Soap Sweater

Oct. 23: Made first soap sweater. It was a bit difficult to knit around the soap when I added it in, but I got it finished and it looks great (pictures soon). I plan to make quite a few of these for gifts.





Pattern: Soap Sweater
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Amoroso

Brillante Scarf

I asked this yarn what it wanted to be. It chose this scarf. I’m not sure that I’m happy with the choice. Actually, I’m just not sure that I like the blueish bit of color mixed in. I like the rest just fine but that one bit just doesn’t look right to me. ~sigh~

August 23: Still working on it. The yarn color is growing on me.

September 7: Finished! A little shorter than I would like but it’ll still work.

Pattern: One Row Handspun Scarf
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Brillante

Scrunchable Scarf

October 1, 2008: Cast on using 32 stitches. Finished about 3 inches.

December 7, 2008: Finished! I probably should have cast on only 29 stitches because the width is fine but the length is quite short. If I’d shaved a little off the width, I might have been able to make it a little longer. I’ll have to remember that next time I make a scarf using only 1 skein of Mmmmal. But it is lovely and soft.

Pattern: Scrunchable Scarf
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Mineral Red
Scarf has been sold in my etsy store: karendawn.etsy.com

Slouchy Hat

November 24, 2008: Well, I’m not really happy with how this turned out. It’s supposed to be slouchy, but it’s too tight (I didn’t do a gauge swatch and now I’m regretting that) to really slouch. But if I try to wear it without slouching, it is too tall. So I’ve decided to wear it with the brim turned up which takes away from the whole slouch idea but at least makes the hat wearable. Pictures show both styles (to show how the slouch doesn’t work).









Pattern: Slouchy Copy Cat Hat
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Tuareg

Socks for Eden

October 4, 2008: I decided to try socks on DPNs again and see if I can actually finish a pair when making just one at a time. I like how the sock has turned out so far.

October 11, 2008: Finished the first sock! I did discover, just as I was decreasing for the toes that I had been reading the pattern incorrectly. The design calls for Rows 1 and 2 to be knit a certain way and Rows 3 and 4 another way. For some reason, I read that as Rows 1 and 3 and Rows 2 and 4 (and wondered why not just have 2 rows if they were the same). So it doesn’t look quite like what the pattern calls for, but I do like it. But beyond my stupid mistake, the pattern is quite well written. And although the sock is a little too big for me, I’m going to have a hard time giving these away - they are so soft and comfortable! Now I need to make its mate.

October 21: Finished with second sock! And these didn’t suffer from second sock syndrome. Yay! It looks like the socks match up pretty well and I can’t wait to see how Eden likes them.

October 23: Gave the socks to Eden last night. Took a picture of her wearing them but the lighting was bad, so you can’t really see the color (the unworn pictures are much more accurate). They seem to fit well and she’s very happy with them.

Pattern: Hedgerow Socks
Yarn: Yarn Pirate BFL Sock in Wintergreen

Socks for Me (Pair #1)

August 12, 2008: I have about 3 inches done so far. I'm trying a new method of doing both socks at the same time.





September 18, 2008: Finally finished the 6 inches on the legs and started the heel flap. Got halfway through that.






September 20, 2008: Got through turning the heel.



September 22, 2008: Finished the gusset decreases and now working on the foot. I tried them on and they fit! (Although there is a gap between the stitches on one side of the heel of one sock; I think I should have picked up at least another stitch there.)

September 27, 2008: I have about another inch or so to go on the foot before I start decreasing for the toes.

October 1, 2008: Finished! And a perfect fit. I love them!








Pattern: Sugar Maple from 2-at-a-Time Socks
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Multi in Devon

Clapotis

July 21: This pattern seems to be all the rage. I still can’t decide if I like it or not, so I decided that the best way to figure that out is to make one for myself. ~grin~



July 27: Have gone through one skein and started the second. And I’ve done the dropped stitch part twice. It was scary the first time but it was kinda fun the second time.


August 23: Just four more repeats on the main body and then I can start the decreasing. I’m at the point where I’m a little tired of doing this section, but I’m looking forward to seeing how it turns out so I’ll keep going.



August 30: Finished the knitting and dropping the stitches. Now I need to block and weave in the ends. And I think that I already love this wrap!



September 21: Have finally set this up for blocking. It laid out pretty well, so I’ll give it a couple of days to dry completely and then I’ll weave in the ends.



September 23: All done! And I like it!



Pattern: Clapotis
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Silky Merino in Cape Cod Gray

Slytherin Scarf

December 1, 2007: Started knitting and continued knitting for a very long time.

August 3, 2008: Argh! I’m almost out of the grey yarn and it’s not near long enough. Unfortunately I lost the ball bands, so I don’t remember exactly what color. I have it narrowed down to 2, so I ordered one of them and will hope it’s the right one.

