Will She Make It??

Hey Robin!
I won't bore you with the in-between shots but here's where I stand as of this morning!!

 

I dunno... think I can make it?

All that is left is to block the sleeves, sew it all together and knit the button-band! I'm going to get some buttons today hopefully!

Later!

I'm a Knitting Olympian!

Hey Robin,
Whether you call it Knitting Olympics or Ravelympics, my fingers have been hard at work on my event project. I chose to take this as a true challenge on an Olympic scale and see if I can knit a cabled-cardigan in less than 17 days. I am 6 days in and here's my progress so far:

 

  

  

I was so frustrated with the instructions/charts in the published form of the pattern, I had to make a new chart in excel, After the second day I didn't need it anymore but I am so glad I made it. I was able to visualize what I needed to do and that has made things much more smooth! You can see the chart behind the wool in pics 1 and 2. I am now maybe halfway through the other front piece and hoping to complete it by tonight and begin the sleeves. Think I can make it?

At this point it's a bit of a struggle as being monogamous with a project usually gets me to burnout-time rather quickly.... I'm willing to push myself to see what happens. That's what the Olympics are all about, right?

Later!

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?

Someone find me a baby!

My model is deflating!

Hey Robin,
Still working on Baby Robitaille for some friends... I am liking the outcome but next step is figuring out the chin-strap... here is the back
When I get an idea of how to get sizes for bigger kids, I will write it all up and publish. It's a fast knit and I think there might be a few people that would like it! This image was the model, for comparison:

In the world of flora at Chez-Moi a few days ago there was "not much to speak of" and today there was this:
Can you say: "Fruit just tastes better when it's more hazardous to get to?" I thought you could.

As a parting shot, this little pot on my patio can be seen from my favorite chair, and it makes me happiest:
Later!

Help me Obi-Yarn-Kenobi!

Hey Robin,
So I designed a sock. It's not that big a deal really, I used a stitch pattern from my calendar, took notes on sock design from Yarn Harlot, picked out the yarn and went-to-town. My question is: should I write it up? Does it need something "extra"? I was thinking of writing it up for a couple of sizes.... Here's pics of the first one:

Whaddaya think?

Laters.

Christmas Chaos

Hey Robin,
Yep. I went there. I said the "C" word. The big "C". The one that puts fear into the heart of crafters everywhere (no, not chaos... the other one). I have been madly working away at my wish-list of gifts to give this year and am already massively behind. How did that happen? I started at the beginning of October!! Actually I have about three or four completed (one in question because I REALLY want it for myself) and eleventy-thousand to go. Seriously! Look!
Let me count... that's maybe 6 projects there. One of which was for me and is indefinitely on hold because I cannot resolve an interesting issue:
That 'tab' on the lower edge is supposed to be the same width as the rest. Long story, but I digress. (It's Sonnet from knitty if you want to see how it's supposed to look)

Yes! SIX projects on the table where they have been living for the past few weeks as I flit from one to the other. It's amazing that I have finished four things. Oh, I just thought of the one that's not in the picture, resting on the side table. So seven WIPs. I am having to force myself to finish the one (a linen handtowel) this week and not touch any others until it is complete. It's the nearest to being done, so I am hoping to actually get it done faster.

And to completely screw myself, I also have volunteered for more school things this week AND have people coming over for company saturday AND let's not forget candy-day on friday.

I'm a mess.

Discuss.

Ramblin' Ramblin' Ramblin'!

Hey Robin!
Hope your weekend-of-4thness was worthwhile and fun! We had our usual slew of fireworks shows here, but since it doesn't get dark until 10, the fireworks don't start until 9:30 or so... and tend to continue until the wee hours. I slept through the wee hours ones, and fortunately so did the Little Guy.

So I don't know if I mentioned to you before that I ripped the Jaywalker. It was sad, but had to be done. After reading the Mason-Dixon post last month about "letting go" of the unloved WIPs I had the strength to do it. I am so glad I did because I immediately cast-on a toe-up sock using Wendy's generic sock recipe and i am SO MUCH HAPPIER! After turning the heel I decided to use this as a test for a stitch pattern I liked and wanted to turn into a sock. I think it's going to work:

Don't mind the safety-pin... that's uuuh... it's nothing. No really...

