77 in ’07

That’s right! I finished 77 knitting projects in the year 2007! I’m amazed, to say the least. I’ll admit that many of those projects were on the small side… in fact, in 2007 most of my knits were small. Lots of little toys and baby knits and not many adult sizes at all. Hmm. That may have to change in 2008.  😉

I have completed my last FO of 2007, a Shetland Triangle for my dad’s friend… you know, the shawl I promised almost a year ago and just now got around to knitting? I feel absolutely terrible that it took me so long to get it done, especially since it only took a few days to complete. It’s blocking as I type, so I’m hoping tomorrow the sun will shine and I’ll be able to get a few pictures uploaded.

For now, I’ll give you a pic of the yarn skein:

I’m not sure what 2008 holds for me in terms of knitting. Hubby has requests in already-both for himself and for people he knows. So far, there’s the much-neglected Hubby Hybrid, a Clapotis, and at least one more Very Warm Hat.  Yarn has been ordered for those projects and until it arrives, I’m in a lull of sorts.

In 2008, I would really like to try my hand at steeks.   I’ll surely come up with a much longer list of knitting techniques I’d like to conquer in the coming year, but for now there’s just the steek.

I hope you all have a wonderful time celebrating the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008. I will look forward to only good things in the year to come, and wish the same to all of you!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Read Full Post »

Merry Christmas!

We wish you all the best!

Read Full Post »

Hubby’s Very Warm Hat

Just like his friend’s hat, this was made using Cascade 220 Superwash. I used black (#815) and red (#809) about 3/4 ball of each color on size 7US needles. I cast on 112 sts to accommodate Tiennie’s Norwegian Star motif and hubby’s head, and went to town!

Don’t you just love the snowflakes on the snowflakes?

The hat hadn’t even been blocked yet and the hubby was out wearing it while he did some shopping. I’m so flattered! 🙂 It’s super icy cold here so I was very pleased to hear that his head stayed nice and toasty warm, even with a -2 wind chill!!

Even though it looks it, there isn’t a wonky line of stitches there… the hat is just situated oddly because it was so flippin cold when I tried to get the picture! chop chop!

Hubby didn’t want an earflap hat, but he loved the ‘snowflake’ from Tiennie’s hats, so I had to improvise a very tiny bit. I think EZ would be pleased, don’t you? Tiennie, I hope you don’t mind! I had a lot more trouble with this chart than the first EZ chart, only because my fair isle skills are non-existent. The chart itself was written PERFECTLY! The trouble was entirely due to operator error. In fact, if any of you experienced knitters would have watched me knit the two charts (one in each color) it’s likely you would have keeled over on the floor, doubled up in fits of laughter. I’m okay with that, though… I think the end result is good enough for my skill set and more importantly, Hubby likes it. It’s a win-win as far as I’m concerned!

I assume this will be my last FO for the year, but you never know. Suffice it to say that I don’t have any plans to finish anything else this year. I am hoping to post a year-in-review sometime after Christmas and before the new year, so if you’re interested, stay tuned!

Read Full Post »

Another Hat

A mommy friend at school requested a black skull cap. Nothing more than that. I am hoping this will fit the bill nicely enough. Hat is being modeled by my 4 year old, so if it looks really tall, that’s why!

Hat has not been blocked/washed, so kindly ignore the fuzz and cat hair!

Pattern: Basic Cable Hat from Stitch N Bitch Nation
Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease in Black, ~3/4 ball
Needles: Size 7US
Mods: Cast on 108 sts, added two cable repeats before starting decrease rounds.

I really like this hat… I’m not sure if black is the best option for showing off the cables, but in person they’re much more obvious than in the photos. It’s a simple pattern that would be great for beginning cables &/or circular knitting, don’tcha think?

I was able to find some Cascade 220 Superwash in (almost) the requested colors for the hubby Very Warm Hat, so knitting on that will commence today… or he’ll hassle me until I get going on it! 🙂

Read Full Post »

A Very Warm Hat, Indeed

I finished the Very Warm Hat last night and it’s busy drying as I type this post. I think it turned out really great, especially for my first real colorwork. By real, I mean that I’ve only done a swatch or two and tried once to make a sweater, but that didn’t turn out so well… This time I went into the project knowing that I needed to pay special attention to my floats and try really hard not to snug up my stitches.

Here is the hat, all un-done so you can see both sides at once:

And with the hubby being a not-so-cooperative model:

Kindly disregard all the kitty hair you see on the black portions… I’ll have to get that taken care of before handing this gift over!

