My First Sweater: Completed

I started knitting this sweater in January. It went very quickly, then I got distracted. I picked it back up, finished the body, then got distracted again. When I finally started the sleeves I didn't like them and ripped them out. I restarted the sleeves in July, but didn't work on them much. In September I resolved to finish by Halloween. I knitted, knitted, and knitted the sleeves longer. The original pattern has a shorter body and short sleeves. I didn't see myself wearing it if it was a super short crop top and a short sleeve sweater is kinda strange, so I knitted the body longer and made the sleeves extra long. Of course all that added to how much and how long (time-wise) I knit. On Monday I finished knitting the sleeves. I washed and blocked the 3 pieces (body and 2 sleeves) on Tuesday. Yesterday and today I sewed the shoulder seams and sleeves. That was the first time I really had to sew anything knitted. After the experience on the first sleeve I think I did a better job on the second sleeve.

The sleeves had stretched to be TOO long when I blocked them so after I finished piecing the sweater together I washed and blocked the sweater again. It didn't really help, so I sprayed the sleeves with water and put it in the dryer for 10 minutes on high heat. Voila. Perfect length sleeves.

The sweater can be worn 3 ways. I don't see myself wearing it wrapped around my neck much, unless maybe under a coat. It is just hard to get it to lay nicely while it is twisted. At least I knitted it big enough that I don't feel like it is choking me and it doesn't look too much like a boob sling.

So here is the first way to wear it: with the drape in front.

This is how the back looks with the drape in front.

Here is the twisted version.

Wearing it backwards with drape in back.

This is how it looks with the drape in back.

I got really warm during the photo shoot--and I was only wearing a camisole underneath. The yarn is a wool/silk blend and very soft and warm. I'm pleased with the end product and I'm looking forward to wearing this--I'll have a chance soon, as I'll be off to Massachusetts next week.

Quick Knit Kerchief

I participate in a yarn and tea swap every few months. This time around I had a partner who had never done a swap before. I wanted her to have a good first time swap experience--so I decided to knit up a little something. I used some of the first yarn I ever bought when I started knitting. I knitted until I ran out of steam--and almost out of yarn.

My swap partner said she liked it. I certainly liked all the goodies she sent me. I'll post some swap photos tomorrow.

Rosie Headband

I finally finished this Rosie the Riveter headband that I started last May. Like all my projects it was slow to start. I had problems and had to rip one section out at least twice. When I picked it back up this week it went fairly smoothly and I was able to finish it right away.

Woohoo. Another project actually finished. I'm about to start a huge one.

Simple Socks

So I knitted these simple socks with cheap yarn from Big Lots. Just because it is cheap doesn't mean it is low quality. I'm fairly certain the yarn is 100% wool. I love the colors too.

These are afterthought heel socks. That means I basically knit a tube sock with a special line for the heel. I pulled out the line and then knitted in the heel. This makes it easy to replace the heel if it gets worn out. I just wanted to try out the technique. 

Even though these socks were super simple and I knitted them two at a time (toe up) it took me forever. I kept getting side-tracked by other projects. Also, I knit them on tiny....like size 0 (2mm)... needles. I finally finished these on the plane to/from Europe. The socks are a little slouchy. I might throw them in the dryer to see if I can shrink them just a little. And since they are knit in completely stockinette stitch they aren't at all springy/stretchy. I did knit a stretchy lace cuff to help keep them up.

I already have my next project picked out. I have bought the pattern, the yarn, and done the swatch. I will cast it on tonight and plan on knitting it (at least partly) while driving to/from El Paso. Well, while Ross drives.

Summer Socks

I have a new acupuncturist.  Her name is Kristin and she is awesome.  She is my acupuncturist/Chinese medicine doctor/wu wu doctor/therapist.   She is going away for the Summer, so I decided to give her some going-away presents.  I gave her some sunscreen, some Dr. Burts, and a pair of socks.

I knit up these socks in exactly 2 weeks.  It took me 3 tries just to get started.  The tops have a lacy pattern and the bottoms and toes are solid.  I'm not as excited about the yarn/yarn color as I am about the pattern.  I think I'll make these again--maybe some for me and some for my mom---but in a different color.  They fit Kristin, and she loved them, that's all that really matters.

They look really floppy.  I told her they would probably be better after a run through the washer and dryer.  I finished them the morning I gave them to her.  I really didn't have time to wash them.

 Lacy pattern on top....

The color change/striping pattern didn't line up exactly, but I never intended it to.

