Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Emily's Birthday Purse

February 12: Started.

March 29: Finished!

I used an i-cord handle rather than the cabled handle from the pattern because the cabled handle just seemed too wide for the small purse. I love the material that I used to line the purse, but once again I was reminded about how much I dislike doing all the finishing on projects. Perhaps I should invest in one of those small handheld sewing machines so I don’t have to do so much handsewing for adding linings.

Pattern: Cable Bag
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Azul Bolita

Brigit Socks

February 16: Cast on and finished 5 rounds of the cuff.

February 17: Worked a little more on first sock. Finished the cuff and 9 rounds of the leg. The very small cables are rather annoying with a cable needle, so I think I’ll look into the how to cable without using a needle and see if that helps.

February 22: Finished the leg and the heel flap. I decided that working with the cable needle was actually less annoying that trying to cable without a needle. I did, however, slip the stitch from the cable needle back to the left needle rather than knitting it off the cable needle. That seems to help.

February 26: Working on the foot and have about 5” completed so far.

February 28: Working on the decreases for the toe.

March 1: Sock #1 finished. Another perfect fit and oh so comfortable. I can’t wait to knit its mate so I can wear this pair of socks!

March 3: Cast on for Sock #2 and finished the cuff.

March 22: I’m finally getting back to working on these socks. I hope I can finish by the end of the month so they’ll count for February Sockdown! I’ve finished turning the heel and am now decreasing the gusset stitches.

March 25: If I’m counting correctly, I think I have about 18 more rounds to go before I begin decreasing for the toe. So I should be just fine to finish this by the end of the month!

March 27: Finished! I’m wearing them now and they’re a perfect fit and very comfortable. I love them!

Pattern: Brigit (free Ravelry download)
Yarn: Lotus Yarns Nirvana in Hitchcock Starlet (buy this yarn here or here)

Breathe Deep

March 14: Started first mitten this morning.

March 15: Finished first mitten and cast on for the second. I’m up through the cuff on that one now.

March 16: Finished! A really great fit. I knitted the first one (left) using DPNs and the second (right) using Magic Loop. The ML one seems a little looser but they still fit well. (I was testing to see which way I liked knitting them better - I think ML won for these.)

I picked up 3 stitches for the thumb rather than the 2 it called for since just the 2 would have left me with quite a gap. All in all, I’m very pleased with how they turned out and I absolutely love the fall colors in this yarn.

Pattern: Breathe Deep
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Stonechat

Forest Canopy Shawl

March 7: Cast on. The pattern is fairly simple so everything is going well so far.

March 8: I’m up to 155 stitches (need to get to 195 before beginning the border rows).
March 9: Just a few more rows tonight. Up to 163 stitches.
March 10: Almost finished with the body. Up to 191 stitches (of 195), so just two more rows to go before I begin the border rows (8 of those and then the binding off rows). Also, I joined in the 2nd skein of yarn and I tried the Russian Join which honestly makes me a little nervous, but it looks like it it holding up so far. We’ll see how it goes when I block it!
March 12: Finished with the knitting and so now I just need to block it (pictures are currently unblocked and not in good light). I have quite a bit of yarn leftover (I’ll measure it tomorrow) so I wish I had know that and finish an additional pattern repeat. But I do love the color and it’s oh so soft!

March 13: Currently blocking. It’s not quite as big as I had expected, but it’s a very nice small shawl. (About 3 feet across and 1-1/2 feet the other way)

March 14: This dried rather quickly so it’s all finished.

Pattern: Forest Canopy Shawl
Yarn: Malabrigo Silky in Indiecita
Shawl has been sold in my etsy store: karendawn.etsy.com

Patty

Malabrigo March Project

March 7: Started and finished knitting this small project this morning. I just need to go get some buttons to make it a completely finished project.

March 12: I finally got some buttons and sewed them on today. This is a great project for leftovers of yarn so I think I’ll be making more.

Pattern: Patty
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Tuareg

Retro Rib Socks

Jan. 22: I’ve been holding off on actually using any of my “precious” Sundara, but I realize that’s kinda silly. Yarn should be knitted, not stored in a box. So I wound it into a ball and started these socks. I’ve only done about 11 rounds so far, so I’ll post a picture when I get a little more done. I will say that starting off with a purl round working on DPNs is something I haven’t done before and it was a little difficult to get it to feel “comfortable” at first. But it’s perfectly fine now.

Jan. 23: Worked on a little more of the leg and finished 5 pattern repeats. Only 12 more to go before starting the heel.

Jan. 24: Finished up through 9 pattern repeats.

