Fancy neckwear

Now that I’m knitting again I’ve set myself the goal of finishing the 2 FOs I had. One was Little Colonnade and the other the Ursa cardigan. A couple weeks ago, after working on it for a few days I finished the first project, Little Colonnade. It went really fast and now I have a nice new shawl to wear!

I wanted to post this earlier but I was waiting for a photo shoot with DH. Finally this weekend we were both available and the weather was nice so it was time for some photos!

Here’s a nice shot from the back:

and worn as a cowl:

and a bonus shot:

It took me 5 months from beginning to end although probably closer to 3 or 4 weeks of knitting time. I used the Zauberball that I’d gotten at Stitches East last fall. I was concerned that it might be a bit itchy but after a good soak it turned out pretty soft. [Rav details]

Now that the cowl is done I’ve been knitting almost exclusively on my cardigan. It’s slow going but I’m still making good progress. So far the sizing looks great but my only concern is that I just might run out of yarn… Just as a heads up, check your stashes for some Cascade 220 in colorway 9422 (Tibetan Rose). I’ve also cast on for a pair of socks (of course) but am keeping it as a travel project.

This next neckwear was not made by me but by the uber talented Maritza of Soto Softies. She’s expecting a little boy in a few weeks and made up the cutest bibs for her baby. She also made a few extra ones to give to other pregnant ladies and I ended up being one of the lucky ones!

Check these bibs out!

Aren’t they the cutest thing ever? I can’t imagine getting these lovelies dirty, but I expect they’ll catch a lot of drool soon enough. Thank you Maritza!

Purple

For some reason, I’ve never been a big fan of purple. I don’ t know why but somehow, my last 3 FO’s are purple. How did that happen?

First there was the Kensington Cowl knit in Araucania Coliumo Solid in Purple. [Ravelry details]

Then there was the Felicity Hat knit in Madelinetosh Tosh Merino in Wisteria [Ravelry details]

Lastly, the Tessarae Socks knit in Madelinetosh Sock in Black Currant [Ravelry details]

I also bought myself a purple hobo handbag from Target

Even better, purple is one of the trendy colors for winter 09 so I guess I’ll be quite fashionable this winter!

BTW, I love my Felicity Hat. It’s the perfect hat. It knits up quick and I could see having one in every color!

Pomatomus, Pamotomus, Pamatamus…

I’m way overdue sharing my latest knitting FO. I finished it right on the dot on August 31. I really was hoping to finish them by the end of August and I made it!

It took me just over 11 months to finish these socks, but I did it. The Pomatomus are done!

These socks were a fun knit. The pattern isn’t incredibly complicated and became fairly mindless towards the end. Of course, I made changes to the pattern. I knit them toe up and put in a short row heel. I think it would have been cool to reverse the pattern on the second sock but I don’t mind that both socks are identical. Maybe for the next pair of Poms?

I used the lovely Dream in Color Smooshy in Blue Lagoon and I love how the color works with the pattern. I haven’t gotten around to wearing them yet but the chilly days have started again and I’m wearing wool socks every day already so they’ll soon get their turn.

I finished as well the set of box bags to head out to the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival. I’m quite happy with the assortment of colors and prints. I hope they’ll all find new homes during the festival. If you’re in the area and are planning to go, make sure to stop by the yarn4socks booth and say hello!

small size

large size

Now I should really get back to the other batch that’s on my sewing table right now!

FO Friday

For once I actually have some FOs to show you. I even have two to share, can you believe it?

One was knit, the other one sewed.

By order of finish date:

Milkweed Shawl by Cosmicpluto Knits [Ravelry details]

This shawl was knit in the beautiful Handmaiden Mini Maiden, color unknown (one of you just might win enough to knit your own). It took me just under 1 month to finish, or 2 weeks less than how long it took me to knit Ishbel.

But then again, my Milkweed came out just a smidgen smaller than Ishbel (see photo below for the difference)

I love this shawl, very, very much. It was an easy knit (love the garter stitch), the lace was easy to read and the yarn was a pleasure to knit with. I only had to tink back a couple times and the yarn handled it well, even though it had a tendency to stick to itself.

