Tag Archive | makers making

Cotton Cardigan, pretty in purple

I’m a small-project knitter. I like immediate gratification, I like being able to finish projects quickly, I like being able to start new projects quickly. But sometimes a certain yarn has something else in mind.

I found this Cotton Supreme Splash in the Hillcreek Yarn Shoppe in Columbia, Missouri over a year ago. It’s purple, it’s cotton, it’s soft–it’s everything I love in a yarn. I bought two skeins with no idea what I was going to do with it. Soon after that, I saw the same yarn at Knitcraft, my LYS, so I bought three more skeins. With that much cotton, it was obvious this yarn wanted to be a bigger project. I had crocheted a cardigan, so maybe I needed to knit one.

The yarn hibernated for a long time, months, while I waited for inspiration and the right pattern. For my first knit cardigan, I didn’t want to take too many risks, so I wanted a pattern using yarn the same fiber and weight as my yarn. When I found the Lilas Cardigan on Ravelry, I knew it was the right one. Even though I almost always use free patterns, I happily paid for this one. I found one more skein at my LYS and grabbed it, just in case. I cast on quickly, thinking I could maybe get it done in the couple of months before my summer vacation.

The pattern starts at the floppy collar and it knit up quickly.

After the collar, the pattern moves into the yoke. With the size I’m making, I had 30 increase rows to do, and after the first couple, I had the hang of it, and found it…a bit boring, I hate to say. It was a lot of stockinette stitch. I got about eight rows into that section and couldn’t stand it anymore. It would be too hot to wear in the summer anyway. So into hibernation it went, and I ignored it for the next two months.

I did pack it when I went on vacation, thinking I could work on it on the train. I didn’t work on it at all, but getting it out reignited my interest, and I started knitting on it again when we got home. I powered through those boring increase rows and finally yesterday I made it to the next section of the pattern. It’s still the yoke, still working on increase rows for the sleeves, but I can see the progress.

I can see that it’s growing into a real sweater, with sleeves and everything, and it’s exciting.

I can’t wait until I get to divide for the sleeves! And with any luck, I’ll have a lovely new cardigan to wear in the fall!

Felting for Father’s Day

Jun24

Before Mother’s Day, I told my husband I didn’t want him or the kids to go out and buy me presents. Instead I wanted gifts of their time: something handmade and thoughtful. He went above and beyond, gifting me with gorgeous knitting needles and a yarn swift. In return, he mentioned that for Father’s Day, he’d like a new pencil case to replace the crocheted one eaten by the dog. Since I’ve been on a felting kick lately, I decided he needed a felted case.

The design itself would be simple, but I wasn’t brave enough to try to wing it without a pattern, mostly because I don’t have a good sense of how much things shrink when felted. There weren’t a lot of free options on Ravelry but I did find one I liked the look of: the Felted Acorn Pencil Case. Shortly after that, I was at Joann and found some variegated gray Patons wool that looked nicely masculine. Unfortunately, I didn’t buy enough, and sitting there waiting to cast on, I was too lazy to drive out to Joann. Instead I drove the two minutes to my LYS and bought a solid black Galway to mix with the Patons.

The knitting went quickly, as did my realization that this case would be much bigger than I expected. I finished it, though, and felted it. The Patons didn’t seem to want to felt, and I did have to do some handfelting after two rounds in the washer. But it finally felted enough and I added a nice button and called it done. It was about 5″x8″.

So I had a case that was too big, and plenty of yarn left over. I went back to Ravelry and did more pattern hunting until I found this Felted Pen Case. I decided to just do one strand of the Patons variegated, cast on 30 and knit until I thought it looked long enough, which was tricky since I didn’t know how much it would shrink. And, well, it didn’t shrink as much as I anticipated. It’s a good width but a bit longer than I wanted. It will work well for newer (i.e. longer) pencils but it’s too long for his pens. Plus the Patons really didn’t want to felt this time; I had to fight with it in the kitchen sink for quite a while. I do like the pattern, and I’m pleased with how it came out.