The next pair with this stitch will have it going down the top of the sock I think... just for more texture. I love this yarn of course, I usually go on and on about it... Hazel Knits Artisan Sock yarn. Did I mention that Wendee has been kind enough to let me come be a pest for an hour or so tomorrow? (That would be Wendee of Hazel Knits... not Wendy of the generic-toe-up sock!) I get to see her studio! I hope she lets me help her for a little while, she's got a lot of work to do and I hate to take up her time unless I can help out!

I also finished the knitting part on another felted tote. Again it's me using up a bunch of leftover bits of unidentified wool (at least that's what I hope it all is!). I'm going to throw it in the wash with the next load of blue jeans... i'll let you know how it turns out! But for now it's like this:

I loves me some blue.

Last week or sometime around-abouts-then I sent off my second Malabrigo Swap package! Wahoo! No offense to my swappee, but she isn't very 'involved' in the swap board, and that sure doesn't make it easy for a swapper to stalk! Anyway, she mentioned she likes Pirates and I glommed-onto that like a suckerfish and had a hard time focusing on anything else... so PIRATE THEME it is!!

I found the darling pirate knitting-project bag on Etsy From Miss Fiber Fox! Isn't it great? So well made too... I love supporting artisans on Etsy... it really feels like I am supporting a great group of people even though I don't know a-one of them from Adam!

The ball itself (called a Magic Yarn Ball) is supposed to wrap up a whole-scad-of-stuff to be found gradually by your swappee as they knit from the ball.... yeah PHOOEY on THAT! I know when I get mine that I am unwarpping that puppy faster than Little Guy unwraps his birthday presents! Hopefully the swappee will realize that it's way more fun to just upravel the MYB than to wait. The yarn is Malabrigo worsted in the Stonechat colorway (She said she liked Earth-tones and that's what this said to me...) and there's also a skein of laceweight in intenso inside because looking at her projects page... she may SAY she likes the Earthtones but she sure has a lot of PINK!

There's all kinds of helpful little goodies wrapped up inside, and a box of Trader Joes chocolates (which is the real reason I hope she unravels the dang-thing soon!). I also wrote her a Pirate-note describing everything and I had a lot of fun writing that up. I would love to post the whole message but I already feel like I am boring you with all this drivel!

And after the pacgage has been there for 4 days (yes I tracked that sucker like a missile) i realized that maybe the reason I hadn't gotten a "Thank you" note was that i NEVER TOLD HER WHO IT WAS FROM! *sigh*

I hope she liked it

Later!

Phear My 1337n3$$

Hey Robin,
PHEAR M3! Me'n'my leet Nikon rokked the hizzouse today hunting down them WIP's and... y'know... some other stuff. OK I can't do that anymore. Anyway! Here's some pics of stuff I've been dragging out for far too long. I think I've posted a lot of FO stuff lately because I'm in crunch-mode to get Christmas stuff done... but I haven't really "exposed" my WIP-Jungle in a while so here ya goes:


Here we see the indigenous Blobberific-Baby-Blanket (aka wonderfully squooshy, yet acrylic Baby Blanket) recognized in it's natural habitat (my desk) . The pic is blurry not because of the photographer, no, it must have just moved... or something...

In our next habitat... we have the chameleonlike "Best Friend Adornment" (aka Lacy Kerchief from IK Holiday '06) previously (and incorrectly) known as the "Best Friend Hug". The latter became something very unlike what was desired... or even intended... so it sacrificed itself on the altar of the Frog Pond and has emerged looking like this. Much better yes?
And on our left you may find the elusive "Vestible". No, not vestibULE.... that's a room. This is the object that has been languishing on my unused dining table (we eat in the kitchen) waiting for it's creator to become enlightened regarding the application of a zipper... I promised Dad a vest and I am so very proud of this one. It's from an awesome pattern (Oregon Vest) but it has absolutely no instructions about adding zippers to a knitted item.
It's like that cartoon (was it Non Sequitir?) Where the scientist stands before a chalkboard with an incredibly complex formula on it, but smack in the middle of all the calculations is written "and then a miracle happens". I love that. But yeah... thats a lot like how I feel about this pattern right now.

