Tag Archive | knitting

madtosh miso shawl

Today I have another WIP to share, one that’s going more slowly because it’s more complex. This one started with the yarn, madelinetosh Euro Sock in the color Daenerys, which is a gorgeous super dark black/purple. It was a birthday gift from two lovely friends at work and I’ve been itching to knit with it for months.

I wanted to make something that I could wear often and easily, and finally decided on a pattern called Miso. It’s a long, shallow triangle shawl, almost scarf-like, which is currently my favorite shawl shape. Beyond the shape, I liked that it was easily modified for the amount of yarn you have; you increase to half your yarn and then start decreasing. I also liked the zig-zag lace pattern, because I wanted something pretty and not too mindless. So far, it’s perfect.

The yarn is delicious to knit with, as madtosh always is, and the pattern allows me to listen to TV while I knit, and look up occasionally. The pattern isn’t difficult, but certainly too long for me to memorize, so I have to keep track of where I am. It’s growing quickly and I’m already looking forward to wearing it. And the best part is that it will remind me of my friends every time I wear it!

Today is a snow day, thanks to freezing rain/sleet/snow, so I’m eager to see how much progress I can make while knitting in front of a fire. I’m so grateful to have a job that doesn’t require my presence on days like this, and bosses who are happy to have me stay at home!

WIP Wednesday: Gryffindor Sock

Jan10

I don’t often play this game, but it is Wednesday, and what I have to share is a WIP, so there you have it. I’m back to my socks, but they’re selfish socks now. I cast on with my Christmas sock yarn as soon as possible, my Biscotte Yarns Bis-sock in the Griffin colorway. 39317504321_b73f50127f_o I wanted the yarn to be the star of the show, so I’m doing a nice plain sock with a ribbed cuff and an Eye of Partridge heel. I actually cast on the day after Christmas but didn’t get too far before getting distracted by non-sock knitting. With lots of FOs behind me, this is my lunch break knitting at work now, and I’m loving it.(Obviously the color is better in the first photo. This is a hasty lunch break photo. I do the best I can!) I’m on the gusset of the first sock and looking forward to knitting the second sock too. The yarn is delightfully soft and silky, and you can’t go wrong with self-striping yarn. It’s my favorite thing ever. The girl was admiring these with a covetous tone in her voice, but she’ll have to wait for her own pair; these are mine! And now I want to do a pair of these in every House color. I could wear them according to my mood. So if you ever spot Slytherin colors in my socks, watch out!

Striped Convertible Mitts

Jan8

It’s no secret that I like knitting. I’m a process knitter, which means I knit because I like the process of knitting, not necessarily because I want the end result. So when a friend asked me if I’d make her some mittens, I agreed right away. I’d be knitting anyway, why not make something a friend would enjoy wearing?

It turns out she’d bought the kit for these Line by Line Mittens to Gloves from Knit Picks, complete with five colors of Knit Picks Swish, because she wanted to learn to knit. Then she tried, and discovered she didn’t love it, and it made her hands and elbows hurt. But she still had this kit sitting there, staring at her and mocking her. (I’m imagining that last bit; that’s what it would be doing to me, anyway.) And she still wanted the mitts. They didn’t look complicated to me, even though I’d have to learn how to do the convertible top. She insisted there was no hurry, but when I finished the husband’s socks (which were supposed to be Christmas gifts but oops were not) I was happy to do something new and different, and I cast on the first mitt over the weekend.

They knit up quickly, though it didn’t take long for me to realize I’d forgotten the downside to stripes: ends. Lots and lots of ends to weave in. I texted her a progress photo after the first one was done, joking that I’d let her weave in the ends, and cast on for the second mitt.

With the basic mitts done, it was time to figure out the convertible tops. I took a break long enough to weave in a crap-ton of ends (yes, she would have happily done it herself, but I needed the break, and it was satisfying to see the neat and tidy mitts). Then I counted down the rows to where I was supposed to pick up 24 stitches. But I’d never picked up stitches in the middle before; I’d always picked up from an edge. So that took a few tries before I found a method that worked and looked acceptable. Not sure if it’s the “right” way, but eh, who cares about that, right? Getting the stitches all set up for that convertible top was kind of a hassle, to be honest, but once I got the first couple of rows done, it was smooth sailing, and by the middle of the Golden Globes last night, I had a complete mitten!

