Cropped Cardigan

June 22: Doing a test knit found on the Free Pattern Testers board at Ravelry. Received pattern yesterday. Bought yarn today.

June 28: Finished. I ran into a couple of small problems along the way but the designer was quick to respond to questions and I was able to get back on track each time fairly soon. My gauge was just a tiny bit off which has caused the sleeves to be a bit snug, but we’ll see what happens once it has been blocked.

June 30: Blocking complete. Fits just right.

Pattern: Not yet available
Yarn: Cascade Sierra

Wool Peddler's Shawl

February 22: I needed a project to work on for a car trip tomorrow so I decided that this shawl would be an easy project to take with me.
April 8: Just 4 more rows to go in the garter stitch section.
May 12: Picked this one up again and finally started the lace section.
June 19: Finished! Right at the end, though, my needle slipped out of the last stitch as I was reaching for my scissors. And a couple of stitches unraveled, but I couldn’t figure out how the heck they were supposed to go back together so I did my best at fixing it, but I think it looks a bit off. But it’s not too terrible so it should be fine. The soysilk yarn was really interesting. I love the drape of the yarn (it doesn’t even seem at all like it needs blocking!) but doing things like weaving in ends made me feel like the yarn isn’t very secure because it slips around a lot and doesn’t have a lot of grip. So it makes for a beautiful shawl, but when I wash it, I’ll have to be extra careful, I think.

Pattern: Wool Peddler's Shawl by Cheryl Oberle (in Folk Shawls)
Yarn: South West Trading Company Oasis

Sold in my etsy shop.

Rainbow Socks

May 20: To help show off the stripes to the best advantage, I’m doing a very basic sock pattern. I started toe up (using Judy’s Magic Cast On) with 16 stitches. I increased to 72 stitches. Then when I finished with the toe, I started a 4x2 ribbing on the top of the foot. I think I’ll do a short row heel but I’ll decide for sure when I get there. Love the stripes so far.

May 21: Went with the short row heel (followed instructions from Wendy Johnson’s Toe Up Socks book). I think it turned out okay.

June 2: Finished Sock #1. Did a 1x1 rib on the cuff (in red) and used a sewn bind off.

June 13: Worked on Sock #2 over vacation. Just need to finish up the leg.

June 16: All done. I’m a bit upset with the second skein (and thus second sock). There were lots of splotches of dye especially in the yellow sections but really in all of them. So I have a rainbow spotted sock.

Pattern: none; just basic toe up socks
Yarn: KnitPicks Felici in Rainbow

Never Ending Vaa Scarf

March 4: Another Malabrigo March project. I wanted something super easy to work on while my literature class is taking a test this afternoon.



May 12: Super easy also means super boring. It looks nice but the process of knitting it brings out some yawns. I’m hoping to finish it this weekend during a conference I’m going to.

June 3: I seem to have misplaced this project. I hope I didn’t leave it in the hotel back at the conference. I’m truly mystified over what has happened to it.

June 11: I had found the scarf on top of the fridge right before we left on our trip so I shoved it into my suitcase. I forced myself to work on it on vacation and am happy to report that it is finished. This just might be the last scarf that I knit (unless it’s a lengthwise scarf like Just Enough Ruffles). I get so bored doing the same pattern again and again and again and it becomes a never ending project that I hate to work on. I’m just very glad this one is done.

Pattern: Fire to Earth: Brown Berries by iSel
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Vaa

For sale in my etsy store: karendawn.etsy.com

Just Enough Ruffles

June 6: Started while in Colorado on vacation.

June 9: Working a scarf longways like this is the way to go! This scarf seemed to fly off the needles compared to something like the Vaa Scarf I was also working on at the same time. Easy pattern and the scarf comes out very nicely. (Still needs to be blocked)





Pattern: Just Enough Ruffles by Laura Chau (available for purchase on Ravelry)
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Polar Morn

Greta in Paris at Night

May 28: Finished first leg

June 1: And now finished with the entire cat. I tried to really focus on putting this one together so that all the parts would look “right”; I’m tired of making wonky toys. And I’m quite happy with how my Greta turned out.

Pattern: Greta the Captivating Cat by Rebecca Danger
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Paris Night

Small Funky Sock Monkey

May 19: I’ve been looking forward to knitting from this kit so I decided to go ahead and start. Beginning with the small monkey (which does seem pretty darn small!).

May 20: Hmm…am disappointed with my monkey so far. The lips just aren’t very poofy and the small monkey is very small. Perhaps the larger version will go better, but I’m just not sure why my monkey’s face doesn’t look like the one in the pictures. Did finish the main body yesterday; just the arms and ears (and eyes) to go.

May 20 (later): Finished all the knitting and minimal seaming. Just need to get something for the eyes. Taking the piece of yarn and tying off the neck (making it seem separate from the body) seems to have helped quite a bit, but I still am not completely happy with how this monkey turned out. Here’s hoping the large size goes better.

May 27: Sewed on eyes. I’m just feeling meh about this project.

