Penny-wise Knitting

Lia Update

2012-02-16T13:53:00.000-08:00

I was so sure that I would be posting a Finished Sweater this week.... not so, I have some repairs to make.

I might even have to do a little surgery to fix it. Expect a photo-heavy post(s) next week and I'll try to show the issues and the fixes.

Half-way done with the Cabled Sweater

2012-02-13T08:19:00.000-08:00

Want to finish by March - so this is good, steady progress and puts me right on time to finish when I want. Of course, it'll be sad to finish this just as spring hits and I'll have less occasion to wear it. But such is the curse of the person who knits the current season instead of planning ahead better. :-)

I'm hoping to have Lia sweater finished before the end of the week.

February progress on plans

2012-02-08T14:49:00.000-08:00

Day one - finish a WIP - since three of the projects will take far too long to finish tomorrow - I might seam some of those squares for the ARL for their cats
one cat blanket about 18" x 18" done

Get to 50% done on Cabled Gloves - about 2% done

12 jellyfish hats (< 2 hours each) - 3 done of the 12

Felted Knitted project bag - not started yet

~~1 Scarf~~ - changed this to a COWL - done

1 12" Blanket Square - not started yet

~~2-hr Crocheted Baby Blanket~~ - changed this to a little Gnome House for my son's stuffie and pet rock. He's been begging me to make something and I think I have a fun twist to do to make it worth my while. - 50% done

Sweater progress

2012-02-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

Heavily Cabled sweater is about 40% complete:
I've finished both sleeves and have knit the body in the round for about 6 1/2 inches:

It takes me about 15 minutes for every two rows (cabling only on odd rows). I've had a couple of mistakes where I either tinked back a few stitches or where I dropped stitches down on the next row and reknit a small section. But none of the mistakes have been big... mostly just losing track of which row I was on. And all easily fixed. Have to say it's been an extremely enjoyable knit and not nearly as stressful as I thought it might be.

Lia - Bulky sweater: is about 60% complete

As promised by the designer, this is a super-fast knit. Using bulky yarn and size 9 needles. It doesn't look like it will fit in this shot - because the ribs pull in so tight, but it fits my size 12 body quite well with some negative ease. I have to admit to having gotten nervous quite a bit of the time during the knitting thinking this will never fit. So last night, after I seamed the shoulders I put it on, one more time, for the final check. Sure enough, it's got a flattering fit. I added an extra inch to the length before starting the cabled panel at front/center and I added the optional short-row shaping for the bust which adds a little more length as well as brings up the v-neck to a slightly shorter length. Both of which will make it acceptable for work-wear.

I anticipate getting the Lia sweater finished by next weekend. The Cabled sweater to 50% by the weekend after that. I'll probably set aside the cabled sweater until March so as to work on some of my smaller projects for a little while.

-- January end results; plans for February

2012-01-31T11:13:00.000-08:00

This is what I finished:

2 Sweaters (one was 99% done before January)
1 pair of gloves
5 hats
1 12" square for a baby blanket
1 scarf
1 small toy Lion

WIPs:

1 Sweater - Cabled Sweater at 33% done
1 Baby Blanket - about 33% done
1 Hat - about 75% done
1 pair of Gloves - about 5% done

Hibernating Projects:

1 overly large toy Alligator (reserving the right to call it a crocodile if the mouth/teeth don't work out)
Lots of Blanket squares to seam together for something
Master Knitter's Program Level 1 swatches

February Plans:
Day one - finish a WIP - since three of the projects will take far too long to finish tomorrow - I might seam some of those squares for the ARL for their cats

Get to 66% done on Cabled Sweater
Get to 50% done on Cabled Gloves
Lia sweater
12 jellyfish hats (< 2 hours each)
Felted Knitted project bag
1 Scarf
1 12" Blanket Square
2-hr Crocheted Baby Blanket

February Sweater Plans

2012-01-27T06:54:00.001-08:00

This will be the fourth sweater in the plans -- a photo from the Ravelry project page:

Lia (Rav link) is a bulky weight sweater with mild cabling and a super quick knit. I'm going to use Berroco Weekend Chunky yarn in Starry Night color way (a very pretty dark blue, not quite navy color).

I'm waiting until the first to cast on; am loving it!

On the cabled sweater news front? The ribbing is fun to knit and even though I haven't had a ton of time to work on it, going quite quickly. Last night though, sadly I hit upon a circular needle join failure. It's the first time I've ever had an addi turbo circular needle fail. I was a little shocked because I've had so much success with their needles and it took a few seconds for it to sink in. Thankfully, it's a size 4 which is my most common size to need and I happen to have a second one that was even a) long enough and b) with nothing on the needles... so I quickly picked up the fallen stitches with it; knit off the back end of the needle that had failed and then was able to finish knitting around... so I didn't lose hardly any time.

For the rest of the evening, I kept picking up the broken addi and giving it a dirty look. When I got ready for bed I threw it away in the trashcan; but felt I was missing something... should I have done a ceremonial disposal, I thought? My addi's are my favorite knitting tools. Somehow tossing them into the bin seems inadequate. That needle has worked on so many of my favorite projects.

My original plans were to save up to purchase a set of addi clicks this spring/summer... still debating on buying lace tips or not; now that they are coming out with longer needle lace tips, I was debating those... but now, I'm a little concerned. Are they really worth the extra money like I think they are? Folks say they really like the Knit Picks Options set. I'm not sure I trust them when they say the cables are as flexible as Addi's cables are.... so much to figure out.

-- All Knitting Status

2012-01-27T06:50:00.000-08:00

4) As soon as OWL is approved cast on for Cabled Sweater by Bernat - get it to the 40% finished mark and go back and keep working on Pick, Pick, Pick it up Pattern until it's done.Cast-on; sleeves done, cast-on and knit all but a couple of rows of the body... will finish ribbing and set aside until Feb 1.

6) Second portable/simple project - pair of simple, worsted weight gloves - DONE

7) a half-dozen more Brioche Stitch hats (as time permits) - Going to work on this weekend

8) Would also like to find time to do a 12" square for a contribution to a friend's baby blanket. DONE

NEW) Since I finished everything in my target, with the exception of my hats... I've also picked up an old WIP - a baby blanket that is going QUITE SLOW (hence the putting aside). I figure when I get tired of working on hats, I'll work on the blanket. When I get tired of working on the blanket, I'll pick up the hats.

I'm heading to a local Knitting Retreat this weekend, so I should have a TON of knitting/chatting time and both the blanket and the hats are good for chatty knitting time as I can practically do both in my sleep.

Sweater #2 of 12 finished!

2012-01-23T14:31:00.001-08:00

The Pick It Up sweater was finished in next to no time (it seemed) once I was done working on the sleeves. But, I guess that's how that pattern would work - since you knit the sleeves first, then stop working in the round - but keep working the same stitches until they meet in the back (which is half of the back). Picking up and working down to the waist from the back of the "shrug" and adding a pretty little cable meant I had some interesting knitting that sped right along. Then there are no fronts "technically" - it's just a garter stitch band around the front.

Unfortunately there aren't very good photos to share. I tried snapping a mirror pic, but it really didn't turn out. And my 8 yr old really doesn't do photos very well.

So here it is on the hanger - front & back:

The color in the progress post is a little more 'true'.

I'm back to work on the cabled sweater and hope to finish the ribbing this week.

Plans are to cast on the next sweater after February First!

Photos - for January mid-month progress

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

Cabled Sweater from Bernat

Shoddy picture first (sorry, didn't realize it was so bad until this morning)... but it shows the length on the two sleeves (and it's more true on the colors than the next shot):

This is a close up of the cables - pre-blocking of course. But if you look at finished photos of the sweater, this doesn't really spread much over what you see here. Loving the braiding; thinking that they made it a little more complicated than it needed to be as you can't really see some of the details that they added that makes it more complicated and a simpler braid would still look fine with two simple twisting cables with a third line coming in.... but I'm following the directions anyway and think blocking will help some of those finer details show up a little better.

Pick It Up Sweater

Again, this was knit cuff-in to the center back (very frustrated with my grafting being too tight - but hopefully the yarn is going to forgive my sins). I've picked up and started knitting down the back. In this first shot (again the best at being color-true) you can see the back and where I'm working on it:

This shows a little more detail on the cabled braid I'm working down the center back. It's a 20 stitch repeat with simple cables that twist around the sides, then back to the center, then out again. I'm really glad I've added this detail. Wasn't sure how well it would show with the yarn; but I love the little bit of added complexity and it really makes for a much more interesting knit.

Mid-month Progress

2012-01-17T07:53:00.000-08:00

See? I can too put in more than one post in a month. Can't promise to keep it up very many months into the year; but I'm going to shoot for two posts a month to show my progress/lack there of.

Jan 17th - progress to date.

1 sweater out of 12 finished.

Herbology Sweater #2 - (three month expected to complete): I have cast-on and knit the sleeves 2aat; and they are both at the 18" mark. I've managed to try them on as I go and they were starting to get a little snug; but a couple of the increases added a little more quickly fixed that right quick. They fit PERFECTLY. The sleeve cap starts at 18 1/2".... I had one of the sleeves on my arm and I asked aloud, hmmm... another half inch, does that seem right? And "a" popped off a "half an inch? That sounds perfect mom.". LOL. Had almost forgotten he was watching movies with me and I really didn't expect an answer at all, let alone an answer from an 8 yr old who has no idea whether or not I need another half inch or not. But, yes. I agree. Another half inch is going to be just perfect. I should be able to get to the sleeve caps by the end of the week, which will get me to 33% a week before the end of the month. Which is great progress.

Pick Up Sweater #3- (expected to finish before end of month): I cast-on and knit both sleeves 2aat; when you reach the armpit, you stop knitting in the round and knit flat until the flat part from each sleeve reaches the middle of your back (looks a bit like s shrug at this point). You then graft (kitchener) the center line. Then from arm to arm along the back - you pick up and knit down the back for the length you want. Pattern calls for stockinette; and I saw two versions where they did a pair of cables down the center of the back. I chose to do a single, but slightly more complicated cable down the center of the back (loving it so far). I'm about four inches down the back panel (which is probably 8" total on the back). Once you finish the back - you turn around and pick up stitches along the side of the back; along the arm/neck and back down the other side and knit a garter stitch border. It's not exactly a "front" so to speak as much as a wide-open cardigan. And no seaming (which is pretty awesome). So, I'm going to call myself about 50% done. Its taking a bit longer than I expected to make this; but then again, I've also been working two sweaters at a time, so I would anticipate that's part of the issue.