Hubby wasn’t keen on giving me the hat back and has made it painfully clear that he would like a hat of similar nature, but instead of this colorwork he wants the “snowflakes” as written by Tiennie! I have one other hat to knit for a friend, then it’ll be all hubby knitting, all the time. Well, maybe not, but I will finish at least the hat for him! 🙂

Good luck to the rest of you on completing your Christmas Knitting!

Read Full Post »

I’m almost done!

Of course I’m referring to my Christmas Knitting… and of course I’ve seriously amended my to-do list so I can actually finish all I intend to. That’s not really cheating, right?!

I’ve had a very busy couple of weeks and haven’t actually had a lot of time to dedicate to knitting but I have still somehow managed to finish a couple of projects.

First, the third Yuletide Gnome who will be going to live in his new home out in Colorado sometime next week:

The pattern is the Yuletide Gnome by Alan Dart. I believe I referenced where to buy the pattern in a previous post but in case I didn’t, you’ll find the info here! I used Red Heart Super Saver in Claret, Hunter Green, and Linen as well as Yarn Bee Haute Fur in White-minimal amounts of each. I knit the gnome himself on size 4 US needles and the beard with 11 US.

This poor guy has a bit of hip dysplasia, but I think he’ll do ok with some TLC.

You’ll have to please excuse the horrible Chicago-area-winter-lighting in the photos. It just sucks. 🙂

I also knit up this super fast scarf for my son’s first grade teacher:

The pattern is the One Skein Tapestry Scarf using Joann’s Debbie Mumm Traditions yarn in Robin’s Egg on size 10 needles. It took me two days to knit this while waiting outside school to pick up my son, plus a bit last night. Before blocking, it was 5″ x 53″… after blocking, it was 5″ x 59″… Not bad for a cheap ball of yarn!

About the yarn. Yeah. All the reviews you’ll find on this yarn are TRUE. I didn’t exactly enjoy knitting with it but it wasn’t so horrible that I had to stop, either. It bunches up like no one’s business. I had read lots of comments about the yarn doing just that, which is why I chose to use a smaller needle than I generally would have. I knit as loosely as I could manage without losing my mind, but I still got a good amount of bunching and of core showing through. Like I mentioned–with the 40% coupon, the end product is very pretty and very cheap. Works for me!

I’ve also completed the Monteverde Scarf

Pattern: Monteverde Scarf
Yarn: Fingering weight Classic Wool in color #202, a very nice baby pink, 2 balls with only a yard or so leftover!
Needle: size 5 US Knit Picks Options
Size: Pre-blocking measurement (unstretched) of 8″ x 41″, Post-blocking measurement 10″ x 65″
Started 11/16 and Finished 12/16… I got distracted by lots of shiny things. 🙂
Modifications: Since I used a fingering weight yarn instead of the lace weight called for in the pattern, I omitted some pattern repeats. For the first half, I knit 13 repeats of chart 2 and for the second half 13 repeats of chart 3. I had some difficulty with the grafting looking nice and pretty, but it blended in pretty well, so it’s excusable. Again, my apologies for the horrible picture quality. I tweaked them as best I could!

Hubby received some really nice gifts from a co-worker so in return I’m working on a Very Warm Hat–a really neat Elizabeth Zimmermann pattern.

This is the first real colorwork I’ve ever done and although I won’t know for sure until I’m done, I think I’m doing pretty well! Here’s a picture of the inside/wrong side:

I used a provisional cast on for this so I can just pick up and knit on for the ‘second’ hat. Wish me luck in completing the hat this weekend!

I’m off to see what I can accomplish in the rest of the day. Enjoy your weekend!

Read Full Post »

More Christmas Knitting!

I was able to finish a couple of really little things over the weekend, and honestly I’m shocked I even got that tiny bit done!

First, the Sweet Baby Cap using maybe half a skein of Shibui Knits Sock yarn in the Grace colorway on 2.5mm needles:

You’ll notice it’s not completely finished yet. I’m waiting until mom measures baby’s head so I know it’ll fit for more than a picture shoot, then I’ll either finish it up with pretty little i-cords or I’ll rip back and make it bigger.

Next up is a modified pair of Fetching mitts from Knitty.

I added two cable repeats to each cuff and one additional cable at the knuckles. I opted to do a simple knit bind-off instead of the picot called for in the pattern… The yarn is Knit Picks Andean Silk in Cornflower, just shy of 2 balls total for both mitts.

I seem to be having some blogging trouble, so I’m going to sign off for now… Hope to be back soon with some more to show!

Read Full Post »