mixed with some mystery wool in a natural shade. Am planning to decorate the blue band area with some felt.

The latest…A pair of felted slippers a la Keep Away Felted Slippers by Karen Harper. The pattern is available free on that most excellent site – RAVELRY!

I used some stash yarns…one skein of SWS stripes in Natural Earth, one in Natural Geranium. I have some of the Earth left, none of the very beautiful geranium I’ll have more pictures once they are fulled and felted.

I’m really, REALLY (did I say really?) enjoying this fulling/felting at the moment It’s causing my add to act up in all kinds of ways, lol!

The Candy Stripe Socks!

I made them as sockettes rather than full leg socks but the pattern is very stretchy and the leg length is just a matter of preference. I love how the twisted cables nest together and how the single purl almost looks lacy. I think if I had made them longer and IF (not sure this would be necessary) shaping was required it would be easy enough to add in a second purl stitch in each space between the cables, probably every other space, work a certain number of rows and then every other again, to gradually add girth.

I’m so happy to have finished these It’s satisfying to knit the one or two day projects, for me — and I’m happy because they are for my daughter’s 17th birthday which is about a week away.

I had way more yarn than I needed…I think I used just a little more than half of the ball. I realize I should have weighed it before I began — then I’d KNOW what I used! Had nothing here to weigh it with though…I really must get my own scale for yarn – borrowing is less than convenient.

It looks like we’re going to have a sunny weekend We’re going to the ROM with the kids on Sunday…I can’t wait! Of all the things around here, somehow I’ve never been to the ROM and it’ll be so fun to discover it with the kids. My husband is even excited about it

I Can’t Believe It!

I have MISPLACED (I refuse to use the word LOST) so many of my magazines and books and I’ve got no idea how or where or anything!

It all became apparent yesterday when I was looking for a magazine (IK I think?) that had a beautiful sock ‘recipe’ for all sizes, guages, etc…for toe up socks…that I often use when trying to design a new sock pattern…

Thank goodness that I’ve written it out in the past when I wrote the other sock patterns…I didn’t write out the guage charts (sure wish I had!) but at least I could recover the basics of the short row heel that I like to use.

Then my daughter asked for a book, for school, that I haven’t seen in quite a while and had almost forgotten about…leading me to consider all the other books that are missing. If there is any hope of finding them they may be in the basement in one of the unpacked boxes. LOL, at this point I’m wondering how we decided to put thoses boxes down there in the first place or if we were just tired the night we were moving in! Looking through all of them is NOT something I’m looking forward to but I really like knowing where my things are!

I managed to figure out my sock pattern anyways…it’s the Candy Stripe Socks pattern listed in the pages. They use, of course, the Candy Stripe Yarn that I spun from the superwash merino from the black lamb. I’m almost done the first sock…

I thought the twists in this pattern were reminiscent of the twists of candy cane sticks

I’ve also taken a picture of the spinning I’m working on…the first ply for the four ply….

Enjoy your day

Grow Babies, Grow

My baby plants are growing really well! I can’t wait for summer….

I’ve finished Ice Queen and I LOVE it! I used an assortment of beads — didn’t have enough of any one colour and I reclaimed them from kids bracelets so I couldn’t change plans and buy more of the same.

Check it out!

I used 1.23 oz for this and have .49 oz left for another day!

Though I CAN wait for winter…had enough already!…I’m looking forward to wearing this when the weather turns cold again I think the colours suit the pattern and the yarn worked out so well I have a yearning to spin some more lace…wouldn’t it be beautiful in a sweater!

Insomnia…

isn’t fun! But you do get to finish a lot of knitting that way.

I started the first sleeve but with a modification. I like the hexagon pattern and so am including it in the sleeve. The pattern calls for a stocking stitch sleeve but to me that looks too plain. Plus, I think the pattern is a perfect way to feature the handspun yarn I’m using…it hides a lot of little variances that the stocking stitch just could not.

