good-natured ribbing

I knit three Christmas gifts this year. The first was by far the most complicated, but I started those in the summer and have loved them as my own ever since. But I resisted and gave them to another. The other two I didn’t start until December. The first was long-time-coming socks for Mike. I chose the Log Cabin socks and had nothing but trouble knitting them. I couldn’t get gauge right and I don’t think I’ve ever ripped out and started over so many times for a project I actually finished. Anyway, they ended up fitting Mike PERFECTLY and he loves them. I used Plymouth worsted and they also wash up so nicely!

The second gift was for my cousin. I made up a pattern for some quick-to-knit fingerless gloves. I called them “Peek-a-boo” because the cables appear randomly and disappear just as randomly. I just put a cable twist in when I felt like it, so the gloves were different, but still similar.

A quick Christmas project I snuck in as a revamp of an old favourite. This little set was knit for one of Mike’s first students. She is a mother now and recently got back in touch with Mike. She’s a sweet girl and I hope this set looks adorable on her little girl.

The hat pattern is from Oneskein and is one of my favourite fast-knits. The mitts are of my own devising.

So I seem to have been forced into a second career. On Friday Erin lured me to the yarn store because she needed some yarn to make some holiday gifts. Although I thought I was just a pleasant shopping companion, what Erin actually expected of me was:
1. Find yarn for Erin (she picked the colours!)
2. Wind Erin’s yarn
3. Design a pair of mittens she can knit with one of the skeins

Here’s the yarn she selected and Blake in the bag the yarn came in:

So it seems that as Erin’s personal yarn stylist, it is my duty to select the yarn, wind the yarn and design the project. Am I supposed to knit it up too???

But don’t worry…I have a “helper” at home!

This past week I was in Monterey, CA for a conference. Of course I had to see if I could pick up some “souvenirs” while I was there. I took a little excursion one town over and went to Monarch Knitting and Quilting in quaint Pacific Grove. My goal was to pick up some single-hue yarn to knit up my Forest Canopy mitts again as a test-knit for my pattern writing. I came away with two things:

A lovely green worsted weight alpaca and some Trekking sock yarn for more fingerless gloves. The picture was actually taken on a rock along the coast as I walked back to Monterey. The picture isn’t very good because I had to hurry and take it. Not only was the yarn blowing away, but I was getting a lot of funny stares from passers-by.

I had a lovely time in Monterey, and I have about a million pictures, especially from the aquarium. Unfortunately, I did not get much knitting done, except on the planes. In fact on the last leg of my flight home (Phoenix to Detroit), I had much interest in my Pomatomus fingerless gloves I am knitting and the Knitzi that was holding my needles. In fact, while the plane was grounded due to mechanical difficulties, I put on an infomercial for the Knitzi products. Beth – I want commission!!!

I’ve been working on converting Cookie’s Pomatomus sock pattern to fingerless gloves. This pattern is very difficult to knit for me, but very beautiful. And I love the colour I picked – Ink (KPPPM).

It’s been slow going, but I will finish!!! I’m just at the point where I have to figure out how to do the thumb gusset…wish me luck!

On a recent flight I managed to finish my item for the infamous “exchange“:

I am really pleased with how they turned out. I might want to do some tweaking on the thumb gusset pattern, but overall I’m happy. Now the challenge will be writing the pattern up neatly and in a way that other people can actually understand. I’m ready for my socks Sherry!!! ;)

I really liked knitting this pattern and I’ve already started knitting the next test version!

Well I’m finally good enough at knitting something that I’m not shy about exchanging knitted items. And so I was delighted when Sherry suggested a mutually beneficial exchange.

Here’s the gist of it:
Sherry likes to knit socks. Her daughter likes to wear fingerless gloves. Christina likes to knit fingerless gloves. Christina likes to wear socks. Christina hates to knit socks.

So we struck up a deal and Sherry even provided the yarn for Emily’s gloves! (I can’t remember what it’s called!) It is a lovely green/blue/brown yarn that is very soft. So I hemmed and hawed and started over several times. I finally came up with a design that I thought fit the yarn.

I call it “Forest Canopy”…

The design is based on a stitch I saw in one of the Stitchionaries (more details to come). Still in progress…only one glove done!

