Hat for Pat

As a palate cleanser after the whole baby sweater thing, I knit a bulky-weight hat for my Pet Physicist, who wanted one to use at his jobsite.
 

PATTERN:  Didn't need one.  I cast on a few stitches and worked top-down, increasing every other row until I had achieved an appropriate head size.  Then I went until I'd run out of yarn, added on the other yarn, and worked ribbing until that yarn was gone.  Easy.

YARN: The blue is my handspun from a Fibernymph 100% BFL braid in "Scylla Beware."  The multi is Classic Shades Big Time in color 814 "Jubilant."

NEEDLES: US 11/8.0mm

NOTES: It's really amazing how much even the worst handspun improves in the knitting.  This is one of the first skeins I ever made (spun in September 2013, according to Ravelry), and it's truly beginner yarn, but it made a nice warm hat, and even matched the commercial grist quite well.  And one can't argue with the results--doesn't he look thrilled?

 

Charybdis

Oh my goodness, what happened to October?!  I blinked and there it went.

I have been knitting, but don't have anything suitable to show you today . . . so let's go once more to the archives.  I see I have reached Camp Loopy 2013

These were my first project, a pair of Charybdis socks.  (And coincidentally I'm wearing them as I type.)

PATTERN: Charybdis by Fiona Bennett.  I used my favorite toe and heel and pretty much butchered her very nice pattern.  My apologies. 

YARN: Dragonfly Fibers Djinni Sock (80/10/10 merino/cashmere/nylon, 420 yds per 113g skein).  I would classify it as a heavier fingering.  I haven't been best pleased with the wear on this yarn--it has a ton of pills after just a little over a year of wear.  But in fairness, the dyer does note "technically, you can machine wash, but I wouldn’t," and I do.  I also throw them in the dryer occasionally.  On the other hand, they are very soft and comfortable to wear.

NEEDLES: US 1/2.25mm.  I usually knit socks on 2.0mms, hence the classification as a heavier fingering.

NOTES: A quick and enjoyable knit.  I had to unpick the cast-off on one sock and keep knitting in order to use the required amount for Camp Loopy.  I have this problem with socks frequently, as I like them on the shorter side (read: am lazy) and my loose knitting means I tend to use less yarn when I do so.

These pictures were taken by my wonderful friend Amanda.  Thanks, Amanda!

Exercises in Procrastination

Now here is an olllllllllllllllllld project.  I started this shawl in July 2011.  You may behold the cast on photo here.  It was just a diversion while I waited for more yarn to finish my Birthday Pi, so I abandoned it.  Then the next winter I picked it up while waiting on more yarn for Maplewing.  Then the next summer I picked it up after finishing my Aeolian and then dropped it to work on my Ravelympics project.

Sensing a theme?

Anyway, I finally took it up seriously last spring (that would be 2013, for those who have completely lost the plot) and knit until I got bored.  But this time I decided it was big enough and bound it off.  Yay.

PATTERN:  Dorothy, designed by my good friend Jane.  But I made it in laceweight instead of fingering because I am insane.

YARN: Jojoland Harmony (100% merino, 880 yds/50g skein) in the brilliantly-named colorway HC08.

NEEDLES: US 2/2.75mm

NOTES: I think I made eight repeats, but I'm really not sure.  Whatever.  It was big enough (about 60x32").  It has since gone to live with Aspen because orange is so not my color.

Things That Do Not Escape Notice

One of them is that I knit a fair amount of socks.  Another is that I am a loose knitter of the most wicked and egregious kind.

As a result of the latter, I knit the former on small needles--my usual preference is for 2mm--and generally toe-up for a better fit.  (Also because I find casting on and ribbing tiresome.)  This results in a great many wee little balls of leftover sock yarn.

What to do with so many?  Sometimes I trade them away to hexipuffers or blanket-square-makers.  Sometimes I use them as scrap yarn for holding live stitches or that sort of thing.

But in this instance, I made an actual project.  Behold!

This is a Wingspan, knit on size 2/2.75mm needles out of a variety of sock-weight yarns.  And you might well recognize more than a few of them.

Why, there's my Tudor Grace, and Barb's socks, and a few pairs of socks for the Irishman, and some Woodsmoke socks, and my Ravelympics 2012 project, my mom's Sprossling, and even (I think) some beaded mitt leftovers.  

For cohesion (and since I had a ton of the yarn), I used the Bambie to knit the first and last wedges as well as the strip connecting all of them.  I think it came out rather nicely.

