New Year, Newish Blog Purpose

I've been using this blog just to post the finished projects I've made. Basically, I keep all of my notes on my project page on Ravelry and then when a project is finished, I just copy those notes, add a few pictures, and post here. There have been a few times that I thought about writing posts about knitting or what I'm currently working on, but I didn't because this blog was, in my mind, just for finished project posts. But why? Just because that's what I've done in the past doesn't mean that I have to continue that in the future. And so I am taking this blog in a slightly new direction. Not entirely new, because it will still be about me and my knitting, but it will be about my entire knitting life and not just finished projects. So with that in mind, here are some of my current thoughts on my knitting life.

Wait, knitting life? What life? I had a beautiful baby boy in August and my knitting life has definitely taken a nose dive since then. I just don't have as much time to knit as before and I don't have as much time to get into intricate projects (such as lace shawls) because I don't have the luxury of uninterrupted concentration time. So what little knitting I've done has consisted of very simple projects. I also haven't used my spinning wheel since my son was born (that's something else this blog will do--given that I have any time to spin--I'll also talk about spinning). Now, I don't want to give up any time with my son and don't feel bad that I'm spending time with him instead of knitting. But I do feel the desire to do something really intricate with knitting.

Now that my son is 4 months old, he's starting to take longer naps (sometimes) and go to bed an hour or two before me (sometimes). I plan to use those times, when he is sleeping, to get some knitting time in and time that I can use to perhaps create something that does more than just use stockinette or ribbing. So I'm spending this evening (my son is napping right now) planning out some of my future knitting ideas. I've gone through my queue on Ravelry and have pulled up some of the projects that as of right now get me excited. I'm going to list them here and pick one and then after I'm finished with this post, I will go wind the yarn and print the pattern and find the correct needles (swatching if necessary). If I actually get started on the project tonight, that would be great, but I'm going to make my goals small each day so that I can be able to meet them and feel happy when I exceed them (instead of disappointed when I don't meet them). So here are the projects I'm currently contemplating.

Evenstar Shawl: This shawl is circular and done in a lace weight yarn. As soon as I came across the pattern (it went into my queue on December 2, 2010), I knew that I had to knit it. And I bought yarn specifically for it: JulieSpins Vera Lace in True Blue. Can't you just see that beautiful yarn and beautiful shawl matched up together? I haven't done a circular shawl yet, so this would be something new. And the lace pattern really seems like it will match with my desire to do something intricate.

© Susan Pandorf

Trellis and Vine Pullover: This pattern came out in the Fall 2009 issue of Interweave Knits. I love the detail around the bottom, neck, and wrists. Although the pattern calls for DK weight yarn, I had in my stash some lovely MadTosh Eyre (worsted weight) in Lapis that I immediately pictured the sweater being knit in. So my plan (since January 8, 2010) has been to swatch this and see if I can get gauge for this sweater in my yarn.

© Interweave Press

Herbivore by Stephen West: I love the way that Stephen West designs look. And yet I have knit only one of his patterns (Akimbo). I really need to do more. And the shape of this shawl is appealing. I've also had it queued for a while: since June 1, 2010. I picked up some Malabrigo Sock in Solis on May 27, 2010, so I must have queued the pattern for this yarn in particular just a few days after I got it.

© westknits

Celtic Knot Stole by Sarah Kendra Hughes: Okay, so the name of this one definitely caught me, as well as the look, but it was not the pattern itself that I was first attracted to. Instead, it was some yarn. In the summer of 2010, I went on an Alaskan cruise and one stop was in Victoria, British Columbia, a town I fell in love with. There were several yarn stores there and I found this Skacel Merino Lace yarn in this gorgeous green and picked it up with no project in mind. So I started searching on Ravelry and that's when I found this stole. I thought it would look exquisite in the green and have had it queued since August 1, 2010.

Mediumweight Pullover by Hannah Fettig: I made the lightweight pullover a few years ago and I love it. I wouldn't mind making that pattern again, but then I saw that the designed put out a pattern of the same design but in a different weight of yarn. I've had this MadTosh Pastoral in Nocturne sitting around since December 30, 2009. I've been pattern jumping with it, but thought that to really highlight the beautiful yarn, this simple yet elegant pullover pattern would be perfect and have had it queued since December 25, 2010.