Challenges:

I really wanted to make the Herbology sweater sleeves first so I could reassure myself that the pattern as written would fit (and it mostly does). The Pick Up Sweater is designed to be knit sleeves first. OMB, do I hate knitting sleeves. I'd get so frustrated and irritated for the sheer fact that they took me WEEKS to do. Which is really ridiculous because it's supposed to take that long.

Secondly, I feel like I'm getting next to nothing done. Which is also ridiculous. I'm getting a ton of knitting done. It's just that I'm so used to whipping out a half dozen hats in a couple of weeks. And these two sweaters seem to be taking forever. I have a couple of smaller projects to work on when I can't spend any more time on the sweaters; and they are starting to mount up as well. I was hoping that a) they would be portable so I could take them to cub scouts, doctor appointments, etc (and they are and have been great for that) and b) that working on them would help me feel like I'm finishing something (not working quite as well on this front). I have finished a charity hat and scarf (which will work as well for samples for class I'm teaching in March)... am working on a pair of super-fast gloves for myself... and a baby blanket for charity (a bit slow-go, but it's brainless). I should be able to look on my accomplishments with pride; but instead I just feel a bit "frustrated" that I don't have more to show for my efforts. Sigh. Here's hoping that I finish Pick it Up Sweater ASAP and that the February sweater goes faster so I'm less frustrated by slow progress.

Progress post

2012-01-09T13:42:00.000-08:00

1) January 1, weave in the last of the ends on my Hooray Cardigan. (turn in for detention) DONE

2) Between January 1 & January 7th - one Brioche watch cap finished. (turn in for first class) DONE

3) Cast-on First sweater - Pick, Pick, Pick it Up pattern (to turn in before the end of January for a class) Cast-on; sleeves finished; getting going on the back

4) As soon as OWL is approved cast on for Cabled Sweater by Bernat - get it to the 40% finished mark and go back and keep working on Pick, Pick, Pick it up Pattern until it's done.Cast-on; sleeves at 12" - currently this is my priority; but can only manage an inch or two an evening before I need a bit of a break

5) Portable/simple project - work on a Brioche Scarf (third class project) - and take "as artsy as I can get them" photos for use to promote my Brioche knitting class. Cast-on; about eight inches complete

12 Sweaters in 2012

2012-01-03T08:23:00.000-08:00

Sweater Number 1:

I started this in October, and set it aside within a few inches because I had a different knitting deadline that I was struggling with. Picked it up in December when my "other" deadline passed and just loved working on it. Had to set it aside a couple of times for projects for Christmas presents... but I sewed on the buttons on the First... and I love it.

The Hooray Cardigan:

2012 Planning

2011-12-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

12 sweaters/tops - for me - in 2012

40 hats for homeless charity

two baby blankets for Project Linus by April 1st

whatever else comes my way through Dumbledore's Yarny

I'm half-scared and half-confident that these goals will be pretty easy to hit. I did 11 tops/sweaters as it was for 2011 - but two were baby sweaters, and one was "a" boy sized 6.

Admittedly, one of the sweaters will be finished on January 1, 2012 - the sweater I'm working on right now.... but I don't think it will even need to be counted in on the "12" for the year (unless I really run out of time in the fall).

January plan:

1) January 1, weave in the last of the ends on my Hooray Cardigan. (turn in for detention)

2) Between January 1 & January 7th - one Brioche watch cap finished. (turn in for first class)

3) Cast-on First sweater - Pick, Pick, Pick it Up pattern (to turn in before the end of January for a class)

4) As soon as OWL is approved cast on for Cabled Sweater by Bernat - get it to the 40% finished mark and go back and keep working on Pick, Pick, Pick it up Pattern until it's done.

5) Portable/simple project - work on a Brioche Scarf (third class project) - and take "as artsy as I can get them" photos for use to promote my Brioche knitting class.

6) Simple Gloves in Worsted weight - with droid-friendly string worked into thumb and forefinger tip for me (!!) (fourth class project)

7) If I finish everything so far on the list early enough in the month, work Baby Blanket 1 as close as I can to get it finished on February 1 for detention.

8) If I'm to the weaving in ends stage, Do the 2 hour baby blanket in DC crochet (fifth class project)

9) If I'm still (ha-ha-ha) ahead of the game, make as many hats as can fit into either class projects and/or Quidditch that I have time to make and places to fit them.

101 hats for Charity

2011-12-08T08:31:00.000-08:00

So, I didn't do a very good job maintaining the blog this year. BUT I did meet my Charity Hat knitting goal!

101 hats for the Homeless (ok, so I can't quite count and ended up making an extra one).

Quite a pile!

2012 goal? Will not be 100 hats... lol! But I'm looking at at least 40 hats for the Homeless shelter again; and some blankets for Project Linus. I'll work with Dumbledore's Yarny which is going to pick new projects every few months for charity and set a goal to pick out the rest of my plans.

More Progress

2011-03-31T07:24:00.000-07:00

During the month of February, I completed 2 hats.

During the month of March, I completed 19 hats.

Brings my new year-to-date total to 62 hats.... 62!!!

Admittedly, with a month off of HPKCHC, I'm highly likely to make very few hats this coming month.... but with two terms of HPKCHC ahead of me, I'm fairly sure I can swing 38 more hats out in the next six months-ish.

Sticks and String, a knitting retreat

2011-01-31T16:43:00.001-08:00

Spent the entire weekend at a knitting retreat.

Completely immersed in crafting and meeeting other knitters who were churning along on their projects as well.

There were spinners there as well.

It was really relaxing. Really, really relaxing.

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Progress

2011-01-23T07:04:00.001-08:00

So, I vowed to make 100 hats for the homeless this year.

Its been a full month, and in order to meet my goal, The numbers tell me I need to make between 8 to 9 hats a month.

How many do I have done?

33 (decided not to count the chemo hat I made for the hospial)

That means that I hit 33 percent of my goal in less than one-tenth the time I have given myself to do it.

Huh

I would almost question upping the goal number, but the truth is that I am highly unlikely to be able to sustain this effort. The main accomplishment was yesterday when I competed in a 24 hour hat challenge on www.ravelry.com. Everyone who competed had the same 24 hours in which to create as many hats as they could. I wasn't even close to the top competiter (whom I think completed 27 adult hats, I might be third on my own team, even). But I am still very pleased with my final count of 20 adult hats completed in 24 hours. And I am even more pleased that I did as much as I did, yet managed to not cause a flare-up of my carpel tunnel issues. And that's saying something. Lol

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100 hats for charity

2010-12-29T09:35:00.001-08:00

I contacted a homeless shelter arouund the end of November this year and asked if there was anything I could provide to help make Christmas a little more special.

They asked for some bathrobes and bath soap... easy.

I mentioned being a knitter, and having a handful of hats ready made and that if they were interested, that I could make a few more. They were more than a little interested, they were happy to hear it and said that they would be happy with any hats I could donate. I pulled out the six I had finished during a challenge this laast summer, and figured that I could probably make another five or six hats in the ten days left before I dropped the donation off.

And off I charged, making hats. I ended up making a total of 12 new hats. They house 34 women at any given time... so while I was thrilled with actually dropping off 18 hats, I was a little sad that it wasn't enough to provide each person a hat.

In the meantime, I found out that my boss's church drops off hats for the homeless by going directly to the camps and bridges where they actually stay. So a few more hats were knit to add to their supply.

Got me thinking, this did.

I will admit that after making 12 hats in ten days... then a handful more... I wasn't interested in knitting hats every single day... but I was enjoying the process. Armed with a pattern that doesn't get old, bulky yarn and big needles that work fast... I could probably knit enough hats this year to give a ton to the homeless... 40 for the shelter, and 20 for the camps and bridges.

60 hats, well that's only 5 a month. I can totally do that before December next year.

It's between terms at my knitting role playing game, so I have to wait to work on most of my other projects. So, what the heck, I've got nothing better to do... I'll make my first five hats now (this was before Christmas). Umm.... I now have hat number 11 on the needles. Huh. It is still three more days before the game starts again.... huh.

Five hats a month isn't going to be enough. I am now shooting for 100 hats total... eight or nine a month will be a little more challenging than five. And its a nice round number. Besides being already at 10% only a few weeks after making the challenge to myself? Well, I am all set to go now.

I figured I could raise this blog from the ashes and use it to chronicle the process, post photos, etc.

Note that some of the colors (one might call ugly) were specifically chosen for the camps. They chose to wear colors that will help camoflague them. Bright colors will be better received at the shelters.

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Inartsia Star War Charts --- chart patterns

2010-03-13T15:19:00.001-08:00

When making my son's Star Wars blanket I found a LOT of great and really useful patterns online. Since I appreciated the value they offered, I decided that I could do the same.

These patterns are available free for use - as long as it's personal use, and/or for donations to charity. They aren not being made available for use in earning money either by being for sale or for making items to be sold. Contact me if you have any questions or concerns via the Blogger contact link.

I've adopted the Excel Charts into graphics so that fewer people will have issues with usage. To save locally, click on each chart you wish to use - which should open in a new window/tab in a larger size. Then right-click on each image to save to your computer.

I adapted each chart by adding rows above/below and left/right so that they all ended up with 34 stitches across and 42 rows tall. These worked well in addition to some other Charts I found online.

Yoda Chart

General Grievous

Darth Maul

Droid

Star Fighter

Crossed Light Sabers

Finally - info about the blanket

2009-11-05T17:04:00.000-08:00

My big project is a Star Wars blanket for my son.

I was given the following requirements:

Must be blue
Must be big
Must have Yoda
Must have General Grievous
Must have light sabers

So, I got to searching online and I found a couple of great "chart" patterns for knitting star war characters into sweaters or blocks ... and decided that maybe, just maybe I could make blocks like you would see in a quilt out of knitting - attach them together with a star wars logo... and voila - a star wars blanket.

I used almost every single chart found here
http://www.angelfire.com/space2/swcharts/knit.html

And I adopted a couple of these, plus all the text charts from here
http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/charts/starwars.htm

So, I started off thinking that I would make every block a "patterned" block. But when I did the math and realized that there would be 35 blocks to make a blanket the size of a single bed... I figured maybe I didn't want to make that many with patterns. So, about one-third would be plain dark blue, another third would be a varigated blue; and the final third would be patterned. A couple would have the logo "Star Wars"; and original thought was that I would have a second set of blocks in the middle with "May the force be with you". But, then someone - darn them anyway... as it's a great idea; came up with the brilliant idea that I could add those words all the way around the border. What a brilliant idea... so of course, I'm going to do that even though it means its going to take that much longer to finish.