I’ll do the last mitten top tonight so that I can give her the mittens tomorrow, and then I’ll give the pattern back and never knit it again. I didn’t really care for how it was written. The thumb gusset was set up on both sides of the beginning-of-round marker, so I was fiddling with color changes and increases within a few stitches. I prefer it when the gusset is closer to the middle of the round, especially if there are color changes. Still, these are awfully cute, and it does feel good to do something nice for someone else sometimes!

Trenches Cowl

Jan5

I’m continuing my trend of knitting things that are not socks, and enjoying it quite a lot. After I finished a project on the first day of the year, I thought I needed to start a new project on the first day too. And not just any project, it was going to be a Wonder Woman project! I had a skein of Holiday Yarns Super Sheep DK in the Wonder Woman colorway from a recent road trip to True Blewe Yarns, and I was eager to knit it into something I could wear.

Choosing the type of project was easy. I don’t wear hats, I just made new mitts, and I didn’t have enough yarn for a scarf or shawl. But I wear a cowl almost every day. I put all the filters into Ravelry to narrow down my choices (don’t you just adore Ravelry??) and discovered a new pattern called Trenches, just published on December 31st. This is how my mind works when picking a pattern: Trenches…hmm, there were trenches in World War I…Wonder Woman fought in the war in the movie, and was in the trenches for the amazing scene at No Man’s Land, so yeah, this is the right pattern! It might be a bit of a stretch, and it’s not really the best yarn to show off the ridges in the pattern, but for me it’s also about the connection between the yarn and what it’s becoming, and this connection pleased me.

It was a fun pattern to knit. Simple but not boring, easy enough to do while watching TV. There’s quite a bit of purling, but I don’t mind purling, so that was fine. Really, it was quite comforting to knit something that didn’t make me think too hard. The only modification I made was to do 10 rounds of ribbing instead of 12 on either end. I wanted to make sure I had enough yarn for all the pattern repeats. And in the end, I had plenty of leftover yarn and could have easily done the full 12 rounds.

I blocked this one pretty aggressively to smooth out the “background” so the trenches might stand out more, and also to shape it evenly. The yarn responded well to the Eucalan wash and the blocking, and it drapes nicely. I’d like to make this pattern again, but in a solid tan/light brown or olive green next time to highlight the texture. But for now, I’m on to another non-sock project!

First FO of the New Year

Jan1

Finishing a project is a lovely way to start a new year, don’t you think? I worked on my Simply Green scarf yesterday while watching movies, and by the time we were ready to start our festive evening (junk food and games at home), all that was left was the bind off. I thought I’d finish it during Scrabble or something, but I never did. It meant this morning I just needed a quick finish before I had a new scarf to wear!

The yarn is Classic Elite Magnolia, a 70/30 merino/silk blend, so I bet most of you can imagine just how soft and drapey it is. It’s got a slight halo, so it’s the tiniest bit fuzzy. Sadly, this yarn has been discontinued, so I consider myself lucky to have found it on the sale shelf before it disappeared. I wish I’d finished it before Christmas, but no worries: I can wear it any time, and I’ll have it for next Christmas!

The pattern, Be Simple Variations, was simple and quick to memorize, which meant at times it was comforting and at times it was boring. I love how you can make it as long as you want, so I could easily knit one in a different yarn weight without a problem. In fact, it was actually designed for fingering weight, and I used DK.

As it is most everywhere, it’s stupid cold around here, so it’s very likely I’ll be wearing this tomorrow when I go back to work. I hope the rest of you have lovely knits to keep you warm too!

Knitting, but not Socks

Dec31

After my Christmas sock-knitting frenzy, I’ve needed a break. The other night, I wanted to binge on the last three episodes of Big Little Lies, and I wanted some knitting to go with it. But I didn’t want to work on socks. I’ve made a lot of socks, I like to make socks, and I’ll keep making socks. But I needed something else. So I poked through my stash and pulled out two skeins I’ve had for over two years. I love the yarn but was never able to find the perfect pattern for it. It was time to decide on a pattern, perfect or not. After perusing Ravelry for a while, I finally settled on the Urchin Cowl and cast on. I modified it slightly so I wouldn’t have to purl as much, so mine doesn’t look much like the example It knit up quickly and I finished it the next night, and I’m quite pleased with it.