Anyone got any suggestions where I might find some good fool-proof instructions? Yeah, thanks.


Aaaaah... here is where the leetness will overwhelm your virgin eyes! Have you never seen such a beautiful picture? Is it not the epitome of the picture-of-all-pictures?!? (psst... the Emporer is naked!) What? No! Pay no attention to that child!
Yeah OK. So this is the start of my Uncle-the-Sasquatch's sock. I fear it may not be up-to-scratch but I am willing to give it more time... it's a slog though... a bit. It's still nice yarn to knit with though, gotta love that Elann Peruvian Baby Cashmere!

Oh yeah, remember back a bit? I may have mentioned I was making a Jayne hat... here's the recipient of said-hat in his Jayne Halloween costume. He was so happy with it, and mentioned that everyone who saw him knew exactly who he was. Awesome. Must make one for the Hub.
Lastly, i have a funny story that may enlighten you more regarding the understanding of my Mom. Or it will do what it did to me and confuse you even more.

The other day i got one of those pesky ad e-mails from Dreamweaver. I can never afford anything they have, but I do like to ogle. That day I saw this. Go ahead, go look, i'll wait. Nice eh? Very practical looking for the knit-world right? So I send a e-note to Mom, who i respect greatly when it comes to the sewing skillz. I ask her, "can you make a bag like this?" and I ask "Is it hard to make?" She replies after not too long, "No it's not hard at all. I've already made something like it, i'll send it to you. Don't worry the colors aren't too loud." (?!) I'm thinking to myself WOW! Score!

Then yesterday I got this in the mail:
Now I ask you... (seriously, do i need to complete that thought?)

Later!

Sending you a cable

Hey Robin,
Sorry for the lack-of-posts! I've been KNITTING and apparently I can only do one thing at a time... who knew?

What am I working on now you might ask? Well, i will tell you! First I will tell you that I am working on a Jayne Hat. I am trying to kinda work my own formula for it as the one linked here doesn't quite work for the yarn I have (Moda Dea Washable Wool). But I messed it up... the earflaps aren't NEAR long enough and it has to really be long in order to be right!! So no pics of that monster...

Next up! I cast-on an Earl Grey sock from Yarn Harlot (scroll down). It's a super-simple pattern... assuming of course that I am doing it right. It's cables without cable needles, which I am unused to, but she explains it pretty well, so I think it's going all right. Unfortunately it's not the same yarn, or even the same weight of yarn (Elann Baby Cashmere in tapestry blue). But I was able to alter the number of st st in between the cables. If I ended up doing it all correctly I will be very proud of myself! Here's a pic, just to tide you over. But I warn you the next few pictures are a pretty lost-cause as it seems my photography skills (being what they are) have gone on vacation. So I apologise that you can't see the mini-cables very well. Perhaps if I had stretched out the stitches a little? Maybe for the next post...

Imagine that I am doing a great job, and then the picture will instantly look better! Promise!


Perhaps if you squint a little too....









Next! Swirley hat! (aka Cap Karma). I have been wanting to make a red-hat for the Little Guy (his fave color) and this Blue Sky Cotton leapt off the shelf at me... I swear! It's bright, soft and holds a shape well. I will probably try this pattern again with another yarn to see what happens. Actually I know what happens. Anyway, it's a fun fun fun pattern and I fully plan to use it again (with the Brooklyn Tweed variation). Here it is thus far:
I apologise for my inability to take a picture of red.






On another note, when i went to Smariek's blog I noticed that she is also about to make a Jayne Hat. That's a freakish coincidence for me. She's using the Elann Highland Wool. If I had planned ahead I could have done that too...

I finished the present for my Dad. I will take a pic after I have gotten the zipper in and after it's been blocked and all that fun stuff. Yay! That's two Christmas presents DONE (almost). I'm practically giddy.