Last night I was exhausted by 8 pm so I went to bed early…LOL (nice try to me). I then woke up at about ten, when the kids went to bed and couldn’t get back to sleep until about 3! Now it’s seven thirty and I’m awake for the day…dogs don’t like people who sleep in, or at least our dogs don’t.

I think I need a nap!

All Settled And Knitting Again :)

I’m happy to say that we’re all moved in and I’ve cast on for Jeanie from knitty.com.  I’m using the Ranco Multi I got for my birthday a while back and I love how it’s turning out so far.  I’m afraid the pattern isn’t as difficult as I thought, lol – guess reading it through would have shown me that! – it may be a little boring as time goes on.

The house is great, comfy and feels like home already.  The kids are settling in very well and next week everyone will be back in school.  We’re planting some seeds tomorrow to celebrate spring — I know spring started today but we’re a little off schedule   We have some tomatoes, peppers and some flowering vines for the porch.  I’m on a wireless signal right now which doesn’t seem too co-operative…I’ll try to post some pictures if I can.

See!

Tomorrow the laundry will be all hooked up and I’ll begin to tackle laundry mountain.  A family can sure make a lot of it in a week or so without machines!

A Peek

at what I’m working on…  

I’m working on finishing the Modern Lace Henley today.  I’ve finished the body, working on the sleeves (which I’m making full length – I LOVE long sleeves and especially long lacy sleeves!)

 

A Lacy Cami

I’ve started a lacy camisole inspired by the Shaped Lace Tee by Joan McGowan-Michael.  The pattern is in the book, ‘Knitting Lingerie Style’.  I’m using the black linen and hoping I have enough.  I plan to lengthen the body and omit the sleeves.  Ideally I would have made long sleeves but I definitely don’t have enough to do it.

I’m knitting it in the round because I hate pointless seaming.

Yay! My Wool Arrived :)

The Malabrigo…isn’t it pretty?!!

The colour is ‘Amoroso’ (purchased at an excellent price from www.fabulousyarn.com – I paid less than $100 for 10 skeins – AND that included shipping to Canada!) and I am planning to make the Hedgerow Coat from the Interweave Knits Fall 2007 issue. 

I’m reading a lot about malabrigo, everywhere I can find information.  It’s such a beautiful wool, I can see what people have said about the pilling…I can deal with that.  I’ve also read something, somewhere, about it producing a fabric which doesn’t hold it’s shape properly…stretches out?  I’m wondering if I should use a slightly smaller needle to prevent this?  The coat (in size small) is a little big for me, so I could do it without causing too much trouble, as long as I watch the length.

I woke up so sick this morning…pounding headache, couldn’t hold anything down…nasty!  I’m ok now as I managed to finally hold down an advil and rest for an hour.  The headache is gone, thank goodness!  Felt like a hangover but I don’t do that stuff!  Talked to my mom, she asked me where in my cycle I am (I’m in the middle) and told me how she would have this once a month, every month, at ovulation.  Great.  So it’s likely hormonal and one of those lovely like mother like daughter things.

The Cable and Lace Socks are coming out so beautifully.  I’m pleased as can be with them.  I wish, though, that I had another skein of the serengeti….they would be ideal as knee socks…

Here is a peek of how they look so far….

 

Finished the Alpaca Gloves!

My mission this weekend was to work on something which needed finishing…and I’ve finished my Fitted Alpaca Gloves

 Very very pleased with these..they are my own design and a perfect fit.  The yarn is so nice and soft – I used Ultra Alpaca for these that I had left over from the cable yoke sweater I made a little while ago.

 The cable pattern is a sort of travelling vine with berries and leaves…I kept on with the reverse stockinette for the entire top of the gloves.

A better picture of the cable detail…

I carried the cable ribbing up the underside of the gloves, just past where the thumb gusset begins and did the palm in stockinette.

Very glad to be done and can’t wait to wear them!

Oh Happy Day!

Yay, my tree skirt is finished!