Since summer has finally started here in New England, I’ve yet to wear it except for the photo shoot. But I am looking forward to wearing it when it gets cool again!

My second FO is the Strips and Bricks quilt I started at the beginning of July. I tried to do one step every weekend and a few weekends later I have a finished quilt.

I used a lot of my favorite scraps to make it as well as scraps I received from Linda (check out her new book!), Carol and Kate. Thank you to all three of you for making this quilt possible! This quilt is going to be given away shortly, I hope the recipient likes it!

I might have another FO within a week or so if I can manage to sit down and knit for a bit. My Pomatomus socks less than 2 repeats from the ribbing. I think I just might make it before the end of August!

Unbelievable!

Somehow, I managed to finish 4 knitting projects in the last 3 weeks. I don’t think that’s ever happened before!

First up, my K1C2 Ty-Dy socks made up in my own pattern. I knit the first sock back in September 08 and waited until this April to knit the second sock. I’m really quite pleased with these socks and know I will be wearing them a lot. I finished those the day before we left for vacation.

The next day, on our way to Florida I was able to finish my second Sweet Baby Cap, soaked it in the hotel bathroom sink that night and gave it not quite dry to Alyson for her future baby the next morning (see previous post for cool picture). The timing couldn’t have been better!

A few days ago, again with an incredible timing, I finished my Ishbel, just in time to meet Ysolda at Stitch House, a totally cool, new to me, yarn store.

,

It was really fun meeting her, she’s got the prettiest Scottish accent and the best taste in shoes! I loved seeing and even trying out some of her samples. I just might have to make her Liesl cardigan now!

This shawl was quite an enjoyable project. It took me a month and half to knit, but I was taking my time, enjoying each row. I knit the large stockinette section and the small lace section. I did have quite a bit of yarn leftover, so might have been able to knit the large lace section as well. I’m quite pleased with the finished size and have been wearing it every day since it was finished. I loved working with the HandMaiden Sea Silk, what a lovely yarn. I need to get more so I can knit something else out of it! [Ravelry details]

Last but not least, another pair of socks. I started working on the first sock in November 08 and didn’t finish it until the cruise a couple weeks ago. I promptly cast on for the second one and now they’re both done! I don’t think I’ve ever cast on for sock #2 the same day I bind off sock #1, it’s definitely a good way to finishing a pair of socks in a short amount of time!

It took me a really long time to get a hang of the two-row pattern but once I got it I could knit it as well as stockinette. For some reason though, the yarn didn’t spiral the same way on the leg of sock #2 as it did on sock #1. I don’t really like how it looks so different but nobody but me will see it, I guess. [Ravelry details]

I only have 3 WIPs left now, that feels quite good!

FO Friday

There’s been a lot of thought about sewing this week, although not much sewing because my craft room is still pretty cold temperature-wise and haven’t spent much time in it. So, lucky for you, I have been knitting!

Remember that baby hat I was working on for my colleague’s baby? I finished it on time and was given to the baby, and it sort of fit!

Here’s a shot while the hat was still blocking. I know it looks kind of creepy but if fit perfectly this vase I had.

I gave it to my colleague to try on her baby, and even if the pictures didn’t come out that great, you can still see that it sort of fits. I’m not sure that the hat would stay on the baby’s head for very long, but at least it fits. I told her I would make her another, larger hat, hopefully with better luck.

I’ve already cast on for another one, this time in fingering weight and in the medium size. I’m not quite sure what baby it will go to but I’ll figure it out when I’m done! You can see more details about the pink hat here and the second hat here on Ravelry.

My second FO is another pair of socks! I’m really, really happy about these ones. The pattern (Marigold socks from Flint Knits) is perfect, the yarn (Madelinetosh Sock in Chamomile) is gorgeous and to top it off, they fit very well. I finished them a couple days ago but had to wait for some break in the clouds to get a good shot.

These socks are a ray of sunshine, and made me start to like yellow! See more details here on Ravelry.

