Wee little Friday FO & UEU

Pattern: Last Minute Knitted Gifts cotton hat

Size: Baby

Yarn: Mission Fall cotton in Peony & uh Plum, I think(the newer version)

Needles: US size 7 dpn's

I need to work on my knotting/bow-tieing skills, but after I pretty up the weaved-in ends. But look how much pink yarn I had left after I ripped back and added the 3 rows of purple! In any case, I'll call that pink skein successfully UEUed (used everything up), to borrow a makeup board acronym. I still have 2 whole skeins of plum, 1 partial blue (Sky), and 1 partial green (Jade) to UEU. While the plums will work well as more LMKG hats, the green & blue may not. Maybe just a couple basic simple hats like the SnB umbilical hat ('cept maybe w/o the umbilical?) so they can go to upcoming baby boys. In any case, the girlie hat will wait for the next next baby girl to arrive in my circle of friends 'cause I don't think this shade of pink will work for the one I originally thought to give this hat to.

Clearly, I still have a lot to learn

Yes, that's how much pink Mission Falls cotton yarn I have left straggling up there. And I'm 7 rows short of finishing. :P So the lesson learned here, aside from the affirmation that I have no skill in determining if I have enough yarn for a project, is that I need to check how much yarn I have left in my little bag much more often than I did. Especially if it's an opaque gift bag and not your cheap, but oh-so-see-through ziplock bag. Sigh. Since I was knitting the smallest size, I'm going to stop and wind the yarn back into a ball and save it for uh, a washcloth. Oh, yay. 'Tay then, off to work out instead and will be back to the drop-stitch scarf so I can finish the bugger.

Edited to add: Nothing like torturing oneself on the elliptical to realize I can rip back to before the eyelet row, do that row and a couple rows before & after in purple, and I'll have enough pink to finish the hat. Then I can use the purple yarn to do the i-cord string or get pink ribbon to thread thru the eyelet. Whew.

Is it Friday yet?

Who knew the SnB Nation drop stitch scarf would be a black hole kind of project. The end is near I think. Maybe by next week. And whatever yarn I have left over will go to fringe, I think.

Speaking of black holes, I came across this entry in a blog about the pinwheel blanket and I'm only on row 70! OMG! Shoot me now.

So what do I do? I cast on for yet another project. This time the child's cotton hat in Last Minute Knitted Gifts. But it is a stash-busting project, abeit a single skein one. At least I'm trying to whittle down my stash!

A little kitten has lost her mitten and mommy doesn't know where to find it. In any case, when I crocheted the pair (pre-knitting days) I screwed up the gauge and one was a tad smaller than the other, not to mention the wonky thumb section. And in any any case, the pair is slated to be placed in a charity location since the monkey's hands were already too big for this baby size I crocheted. I'll just need to find another way to kill the other full skein of this Lion Brand Jiffy yarn I found in my closet. Arrgggh! I thought I only had a 1/2 skein of this horrid yarn left.

Monday's blabbing, part II

Whee, more Ozark Handspun! They had quite a few more colors than on my last visit. Made it so hard to choose a shade though. They also had a wonderful graduated purple and a blue/brown multi-mix. Anyway, the Ozark wasn't included in Imagiknit's sale, but got as my Mom's day gift courtesy of DH.
Ok, so my actual Imagiknit sale items were: 1) 5 skeins of Mango Moon Wooly in purples. Monkey1 picked it out and wants a square baby blanket out of it. Not round. Got it, mommy!?! Good. and 2) 3 skeins of Plymouth Yarns baby alpaca dk for a gift scarf. I might be brave and try the Knitty Branching Out pattern. In any case, I have 3 months to knit this one up. I also saw Imagiknit had Phildar microfiber cotton on sale. This is the yarn Kate Gilbert used to knit up her Samantha pattern. I was tempted to get some, but considering I didn't write down how much yardage I needed for monkey2 and I wasn't feeling the colors (classic white, fuchsia pink?), I passed for now. So maybe I'll just swatch up some leftover KP Shine sport and see where that gets me.

Oh, and while perusing Kate Gilbert's blog, came across this pattern that I think will work nicely w/the obnoxiously bright Art Yarns silk ribbon I have. I think I may need to find a more subdued brown or other muted shade to go w/the Art Yarns Merino 8 to tone it down though, even if I do knit it into a modular scarf.