© Hannah Fettig

Pom Pom Peds: I don't like the pom poms. I'll just start off with that. But I do like the ankle socks. I've had it queued since October 14, 2011, but I have not yet matched up yarn for it. Actually, my plan is to make several pairs of these. And I have more than enough fingering weight yarn lying around to do so.

© Purl Soho

Miss Bennet's Beaded Bag by Joanna Johnson: When Jane Austen Knits came out, I fell in love with quite a few patterns and definitely have some great knitting plans for that special magazine issue. This pattern, besides just liking it, will do two things for me: first, I will be able to try some Spud and Chloe yarn, which I've been wanting to do and second, I could try my hand at adding beads to my knitting. The one downfall with starting this one is that I don't have the beads. I'll need to fix that and get some beads so that I can start this one.

© Interweave Press

Pemberley Slippers by Kristi Schueler: Another pattern from Jane Austen Knits. I love the lace edging. And sport weight yarn? Why I have some in a colorway named for a Jane Austen character (Plucky Knitter MCN Sport in Captain Wentworth). Matching these two up seemed great (so what if I'm mixing books: Pride and Prejudice with Persuasion).

© Interweave Press

Ashfield Cardigan by Melissa LeBarre: Finally, this cardigan is from the New England Knits book. I loved so many of the patterns in this book but this is one I definitely want to make. The yarn (JulieSpins MCN 250 in Veritas) has been sitting in my stash since November 8, 2009. I bought it originally for another pattern, but I think that I'll like it as this cardigan better and have had it queued since August 5, 2011.

© Interweave

So now which one do I pick? Do I go with the yarn I really want to use? The pattern I really want to make? The item I'm most immediately going to use? The one that has been queued the longest? The yarn that has been in my stash the longest? I think I'll actually pick two projects. First, the Pom Pom Peds (minus the pom poms) because I haven't done socks in a while and it will be a pretty simple project. Now I just need to go through my fingering weight yarn and pick something. Then I think I'll do the Ashfield Cardigan because I'd like to be able to wear it before the weather gets too warm and also because I want to knit a pattern from a book since I have all these books on my shelf that I always forget to check out when I'm looking for patterns (I usually just search on Ravelry).

So I have about 40 minutes before I plan to go to bed. That should be enough time to get the Ashfield Cardigan started: yarn wound, pattern read, needles picked out, and hopefully swatch started. Any leftover time I'll spend picking out yarn for the ankle socks. Unless the baby wakes, which is entirely possible as he's making a lot of movement right now (watching him on the video baby monitor). So we'll see what happens for the rest of this evening.

Christmas Gifts: Summer Winds

I was waiting to post about these two projects until after Christmas but then I got a little busy and still didn't post, so here are the details of two much delayed projects: Summer Wind II and III.

November 15: I really liked the one I made for myself so I decided to make one for my sister for Christmas.

December 1: This time I bound off with a needle two sizes larger and it was so much better than my first Summer Wind. I’m really happy with how this turned out and I hope my sister likes it.

December 16: This one is for my mother-in-law. By this point, I pretty much have this pattern memorized. Such an easy yet elegant project!

Pattern: Summer Wind by Irishgirlieknits (available for purchase on Ravelry)
Yarn for Sister's Summer Wind: Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in Ponder Dusk
Yarn for MIL's Summer Wind: Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere in the November 2011 Dream Club color

Potato Chip Scarf

October 21: I’m jumping on the bandwagon to make one of these scarves. I’m a couple of inches along and it’s starting to really show off the swirly pattern. Yay! I decided to sew the beginning edges together so that it creates a curved edge and am really happy with how it looks.

November 14: All finished. This was a fun pattern although it got a bit repetitive at times. It also made a fairly short scarf; I measured it at around 32”. It barely wraps enough around my neck to stay on. If I were to do this again, I’d want to use another skein to make a longer scarf.

Pattern: Potato Chip Scarf by Barbara Aguiar
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Kaleidos

Hat for Luke

November 13: The hats that I originally made for Luke were newborn size and his head is growing fast. As he is approaching his 3rd month, the previous hats no longer fit him well. I thought that this style hat, with the ribbing and the ability to roll the brim up or down as needed would be one that would fit him for the rest of the winter as he continues growing.

