Knitting A Sock A Day Keeps Insanity At Bay

Or so they say.

My question is: How does one photograph one's own feet?



It's much more difficult than it would seem. If only I could take my feet off and then put them back on.



Then I could take better photos of my first pair of hand knitted socks.


They're really basic, but I love them. Next I'd like to knit socks toe-up in something other than stockinette stitch. With Koigu. Mmmmmmmm....Koigu!

Long Live Hand Knitted Socks! (and crazy people)

Pattern used: a Red Heart Heart & Sole free pattern leaflet from Joann Fabrics.
Yarn: Patons Kroy self-striping yarn
Needles: Size 3

You can also check these out on my Ravelry page.

I Went Back. Yes, I Did!

To Stitches. On Sunday. At 2:30 pm. I couldn't help myself because the needles were calling to me.

So, I bought two size 3, 8" circulars, another size 2, 8" circular, and 12" circulars in sizes 2 and 3. I 'm good with Addi Turbo circulars! And while I was there I grabbed some more yarn, of course.

Rustic Wool DK. This is darker and warmer than the photo shows. It's really hard to take good nighttime photos. Usually, I take photos during the day in front of the window and that produces pretty true-to-life color photos. But, it's almost 10 pm and I can't wait until tomorrow to take photos. ;)

The above yarn is Nashua superwash wool and this is what I'm going to use to knit Ellie's Secret Garden jacket. I can't wait to start it. I was hesitant to buy it at first, but when I showed it to Ellie, she gasped and shouted, "Pooopoe!" (that's purple, in preschooler speak). So, it's a winner!
And below, is Nashua chunky which will be a Heather Hoodie vest as long as I get gauge.

Honestly, I can't believe I didn't come home without any Malabrigo or Koigu. I really love Koigu, but I didn't see much of it there. And even though there was a lot of Malabrigo, I ended up leaving it behind. :( Next time. Next time. lol.

So, now I just need to finish my Everyday Cardi, which is going well. I love to crochet and this pattern is great. I'm using Alpaca Love. If you haven't used any of the Stitch Nation yarns by Red Heart, I highly recommend them. They are lovely to work with. And no, they aren't paying me to say that (although, they can if they want to. lol!!!).

I hope everyone's week has started out well. Talk to you later!

Stitches Midwest!!

I really wish I could go back to Stitches Midwest today because there is so much more I want to buy!!

Yesterday, I got a few needles that I've wanted for a while. I got 3 circular needles; sizes 2 and 3 that are 12" long and I got another 8" long circular (size 2). Check it out:

Isn't it tiny??!! I'm going to finally knit socks for my girls with it. A lot of people have told me I should just use the magic loop method to knit socks because I could save money by not having to buy such small circulars and because it's easy. Plus, lots of knitters don't like the 8 inchers because they say they are fiddly. The thing is: I know how to do magic loop and I don't want to be bothered with it. Not because it's hard; it isn't. But, because I don't want to have to slide my stitches and then pull up the cord and blah blah blah. Yes, I'm that lazy. I like to cast on and knit. Don't ask me to divide my stitches between 4 dpn's and don't ask me to do magic loop. Because I'm lazy. And because I really love the small circulars. For me, they're fast. And fast is good. ;) Last year I bought two 8", size 10 circulars and I love them. I'm just bummed that I didn't get 2 of each size I bought at Stitches. If I had bought two sets of each size I want, I could cast on both socks at once and alternate knitting each one. That way I wouldn't have one completed sock and then have to cast on for an entirely new sock. For some reason having to start from the beginning all over again is a psychological mine field and it's likely I'll end up with lots of single socks. So, I'll be ordering another size 2 8" circular and two more in size 3. I'll probably do the same with the 12" circulars I bought. Those are a good size to knit socks for myself.

Of course, I bought some yarn, too.

