Tag Archive | knitting

Two Button Cowls

I have two finished cowls to share today, both with fun buttons. I like them both and am disappointed with both. Let’s start with the older one.

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I finished knitting this last weekend but just sewed on the buttons today. The pattern called for 60 yards and some of the project pages mentioned it was a little small, so I added in a second color to hopefully stretch my 60 yards. However, I didn’t do it logically or scientifically, so it still came out smaller than I wanted and I had more yarn left over than I wanted. I should have cast on a couple more stitches and weighed the black yarn after doing the first three rows so that I’d know how much I could knit in the center black section. Instead I winged it. I mean, it’s fine. I do like the buttons I chose for it, but they’re a tiny bit too small for the buttonhole so they’re more likely to come out. But it’s cute, it’s wearable, and it was a good choice for the one 60-yard ball of bulky yarn I had in my stash. Pattern is Mochi Neck Cozy.

Okay, so the second cowl I finished knitting last night at the girl’s choir concert. This morning I sewed it together and added buttons. The yarn is Malabrigo Rasta and is GORGEOUS. Love love love these colors. It knit up quickly, it’s soft and will be super warm, and I really like the matte pewter buttons I chose.

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So what’s the problem with this one? It’s taller and snugger than I was expecting, so it’s a bit harder to wear. It’s a tight enough gauge that it doesn’t drape very much. I think at this point I’m going to give it a bath in some Eucalan and see if I can loosen it up. Still, that’s a pretty small problem. This pattern is Comfy Cowl. I love how you can sew it together however you want; off-kilter like the designer did, or with the edges matched up evenly.

The weather here has been cool and gray and rainy lately and I’m afraid it’s affecting my mood. Hope things are brighter where you are!

Madelia Photos

Jan16

I unpinned my Madelia shawl this morning and started taking photos as soon as I got enough daylight. I just love lace, don’t you?

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The only modification to the pattern was to use DK instead of sport weight. My edge didn’t come out quite as pointy as hers, but close enough. If you don’t set it aside for two months as I did, it’s a relatively quick knit. The pattern was well-written and easy to follow (except for one bit where it says to use the right needle tip to lift a stitch over, and I think it should maybe be the left needle that’s doing the lifting). Plus it’s super easy to modify; it’s written for three colors but obviously I only did two. It would also be lovely in a solid color. And if you made it in a fingering weight, I think it would be a good size for more of a scarf look.

This morning I came to the determination that I am inspired more by yarn than by patterns. I wanted to cast on some new projects so I had more variety, and went to my stash and picked out five yarns that were calling my name. Thanks to Ravelry, a short while later I had patterns picked out for all of them and have big plans for today! … Except I just realized that none of them are a hat, and I need a hat in the mix, so I’ll be revisiting the stash in a bit. Yeah, I’ll be doubling my WIP count today. Right now I’m okay with it. We’ll see how long it lasts before I’m hit with a bout of finish-itis!

Madelia Shawl

Jan15

I started and finished a shawl yesterday. Haha, NO! Not that same shawl! First, I cast on the Chevrione shawl with high hopes of making good progress this weekend. I made it through the first two sections, but it was tricky! Not that it’s really that difficult, but the lace is intricate and a little complicated and I kept making mistakes. I had to focus all my attention on it, no movies or TV, and after a couple of hours, I needed a mental break. But here’s what I’ve got so far:

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It’s really pretty and I like it and I can’t wait to get to the next color. I think it’ll go more smoothly now that I’ve gone through the chart once.

When I set aside the Chevrione, the girl and I decided to watch a movie, so I pulled out another old WIP, one that’s not mindless but is easier to follow with distractions. It’s the Madelia Shawlette by Picnic Knits that I started in September. As I finished the section I was on, I realized I only had three sections left, and each one was 12 rows or fewer. So close to the end! Suddenly my goal was to finish this project.

I knit my way through West Side Story, Moulin Rouge, and the evening news, and at 10:30 I finally set aside the completed shawl. And this morning I got up, wove in the ends, and blocked the sucker.

Here’s a close-up of the lace. I think blocking is going to make a huge difference in this one. When I was done binding off, I wasn’t sure I liked it, but it’s growing on me now.

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So with that done, I had 4 WIPs: three shawls and a blanket. Well, that wasn’t going to work for me. I need more variety in my knitting life. Fortunately, I was saved by a friend’s request for two pussyhats. I did a bit of stash-diving and came up with an assortment of pink yarn, and had a nearly finished hat after a viewing of The Time Traveler’s Wife.

Now I’ve had a workout and a snack break, and I’m ready to dive back in. The goal is to have two completed pussyhats by the end of the day. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

Two Pink Hats

Jan14

These are the only finished objects I have to show you this week, two pink kitty hats. They are cute. I like them.

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They were supposed to be for me and my daughter, but then a friend of a friend needed two hats for the March on Washington, and I was more than happy to send these her way and make more for us. I used AndreSue Knits’ pattern for the KitKat hat and KnitPicks Preciosa Tonal in Pokeberry. I was able to get two hats and another brim out of one skein, and I’ve got more on the way. (And if you don’t know anything about what these hats mean, check out www.pussyhatproject.com)

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Wow. That’s a very large photo of my face. Second guessing that selection now.