The pattern was good travel knitting while I was traveling to, from, in, out, and about Cyprus last year--I finished while there, washed and "blocked" it (no real blocking needed, just laid out and shaped on a towel), and left it behind as a gift for a future visitor.  The absolute best travel project--one that makes room in your suitcase for more yarn.

Sprossling

A few winters ago, I was visiting my parents and wandered into the Yarn Underground and was promptly overwhelmed by wool fumes.  My mother picked out some nice yarn, and I told her I would make her a sweater.

When I finally got around to it (that will be on my tombstone), I spent most of winter 2012 working on said sweater.  I actually finished almost all the knitting then, but I had to put it into hibernation while we were moving and my buttons were still in storage.  In April 2013 I pulled it out and finished it just in time for a trip to Cyprus, where my folks were living.

PATTERN: Sprossling by Anne Hanson.  Well-written and clear, as with all of Anne's patterns, although I was not pleased with the waist shaping as written.  My own version can be found on my Ravelry page.  Size 38", no other modifications.

YARN: Palouse Yarn Company Fingering (100% wool, 700yds per113g skein), two skeins in an unnamed colorway.  I think this is the yarn that was renamed "Featherweight" but am not sure.

NEEDLES: US 1.5/2.5mm and US 2.5/3.0mm.  I knit very loosely.

I think it turned out beautifully, don't you?  My mom sure does.  Just look at her dance.

Lilaceous

Ravelry informs me that this, the Lilaceous Shawl by Derya Davenport, was my second finished object of 2013, which would make it the first object finished in our new home of New Mexico.  (In fact, I remember binding it off while we were still living in a hotel.  In the blocking photo below, you can see there are still unpacked boxes by the piano; I must have blocked it just before I went to visit my parents in Cyprus.  About which more later.)

Overall it was a quick and relatively easy knit. As I noted on my Ravelry page, some of the instructions weren't very clear.  Specifically, the construction is unusual (you begin with the central portion and then the three "wings" are knitted separately), and the way the designer oriented the pattern made no sense whatsoever to me.  The jury is out on whether the problem is hers or mine.

The yarn is Palouse Yarn Company Super Lace (75/25 wool/nylon, 1000yds/113g skein), with which I really enjoyed working.  (In fact, I have another two skeins still lurking in my stash.)  I don't know if it's the nylon or that it's on the tightly-spun side for laceweight, but the stitch definition is just beautiful.

It went off to live with my friend Brittany, because she deserves it.  And I went on to block more things.  (In fact, I blocked my Rose of New Mexico today.  But you won't get pictures of that one for a few more days.)

Giant Blue Socks

These were the Irishman's Christmas present for 2012.  As is the custom, he received only one sock (but at least it was a complete sock and didn't have any needles in it or ANYTHING) at Christmas proper, and I finished the other in February.  (In my defense, his feet are very large.)

Pattern: Mindless Socks 

Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy with Cashmere (70/20/10 merino/cashmere/nylon).  This was really a wonderful yarn to work with--the hand was lovely, and it made beautiful socks.  Himself had been begging for cashmere socks forever, and I finally managed to oblige.

Needles: US 1/2.25mm

Greek Keys

Apparently I knit not one but two pairs of Knitspot socks in the summer of 2012 (fancy that).  These were a "training" project for the Ravelympics.

Pattern: Woodsmoke Sock by Anne Hanson.  As you can tell from the name, she thought the pattern looked like curls of wood smoke in the dark brown yarn she used to knit the original, but I thought it looked like Greek keys in my Mediterranean blue yarn.
 

Yarn: The Yarn Yard Cairn (80/20 merino/nylon, 437yds/100g skein), in an unknown colorway.  This yarn was a gift from Aspen, and the pictures don't really do justice to its beauty--there were all sorts of little flashes of purple in with the blue.  It was also really enjoyable to knit with.

These ended up as a gift for my cousin Kathy (she graciously hosted us on part of our cross-country odyssey).  Thanks, Kathy!

Happy Mothers' Day!

In honor of all the mothers, be they biological or spiritual, here is a picture of my own mom rocking out in her Mothers' Day present from last year:

Ravelympic Glory!

Yeah, yeah, we're supposed to call them the "Ravellenic Games" now, but whatever.  I invite the IOC to send me a cease-and-desist, as it will only drive traffic to my tiny blog.

Anyhoo, I knit these socks for the 2012 Summer Games.  They were chosen cannily as a project suitable for knitting quickly while traveling--we drove across the country three times that summer (I don't recommend it, incidentally).  I was right to do it, they knit up easily in the allotted time and I achieved three medals, which still may be seen on my Ravelry profile.