In real life, this one is more purple than pink. I bought 10 skeins of this one because that's how it was packaged. ;) I had my girls with me and I thought they weren't really paying attention to anything at the convention since they were in strollers and because they each brought their favorite stuffed animal with them. But, suddenly, Ellie jumped out of her stroller and grabbed the bag with this yarn in it. She loves purple, so she asked me to buy it and "needle" something for her. I really want to knit Alice Starmore's Secret Garden, but the pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn. The yarn I got is DK, so I know I won't get gauge because I'm a tight knitter. I'll probably get a darker purple something-or-other in worsted weight to knit Secret Garden and save this DK weight yarn for a spring jacket for her.

I also got some Lamb's Pride yarn.

8 skeins in Chocolate Souffle. I want to eat it. This is a worsted weight yarn and would be beautiful knit into Secret Garden, but Ellie won't wear it because it isn't purple. So, I'll just have to suffer and knit something for myself with it. lol. Oh, and did I tell you it was 50% off? Yep. Love that. Y'know, come to think of it, I think they had a few skeins of Lamb's Pride in purple. Doh! Why didn't I think to buy it??!! See? I need to go back!

So, that's what I got at Stitches. I almost bought a Namaste bag, but they didn't have the bag I wanted in dark purple. I'm tired of always buying black bags, so I'm going to order a purple one online. I wonder if I could sneak away for a while today and go back for more yarn??? Hmmmmm...... :)

The Loretto Vest Finished!

Yay! It's done!

Yes, the left shoulder is slightly lighter in color. I was a skein short and when I went back to Joann's to get another, they were out of my dye lot. I'm going to soak the vest and hope it evens out a little. Regardless, I'm proud of this vest because it's the first garment I've finished for myself. And I'm going to wear it proudly to work on Wednesday even if the color doesn't even out. I'm hoping it isn't that noticeable when it's worn.

I do have a photo of it on me, but it's not a very good photo.

See? It's kinda blurry. My photographer is a little inexperienced, so I'll cut him a break. Plus, he's kind of cute.

:)

The Loretto Vest....

is almost done!!! All I need to do is knit the buttonbands and sew on the buttons.

I can't wait to finish this one so I can start on a crocheted cardi (the Everyday Cardi from the current issue of Crochet Today).

Also, remember the contest I entered from Clothworks Textiles? I ended up winning it! YAY! You can see it here on their blog (you'll need to scroll to the end of the post). So, my Woodland Explorer Vest will be featured in an ad for Clothworks in American Patchwork and Quilting magazine. It was a really fun contest and I'm very honored to have won it.

Disappointment

I think my Braided Hooded Tunic is going to be too big. I was almost a stitch under gauge on the seed stitch part on my swatch, but on the actual garment I'm a whole stitch off. I also think my yarn is growing...it's pretty springy and has been stretching a bit as I knit. I'm right on gauge on the reverse stockinette part, so maybe it won't be so bad. I'm really bummed about it, but I'm going to finish it to see how big it is. Maybe putting it in the dryer will help??? I doubt it since it's a cotton/acrylic blend. If the dryer doesn't shrink it, I can always eat Ben and Jerry's every day for a month. Then it'll fit!!!


Whatever happens, it'll be a good learning experience. I love this pattern and if this one looks bad, I'm going to knit it again. Do you think it'll go faster the second time around???

Progress on the Braided Hooded Tunic

It is taking a while to knit, but I like it so far! Hopefully I'll have it finished by this weekend so I can start on a cardigan. I'll have to go yarn shopping for the cardigan....darn! We all know what a chore it is to shop for yarn.

The New Knitty

Have you seen the new issue of Knitty? Unfortunately, nothing really rocks my boat except these, which I TOTALLY love!! After I finish the Braided Hooded Tunic I'm currently knitting, I think I'll knit a pair! The Braided Hooded Tunic is on the cover of the current issue of Interweave Knits.

It's been a rough two weeks, so I still have Sunny's quilt to finish, too. It looks good so far, but it's just taking a while to finish. Hope you all have a great day!

More Knitting

Yep. I'm still mostly knitting. In other projects, I'm still trying to decide what color binding to use on the baby quilt I made back in December (in this post). I can't find the perfect solid pink or purple, so I think I'm going to go with polka dots. I've also cut out a linen top to sew for Sunny. Yes. Stop the presses. I have a garment in progress. Miracles do happen. Of course, I've probably just jinxed it and it will look like crap. Whenever I announce something before it is finished I usually end up not making it or my sewing machine eats it. Ah, well. We'll see how it goes.