I did find and attach buttons for my Gothic Lace cowl, and I’m delighted with how that turned out. I’ve already worn it to work and gotten several compliments on it.

My only (very small) regret is that the silver buttons I chose, which I adore, are a bit heavy for the cowl, so it’s a little hard to wear. I very much want to make another one of these with lighter buttons.

Anyway, while I wait for my pink yarn to arrive, I needed something new and exciting for my weekend of knitting. Not only do I get Monday off for the Martin Luther King, Jr. day, but we also have an ice storm warning, so yay for three days of solid knitting! Last night I wound my Frolicking Feet gradient set and cast on for the Chevrione shawl.

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I didn’t get far because we started watching a movie and this is not movie-watching knitting. But I’m hoping to make good progress today! My only question is whether I should have started with the darkest teal instead of the lightest…hmm. What do you think?

Two Cowls

Jan8

Of course the projects I actually finished were newer ones, started after Christmas with new yarn. Of course I couldn’t bring myself to finish a poor old WIP. Well. Maybe that’ll be next.

Yesterday the girl had a District Orchestra performance so I had driving time knitting and concert time knitting, and I was able to bind off the Hill & Dale cowl on the drive home. I don’t think it even needs to be blocked.

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I do love the drape and the colors but it’s kind of hard to wear. Every time I put it on the mannequin, it looked kind of dumb, like this:

Finally, I got this, which isn’t as lovely as it looks in the pattern photos, but still wearable.

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Pattern is Hill & Dale Cowl, yarn is Malabrigo Rios in Archangel. I used almost all of two skeins.

Then last night, the girl, who is fighting a cold, wanted a movie night, so we settled in for The Sound of Music and I pulled out my Gothic Lace cowl. By the time the credits rolled, I was weaving in ends. I love this cowl!

Those are crochet button holes. I need to get buttons for the other side so I can show how pretty it will be all buttoned up! I’m thinking silver buttons with a vintage look. I used all the yarn and wish I’d had more to make it a bit longer, but it will be fabulous as is too. But first I do actually need to block this one to open up the lace and just get it all evened out and straight. That’s on my list today. This pattern is Gothic Lace Cowl by Tin Can Knits (don’t you just love their designs??) and the yarn is Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage, which is my favorite Madtosh yarn so far. I kind of find Madtosh to be a bit splitty. So even though I love this cowl with this yarn, I still love Malabrigo more. I can’t help it. Malabrigo is my favorite. What’s your favorite yarn?

Bored. So Bored.

Jan5

Do you ever get bored with your projects? I sure do. I got so excited finishing my Black Diamond cowl that I got ambitious and pulled out my oldest WIP, the Playful Stripes blanket. I’m using bright colors of Blue Sky Fibers Worsted Cotton so it should be fun, right?

Ha. Not so much. My first hurdle was that I’d started this back when I was still purling wrong, so I had to endure an annoying row of knitting into twisted stitches. After that, I got to switch to a contrasting color stripe and that was fun, but too soon I was back to the blue stockinette. And even though I made it to another contrast color, I still feel like I’m just plodding through it. I love the colors, and I think I’ll love the finished blanket, but the knitting of it is boring me!

My other regular knitting project has been kind of boring too. My Hill & Dale cowl has been my travel/ lunch break knitting, and let me tell you: six inches of moss stitch gets tiresome. I finally made it to the ribbed section yesterday, so this one should be finished pretty quick. Then maybe I’ll promote the blanket to lunch break knitting, and get back to something more exciting at home.

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I do have a couple of finished hats, though. Today was a snow day for the kids, and I decided to join them and use the opportunity to complete a messy bun hat order. These hats are so fast to make!

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Oh, and I had a lot of help today. It’s very cold, so Grace thinks she needs to be laying on me at all times. She’s cute, but a bit of a hindrance at times.

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What’s the most boring project you’ve ever made? Have you ever given up on something just because it was so boring?

Another FO!

Jan2

My first finished object of the new year! I’ve been knitting a LOT this weekend, alternating between two new projects and one older WIP, my Black Diamonds cowl.

I decided I was close enough to the end that I should just finish it, so I knit and knit and knit and bound off last night. It has now been washed and is currently blocked out to dry on my nifty new blocking mats.

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The pattern is the Saltfleet Cowl, yarn is Anzula Cricket in charcoal. This is the cowl I made before and ran out of yarn, and another knitter sent me a bit of leftover that was supposed to be the same colorway but such a completely different color that I couldn’t handle it. So I frogged and reknit with smaller needles and still didn’t have enough yarn to complete the cowl as written. The ribbing is shorter on both ends, and I left off the last four or five rows. Maybe I should have gone down another needle size! But in any case, it’s done, and I still think it’s gorgeous, and I’ll probably wear the heck out of it.

And now that it’s done, back I go to my new projects!

One Done, Two Begun

Dec31

Here, let me show you something I finished! I actually finished it a few days ago but was slow getting around to taking a halfway decent photo.