The original was designed so you can wear it over the shoulders as well, and I suppose mine could be, but I prefer it as a big, fluffy cowl.

I used two skeins of Plymouth Yarn Wilde, an acrylic/alpaca/wool blend that’s lightweight and airy but still warm and snuggly. I’m so glad I finally bit the bullet and cast it on.

That was so satisfying that this morning I pulled more yarn from my stash and cast on for a pair of fingerless mitts. I chose Cozy Thermal Mitts and paired it with my silver Cascade Yarns Spuntaneous Worsted. Since I’m fighting a cold and there was a Harry Potter marathon on TV today, I was able to get them all done, and they’re perfect.

Okay, not quite perfect: they’re a bit big for me, but still wearable and perfectly warm and cozy. They were so fast and easy to make, and I love that the palms are stockinette. And they really are the same size; the right one just looks bigger because I finished it first and wore it while I made the left one!

Now I have two days left in my holiday weekend and a skein and a half of the Spuntaneous left. Think I can get an infinity scarf done in that amount of time?

Holiday Recap

Dec28

Oh, Christmas. I do love spending time with family, and I love all the food, and of course I love presents. But the holidays are also stressful and busy and exhausting, and I have to admit I’m a bit relieved it’s all over. Now if only I could get someone to take down my decorations for me! Apparently I was very good this year; I was quite spoiled by my family and received lots of delightful gifts, many of them yarn-related. People even got brave and picked out yarn on their own for me (and did very well, I might add). Why, just look at all these treasures!

I’ve already put some of it in use too. One set of needles is holding a new sock with the Biscotte Gryffindor yarn, a simple stockinette sock for me. Another set of needles is holding the second sock for the husband that didn’t get done before Christmas. And one skein of the pink Malabrigo Rasta has already been turned into the best cowl ever, simple and warm and cozy and gorgeous. And I used every last bit of yarn too, which is quite satisfying.

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I used the Feedback pattern as the base, but modified the number of stitches cast on. I haven’t decided whether the second skein should be a pompom hat or this adorable bag, so it’s set aside while I ponder.

The holiday provided so much knitting time that I was able to finish the Seattle Seahawks hat for my friend’s husband too. She was pleased with it, and thinks he’ll love it. I hope so! I really like that bright stripe of green.

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All the knitted gifts I made were well-received and seemed to fit well, and I really loved gifting socks. I’m thinking I’d like to do more next year, but we’ll just have to see how that goes!

Someone wants a hat!

Dec21

I finally finished this pair of socks. I started them over six weeks ago, which is a really long time for me. But these got set aside for some gift knitting, so at least there’s a good reason. Still, it was a relief when I wove in that last end and called them done. They don’t quite match exactly, but I’m telling myself I’m okay with it.

So it has a longer section of gray at the toe, what’s the big deal, right? This way I didn’t have to get into the second skein of purple for two inches. The important thing is that the socks are soft and cozy, and they’re the same size. That’s pretty good!

With the socks done, I could move on to new projects without guilt. A friend asked for a hat for her husband, and I was delighted. I do love making hats, and I’ve overwhelmed the rest of my people with hats, so it’s a treat to have someone who actually wants me to make a hat! Within two days I’d whipped up this simple red and white striped hat, which could be considered festive but is secretly Huskers colors.

And that was so much fun that I decided not to stop there. Ask for one hat, get two, apparently! I pulled these out this morning and cast on with the navy already. (These are Seahawks colors, just in case you’re like me and don’t follow any sportsball stuff.) I’m improvising my own pattern again; casting on 88 with size 6 for the ribbing, then switching to 8s for the body. I’m doing a different stripe pattern; hopefully it comes out like I see it in my head.

I’ll close with two bits of good news: a while back I made pombe yeast hats for two new people in the lab at work, and they received them on Monday. Both of them seemed to be genuinely delighted, and they both wore them around most of the day at work yesterday. That really made my day; I work with such awesome people.

Finally, Grace is doing so much better. She’s clearly got more energy, isn’t sleeping as much during the day. She was even playing outside with Duncan this morning, which she hasn’t done in a few weeks. Her appetite is back and she wants to eat everything…except the kibble we’ve been feeding them for ages. But that’s fine, we’ll look for a different food at the store today and hopefully find something tasty that won’t break the bank. Feeding three big dogs gets expensive! We’re being pretty generous with her, giving her some chicken when we cook it, and extra treats here and there, so that she’ll gain back some of the weight she lost. It’s such a relief to not be so worried about her!

