Who?

I have absent from this space for an unseemly amount of time, but I have things to show for it! During the hiatus, I spent lots of time knitting (of course) made some quilts for my new niece and nephew, and started and completed various other little things here and there not to mention, worked and took care of my daughter and started cooking the new bun in the oven. (As an aside, I use that phrase a lot, but don't particularly care for it. Like when people describe childbirth as "popping them out." Makes me cringe. If only it were that easy. Excuse me, but I am making a human.)

Ahem.

So quite a lot of this interim has been spent working on a mitten design that I've had in my head. It's taken forever to get it from swatch knitting and penciling in charts to something that I think would be usable.



Pattern: Lillyfield Mittens (Ravelry Link).
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in Cream and Salsa Heather, 1 ball each.
Needles: Small size US1 2.25mm, Large size US2 2.75mm.
Sizes: Small, up to 7.75" hand, and Large up to 9.5" hand.
Price: USD $5.50 available through Ravelry


I worked very long and hard on this so I hope it is well received. I've got more ideas kicking around in here so you will see more of this stuff soon.

XOXO, Baby

Soooo....















I was able to finalize the baby blanket pattern that I wrote up recently and was able to host it for free up on Ravelry.















I knit it up last summer for Sweet P, because, well, I meant to do it before she was born.

It's knit in strips and seamed together. I attached a soft cotton flannel backing to hide any messiness leftover from seaming, but I also just really liked the way the flannel went with the blanket. All together it's wonderfully warm and cozy. Sweet P won't sleep without it.















Pattern: XOXO Baby Blanket (Ravelry link)
By: Me!
Size: Approx. 32" by 32"
Yarn: 600-700 yds worsted, baby friendly yarn.
Gauge: 16sts/22rows for 4 inches















Click Here to Download a 1.4mb PDF.

Thanks for looking!

P.S. I know I've been tagged. Working on it. :)

Proofreading Help

I know it's been a while. Surprise, surprise...

Things have been going on though, just not alot of spare time to blog about them. I'm getting there. :)

One of the things I've been doing is trying to write out patterns for some of my projects. Some I plan on offering for free and others I'd like to offer for sale. The first one I finished (mostly) is a baby blanket that I will be offering for free, but before I do, I would love for it to be proofread by one or two other knitters. No real need to test knit this one, unless you would like to do a small swatch of one or two blocks, but just double checked for me to make sure things like the long hand directions and the charts match and to make sure it makes sense.

Whadayasay? Any takers? I'd be really appreciative. Leave a comment and I'll make arrangements to email you the pdf.

Thanks a bunch!!

This and That

I did finish the Ivy League. I really did. It's washed, blocked and folded upstairs on the buffet. Last Friday, I had a few free minutes with no one else in the house and decided to take photos of all he things I have been working on. (Unlike Carly, who was participating in February is for Finishing, I have zero discipline when it comes to not starting anything new. I continually tell myself that I only want to have a maximum of 2 WIP's at a any given moment but that always goes right out the door the second I come across something new that I would like to knit. Then I start it immediately. Yes, I have chronic startitis.)

Anyhoo.

My camera died after about 6 photos were taken. Stopped working mid-shoot, lens extended and everything. Went black, and I couldn't turn it on or off. Even though I had just put fresh batteries in that morning, I changed them again. Nothing. I jiggled it, I shook it, I took the memory card in and out, rearranged the batteries and still nothing. It just stopped working.

I managed to get a few photos of the vest, but no modeled shots. For your viewing pleasure:




















Pattern: Ivy League Vest by Eunny Jang
Size: the largest size, 41.75 bust
Yarn: Knit picks Palette in Cream, Mist, Fog, Twig, Salsa Heather, and Garnet Heather, 1 ball of each
Needles: Knitpicks Harmony Option Circs Size 5 and 3
Notes and Ravelry link here.

I finished a bag that I knit a couple of weeks ago for my sister-in-law, which I knit for her because she constantly uses a bag I sort of freehand crocheted together and lined badly. I wanted her to have something a bit nicer and more well put together. So here it is, at long last:








































Pattern: Brea Bag by Norah Goughan
Yarn: Peace Fleece Worsted in Lena's Meadow, 2 Hanks
Needles: Clover 29" bamboo circs size 9
Notes and Ravelry link here.

I've also decided that for every two or three projects I knit that I'm going to insert a project to donate somewhere. Right now I'm on a cute chemo cap kick. I want people who are undergoing this treatment to have something cute and/or stylish to wear. I already have lots of soft cotton blends in my stash. Anybody want to join me on this quest?