Next step was thinking about connecting the blocks and pulling together a look. I certainly had the option of joining the blocks with the mattress stitch which is virtually invisible, but I got to thinking that I really wanted a border on all the blocks. To figure it out.... I created an Excel spreadsheet. Made 1/3 of the blocks look dark blue; another 1/3 of the blocks look like a speckled blue; and the last 1/3 I used colored letters that were an acronym to represent what the square might be (SS meant space ship, DS meant death start, etc). Since some of the blocks that would be characters needed different backgrounds, i.e., Darth Vador would look best on a white background, but a white R2D2 wouldn't... so I changed the cell color to the color background that I thought would work best. By the time I had about half of the patterned blocks finished I found a light blue that might have worked as a universal background instead - sigh.... but it was a bit too late... so I just used it on some blocks.

So, I tried adding a border on the blocks in Excel and a copy of the same spreadsheet without borders - and I liked the borders better. I used this to experiment with placing and figuring out exactly what I wanted to place where - which when it comes down to putting the blanket together I probably won't stick to. I figure I'll lay it all out on the bed and change my mind a million times before I actually stick them all together... but at least I had a plan and a design that I liked.

And yes, we added a bigger, thicker border around the whole blanket so I can add the words "May the force be with you" all around the edge...

My original plan was that the back of the blanket would be visible - every knit or crochet blanket/afghan that I have ever seen - you see the front and the back. So, using lots of different colored yarns to make a pattern that looks good on the front, requires a lot of effort on the back to try to "hide" and sew in the ends of the yarns when you add or stop the color. I spent probably three times longer working in the ends of the yarns than actually knitting the blocks.... each time. I made a rule for myself that I couldn't start the next block until I weaved in all the ends of the block before -- the key to this rule is that I knew myself well enough to know that I don't really like to weave in ends... and weaving them all in at the end, well, I would reach a point where I wouldn't want to and I would put the whole thing in a pile and ignore it for dozens of years. It probably would never get finished. So, anyway - it wasn't until I was about 90% done with the blocks before I decided that even though I had been extremely careful, the back of the blocks still didn't look very attractive, and that I really, really wanted to hide them. Knitting a second blanket would be the more traditional method of backing this... but a) WAY TOO MUCH WORK and b) it would end up being a really heavy blanket. So, instead, I went shopping online and found the perfect no-fuzz fleece that is super-super-soft... and it's dark blue with stars... perfect for the back of a Star Wars blanket... perfect.

If you were to follow the links, one thing you would find is that there a) isn't a Yoda pattern, and b) isn't a General Grievous pattern. Sigh. The TWO he insists have to be on the blanket. So, I studied and read and figured out that there is a fairly easy way to create a pattern in Excel from a picture. Hmmm.... lots of pictures out there.... I could certainly try. Let me just say, as easy as it is to do this? It does require an artistic eye that I struggle to find within myself. My first Yoda block was made with a picture that was as close as I could find to a full-front face picture.... translating it into a few colors in fairly large weighted yarn in fairly "blocky" shape? Well, lets just say - it was a bit malformed Yoda that I finished with. That block got thrown out and I went back to the drawing board. I just couldn't find a picture that would be "straight-on" and would show both sides of the face as the same size. So.... I went back to my original pattern and "mirrored" one side of the pattern to the other. Knit it up again. This time, it was a bit closer, and at least he wasn't mal-formed, however? He wasn't Yoda either.... it certainly was a green face, but the ears were to big and his face was too small... he looked like a really sick cat....LOL. Third time was the charm though... I went back to the second pattern and made his cheeks fuller, moved his eyes down a bit, and added grey wrinkles to his forehead for more detail. Still not 100% sure he looks like Yoda, but when you put him next to other Star Wars blocks, he's pretty close.

Trying to make a General Grievious was another big challenge. This time I only needed to knit up two of them. One of the issues is that General Grievious being mostly robot has lots of parts and things that frame his face... yet 3 dimensions in fairly large guage just isn't going to happen. So, I cheated a bit - I did his face mask with nothing else around it. It turned out great the first time - BUT for the fact that the block I made was for some reason over an inch wider than every other block in the blanket. sigh.... It seemed "off" when I was knitting it, but instead of paying close attention and fixing it right away, I didn't really check it until I was doing some of the finishing touches pre-sewing them together before I realized that it stunk and needed to be redone.

Another block I had issues with was the light sabers. The patterns in the links had light sabers, however, they were a LOT smaller than what I was looking to make. Again, Excel to the rescue... I drew up a pattern in Excel which was a breeze this time around. I knit it up, but I didn't really like the yarn I had used -- it was a bit "blah" and light sabers glow.... they are NOT blah. So, I bought more yarn and I tried to "duplicate stitch" over the top of the existing stitches with the new brighter yarn. To do a duplicate stitch, you use a darning needle to put basically a second layer of stitches over the top. It makes it a bit thicker, but I figured that it wouldn't be that big a deal since light sabers could be 3 dimensional then. But it looked horrible when it was done. So, then I tried re-knitting them a second time with the newer yarn and STILL didn't like them. So, then I decided that I had to experiment a bit to figure out the right course of action. I took the small pattern again and did four or five light sabers in a small piece of knitting and tried using different yarns and methods for adding the color to the light sabers. I finally settled on two colors and using shiny yarns.... it's still not "perfect" and it still isn't as nice as I would like - but geeze.... creating light sabers in yarn isn't going to be realistic. So, I picked the style I liked the best out of the experiments and did the blocks that way. I should have done them with a fuzzy yarn that had a "halo" but fuzzy light sabers would just be silly. But, I had actually planned to do five different blocks with light sabers.... but since I didn't like the way they turned out, I had to come up with more patterns instead to replace them instead of having five blocks I didn't like.

Once all the blocks were finished, I need to sew them together. But the nature of the game is that they don't quite lay flat, aren't perfectly square, etc.... so before I try to put them into the blanket, I needed to "block" them. To block knitting - you have to dampen it, pin them to a flat surface and leave them to dry for several days. You can help "square" them up, you can stretch them a bit or straighten them out and you can smooth out some of the puckers that make them not want to lay flat. It won't fix everything (like a square over an inch wider than the others) but it does fix many of the smaller issues. But, I live in a two bedroom apartment with a six year old, a dog, and a cat. There isn't a free surface around that I could use for three days that wouldn't become a cat hair magnet. So, my project went on hold for a while, so I could purchase a blocking board that was portable, able to be leaned against a wall, and affordable. Yep... I went shopping. Guess what? If I could find something that was big enough, portable enough, it wasn't affordable. Affordable wasn't portable or storable or able to be leaned against a wall... hmmm.... so.... I got creative. I decided to make my own. First I needed a) affordable b) rigid and c) size-able stiff boards that d) could be pinned to, e) could tolerate dampness and still be f) light weight. So, I found two foot by four foot 1/4 inch plywood panels. I sanded them and varnished them (to protect against the dampness); then I glued 1/4 inch cork tiles to the front of the boards.... AND then I added to the back of them removable-pin hinges. I didn't really need hinges, but what I wanted to be able to do was join the two boards together edge-to-edge and remove the join easily. By using two sets of hinges, I can join them lengthwise - which would make one board two foot by eight foot; or widthwise - which would make a four foot by four foot board, or leave them individually. Now I had all of my initial requirements.... but there was one more. I needed to be able to have a grid on them that would allow me to pin things out to specific measurements. hmmm.... I did find somewhere where they had a ruler-style fabric but it cost more than all my other pieces together.... so I had decided that I would probably use a sharpie marker to try to draw lines on the cork tiles to grid them out.... but since I can barely make a straight line, I wasn't sure it was a great idea. After I got the cork tiles glued to the board, I realized that I was at risk for having child/puppy/cat damage to the exposed cork AND that it would flake a little off ever-so-slightly, enough to make a mess anyway. So, I decided I really should cover it with a fabric.... went shopping, and sure enough - found some awesome gingham that had one-inch black and white squares. Perfect size to help me pin out and measure things. My biggest issue making these is that whenever I went shopping for items, like the cork or the fabric... I would keep thinking I was making them two by three feet... and would have to make two trips for everything. But, I think they turned out fantastic... and I am finally blocking my blocks which is the last step before sewing them together.

Post-blocking, I plan on using crochet to join all the squares into the final blanket, where I can measure the final measurements as the step to make sure when I make the borders that they'll fit. I'm planning on making them using the afghan hook and a simple afghan stitch. Problem is I'll need miles of it and it'll be plain blue. So, it will be excruciatingly boring. Sigh.... I'm chosing that method for the borders because I'm going to add words to it - and it makes an almost perfect background for cross-stitching; and it will lay flat and not need yet a second form of a border to finish it off. No sense doing two borders for double the work if I don't need to. Then, I get to attach the borders... then I get to back the entire blanket with the fleece. My plan is to whip-stitch the edges together and then do the quilting-style ties at the corner of every block through both layers of material with yarn. We'll see ... but I have really high hopes for this big challenge.

Next come pics and files. I captured some of my preliminary drawings and ideas... my Excel files and the blocks I designed as well as photos of the blocks during blocking. My goal is to be finished by Christmas... which really wasn't very practical at all. So, instead I thought I'd start on it right after Christmas.... during the week I was off of work. ONLY... during that week, I was reading online about Ravelympics, a knitting challenge to start and complete a project during the Olympics. Since I'd started this long before the Olympics... it didn't qualify for the blanket competitioin... HOWEVER, it fit perfectly in the WIPS Dancing event - which is finishing off a work in progress. SO.... that's how this got finished (finally) on the final day of Olympic Competition for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Made for Charity Auction -

2009-10-17T08:41:00.000-07:00

I am quite unhappy with it, but it's about as good as it's going to get.

An absolutely BRILLIANT solution for a problem!

2009-09-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

OK, So, still working on projects, still have tons of posts to make (just have to find time).

In the meantime. I donated my time to put up an auction item to raise money for United Way. My item to the auction is a hand-knitted Christmas stocking that the user would select from a selection of patterns... and I would customize to their requirements.

Since I have hand-knit stockings that someone else knit for me (ages ago)... I was thinking about the fact that in the inside of the stocking there are lots of yarn loops (that catch on everything I put into the stocking)... from the multiple colors used to knit up the stocking. So, I had planned to do a technique that can be quite tedious (called inartsia) and can create a lot of loose ends that you have to weave in (which I hate) -- but at least the person who bought my stocking wouldn't have to deal with all the yarn loops.

But... once they selected the pattern they wanted (From Knitting Digest Magazine) - Gift Santa Christmas Stocking (1996)... would you believe that they designed the stocking with an even better solution?

