FO – Page 2 – This Tangled Skein

FO Friday: Frozen Hedera

February 8, 2008

9:49 pm

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Cookie A., Finished, FO, Hedera, Knitting, Knitty, Sock Clubs, Socks, Yarn Pirate

I’ve been calling these socks “Frozen Hedera”:

Pattern: Hedera, by Cookie A.
Source: Knitty, Spring 2006
Yarn: Yarn Pirate Merino/Tencel in “Icicle”, the December club yarn. I love, love, love this yarn. It’s so pretty.
Needles: Brittany Birch DPNs, size US1.5, 5 inches, set of 5
Comments: This pattern was easy to memorize. I printed it out, but then misplaced the hard copy, so I would just check the pattern online at crucial points. I made the larger size for my Flintstone-style feet, and they fit just about perfectly.

FO Friday: Hooded Jacket

by beth

January 25, 2008

5:30 pm

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Yarn

Baby, Baby Knitting, Debbie Bliss, Finished, FO, Hooded Jacket, Knitting

Huzzah! The Debbie Bliss Hooded Jacket is done!

Pattern: Hooded Jacket from Simply Baby, by Debbie Bliss
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, 7 skeins
Needles: Size 9 Denise Interchangeable
Notions: One large plastic button, picked up at a garage sale
Comments: A pretty quick knit, and not too hard. I learned the backwards-loop cast-on to make the hood, and I got to practice my seaming. (That would be putting a positive spin on it there. I got to practice my seaming more than I might have expected, since I sewed the underarms the wrong way and had to pull it out and do it again.)

Now for the bad news. After all that worry about finishing the jacket so she could wear it this winter, it’s too big. I suspect that by next winter, it will be too small. Gah. Maybe it will be just right on a day we have strangely cold weather. One can hope.

FO Friday: Socks for K

by beth

January 18, 2008

2:21 pm

2 Comments on FO Friday: Socks for K

Yarn

Baby, Baby Knitting, Family, Favorite Socks, Finished, FO, Gift Knitting, Hooded Jacket, In Progress, Interweave, Knitting, Lime & Violet, Loopy Ewe, Retro Rib, Socks, WIP

I was catching up on one of my mailing lists yesterday, and I realized that I’ve pretty much managed to avoid a problem that seems to plague knitters everywhere.

Unappreciated Gift Giver Syndrome.

Those of you who have experienced the UGGS know the symptoms all too well. Aching hands and tired eyes (from hours of knitting), only to have your beautiful gift insulted, abused, or sent off to the local thrift shop, leading to sore throats (from screaming about the unfairness of it all) and strange bruises (from kicking walls, curbs, or other stationary objects in an effort to relieve the frustration).

In these post-holiday weeks, scores of tales of knitters (and crocheters) suffering from the UGGS have appeared on mailing lists and blogs and Ravelry boards.

I have avoided this by protecting myself from the sole disease vector: I very rarely knit for other people. I knit for myself, and if I don’t like it when it’s done, well, I’m not insulted. And I knit for the Little Miss, who, being pre-verbal, can’t complain about what I give her. From time to time, I’ve knit for K, who reminded me several times before the holidays that I still hadn’t knit her a pair of socks.

How could I refuse a wish for handknit socks, I ask you?

So, I cast on in mid-December, and before midnight on New Year’s Eve I was able to present these to K:

Pattern: Retro Rib socks, from Favorite Socks
Yarn: Lime & Violet Sasquatch Superwash in Connect 4, from the Loopy Ewe
Needles: Set of 5 Brittany Birch size US1.5 dpns, one of which snapped just rows from the end of the toe of the second sock. They’re sending a replacement, because they are spiffy that way.
Comments: I really liked this yarn, and I really liked this pattern, although I always wonder if ribbing is easier for those who knit Continental. I’ll have to try it sometime. I liked the yarn and the pattern so much that I’m working up a matching scarf for K, using the pattern from the ribbing at the cuff, on US3 needles. That may be ready for next winter.