 

Pattern: Little Boy Blue Ribbed Baby Hat by Tonya Wagner
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Bijou Blue

Tulip Sweater for Luke

September 27: Taking a class for this sweater at my LYS. First class was tonight. Instead of using the colors from the pattern, I’m using some Malabrigo from my stash and using only three colors.

October 27: The third class was this week and we did the seed stitch edging (where a button band would go but there are no buttons for this sweater) and i-cord edge.

We ran into a big problem: if you slip the first stitch of each row as the pattern instructs, when you go to pick up stitches, you don’t have enough to pick up especially if you do every 3 of 4 like the pattern calls for. That means you’re actually picking up every other row (the slipped stitch) and skipping several rows every 3 stitches. Add to that the smaller needle size and there’s a major problem in that the edging gathers so tightly that it just can’t be right. Some people picked up the stitch to the side of the slipped stitch (which got them to every row--skipping every 4th row). For myself, I did not go down the suggested needle size and I just picked up every slipped stitch. Mine is probably still a little tightly gathered, but it is much better than before. But if you read these notes before you start knitting this pattern, I’d recommend not slipping that first stitch as it seems to serve no real purpose.

November 10: All finished. And it seems to fit my son rather nicely so he’ll get some wear out of it right away!

Pattern: Tulips, a Colorful Cardigan for Baby by Lindsay Pekny (for sale on Ravelry)
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Pollen, Vetiver, and Bijou Blue

Summer Wind

August 6: I wanted a fairly simple pattern that would show off the yarn as well as something that I would get a lot of use out of. This long cowl met those requirements perfectly. The pattern is simple but the eyelets really add some interest and the yarn is dreamy to knit with. And I discovered last winter that I like these long cowls: I can wrap it twice around my neck to keep warm but wear it just once around the neck as a decorative item.

October 4: Put this down for a long while and picked it up again today. I guessed wrong about where I was in the pattern, so I had to backtrack a little but I think I have it figured out now. I’m just starting the other border, so not much left to go on it now.

October 21: Finished this morning. I should have gone up a needle size or two for the bind off. Even though I tried to bind off loosely, it’s still tighter than the cast on. But it doesn’t look too bad and it feels and looks just fine on my neck, which is the most important part. And I finished it just in time as the weather is starting to get colder now. I foresee getting a lot of use out of this.

 

 

Pattern: Summer Wind by Irishgirlieknits (available for purchase on Ravelry)
Yarn: The Plucky Knitter Primo MCN 75/20/5 in Hilo Bay (birthday present from Emily!)

Monkey Bib

September 18: I'm doing a craft show in November, so I'm making more bibs for inventory for the show.

Pattern: Imp by Elaine Fitzpatrick
Yarn: Knit Picks Dishie in Tomato

Gifts for Layla

Shortly after I found out I was pregnant, my brother-in-law and his wife also announced their pregnancy. Layla was born a few weeks after Luke, and I made several projects for her. Since she's finally been born and the items should have been received, I'm finally able to post about them on the blog.

First up is a blanket:

June 11: Cast on for Layla’s blanket. I have three skeins so I split the second skein in half. When I get there, I’ll start the decreases.

July 16: Finished! And it looks like I figured out the yarn usage perfectly as there is just a little bit leftover, perhaps would have been enough to do 1-2 more rows but then it would have been cutting it really close.

Pattern: Diagonal Comfort Blanket by Lion Brand Yarn
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash (color #844)

Next is a cardigan:

July 19: I really enjoyed making this cardigan for my son and decided to make one for my niece (due two weeks after my son). I picked these colors because they seem to be the accent colors that my SIL is using so I figured that meant she likes them!

July 27: Took a bit of a knitting break while I was reading A Dance with Dragons and finally picked this back up today. I finished the body and also did one sleeve. So just the other sleeve and the button bands to go (and picking out and putting on the buttons).

July 28: I finished up the other sleeve today. I came to the realization that I really don’t like using DPNs on such a small circumference in larger needle sizes. I wonder if it is because my DPNs in those sizes are longer than the ones in the smaller sizes (that I use for sock knitting). Perhaps I should look into getting some shorter DPNs for things such as baby sweater sleeves.

July 29: And the knitting part is done. I’m blocking the sweater now and plan to go find buttons tomorrow. I’ll probably add the buttons on Sunday and then this little cardigan will be finished. Just one more item (socks) planned for Layla and I can send off this cardigan, the blanket, the hat, and the socks.