So, my knitting. Here it is:

Another Dean Street Hat. I love this pattern!!

And an Irish Hiking Scarf. Both are free patterns on Ravelry.


I still haven't heard anything about my potential job....I'm going to go bug talk to the manager to see if she still needs to hire someone (me!).

My Favorite Hat Pattern

This is by far my most favorite hat pattern.

It's the Dean Street Hat and it's a free pattern on Ravelry (free is always good, isn't it?)
I used Lion Brand Wool Ease worsted weight washable wool. The yarn doesn't show the cable pattern as well as I would like, but this hat is a gift and I wanted it to be an easy wash item. I think the cables show up well enough for me to recommend the yarn and it's very easy to knit with. It's one of my faves.

One thing I love about the pattern is that the author/designer, Nina, instructs you in cabling without a needle. It made the hat knit up very quickly! I'll probably knit many of these hats. The designer has other wonderful patterns available, too. The Vita Cloche and the Faberge Cowl are on my queue!

One of my favorite things about Christmas is that my step-mom totally indulges my yarn habit. She and I have similar tastes, so she always picks out colors and fibers that I love.

The yellow is Euroflax yarn. 100% Wet Spun Linen. I've never knitted anything with linen before...I'm thinking this would make an excellent mesh bag. Or a summer shell. Hmmmm. The balled yarn is Plymouth Tweed and the last 2 skeins are Mountain Colors hand painted yarn. The hand painted colorway is called sandstone. It would make gorgeous, warm socks, but since I'm not much of a sock knitter I'll make a lace scarf with it. Or a cowl with matching fingerless mitts. We'll see.

On the needles right now is a Snuggie for Luke. I don't think I can call it that, though, since "Snuggie" is a trademarked term. So this is a blanket with sleeves. Or it will be. Someday. It's going pretty fast because I'm using Lion Brand Wool-Ease Thick & Quick on size 15 circulars. Right now I'm not sure if I'll do a raglan sleeve or a set in. Can you do a raglan sleeve from the bottom up? Or is it only a top-down technique? You can see I've really thought this project through.

I'm also going to put a pocket or two on it for his iPod and a Transformer or two.


I heard on the news last night that there has only been 12 minutes of sunshine in Chicago since December 17th. No wonder why I've been so glum and tired!!! Today the sun is shining brightly, so I'm going out!! It's only in the single digits right now, but I'm going out anyway! Happy day to all!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa!! Can you believe it's going to be 2010 next week?????!!!! I'm excited about the coming new year because I think we are all going to have a very good 2010.

So, here are two new projects...first, this is a hat I knitted for Luke a week or two ago, but haven't shared it yet..

It's the Nottingham Hat, which is a free pattern on Ravelry. Luke picked out the yarn and I was so excited to knit it since it was my first cable project. But, now he won't wear it. He wants a Transformers hat. TRANSFORMERS? He wants a Transformers hat instead of a hand knitted hat from his Mama? Well!

And I finished this scarf this morning...

It's the Road Scarf, also a free pattern available on Ravelry and on the Lion Brand website. This scarf is for my Grampa. It's a very manly scarf even though I draped it quite femininely on my dressform. I wanted to show the patterning on the scarf, so that's why I draped it like that.

Here's another photo of it...

I used Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool and was pretty worried because it's scratchy. Very scratchy. But, before I blocked it I soaked it for 10 minutes in Eucalan and my scratchy wool turned soft. I still wouldn't use Fishermen's Wool for a baby, but the Eucalan softened it up enough for teens and adults.

So, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanakkah, and a Happy Kwanzaa! Stay warm, drive safely, and be merry and bright!

What Do You Get A Teacher For Christmas?

I have to buy a gift for Luke's Greek school teacher, but don't know what to get. Any ideas?? I was thinking I'd buy her a nice ornament.....?????

Here are some of my latest projects...

First up is a stack of hats going to charity. The lovely Sea World Barbie is kind enough to present these....