And even better news, followed the advice of my knitting friend (mentor?) and Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting without Tears, swatched my Butterfly Super 10 cotton on size 8's and got gauge and it's not as loose as I thought it would be! And I'm finding my Butterfly super 10 green yarn is so much softer than the white Takhi cotton classic that was my other swatch. Huh, I wonder if that's do to the bleaching process to get it white enough. Anyway, finally feeling happy about starting Kyoto. Now to finish my other WIP's so I can start. :D

It's been a busy but productive Mom's Day weekend

Kate Gilbert pea pod hat
Originally uploaded by crochet_chick.

especially since I finally got the pea pod hat crown correctly finished off. It's been washed & blocked, so you can really see where I goofed up the leaf lace set-up pattern. Good thing I'm keeping this instead of gifting it away. I didn't check my gauge (it's a hat!), and found it was actually big enough for both my monkeys w/room to grow! Better than being too small. More later when Blogger lets me upload my other pics.

Rip it. Rip it good. (in Devo's tune)

So, sense kicked in this cool morning after getting a bit of sleep. Ripped back to the start of the crown shaping & placed markers so that the leaf pattern in centered. And that's where we'll stop for now since I forgot to pack my dpn's so no re-knitting the crown at lunch for me. Off to do something else for lunch. Laters.

I am a knitting eeedeeooot

Just needing to vent. So I finish the pea pod hat, e-mail the pattern author a big thank you for answering my newbie questions about how to decrease the stitches at the crown, attach a pic and then find out that I neglected to understand that I should've centered the leaf lace between the decreases. Arrgghh! And here I thought I screeched in under the deadline w/a cute though slightly flawed hat. 'Cept I ended up not having enough time to wash and lightly block the lace pattern on the hat 'cause I somehow spend 2.5 hours tonight shopping for basic supplies at Costco.

Now I've got to scramble for a little gift for dd1's teacher. And I've got a totally wonky hat for dd2. I don't want to frog the thing 'cause I so didn't like working with the yarn. Crud.

Oh yeah, my Webs haul

Webs haul
Originally uploaded by crochet_chick.

Got my Webs anniversary sale haul yesterday. Pic showing representive skeins of each one on the right.

The DB cashmerino chunky is so soft! Will do either 1 hat & 1 pr of mittens for monkey2 or 2 hats, one for each monkey.

The 2 colors of Cascade 220 are just so I have some basic feltable wool for something. Don't know what yet.

Disappointed in the Cascade Pima Tencel in Teal. It's a tad lighter and greener than I was hoping for. Nevertheless, I've got the 6 skeins slated for the Shapely Tank, probably.

The Classic Elite Yarns Premiere is also very pretty periwinkle kind of blue. Slated for either the Picovoli, Soleil, or another Shapely Tank. We'll see.

And with Imagiknit's big sale this weekend, my stash will be growing again.

Put a fork in me.

The hat is done.

specs:
pic shows hat unwashed/unblocked and still to have the 2 ends weaved in & the remaining yarn from the skein
Pattern: Hat from Kate Gilbert's Pea Pod Set in Summer 2006 Interweave Knits
Size: largest (18 mo, 171/4")
Yarn: Debbie Bliss cotton cashmere in grey (04) since it was in my stash as opposed to the green called for in the pattern
Needles: size 5 dpn's

So this is my first knitted object in which the pattern utilized a chart to show the lace pattern. I originally intended this to be a gift for monkey1's teacher but the misplaced holes from my bad attempt to fix my error doing the leaf lace set-up portion is bugging the heck out of me. That and I don't like the yarn. It's *crunchy* and splitty. Well, I hoping it softens up when I wash it, but I think I'll just keep the hat for monkey2 and as a lesson learned for me. I totally want to knit the hat again along w/the matching sweater, but probably in a different yarn, and definitely in a pretty green.

Too ambitious for my own good

So, apparently knitting a hat on dpn's all the way through is teaching me I am so not ready to do socks. Including today, I have 2 days to finish this darn hat. And even then, I may keep it since I'm sure I screwed up the 1st 3 rows of the leaf lace set-up chart. Well, I KNOW I screwed up and attempted to fix only those stitches since I wasn't about to rip back 2-3 rows of stitches on 4 frickin' dpn's. So it looks like the little monkey's teacher is going to get a little bag of gwp size Stila stuff on Friday instead. Even if I do finish this hat, the splitty nature of the DB cotton cashmere (I do NOT like this yarn) and what looks like my glaring errors are going to bug me too much to want to give it as a gift to someone. Gah.