I’ve completed the “armies” I mentioned a while back…

I was actually waiting to weave in the ends for a while…I didn’t have a small enough darning needle to fit through the stitches! Thanks to Beth, I permanently borrowed a real darning needle and now I can weave in all the sock-yarn ends I want! Thanks!

I love how these turned out. I’m starting another pair already. They are the conversion of Pomatomus. Here’s what I’ve got so far:

I have broken down and begun knitting with sock yarn and ridiculously small needles. However, I still refuse to produce socks. I’m knitting more fingerless gloves!

I used Louet Gems in Fern Green and the pattern is based on the Springrass Sock pattern from Craftoholic.

I cast on 60 stitches on to size 2 needles. I did some 2×2 rib until I was impatient, then switched to size 1 needles to start the pattern. I inserted a basic thumb gusset between pattern repeats (one round consists of two 30-stitch patterns).

Easy peasy!

These are still in progress, but were so cute I had to post. Plus, Beth showed me how to embed my Flickr photos so I don’t have to worry about uploading too large photos to the blog! YAY!

I knitted some gifts for my Aunt and Uncle in Australia. My Aunt is very crafty and always sends me special, hand-made things. I wanted to repay the favour and let them know I think of them often. While they do live in AUSTRALIA, they do have “winter” there, and evenings can get chilly. I figured fingerless gloves and a cuffed hat wouldn’t be too out of place:

Both are my own design.

The fingerless have a simple cable up the centre and were made with a thumb gusset and simple ribbing.
The hat was made in simple 2×2 ribbing, reversing the ribbing after a sufficient length of cuff was knit. This makes the ribbing match up when the cuff is folded over. When I wove in the ends of the hat, I did it so the cuff would be stitched up and would stay in place.

The hat was knit with Lamb’s Pride and the gloves were knit with Paton’s SWS (Soy Wool Stripes). Both were knit on size 4 (6mm) needles…my favourite size!

Actually more of a prodigal blogger. I have been knitting steadily since the move. I have completed Mike’s “bad-ass skull cap” and my first two pairs of baby socks. Unfortunately I still have not mastered the digital camera. I have drafts of posts but can’t add the photos to them until I figure out how to make the photos a smaller size. So now you know that buying a house didn’t kill me. Almost…but not quite.

A little late, but worth the wait. Despite his birthday being February 10th, I finally finished Mike’s bad-ass skull cap or “birthday hat”. It was of my own design using a skein of Berrocco Ultra Alpaca I had in my stash. I knit the hat on size 4 needles…much smaller than I was accustomed. Accordingly, the hat took me longer than usual to knit. Perhaps the fact that I worked on it almost entirely on my lunch hour at work contributed to the delay as well.

Well here’s Mike looking his most bad-ass and me seeing what I will look like when I steal the cap back for my own…

Well, in case you haven’t heard, we bought a house! I am quite frazzled trying to get everything in order (we get the house in less than 30 days), which means I have a few concerns:
1. Where will the yarn room be?
2. How will I pay for this damn thing?

So to address #2 (but still related to #1!) I have decided to do the “Knit From Your Stash” thing.
Perhaps someone else will participate???

It will be hard, and I’ve already broken rule 2d. I have yarn arriving any day now from an online order. I will play my get out of jail card. No more purchases. Seriously.

I may have to take up knitting socks just to keep my sanity (see rule 2a).

Wish me luck!

This is the gift I’m *giving* my mom for Christmas. Ahem. Yes, Christmas.

It is a reversible cable wrap. The cables look the same on the front and back! To be continued…

Well I finally decided to check the mail today and I had a notice from the post office that they were unable to deliver a package. A package??? Did I order yarn that I forgot about???? I usually have my stuff shipped to work…wait for it…..MITT KITT! Must be! I sent my pal both US and Canadian addresses. I rushed to the post office, picked up a tidy package wrapped in brown paper and promptly tore it to pieces in the car in the parking lot.
THIS is what I got… (sorry! The file size too big for the blog and I am too lazy to take new pictures or modify the ones I have!)

For immediate gratification, here is my cat attempting to filch some yarn! CAUGHT!!

The bag is BEAUTIFUL…it has awesome colours, 2 inside pockets AND a zipper pouch (which by the way, contained delicious CHOCOLATE!). The pattern is for felted mittens with cables, and my pal put some “local” stuff into it. The pattern is Canadian and the yarn is an east coast staple for felting. My pal turns out to be from Nova Scotia…so cool! Anyway, I LOVE my kit, and wanted to start right away on the mittens, but instead I ate the chocolate! That is why I was so prompt in taking pictures…I wanted to demolish that chocolate bar and wind that yarn!!!