August 11, 2008: I got the yarn I ordered and I picked wrong. ~sigh~ But I went to the LYS and found exactly what I needed, so I’m all set now!

September 7, 2008: This is no longer the scarf that never ends! All finished and my husband says it is long enough - thank goodness!

Pattern: House Scarves - Years 1 and 2 in Charmed Knits
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool in Grey (#8509) and in Forest Green (#8267)

Blanket Buddy

August 17, 2008: This was a fairly quick knit. I enjoyed the way the head was made as I had never tried that before. I plan to make at least one more for another friend who has a new baby coming in a couple of months.

November 9, 2008: Finished a second blanket buddy for the other friend. The second picture is this second blanket buddy, unblocked.

Pattern: Blanket Buddy in 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton in Pink (#606)

Little Monster Bear

August 3I saw this little guy and thought he was incredibly cute, so I grabbed one of my partial skeins of Malabrigo and spent the afternoon working on him. It was a little tedious to seam it, but not too horrible. I don’t think I did a great job with the placement of the arms, legs, and ears, but he’s still cute.

I need to get some eyes and let him dry after felting, so I’ll post a picture in a couple of days.

August 4: Added eyes and took the picture.

Pattern: Little Monster Bear in 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Purple Mystery

Felted Bag (Blue and White)

July 31: I just realized that my mother-in-law’s birthday is in a little over a week, and they just made plans to come visit us for that weekend, so I’d better get something ready for a present. Eek!

August 3: I have been knitting up a storm on this bag for the past couple of days and I finished just now. It’s currently in the washer for felting! I’m very pleased with the colors.

August 4: Added pictures of completed felted bag. It’s still drying, but it should be finished in time for my MIL’s birthday on Saturday! It’s a little fuzzy (I’m assuming because of the mohair), so I think I’ll try to find a sweater stone and see if that helps. But I’m very happy with how it turned out and how large it is.

Pattern: Angela's Fabulous Felted Bag
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky in Winter Blue (M-51) and in Aran (M-140)

Halter Top

I’m not sure if knitting this in wool is a great idea, but when that wool is Malabrigo, I don’t really care. ~grin~ It’s just sooooo soft!

I love the way the yarn is looking as it knits up.

July 20: Finished! Blocking right now. I think it turned out okay, so I’m looking forward to it being dry so I can see how it really fits (was a little tight under the arms before blocking). I’m not sure that I have enough yarn for the matching boy shorts, so I’m putting those on hold for now and will just enjoy the halter top.

Pattern: Gracefully Gathered Halter Top in Knitting Lingerie Style
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Oceanos
Top has been sold in my etsy store: karendawn.etsy.com

Practice Socks

July 12: I’ve knitted exactly one sock - no matching sock. So when I saw this book (2-at-a-Time Socks), I thought it might be perfect for me so I could knit both socks at once.

I bought some cheap yarn (Lily's Sugar and Cream) for the practice pair and cast on. Ummm….something went wrong. Badly wrong. I gave up.

A few days later I tried again, this time really concentrating as I was working. The concentration is paying off and I’m finished with the ribbed cuff. Now onto the leg. (will post picture soon)

I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with this technique yet, but it does have some advantages, so I’m going to give it a try and if these turn out, I have already picked out my first actual socks (both yarn and pattern) to use this technique on.

July 17: Have finished turning the heel. Hmm…something went wrong there. I got it all to look okay, but I must have skipped a small step or done something wrong because I didn’t get the socks lined up correctly. I had to take one off using dpns and then put it back on the circular. sigh But it does look okay so I don’t think I’ve messed up the finished product. It’s just the process that I’ve messed up. [I later discovered that there was some errata in the directions.]

July 20: Finished! I think I’m getting more comfortable with this technique. (It helped that I found the errata.) I’m eager to make an actual pair of socks for myself now!

I do hate this yarn and it definitely wasn’t the right yarn to choose for socks (I went with the cheapest yarn I could find since this was just for practice.) I was going to give these to a friend’s child for Christmas (hence the colors), but there’s no way I want to give these to anyone. So they look okay, but they feel horrid and feel like they would be uncomfortable to wear.

A Better Bucket

I love the way this yarn looks and the way the colors worked out.

But I’m not entirely happy with the hat. It’s a little tight and the brim just doesn’t seem to sit quite correctly. I’m going to try blocking it (when the manikin head that I bought arrives) and see if that helps. Otherwise, I do think this might be the right style hat for me if I can make it fit right on my head!