Here’s a better shot of the button. Buttons are one of my favorite things to add to my knits.

Overall, I think he was pleased with his gifts. I enjoyed making them, but I won’t choose Patons for felting in the future. I think I’ll use the rest of the black Galway to knit up another pen case, in a pen-appropriate length this time.

Vacation Knitting

Jun22

So, that’s me in front of the Reflecting Pool and the Washington Monument in Washington D.C. (pretty obvious, I know). We just got back from a two-week vacation there, and I’ve been going through photos and souvenirs and trying to get back into the swing of normal life. And by normal life, I mean finding time to knit!

I thought I’d have a lot of time to knit this vacation: we were traveling there by train, so I’d have two days on the train, plus I figured I’d have time in the evenings to pick up my yarn. So I packed six projects, one a WIP and the others new. Of those, I managed to finish the WIP and…that’s it. And that I finished on the train. I didn’t knit at all while I was in DC! We spent all day exploring the city, and by the time we got back to the room, I was exhausted with no energy left for my needles. But like I said, I did finish one project, and it was very rewarding for me. I’d started a shawl a few months ago with some gorgeous Simply Sweet Whipped Cream yarn in my three favorite colors and it was going swimmingly until my dog got hold of it.

I frogged and started over right away, but I’d lost some steam. I’d pick it up occasionally and do a few rows, but mostly it hibernated. I packed it for the train, hoping I could wear it in the evenings in DC, and I finished it that first day on the train. I had to fudge the end a bit, since I ran out of purple sooner than I anticipated, but I’m happy with it. No one would know if I didn’t point it out. Since I started it around Easter, when the colors reminded me of jelly beans, I named it the Jelly Bean Shawl. That’s my son helping me show it off.

Given that I mostly do small projects, I was quite pleased that I was able to complete such a large piece, and I love the pattern. The mohair makes it fuzzy and it sheds on anything it touches, and it’s a warmer shawl than I expected. I thought it’d be more of a summer shawl, but I think it will be perfect for spring and fall evenings. And it’s already seen some use: the girl got cold on the train and borrowed it. My mom also borrowed it later in the trip. I was always too hot to wear it but I’ve got it set back for cooler nights.

I did start another project on the train, a Purl Ridge scarf with one skein of vintage purple Malabrigo from an estate sale. It went quickly and smoothly, and the yarn was a joy to knit with. I pulled it out yesterday on the flight home and got almost to the end of the skein. The problem was I only halfway through the pattern. It has now been frogged and restarted with fewer stitches. It’ll just be a bit shorter.

Sadly, that’s all for recent knitting progress. But just because I didn’t have much knitting time in DC does not mean I did not have yarn time. My hotel was near old Georgetown, and we were a 15-minute walk from a lovely yarn store called Looped Yarn Works. It was a delightful store, and tomorrow I’ll try to post some pictures of all my lovely souvenir yarn.

Finally, Some Finished Objects

Jun5

I promise, I have been knitting. I haven’t had time to write about it, but it’s still happening. I’ve finished several projects recently that I’m tickled with, so I’m going to whiz through and show them off. Plus, it’s dark and stormy today and I don’t want to go anywhere.

The first is a big project I finished about three weeks ago. A friend commissioned an afghan for her newly-decorated living room. She gave me the colors and free reign on design, since she’d liked all the other blankets I’ve made. I had a pattern called Greenway in Comfort Knitting and Crochet: Afghans that I’d been wanting to make, so this seemed like a perfect fit. I’ve discovered I prefer crochet for blankets over knitting: crochet goes so much faster for me, and since I am not a fan of projects that take a long time, I need blankets to go as quickly as possible. I loved the pattern: it was simple but looks complex. And for a blanket, it did go quickly. But still, by the end I was cursing a bit each time I measured and it was too short. I was aiming for a 48″ square blanket, though of course it never ends up that way for me. It finished at 48″x55″, so not too bad. I used Bernat Super Value for the white and black, and Red Heart with Love for the red and orange. I’m not crazy about Red Heart in general but I needed something affordable and washable, and I really like the squishiness of the Red Heart with Love. My friend seemed delighted with the end result.

After that I got to switch gears completely, and I whipped up a wee baby hat. An old friend of mine is expecting a second baby, and I wanted a yarny gift for the baby shower. Again, I’d been wanting to make the Pointy Elf Hat from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts and this was the perfect excuse. She didn’t know the sex, so I picked out some super-soft washable acrylic, Bernat Satin Solids, in a gender-neutral camel. I held the yarn double to mimic a bulky weight. I discovered newborn hats fly off the needles; I can’t wait to make another.

Then it was time for some selfish knitting. I went to the nearest LYS and bought a skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca just for this bear. The pieces knit up quickly and soon I had all the bits of a bear ready to assemble. That brought me to my least favorite part of toymaking: assembling. I don’t mind the stuffing, but the embroidery and sewing together is so awkward for me. I did watch all his videos as I did it, and they helped, but the bear still came out a bit…wonky. His mouth is off-center and the eyes don’t exactly match. The ears are too big and make him look like a mouse (or an elephant. Whatever.) As I was finishing him up, he told me his name was Perry. Don’t know why, though my son said it was because his head was pear-shaped. He is cute, and I like him. But I want to practice a bit more before I start making them for gifts!

I was craving simplicity after the bear, so I turned to hats. I made a simple slouchy beanie from my most favorite yarn ever: Cascade Yarns Baby Alpaca Chunky. You can find the pattern here, but I did make some modifications.

I love making hats. Love love love them. One wasn’t enough. I know it’s spring, I know it’s hot. I don’t care. My sister had said a while back that she needed a hat, and I know she likes forest green. I had one skein of dark green Cascade 128 Superwash in my stash. Then it was pattern-hunting time, so I got to browse Ravelry for a while until I found this Swirling Beanie. Love it! Want to make it again!

So those are the results of my last month’s worth of yarn time. I’ve also been working on my two bigger WIPs, a shawl and a cardigan. Okay, not really the cardigan, but I’ve thought about it. And now I’m getting ready for a two-week vacation that includes 4 days on a train, so I’m planning out the projects I need to take with me. I’ve got seven in mind; I hope that’s enough!

Finding Time

May22

This is the busiest time of year if you have kids, which is why I haven’t had time to post anything in ages. The girl had music concerts and recitals and contests and auditions and award ceremonies. The boy had school parties and fifth grade graduation. Add that to the weekly lessons and time spent training the dog, and it means my knitting has fallen too low on my list of priorities lately. I have been finding time to play with my yarn here and there, just not nearly as often as I would like. But now that school is almost over I am eager to ramp it up, and it’ll get easier thanks to my fabulous Mother’s Day present! I told Alex I didn’t want him to spend money on me; I wanted the gift of time and energy. And boy, did it pay off. See, look:

That, my friends, is my new swift. I saw it on Pinterest and have been bugging the hubby for one ever since, and finally he made one! I love it. It works wonderfully, and it can fold up for storage or moving. That’s not all though: he’s been experimenting with turning wood, and I received a beautiful set of maple knitting needles. They’re 14″, US size 17. A bit heavier than the bamboo I’ve worked with before, but that wasn’t a problem once I got used to it.

I couldn’t wait to use them, of course. I wound 5 or 6 balls of yarn first, just to play with my swift, then I poked through Ravelry for a cowl pattern using that size needle. And heck, who could resist something called the World’s Fastest Cowl? I’d been waiting for the right pattern to go with two balls of this super bulky Trendsetter Genie that I’d picked up at an estate sale. I do love my bulky multi-color yarns, you know.

My other Mother’s Day present was knitting time, and the cowl lived up to its name. By the end of the day, I had a fabulous new cowl…that I won’t be able to wear for a few months.