The Ivy Leagues

I mentioned briefly in a previous post that I had ordered the yarn from Knitpicks to make an Ivy League vest and then never talked about it again. When I saw this pattern I thought "Aha!" this is perfect to try a more challenging fair isle/colorwork project with out doing and entire sweater which I just don't think I'd have the patience for. I also decided to try a different color scheme than the one in the pattern because I'm partial to reds and I like to be a little adventurous. So here is the ribbing:














Looks great, takes forever. Corrogated ribbing really slows things down but I think it was worth it.















The rest of the way it's gone pretty quickly and it's super fun to watch the pattern work up right before your eyes.




















As you can see, I'm nearing the shoulder and should be done with the main body of knitting pretty soon. I won't venture a guess as to how soon because then inevitably I will obsess about some other project.

I've got another project that's finished and photographed so if I can manage to get the pics onto the computer without incident than that will be next.

On a side note, I went out on a super fun shopping trip with Carly on Saturday and scored enough Elsebeth Lavold Silky wool in a pumpkin color for a sweater for 50% off!!!! She also showed me the Fabric Hut in Norfolk which is Massive, with a capital M. I picked up some cotton lining for the Celtic Tote I'm working on. After talking with her and seeing this place I'm totally inspired to try more sewing projects for the house now. Yay!

Oy vay

My computer ate my pictures. This is very frustrating, as there were quite a lot of pictures on the card I was trying to upload. Now I need to go retake those pictures, which will have to wait. Good thing I had already transfered the steeking pictures a few days ago, or I would be having a little wee meltdown.

A Story in Pictures

Above we have the Uncut, Unreinforced Vest.



With crocheted steeks.



Up close.



Strong coffee, brownie, scissors.




Wheee!



A cut armohole steek.



Picked up stitches.



Voila!!!








It has been washed and is drying as we speak. All I need now are buttons!!

Genius

Whomever invented steeking is a genius.

Never. Seaming. Again.

(not so) Massive Update

Somehow, I missed a bunch of stuff in the time warp that was December and January. So this post is (half) dedicated to catching up on all of the projects I have yet to even mention here.

First up:
Raglan Lace Sweater

Pattern: Child's Raglan Sweater from a Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns
Yarn: Knitpicks Shine Sport in Silver Sage, a little less than 4 balls
Needles: a whole bunch of size 4s

I like it. It was a good practice piece. I got worried in the raglan decrease section that it was looking too big and started decreasing more rapidly which resulted in a short bust area and a very small neck opening. But since I hate frogging we will simply not button the top button and will call it a learning experience. Besides, Sweet P seemed to like it. :D

Charade Socks
Yarn: Knitpicks Bare wool and nylon
Needles: 2.25 mm US 1 dpns

I'm really happy with the way the color came out considering it was my first dyeing attempt. As for the pattern, it's nice but it's getting super monotonous.

Nutkins

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug
Needles: knitpicks 2.50mm dpns

Overall, eh on the yarn and eh on the pattern.

And lastly for today. Yesterday, I finally got in the the yarn that has been backorderded for my mom's vest. Last night while at my knitting group, i finished the main body of knitting and am now ready to cut my first ever steeks. I want to be done with this project in the worst way so I have been really thinking of nothing else. This morning I crocheted the steeks. I also took pictures. Then I think tonight I will be cutting, and taking pictures. Tomorrow I hope to find enough time to post the pictures I will hopefully take. Wish me luck!

Catching up

It seems I have gotten a bit behind again. The end of December and the first part of January have been very hectic. Between the holidays and my family member's surgery and ER visits and stomach bugs, there was precious little time for anything else. I did manage to finish the the Raglan Lace Cardigan for Sweet P. Buttons and all. To prove it, I took photos. I would show you the photos if blogger would kindly cooperate with me. Not today, I guess. It turned out well except for the fact that the neck is WAY to small. Rather than rip and reknit, I decided that when she wears it we will simply leave the top button unbuttoned. I generally chalk these kinds of mistakes as learning experiences and leave it as is. I know that philosophy would make some people loopy, (you perfectionists out there, you know who you are :) but this way I know I can go back and see what I did so that I can avoid it in the future.

I also, dyed my first hank of yarn! With koolaid! On the stove! Exclamation! Again, photos will have to wait til blogger fixes their problem, but Hoo Wee, was it fun. I almost didn't have enough patience to wait for it to dry and wound into a ball to knit it up.