The entire stocking is knit in only three colors Leg & Foot; heel & toe are in contrasting colors. THEN they have you knit up the ornament - Santa with a lap full of presents... completely separately - and then you simply attach it to the front of the stocking... and ergo - completely encase all those loops of threads between the ornament on the stocking and the stocking itself. The inside of the stocking a) has no extra yarn loops and b) no hundreds of cut ends of the yarn to weave in... because they can all be hiding behind the ornamentation.

OMG... I've had a couple of ideas for making scarves with characters on the ends of the scarf and or putting initials on it... but didn't want the reverse side to look funny. I can SO do this for that project as well.

It's like a lightning bolt of creative ideas just based on a simply brilliant solution that the back of the knitted piece that has lots of different colors in it just doesn't look good.

Who knew? I sure didn't even imagine trying something like this.

A knitting me-me

2009-07-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

Swiped from knittech it's intended for a secret pal swap; but I figure I can swipe the questions and adapt it for a me-me anyway.

Secret Pal

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like? Actually - I use a lot of acrylic because me & my boys have yarn allergies. Caron Simply Soft is inexpensive & soft. Bamboo is delicious but not right for many projects. Cotton is "ok". LOVE cashmere but have to do a cashmere blended with something else to avoid allergies - besides who can afford to spend so much for yarn? I've knit with wool - once - never again. Am still trying to learn to have the patience to knit with laceweight yarn.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in? I have vases for my double-points and regular knitting needles. Right now my cable needles and extended needles are tangled up in a photo box.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced? I tried to learn as a child - didn't really work out then. I picked it up again in 1988-1989 - but after knitting up a couple of Christmas ornaments, I dropped it again. Picked it up again in 2006 after my stroke. I find the yarns available now really spur me on to try more and new things.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list? Yes, have Amazon for books/movies and a wish list on Tiger Direct for electronics.

5. What's your favorite scent? vanilla

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy? Totally - White Chocolate; Chocolate in almost any form

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin? Crochet, paper crafts (scropbooking, card-making), beaded ornaments, just about any glue & go craft - am tempted to learn to spin, but putting it off because I don't know I could afford to learn to spin with non-wool fibers.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD) I've got an MP3 that I've used like once... just don't download songs... love classic rock the most.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand? Love blues, purples, deep greens, reds ... don't care for pink for myself, not much into orange/brown shades.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets? Divorced mother to two... plus a dog & cat

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos? Scarves & mittens yes - hats in the worst of winter only - ponchos never....

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit? Right now - it's baby sweaters (good thing got two babies to knit for)... wanting to make a sweater for "a" but have to finish his blanket first.

13. What are you knitting right now? WIP - "a"s blanket started two months ago (haven't worked on it for two weeks - on a sabatical); baby sweater for Sebastian (four weeks old) started Saturday and about 75% complete; a summer top for me started (sigh) two years ago - and not worked on for over four months - it's in a time out because I have to redo a couple of rows and am not in the mood.

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts? Yes!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic? I mostly use circular's (Addi's) and have a collection of straight needles when needed - mostly aluminum, but some plastic.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift? No - but I want one or the other

17. How old is your oldest UFO? My top - which was about 75% done at one time and ripped out back to the beginning. I'm about 60% done now - and still need to rip out a couple of rows.

18. What is your favorite holiday? What winter holiday do you observe? Christmas by far my favorite holiday - my mother made it truly magical and my goal is to do the same for my chidlren

19. Is there anything that you collect? besides yarn? I like to collect various things for Christmas - lit houses for a Christmas village, little santas that are about two -three inches tall, stuffed animated santas, 10" angels.

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have? More yarn would be soooo cool - love, love, love having yarn around to inspire. Would love to get more patterns for knitting top-down one piece construction (though I have a book now that's supposed to have that covered, it's hard to follow)... and I don't subscribe to any knitting magazines - I'll buy one every once in a while, but most of my patterns come from the internet.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn? Tons - some of it is a matter of repeating things so that I don't have to always look them up (i.e., kitchener stitch, provisional cast on) - I can do them, but I have to look up how every time I do them. More cast ons, more cast offs, and would love to have some laceweight lace skills..... mostly the last I need to do better at learning how to count (lol).

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements? Yes, I have knitted socks... have done a couple of children's socks and one pair of adult socks.... but my adult socks were done in wool I was thinking about gifting them - but can't get the cast off done right - so will probably end up ripping them out and re-using the yarn for something else.

23. When is your birthday? 29June

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID? I'm pennyia on Ravelry.

Baby items - FO with pics

2009-06-24T07:57:00.000-07:00

Finally some knitting to show.

These were gifted at the baby shower for my co-worker.

First was a crocheted blanket made pre-sex id'd... and I used this as my "tissue" in the gift bag to wrap the other gifts.

I used some orange & white acrylic (for easy wash & dry) boucle for the center section. Then a matching white boucle for the ends. If I were to do it again, I would probably have saved the orange for the ends.

Then for the baby sweater. I had bought the self-striping blue & white yarn with matching blue yarn for a project specifically for this baby. But could not decide on a pattern... or how I was going to do it. I was about to give up and simply do stripes of blue with the self-striping blue with the same hoodie sweater pattern I had made previously in pink/white/blue stripes. .... when I had a 'brainstorm' -- I was watching a knitting show on tv and decided I wanted to "frame" boxes of the colors within the other plain color -- and found a pattern to adapt ... and used that to adjust the hoodie sweater pattern. I liked it while I was doing it, although in the back of my mind I kept thinking that I would probably have preferred it if the "frame" was a contrasting color instead of a coordinating color - to make the color pop. If I had ONLY known how beautiful the self-striping was on its own... I would have simply used the self-striping yarn in a simple stitch for the whole sweater.

I'd already finished the sweater - before I started the booties. AND it was the booties where the heel and foot was made entirely with the self-striping yarn... and I almost wanted to undo the sweater and start it over. The yarn really pops on it's own, and the complicated stitch pattern I used for the sweater didn't really show it off to it's full potential.

But, after the booties, I still had almost a full skein of the self-striping yarn left, and a half-skein of the coordinating blue... so I had to make more... so, along came the hat... and then I had to think for a bit, and found an awesome pants pattern. I didn't like the self-striping quite as well in the pants. And it's a bit much with the sweater - almost like they shouldn't be worn together. If I had to do it over again, I would have NOT used the blue to try to do the complicated stitch pattern on the sweater - which would have saved me enough of the coordinating blue color to have done simple blue pants.

Live & learn - right?

I've been knitting away...

2009-06-22T11:51:00.000-07:00

but not posting about it - sorry.

I'm 90% finished with a very special blanket I'm making for my son... and have about a half-dozen posts semi-prepared for posting about it... so that I can share my inspiration, my mistakes, and my patterns (the couple I made up from scratch)... so - you just have to wait a bit longer.

However, I have reached a point in the process where I have to make a final decision about something. The back of the blanket is not going to look pretty. There will be a very definite "right" side to it. I've put in probably over 20 extra hours being extra careful to weave in ends "just-so" and without making it too much of a mess.

AND? I'm thinking I want to put a back on the blanket. (which means I could have tied knots in the yarn & cut it off without all that extra work) sigh

BUT, honestly? Has anyone ever seen a blanket (knit or crochet) that was backed with fabric? I'm thinking a nice super-soft fleece on the back would make it 1) warmer 2) more cuddly and 3) more likely to get used longer.

I'm thinking I'd treat it a bit like a quilt and tie the front & back together with yarn... of course, I'd have to baste all the way around the edges... I would love some feedback - is it too weird? too impractical?

Project in the works

2009-04-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

OK - so I'm still stalling on the sweater. And I've crocheted a baby blanket - pic to come... done while we still didn't know if it was going to be a boy/girl for a co-worker. (so it's orange).

I've got some blue yarn selected for a baby sweater -still digging through patterns for her (as yes, it's now known to be a boy).

So, I had to come up with something I could work on at work - as we sit together at lunch at least once a week to knit together. And I can't very well knit a gift for her in front of her and still surprise her!

AND... "a" decided he needed a blanket for himself. As he liked the baby blanket I had made. We talked and talked - and I wasn't able to convince him he wanted a green sweater (as I had already bought the yarn to make him a green sweater - sigh).

Nope - he wants a blue star wars blanket. And nothing else. sigh. But, I had something I wanted to. His eyes have been bothering him. I'm not really sure if it's itching or burning from possibly allergies (I have this, not impossible to believe he might as well)... or if actually it's related to the fact that he's having to deal with his vision issues more so than in the past now that he's really trying to learn his letters. I do know that they bother him more at night or morning - and that's kind of typical with his vision issues which do get worse when he's overly tired. So, I suspect the latter. About all he confesses is that "he can't see" and "my eyes hurt" and he closes his eyes. His "bad habit" is that he wants to lick his hand & wipe his eyes with his hands. NOT GOOD. So, my bargain is that he's to STOP doing this and he can wipe his eyes with a clean, wet washcloth or paper towel instead. It's a hard habit to break already, but I figure that it's going to take me months to knit up a blanket ... and if he sees me working on the blanket, I have a good reason to apply pressure to get him out of his bad habit.

So - stay tuned. I'm a knitting fiend and have several blocks completed already - will post pics shortly. In fact, I also have several graphics. I figure I'm going to write a series of posts as to how my idea evolved from my first plan - to finish product.

A few finished items to share

2009-04-03T18:54:00.000-07:00

OK, I'm struggling with motivation on the sweater. I have a mistake that I've been trying to ignore for six rows, and every time I picked it up - the mistake would bug me. Keeping going hasn't helped. sigh. I have to undo back to the mistake and redo or it will drive me nuts. Normally, I'm not this much of a perfectionist, but since the more I do the more obvious the mistake becomes, and the more it's bugging me, I guess I better do the right thing or every time I wear it - the mistake will still bug me. But, it's just as slow (if not more so) to unkit each and every stitch as it was to knit it in the first place. If it wasn't the inexpensive yarn, I could probably just take the needles out and pull the yarn (very fast) to undo it. BUT, this yarn (guess I should call it cheap instead of inexpensive) doesn't take well to such harsh treatment. As such, I've set it aside for a while until I get "more motivated".

That said, I had two other projects that were virtually finished, but just needed a few minutes to call them done. They had sat for over six weeks for the one, and over three months for the other. The other night, I got a wild hair and finished them both in less than 30 minutes. Sigh... guess I had to be in the mood? All the first one needed was six buttons sewed on... and the other needed a couple pieces of velcro sewed on.