How goeth your Christmas preparations?
Later!

Stuff and Nonsense

Hey Robin,

Gosh I feel badly that I haven't written in FOREVER! I have been so frantic with the knitting-for-Christmas that my fingers have forgotten how to type! Well, not really... but you know how it is!! I am outta time!

I finished the Bells and Whistles socks finally. My goodness they take forever! They are beautiful though, and now I know for sure who they will go to. No, not me unfortunately. But therecipient is sure to appreciate them. I don't want to put her name down here because there's always the chance someone besides you will read this!

I know... it's a long shot but you never know!

Here's a pic of the lovelies:

Sorry for the low-light situation. I have no idea what went wrong there. Here's a shot I took previously:



















All-in-all it's a lovely pattern for a lace sock. I'm not altogether sure how many more of those I will want to make (except maybe one for me!). Being lace, they take longer for me to work through, and that's really not what I am looking for in a sock pattern. I want something fun to knit, sure... but i really want something that will be finished quickly and thereby satisfy my urge to FINISH SOMETHING!

The next thing I threw on the kneedles is a vest pattern (another gift, I'm not saying who it's for) by Oat Couture, the Oregon Vest. It had what I was looking for, simplicity and an already-done conversion to three different yarn weights. SOLD! I have some 'used' yarn for it that I rather like. The only thing i know about it is it's 100% superwash wool... and I got a whole lot of it for $6. Well, I use the term "whole lot" loosely here. It's probably enough yards for me to get halfway into the last front-piece. A fact which I will stubbornly ignore until I get to that part and want to throw the whole thing away. Actually, I suspect this might be some Brown Sheep, Lamb's Pride Superwash Chunky. Lookey here:

I attempted the knitting-in-the-ends thing that we just learned! You can see that I had an issue with the end that was "knitted" (on the right). The end that was "purled" (on the left) went much better. I am not sure what I did wrong. I need to review the whole process again. It was nice to be able to get rid of those ends straight away and not have to worry about them later. I'm liking this method very much!

The color is much darker than this, but like Anne, I am having trouble taking pictures of purple... it's a really lovely aubergine kind of color... I hope I can figure out what to do when I run out!

Remember the Baby Brunhilde hat? Here's a pic in situ:

Isn't she the cutest little smidgeon??

Do you have the Ride of the Vakyries running through your head too? I hope it's not just me...


Later!

Show and Tell

Hey Robin,

I'm sorry I haven't been "on". These last two weeks have been a madhouse and then next two are promising to be pretty amazing as well. Little-Guy starts school just after Labor Day and I have a couple things to do before then :p But to make up for the lack of posts i have TONS O PICTURES to share! And not just knitting neither!! Here we go:
I promised a picture "in situ" of the knitted vest i made for the newly-two-year-old. It fits! Yay!! She's such a cutie-pie and it looks so great on her! And when Fall comes she can wear it with long sleeves! See? Seattle isn't ALWAYS the death of fun clothes!!

Here's my other cutie-pie. 'Member this skirt? Her Mom promises one where she isn't flipping it up... but i think it's wonderful to see her "play" in it! That's the "Hey Mickey" skirt in case you forgot....

OK so here's where we had Little-Guy's birthday party. I heartily recommend it for anyone who has their own Little-guy-who-love-airplanes... in case you are wondering he is:

Four years old. :)

Here's the cake Mommy made:

...I know, it's goofy. But i HAD to share!!

And yesterday the clan went here for Brunch:

Oooh... Aaaah. The food was good too!

Ever wonder what the EMP/SFM looks like from space?

Now ya don't have to...

OH! And before all that we also went here:

...VERY impressive. (That's Mt. St. Helen's in case anyone wondered)

And lastly, but not leastly... what's on the kneedles at the moment:

Now i gotta go shower so I can go get Cast Off and a ticket to the signing line so I can meet my kntting Hero!!

And crap you just reminded me that I have SO MUCH Ravelry work to catch up on!! Not enough minutes in the hour!!

Later.