I’m pretty happy with it…and happy to be finished it!  LOL, large projects always feel like they are taking forever, no matter whether they really are or not.  Those last few rows felt like a marathon!

You can’t quite see some of the tone on tone colourwork I did to prevent having to use plain blocks of colour.  I thought it makes it more interesting looking.

Basically I cast on 144 sts (12 panels of 12 sts) and increased (12 sts – one in each section) twice over six rows until I was to 118 rows.  You could continue it as far as you liked though.  For the colour pattern, I use graph paper and graph out one section only, as I go…more than once I had to add in more paper because I changed my mind, lol.

Those last 30 rows…

I’m plugging away at the Christmas tree skirt.  Almost there, but the rows are getting SO LONG.  I’m on row 86, the pattern I was originally looking at (and took the basics from) had 118 rows.  We’ll see how big it looks as it goes but I think I’ll stop at about the same point. 

I didn’t even let myself go to the mail today, LOL, because I’m expecting that wool and getting new wool is NOT conducive to finishing this project!

Right now I’ve got about a million (ok, really it’s 50) strands of yarn going at once.  I better get back to it!

This May Be a Record!

Well, this may be my fastest frog ever!  I got almost halfway done the first quarter panel of the tree skirt and realized I don’t really like it very much. 

Soooooo…..

I’ve frogged it and cast back on for an improvised skirt.  I’m using the basics (the cast on number of sts and the increases) from the pattern and I’m going to design my own ‘insides’.  I like the holly leaves/berry so I’ll include those.  I’m going to do the entire skirt at once rather than make it in quarters.  I realize this means my needles will be very full by the end, lol, but hopefully it works out ok!  

Autumn Rose is Finished!

Pattern:  Autumn Rose Pullover by Eunny Jang

Simply Shetland 4

Smallest size using 14 balls of Shetland Spindrift as called for in the pattern

Modifications:  I added a complete pattern repeat into the waist section

It’s Going To Be A BUSY Day :)

Good morning, Happy Friday

 

I’m so Happy!!  I have completed the scary cutting of the steeks on the Autumn Rose and it went beautifully   Look how pretty.  These are my first steeks!  I used the instructions given in Eunny’s crocheted steeks tutorial and they are awesome

The Wool Gods do love me as it turns out….I had just enough of the yarn to finish the sweater even with the modifications I made.  I have yet to complete the neckband and I have a plan for that (as I’m running quite low on ‘sunrise’)…I’m going to run bands of colour…two in peat, two in sunrise, two in madder, two in sunrise, two in peat, using the background ’old gold’ and ‘bracken’ for the purls.  I highly doubt anyone who hasn’t knit it or read the pattern will ever see that there even is a modification! 

I am enjoying this coffee…and I better…as soon as I am done, I have to start preparing for the kids’ halloween party this afternoon.  I’m making a spider cake with green guts…awesome stuff for the 9 and 10 year old set!  I have to get jelling my jello though and baking or we’re in trouble!  I couldn’t see making a cake and filling it with jello and then storing it over night even….I pictured bad things happening so I’m making it fresh today.  I did buy the canned frosting (cheating yes) so that step will be so quick. 

Another thing on my list….filling and hanging the pinata…(oh yeah, and adding legs and eyes to him so he looks spider-ish.  The pinata has worked out well so far and I just hope he can take more than one whack!  LOL  I think the first kid to try is going to break that open!

For ME…I’d really be happy if I can finish Autumn Rose and wear it but I have a feeling time will be short today even though it is only ten rows to finished.  Oh, and the lovely end weaving…I was doing it periodically as I went but haven’t caught up in a while, lol.

Have a fantastic day!

Getting There :)

I’m happy and stressed out over this sweater! 

I added the extra repeat in the waist section and started my increases a few rows earlier to ‘re place’ the waist a little lower than it is on the original chart (pattern wise).

I’m running low-ish on some of the yarn colours already and now I’m fretting about the neckline. 