Pattern: Funky Sock Monkey (small) by cockeyed the sockateer
Yarn: Blue Moon Socks That Rock in Purple Rain and Rhodonoite

Vine Yoke Cardigan

January 17: I really wanted to get started on this cardigan especially because the construction really intrigues me. I’ve never done a cardigan knit from side to side before. So I finished the buttonhole band and two pattern repeats of the next section. So far it’s a fairly straightforward knit but also fun.

January 20: I got the the part where I started the sleeve. When I was putting the sleeve back together with the yoke section, it took me a little while to figure out what went where. When I finally figured out that “left needle” meant the left needle (after not turning) of the sleeve stitches, it all came together quite nicely. But there were a few head scratching moments in there!

May 18: This one had been on hold for quite a while so I’m now turning back toward it and focusing on getting it finished. I’m now over halfway through the back section so that means I’m halfway through the project!

May 26: Getting close to the end. I picked up some buttons today so that when I do finish with the knitting I can get the buttons sewed on right away and get this project in the finished category! Love how it is looking so far.

May 27: Finished! 3rd from top picture is finished but unblocked. Currently blocking.

May 31: Got my husband to take a couple of pictures of me wearing the cardigan. Yay!

Pattern: Vine Yoke Cardigan by Ysolde Teague
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Applewood

Gryffindor Bag

February 10: Started

March 19: I learned the most awesome fair isle technique this morning: Two Handed Fair Isle. I’ve only gone two rounds using this technique, but it’s pretty darn amazing so far. I was concerned about some of the long floats on this project (although not overly so since I plan to line the purse so I would be hiding the floats) and now I don’t have to worry about them! I was excited about fair isle before but now I’m just ecstatic! See the difference? The bottom part is with the floats and the top part is with the new technique.



March 21: And the body is finished! I’m going to have to figure out how to do the crochet parts for around the edges and the strap so I may put this on hold for a little while until I figure that out.

March 27: Finally getting around to blocking this, so I thought I’d add pictures. The picture at the very bottom is the reverse side, so you can see the difference between the regular stranded method (bottom) and the weaving in method (top) that I mentioned above.

March 30: Finished the crochet edging and strap. I’m not sure if I’m super keen on the strap but I think I’ll leave it for now. So all that’s left is the lining (need to go buy some fabric so I’ll do that in the next couple of days).

April 8: Finally started working on the lining today. I’m not the world’s greatest at sewing so this is going to take me quite a while because I really want to make sure that it all comes together well at the end.

May 12: In an effort to finish up some of the lingering projects, I pushed through sewing in the lining this morning. That’s one of my least favorite parts of a project, so I’m so happy it is done. This is a cute little purse!

Pattern: HP House Fair Isle Pouch Bags by Rosemary Waits (free Ravelry download)
Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash in Maroon and Daffodil-Marigold

Available for sale in my etsy shop.

Mouse Queen

September 6, 2009: I decided to try a different approach with the Queen. Instead of knitting all the pieces first and then seaming them up (like I did with the King), I’m doing the finishing/seaming as I go. So today I was able to finish all of the lower part of her body. Next up will be the arms, and then I’ll work on putting together everything on the head. It did seem to go a lot better this way, with alternating knitting and sewing I was able to get more done in a shorter amount of time than with the King.

March 14: So this poor little mouse has been sitting around for far too long without a head and arms. I decided to finish her up today. Alas, that was not to be accomplished.

So I’m a little pissed off. I bought the kit from Knitbeads that’s supposed to contain all the yarn I’ll need to knit all of the medieval mice. Ha!

On the Mouse King, I was just shy of the brown color for his belt and had to use a little of another color to cast off. That worked okay, but I will need more of the original brown for one of the other mice.

So today I started in on one arm of the Mouse Queen. Hmm…I think. That pink color is getting awfully low. Will I have enough for the other arm? Definitely not since I have something like only 8 inches of yarn left after the first arm.

So now my Queen is missing an arm.

Then I went to knit the crown. I ran out of the metallic gold yarn with about half a dozen stitches to bind off (since I used glue to fold over the crown, I was able to just thread the last inch of yarn through the last few stitches and use glue to secure it). But I still have the clasp for her cloak that I’m supposed to make out of it as well as two more crowns for the prince and princess mice.

I’ve been making sure to have short tails for my cast on and bind off. I’ve been using thread to sew the pieces together rather than the yarn. I’ve been trying to make sure I have enough yarn. So I think that the kit just doesn’t contain the right amount of yarn to knit all of the mice.

So now I have my Queen almost finished. Just minus one arm (and one cloak clasp). And I’m going to email knitbeads and see if they’ll send me more yarn. If not, then I will never buy from them again and I’ll make sure to let others know.

May 12: I got my yarn a bit over a week ago (it was a rather lengthy process of emails back and forth before the yarn was ready) so I finally sat down this morning to finish off this little queen. About 30 minutes later and I was done!




King and Queen together: