What to do, what to do?

Hey Robin,
I find myself in a peculiar position... balanced on that thin line that we find ourselves on in this particular season. I finished a holiday gift (#18 or so in the list), so do I start another and face gift-burnout or do I start a little something for myself? Hmmm... to demonstrate:

I recently finished these for my Uncle Of the Large Feet (who's birthday is on Halloween but who I only just this weekend got to visit):

Pattern: Adult Moc-a-soc by Bekah Knits

Also finished this for a swap package, now received so it's OK to post a pic:

Pattern: Grid from Hello Yarn, colorwork pattern by my. 

Yarns used: Patons classic wool in natural and 

Debbie Mumm stuff from JoAnn. I'm too lazy to go find the ball band... sorry.

She is a fan of Moose. So the upper one shows the moose-print which is back-of-hand and the lower one shows the moose/antler motif I came up with for the palm. It was fun dreaming up this mitten, plus she really seems to like them so: score!

And now I have 50% finished this gift for another swap:

It's hard to see the leaf motif on the thumb gusset, no? Click to enlarge as always. This pattern is lovely and so well written. It's the October Leaves Mitts  by Abbie Tilden (yarn used: Malabrigo sock in Tiziano Red... I love this yarn base AND colorway... must get more). Mitt #2 is coming along quickly.

I did manage to make something that might or might not end up being for me, so perhaps I should not whine too much. I happened to catch that Woolly Wormhead was conducting a KAL (knit along) for some of her new hats and I have always wanted to make one of her projects. It ended yesterday thusly:

 

Pattern: KAL 'A' (name unknown just now) using Debbie Bliss Merino DK. See the purdy leaves??

Oh yes! I almost forgot that I also knitted up two hats for charity:

Both are the Warwick Hat by my dear friend Nina Machlin Dayton. Knitted up using Cascade 220 for both. They are extraordinary hats really. I think they might be my new faves as far as fun-to-knit factor and cuteness... both of them are child-sized but the pattern includes sizing all the way up to Adult Large.

So now.... what to do with all those lonely needles?

If anyone else has not suffered burnout from gift-knitting, Might I suggest the quickly-knit and wonderfully cute Baby Robitaille by a designer who's name currently escapes me?

Cute, no?

Knitting Fairy Tale

Hey Kate!

I've been reading The Spawn a fairy tale from The Golden Book of Fairy Tales every night at bedtime.  I don't think she's really paying attention to the plot and the characters, but she has definitely got the format down.  The other night, my mouth hurt too much to read, so she read me an Elephant and Piggie book in fairy tale style.  She added "once upon a time", he saids, she saids and "they lived after after after".  It was adorable.

Did you know there is a knitting fairy tale?  Hans Christian Andersen (now I have the song in my head) wrote one called The Wild Swans. In it, a girl has to spin thread out of nettles (!!!) and then knit it into coats for her brothers to return them back to human form.  It seems that the King believes she is a witch because she hung out in graveyards (to get the nettles), even though she never casts any spell.  But after she transforms the swans into men, he realizes she is not a witch. Huh?

Anyway. That's all I got.

Robin

Baby Robitaille

Hey Robin!
As promised I have finally published my first for-pay project! It was a difficult decision, but I felt that the amount of work I put into ensuring sizing and coordinating testers was worth a couple of bucks. I don't expect to sell millions but I hope knitters can appreciate the effort that went into writing up the pattern!

I give you the Baby Robitaille:

So far I have no idea how to sell this outside of Ravelry, so unfortunately if you don't have a Ravelry account I am not sure how to sell a copy of this pattern... except perhaps through Paypal? If anyone out there wants to buy this and does not have a Rav account, please feel free to leave a comment!

I'm about to plotz...

Later!

Free Hoa

Hey Robin,
Today, much as I would love to show off my newly-completed items, I find myself greatly distracted by the plight of a fellow citizen...

I ask anyone who reads this blog to read this testimony on behalf of the woman named Hoa, and figure out a way to help!

Later

Beowulf I am not....

Hey Robin!
I have neglected to update you on my FO's recently! Allow me to rectify that aberration!

First up we have my "Sonnet" cardigan. I would be happy to bow to the desires of the designer regarding the name, but this puppy took me almost a year to complete (my bad, not hers) and so I redub thee EPIC POEM! Or "Saga" for short:

 Isn't she purdy? The yarn is a 50/50 merino/silk blend that is just luscious. (Malabrigo Silky Merino in Cloudy Sky colorway) It is one of my favorite yarns to play with as you will see in the next FO. The buttons are temporary placeholders... I haven't decided what to change them to. Currently they are a mis-matched set of shell-like white buttons. Some people have told me they like that about them, but I am not sure it's my preferred final look. Time will tell. The construction on this one is unique in that it is knitted side to side instead of bottom to top (or vice versa). I liked the idea of it... and I think I might make another someday, perhaps trading out the stitch-detail with something else.

Our next FO is a sort of a test-change to a friend's cowl design (cowl, gaiter.... potato, potah-to) It's a beaded pattern, a great one for the beginner with just lovely results. She designed it for worsted, but I found a skein of the Silky Merino that was screaming to be a lighter-weight version of the original (the silky is a DK weight, which is smaller-diameter than a worsted... for those of you unfamiliar with yarn weights) I got some fantastic beads to go with it and Viola!

Yarn: Malabrigo Silky Merino in the Tatami colorway with size 6/O beads.

Sorry for the unmodelled photo, I have been under the weather lately and not looking my best...

Another test-knit that was recently finished is another awesome hat by my friend Nina Machlin Dayton. She's a brilliant designer of things for one-skein usage. I love helping her with her projects. This one is a beret with some unique engineering. Instead of the usual hat construction, which is knit in the round, this one is knit back and forth on straight needles and grafted at the end. I have gotten very good at the grafting lately!

I give you: The Medici

Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Sunset colorway (love it!)

I believe that's all the knitting news that's fit to print! October is "Stockpile Month" in my Malabrigo Junkie world. All of us are knitting like crazy women in preparation for the Holidays. I won't be entering any contests but I am using the fervor to knock some projects out so that I'm not bleary-eyed and crazed on Xmas eve ;) Wish me luck!!

Later.

It smells good too

Hey Kate,

I thought I was just buying a lovely spindle with some lovely roving, but I ended up with more like a lovely swap package.  The roving came in a plastic bag with a lavendar sachet.  And the spindle was packed well and is just so beautiful.  Darn, the sheep drawing didn't make it fully into the picture, but it's cute. 

If you get into spinning at all, I highly recommend Knot My Day Job. 

I can't wait to play with my new toys!

Later!
Robin

Another Creature-knit

Hey Robin,
So after completing the earthworm and hermit crab, one would think I would be done with the genre. BUT NO!

Actually a friend (not a knitter, mind you) had spotted the pattern and almost-begged me to make it (I'm such a softie, begging is really not necessary). I asked if he wanted it for Halloween so that I might have some sort of deadline and after a color consult, I began.

The pattern was a trifle frustrating for me. I don't want to put that all on the designer though, there were a few instructional-items that I had gotten used to having and so made some assumptions that I should not have... at any rate the thing came out wonderful looking and he has gotten many compliments on it. So it's a winner!

Here it is modeled by my fellas:

Aren't they just the cutest?

I ended up adding some pipe-cleaners to the tentacles so that the owner could possibly fiddle-around with them a bit and get some interesting results. I am curious to see if he comes up with something good... he's very creative!

That's all i got for now, still trying to finish-up quite a few things... just in time to start holiday-knitting. Yay.

I made yarn!

Hey Kate!

I made yarn... kinda. It's not much.  And I, of course, need practice.  But I love it just the same. LOVE! I'm a spinner!  Now, I need a pretty spindle and some pretty fiber... Etsy, you'll be hearing from me when I get this month's paycheck!

Later,
Robin

He's a Hermit.

Hey Robin,
Little Guy was constantly insisting this was a lobster, but now understands. He's a HERMIT CRAB! Woohoo!And detail of shell (very cool construction by the way)
This was another all-cotton construction. I am wondering if I should go to wool for the next ones (I have requests for an octopus, a jellyfish and another hermit crab). Anyone have any tips on that?

All that's left of this layette is to sew some fabric to the back of the baby blanket and send it on it's merry way! I hope the new parents like these things and USE them! I wish I could go meet the little fellow when he's born... but at the very least I hope I get to see some in-action pictures with the 'stuff' :)

Hope all is well with you!

Meet Small...

Hey Robin,
As you know I have been dying to try out my new Amigurumi Knits book. An opportunity presented itself and now I have finished one and started another! I present to you:

Small

Small is the name bestowed upon my son's pet earthworm who lives in our backyard. We are never quite sure when we will see Small, but we know he is out there, working hard, aerating our soil. And we love him for it.

Knitted-Small was chosen from the book (by guess who?) as a good starter-project from the book. He came out rather well I think! It's a cotton/acrylic yarn from Knit Picks (Comfy) which is nice and soft and works perfectly for a toy such as this. It's got the usual polyester fiberfil type stuff and a chenille bendy-wirey thingy for some poseableness... it works mostly....

Since Small was such a rousing success we have moved along to the Hermit Crab (unnamed because the recipient who shall be naming is not yet born). I have many parts completed!
This picture only has the shell and one-claw in it (sorry for the crappy pic, I prmise a better one when the whole thing is complete). I am learning a LOT from this book. I have gotten very good at the kitchener stitch (which for you non-knitters out there, it is a stitch which can be a bane to your existance until you understand/memorize the steps... and now I have). I am getting better at short-rows... though I still need work on it. However I have to say, the patterns are sheer genius and must have taken a good long time to work out. Love it so far! We're looking forward to adding a jellyfish and an Octopus to the team! :D

Small sez: Later!

Just pictures for now

Hey Kate!

I'm in a frenzy over BlizzCon! So here is my purse and I'll talk about how I made it like next week or something.



Frenzy!

Robin

Giving it a Spin

Hey Kate,

Last night, I watched crime shows and drafted the roving I've had for over a year and never did anything with. It's not the softest in the world, which made it not as pleasant as it could have been. In fact, by the time I was done with most of the drafting, I had pretty much decided that spinning may not be for me. Too fiddly. But I reserved judgment until doing the actual spinning.

This morning, I turned on The Art of Megan's spinning video. (Megan has been a huge help.) While I was following along, The Spawn came over and "helped". She was fascinated by the entire process and giggled and cheered and made the whole thing a great time.

So, I've decided to make it a Mother/Daughter activity and continue with the yarn making. Sure, The Spawn is a hindrance during the drafting part, currently, but that's a good activity for TV. And she'll get better at "helping" as she matures.

I've also decided that the whole process doesn't have to be that fiddly. If I have fun making it and if the end product is only for our consumption, then who cares that it's not even in the same universe as perfect?

In the knitting front, I'm almost done with my summer driving mitts. Will post when done.

Later!
Robin