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.

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

Minimalist Cardigan

This is for my mom for Christmas. I had her look through a bunch of patterns and she picked this one as well as the yarn.

November 11: Finally started working on this one again. Hope to finish it in time for Christmas!

December 6: I’ve finished knitting the back and one of the sides. So I just have the other side and the two sleeves (and then the seaming). I’m still not sure if I’ll finish it in time for Christmas, but at least I’m making some good progress on it.

December 22: I’m working on the sleeves now. I’m doing both at once so that way I’ll know that they’ll be exactly the same size. But this is not going to be finished in time for Christmas.

December 26: Finally finished knitting the sleeves. Now all that’s left is seaming it all together!

January 2: New year but same project. But I am close to completion. I have finished seaming the shoulders, neckline, one sleeve and side and thus have just the other sleeve and side to go. And I’ve tried on the half-finished version and it fits perfectly (my mom is really close to my size so it should fit her as well). But I’m so tired of seaming and weaving in ends so I think I’ll finish up this weekend.

January 4: Finished! I’m quite happy with it although I am finding the yarn a little itchy. I just hope my mom likes it!

January 7: My mom got the cardigan today and absolutely loves it!

Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Silk in Cranberry
Pattern: Minimalist Cardigan

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