Knitting In The North

A Little Hat

After many attempts to get Gwenyth to model the little cotton hat I made her, I have resorted to Pooh Bear.  Pooh Bear sits still, in the right light, and doesn't constantly rip the poor hat off his head, with a cheeky grin.

This hat is from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts, knit from less than one ball of Mission Falls 1824 Cotton.  I love this pattern, and I love this yarn.  It knits up really nicely, and quickly; plus, I enjoy the organic feel and look of the finished fabric.  This is the perfect weight for a spring hat - wool is too warm now, but it's still below freezing in the morning, and I'm not ready to put away the cold-weather gear just yet - you never know! 

The only negative I've found with this pattern is that the hats tend to fit a bit small.  I tried to counter this by going up a needle size, but it's still more snug than I would have liked.  I knit this up on 5mm bamboo DPNs, and used the middle (toddler) size.

If I can convince her to wear this with any regularity, I'll do one more in the largest size.  I have some nice Indigo Blue, that I think would look smashing on the little monkey.  This purple is pretty cute as well - she's definitely a strong colours kind of girl.  No pastels here!  (That may be an indicator of personality - her will's pretty strong, too!)   

And.... We're Back!

What do you do when faced with a bit of extra knitting time?  When feeling a tad isolated, without anyone to talk to about shared interests, when there is no world of beauty and information available at your fingertips?  (In other words, when you are computer-less?)

Apparently, I knit dishcloths.  I found in my stash a gigantic ball of dishcloth cotton, and sat down on the first day of spring to knit a springy cloth.  (I tried my best to ignore the freezing temperatures, blowing wind and snow.)  First, I picked a pattern I liked (the Whelk stitch) out of my good ol' Readers Digest Ultimate Resource of Knitting and Crochet Stitches, and just made one up.  Then, I finally got to try Dave's Garterlac dishcloth.  Still not done, I whipped up a basic eyelet cloth.  And sadly, the gigantic ball of yarn doesn't even look like a dent's been made in it.  I'm done for the moment, but I'm sure I'll return.  There is something that feels so good about knitting a dishcloth. And let's not forget the amount of yarn this will show on my "outgoing yarn" list.

I'm almost done the first sleeve of my Ariann, and I'm having a gauge concern.  My plan at the moment is to block the sleeve, and see how it comes out.  Any suggestions?  Should I finish the sleeve before blocking?  Wet block, or just steam?  I know this is not rocket science, but I get a little needy when I have to step outside the written pattern.  Good for the little grey cells, though. 

Oh, yes!  I also knit up Gwenyth one of the little cotton hats in Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.  I'll see if I can chase her down and get a photo, but you know how that can be - you might have to see it modeled on a teddy bear.

I'll Be Back

Well, this is just a quickie post, to let you know that my computer has crashed, crashed, crashed with a vengeance.  I will be quiet for a while, but I'll be here... knitting.  I am hoping it won't take too long to get back in action, but until then, know that I'm working away on Ariann, plus a little hat for Gwen.

Fizzled Again

I can't believe it.  I think I'm cursed.  Somewhere out there, something or someone is determined that I not knit this pattern.  Now, you know I'm a fairly new knitter.  I've heard about getting your tail kicked by your knitting, but have never had the pleasure.  Until now.  Sigh.

The new ball arrived from Knitpicks, and everything looked fine.  I alternated every other row, thinking I could blend it in, and all would be well.  No dice.  There was a distinct striping across the front of my beautiful, drapey tank.  I still hold that Shine is a good yarn for this pattern, although I do think the worsted would be much better than the sport.  I was able to get gauge with the sport, but it did make for a very thin fabric.

I sat in the sun this morning and ripped it all out.  The hours and hours of knitting, the miles and miles of stocking stitch.  There was actually something mesmerizing about watching the stitches pull out, watching the yarn run through my fingers in reverse.

I'm moving on now, and I'm off to eat some chocolate.  Let's never speak of this again. 

A Week?!?

I have no idea at all, at all where the last week has gone.  There have been family dramas, children's excitement, work stuff, and knitting, but it doesn't seem like a whole week has gone by since I last posted.

The actual knitting on the Cabled Silk Shell is done.  I finished it yesterday; now comes the seaming, and the picking up of stitches for the armholes and neck.  I've tucked it away for a few days, and will come back to it when I have some uninterrupted time to give it (movie night?).  I'm quite proud that I've done so well with the timing - my Mum's birthday is at the end of April, and am pleased that barring any disasters, she'll have her gift on her big day.

My heart has been pulled in the direction of Sizzle over the last couple of days, and after ripping back what I'd done on the front, I'm pretty much back to where I was in the last photo.  There was a tiny hiccup, when I realized one ball of yarn has been stolen by pixies; I placed a Knitpicks order, so will have to wait for it to arrive before I can do any more Sizzle work.  I want to do the whole "alternate yarn every other row to blend in the dye lot" thing.

This left me in an unfortunate spot last night - back to the "what to knit next" dilemma!  I have been wanting to knit up the Rainy Day Socks in the last issue of MagKnits, but I really, really wanted to get a start on my Ariann.  I told you that I was leaning that way before, but recently I've been taken over by the pattern, and have had a hard time restraining myself.  The plan was to wait until I was finished with Sizzle.  I was holding strong, though, until my enabler husband told me to just download the pattern, and even helped me set up the swift and ballwinder, so I could wind up the Nature Wool I have set aside for this sweater.