Knitting wise, the pattern is beautiful and the fair isle is coming out excellently if I do say so myself.  I’m really happy I’m making it and I’m going to focus on that…the positive!

A Few Days…

Yes, I’ve been away from this computer for a few days.  I got my Autumn Rose pattern book and the yarn…so I’ve been knitting!!  I’m so happy with it so far   The yarn (shetland spindrift) seems very scratchy at first, but it works up beautifully in the fair isle.  Holds the stitches sort of like velcro.  Very hard to ‘un knit’ though!!  LOL.  Found that out the hard way after making a 2oo+ stitch mistake!

 

Here’s the thing though, I don’t know for sure what to do regarding length!  The pattern says it is 22 1/4 inches in length.  I have to make the small size to fit me ‘around’ and yet I’m 5 foot 7 so I usually add length to sweaters.  The length, as is, will be short-ish compared to what I normally like.  So the decision has to be made soon.  I figure to add in the extra pattern repeat in the waist (most narrow) area. (because of the yoke patterning, I need to add in a full repeat in order to keep the pattern constant – or I considered making the coloured bands between the medalions wider through the waist area…that could work too)  Then there is the wool thing.  I’ve already spent an arm and a leg on this sweater…adding the extra rep could add another 20 dollars or so.  I won’t know until I get near the end though so I need to knit fast or my dye lot may not be waiting when I realize what I need!

Then there is the option of leaving the pattern as is.   I may just do that, but my fear is not loving the finished length after going to the work of knitting this.  It isn’t like a usual sweater where I’m ok with the idea of frogging and re-knitting! 

I’m way, way behind on the blogstalking posts…four and five I believe I need to post yet.  And my ravelry invite came!!!  That will take some time to set up…now I can see what everyone was saying when they said to be prepared. 

My ravelry name is knitsnthings.

Off to knit….have a great day!

The First Fitted Glove Is Finished!

Have a look

From Here To There…

I’m so not having my best day (week)…but then neither are these shoes!

I tried to think up some kind of fabulous idea for this post…but didn’t.  Sorry!  Basically I walk, take the bus or wait for my husband to be home to get from ‘here to there’.

It’s been raining like crazy here this weekend and I’m sick AND it was Thanksgiving for us here yesterday.  I’m patting myself on the back for just getting the dinner made and served without coughing to death.   It’s the same virus that sent our daughter to the hospital last weekend, but I’m certain they won’t help me….except to helpfully inform me it is a virus, of course!  I did borrow one of the ventalin puffers this morning…helps a lot.

On the good news front, I heard from my lady at the store where I’m planning to buy my Simply Shetland 4 book and the yarn!  She has her stock in now and hopefully I shall make it there next week.  Wednesday is the goal.  Should work beautifully, I ordered the necessary needles from knitpicks and they were shipped on Thursday.  If I get over this cold in the meantime….hmmm….I think I’m really looking forward to Wednesday/Thursday!  I love starting a new project, especially something I’ve been looking forward to

Meantime, I’ve been working on a pair of gloves? (they may still morph into mittens)  I’m using the left over Ultra Alpaca from the sweater I just finished.  Size 3.25 mm needles.  I found a pattern I really liked for a ‘leaf lace’ type panel and then discovered it was too wide to look right.   I designed my own…it’s fun but challenging to design cables and lace on the graph paper.  Tricky because the count varies row to row sometimes.  Glove number one is almost done to the fingers…

And the back/underside…

So, what do you think?

And then there were two….

I’ve finished the mirasol socks I started    Another addition to the Christmas pile!

Now I’m going to try a pair of gloves…not sure if they will be fingerless or not.  I’m using a nice cable/lace pattern I found on the internet (love that, don’t you?).  It is really nice though I’m not certain how it will work out in the gloves.  We’ll soon see

Mirasol Gloves…All Done!

Something for the Christmas pile   My middle daughter has already loved these enough that they will be hers this year….