But at least they are done now.

Also finished (pics to come later) - a hat & scarf made with "won" yarn from a giveaway. These are going to be held onto until next fall and then given to a charity that provides these to the homeless. I've found a charity in Ohio -- but I may just try to find a local one instead. We'll see, got a few months before someone will want them.

First a baby sweater (unfortunately said baby is now a year old and it will not fit)

Next a doggy sweater (more feminine):

Finally a pic

2009-03-17T17:13:00.001-07:00

As you can see from the pic, there are cables (lines) that do some shaping of the garmet... I'm about "boob-high" working from the waist to the shoulders... so some ways to go yet. I messed up a little about two rows back, didn't notice it right away, and just about skipped going back and fixing it, but it's bugging me and my perfectionism is showing. So, I'm re-working the last couple of rows to fix it. sigh

Lot's of progress - still no camera

2009-02-20T18:16:00.000-08:00

I still haven't gotten my refund from Amazon for the camera I got for Christmas that died within 24 hours... but hope to shop for the replacement really soon... can't wait to post pics.

The sweater is not-quite 50% done... good news is that I can try it on as we go, and it fits great. Knitting from the bottom hem up - and all the way "around" -- I've finished the hip, the waist (it's fitted) and am increasing now and am starting the bust section. I'm probably about two inches short of the underarm. So, we're chugging right along.

Starting over

2009-01-25T16:06:00.000-08:00

A year ago - January... I finished the first ever sweater for little "a". He LOVES it still (good thing). I made it a size larger intentionally - intending it for this winter, and it's still a little big on him. But, he's wearing it & it will probably still fit him next winter.

And, I decided I could handle a more complicated pattern, and started a "spring" short-sleeved v-neck pullover with cables - for me. I had the pattern, the yarn I'm using is Simply Soft from Caron... I managed to get the back done last year - and pick it up & put it back down again & again ever since. I had (notice, the word had) about eight inches along the bottom of the front finished. Wonder why I was working so slowly? I wasn't really happy with it. I had it almost half done & it wasn't quite working out for me. A couple of reasons - the bottom was always going to roll up. The finished pics in the pattern didn't show a roll, which meant that since I didn't like the roll, I was probably ALWAYS going to fight that "curling" along the bottom. Secondly, it so was not going to fit me. My knitting was to gauge, and I'd picked the size I wanted... when I took the measuring tape to one piece, it seemed to come out right, but when you held the two pieces together? Enormous... and unfortunately, traditional knitting requires that you knit the sweater in separate pieces, which means, that often, you won't know how well it's really going to fit until it's done.

I also messed up the cables pretty well, at the top & bottom - the cables switch directions every two cables - in the middle part, every other cable switches direction. I switched directions pretty randomly & it looked ok, but as I was getting better at following directions for the front, the front wasn't going to match the back anymore. I told myself to ignore it, who cares if I mess up the back, not like I'll see it that often. I messed up a little on the front, but wasn't going to undo several hours of knitting to fix one little mistake.

Wasn't - being the key word. I just couldn't see investing 30 to 40 more hours of knitting time for a "mess" - which is exactly what the sweater would end up being. Who spends that kind of time for something that won't fit properly? I sure was going to. But, last night I decided enough was enough. I RIPPED it ALL OUT. ALL of it, even the back - which was finished. I'm starting over, this time - I'm altering the pattern.

I started with a rib knit around the bottom edge (so it won't roll) - I'll probably cap off the sleeves the same way. Second, I'm making it smaller (although - tonight is the test - I have 1/2 inch done - If it's too big, I'm ripping it out again, and making it smaller yet). And, third? So, I can try it on - I'm knitting it all in one piece... knitting in the round is SO the way to knit clothes. So, I now have a half inch done on a sweater that I might actually wear someday. :-)

Pics to come!

Experiments with Color

2009-01-22T18:44:00.001-08:00

I wanted to make a couple of hats for infants for the Knit One, Save One Campaign.

Since my yarn budget is non-existent... I started with scraps of yarn.

The first one is from a child's pattern book - modified, as for some reason, following a pattern verbatim is harder for me lately. I made it smaller intentionally - however, as you can see by my pointer finger? This is TOO small. It fits a small teddy-bear though... so "a" has adopted it for his "puppets". The pattern called for a blue brim, red & white stripes to a point. I wanted more blue in it - so when I went to the stripes, I alternated red, white & blue (can you see where I forgot the blue stripe?). Knitting in the round, there's a nice benefit with this many stripes of not having to work in ends every color-change. I thought it was cute. Too small, but cute.

The next two fit the size that I was shooting for...

But, again, I had to experiment. This time, still working with scraps. I mixed it up a bit. I used two strands of yarn at a time and intentionally ended one of the colors & starting a new color on only one strand at a time. This are a little "thick" - but I justify it by telling people that they're really warm hats. That's important right? LOL But, I thought it was so fun how the colors change. What do you think?

An experiment with socks

2009-01-22T18:30:00.000-08:00

So, I made two mis-matched tiny baby socks to learn how to knit two-at-a-time. I LOVE the method. I bought some very expensive (for me) sock yarn that was in the perfect color for me (as I wanted something subtle & dark for wearing with my slacks to work). I bought high-end as I was hoping the finer wool & mohair wouldn't itch. And because I knew I wasn't sure how tall I wanted them to be (definitely on the short side)... I wanted to knit them toe-up. But, I could not find any toe-up two-at-a-time patterns.

I did find a wonderful site that had an awesome flexible toe-up design that could be done one-at-a-time. And, I simply adapted it to the two-at-a-time system thanks to Melissa of Two-at-a-time Socks fame. I used the Midnight stitch pattern for the "style" & look from her book as well.

I also manipulated it a little - to add ribbing to the under-side of the socks where the instep is. I love how this "snugs" up the sock. I love making them toe-up so I was able to try them on as I knit them. In fact, in my first attempt at about the half inch done mark, I tried them on, realized that I was making them too big, and ripped them back a quarter inch & was able to re-work it without too much pain. From then on, I kept trying them on. And I have to say - they fit really, really, REALLY well.

But, for two things. One - The cast off at the top of the cuff? It's tight. I did all the things I knew to do to make a looser cast-off including casting off in-pattern, using a larger needle, and hanging onto the second stitch after you pass the first worked stitch over it on the first needle. And, it's still too tight. Not so tight you can't wear them. Not so tight that you can feel it while you're wearing them. But, tight enough that stretching the cuff to pull the sock on over your heel? That's wear it's too tight. But, I could live with that issue. The second issue? The fact that within five minutes of wearing them I want to scratch until I bleed? That I just can't quite deal with. I should have made them with inexpensive cotton yarn.

That's what I get for trying to be a yarn snob. I love the look & the "knit-ability" of fine wool. But, I just can't wear it. When I started the socks I was actually a bit worried about how well I could tolerate knitting with it. And, it was so soft & lovely to knit with, I was so sure that the fine wool & mohair blend was worth the money as it didn't seem like it would bother me. Alas. It does.

So, I spent probably a good 60 hours of knitting time and over $20 making the most amazing & best-fitting socks I have ever owned. And I can't wear them. sigh. I would go so far as donating them to someone who would like them - but I'm too ashamed of the tight cast-off -- so they aren't good enough for anyone else either. Terrible, huh? Anyway - here are the "poor" pics (as my brand-new awesome Christmas gift camera died within two days of getting pulled out from under the tree. Am still waiting on my refund from Amazon to go out & buy a replacement. So, you're stuck with lousy cell phone pics.

Almost all of the rest of the gifts

2008-12-26T09:59:00.000-08:00

OK, so I have one more hat I'd like to do - for my nephew I won't see until the 10th... although, in all honesty - the red hat was intended for him, only I was wanting to see what that pattern would do with mittens - aren't they cute??? and - oops, the mittens are too small. So, instead, those will go to the now one-month old grand-niece for next winter (since they'll be too small for everyone else). sigh.

The green is from the same skein as "a"s gift; the red is from left-over pound of red yarn (Super Saver) I bought two years ago and made a sweater for "a" last year. The orange is a plush super-soft boucle that was on sale for 99 cents a couple of summers ago... only enough to make one hat, but perfect for my little grand-niece.

X-mas gifts

2008-12-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

My little guy posing with his home-made gifts from me for Christmas. ... Can you tell how exhausting a job modeling is?

The green yarn is from a 25 cent skein bought at Goodwill. Used the pattern for the hat (with a little customizing) from a baby pattern I bought at Walmart YEARS ago. Yes, he's five; and yes, the hat fits... I did customize it after all. It's acrylic yarn that can be a little itchy; but it's nice & warm and very durable as well as washable & dryable... important for kids items. The white is left-over from a pound of yarn I bought from Ebay - it's from Caron, yarn ends (not correct-weight for sale through traditional methods; bundled up & sold in bulk) - the pound of yarn was about $5.50 including postage; I barely used any for this.

I used a free pattern for simple mittens online at Knitting Pattern Central; always my first stop for looking for patterns... only I adapted them & used the 2-at-a-time Sock method from Melissa's book. Gotta love doing 2-at-a-time. If I could manage it; I'd do a dozen at a time. It really isn't any faster; after all a stitch is still a stitch; but if you didn't have to work from start to finish on one just to do it all over again on a second? It's a GODSEND, seriously!

Then, the scarf. Well, not exactly. I loved how the yarn was working up; and at this point I hadn't thought to do a scarf; after all "a" had a scarf made for him last year... so instead I made up a second hat in the same yarn for a nephew.

Then, I realized that I really did want to make a "matching set". silly me. So, being as I decided I wanted a matching set; and being that if you knit a scarf from one end to the other; and being that the hat & mittens feature a "v" in contrasting color - in the scarf, knit traditionally - one side would have "v" and the other would have an upside-down "v". So, being still quite silly; I decide to work both ends at the same time and work my way toward the middle; I could call it similar to the 2-at-a-time method; but it's just barely similar. Actually, all told? it's probably a good way to learn the 2-at-a-time method since it's very simple in comparison, but takes the work a row on one item; work a row on the other item; turn the needles, repeat. And, the original plan was that when the two halves were long enough, I'd simply graft them together in the middle (a way of "joining" that looks just like another row of stitches).

Only, of course, being thrift-shop yarn that was probably originally sold in a store some 30-odd years ago - it was the only skein I had; and I had been silly enough to go and knit a hat for my nephew. As if he needs a hat in this soft, thick & warm (albeit cheap) yarn. I ran out of yarn about eight inches short of my goal. Go figure.