Whooo For Whiskey Dalton

I wanted a quick project to knit and decided to knit up a bib for John's baby.  I have a ton of this cotton blend yarn, and I have no idea what to do with it.  A bib seemed as good as anything.  It is machine washable and dyer safe.  It won't look great when it comes out of the dryer, but who cares.  A baby is going to drool and spit up all over it.  This was a pretty quick knit and only took me a couple of days.

February Photo Challenge: Red

I knit a red heart for Bailey.  Stuffed it with some stuffing and catnip.  It no longer looks like a heart.

New Hat For Ross

I knitted my little heart out and knit up this hat in 3 and a half days.  Ross needed a hat for riding his bike and he wanted something blue-grey.  I think this fits the bill.

 The hat looks so tiny when unstretched.  The yarn is a wool-silk blend and has some slight color variations.

Here is a side view so you can see the cables.

February Photo Challenge: Last Purchase

I bought this wool-silk blend yarn yesterday and I've already started a hat for Ross.

Hexagonewrong: Gnome Hat

I like to knit something quick in between projects.  Well, Ross said he would like another dishrag.  The cashmerino one was eaten by the garbage disposal, and he has a small black wool one now.  I thought a red hexagon would be cool.  Something(s) went terribly wrong, and it came out looking like a gnome hat.

Bailey was very upset to have her photo taken, and the hat doesn't fit her.  It isn't small enough to fit between her ears or large enough to cover them.  I gave her treats after the photo shoot.

Hooded Scarf

I finally finished the hooded scarf I was knitting for my mom.  It really didn't take that long once I sat down and just did it.  I used the Japanese short row method and that seemed to work pretty well.  One side of the decreases looks much better than the other side.  They definitely don't look the same.  I'm not sure what happened there, but it isn't a big deal.  Overall I'm happy with it.  The scarf is really long (but not nearly as long as the pattern says to make it) so my mom can wrap it around herself a couple of times.  I hope she likes it and I hope it keeps her warm.

I took this photo of myself modelling the scarf because I figured Ross would protest if I tried to put it on him.  I'm not sure what I will knit next.  I think Ross needs a hat...especially since he has started riding his bike to work.  Whatever I start, I just need to keep up with it and not let it drag on for a year.

Sock Reinforcements

I finished knitting Ross's socks a while ago, but before he could wear them I had to reinforce them. Based on the almost-holes in some of his socks I reinforced the heels, toes, and ball of the foot area. I am finally done with the reinforcements. Now hopefully his socks will last longer.

This is step 1 of reinforcing the sock: I turned the sock inside out and put a piece of cardboard in the sock to stretch it out a little bit. I wove the same color yarn into the purl bumps--every other one.

 The second step: I then wove the yarn across the first layer of woven yarn.

 This photo shows what it looks like when it is completely done: The heel area (maroon) has been woven twice.

The great thing is that when you turn the sock right side out you can't tell at all that there is a bunch of weaving on the inside! The heels and toes are bulkier, and a bit stiffer, but you can't tell from looking at them.

Now Ross can wear his socks snowboarding or whenever and I don't have to worry about them having a hole after the first wash.

Boot Socks for Ross

It took me about 3 weeks to knit these boot socks for Ross. The idea is that he can wear them with his snowboard boots. He likes them. 

I pretty much improvised the pattern. I cast on 20 stitches using Judy's Cast on and then increased to 40. I knit them with a 3x2 rib and increased on the sides (to 5x3) for the calf. The heel is a short row heel. I don't know if I did it correctly, but it looks okay. I used Jen's super stretchy bind off. Now I'm working on reinforcing the toes, heels, and feet. He can't wear them at all until I do that because he can wear out the toe of a sock the first time he wears it. 

The socks look ridiculous off. They look like they are made for someone with a very skinny leg.

I've decided that I really like knitting two at a time toe up. Ross was able to try the socks on as I knitted them and both socks were done at the same time. If I did it over again I'd make the maroon stripes a little thicker. other than that, I think they turned out well.

Obsessed, but Unfocused

I'm obsessed with knitting lately. I even dream about it. I'm knitting a pair of socks for Ross to wear while snowboarding, and they are coming along nicely. The thing is, I spend a lot of time looking at knitting things on the web instead of actually knitting. I start thinking about what I'm going to knit next. What I'm going to knit for whom, and looking for patterns. I'd be a lot further on these socks if I just focused. I think I'll knit a longha (muffin top) warmer next. That will be easy, mindless knitting, so it should go quickly--if I can stay focused. My list of things I want to knit keeps growing, but I have a strong policy of only working on one project at a time. Otherwise I'd have a pile of half-knitted things. So I'm going to try and focus a bit more on these socks, then I'll decide what's next.