Oh, my eyes, my eyes!

So I lied and it's more obnoxiously yellow than green. On the left, we have Artyarns silk ribbon and on the right Artyarns Ultramerino 8, both in colorway #103, described on their website as bright yellow, orange, and green. What the heck was I thinking? In any case, Artyarns does have a scarf pattern using both yarns, 'cept the silk ribbon's sorely underutilized as fringe. I just need to find out if their pattern can use just the 1 skein of the ultramerino 8. If I need more than that, I'm up some kind of creek.

On the uh, bright side, I got my replacement 21" cable from Wright's, the company that makes the Boye interchangeable set. Yay! I so needed it since my pinwheel blankie is getting bigger. Finally.

Manic Monday?

As promised, a progress shot of my CTH (Cherry Tree Hill) Twister Waters pinwheel blanket. I'm so loving knitting w/this yarn. However, not much progress since the end of last week since I took some other projects that need to be done w/us when we went out of town this weekend.

It's teacher appreciation week, so decided (at the last minute, of course) to cast on Kate Gilbert's Pea Pod hat (summer Interweave Knits online) for dd1's teacher's munchkin since I had a skein of the Debbie Bliss cotton cashmere called for in the pattern. I have it in grey rather than green, but it'll do. I have 'til Friday morning to finish this thing.

I did manage to get DH to drop me off in downtown Sonora this weekend so I can take a gander at their lys, By Hand Yarn. Very nice and spacious. A great place for me to go when I forget something on our way to the cabin. The price points for the yarn are higher than lys' in the SF Bay Area, but that's not unexpected for her location in a tourist-y town. Got a 12 (or was it 10?) pack of Monkeysuits patterns from her 65% off Grandma's chest. A total bargain. Will post a pic of the 2 skeins of obnoxiously beautiful Artyarns yarn I got from that chest tomorrow. Can't find a pic of what I think is the colorway online so it might be a dc'd color. Depending on what I knit them into, they'll either be totally bangin' or super hideous. It's that bright. Think lime green and bright yellow.

Almost all is well w/my pinwheel blankie

My swatch is finally dry and since I have a different digi cam and am not at the same desk, I figure I'll take a pic of the swatch w/the pinwheel blankie in progess to show how nicely the swatch survived my washing machine. As much as I hate my washing machine, it is wonderfully gentle to all my knitting projects. The colors didn't fade at all and I see no signs of pilling or felting, so I'm relieved I can throw the blankie in the wash when I need to w/o too many qualms.

I finally got a hold of my knitting mentor/friend yesterday so she helped me rip back half of what I had knitted due to my inadvertently shifting the holes over by 1 stitch. I still have 3(!) twisted yo's, but they're way at the beginning and I'm not about to re-cast the 5 beginning sts on dpn's again. Even my friend made a face at how much of a PITA it is to start w/those 5 measly stitches. Since dd1 will abscond w/this blankie when I'm done anyway and only I know where I messed them up, I can live w/those mistakes.

Progress shot of the Colinette Giotto scarf. I'm using the drop stitch scarf pattern from SnB Nation. I love the colorway (Rose Garden) and how it looks knitted up in this pattern, but I'm not enjoying the process of knitting this one. Is it the ribbon yarn itself? Or maybe it's 'cause my needles are too long & cumbersome? Or maybe the drop stitch pattern is simply not fun w/this yarn as I thought it would be? In any case, I've got 'til at least 'til July to finish this.

Not quite on the backburner, but simply driving me crazy is getting the frickin' gauge for my Kyoto. Knitted another swatch on needles 2 sizes up and I'm still 1/2 stitch too tight, after washing & drying! I must be the only one whose cotton swatches shrink instead of bloom after a wash. And since I air-dried them instead of putting them in the dryer, I am at a loss. So it looks like I will be adjusting the pattern to my gauge instead of the other way around. Bugger.

Cute, no?

The start of my pinwheel blankie in Cherry Tree Hill Twister (Waters colorway). Too bad I need to rip back a bit. I didn't put in stitch markers 'til after I switched from dpn's to a circular and in the process moved my stitches over so the nice lacey holes shifted over. Then there's the newbie mistake of the inconsistent way of how I knitted into the yo's which show up all over the place. Argh! Hopefully my knitting buddy is working today so I can see if she can help me rip back to the first offending spot. Otherwise, I'll have to frog back to the darn 5 st beginning. Otherwise, I love knitting w/this yarn. I love reading all other knitters' experiences with knitting the pinwheel blanket too as they humorously warn that it's one of those black hole kind of projects.