Anyway, the KMKS was a success! I had a great time doing it and ended up with two super pals! Thanks so much, Valerie!

This is a little delayed, but my mitt kit was completed, sent, and received by my pal!

So I went with my quirky idea of knitting a bag that would look like the project it would tote around. I started knitting with some Lopi and just shaped as I went along. I used a lot of purple and some other earthy colours because that is what my pal liked. Here’s what happened…

I think it turned out rather well. This is also the first time I’ve ever done colour work in the round, and it affected the way it felted. Because where the “argyle” diamonds were was thicker with yarn, it seemed to felt more, and shrink slightly faster. This caused me to have to hand felt the purple sections further to make it turn out more uniform.

I might mention that Beth was less than supportive when I told her the mitten/bag idea. She immediately went out and found a *hilarious* picture (recall: this post). Well, to humour her…

I sent the bag, stuffed with yarn, Godiva chocolate, two sets of needles, Burt’s Bees hand balm, embroidery needle, a little badge, and the pattern to Eunny’s Annemoi Mittens. My pal received it 2 days later and sent a lovely email thanking me for the kit. She loved it! I’m glad I got such a nice pal! Thanks, Shelley!

I’m just waiting on my kit now. Who knows where it was sent from, so I just have to be patient. More to come…

Well I finished the majority of my knitted Christmas gifts: two pairs of mittens (one pair for each sister) and a scarf for my Dad’s girlfriend. The only thing I didn’t finish was the elaborate reversable cabled wrap for my Mom. The only consolation being that I never expected to finish it in time.

Here are some finished products:

I’ve finally finished that lacey scarf I was working on. I am just blocking it now.
It will be a Christmas gift for a lucky family member.

I knit the Falling Water Lace Scarf with Berrocco Ultra Alpaca in a neutral colour.

It is super soft and the scarf is very “plyable” — not stiff. Although the pattern is not reversible, it made a lovely scarf and I am very pleased with my first successful efforts with a lacey scarf. (I only made one mistake…Beth, can you find it???)

Well I joined the KMKS with Beth and I’m very excited to get going. I’ve already been in contact with both my “pals” — Anonymous Annie will be knitting for me, and I will be knitting for “Shelley”. Anyway, here are my answers to the “get-to-know-you” questionnaire:

Are you allergic to any fibers?
nope

What are your favorite colors?
black, grey, purple, green, orange

Are you a new mitt knitter? How long have you been knitting mittens?
Newbie. Just started 2 months ago.

Do you prefer solid or multicolored yarn?
No preference.

What fibers do you prefer in mitten yarn?
Soft and Warm!

Where do you usually knit mittens?
At work, at home, with friends.

How do you usually carry/store small projects?
Inside the bag the yarn purchase came in, jammed in a tote.
The tote reads: “Will knit for tattoos” ( From Natalie Dee)

What are your favorite mitten patterns?
The ones I “design” myself.

What are your favorite mitten knitting techniques?
I like 4×1 rib, cables, and the afterthought thumb.

What new techniques would you like to try?
Gusset thumb, colour work (knitting with two colours in nordic style or intarsia in the round).

What are your favorite needles for knitting mittens?
Bamboo DPNs (preferrably size 5 or bigger).

What are some of your favorite yarns?
I try new yarn all the time, so they’re all my favourite.

What yarn do you totally covet?
Soft alpacas and cashmeres.

Any pattern you would love to make if money and time were no object?
I would design my own long sweater coat out of baby alpaca. It would have cables and look quite victorian.

Favorite kind of needles (brand, materials, straights or circs, etc)?
I love knitting on circulars, but I don’t know how to do mittens that way (there’s a way to do socks that way, so I’m sure it could translate to mittens). I love bamboo needles (or any kind of wood).

If you were a specific kind of yarn, which brand and kind of yarn would you be?
Probably Noro Koreyon…colourful and irritable.

Do you have a favorite candy or mail-able snack?
I love sour candy. SweeTarts, sour gummies, anything to make my mouth pucker!

What’s your favorite animal?
Liger.
Or if you didn’t see that movie, a cat I guess, because I have one, and he would be very hurt if I didn’t mention him.