Recent Knits

 I've gotten back into knitting again recently. It has been helping me stay away from ebay I guess. I decided to knit up a scarf with the leftover yarn from my knitted bonnet. I wanted an interesting texture, but not anything I'd really have to concentrate on.  Ross loves hexes, and I like them too. I found this pattern in an online stitch dictionary. It is very easy. I just knitted along until I ran out of yarn.

I decided to use some 100% angora yarn that I bought at an estate sale in Texas to make a kerchief. Just a little something to keep warm. In the end Ross said I looked like Jeff Goldblum in Buckaroo Banzai. Nice.




The kerchief turned out to be a pretty easy knit. I even added beads, but they are hard to see with the fuzziness of the yarn. The pinkish yarn fibers get everywhere. They are worse than cat hair. I still have a lot of yarn left over, I have no idea what I'm going to make with it.

Next up: socks for Ross. I'm going to try two at a time toe-up. That way he can try them on as I make them and I can knit until I run out of yarn. I've already got the yarn, and I have gotten some new circular needles---I just have to figure out what I'm going to knit. I found a pattern that I like, but it is for a size 12 foot, and Ross is closer to a size 10. So I'm not sure if I'm going to try and knit it on smaller needles or subtract some stitches or what.

Catnip Fortune Cookie

I needed a quick little project to keep myself occupied, so I knit up a little circle to make this fortune cookie. I hand fulled (felted) it because I didn't feel like running the washing machine and waiting to see what it turned out like. -- I knit a circle before this one and nothing happened to it when I washed it.--

I sewed up the cookie and just before I it was completely closed I poured some catnip in. I gave it to Bailey yesterday afternoon, and her first reaction was to try to dive into the center of it. I'm not sure she loves it, but she likes it enough to babysit it. This morning I saw her sitting on it, guarding it.

Knitted Bonnet

I finished another knitting project! I knitted up this hat/bonnet in just a couple of days. I thought this would be a really easy project, and the knitting part was. It was the rest. The hat is supposed to have a crocheted border, but I don't know how to crochet. I tried it, followed all the directions, but it didn't look anything like the picture. And this wasn't supposed to be a fancy border. It was just a single crochet. Well, I tried it twice and ripped it out twice. The tension was all wrong and it looked terrible. Then when it came to the lining my brain went on hiatus. I finally figured it out last night, but decided I was too tired to do it. So this afternoon I hand sewed in the lining. I didn't feel like fighting the sewing machine.

I like how it turned out. If I fold back the edges it looks like a pilgrim hat. I'm wearing the hat now, and it is definitely warm. I might make a scarf out of the same yarn.

I've already chosen a new project, and I have all the supplies, so I will get started on it very soon.

I Failed!

I often have nightmares that if I fail a test or a class I won't get my diploma or degree. I'm always one class short. Well, I really did fail a test this week. Ross and I went rock climbing, and we had to take a belay test. I failed miserably. Not a big deal though. I practiced and I'm confident that I'll pass next time.

I also failed at crochet. I don't crochet. I don't really know how. I tried two times to crochet a simple single crochet border on the hat I just knitted. It was awful. It turned the hat into a poofy old-school motorcycle helmet. I think my tension was too tight. Something was definitely wrong. It didn't look anything like the photo. I gave up and decided to skip the border and then I failed twice (at least) to pin the lining in so that I could sew it. I think I figured that one out and I'll try again tonight or tomorrow.

My third failure is heartbreaking. I failed my orchid. Priscilla is dead. Last night the only green leaves left cracked and fell over while we were talking about how rapidly the leaves had gone brown. I killed her. Penny is still fine, yet I have no idea if she'll ever flower again....

Finished Blue Cable Tube Scarf

 Here is my overdue post about knitting a scarf for Tejal. I think it took me about a year and a half to finish knitting this scarf. I made up the pattern and knitted a scarf in the round. I wish I had made it a bit skinnier (like Tejal), because it would have looked nicer and I would have finished faster. This is the first knitting project that I finished this year. I have a sewing project that I want to work on, then I think I'll go back to knitting. This weekend I bought some yarn for a specific project that I think will knit up very quickly. I knitted this scarf with size 2 needles I think. Tiny. I'm not doing that again for a while.

Made to Match, But...

For Valentine's day I whipped up Ross this simple little scarf out of cashmerino yarn that was leftover from the hat that he made for himself. I used a two by two rib with a garter stitch border. He made the hat with a two by two rib, so I thought it would match. There was less than one ball of yarn leftover, so the scarf is a little short. The only problem is that Ross can't find his hat! It is hard to have a matching set when you lose half of the set. Oh well. He's convinced the hat is in the house somewhere.

I knitted this with size 8 needles. It went so fast compared to the scarf I'm working on with size 2 needles!