And here's just a pretty pic of my Colinette Giotto in the Rose Garden colorway slated for a gift scarf. Not sure who it's going to, but it's for an up-coming birthday, so I need to get cracking. That'll mean my-so-called-scarf needs to wait on stitch holders 'cause I need those size 11 needles. Unless I buy extra. :)

Appropos of nothing

Had this in my flickr account and some 21 yr old kid made me his contact. Bwahahahahaha! Dude, I am old enough to be your mother! Okay, a teen mother when you were born, but still. Bwahahahahaha. Clearly, my elouai doll is too idealized a version of me and I need to work on it some more.

So, back to knitting. It turns out my Kyoto swatch knitted on the size 5 needles the pattern calls for is uber tight. I started knitting a swatch one size up, got a little looser, but still not gauge, went up again, got gauge and hated the swatch and frogged it. So, I can do one of the following things: Keep the gauge I got w/the size 5 needles and do a bunch of math and adjust the pattern. No biggie but potentially just a PITA. Or I can go w/the needle size 7 that gave me gauge, wash it and see if I change my mind about hating it and knit on from there. Or do what the Yarn Harlot calls having a high gauge risk factor and knit w/the size 5 needles per the pattern (no adjustments) and pray that the cotton will have enough ease when knitted to full size that it'll fit. Am I that brave or stoopid? Probably. Then again, I've probably done worse.

I was brave enough to re-start the pinwheel blanket and this time successfully managed to get 5 sts joined w/dpn's and knitted the beginning row w/o twisting them into a DNA model or mobeius looking thing. Pic coming soon.

TGIF

Just random blabbing w/pics.

The start of Knitty Haiku in Knitpicks Shine Worsted Bachelor Button - in which I kept screwing up my 2" and 3" sections so I've frogged and re-knit the box stitch section at least 1x. This is the project where I had to switch cables due to the broken one. Still need to mail the defective one back.
Also swatched the Cherry Tree Hill Twister to see how it'll do in my washing machine. I initially started the pinwheel blankie pattern at first but I suck at starting w/5 stitches on dpn's. Will need to get my friend's help at our lunchtime knitting session on Monday. Oh, and 560 yds of yarn make for one huge "ball."


M's Ozark Handspun scarf. All dry, just need to weave in the ends.
Re-started My-So-Called-Scarf. Haven't gotten to where I royally screwed up and frogged back but I'm almost there. It's a point of pride now.
And ending on an Aloha Friday kind of note. A pic of my first eyelash lei draped over my Hawaiian quilted bag full of more eyelash yarn for more leis. See, I can crochet and eyelash yarn is good for something. A yarn snob I am not. ;)

Maybe in another post, I'll put up pics of my other crocheted stuff. In Lion Brand yarns, no less.

Good news

Butterfly Super 10 green swatch
Originally uploaded by crochet_chick.

The company that makes the Boye Needle Master replied to my e-mail and told me to mail them the defective part and they'll replace it. Whew!

Otherwise, just posting a swatch pic since it wouldn't load yesterday. This is the Butterfly Super 10 cotton in green #3715. It's a little splitty so I need to pay attention when I knit this this as I can totally see when I split the yarn even though I corrected myself. Will need to re-measure my gauge as soon as this swatch dries. I'm thinking of knitting a swatch of this or the Tahki cotton in the double seed stitch to check the gauge too since I read in the old Kyoto knit-along that some had a gauge mis-match between the double seed stitch sash and the stockinette stitch body. Then again, I probably won't knit the sash separately but instead pick up stitches from the body pieces first & knit in the round.

I finished the Ozark Handspun scarf and it washed and drying. Will post pic of it when it's dry.