I haven’t cast on a new pair of socks yet. I’m still hard at work on the Hooded Jacket – all the way up to the beginning of the hood now.

Christmas Come Early

by beth

December 24, 2007

2:46 pm

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Yarn

BMFA, Feather and Fan, Finished, FO, Knitting, Lace, Lime & Violet, Loopy Ewe, Ravens, Socks, Stash, Stash Enhancement, Yarn

Yesterday, we had a family Christmas get-together, during which I was unable to resist the siren song of my knitting, since I was so close to finishing the Feather & Fan Socks.

Pattern: Feather & Fan Socks by Judith Sumner, from Socks, Socks, Socks
Yarn: Socks that Rock Lightweight in Haida (Ravens series), from Blue Moon Fiber Arts
Needles: Brittany birch dpns, size 2, set of 5, all of which are now dark blue
Modifications: Swapped out the garter stitch ridge at the beginning of the heel for another pattern repeat, did Eye of Partridge instead of ribbing on the heel flap. I also did all the decreases on one sock one stitch over, but it will never be noticed from a trotting horse.

And, they fit! Oh, glorious day, I made a pair of socks that fit on my feet!

I wore them to work this morning and made everyone admire my fancy socks.

I worked half a day today, since the library was open in the morning, and when I came home, there were two packages waiting for me. The first was full of pink and purple loveliness:

When Miss Violet of Lime & Violet put up some her stash for sale, well, the phrase “sharks on chum” really is the best way to describe it. Several items vanished out of my cart when I went to pay for them, but a skein of Doodlebirds Swell Socks in Goth Girl, a pink and gray skein of Austermann Step, and a cotton shawl kit from Rowan made it to my house, along with a note from Adminnie and a Thank You note and candy from V. I promise to do right by your yarn, Miz V.

But that was not all, oh, no, that was not all! (Sorry, Dr. Seuss moment)

A little Loopy Ewe package was also waiting for me. It held two skeins of L&V Sasquatch Sock in Connect 4 to make a scarf to go with the socks I’m working on for K, some Stitchkeepers, and a packet of Entrelac stitch markers, which are very, very pretty.

It was like my own private little yarny Christmas around here.

FO Friday!

by beth

October 19, 2007

1:03 pm

1 Comment on FO Friday!

Yarn

Baby Knitting, Blankets, Donation Knitting, Finished, FO, In Progress, Knitting, Lace, Pinwheel Blanket, Secret of the Stole, WIP, Wraps

That’s the Colonial Williamsburg Pinwheel Baby Blanket, all done and washed and dried and laid out and sat upon by the cat and brushed off and taken away from the cat and laid out again.

I put a bit of a rush on it early in the week so I could take it to a meeting on Wednesday to show the folks who might want to purchase it at next month’s fundraiser.

Pattern: Genia Planck’s Round or Pinwheel Baby Blanket, a KnitList pattern I found through Ravelry.
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun in Colonial and Williamsburg, a bit less than one skein of each.
Needles: Denise Interchangeables, size US10.5, with a cord that just kept getting longer
Modifications: None
New Technique(s): I used the Lighter Circular Beginning (scroll down) to cast on.

Since I was pushing to finish the baby blanket, I thought I was going to fall way behind on Secret of the Stole, but I finished Clue 2 this morning while Little Miss was napping.

The picture quality isn’t very good. The sun was a little too bright for the light yarn on the white blanket. I’ll get a better one after I finish clue #3, which I’ve just printed out.

Gone Fishing

by beth

August 21, 2007

4:40 pm

1 Comment on Gone Fishing

Yarn

Clownfish, Finished, FO, Knitting, Nemo, Toys

K went back to work yesterday, but I had the day off, so Little Miss and I stayed home to supervise termite inspectors and watch Mirrormask.I also managed to finish a project I’d had the knitting done on for well over a year. Behold, the clownfish:

I bought this as a kit at a church holiday bazaar in 2005. In the picture on the booklet, the orange yarn doesn’t have nearly so much red, and it looks a lot like Nemo from the Disney movie. My fish, not so much Nemo-ish, even with the “lucky fin”. There’s also a note not to use the “safety eyes” if the fish is for a child under 3, so I’m tucking this guy away for a while.