Would you prefer super warm mittens or something more like fingerless mitts?
Warm, warm, warm. I broke my hand a year ago, and cold makes it ache!

If you were a color what color would you be?
I might say black. With pink sparkles.

Others might say orange.

What is your most inspiring image, flower, or object in nature?
I love a weeping willow tree and deep, red flowers.

Do you have a wishlist?
My wishlist mostly contains Fluevog shoes, William Blake art, and expensive yarn.

Anything else you’d like to share with the group today
I hold Detroit Pistons season tickets, I am an excellent chess player, and I am a librarian by profession.

My secret pal, Leah, sent a great gift to close out the One Skein exchange. She crocheted me a little clutch in Detroit Pistons colours! I admired this clutch in the OneSkein book and thought that the pattern might be enough to get me to learn crochet! What makes it special is that Leah thought of my favourite team, despite her loyalty to the Spurs! The zipper and jersey lining are in Piston’s blue to match!

To top it all off, she included some goodies inside! Burt’s Bees stuff (which I love) and some hand made soap (oatmeal chamomile olive oil soap, to be exact). I love homemade soap!

Thanks, Leah! The gift was definitely worth waiting for!

Well, I got all into those fingerless gloves from the summer issue of Knitty and made two pairs…one as a gift and one for me…

I thought they were very fun to knit and I loved the softness of the Debbie Bliss Cashmerino I used. So I decided to make my own version of “fingerless gloves” which I have been calling “wrist-lets”.

I loved the four by one rib, the concept of a cable, and the picot bind off. I wanted mine to look Victorian, maybe with a hint of a corset. Here’s what I came up with:

The purple yarn is a placeholder. I have since threaded a pale yellow ribbon through the yarnovers to “cinch” the wristlets. The cable up the centre is a simple two 4×2 cable (4 stitch cable, 2 row repeat).

I have written up the pattern neatly, if anyone is interested in having it. Just let me know in the comments.

My cousin’s baby shower is this weekend and I made these little numbers to add to her gift.

The hat pattern is from OneSkein and the baby mitts are of my own devising. Both are knit using Lush (50% angora, 50% wool) from Classic Elite. The colour is “wheat” in case you can’t tell. Super soft and great to work with!

While at the Fiber Fest, I bought a simple pattern for an interesting vest. You’ve seen it on Ava, you’ll soon see it on Beth, but for now, here it is on me:

(This is *not* trick photography! My head did indeed disappear in the second photo only to reappear later in a Taco Bell…)

I only made a few small modifications: I added an extra repeat of the “fake” cable, and I made the front larger than the back. I have my reasons.

I’m very happy with the result.

Coming soon: group vest photo!

This has nothing to do with the secret pal exchange. It was no secret Beth gave me a skein of her handspun yarn. I loved the colours so much and the thickness of it that I had to whip up this hat:

I made up the pattern as I went. I actually knit the two flaps first, leaving one on the circular needle while I knit the second one. Once the two flaps were done, I knit across the flap I just finished, cast on some stitches, knit across the second flap, cast on some stitches, then joined for knitting in the round. This was the lazy way to avoid adding earflaps by picking up stitches.

I was almost done the hat when I ran out of yarn. I didn’t think Beth had a second skein so I decided to finish off the hat with some black cashmerino held double. Now the hat was all burgundy with a little black circle at the top. I thought it needed something extra so I brought it to work and asked Beth to help. She crocheted the black edging around the entire hat during one lunch break. I thought this was the perfect finishing touch.

I love my new hat! And it fits perfectly!

(since when could I ever get gauge right???)

I completed my One Skein gift for my secret pal some time ago, but have yet to mail it off. These pictures were taken with Beth’s Mac at work, as the gift just needs to be packaged up properly and walked across the street to the post office.

I decided to make the “spiral” drawstring bag out of the OneSkein book. I picked an emerald green skein of Malabrigo (so soft!). The colour is in honour of the “Emerald City” in the Wizard of Oz, a favourite movie of my pal. I also thought the spiral pattern was reminiscent of the twister that carries Dorothy away. To finish off the project I added some fancy beads I bought at the bead store next to work. Beth helped me with the selection and figured out how to get them on there! I’ll be shipping this off with some Oz embellishments (stickers and a magnet) soon.