A wtf?!? vent about my Boye Needle Master

DH bought me the Boye Needle Master set for x-mas and I have been happily using it since. However, last night when I pulled out my project from my bag that was being knitted on the size 7 needlepoints attached to the 21" cable, I found that one of the needlepoints & metal portion of the connector had snapped off the plastic/nylon connector portion. I can see that the metal screw end of the connector was still inside the plastic/nylon receiver end.
I can understand other parts failing due to fatigue (eg the plastic/nylon cable), but I don't understand the metal failing in such a short time. I live in a moderate climate and so we don't have any extreme temperature changes in the weather and my children are young, under 6, so I don't see how they could be strong enough or heavy enough to break it. Well, I suppose my older punk could jump up & down on it repeatedly for a long time, but it's highly unlikely she would want to and I would've known too. The other one's a baby and prefers to gum on the yarn itself.
I know I can order a replacement 21" cable for $3.50 a pop, but I e-mailed the company on small chance (better than a snowball's in hell maybe?) that they may actually offer a free replacement 'cause I don't see why it should break that way, well at least relatively soon after getting it & using it. So we'll see.

On the bright side, I finished the DB Molly Bolero! I'm probably odd as I enjoyed seaming it closed so much more than picking up the 214 stitches for the front ribbed edging, probably because there are a few holes in certain locations when I picked up the stitches. And since I knitted to a tighter gauge, it fits dd1 perfectly and I've got 2 skeins leftover which I'll probably knit into a hat like this one cept I may not have enough for the cute ear flaps:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTmissdashwood.html

So, on the what's up next list are:

1) Ozark Handspun scarf 'cause it should be a fast knit

2) the already started Haiku in Knitpicks Shine Worsted in Bachelor Button which I had to switch cables on

3) knitty Kyoto - finished the swatch, but now I need to wash it & re-measure my gauge as I've read online that Butterfly Super 10 & Tahki Cotton Classic have a tendency to "bloom." Kyoto is one project I would rather not knit too big.

Yarn for Kyoto, finally!

I initially started out at a new lys (well, sorta kinda local for me, but local for someone :) ) called That Yarn Place in Dublin. Loads of Cascade 220, 220 Superwash, and Sierra, but no Pima Tencel. :( However, they do have Frog Tree, so I know where to go when I need their yarn. Went to Joann's across the street after and successfully found size 10 dpns (pinwheel blankie whoo!), then I headed over to another lys over in Pleasanton. It's a nice little shop that I've been to once before a few months back and got a copy of Rowan Pipsqueaks (oh yeah, need to knit a couple projects from there still). So instead of finding any Cascade Pima Tencel, I find the yarn actually called for in the Kyoto pattern, Takhi Cotton Classic and its exact doppleganger Butterfly Super 10. Butterfly is a much better deal as it has 230 m instead of 100 m (sorry not in the mood to convert to yds) per hank. The only issue was color, but between the 2 brands, I managed to find a pink and green combo that worked. The yarn store owner said Tahki had a whole load of different pinks but not the one called for in the pattern as she was phasing out the Tahki for Butterfly. She didn't have the Tahki green either, but the Tahki pink #3449 and the Butterfly green #3715 she did have were a pretty combo for me. Also snagged a hank of Tahki white for the contrasting trim as I didn't need the 230 m of Buterfly white. Now all I need to do is swatch away for Kyoto as I don't need to swatch for the pinwheel blanket. Oh wait, I do as I need to see how the CTH Twister yarn will do in my washing machine. So excited again!

I should really be shopping for Stila

So the news heard round the mu world is that Esteee Lauder finally sold Stila to Sun Capital. Unfortunately, that means no new stuff and existing stock will be diminished, if not returned to the warehouse. Instead of going to the pro store in Santa Clara this weekend (well, there is still the rest of today and tomorrow), I hit the Knit & Crochet Show at the Oakland Convention Center. I can tell I'm still a newbie knitter, especially when it comes to figuring out what sale yarns are good buys or not. I had a very good case of can't-pick-one-itis 'til I hit the Full Thread Ahead booth. The owner (posts as HoJo on the Knitter's Review Forums) had just finished knitting a pinwheel blanket in one hank of Cherry Tree Hill Twister in a green colorway. So pretty and nice feeling. She showed me a pastelish colorway (Waters below) in the yarn and I was hooked. Also saw and loved the Jewels colorway and a graduated blue (royal-dark) colorway and realized they'd make cool Clapotis. HoJo said at 560 yards, there wouldn't be enough yarn for a full sized one, so I said it would make for a great mini or scarf sized one. So ended buying the Waves and Jewels. Too bad I hadn't printed out the pinwheel blanket pattern beforehand (had seen lots of pics of it online) 'cause I hadn't realized I would need size 10 dpn's for the initial part. It would've been so convenient to buy it there, but I didn't think of asking about needle size then. In fact, the Cherry Tree Hill label didn't have the recommended needle size and I had to hunt for it online. I'll have to figure out where to buy it since my lys (local yarn store) is closed since they're manning their booth at the K&C show and the closest Michael's to me (Joann's too) has a pathetic to non-existent selections of dpn's. Drat. And after all that, I still haven't figured out what Cascade pima tencel colors to buy from the Webs sale.