Jan. 25: Finished the leg, turning the heel, and picking up gusset stitches. Now working on decreasing the gusset stitches.

Jan. 28: Working on the foot now.

Jan. 29: Sock #1 finished. And I absolutely love it. Not only is it a perfect fit, the Sundara is just absolutely lovely and soft and comfortable. I think this might turn into one of my favorite pairs of socks. Now to make its mate! (Update: I finished the cuff on the second sock.)

Feb. 14: Finally got back to working on this project. After a marathon day of knitting, I finished the leg, heel flap, heel turn, and picking up the gusset stitches. My hands really hurt, but I’m really happy with the progress.

Feb. 15: Spent a good chunk of today working on this sock and it’s approaching the end. I have 6 more rounds on the foot and then I just have to decrease for the toe!

Feb. 16: Finished. Perfect fit. I think these are my absolutely favorite socks I’ve made so far. I think it will be hard to get me to take them off!

Pattern: Retro Rib Socks from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Sundara Sock Yarn in Lenten Rose

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Sackboy

Jan. 9: My husband really wants one of these little guys. Finished the body.

Jan. 10: Finished knitting the head, two legs, and one arm. The fingers took a little while to figure out and I’m not sure I’m happy with how they turned out, so I’ll see what happens with the second arm.

Jan. 24: Sackboy has been on hold until I find the right zipper. I’ve looked online and just can’t find the right one. I’m going to look at two more local stores today and if I can’t find the perfect zipper I’ll just have to get a “that will work” zipper so I can finish this little guy. (Although I do still also need to knit the second arm)

Jan. 24 (later): Finished. And I’m reminded of why I don’t like knitting toys. I hate all the seaming and joining the parts together because I can never make them look quite right. I really don’t think I’m going to have the patience to do a second Sackboy. But this one turned out okayish.

Anklet Socks

December 2, 2008: Started socks and finished first 4 rounds.

December 4, 2008: Oops. I was planning to shorten the leg section, but I accidentally overlooked one step (the ribbing), so it’s not quite matching the pattern.

December 6, 2008: Finished turning the heel and picking up the gusset stitches. I’ve made two pairs of socks so far with this technique and both times I’ve had a lot of trouble with this part, even having to remove the stitches to other needles to get everything to line up correctly. This time I went over the errata even more carefully and really paid attention to the directions. And miracle! It worked. I got everything lined up and all the stitches picked up perfectly. Yay!

January 21, 2009: I was using just one ball of yarn, with one end from the inside and the other from the outside. I didn’t keep track of my yarn as well as I should have, so I ended up with massive tangles. So much so that I finally had to cut the yarn to untangle it, which was frustrating. I’m not sure that this 2-at-a-time on one circular method is quite right for me. But the socks are finished.





Garter Stitch Loop-Through Scarf

November 9: Got past the first split for the pull-through part. It really had me scratching my head for a while since I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to get the yarn back for the other side. I finally cut the yarn and just used the fresh end to go back and get the stitches on the other side. Perhaps there is another way, but that’s what worked for me.

January 17: Finally picked this project back up. It’s a little boring in the middle stretch but I have about three more inches to go before doing the split again.

January 19: All finished. Fits great! But I’m not sure yet if I’m going to keep it for myself or hold on to it to give as a gift to someone.



Saturday, January 10, 2009

BFF Socks

Oct. 27: Started first sock. Finished the 1” cuff.

Oct. 31: Wrestled with the cable increase round but finally got through it. That was a bit tough!

Nov. 8: Finished turning the heel and picking up and decreasing the gusset stitches. Ready now for knitting the foot.

Nov. 21: I’ve been working on other projects, so this sock has been put aside a little too long. I tried to work on it last week, but when I pulled it out I realized that my working needle had broken! Fortunately it was a Knit Picks Harmony set which comes with 6 needles, so I have a replacement (and KP will send me an extra one if yet another one breaks). Unfortunately I was away from home so couldn’t work on it then. So last night I pulled it back out and did 6 more rounds on the foot. I hope to finish the first sock and cast on for the second over Thanksgiving break.

Nov. 24: Just the toe remaining on sock #1! Should be able to finish this one tomorrow.

Nov. 25: Finished first sock. Fits perfectly!

Jan. 2: Finally cast on for second sock. Finished the cuff and the set up for the cable pattern.

Jan. 5: Turned the heel on the second sock and picked up the gusset stitches. Now I’m working on the decreases.

Jan. 8: Finished! The second sock did the same weird spiral pooling as the first but just not in the same place. But I think the socks still look great and they fit and feel wonderful!

Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock - Mediumweight in Tide Pool
Pattern: BFF Socks