Monday, December 31, 2007

Another FO

I seem to be getting quite some things done here in the last weeks. It's interesting, because my kids are out of school for their Christmas break and you would think I'm busy all the time with them? I guess that just leads to the conclusion that I need lots of knitting therapy right now to keep me sane, right?

Well, here are my fuzzy comfort socks, found in the German sock knitting book "Das geniale Sockenbuch". They are called "Sneakersocken" and the cuff is made by adding some fun fur in with the pattern on every other row. I think it makes for a nice surprise when you sit down, fold your legs over, the pants happen to pull up a bit and out comes a poof of yarn. It's quite the effect, trust me. Usually I'm very perticular about the socks being started at the same spot in the color repeat, but she didn't care about that and with all the fuzziness it was hard to figure out what color it was and where it is in the ball of yarn. With the ever changing colors there was no chance of the Second Sock Syndrom sneaking up on me.


This particular pair is going to my neighbor and she was oh so happy to put them on yesterday. She picked the colors too and wants me to make some more of them. I guess I found me a sock victim here. We'll see.

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Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Santa is done

I finished the snowman's friend, the Amigurumi Santa, today and gave it already to my friend as a christmas present. Due to his small size he'll probably find a spot on the christmas tree as an ornament. I made him with sock yarn, that's why he turned out so small. I'm not so sure I'm in enough of a christmas mood anymore to make the matching Reindeer this year, but there is always another christmas and this time I'll try to start earlier (cough, cough, yeah right).

Anyway, I had a request for another boys baby blanket and since I like variety and have the freedom of choice I decided to not go with a row or ripple design this time. I found a Tumbling Blocks pattern from Coats and Clark that I liked very much. The bad thing is, there are lots of loose ends to weave in, but I'm keeping up with them right as I finish the block. The good thing is, that I can make this blanket as big as I want it. The baby is already 3 months old and will probably be another one older, by the time he gets it.


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Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Skull Hat FO

I know, I know, I just did this earlier, but I just pulled this one out of the dryer, hoping it would shrink, felt or do whatever it had to do to fit right. I knitted this one for a Christmas present, but it ended up too big. I tried to block it and it got even bigger after it was wet. So, since I had no idea what kind of yarn it was I threw it into the washer with my jeans. I figured it would either shrink or felt. Well, it didn't do either of it, but at least it fits better than before. So now I can present you with a picture of my version of the skull hat, found on Ravelry, made by Gina. I used some kind of worsted yarn out of my stash and knitted the liner with 4mm and the hat with 5 mm needles. That might be where my problem was. I should have just continued in 4 mm and I should have been fine, but I followed the pattern. Oh well, it's still a warm hat.


Enjoy

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Christmas FO

I have a little last minute quick fix Christmas FO to report. Wow, what a name for a little guy like this.


This is my Amigurumi Snowman I made up yesterday and handed over to my nice neighbor for Christmas together with some other smelly good gifts. He was very much welcomed into the circle of other snowmen that inhabit her house.


Now I'm off to make the Amigurumi Holiday Santa and then have him joined by the Amigurumi Reindeer. All of those patterns can be found on the Lion Brand Pattern website and were made from left over yarn in my stash. What a fun project.


Merry Christmas everyone and Happy Knitting.

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Friday, December 21, 2007

Thar she blows!!

Don't ask, it just sounded good right now. I have another FO to announce. And since they are no secret christmas knit, I can show them off too. So may I present the finished Mermaid Gloves, first knitted by the Craftoholic, adapted from Cookie A.'s Pomatomus socks. They look pretty close to the original ones and are knitted with Koigu KPM 100 % Merino Wool in color 2171111, just if anybody is interested. I used the suggested 72 stitches on size 0 (2mm) Brittany needles. The pattern is reversed for the second glove. I liked it better this way, even if it made the knitting a lot slower, having to slip the first stitch off, twisting the second, slipping it back onto the left needle before I could finally k2tog. Otherwise the stitch wouldn't have been twisted and I'm a little picky that way, even if the gloves aren't for me, but are going to be on their way, hopefully today or tomorrow, to Keri. I hope you enjoy them, because I'm not knitting them again. Sorry. This was not a mindless, sit in front of the TV, knitting.

Up next will be a skull hat. I have the yarn ready. Usually I don't swatch, but in this case I will, since I'm using some kind of mystery yarn again from my stash that somewhat looks the part, but I have no idea what the mileage or gauge on it is. After that I'll get right to the pattern and hope to have some new pictures to show to you soon.


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Saturday, December 15, 2007

I guess I was good this year?

I almost forgot to show you what the mailman brought this week, totally unexpected and out of the blue (gotta love that man). I received a big, padded envelope from Monika in Canada and she surprised me with some really nice goodies. Here they are.