Would you believe I ALMOST went to the effort of ripping out a fully-completed, perfectly good, Christmas-Gift-intended.... hat so that I could use the yarn for the scarf? I did. I thought about it for a good two hours.

Instead... I decided that "a" would not care one little bit if his scarf had a different color in the middle. And, honestly? It's a good thing it's in the middle. I know it looks a little "off" - but it's warm & cushy & at least I still had more than enough of the white left-over. Actually - all of the white is left-over small balls of yarn that I'd used for one project or another, and had about 100 yards or so left, so they were in a basket with other yarn scraps... ready for "accent color".

So what if there's white in the middle? I could always claim I did it on purpose, that it's part of the character of the item.... lol. Good thing I'm not a type-A personality. I'd have been up all night knitting another hat, scarf & mittens that did match from another skein.

More Christmas gift knitting

2008-12-15T11:34:00.000-08:00

So, went on to make a winter scarf for my sister - same type of yarn as the shawl for her daughter, different color:

And, the more I thought about it, the more I hated the shawl I had done. So I ripped it out with the intention of re-knitting it into a "lazy lace" rectangular shawl. Lazy lace is knitting with over-sized needles to make it look like lace; when it isn't. But, it is fast - so I would have time to finish it before Wednesday (when my sister drives to see her daughter for the holidays -- and I call that, free shipping).

But, I still hated it. Even more... so I pulled out some other yarn from my stash & lazy-lace knit this one instead.

It's a little hard to see the colors - but they are a 'heather-ish" rainbow boucle... I think she'll like it a lot.

Chloe's mommy's gift

2008-12-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

Struggled... what to make for new mom in warm weather... when I have existing yarn, needles, time & no money?

Per her mom's suggestion, I settled on a shawl to keep her shoulders warm while she's nursing the new baby. I was going to make a standard triangle shawl without any lace "detailing" (for speed). I loved the way the purple & white self-striping turned out for the scarf, hat & mittens I made; and I had other colors... so settled on orange & white. I do like how it turned out (sort-of). But have to admit, orange is not my color of choice... the yarn was on discount, and it's super soft... so if orange-y sherbet-y color is something you like (?)... it turned out ok.

I didn't stick with the triangle shape in the end... as I double-stranded it to make it nice & warm... and it got too big for my knitting needles. I started at the back point & just kept increasing stitches. When I reached the point of too many stitches, I altered the pattern. I ended up doing short-rows & worked one side at a time... and then (don't ask me why, it was close to midnight & I was doing weird stuff)... I ended up (after increasing for another ten rows) - started decreasing, to a triangle point on each end. So, the shape? Well, hard to describe really. Photos are a must. Notice that the stripes change direction by the time you drape over your shoulders. So, only pictures on a person will work to show it off.

<<>>

See? Started from the bottom up in the back - here it still looks like a triangle.

Front? Not looking like a triangle any more.... ?

Charity Knitting

2008-12-09T10:57:00.000-08:00

We found a young mother via the Angel tree opportunities at a nearby hospital. Her wish was for a winter hat & gloves. I've made a matching set with winter scarf... they are nice & warm... not terribly sure how long-enduring they are... (eek); nor if they will fit. The mittens fit me, so it's a guess if they'll fit her as well... they do have some stretch, so I'm hoping.

The mittens are "convertable" - either gloves or mittens... I was just curious if I could do them. So, had to try. I had a few bad starts on the mittens, but I think they turned out just fine. I adapted the two-at-a-time sock method up until I hit the fingers. It worked out great. I did the fingers & the thumbs with double-points. And then I needed to do the "cup" that covers the fingers when you're in mitten mode... and although I should have been able to go back to the two-at-a-time method to join them back together & finish them, I struggled with figuring it out; caved and just finished them with the double-points.

Little Chloe's Christmas Gift

2008-12-08T10:48:00.000-08:00

Little Chloe was born three weeks ago and is living with her parents, a brother, and a sister in Texas. Didn't want to make uber-warm items for her (like stocking hat & mittens; although those might come in handy someday). Nor did I think she would appreciate the hooded towels I'm making for her brother & sister. So, instead I whipped up a baby blanket. This one turned out much better than my first trial. First, I knitted everything except the border (I knit better than I crochet). So, it's at least a rectangle (lol)! And then I crocheted on some trim, to "pretty it up". I also found some perfect white that is super-uber-duber soft; which matches the extremely soft color yarn. It's machine washable & dryable; and so soft, it's almost silky.

Christmas Charity Knitting

2008-12-02T08:37:00.001-08:00

Using up more of my almost-free yarn (bought for about 25 cents a skein)....

I knitted up a Scarf & Winter hat in green for some young woman. I love this minty-green color. The scarf curls up a little, which is kind of a bummer, as I specifically stitched the edges to try to prevent curling.

and a Winter hat & mittens for some young child (guess it could be boy or girl). Sorry for the awful quality of picture, but alas, I'm still taking all my pictures with my camera phone (which isn't the best quality). And it took me almost ten minutes just to get these pictures taken... between "a" climbing up & piling on with Kyra & trying to get in the way... I gave up & figured this was close-enough ... lol. (Notice the cord for the mittens? to run through the coat so you don't lose the mittens? That's EXACTLY what all of my mittens had until I was probably seven or eight. My aunt made mittens for over 30 kinds every year & all the young ones got cords so we couldn't lose them!!!).

Another one done

2008-11-11T08:30:00.000-08:00

OK - so I promised myself to "finish" some not-quite-done projects before starting another (I sort-of cheated)... I finished my scarf I knitted for WWII veterans last night by adding the fringe...

again - apologies for the blurred image - need to put new camera on my list for Xmas.

Finally a finished object!

2008-11-07T14:00:00.000-08:00

I've been knitting a lot - have four projects 'almost' done... and one not nearly close to being done... (and wanting to start another project - LOL)... so before starting another project, I swore to myself I'd finish up the last steps of a few things.

Last night I finished Kyra's sweater... doesn't she look sweet?

She doesn't "LOVE" it, but then again, she doesn't love being cold either - so while she doesn't understand why I'm putting a sweater on her - I figure she's getting a good deal out of it anyway.

Next, figure out how to "crop" out the disaster zone of the house that's developed while I'm not feeling well and knitting instead of cleaning.

Wrapped in Comfort

2008-10-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

I did a very simple garter stitch shawl for donating to Wrapped in Comfort ( a charity that provides these shawls for mothers who have lost a child ). It's knit with an easy-care boucle that I love the colors in. I did something unusual in that I intentionally chose to use bits & pieces so that the color transitions weren't as smooth to add a little interest. I have made similar shawls before - but I always allowed the color to work as designed before - and I did "wraps" to add a little lace here & there. This time, I skipped the wraps (wanted to see what it looked like without) and played around a little with stopping & starting different colors. It turned out "ok" - I think that I'm ready for trying more complicated stitches. I really only picked the garter stitch (easiest thing in the world) because with the move & stress I wanted something mind-less to work on. And the boucle (which is SO soft & I love) looks better with simple stitching and would not show off the other stitches as well. I'm dying to try several new things (but have SO many unfinished projects as it is) and can't afford to go yarn shopping ... so, this is what it is because I was using yarn up from my stash, and I was too stressed to focus on much of anything.

You can see that Kyra thought it was quite lovely!

Doesn't feel like there's any progress

2008-09-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

First, I wasn't doing a lot of dedicated knitting as I was busy with the move... a little here, a little there. Then, I wasn't "focused" enough to handle anything challenging, so I worked on a simple, easy, brainless shawl -for the charity Wrapped in Care (it's almost done).

But honestly? I've got a few too many unfinished projects that are unfinished for more than one reason. I'm not happy with the baby sweater (80% done)... and as much as I'd like to rip it out, I'm actually partially got the idea I might just toss it in the garbage as is instead of trying to save the yarn (which is really a shame). Can't quite bring myself to be that wasteful - if I'm not going to save the time I spent knitting it, the least I can do is make something else with the yarn. We'll see.

I'm almost done with the second panel of the afghan - and have decided instead to turn it into a lap afghan for Vets... so I'll rip back both panels to a smaller length - and then work on the third/fourth panel.

My spring sweater is still only about 50% done... and in two days it'll be the first day of fall. The good part of that is I can dig out the sweater I knit for "a" - still too small. But it makes him happy. When money starts flowing a little easier, I'm going to go pick up a half dozen bright colors of $2/skein yarn... I've been wanting to make him a winter cap that I saw when I was on the ski slopes last winter.... my version will be brightly colored - with primary colors knit into "braids" that all pop out from any direction. Looks kind of funky & fun and I think he'll love it.

Not much progress to Post

2008-05-30T08:03:00.000-07:00

My sweater has been put to the side for a while (new puppy tends to try to chew everything visible); and have been working on an afghan. Puppy still trying to chew, but the yarn being a boucle has a little bit of "give" and won't look like it's been tore up! And she's learning that mommy's yarn is a no-no and I can still work on something. But it's going to take forever, as big projects tend to do.

I do love the yarn & the colors -- will try to snag a picture and edit this. It's got self-striping built-in with a neutral color running along with it. I've got a couple of different kinds - but love the colors anyway... so I've got a second neutral that I'm using to separate out sections instead of linking two similar (but not quite the same) skeins to each other. I'm making it in panels; and am planning on putting thin vertical stripes in with the second neutral color when I piece it together. Only issue is that it looks like with the yarn I have, I only have enough right now for two panels. So, when I get a little further, I'm going to have to go back to the yarn shop and either pick up the first neutral color to do a couple of panels of that color - or a mixture of the other colors and use them to make a couple of panels that have different colors from one "section" to another. Guess now, I'll have to post a pic of the first panel I've completed so this wandering verbose explanation makes even the slightest sense.

No pattern. Just working with a loom knitter in a ribbed knitting. The yarn is yummy soft and I'm hoping my sister will like it (as it's for her Christmas gift). Issue is that if it's for this year's Christmas present, I really should be looking at completing THREE more afghans... so my brothers and their wives/significant others can also get one. I'm thinking that's maybe a little overly optimistic. We'll see!

OH, my goodness!

2008-04-30T17:31:00.000-07:00

I don't check this blog too terribly often, as I was certain my only reader was Phil and I knew that while she's a wonderful and supportive friend, going on about knitting projects and lovely yarn - is probably pretty boring to a non-knitter.

Lo & behold, I have a comment... and NOT just from any commenter! The author of the book I used to knit my socks (even though I totally messed up the name of her book)... posted a comment - on my socks... I feel so excited! AND she had just posted about going to a Yarn Harlot event - which I had wanted to go to so badly! One day, I'll get to see her - I swear! Anyway - here I am feeling quite excited by getting a comment from someone who is out-and-about in the knitting world!

