FO Nathair Mitts

Can you see the picture? I hope so. I am coming in and testing photo uploading via Android phone.

It seems since I have gotten this phone many websites have "updated" their compatibility with this phone. Or my phone has updated it's compatibility. Either way, it would make blogging more interesting again if I can share pictures. :)

This is a photo of my Flower, almost 5 years old, modeling a pair of Nathair Mitts that I knit for a commission. I was paid for the knitting with yarn...which is awesome. This pair of mitts is knit out of Malabrigo worsted in Forest. Not my favorite colorway, but they were a delight to knit and deliciously soft.

I have knit this pattern a few more times and I love it. The cabling makes them look elegant and complicated with minimal effort if you can cable without a cable needle.

I knit the first pair (in this picture) to the letter of the pattern. I have modified it only slightly for the next pairs. In the photos on the pattern, it is obvious the ribbing is twisted rib, so I have changed that and the look is better. I also moved the thumb over one stitch from the center panel. This keeps the panel more centered on the hand when the mitts are in use. (As written, the panel is centered GREAT as long as you keep your thumbs outstretched to the sides of your hand at all times. Not so much if you grab a steering wheel or move you thumbs at all.) I tried moving it over 3 stitches at first and that was too many. Also, when I knit them *again* (and I will knit them again) for ME, I will lengthen them too.

Overall a great pattern. Well written and worth the price. (I think it's only 2 or 3 dollars. It was gifted to me by the commissioner of the first pair so I am not totally sure.)

Felted Toy Finished

Here is the toy pre-felting:

And after:

I had to put this through the wash 3 times!! If I had put something in there on accident (like the hat that went through the was in the load after this) it would have come out barbie sized. Instead, it just would NOT FELT. It's Cascade 220 and some Paton's. Wtf? After the first wash, it was not any smaller and I still had pretty good stitch definition. After wash 2, still had stitch definition. So, I put it in on a super HOT wash for the third time and got this smaller version. I have a front loading machine and I think that is part of the problem.

I also wanted nice, firm circles. It's kind of a squiggly thing. But, the baby likes it.

I think next time:

I will knit shorter loops.

I will do the HOT wash first.

I will only do 3 loops.

Because, of course, I'll be doing it again.

Just the "break" I needed

Those adult sweaters had me so not into my knitting. Bleh. I found the perfect thing to give me a break from those stressful projects (knitting is supposed to be fun!).....baby knits.

This is my No-Purl Baby Sweater I made for my dear friend who had a 5 lb baby 2 weeks ago.

I used Knit Picks Stroll Sock Yarn in the "Twinkle Heather" colorway and some dark purple sock yarn scraps from my scrap bag for the trim.

I hate purling. I don't know why, I just do. So this little sweater is a garter stitch body with stockinette sleeves. I didn't know if it would work out or look right, but I saw it on her this weekend at Mass and it is ADORABLE. :D

I also made a matching hat. Very, very small. It is the size of my cell phone.

This is the Swirl Hat pattern, a free pattern. It is super cute and I love it. I will be making more of these.

And, I am currently working on a baby-teether toy, similar to this, for my own little one. I saw it on Ravelry. It is my inspiration, but I checked the pattern out and I don't like the complicated (what I consider complicated) construction. I am just going to knit up some i-cords, rather long like 12 inches. Then I will create loops and interloop them and felt them. I think it will be rather cute. If I find the resolve, or remember, I may stop at the lumber yarn and pick up a wooden ring to attach my felted rings to.

What are you knitting?

Hat...er....Success!!

After a second try with the hats.......I have success!!

This is, essentially, the same pattern, but in Steeler's colors. My husband requested this hat. (And after I posted pics on Facebook, so did a friend of mine. More to come I suppose.)

This time I cast on 80, and I stayed at 80. I did 1x1 ribbing for about an inch-ish, maybe an inch and a half. Three plain rounds black. 2 white. 1 black. 6 yellow. 1 black. 2 white. Then more black. When I got to 5 inches I began decreases (k8, k2tog.....plain round....k7, k2tog....plain round....etc) until I got to 24 stitches. Then I k1, k2tog for one round, next round k2tog around (no plain round in between).

It fits my husband AND my 10 year old son just fine.

Success. Is. Mine.

Thank you to my 10 year old model. He will be 11 soon. So big. I found some pictures today of him at about 4. He was (and still is) soooooo sweet. Love you Wobbs.

And back on topic....

I frogged the GB Packers hat back to the ribbing and started again. I am almost done. This one is knit to 5 1/2 inches before I began decreases.

Hats, How I Loathe Thee

I finished the Green Bay Packer Hat. It is very nice. However, I am pretty sure it is too big.

What's up with that?

Hats are simple enough to knit. It just seems I can never get the size right no matter what I do. Usually, I start by being afraid I will make it too small, so I cast on too many stitches. (Check.) Then I knit the ribbing and realize, yes, it is too big. So I rip and cast on again, this time with less stitches. (Check.) Then it's too small, or still too big. Or, it's just right, but I think it might be too small so I rip and cast on again. (Check.)

Oh, will it never end???

I do love the instant gratification of knitting hats. They are usually done pretty fast. I started this one yesterday. But I always find them to be self-doubting projects. Sigh.