Cherry Tree Hill Twister in Waters - slated for a pinwheel blanket

Cherry Tree Hill Twister in Jewels - mini-clapotis maybe?

DB Molly progress shot. Geez, I thought the stockinette body took forever, but slowly and surely I'm getting thru the ribbed edges. My alas! poor so-called scarf is frogged. I do like the pattern, really(!) and I love the colors, so I'll attempt this again later. Maybe after the pinwheel blanket...

Keels over due to this morning's stoopid newbie knitter antics

So I should know better than to try an fix an error first thing in the morning instead of getting ready, especially when I had trouble reading the stitches. Noooo, I had to just blindly flail along. So instead of fixing the one bad stitch I made I somehow dropped 2 stitches and for the life of me couldn't figure out how to fix it. And instead of putting it down to deal with later in the day, I decided to frog away a row, then 2, then more, then I started snagging. Doofus. So I figured I'd try the freezing mohair trick and shoved the whole darn thing in the freezer so I can frog it easier when I get home. Of course, Manos doesn't have mohair and is 100% wool (Corriedale & merino), but I goofily decided to try it anyway. Sheep have been out in the cold before, so why not? I so know DH is going to open the freezer when he gets home before me and have a WTF?!? moment. In any case, I hope when I get home tonight I can be able to finally read those stitches again so I can pick things back up. Otherwise, I'll be spending my spare time tonight frogging the motherf'ing thing and starting all over. Well, maybe I'll start over next week.

I'm hoping my knitting mojo isn't too badly off today as I plan to pick up & knit stiches on the Molly bolero sleeves next. I know better than to try the 214 sts in the front. Hah. On second thought, maybe I'll just cast on for dd2's Haiku. It's mostly in garter stitch so I shouldn't be able to screw that up too badly today. I think.

Thrashing Tuesday

Hmmm. I don't know. I like it better w/o ear flaps. Maybe it'll look better on M's head?

So, done w/the body of the DB Molly bolero. Read the instructions of needing to pick up & knit 214(!) stitches along the front edges and neck for the ribbed edging last night and my eyes promptly glazed over. I've put it aside for now (aka not bringing it to work for my lunchtime knitting) 'til I'm mentally prepared to tackle this little chore. Either that or pick & knit the ribbed cuffs & lower back edge so I can keep progressing. All I know is that the Knitpicks button blue shine worsted yarn I had set aside for DD2's Molly bolero is going to something else instead. Maybe this:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall02/PATThaiku.html

Oh, and look, a matching mommy sweater:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEfall03/PATTsonnet.html

Otherwise, here's my knitting project wishlist until I get around to learning how to put these in the sidebar:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/PATTreid.html - not sure if I'm ready for lace
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/PATTdoublescoop.html - too cute!
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter03/PATTkyoto.html - for meeee!
http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring05/PATTsoleil.html - did I mention I love knitty.com?
http://glampyreknits.tripod.com/glampyrephotos/id97.html - for sis, but not in that blue
http://www.magknits.com/Aug05/picovoli.htm - a custom fit tee!
http://www.whiteliesdesigns.com/patterns/lpullovers/fbc.html - or a custom-fit tank?

In the meantime, I'm plugging away on my-so-called-scarf and swatching my single Plymouth Wildflower DK yarn in fugly #76 Olive for the One Skein baby hat maybe. Also need to swatch my Debbie Bliss cotton cashmere skein for a One Skein single cable scarf. Also a maybe.

Yet more boring progress stuff

DB Molly bolero again. Woohoo! The endless stockinette stitches are in sight! Once I'm done w/the body, I think the instructions have me do the front edging & collar, the back edging, the cuffs, then seaming the the sleeves & sides. Finished product should look like this:
http://www.laughinghens.com/knitting-pattern-page.asp?patternpageid=1956

Lookie! It's M's hat. Still need ear flaps and maybe ties if I have enough yarn left over. Thinking of a matching scarf too which should be easy as I don't have to worry about fit on a scarf. Too stressful making things for others w/o having a clue whether they'll fit or not. That said, my Otis ballet wrap sweater fit my friend beautifully. A big fat whew there.