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This is my Quickie Scowl. I used Classic Elite Chalet and Chateau, two skeins of teal and one of light gray, and that wasn’t enough. It’s shorter than I wanted. I blame it on needle size. The pattern calls for 10 1/2; when I made it the first time, I used 10s (no idea why), and this time I chose 10.75 because I wanted to use my fun Marblez needles and I thought the size would be close enough. And I do love the loose drape and the nice big yarnovers, but of course it’s wider than my first scarf, so with the same amount of yarn, it’s also shorter. I thought about sewing the ends together for a cowl which would be long enough to double, but I asked my daughter and she voted for a scarf, so a scarf it stayed. And it is a cozy, warm, close-fitting scarf indeed!

I did start two new projects yesterday, the ones calling my name, and boy are they fun! First I cast on for the Miss Winkle with my hot pink Frolicking Feet. It’s a Martina Behm pattern so there’s plenty of squishy garter stitch but also this nifty looped edge that is super addictive.

It’s also super hard to photograph! It was a little tricky to figure out, and I’m pretty sure I did the first one wrong, but eh, it’s a design feature, right? At first I thought I’d get annoyed by the fiddly nature of it, but it turns out I’m loving knitting this and want to keep going just to make more loops!

My second cast-on was the Gothic Lace cowl in MadTosh Vintage and that’s a delightful knit too. The yarn is thick and squishy and slides just right on my bamboo needles and the lace makes me think without being too complicated, and bonus: when it’s done I’ll get to pick out buttons to add!

And thankfully, the rest of my weekend is pretty empty, so I should get to work on these quite a bit. But once I get started on the margaritas tonight, I’ll probably switch back to the simple Hill & Dale cowl.

I think that’s a wrap for my 2016 blogging. See you on the flip side, and here’s wishing you all a happy, safe New Year’s Eve!

The Call of the Yarn

Dec30

I have four sad WIPs that I have been neglecting. I have allowed myself to become distracted by all the new, pretty yarn entering my stash. I want to knit ALL the things with the new yarn. I’m quickly filling up my Ravelry queue with potential projects and am slowed only by having to go back to work. I’ve already started one new project, with some yarn I bought right after Christmas. I got two skeins of Malabrigo Rios in Archangel, and wanted a simple pattern to show off the gorgeous colors. I love cowls and wear them almost every day, so that was the easy decision. After much perusing, I settled on the Hill & Dale Cowl, a generously-sized cowl that will make perfect lunch-break knitting.

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As always, I’m loving knitting with Malabrigo. But I’m also itching to cast on a Chevrione shawl with my new Frolicking Feet gradient set. I haven’t done any fingering weight lace in ages and I’m craving it!

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Plus I’m desperate to make a Miss Winkle shawl, and I think this pink Frolicking Feet will be perfect. (I’m sensing a theme here.) I also have this gorgeous skein of Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage waiting to become this Gothic Lace cowl.

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See?? So many beautiful projects just waiting for my attention! The pull of these yarns is so strong that I’m even ignoring a Malabrigo Hitchhiker already on my needles! That’s pretty significant…but hm, maybe I should get that back out…hmm, how many WIPs is a reasonable number?

A Story of Yarn

Dec29

Free yarn. What knitter would turn down free yarn? Not this one! So when one of my SILs said she’d gotten some yarn from a client and it was mine if I wanted it, I said sure! To be honest, I was expecting chain-store acrylic. Then she said the woman had told her it was “good yarn, not the cheap stuff” and my hopes went up a bit. A quick glance in the bag revealed it was indeed “better” yarn — I saw one label for Rowan wool and thought I might find some goodies.

That night I dumped out the bag, and as I started picking up the balls, I made a disappointing discovery: the yarn had been stored around a smoker. The smell wasn’t super strong, not overpowering, but it was there. I knew I could wash finished pieces but I was afraid the smell would bother me as I knit.

I did some googling and asking around, and the consensus was that washing the yarn was my only hope, and even that might not work. Knowing that, I performed triage on the yarn. I set aside to donate the colors I didn’t like, the unlabeled skeins I thought were acrylic, the ones that felt too scratchy for me. That left me with seven balls of wool and cotton. I filled up a tub with water and Eucalan and let them soak for several hours, then squished them out and set them on a towel to dry.

Well, that took forever, as you can imagine. I decided they’d dry out faster and air out better if I could put them in loose hanks. So I spent some time with my swift and ended up with neat, tidy, damp hanks hanging in my craft room.

Tonight they were dry so back on the swift they went to get wound into pretty cakes. As near as I can tell, the smoke smell is gone. (As is most of the cat hair.) What treasures did I keep? I hear you asking. Well, I got two skeins of what I believe is pima cotton (pink and purple), one skein of Rowan superwash wool in red, one skein of a luscious wool/silk/cashmere blend (Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra, to be specific), two balls of Mochi Plus in the color Neptune (which I recognized because I have three balls already), and best of all, a skein of Cascade Baby Alpaca Chunky in red. They’re all definitely worth the work of washing and reskeining! And now I’m quite pleased with myself and my new stash.

What about you? Have you ever gotten awesome yarn for free? Or gone to great lengths to save good yarn?