My third FO almost didn’t end up ever being an FO. This finished object is my scarf from my weaving class. 2 weeks ago, I was weaving along, minding my own business, when I realized that I had over 2 feet left of warp and what looked like 6 inches worth of weft. Uh Oh. Time for a back up plan! I promptly contacted the dyer I got the yarn from, Yarn Sprout, to see if she had any more of that yarn or was able to dye some more. She got back to me telling me that this skein was a one off, from before she started making notes about her dyeing process. So a dead end. I also contacted Purl Soho and the Purl online store, sending them a sample of the yarn, thinking that maybe some of their Koigu would match my yarn. Purl Soho got back to me almost right away with a negative answer, whereas the Purl.com only got back to me this week, a little too late. I also went to a couple yarn stores in the area and only the day of my class was I able to find something that would remotely do. At the Black Sheep Knitting Co I found, not a sock yarn, but a dk weight yarn in a color close enough to work. So I brought it over to class and finished my scarf. After a good soak, you can tell that there is two different yarns but only up close. When worn, or in these photos, it is a lot less noticeable.

I still need to figure out what to do with the fringe. Do I twist it or let it loose, that is yet to be seen. The scarf came out really nice and long so it covers my neck really well. Too bad I need to wait until next Fall to really enjoy it! Ravelry details here.

Now that these projects are over, I’m working on knitting yet another single sock, my Ishbel, who is coming along quite well and the second baby hat. Expect a progress post next week!

Random Wednesday

I’ve got a lot of things to talk about for once, so I’ll just do a Random Wednesday. At least that way I’ll cover them all, albeit shortly, rather than forgetting!

First of all, I want to thank all of you who’ve said all these wonderful things about my orange quilt and sock. I really, really appreciated every single compliment! Since the last post I’ve sandwiched the quilt and have started quilting it. The quilting pattern I’ve chosen is the most complicated I’ve done so far so it might be a while before I get it all done. The turquoise and pink backing is perfect for the quilt, even DH complimented on it!

Knitting

I’ve finished another pair of socks, the pair I was hoping to get done in March. The socks are the Sockamania KAL pattern of last May which I knit in Kollage Yarns 1/2 N 1/2, a wool and  milk blend, yeah, I did say milk… The yarn is really soft and was nice to knit with. We’ll see how it wears though.

I’ve made a few mistakes, especially knitting the second sock, but it’s nothing dramatic. They’re a tad on the big side, just like the Rococo socks I finished a little while back so next time I see my mom, if they fit her, they’re hers! If not, I’ll just wear them as is.

Weaving

My weaving class is going well. At last week’s class I finished warping the loom and starting weaving. In the photo below you can see at the bottom a scrap yarn section, then I wove a stabilizing in tabby weave and then I started a rose path weave (the little diamonds)

At last night’s class I wove about 3 feet of rose path. It’s going really fast and I should have the scarf done by the end of another class or two. I’m using a skein of Shivaya Naturals Fingering Merino for the warp (the darker color) and Yarn Sprout Merino Sock for the weft (the light pink).

Quilting

Last weekend I had the chance to participate in Denyse Schmidt’s Improvisational Patchwork Workshop at her studio in Bridgeport, CT. I love her prints and her design aesthetic like knitters love Elizabeth Zimmerman, so it was really an awesome treat to be able to meet her and do a workshop with her. There were 7 other participants, Denyse and her assistant Richard. Richard was awesome, he would go around re threading the sewing machines, picking up bits of thread and pieces of fabric laying around. I would love to have someone like him around when I’m sewing! Denyse is wonderful and super interesting. The workshop was definitely worth doing and I hope to be able to do Part II next year! I came back with a few goodies from her studio as well as some great pictures, which you can all see here. If you want more details about how the workshop went just ask in the comments and I’ll answer your questions.

Random Random

My aunt sent me the link to this today. Hilarious!

Quilting Monday

The last few days I’ve had quite a bit of time to work on knitting (I finished one sock and am making very good progress on another one) but I got quite a bit of quilting done as well.

All this quilting was spurred by a quilt-along organized by Elizabeth from Oh, Fransson!.  Elizabeth is an amazing quilter and sews really beautiful quilts that appeal to me very much so when she decided to organize a quilt-along, I couldn’t resist. If you’re interested, you can check out the details here.