Pattern: A Better Bucket
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Merino Worsted in Amoroso

Tiny Sock Ornament

So cute! I plan to make several of these to give as gifts for Christmas. It took me about an hour and a half to make this first one, but since that was also figuring out the pattern, I think I could get them down to about an hour each.

Elvish Leaves Dishcloth

I like the way this yarn feels, but it seems a little thick for the size needle as I didn’t really get the lace effect with the YOs. If I try this again with this yarn, I’d go up a needle size to see if that makes a difference.

But it does feel really nice!

Erlenmeyer Flask Dishcloth

The purple is quite vibrant, but it doesn’t allow the image to pop out very well. The picture truly shows how it actually looks - you have to look really closely to see the flask.

My first time using this yarn (KnitPicks CotLin). I like how it looks, but it was a little slippery to knit with and I had trouble holding a good tension on it.

Dishcloth has been sold in my etsy store: karendawn.etsy.com

Shallowtail Shawl

We're going on a weekend getaway for our anniversary, and one night we'll be going to eat at a nice restaurant. I have a brown dress that I plan to wear and I really wanted a shawl to go with it. I got this yarn in the mail last week and fell in love with it, knowing that it was the right yarn for the shawl for this dress. (The yarn is yummy! It's called Dream in Color Smooshy. Isn't that just a cool name? The color is November Muse.)



Now I needed to find a pattern, something that I could actually finish in a week. A lot of people on Ravelry have been talking about this Swallowtail Shawl, so I thought I'd give it a try.

After a week of knitting, I am happy to report that it is finished! I learned a lot with this pattern and feel much more confidant about lace knitting now. I also learned about the magic of blocking. Blocking is basically wetting the yarn and stretching it out to the shape/size you want it and then letting it dry.

Pre-blocking, the shawl looked like a bunched mess of yarn:


Definitely not a gorgeous shawl like I want it. But with the magic of blocking, it now looks like this (it's still drying on the blocking board, so no pictures off the board yet):



MUCH better! And here's a closeup so you can see the pattern a little more:



It's a tad smaller than I thought it would be and I don't think I've stretched out the right side as much as the left, so after this weekend, I'll probably block it again and see if I can get it to stretch out a little more. But I can't wait for tomorrow when it should be dry and I can actually try it on!

Celtic Cable Neckwarmer

I had a partial ball of green Malabrigo and didn’t know what to do with it. If my calculations were correct, I had just the right amount of yarn for this neckwarmer, so it was a perfect combination.

June 26: Found some buttons to use - I really love the buttons so I’m looking forward to seeing how it all looks when it comes together.

June 26 (later): Stayed up late to finish this one. It’s currently blocking, but I had to take a picture first! I had to tighten the buttonholes a bit as my buttons were a bit on the small side. But I’m very very happy with how it turned out!

Katey's Purse

I saw this pattern on my calendar for June 6 and I just had to get started on it right away. I knew that the bamboo/wool yarn that I had in my stash would be perfect for it. I also thought that if I could get it done in time, it would be a nice present for my niece who was coming to visit.

I went to Hobby Lobby and found some lovely purple gingham fabric for lining the inside. At Michael's I found a cute daisy button. All the pieces were ready, now I just needed to knit it!

On June 14, I finished the body of the purse. The whole next day I worked on the i-cord for the handle (three long pieces and then braided together). I was still working on the lining and adding the button when my niece was here but I didn't tell her that the purse was going to be a gift to her.

As I finished it and took a picture to post on Ravelry, she was watching over my shoulder on the computer. On Ravelry, I typed up my finishing comments and added this statement: "Now it’s time to give it to my niece!" She apparently didn't quite know what "niece" meant, so I pointed to the place on Ravelry where it lists who the object is made for, which said "Katey." She smiled and I gave her the purse. She carried it with her almost everywhere we went after that (it looks really cute on her). I hope she enjoys it. :)

Gryffindor Quidditch Sweater

It's another Harry Potter knit! I've never knit a sweater before, so I was really hoping this one would turn out okay. Here's what the sweater looks like in the movies (I'll have to see if I can find the patch for Gryffindor to put on it):



And here's the start of it - about 7-8 inches of the front side in 2x2 rib - not much to see quite yet (I switch colors at 11-1/2 inches). [Note: The yarn that I'm using - Cascade 220 superwash - seems to run as my knitting needles are now turning the color of the yarn; you can see it if you look at the tip of the needle in this picture. Eek!]



Updated April 3, 2008: And here's the latest progress - I've finished both the front and the back and one sleeve! I'm almost finished with the second sleeve and then I just have the seaming, adding the neckline, attaching the sleeves and I'll be done. Oh, yeah, not much else to do. *faints*




Here's the sweater with all but the sleeves:



And here's the completed sweater! I love it! (finished May 24, 2008)