I’ve got a couple other completed projects to share, but I can’t just yet (spoilers!). I also have four WIPs (that’s a lot for me) and plans to start another today. It’s the last full quiet day before school lets out, so I’m going to sit back and enjoy my solitude by casting on something just for me: a teddy bear with this Berroco Ultra Alpaca.

A Teddy Bear

May4

I decided to try to knit my own joyful little bear. I used the Ruby Bear pattern from Ravelry.

I cast on with some camel Bernat satin, since I had plenty in my stash and it’s soft and washable. The pattern calls for knitting each piece flat but I hate seaming so I decided to knit it all in the round, except the ears. I knit the body first and couldn’t believe how fast it grew. I also couldn’t help but giggle at his little bum.

I didn’t have much knitting time but I got all the pieces knitted in a few days. Today I sat down with my polyfill and got busy stuffing and assembling. I left the ends of the arms and legs open until they were stuffed, then cinched them closed.

The next step was the hardest part for me. I’m not the best at sewing pieces together but if you don’t look closely at the seams, I think he looks okay. The embroidered face was a new skill for me too.

I found a little red ribbon that looks perfect tied in a bow around his neck. I really enjoyed making him, more than I thought I would. He’s sitting next to my computer now, and he makes me smile.

Where’d my mojo go?

Apr17

I seem to have lost some of my knitting motivation. I’ve been so caught up in training the new dog that my focus has shifted. Maybe the fact that I can’t leave current projects out where I can see them prevents them from staying on my mind. Or maybe it’s the fact that I have two bigger projects going, and I really like immediate gratification. The only project I’ve finished recently is this scarf:

I have several single skeins of mercerized cotton in my stash and couldn’t figure out what to do with them. But with warmer weather supposedly coming, I’ve been wanting to make all kinds of lighter knitwear, and a Spring scarf seemed perfect for this color. It’s a bit shorter than I anticipated but I love the openness of the pattern.

I have re-started the shawl that Max ate, and it’s almost back where it was before. I did switch to the bigger needles and like it a lot better. So I guess he kind of did me a favor. Except that he killed my momentum and now I’m slower to get back into it.

The other project on my needles is a cardigan, my first knitted garment. I chose the Lilas Cardigan on Ravelry partly because it looked simple enough for a newbie and partly because I love the big, floppy collar. I’ve had six skeins of Cotton Supreme Splash in my stash for ages, waiting for the right pattern, and I think this is it. I’ve already used up one skein just making the collar.

But here’s the problem: this is boring. It’s a LOT of stockinette. I make it through one row and reward myself with an email or Twitter check. I know I’ll love it when it’s done, I just have to get there. And I think if I can push through to the point where it actually starts looking like a cardigan, I’ll get excited enough to finish.

So today, I have some knitting time. Hmm, what to work on? I think I’ll make another one of those lacy scarves in this CEY Imagine yarn…

Oh, I could just cry

Apr14

My first clue was the yarn label I saw on the floor as I unlocked the back door. A small, intact yarn label…that was in the middle of a ball of yarn when I left the house this morning. As I came inside, I saw a long dark trail along the dining room floor, and I gasped. It was yarn. A long tangled mess of purple yarn. Behind it was a pile of pink yarn. These were neat and tidy balls when I left. After an hour in the house with a bored dog? Not so much.

Near these travesties was another: my cute new YarnPop Gadgety bag was on the floor, intact but muddy and damp.

I was trembling with fear by this point because I knew what was coming. I knew what this yarn had been attached to. I had started a spring shawl for myself yesterday with these gorgeous colors, and I was loving how it was turning out. See, I’ll show you. Before:

Here’s the after:

Sighhhhhh. I know, I know. It could have been so much worse. If I had been gone any longer, the shawl would probably have been gone too. And I wasn’t too far into it, so I wasn’t losing too much time. As it was, I frogged it all very carefully. The yarn is beautiful Simply Sweet Whipped Cream, a blend of wool, mohair and silk. The mohair, which gives it that fuzzy halo, loves to tangle if you pull too quickly. So I worked slowly, making sure to keep my breathing even and steady. And when I was done, I realized I wasn’t really missing much yarn, though it looked my pink yarn ball had babies.