Posting this pic simply because I'm in love w/this Manos colorway. The My-So-Called-Scarf pattern is so fun too. The only thing is I'm been knitting in cotton blends mostly that it took me a bit getting used to knitting the Ozark wool/mohair blend and this 100% wool yarn.

Random stuff

Decided to post a progress shot of dd1's Molly Bolero (Debbie Bliss Junior Knits). It's looking cute. Using KP Shine worsted in Snapdragon on size 7 Boyes interchangeable circulars. Had originally made a swatch in size 8 and got gauge but decided the stitches were too loose/had too much ease, so went down a needle size. Because Debbie Bliss patterns are written to be oversized, I'm figuring the tighter gauge would be better anyway.


Since finishing Otis, the only thing I had on needles was the DB Molly with it's endless yards of stockinette stitch. So in a moment of boredom, I cast on for my-so-called-scarf in Manos wildflower. For once I'm actually using the yarn called for in the pattern. I love this colorway which can be seen so much better than in yesterday's pic.


Oops, forgot about this pic of my stash. It's the Rowan Big Wool and Big Wool Tuft that was part of my Patternworks end of the year sale cotton grab bag order. I guess that's what I get for ordering so late. I end up w/non-cotton items in the bag. Anyway, after talking to my knitting guru/mentor, I've decided to save the Tuft for something later like trim for a bag. In fact, I've decided not to do my practice hat pattern on the Big Wool and just plunge in on making the Ozark hat. Wrote out the pattern, need to unwind the hank into a manageble ball, and cast on.



Decided to do a goofy shot of my mu and my Clapotis since my mu colors are what inspired me to pick this particular Noro Silk Garden colorway (#233). Going clockwise, that's Nars Misfit e/s duo on top, Nars Santorini e/s, Shu Uemura ME 638 Blue, and Shu Uemura ME 555 Green. I think I have other mu shades that are closer to the Noro colors, but I didn't dig them out. I'm betting a couple of my loose mineral e/s colors (Stila AOS for eyes blue & green) are better matches too. If not, I can always buy more mu! Both Nars & Stila summer are out! I just need to hit the counters. :)

Flashing my stash. Well, part of it.

aka how to take craptastic pics of yarn w/a disposable camera:
aaka how to load one's pics in a totally random way:

So, 1st pic are 2 skeins of Ozark Handspun in a rosey pink & green multi (hints of purple in there too) and size 17 dpn's slated for M's hat. (I need to write out the pattern as I'm combining a couple patterns.)



2nd pic shows my yummy 3 skeins/balls of Malabrigo in the Indigo colorway that I bought at Stitches West. Originally slated for a slighter smaller than pattern Clapotis (yeah, another one). But in talking to a friend, I may use 2 skeins for a scarf (may or may not be a Clappy) and the 3rd for a hat.

Last 2 pics are my Article Pract haul. 3rd is my other yummy splurge of 2 skeins/balls of Manos Del Uruguay in colorway #113 Wildflowers. Slated for My So Called Scarf. Last, but not least is Southwest Trading Company's cobalt blue that was on sale. Bought the last 5 skeins of this color. Have more than enough (1-2 skeins extra) for their Ballerina tank pattern.

Otis is officially done!

Specs again:

Pattern: Otis by Rebecca Hatcher in knitty.com

Yarn: Knitpicks Main Line Dusty Lavender, 10 skeins

Needle size: US 8 to meet gauge

Miscellaneous project notes-

- Have 1 skein left-over that I need to figure out what to do with.

- Originally started w/size 8 clover bamboo needles (swatch knitted fine w/these), but as I knitted along I noticed my purl rows were getting significantly looser to the point that my row gauge grew. I had to forceably tighten up the yarn on the purls and try to stay loose on the knits. Such a pain, so I switched to my Boyes aluminum and managed to get both purl and knit rows to be consistent sizes and stay within range. So apparently I'm finding that I knit the Knitpick cotton yarns much better if I use my Boyes aluminum needles (2 straights from my learn to knit kit & the interchangeable set). Huh.