Since July, I've knitted 22 hats for charity. Hopefully they'll find heads that fit them. Now I need to knit a hat for myself because it's getting COLD out!
Here's another hat that is going to charity...it still needs a button to hold down the flap.

It's the Robin's Egg Blue Hat pattern on Ravelry. I love this pattern and am thinking of knitting myself one of these hats!
I also knitted this scarf to go with it:

This pattern is the Feather Scarf from the book Twinkle's Big City Knits.

These are for ME:

I didn't think I'd like knitted face cloths, but I do! They feel so nice on your skin.

And last, but not least is a baby quilt top. I couldn't get a good photo of it because two little girls I know wouldn't stay off of it long enough for me to snap a decent photo. ;)


See what I mean?

They couldn't resist jumping up and down on it. Little stinkers! I'm going to back the quilt with flannel and do minimal quilting. It measures 36" X 56". I don't have a recipient for this quilt yet, so I'll hang onto it for a while. Or maybe I'll give it to charity. I don't know yet.

So, back to my original question.... What's a good gift for a teacher????

Dyeing Yarn (and More Hats, Of Course!)

I think I'm done knitting hats for a little while! Here are the last two of the bunch I am sending to the Pine Ridge Reservation:

That makes 4 baby hats, one baby hat & blanket combo, 2 toddler hats and 4 child sized hats. Not bad! We are leaving for vacation next week, so I'll have time to knit then. Now its time to finish some quilts! But first....

My foray into dyeing yarn with Kool Aid was not very successful! This was harder than it seemed. For me it was, anyway! I was going to wait to try Kool Aid yarn dyeing until I had destashed more, but then I remembered that last year I had bought 2 Irish wool sweaters from the thrift store for $2.50 each. I always intended to frog them and reuse the yarn, but never got around to it. Until last night.

I cut the seams of this sweater (luckily it was seamed with mattress stitch...easy to unseam!)...


Wound it and tied it so it looked like this:

Looks like a bad perm, doesn't it? I wound two skeins like this and...

...then I used Kool Aid to dye it in the crock pot. I used Orange, Strawberry, and Lemonade.


Here's the finished product:

It's not bad, but I think I'll leave dyeing to the experts. I don't think I have a knack for it! If you'd like to try it, here are two excellent tutorials on how to dye yarn using Kool Aid and a crock pot: this tutorial on Knit Purl Gurl, is excellent, as is this one on Nermal, Not Normal. There is also a tutorial on Knitty, but it doesn't use a crock pot. If you try this I'd love to see your results. Leave a comment if you dye your own and I'll check it out!

More Knitting For Charity

This blanket & hat combo will also go to the Children of the Pine Ridge Reservation. If you want to donate hats, blankets, mittens, or whatever you'd like, there's a group on Ravelry that lists addresses and the needs of the Native Americans who live on the Pine Ridge Reservation. They need items for all ages. One particular need is for mittens for kindergartners this fall/winter.


My kids aren't babies anymore, so I don't have a baby model to show these off. The teddy bear will have to do!


The pattern for the blanket (it's actually a hoodie blanket) is here at The Thrifty Knitter and the hat pattern is published in Last Minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson. I used Caron Simply Soft yarn...it washes well and is nice and soft.

Now I'm off to watch the second half of Soylent Green with the husband (while I knit, of course!!). It's funny that I was only 3 yrs old when this movie was made! It's a great movie and I recommend it. Especially in this day and age where food is becoming more and more engineered.

Serious Destashing Going On!

I've been knitting hats like crazy lately (aka...serious destashing!). My yarn stash is insane, so I thought I'd knit up a ton of baby/toddler/kid hats to donate to charities. Its a great way to destash, especially if you have a lot of acrylic yarn you want to destash.

So, why the destashing? I want to try the Kool-Aide dye method and dye my own yarn!! How exciting is that? Sure, I could just go dye some yarn now, but my yarn stash is seriously out of control, so I can't buy more yarn and remain mentally stable. I'll end up on CNN...A woman had a mental breakdown at Joann's today...police officers said she was mumbling something about her stash being out of control and she had a hoarding problem.... So, I told myself if I destash a bit I could venture into dyeing with a happy heart and clear mind.

