Monday, October 27, 2008

See what I mean?

This is what I've been up to yesterday:


Same pattern as the first one, just with one less repeat. I also ran out of the lighter color, that's why the top had to be in solid green. Then I cast on this:
Yes, it's another one, but I still have to see if the yarn will be enough. It's thicker than the other ones, which means I could do with maybe even less repeats, but at the same time the ball shrinks so much faster and if I can't finish the round in the multi color, I'll have to send it to the pond. Then I might turn it into a striped Thorpe. Not so bad either, but I'm on a roll with this.

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Sunday, October 26, 2008

Entrelac Mania?

So here I come to tell you that the Entrelac Hat I started two days ago was finished the same day. See....


I have to admit it was kind of addicting and fast to knit. Since I only followed somebody else's picture, I wasn't exactly sure how many rounds of squares I needed. Well, now I know. One less than what I did. I was mainly concerned about the top and the way it would close up and I think I did pretty good on it. So now, here was my problem. I washed and blocked it (which was kind of not necessary, since it wasn't even tight on that plate and this is a pizza plate, if I might add) and it was still very slouchy. My next step was to felt it. So I went to our local book/yarn store to get some advice. Well, needless to say, I didn't need the advice, since a lady in the store fell in love with the hat as is and wouldn't let it go. So it went home with her. It looks great on her too and she definitely had the right amount of hair to support the larger size.
So now, to make up for the "loss" I had to cast on the next one. See where I'm going with this? This pattern has something that makes it addicting. I started last night, while my boys went out to a sleepover and I stayed up half of the night with my dog, knitting. One reason for doing that was of course to make sure that I'd be up, in case one of my kids would come home. At least that's the one I'm using. The other reason was, that I couldn't put down the pattern. I even started to write it down, as I was going, but ended up getting ahead of myself with the knitting and didn't write it up anymore. So anyway, expect to see the second finished hat sometime soon. It will have one less row of squares and we'll see how this one fits. Who knows, I might be onto something with this? Plus it helps out with the stash issue I have. :)
Later .... gotta knit....can't help it. ......

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Friday, October 24, 2008

Mittens done

I wanted to show you the way my mittens worked out.



What do you think? I like them and the double layer thanks to the stranding should keep my hands warm enough in the next winter to come. The pattern can be found here and more info can be found on Ravelry here. I shortened the pattern by one repeat. I was always told I had long fingers, so I don't know how long the original mittens were. Also, I knitted them on size 1 (2.25 mm) KP Harmony DPNs, which should have made them just a little tighter too.



I'm still not sick and tired of knitting entrelac, so I found some Manos yarn (thanks Keri) in my stash box and started on this hat. I'm not really following any pattern, just leaning once again on Criminy Jickets Gaterlac pattern. It is very well written and so versatile to use. So this is the hat I'm working on at the moment. I'm very happy with it so far.






It's a rainy day here today and I spent most of it catching up with my DVR and working on the hat. Hey, what else is a girl to do?

Friday, October 17, 2008

It's getting cold

I had to play a little waiting game with Knit Picks and the designer to get the test knit the way we wanted it, so in the meantime I jumped right onto this little hat.


It's getting a little colder here in Kentucky and the last two days of rain made even the last person realise that summer is definitely over. Since my older one is complaining about it being chilly in the morning (44 degrees on the way to school this morning) I had to knit up this hot hat for him to keep his ears warm. He even wanted to wear it all day at school today. We'll see what the teachers think of this, since I don't think that is part of the dress code. Either way it's nice to have my knitting appreciated.

Next up is a pair of argyle mitts. You might have seen them on Ravelry. I love them and had to cast them on last night. The ribbing is just going kinda slow, so it'll be a couple more hours until it's going to get interesting.
Since it's knitted over 72 stitches I cast on with 2.25mm (1) KP Harmony DPNs (thank you Keri) and I'm using some unknown stash sock yarn and the rest of the Dyed in the Wool Handmade Fingering Sockyarn in Winter Violet. This was left over from my Mohana Shawl I knitted for Monika. I think it's a rather nice color combo.

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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

I'm not scared!

For some of you ,that are very protective of their knitting, the following pictures might be disturbing. So I suggest you turn you eyes and wait for the next post.

The good news, I'm done with the knitting of the body of my latest KP testknit. Proof is here.


Then comes this:


I know, it's scary to look at, but it has to be done for the greater good or let's say for you to be able to get your head and arms into the whole thing.

Don't despair, because this is the second time I'm doing this and it was way less scary than the first time. Trust me, you can get used to it.

Tadaa, till next time.

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Sunday, October 12, 2008

All used up

No, not me. I'm knitting like crazy, as usual, but the yarn for the Feather and Fan Scarf is all used up.

I managed to make a Slouch hat from the rest of it and had to substitute for the top of it. Thank god for the leftover stash. I found a color that matched the burgundy in it. I think it turned out very nice. Here are different versions for wearing it.
He is such a better model than me. Trust me, I tried, but the bathroom mirror pictures just wouldn't do.
The link to the pattern can be found on my project page on Ravelry here and for all the non Ravelers here.
Now off to some more stash diving to match it up with my ever growing queue on Ravelry.

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Saturday, October 04, 2008

Inbetween Knitting

I had to cast on an new project yesterday. It was just itching. Seeing the seasons starting to change, the crispness in the fall air and all the nice stuff on Ravelry, I couldn't resist. My queue list is getting longer and I have to take a new look at my boxes of yarn. They are put away in my closet and only come out to play when I need something in there. It's not nicely displayed or organised for me to reach in and grab what I like, because I don't have my "craft room" anymore. Sniff.



Anyway, this is what I cast on for a friend yesterday. She "threw" some of her stash yarn at me and asked me to come up with something. Well, this is what I came up with.


It's a variation of the feather and fan pattern. The only thing I changed was that I left that one purl row out, so basically the whole front has more of a stockinette look, if that's what you can say.

Now that doesn't mean that I'm done with the stranded knitting, but I had to take a breather break. I'm more than 1/3 through the chart and my knitting is getting so much more even now. I guess it's like they always say: Practice makes perfect? I'm far from perfect, but I'm trying to work my way to it. :)

Have a nice knitting weekend.