- Now that I'm done w/this gift version, I want to make one for myself. But I need to wait 'til the Rowan Silk Tweed originally called for goes on sale. Either that or wait for Rowan to release colors I like as I don't like the spring/summer colors available at my local yarn store. Then again, I really like the prices of KP yarns.

Did I spec this already? If not:

Pattern: Kate Gilbert's Anouk in knitty.com (notice a trend?)

Yarn: the "new" Mission Falls 1824 cotton

Needle size: US 7's met gauge

Misc project notes:

- The Mission Falls 1824 cotton is too heavy for this size & pattern. (And did I mention stiff?) Am debating on whether or not to knit another one (little M's keeps growing though) in a lighter yarn. Not sure if KP (knitpicks) Shine worsted will still be too heavy or if a merino wool would be too hot (we are in CA after all).

- My pockets are wonky so at some point I need to re-seam at least the left side so it looks more level.

Other things:

Am wanting to knit either or both knitty Soleil or Grumperina's Picovoli (magknits) in either KP Shine sport, Cascade Pima Tencel (too thick?) or Classic Elite Yarns Premiere (even on sale at Webs still a higher price point). Then there's the shapely tank pattern which is probably better w/the Cascade Pima Tencel. Of course, then there's all the decision-making on colors as 1 or all will strictly be for meeeeeeee!

Had the worst time trying to get gauge for the Soleil & Picovoli w/my leftover KP Shine sport. Then I realized the cable length I was using on my Boyes interchangeable was too short and the amount of leftover yarn was too small. Re-knitted a swatch on size 6 Boyes w/the longer cables and a better amount of yarn and finally got gauge. The only thing is since KP Shine sport has quite a bit of ease, I really like KP Shine sport better when knitted on size 5 needles. Bugger. I got halfway thru a swatch of KP Shine worsted on size 7's to see what that would lead too and got too firm of a fabric and didn't quite get gauge. Bugger on that too. Looks like I'll be experimenting w/the pricier Cascade and Classic Elite instead.

The Knit & Crochet Show is next weekend so I'm looking forward to playing w/yarn and deciding on colors.

Oh yeah, next up, practicing my size 17's dpl's on some Rowan Big Wool and Big Wool Tuft for a hat or 2?

Otis is almost done!

Specs:
Pattern: Rebecca Hatcher's Otis available on knitty.com
Yarn: Knitpicks (KP) Main Line Dusty Lavender
Needle size: size 8 circulars (Boyes interchangeable set)

Almost done! Still need to seam up the sides (notice the glint of the pin on the bottom right in the pic?) and attach the organdy ribbons, then I'm fini! So I'm only 1.5 months late on this b-day gift.

Other totally unrelated random thoughts:

- Still need to develop the film but have lots of random stash & progress shots on disposable camera to kill the roll

- Want to knit either knitty Soleil or Grumperina's Picovoli/Tivoli, but darned if I can't get gauge on my leftover KP shine. Apparently my knitting's tightening up. When I knit the Daisy cardigan and Magknits tank-of-many colors, I got 20 sts/4" = 5 sts/in on size 7 circulars. So I first knitted a gauge sample on size 5's. Got 6.5 sts/1". So I moved up to size 6's and got 6 sts/1". Gah. Since DD1's Debbie Bliss Molly bolero is attached to my size 7 circulars, I need to wait to finish that or detach the size 7's and put them on other cables to do another test swatch to see if I can get the 5.5 sts/1" both patterns call for. On the other hand, Webs (yarn.com) has both Cascade pima tencel and Classic Elite Premiere (also a pima tencel) on sale. The Cascade's a better deal, but knits to a larger gauge (more worsted than DK). The Premiere looks close to gauge (21 sts/4") so it's possible to get gauge, but it's 1 yd less/50 g and $0.50 more/skein. The only other difference is the Premiere has brown (Coconut) that I think I want. Decisions, decisions...

first hat

first hat
Originally uploaded by crochet_chick.

Crap pic, I know. But the recipient already got the hat so I can't re-take it.

Made out of my scrap KP Shine Orchid (can you tell I was running out?) and Blush. This is my first knitted hat, and a simple chemo cap at that.

Made for a friend of mine who has successfully completed her treatment for bone marrow cancer. Yay!

And it fits! Whew. It was a surprise, so I couldn't e-mail her or call her and ask her what her head size was out of the blue. So happy.

Next hat on my list to make - the Kara Janx one from Project Runway!