Pattern: Knit Clownfish
Source: Kit from JudyKits
Yarn: White, Black, and Hand-Dyed Orange cotton DK weight
Needles: size 6
Modifications: None

FO: Baby Shrug

by beth

July 15, 2007

8:28 pm

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Yarn

Baby, Baby Knitting, Baby Shrug, Debbie Bliss, Finished, FO, Knitting

Pattern: Baby Shrug
Source: Simply Baby, by Debbie Bliss
Size: 12-18 months
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, color 300601 (Lilac), about 5 skeins
Needles: 7 and 8 Denise Interchangeables
Modifications: None

This is a lovely little sweater, but I’m concerned that Little Miss is going to outgrow it before it gets cold here. Especially since my unfortunate row gauge seems to have resulted in a sweater a good three inches shorter than it was supposed to be. Love the yarn, though. Which is good, since I have two bags of it earmarked for a Hooded Jacket for Little Miss and a Cardigan for Arwen for me.

Still Little

by beth

July 3, 2007

8:24 pm

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Yarn

Baby, Baby Bolero, Baby Knitting, Finished, FO, Knitting, Leigh Radford, Ravelry

That’s the Little Miss at four weeks old, wearing her Baby Bolero. She’s worn it once – maybe twice – aside from posing for that picture. It was usually too warm, or else she was wearing a warm footed outfit and didn’t need a sweater on top of that. Mostly, the sweater’s been hanging in her room on a decorative hook. And now it’s considerably too small.

K gave me two knitting books for my birthday – four days before the Little Miss was born – and I’ve been working on a sweater for next winter from one of them. Occasionally. Knitting’s taken a bit of a back seat in the last five months around here, although I did spend the week or so before Little Miss was born frantically finishing a pair of cabled baby socks.

Still, I was excited to finally find an invitation to Ravelry in my inbox. Come find me, I’m on there as Plexippa.

Baby Bolero

by beth

December 1, 2006

9:27 pm

1 Comment on Baby Bolero

Yarn

Baby, Baby Bolero, Baby Knitting, Finished, FO, Knitting, Leigh Radford, One Skein

Yes, I have been knitting!

The picture quality is somewhat lacking, I know. I discovered last week that the focus button on my camera has gone missing, and without it I now have a fixed-focus digital camera.

Pattern: Baby Bolero
Source: One Skein, by Leigh Radford
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton, slightly less than one skein
Needles: 8 and 9 Denise Interchangeables
Modifications: Left out the eyelet pattern. Not really a modification, since that’s an option in the pattern.

It’s a cute pattern, but it seemed more complicated than necessary. And I don’t know what happened with my provisional cast-on, but I could not get it to come out without the help of scissors. Effective, but slow going. Also slow going was sewing in the sleeves. Sewing is not my strong point. I seamed the second sleeve before pinning it in place and sewing it in. Looking at the picture, it looks like one sleeve is bigger than the other, which is odd. They’re the same size, really! I even managed to knit both of them at once, working from both ends of the skein on my Denise needles.

My main reaction so far? It’s so little!

And She Knits, Too!

by beth

May 7, 2006

9:59 pm

1 Comment on And She Knits, Too!

Yarn

Finished, FO, Jaywalkers, Knitting, Magknits, Socks

The Jaywalker socks are done! They’re one stripe off, which I think is kind of neat. One is longer than the other, which is less neat. The shorter one is the right length – I don’t know if I’ll rip it back to make them even or not.

The details:

Pattern: Jaywalker, from the September 2005 MagKnits
Yarn: Regia Nation Color 5399, 2 skeins, with a little left over from each
Needles: Size 2 plastic DPNs