That’s all for now. We’re all taking a vacation day today and in a bit we’re going out for a Family Fun Day, at least as soon as I can get everyone motivated to get out of bed and shower. There’s probably a visit to a bookstore in my future, a trip downtown to see some Christmas lights, maybe a lovely dinner out. Here’s hoping your holidays are equally delightful!

Knitting as Distraction

Dec19

This is why it’s hard to have puppers: one of my dogs is sick. Grace is lethargic and not eating and we don’t know why, and it breaks my heart. She was at the vet yesterday, no fever, no obvious answers, so she got some medicine and soft food. Today she’s refusing the soft food so she’s back to the vet today to get some blood work done. I’m kind of a mess, partly because I’m worried and partly because it brings back bad memories. We lost a very special dog at this time of year four years ago, and it feels too similar. I know it’s not; the symptoms are different. But it’s still triggering some powerful stuff, and I’m struggling, if I’m being honest. Winter is tough for me, emotionally, and it’s been a stressful few months for everyone in my house, so I think I’m already worn down. Thankfully, I have wonderful bosses who are understanding when I need time off, and lovely friends, and my knitting. Always my knitting! It can be a good distraction at times, and when not a distraction, a comfort.

I’ve been doing some Christmas knitting, though not as much as I wanted to be doing. I made some very cute mitts for my youngest nephew. The white glows in the dark, so maybe that will be a fun surprise for him.

These were so fast to make that I think I need to make some for my boss’s twins, who are even smaller than my nephew, so those mitts would take no time at all! And I could use up some leftover yarn bits too. Win for everyone, right?

I’m almost done with a pair of socks, too. These are my second pair of Petty Harbor socks, though this time I just did a stockinette foot rather than carry the pattern down.

I’m almost out of the purple, and I’m debating about just using the gray when I run out. Why not have a longer gray toe? I do have a second skein of the purple, but then I’d have more ends to weave in. And if I just use the gray, I can plan ahead and get a whole pair of short socks out of the second skein of purple. Really, I’m just kicking myself because if I’d done gray heels like I’d planned, I’d probably have plenty of purple to finish. Oh well, that’s kind of the nice thing about socks: they go into your shoes and it’s all right if they’re not perfectly matched. So I’m going to take my little sock and go sit with my sick pupper until it’s time to go to the vet, and cross my fingers that we get good news.

Two Finished Gifts

Dec10

I feel like I’m running in place with my Christmas knitting. I finish projects but I still have ones waiting in the wings, so I don’t feel like I’m getting ahead. But still, I did finish two projects the other day, and that’s a relief. The first is the pair of Lightning McQueen mittens, the project where the first mitten came out too big and I had to frog it and reknit it. My second try was much more successful.

Hooray, two matching mittens! These are actually a birthday gift that I’ll give today, so here’s hoping they actually fit the little boy they’re for. Pattern is World’s Simplest Mittens by Tin Can Knits.

My second FO is a pair of Christmas-gift socks, the Strutting Peacock socks that I’ve had on the needles since mid-November. (Feels like longer.) This wasn’t a fun knit for me. I don’t think I like the Knit Picks Chroma for socks, at least not for socks with twisted stitches. The colors are pretty, and the final socks do feel dense and warm, but the yarn sticks to itself a lot, making tinking and frogging difficult. I bought more colors in the big sale, so I’ll try another pair with a simpler pattern and see if I like it better.

I do like the look of the pattern. It took a little while for me to memorize, but I was able to do the second sock mostly without the pattern. My only modification was to do a stockinette foot rather than carry the pattern down, to make for faster knitting. I think I’d like to try this pattern again with better yarn.

Last night was a band concert, the girl’s last District Band concert. She played beautifully, they sounded wonderful, and I had lots of knitting time. I chose the simplest of knitting so that I could watch her while I listened and knit, and made good progress on my Scrappy Cowl.

This is a pretty fun project. I think I’m going to like this cowl a lot! But for now I’ve set it aside because I need to focus on more gift knitting. The boy has a girlfriend, and he would like me to make a cowl for the girlfriend. I like the boy, so I will do my best to complete that along with the other two gift projects on my list! Are you done with your gift knitting yet?