Before we get started with cutting and sewing, I really wanted to clear out some of my backlog of quilts, so this is what I did over the weekend.

I had a quilt that only needed a binding so after an evening piecing the binding and another few hours of machine sewing, my quilt was done! It was very windy outside so I only got a couple pictures of the quilt.

and the pieced back

The quilt is now on the back of the couch and all I want to do now is sew new matching pillow covers!

A few months ago I had sewn together small scrappy quilt blocks and this weekend I finally got around to finishing each block with orange sashing. I got a lot of blocks so the quilt will be quite big. A friend of mine suggested that I add an additional sashing around the blocks in another color, but I don’t know yet if I should or not.

What do you think? And if I do add sashing, which color?

Now I’m all ready for the Mod Sampler quiltalong! I’m still waiting for a couple pieces of fabric to come in but here are most fabrics that I will be using.

Can you tell I’m addicted to Denyse Schmidt prints? : )  I can’t wait to get started!

Not so WIP anymore – part 1

I’ve been a busy girl lately and have finished quite a few of my WIPs.

Over the weekend I finished my Calvert. I love it and have worn it a few times already.

I used a bit more than 10 balls of Sublime extra fine merino dk in the Colonel Mustard colorway. I wasn’t sure how about my choice of yellow but I’m very happy with it now. It’s nice to have something different than blue, black or grey. It looks great with grey and “grellow” just happens to be one of my current favorite color combination.

I modified the pattern a bit like so: I knit the 2 fronts and the lower back in one piece and I knit the sleeves in the round. Instead of binding off the lower back I put it on a holder until I was ready to seam the pieces together. In the pattern, the lower back is bound off, then gathered (it is wider than the back yoke) and then seamed together to the back yoke. Instead, when I was ready to seam I put the lower back back on a needle and decreased evenly so as to have about the same amount of stitches as the back yoke. I then bound off and seamed it together. I really wanted to do pleats but couldn’t figure out how to do it so instead did it that way. It took me 2 tries to get it how I wanted it but it was well worth it. My last change was to make button holes in one of the front bands so as to be able to button it that way instead of buttoning it through the lacework in the front panel as written.

Another modification I made was to add 2 inches to the length of the body. I’m very pleased I did this, although I wish it was even a bit longer. I haven’t wet blocked the cardigan yet though, and I might be able to get an inch more if I did that.

I ended up using the antler buttons that I bought at Stitches East, even though I tried many other options, it was still the best combination.

Last year I knit the Hourglass sweater, and although it fits well enough, I haven’t worn it much. I find that this cardigan works much better for me and will get a lot more wear. I enjoyed knitting with the Sublime extra fine merino dk, even though the woven in ends keep sneaking back out. I don’t know yet how it will wear but have high hopes for it. I definitely would work with this yarn again.

Now I’m thinking of my next sweater… but first I have to finish a bunch of socks!

Variation on Toasty

or my first FO of 2009!

In my last post I showed you the beginning of a Toasty/Toast mitt. Now I can show you a finished pair of mitts, not really Toasty nor Toast.

As you might have noticed I decided to go with the gussets, I’d never made one before and thought that maybe they’d fit better that way. I also added a ribbing at the top.

These changes were brought about by the Raspberry Mitts pattern I found on someone’s blog, [Ravelry Link]. I followed the instructions for the gusset as well as for the top of the mitt adjusting the numbers for my stitch count and gauge.

I only knit for 5.5″ before starting the thumb gusset as opposed the the 7.5″ in the Toasty pattern, the bottom of the mitt wouldn’t have made it quite that far up my forearm. As it is it’s a bit tight if pulled all the way up on the arm.

I have quite a bit of yarn left and I’m thinking I might knit a matching headband, although I’d prefer a matching cowl but I don’t think I have quite enough yarn for that.

It took me really little time to knit the pair and I could easily imagine knitting a pair in every color imaginable! Maybe I’ll knit a plain Toast next time.

Now I can get back to my sweater and my bags!