Here's a link to her blog..... 2-at-a-Time-Socks

Pair-at-a-time Socks

2008-04-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

OK, I have NEVER knitted socks before. There was just this negative idea about spending hours and hours and hours to knit a pair of socks, when you can buy a pair for a couple of dollars that just kept me from even considering it.

But, a co-worker has been doing them, and having tremendous fun... and it's gotten my curiosity up. But, knowing that it takes about 12 hours to knit one sock, and knowing that once your done, having to turn around and start over on sock number two? Well, that's just kind of depressing concept.

So, I went out and bought a book, called pair-at-a-time knitting. The idea is that you knit both socks simultaneously on the same needles. Still takes the same amount of time, but you avoid that whole depressing condition that's got an official nickname "second sock syndrome". Which means that there are LOTS of knitters out there who make a sock, but never quite end up making it's pair - which how depressing is that? All this singular socks who never even get to the point of getting worn, to getting washed to losing their match! Their match never gets made!

Knowing that I'm a prime candidate for second sock syndrome. I figured that if I was going to learn how to knit socks, I was darn well going to do it two at a time and try to avoid that second sock syndrome.

HA! I failed miserably. Not in making the socks, if I do say so, I think they're quite cute. I failed to avoid second sock syndrome? Why? Because in the book, the first time you do this, it's QUITE CHALLENGING.... and they strongly recommend that you use two different colored yarns one for each sock so that you can tell them apart and not mess up. SO, I ended up with two different socks. If I want to make 2-pairs, I can, but that would involve making a second set of mis-matched pair-at-a-time socks. Guess what? I'm not going to bother! Totally have second sock syndrome. These two lonely socks will never meet their sole-mate (sorry, couldn't talk myself out of that pun!).

Half-done with sweater

2008-04-26T08:09:00.000-07:00

It is definitely taking forever to do! I got a lot of work done on it while I was laid up... but then there was a damaged knitting needle issue that I had to get new ones. Didn't trust "A" to run to a knitting store to pick up the needles for me... so I got them online.

Here's the back piece:

Promised slideshow of a trying on his sweater

2008-04-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

"A" is off of his computer this morning - means I have time to sneak on and make my slide show. "a" was playing superman the day we tried this on - so there was no 'holding still' and making nice for the camera. What was I thinking even trying? LOL

So here is my Super-a doing his best Super-a poses!

Afghan pieces

2008-04-07T16:27:00.000-07:00

I've mostly been working on dishclothes - and I know those are probably pretty boring to view, so I haven't been posting them. I've worked on my sweater a LOT - only then I had a small issue with the plastic knitting needles I'm using.... I got a slit in the needle itself and it would keep 'catching' the yarn. So, I tried filing it a bit/cutting it a bit... and it only got worse. I ordered new knitting needles to replace them via eBay - so once those arrive, I can go back to work on it again.

I also finished my ski cap/scarf the night before my first trip to the Mountain to go skiing... one of these days, I'll snap a picture of it & my progress on my sweater.... I swiped my camera back from "A" so I could get pictures taken - right around the surgery; and he managed to sneak it back before I got anything done.

So - these pictures, I had to snap before I shipped them off.... so sorry for the quality - this is off my cell phone.... These are donated pieces of an afghan I'm donating to a project that an online group has put together to provide 'comfort' to a mother who recently lost her child. Not much 'comfort' I think - but it's something that several of us at least can do something.... and hopefully the message still comes across that there are those who care and wish they could do more.

Basically these are adaptations of washclothes - so ... sorry, you're still getting more poor 'washclothes' only - I get to lay the name on as if it is something different - LOL!

A little bizarre - this is called scales.... and is about a 1/2 inch thick --- very 3-dimensional!

Bobbles - again, bizarre, but not as bizarre as the scales... this has little 'bobbles'... that are basically balls that stick out of the pattern. I'd never done them before, and even reading the instructions two or three times didn't quite give me what I needed to know to figure it out. I had to search online & watch a video... that helped a lot. I think that the instructions just were a little too 'unclear' if you'd never done one before. Now that I've seen it done, it was pretty easy.

Heart Cables on Stockinette panels - I love to do cables even though they can be quite time consuming. I think they add a nice touch. This has simple enough cables on it.... the stockinette panels - are basically the sides that are 'smooth'.

Adagio Ensemble - I don't know if I like this one very much... it's just kind of 'odd'.... different, so I guess that's cool. But still kind of weird.

More washclothes & an attempt at a bath poof

2008-02-10T18:34:00.000-08:00

I didn't follow directions well on the bath poof - love the colors & look, but I should have used a larger needle as it doesn't soap up very well. I hope the bigger needle makes it easier to suds up!

Monthly KAL

Hard to see, but there's a heart-shape with ribbon-ish shape across & top to bottom, supposed to look like a bow tied in the middle.

Weekly Cloth KAL...

This took FOREVER it seemed, Round Yonder... "a" hoped desperately that this one was for him! So, it now resides in his bathroom for him to wash his face and get cleaned up.

Picture promised of Sweater

2008-01-29T18:12:00.001-08:00

OK, here goes... just shy of 4 1/2 inches of the bottom of the back of my sweater. I've been working on it for two weeks, although probably only about four-five hours a week or so. So I can see an improvement I'm using a measuring tape!

Here's the width... it's about 23-24 inches wide.. it's hard to measure while it's on the needles, but good news is that it should fit, I'll just keep measuring as I go so I don't make the same kind of mistake as I did with "a"s sweater.

And more washclothes

2008-01-29T17:59:00.000-08:00

This first one is Lacy Hearts Ensemble from Cloth of the Week. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClothOfTheWeek/ If I'd known how much I would like the pattern I would have made it larger. I still may make another one...

I tried taking a close-up of the heart, not sure how clear it is... but I tried.

This one is Slip Stitch 2 Ensemble (me thinks they like the word 'ensemble') also from Cloth of the Week. I've done something similar for a baby hat... the bubble one, they're very fun to knit.

Sweater progress

2008-01-27T12:11:00.001-08:00

I'm making a short-sleeved sweater for myself, although I can't imagine that I'll have it done by spring. It's a slo-go project as I'm using thin yarn (very soft & shimmery) and tiny needles.... so I can do about three - four rows in an hour... and I'm going to add more rows at the bottom than the pattern calls for as I want it extra long (to cover my bulges from too-low jeans). I figure I should be able to post some progress pics to prove I am actually working on it... LOL

More washclothes (I know, boring)

2008-01-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, two more washclothes... I'm thinking I might start making some bigger, then I might donate some to the Humane Society for the animals.... but I'm still needing a few more for my sink shining... so soon, but not yet. Sorry, that means your still stuck with pictures of washclothes....

2 Hip 2 B Square -- courtesy of http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ClothOfTheWeek/

Diamond on Lace -- courtesy of http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MonthlyDishcloths

I'm going to have to work on contrast to help show off the patterns... My next one I just finished is Lace Hearts Ensemble, and it's pretty and I want to show off the pattern.

I picked up some "Peaches and Creme" yarn which is incredibly soft and pretty... only $1.29 at Walmart and enough to complete a couple of cloths each. My hearts that was my first project on it is going to be my washcloth for face washing, and I can't wait to do more. PLUS I'm going to start doing some bath puffs - this is too fun (although I'm sure it's driving you nuts).

Washcloths

2008-01-19T16:16:00.001-08:00

So, because the sweater has taken so long, and I'm about to start another long project, I decided I needed to tackle some smaller projects to get some little "hits" of something done. Plus, it'll help me with my flylady routine of washing my dishes... so, here goes, my first one. (I was supposed to make it in brown, but I had lots of green and figured it would be ok). Good way to use up my cheap-ie (nearly free) skeins of yarn from Goodwill! (Too itchy for clothing).

I've got two yahoo groups I've joined with KAL's - Knit-a-longs. Sometimes you know what it's going to look like, other times, you don't. I'll have a couple of more to post within the week, as I'm going back and doing the patterns since the beginning of the year.

Finished the sweater

2008-01-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

OK, about half-way done with the finishing steps on the sweater, I realized I'd made a mistake on the second sleeve (the one I didn't rip out and re-do the second half. At this point, I had a decision. If I kept going and ignored the problem, there was a 50-50 chance that not very many people would even see the problem... and I still only had an hour or so of work to finish it. Or, I could rip out the sweater sleeve, and start a new one (faster than ripping out and fixing the old one since the mistake is in the beginning). This would take approximately another week or two to finish the sleeve (again) and another two hours to get it back to the point where I was when I caught my mistake. Could my mistake had been caught earlier - oh, yeah! So, lesson learned - pay attention to the details.

Now, as you well know, I'm not the perfectionist type... I like it done right, but then again, it's like... hmmm... which is the "right" thing to do right now given that I only have x many hours in the day, it's a children's sweater he'll only wear about a half dozen times before he outgrows it.... etc. I figured out that my biggest concern is that I would probably want to "FINISH" it right primarily so as to not have anyone realize that I screwed up. Well, I've decided I can handle that. So, LOL, it's done!

Even though it's still too big (but looks like it'll fit perfectly next fall), I did try to get "a" to model it for you. So, the good "shot" is of it on the hanger, and hopefully next week I can post the pics I tried to get while it was "on" the consstantly moving target. I'm going to have to use "A"s computer to set up the comedy slide-show. Impossible to hit a moving target!

Sweater Progress

2008-01-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

Still not finished, but I thought I'd show the progress. This is "a"s sweater. He turns five this summer (what the heck?!) and it should fit him next fall (if a little on the big side). The pattern is for raglan sleeves... so the front looks a little like a tank top - and I'm worried about how it'll all fit together, but so far, it's looking ok.

I've finished the front and back.

And a picture of the stitch pattern close up. I think it adds a nice touch.

Issues so far... I'd already knitted the front to look exactly like the back, had it nearly to the end when I realized I messed up. So had to rip out about thirty rows back to where you have to shape it for the sleeves and neckline. Only took an hour or so to re-knit that area, so not the end of the world.

Finished one sleeve, and it wasn't until I was working on the second that I realized I had mis-read the pattern a little bit (me being cheap, I didn't make a copy of the pattern that I could write on, which would have prevented this issue)... and it's about two centimeters shorter than it's supposed to be.. ugh! So I'm going to have to rip out about seventy rows (All the way down to where it's at it's widest!), good news is the sleeves knit up pretty fast, so it should only take two hours to re-knit the sleeve. I'm waiting until I finish the second sleeve and pin the pieces together to see how it looks before I do it in case I want to make other alterations. Bad enough doing it twice, I don't really want to do it three times.