So now I get to start all over with my shawl, as soon as my Gadgety bag is dry. The silver lining is that I can switch to a bigger needle size, which I think will make a better shawl anyway. I’ve also learned that absolutely nothing is safe around this dog. Nothing. I’d cry…but he’s eaten all the tissues.

p.s. for those who are wondering, no, I did not yell at, or punish, the dog since he didn’t know better. It was my mistake to leave it within reach. He got to stay in the kitchen with the door closed while I removed all the evidence.

This Easter, the treat is the basket itself!

Apr7

I finished another project the other day, and I’m quite tickled with it. It was the cutest little bubble bag pattern, and since I’ve been on a felting kick lately, I thought I’d give it a shot with one of the random skeins of wool in my stash. I picked a bright grassy green and cast on, and the knitting went so quickly! It felted quickly too, unlike my last bag. This one only needed two wash cycles and it was ready to dry. After that, I found a pink ribbon to thread through the eyelets, and voila!

It’s small–only 5″ by 7″–but it would easily hold all the essentials. I’m also thinking it would make a great small-project bag! You can easily switch out the ribbon for any other color. For now, though, I’m thinking it needs to hold some Easter eggs!

Available for sale here

What’s at the end of this rainbow?

Apr3

My very first post on this blog was about some rainbow yarn that inspired me. It was beautiful Mochi Mini from Crystal Palace Yarns, and I bought it even though it was fingering weight and I don’t do fingering weight. I bought it and the toothpick-sized DPNs I needed to make some fingerless gloves with it.

I cast on that afternoon, and it took some getting used to the miniature needles and the thin yarn. Mostly, it took some time to get used to how long it took to make any kind of progress.

This was a few hours’ work. It was simple knitting, and I felt like I was doing something so delicate and delicious that I didn’t mind the time spent. I also loved seeing the colors emerge as I knit, and how they flowed smoothly from one to the next. I did run into two knots in beginning of the skein, but I didn’t mind that. I knit my thumb gusset, and managed to slide those stitches onto some waste yarn that was probably too fat but all I had.

On and on I knit, blissfully and mindlessly, just watching my rainbow come full circle. I realized as I neared the top ribbing that when I picked up for the thumb, it would be a completely different color. I pondered that, considering starting the other mitt until I came to the matching color for the thumb. Then I realized I didn’t want them to match perfectly. So after I cast off the top, I happily picked up the blue yarn through the orange thumb stitches. I had some problems with it: I went the wrong way or something, so my purls were facing out and I had that line of color. Oops. I pulled out most of them and started again, but there are still the little lines at the five stitches I picked up. Just don’t look too closely at the thumb, okay? Mostly I was happy that I didn’t have a gaping hole at the thumb. This was only the third thumb I’ve picked up, so I think I did pretty well. I put it on and it fit! Yay!

Then I realized I had to make another one. One that would match it exactly. Well, I’d already had the fun of knitting a glove with this yarn, so the novelty had worn off a bit. So it took me another week or so to pick it up again and cast on for the second mitt. This one went faster, and I knew what I was doing with the thumb stitches this time so it’s even better (close to perfect, if I do say so myself). And even though it started at a different color, the body is still mostly the same as the first glove. I put it on, and it fit! Yay!

Now, do you notice what I noticed? Yep, this one is smaller. This might be the time to confess that I’m not the best row-counter…but I tried with these! I really tried! And yet they still came out different sizes. Sighhh. At first I was disappointed and thoroughly disgusted with myself. But they’re for me, they both fit, and I love how they look. I discovered I enjoy knitting with fingering weight yarn, and I practiced making thumbs. And I might have enough rainbow yarn left over to squeeze out another pair…if I can manage to make them both the smaller size!