August 3: So I didn’t get to the store for buttons, but I looked through the buttons I do have and found some cute daisies. I happened to have exactly 7 of them, so I think I’ll use those.

September 9: Finally got the buttons sewed on. I love the way it turned out!

Pattern: Little Coffee Bean Cardigan by Elizabeth Smith
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash (color #836 and #812)

Finally, I did a matching hat for the cardigan:

September 10: I had enough yarn leftover from the cardigan to make a matching hat. This pattern seemed simple enough to be able to use it and to make the stripes as I did on the cardigan. It was an easy-to-read pattern and a fast knit.

Pattern: Basic Newborn Hat by Jennifer Jackson

Marsha's Reading Mitts

August 9: I realized that I had not yet made something for my MIL's birthday. Yikes! I think this is the perfect pattern and a good yarn to choose for her. I finished up through the thumb division on the first mitt today.

August 11: Not much knitting mojo lately. But I did finish knitting the main part of the first mitt today and sewed the top edge down. Still need to sew the bottom and add in the thumb. Then I get to do it all over again! It does look and feel really nice.

August 16: Finally finished the last bits of the first mitt and started the second one getting up to the point of dividing stitches for the thumb. Need to finish tomorrow as MIL is arriving the day after.

August 17: And done! The sewing to create the picot edging went a lot more smoothly this time (not that it was bad for the first mitt) as I feel I really got the hang of it. I usually pass up projects with picot edging because I don’t like the sewing up part, but now I think I can handle it so I can add more projects to my queue ~grin~. I’m looking forward to giving these to my MIL.

Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts by Janelle Masters (free download on Ravelry)
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Alpaca Lana D'Oro in yellow (colorway #1105)

Malabrigo Mahogany Hat

July 29: I decided not to use a smaller needle for the ribbing. Since size 8 seems to work best for hats for me, that’s what I went with. I did only about 2 rounds tonight.

July 30: Finished the other 8 rounds of the ribbing. I overdid it this morning with doing some weeding outside (while 8 months pregnant) and as a result, I was just wiped out today and didn’t feel much like doing anything!

August 2: Right after the ribbing comes the first round with cables (1x1). I’m definitely glad that I’ve had practice cabling without a cable needle because this round would have been even more painful had I actually tried to use a cable needle. I’ll just say that I didn’t enjoy knitting that round very much and I’m glad that it’s only about 3 rounds (if my skim of the pattern is right) that contains these 1x1 cables. Why? Well, I’m a tight knitter and I didn’t look ahead to see that the cables came right in the next round so didn’t try to consciously knit the previous round a little more loosely (which is what I usually do). Second, the needles that I’m using, although some of my favorites, do not have sharp tips, which made grabbing onto the stitches really difficult. I’m most thankful, though, that I chose not to use the smaller needle for the ribbing because moving from a smaller needle to a bigger one on this round would have made it virtually impossible for me to get it finished without a bunch of dropped stitches and probably a bit of cursing. If I ever decide to knit this pattern again, I’ll make sure at the very least that I have needles with much sharper tips.

August 2 (later): I finished the remaining cable rows. Trying to knit more loosely on the previous row helped a lot but it was still not a fun section. Now it’s just 2x2 ribbing, so easy peasy.

August 6: So, the pattern said to knit 2x2 ribbing until the hat measured 7-1/4”. At 6-1/4” I tried it on and it seems like it was going to be a good fit for my head at that point, so I decided not to knit the last inch. Apparently the decrease section goes by really quickly (I should have realized that 7 rows wouldn’t take much space). So the finished hat doesn’t quite come all the way down to cover my ears, which it would have done had I just finished that last inch. Alas. I guess I should have listened to the pattern.

One place, however, not to follow the pattern is on decrease round 5. If you do the last K1 on the repeat then it will mean that you are taking the next knit stitch + purl stitch when you K2tog. Then you would purl a knit stitch, which would make the ribbing pattern off. So I just got rid of that last K1 (making the repeat K2tog, P1, K1, P1) and I think that really was what was intended because everything worked out just right after that and I ended up with the 13 stitches that the pattern says will remain. So I think Round 5 has an error.

So, listen to the pattern for the length to knit to but make the change on the decrease round 5.

Pattern: Jesse's Christmas Hat by Elspeth Kursh (free Ravelry download)
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Mahogany