Pattern: Sign of Four by Anne Hanson.  Easy to knit, easy to memorize, and easy to adapt to toe-up.  I subbed in my favorite toe and heel (which I pretty much always do.)

Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot (60/25/15 wool/mohair/nylon, 400yd/100g skein) in colorway "Moose Creek."  Love this yarn.  It's nice and thick (verging toward sport) and cushy.

I intended to give them to my dad for his birthday that year, but (foolishly) I put them into storage and then moved, so they became a Fathers' Day present for 2013.  When he was living in Cyprus.  A place where no mohair socks are ever needed.  But now he's back in Idaho and wearing them regularly.  So knitworthy, my dad.

Lions and Tigers and Babies, Oh My

About two years ago, there was a spate of babies in the land.  I knit this little sweater with a certain recipient in mind, but after finishing it and seeing how FREAKIN' ADORABLE it was, I reconsidered.  To be frank, I was not sure the intended recipient's mother would appreciate a handknit properly.

So I sent it to my friend Catherine instead, because she rocks, and because I thought it would look awesome on her little boy.  In, like, two years, because it came out kinda big, and said little boy is still pretty little.

(I actually knit this pattern twice that summer; I made a version in the Mid Valley Fibers handspun I bought way back when and gifted it to a baby cousin.  Sadly, I don't have a picture of that one.)

Fir Cone Socks

When last we visited the Fir Cone socks, I was working on the leg of the first specimen, a gift for my boyfriend.

I have no memory whatsoever of finishing that sock or knitting the second, but I must have, see?

Ravelry informs me that I finished them November 9, 2012.  Good for me.

The yarn was Cherry Tree Hill "Sockittome" (which has apparently been discontinued?  A pity!) in "Java," a colorway chosen by the recipient himself.  It was nice, if a little splitty, but I think that was due to the needles I used.

It was my original intention to write up a pattern for these, but given the limitations of the medium (64 stitches gave me socks that fit a size 11 EEEEE foot), I never got around to it.  Maybe I will someday . . .

I was knitting the whole time, I swear

It occurs to me that I haven't shown a lot of the things that I finished in my unanticipated hiatus, and that all two of you who read this might appreciate seeing how some of these things turned out.  (Especially given that I posted the starts but not the finishes.  I don't mean to be a tease.)

In that vein, I give to you the Aeolian wedding shawl I made for my friend Jennifer.

First, pre-blocking:

 A back view:

And then the full monty:

It came out beautifully, and Jen was very pleased.  (She wrote me the sweetest note.  I cried.)  As always, more details can be found on my Ravelry page.  (Hmmm, I should maybe link to that more often, huh?)

Maplewing

Hey, remember my Maplewing?  Yeah, me neither.

I finished it more than two years ago, but life intervened in the way it does, and I didn't get around to blocking it until just the other day.

Want some pictures?  Oh I know you do.

Come here often?

You tease.

And the money shot:

And then off the pins:

 Yarn: Blue Ridge Yarn Silk Shimmer Lace (100% silk, 1000 yd/100g skein), 1.3 skeins, colorway "Dragon's Breath."  I really wish I could capture the colorway properly--it just glows in person.

Pattern: Maplewing, by Anne Hanson.  (Highly recommended.  Well-written and very easy.)

Needles: US 4/3.5mm

Notes: I could have done with a looser cast on (I used a regular knitted cast on), but it blocked out beautifully in the leaf pattern, so . . . eh, whatever.

Alpaca sox

These socks were K's Christmas present. (Worked in total secrecy, even.)


Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Alpaca Sox (60/20/20 alpaca/merino/nylon) color 1877 "Dress Grey." This yarn was quite nice to work with (not as much memory as straight wool, though). Two caveats: first, although it's fingering-weight, it's on the heavy side. Second, it's really warm. These are not summer socks!


Pattern is Retro Rib Socks from Favorite Socks. Very cute and very simple. I really should have gone one more repeat on the feet for these, but they fit K almost perfectly.


'Shimi was very curious about the whole process of sock photography, and she eventually consented to a modeling session of her own. Next time: an exclusive!

Socks abound

I've knit a few pairs of socks for K, and a while back we had a modeling session. Feet are his, photos are mine, special guest star is Sashimi the shiba inu.


These are Gentleman's Fancy Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.


Yarn: Schaefer Yarn's Anne.


These are a pretty easy pattern--but they took awhile. (Fingering weight on size 0s for a man's feet . . .)


Next time . . . more socks?