She sent me the Holiday Gift issue from Interweave Knits and two skeins of gorgeous Koigu yarn in just the perfect color for me next to some wool wash for me to try. Maybe that will give my Lopi sweater some softness? It might just make me tuck in all those loose ends and actually block that thing. Monika, thank you sooooooo very much. It was such a nice surprise. I could say I'm speechless, but we all know that's not the case. :D

Now let me get back to my second Mermaid glove. Yes, I'm still working on them. Having to figure out the pattern on your own, just by following a picture, is not that easy, but absolutely manageable at times. I have to reverse the "scales" for the other glove, but since I know where and how to do the fingers and especially the thumb now, it should be no time, until I can present them to you. I have no interruptions planned, so let me go "fishing" again. Today is not an outside day anyway. Thundershowers are to be expected. Yuck. Let's cuddle up with some knitting, a book and something in the crock pot.

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Friday, December 14, 2007

Just a quicky

Here are just two promised model shots from today's Christmas party at work with the happy faces of the lucky recipients of my knitting.
First up is Kim with her Shaped Triangle Shawl, very happy to be wearing this beauty next Sunday to keep her warm in church.
Then we have Jinelle modeling her new hot pink fuzzy scarf, which was a real breeze to knit with 8mm needles and Paton Twister yarn. She is also the one that got the hot pink and black Endpaper Mitts. Go figure, she's a hot mama. :) (Please ignore the clash between the red shirt and the pink scarf. The shirt was part of todays uniform.)

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Lace FO

Sorry, Keri, you are not going to be happy about this one, since this post should be for your project, but I needed my head clear for yours. I finished the Shaped Triangle Shawl from the Gathering of Lace. It's being pinned and stretched into shape as we speak. I can give you those pictures for now, if you'd like and later a model shot. So here is what I've got for you for now. Enjoy. And now I'm off to make some more mermaid scales.

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Thursday, December 06, 2007

Something fishy going on


Can you recognize the pattern already? Does it look fishy to you? It should, because this is the beginning of a pair or Mermaid Gloves I'm knitting for Keri. I'm following Cookie A.'s pattern so far, just with smaller needles. I'm actually about double that far by now, but didn't want to bother with a more recent picture. It grew since this morning. I'm actually getting closer to the thumb gusset and I'm wondering how I'm going to proceed. I've dug through a couple of patterns for the gloves I found, since the ones from the craftoholic don't really state exact instructions, but they either have different stitch numbers or both go in the same direction. These are supposed to go in the opposite direction, to make them look nicer, in my opinion.
So I guess I'll either trust one of the worked up patterns or I'll figure it out myself and play it by ear. After all, a glove is pretty much a glove, right?

This is pretty much it for today's news from the knitting front. Oh, and did you notice the cute bag in the background? This is one of Keri's very own sock and project bags. I got mine as a birthday present from her, but she is making more and has already successfully sold some in her etsy shop. There were none up for sale right now, but I hear from a reliable source (cough), that there will be some up for grabs soon. So keep checking out her shop to score one. Sock monkeys anyone?

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007

Swap Mittens - received


Look at what the mailman left for me to find yesterday. I got Katie's swap package from the Fingerless Mitts for Fall Swap. It's so cute. She changed the theme a little to "New Mexico", which I like.


There are the mittens she mad for me, of course, which can be found in the IK Spring 2006 issue, made from KP Swish. This yarn is so soft and it's superwash, not like I'd get those Pom Poms dirty enough to where they would see the inside of my washer.


She also surprised me with a generous 4 ozs. of Cormo Wool from the Elsa Wool Company. This yarn, being 100 % wool, is so super soft. It makes me want to see if I can get my hands on some more of that for a bigger project. Especially after my wool experience with the Lopi, this is the total opposite.


Then there were some Salsa (thank you for the mild) and some dip and stew mixes, accompanied by a coyote and a jalapeno cookie cutter, and to make sure I wouldn't burn my hands while making those, she also included a nice potholder and kitchen towel. How sweet is that? Thank you so much Katie. I hope you'll like your package too.


After seeing all those long lines at the post office yesterday and the day before I decided to go to the UPS store to send of my goodies for her. It was a little more expensive, but there was no line. That was already worth it.


I'm doing progress on my Shaped Triangle Shawl. I have the main body done and moved to the edge. After 6 or 7 repeats of it, and figuring out the hard way, that there was another typo in the pattern, I have it memorised. After all, there are 30 zig zags on each side of the shawl and I sure don't want to have to drag that pattern with me every time I sit down for it. It's so nice to finally see the big blob starting to come off the long needles. Freedom for the lace!


Then I printed out the pattern for the Mermaid Gloves. Keri send me the yarn she wants me to use, together with what I got from her stash sale. The Luxury Cashmere is so soft, but I have no idea what I'm going to use it for yet. But it called my name and I had to have it. :)

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Saturday, December 01, 2007

Swap Mittens are done

This is just a quick post to report another FO. My mittens for the swap partner of the Fingerless Mittens for Fall KAL, which is now at it's end, are done and will be in the mail by monday. I hope she will like them. I know she will like them, because I do and while I was knitting them I had a request to make a second pair of them. We'll see, I sure have enough yarn left to make another pair exactly like it. Pictures will be taken prior to mailing them, but I won't post them until Katie has received them. Sorry, you just have to hold on for those a couple more days. In the meantime I can turn my full attention to the Shaped Triangle Shawl and hope to get this one done and blocking soon, so I'll have a presentable picture for you all.

Have a good night.

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