Don't you love that moment at the beginning of a new project?  Maybe it's because I'm such a planner, but I adore printing off a pattern, highlighting all the right size numbers, reading it through, winding up my yarn, finding the right needles.  Why, then, did I get off to such a rough start on this one?  Perhaps it was the Universe smacking me down for rushing, and being unwilling to do a gauge swatch.  (I figured I would start with a sleeve, and if my gauge was off, I could just rip it back.)  It could have been the rush to get my stuff together and get out the door to my knitting group with my new project.  I don't know.  What I do know is that I had to cast on FOUR. TIMES. for the darn sleeve!  First, I knit the cuff with the larger needle size, rather than the smaller.  Then, my join looked funny.  Then, I miscounted and was one stitch short.  Finally, I got it down, and have now worked the first increase on the sleeve.

Oh, and the wool!  Stephaneener, you did not go on too much!   It's wonderful!  I'm using a grey colourway, which has several different shades, and I think it's beautiful!  The yarn is soft, it feels sooo nice in my fingers!  After knitting with the silk, which was thick, and not overly elastic, knitting with this feels like coming home.  I can hardly wait to get more done, and see how it looks! 

Hmmmmm.  Maybe I'm not in such a rush for that Shine to show up, after all.

A Treat

I received a wonderful treat in the mail, from my dear knitting friend Marianne.  She's been making these awesome stitch markers, and kindly made a set for me.

The first set is a beautiful turquoise, so thoughtful, since that's my favourite colour.  These are rich, and completely lovely, with bits of darker blue, and so shiny!  Perfect for the packrat in me.

The second set is lovely in a whole other way - they remind me of one of my favourite flowers, the peachy-pink and yellow snapdragons I so love in the summer.  These are soft and elegant, and I feel special and warm using them.

Thanks so very much, Marianne, I'm already using these, and loving them!  You are so sweet! 

More Warm Hands

I may have gotten myself into something... here are the fingerless gloves I made for the young man I work with.  Word seems to have gotten out, and I've had requests for everything from scarves to socks to sweaters!  One guy told me about this great intarsia sweater he wants, and offered to pay me.  (I told him he couldn't afford me.) :0)

These fingerless gloves (modeled by Stuart) were knit following the Hand Warmers pattern in, you guessed it, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.  The yarn was a basic acrylic we picked out together at Wal-Mart, but very soft and machine washable.  I am pleased with the number of synthetics out there - some of them seem very nice.  I used (I think) 3.75mm bamboo DPN's, and the longest part of the whole thing was the amount of time it took me to sit down and weave in the ends.

In other knitting, I am rounding the bend on the Cabled Silk Tank.  My progress has been slowed somewhat, by my inability to keep my hands off Sizzle.  I found a flaw in the yarn that I had missed during my first knitting of the front, and ripped it all back.  I had forgotten how much I like knitting with Knitpicks Shine -  I love the combination of the cotton and Modal.  I don't think I'll have it done for St. Patrick's Day, though!

Fields of Green

I've been working away on the front of the Cabled Silk Tank, even carting it back and forth to work to make use of those little bits of time.  I have just over 7" of length, which puts me halfway to the armhole shaping.

This is the first garment I have knit with cables, and I am charmed at the way the cables do the garment shaping themselves, rather than needing a lot of increasing and decreasing along the length.  And really, I don't know what all my fuss was about - this is simplicity itself, and the result is so pleasing!

Part of my determination to get it finished (besides really, really wanting to actually get my Mum's birthday gift to her before her birthday, not some day in the distant future), it that I've revisited some of my UFOs.  Do you remember this?

Or this?

 

Both Orangina and Sizzle were projects that sort of petered out last fall.  Orangina was about a third of the way through, and Sizzle was about two thirds done. Now that my little heart is longing for spring, I think some green, warm weather knitting is in order, don't you? 

Horcrux Again

I finished up the Horcrux socks, and they've dried nicely.  The Tuffy didn't soften up quite as much as I was hoping, but they are still very nice, sturdy wool socks, and super warm.  I used far less than 2 skeins of Briggs and Little Tuffy (even with the extra zig? zag?), beautifully hand dyed by Dorothy.  I am thinking of picking up a ball of grey Tuffy, and making another pair, with contrast heel, toe and cuff.  I followed Susan's great, easy to understand pattern; I used 3.75mm bamboo DPNs.

I am still in debate with myself whether or not I should keep these for myself, or send them to my Mum for her birthday.  The kids say send them to Grandma, and I am planning on starting the Rainy Day Socks with the RYC Cashsoft from my Webs order.  (Not to mention the contrast pair I'm sure I can get out of the leftovers.)  So I guess I could be generous. :0) 

As a member of the Sock A Month group, it's very satisfying to have my March pair of socks off the needles so soon - I always feel a bit of pressure to get my pair done, whether I want to or not!

A Little Bunny Trail

I am headed off to a baby shower next week, and thought along with my standard baby shower gift (a package of disposable diapers), a little bit of girly softness was in order.

These are the Angora Booties from Last-Minute Knitted Gifts.  Boy, do I love this book!  I bought it last summer, and have used several different patterns from it, and have plans for more.  One day, I fully intend to knit myself an Hourglass sweater, I am a little bit in love with it.

I used a very small amount of the Louisa Harding Kimono Angora that arrived the other day, and they are so soft and sweet!  I think, though, that the next time I make them I will use a stretchier bind off, it seems a bit tight for maneuvering over tiny feet.  And more than anything else, they're just CUTE!  I remember someone I knew giving me a tiny pair of booties when Katie was born.  They were so little (and Katie had giant feet) that they didn't fit for very long, but I hung them up in our bedroom  because I was so charmed by them.

Now, back to my regularly scheduled knitting....