About two-thirds of the way done with the second sleeve (I do think it'll fit together much better!), and I've caught a couple of mistakes I made in the knit pattern last night when I was working on it when I laid it out for this photo. So, good news is I don't rip anything out but the couple of stitches I messed up, down a couple of rows, and then I can fix them. Problem is I think one of the issues is about ten rows down.

Oh, well, live & learn.

Baby blanket

2008-01-05T09:26:00.000-08:00

The Aunt (bless her) that taught me to knit, had far, far more nieces and nephews than I do... with 9 sisters and 1 brother, and an average family size of 4.5 kids each! She was one of the few Aunts who took time and effort and made sure that we ALL got Christmas gifts while growing up, Wedding, Graduation, Baby shower gifts. They were all hand-knit by her! Stockings and scarves, gloves and mittens, afghans, baby blankets and baby outfits.

In honor of her memory, I'm going to try to start commemorating special events in the family with some hand-crafted items. My first attempt to a baby blanket turned out pretty adorable I think. Now, if just another niece or nephew's wife were to turn out to be expecting!!! LOL

My only complaint about it is that I found the most awesomely soft, silky baby soft yarn for the colors in the blanket. I spent quite a bit extra to purchase the "baby-soft" white yarn in bulk, because I couldn't find white in the same yarn that the stripes are made out of. It's soft, it is.... but next to the extremely soft & silky yarn? eh, not so much. It's a bit of a dissapointment for me. So, since no one's expecting, and this didn't turn out as well as I had hoped, I think I'll donate it, and try to find better yarn for when I do have a family member to knit one for.

For my grand-niece and grand-nephew, and "a" I'm probably going to try to find a "FUN" child's blanket to make for them. I've seen one where you basically use color to design trucks or dinasours... I'm sure I can find another one that's "girly" pretty easy for my niece. But, I've got other projects in the works first, so we'll see how they turn out. Maybe tomorrow I'll post my progress with the sweater I'm making for "a".

My new favorite scarf

2008-01-05T09:24:00.000-08:00

I picked out the yarn and project to make this for "A"s last girlfriend. BOY, am I glad they broke up (for more than one reason)... AND I got to keep it! YEAH!

Purses

2008-01-01T15:29:00.000-08:00

This last spring, as I spent too much time at a local hospital... I picked up my knitting & crocheting again for stress reduction. My two pre-teen nieces had gotten a learn to crochet kit from my sister for Christmas and were struggling... so I tried to teach them to crochet. They were like me at that age, it was possible but didn't seem like it was worth the time it would take. So, I doubt they finished their projects....

One night as I was trying to figure out what color scarves to make for them for Christmas I thought up these cute little purses... Not sure if I really have a good eye for design as they are kind of silly, but I really wanted to make the contrasting section and needle-point their initials in them... Thinking back now, I really wish I had made that as an outside pocket and added more around the edge of it to help it stand out, oh, well... maybe another project in the future. I figured they'd love the fun fur, but maybe it's over-kill? Hopefully, they'll like them anyway. Funny thing is that after I'm finished I can knit-pick myself out of liking all of my projects. But, that said, if I was eight and someone gave me one of these, I would have loved it. So, I'm hoping they aren't nearly as critical as I am.

Collection of Hats & Scarves

2008-01-01T14:43:00.001-08:00

Yes, I did brave the mittens, though I don't know how many more I will do, they were fun, but took a LONG time!!! and are too small for my little guy!

This is my little guy's scarf "made just for him" he reminds me each time he puts it on.

Scrap yarn I didn't like, but couldn't throw away...

This one is my absolute favorite, but it's too small for my year-old niece :-(

These next two were made with knitting looms, I'd never tried them before, they are quick and easy and a ton of fun, but I'm still exploring what they "can do" and the knittings a LOT looser than I like to do for some projects...

This one is a bit "itchy" because of the older style of yarn.... but get this, the yarn was only 25 cents for the whole skein; and I still have half a skein left... just not sure what I'll do with it because it really is kind of itchy! ugh!

Now, I loved how this turned out... it was self-striping yarn; although for some silly reason I thought I had to work in extra wide blue bands, not through the whole thing, but just at the ends! I'm still not sure why, but eh, it's different. Only issue was that it was truly intended as a gift for my nephew, but the hints of white in the blue area is actually almost silver and a little too girl-y for a farm boy! Next trip in to the store though and they had all this type of yarn on sale at 75% off! So now I've got purple, pink and orange besides the blue.... haven't decided on a project yet as I don't tend to wear stripes, but it's just too pretty! Maybe a small child's afghan for my niece?

Now, the purple hat is because after making the pink one (near the top), I just had to make a larger one that would fit my niece, and unfortunately I didn't have enough of the pink yarn left after the first hat. AND the store was out of pink. It is SOOO soft! Only thing is I wish I'd used more of the white "fur" around the rim as it turned out a little skimpy when it was all said and done. The second hat was a WAY too fun project to make the "bubbles" I'm trying to figure out how to use that style of knitting in a "boyish" set of colors and still have it look grown up... am guessing that it's going to be too baby-ish for my guys, but it was tremendous fun to work it up. In fact, I ended up working on this one until the late hours each time I turned around because it was just fun to do and I never wanted to put it down. It doesn't look nearly as nice on the reverse-side, so I couldn't figure out how to make a scarf to match it.

This was supposed to be a gift for my sister, but she "REALLY" doesn't look good with stocking hats! She put it on and I took mercy on her and told her to swap it out for one of my shawls I'd made. The yarn was originally bought for a lap afghan I was going to make for myself... until my brothers said it looked like something a cat coughed up .... DO NOT TELL MY SISTER THAT! Anyway, I pulled out the start of the afghan as I completely lost interest in ever making it and thought a nice scarf and hat would be complimentary to my sister's white winter coat. The pattern for the scarf is a lot like the multi-hued blue one above, and is designed to "curl" around itself. I just love the way it turned out, but - LOL still hate the color now.... darn it anyway... as I still have two large balls of this yarn left and can't think of anything to do with it!

Made to replace the blue & white self-striping scarf for my nephew... just love how this turned out, although the scarf isn't a tube scarf, it's all rolled up on itself. But it should still be enough to help keep my 3-yr old nephew warm. And the white "V's" are too easy to add and really help make it more attractive than simply red.

This was an experiment - just love the fun fur yarn colors....! I'm not much for wearing fur except perhaps with the mittens, hats and scarves, but if someone could carry it off on the neckline to a sweater in this gorgeous blue, I think it would be really something. Not something I could pull off, but it would be stunning on the right woman.

One of my first non-hat non-scarf projects

2008-01-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

OK, OK - hats and scarves are easy... so this was my first non-hat; non-scarf project. I was eager to try something "different"...

This is a small rug about the size to put in front of the sink. Really thick and cushy... IT'S SUPPOSED to curve in at the ends the way it does... LOL .... only maybe it should curve in consistently - oh, well, the good news is I love the colors! It isn't actually a varigated yarn... can you believe it? It was actually made with THREE (!!) yarns that were double-sport weight. Thank goodness it's small, as towards the end there, I could barely hold it up as it was SO heavy on the needles. I used a deep brown, a rust, and the nuetral was a ivory that had specks of rust and brown in it to coordinate beautifully. It's been through the wash already a couple of times and is so soft and wonderful. When I was making it everyone suggested I make it into a blanket, but it would have been WAY TOO HEAVY. Lord it's like a quarter inch thick as it was.

Very simple pattern... here's a close up of the "panels" that make it up.

Knitting again

2008-01-01T14:24:00.000-08:00

My left-handed Aunt taught me to knit decades ago, and while I was "able" to do it, I didn't really take to it. Something seems to happen though when your children are small and sometimes we turn back to our "mothering instincts". When my eldest (now 19) was little I picked up knitting and crocheting again. I did a few Christmas ornaments and odds and ends and put away the knitting needles again.

However, now that my little one is now four, and I actually have a little time on my hands... and a stressful life to deal with. I've turned back to knitting again. I have to say, that I am incredibly suprised with the wonderous and glorious world of new yarns that are oh-so soft instead of itchy and picking up my knitting needles and crochet hooks has captured my attention as few other hobbies have lately. I've been knitting up a storm ever since my last trip to the Mayo clinic.

I've started this blog to share some of my items... figuring that my regular blog can continue to be my sanity check, and this one I can go off and obsess about "creating".

Most of my earliest projects were given away long before I ever thought about blogging about knitting. Several of my projects have only recently been captured in pix, delaying the gift giving. So, my nieces and nephews will probably be getting their gifts quite late this year... so I could snap a few pix before wrapping them up and sending them off with the postman.

I'm looking at lots of new patterns and ideas and tend to only stick to the pattern when I'm nervous about it turning out. We'll see how it goes.

Penny-wise Knitting

Lia Update

Half-way done with the Cabled Sweater

February progress on plans

Sweater progress

-- January end results; plans for February

February Sweater Plans

-- All Knitting Status

Sweater #2 of 12 finished!

Other than sweaters progress post... forgot I had posted my plans for all knits.

Photos - for January mid-month progress

Mid-month Progress

Progress post

12 Sweaters in 2012

2012 Planning

101 hats for Charity

More Progress

Sticks and String, a knitting retreat

Progress

100 hats for charity

Inartsia Star War Charts --- chart patterns

Finally - info about the blanket

Made for Charity Auction -

An absolutely BRILLIANT solution for a problem!

A knitting me-me

Secret Pal

Baby items - FO with pics

I've been knitting away...

Project in the works

A few finished items to share

Finally a pic

Lot's of progress - still no camera

Starting over

Experiments with Color

An experiment with socks

Almost all of the rest of the gifts

X-mas gifts

More Christmas gift knitting

Chloe's mommy's gift

Charity Knitting

Little Chloe's Christmas Gift

Christmas Charity Knitting

Another one done

Finally a finished object!

Wrapped in Comfort

Doesn't feel like there's any progress

Not much progress to Post

OH, my goodness!

Pair-at-a-time Socks

Half-done with sweater

Promised slideshow of a trying on his sweater

Afghan pieces

More washclothes & an attempt at a bath poof

Picture promised of Sweater

And more washclothes

Sweater progress

More washclothes (I know, boring)

Washcloths

Finished the sweater

Sweater Progress

Baby blanket

My new favorite scarf

Purses

Collection of Hats & Scarves

One of my first non-hat non-scarf projects

Knitting again