I'll have links for you if you want to try it yourself, but my kids are going nuts today, so I don't have the time to add links to this post.

Have a great day and remember to take some time to enjoy The Stash (tivist). lol....

Elle's Quilt...Flower Girl

For the longest time I couldn't think of a quilt to make for Elle. Last year I had started a butterfly block quilt, but it just didn't say, "Elle". Know what I mean? When I went on my road trip (all by my lonesome!) I had purchased some fabrics I knew Elle would like, but I really didn't want to just cut squares and rectangles and sew them up. I wanted to do something different, so I made these:

They are HUGE. 16" square. I suppose 16" isn't really that huge, but they are a lot bigger than the other blocks I've been making lately.

The background fabric is a light yellow with white polka dots. I don't think you can see that in the photos. These last 2 are not yet appliqued onto the background fabric.

Since the blocks are 16" square, I'm only making 4 blocks. With 4 inches of sashing between them and around the outside edges, I'll have about a 43X43 inch square quilt. Perfect for a 2 yr. old.

On Sunday we went for a day-camping trip to try out our newly fixed RV, so I started another knitting project. And didn't get as far as I would have liked. It's a hat for my SIL's baby who will be born in early December. She doesn't yet know the gender of either baby (twins!), so if they both turn out to be boys, I'll donate this hat to either Knit One, Save One, or a similar organization. (it's purple..I don't know if the color is obvious in the photo!)

It looks like a cuff, doesn't it? Its so tiny! I remember my girls being that small, but it seems like a lifetime ago.

Time moves quickly!

Great Site for Knitters/Crocheters!!!

Hi All! I'm really busy with my Old Red Barn Co quilt, so there won't be much posting this week. Also, my chihuahua died so I'm pretty sad about that. She was 16 yrs old and was going downhill fast (wouldn't eat, was losing weight quickly). She died here at home as peacefully as one could hope for. My Sophie Pop went to doggie heaven, the sweet thing. I'll miss her.

On the brighter side, I wanted to tell you all about a WONDERFUL knit/crochet site I recently found via Ravelry. Its called Sweater Babe. Oh my, is there anything she designs that I don't like?? No, there isn't! I want to knit and crochet it all! Plus, she has a "help" page where you can ask her questions and get help on projects or techniques. WOnderful site! Why didn't I know about it sooner!?

Slowly, But Surely Getting It Done.

I made 4 more 9 patch blocks for Amanda Jean's One A Day Quilt A Long. I'm way behind, but at least I haven't shelved the project! I'm enjoying making the 9 patches and have been using many of the scraps from a hexagon quilt I'm currently working on.


I'm also a bit further along on my Lace Ribbon Scarf. I really like this scarf, but it takes forever to knit! Its going to look so pretty once its blocked.

Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day!

Wall-E Meets Lightening McQueen...

I finished binding Luke's quilt over the weekend. I ended up not hand sewing the binding to the back of the quilt because I had a cute bright green thread that matched the fabric perfectly. So, instead I zigzagged the binding.

I absolutely LOVE how the green contrasts with the blue binding.

I wish it were easier to photograph large quilts. Any suggestions? Here's Luke's name quilted...

If you want to see the whole quilt top, a photo is HERE.

I'm also in a knit-a-long on Ravelry to make the Lace Ribbon Scarf. Here's my progress...


The yarn is Koigu KPPPM and is really pretty. The photo doesn't capture the color well because I took the photo in front of a window in the late afternoon. This pattern is really pretty. I love it! And it isn't very difficult. You just need to watch for the pattern changes. I had to rip back 11 rows last night because I realized I had dropped a stitch a few rows back. But since there are a lot of yarn overs I had a hard time recovering the stitches...that's why I ended up ripping back 11 rows. At least I didn't have to frog the whole thing and start over! Its on size 3 needles, so its taking a while to finish. I love it, though!

I also finished a few 9-patch blocks for Amanda Jean's Block a Day Quilt-a-long, but I don't have photos yet. I'll post those this weekend, probably. Happy Tuesday!