Well......the hat is done, but IT is big. I cast-on 80 stitches and increased to 88 after the ribbing (should have skipped this). 80 was friggin' p-l-e-n-t-y. I always, always forget that you need a certain amount of negative ease to keep a hat on (a guy). I also am very sure that I should have started the decreases sooner and that the depth of the hat is a little long. Oh well. I did not weave in the final end (even left the stitch marker in it.....now that I type that I am wondering WHY(????) I did that.....) so that I can rip it back and make it "shorter". But now I think I am going to have to make it "narrower" as well.

I suppose I won't know until my brother comes to try it on.

Oh? Did you want to see it? Here it is:
And for size comparison, my hand. Realize that I have a little of the top tucked under.

Maybe it will be just perfect. My brother could have a really huge head and I just don't know it.

Oh! I forgot to mention.....

Another thing I love about this little hat: It can be pulled back like a little hood.

Isn't that cute?

So, it essentially covers the neck, ears, and head seamlessly, folds back as a hood when not in use, and is totally cute. Good all around.

Here's some more pictures for you to check out. Yes, that is the Wobber's back there. He is going to be 11 (E-L-E-V-E-N!!) very soon. Wow.

What I've been working on

The cutest little baby hat ever!! I have been figuring out the pattern for the hat I bought Lovey almost 2 years ago, before I learned to knit. I think I got it and decided to test knit the pattern I wrote.

This is just some Cascade 220 that I had left over from another project in a blue/grey color.

It turned out very, very cute. I think for an infant I could potentially leave out about 8 stitches next time and come up with a better fitting size. That little point at the top is a little too "full" for my liking (although, I *LOVE* the pointyness of this hat!!).

This is really a simple 2x2 rib hat. Once you work about 2 inches in the round on 76 stitches, you cast of 6 stitches in the middle and then work back and forth. The corners where the stitches meet are 2 stitches accross (as in the 2x2 rib) and 3 rows high.

It is finished with a 3 needle bind off on the underside of the top, giving it a pointy little gnomey-pixie look. I am thinking I will knit her one of these in my club yarn for next month (colorway choices this month were "grapes of wrath" or "daisy chain"....I got grapes of wrath in a worsted weight.....just....one....skein).

I really, really love this hat!! Can't wait to make more! It's a quick, easy, and unique baby gift I think!

Knitting Random

Just some random knitting news, stuff, etc.

This is a picture of my package (the one I received) in the Reducio Sock Swap - Round 13. I got 2 itty-bitty socks, a bunch of goodies, and a copy of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." It's too cool. I love this group on Ravelry, and it is sooooo much fun. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the package I sent out. It had Hermione's beaded bag, 2 mini-socks, and 3 mini-knitted Horcruxes in it (and some chocolate and candy).

This is a picture of the Wobbs in his hew hat. I have dubbed this "The Panda Hat" because he looks like a little bear cub. This is actually a diaper soaker (Sheepy Soaker is the pattern) that he found in my yarn box. It was never used. He asked me to cover the leg openings with some teal yarn.....and voila! A hat!

And.....

I finally sewed a button onto the Nutmeg Sweater. I *had* to. Baby girl was out-growing the little pink garter-stitch yoke sweater I knit her, so it was time to upgrade. I sewed on the button, added the button loop, and knit two i-cords to close the other side.

She is fat and cute. She wears this a lot now. I really like it a lot more than I thought I would. :)

First FO of 2011

I finished this hat sometime in the first few days of 2011. I have a couple pictures of it on (it is very nice) but they are blurry. So, this is all you get.

The pattern is "Hermione Hearts Ron". It is taken from the hat Hermione wears in the movie "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince". It calls for fingering-type weight yarn. I used worsted and changed the numbers accordingly. The original hat has 12 repeats of the 11 stitch chart....I only did 9. This also means I had to fudge the crown decreases. I ended up frogging the crown twice. The third time I knit it, it was good. (Now what *did* I do??)

Oh - yes. I decreased the purls first by p3, p2tog. Once those were gone, I decreased the knits NOT by k2tog, but on the same line as where the purls were going away, by ssk. So the crown swirls one way and then the other. It looks nice with the cables.

I have also decided that I like cables, but not big blocks of purl inbetween. I'll keep that in mind for future projects.

The yarn I used for this was Dream in Color Classy, a superwash worsted-weight wool. I love it! I have used their Smooshy yarn before (sock yarn) and I was underimpressed. But this stuff is great. I loved the feel, the fabric, and the colors (this colorway was "Lunar Zazzle"). I would knit with it again in a heartbeat. I am actually resisting the urge to purchase enough to make a sweater.....since I have plently of sweater yarn right now.

The boy's sweater = DONE!

I am very happy with how this turned out. More...I am really happy I am NOT knitting this anymore. I do not enjoy knitting with acrylic yarn. It is fake feeling and a little squeaky. This particular yarn is 80% acrylic, 20% wool, and machine washable. Next time, I am just getting some superwash wool. :) The bonus, of course, is that this sweater cost me...wait for it....$10 to make. Ten. Dollars. And he **LOVES** it. He loves everything about it, the color, the feel, the warm, the style, all of it.

There are lots and lots of details on my ravelry project page.

Now I have to finish knitting the Man's sweater. Then I can focus on mine! Mwahahaahaa!

In other knitting news (yes, this has totally become a knitting blog, for now):

My yarn from the Speshul Snowflakes Yarn Club is arriving today. I am totally excited. I would highly recommend joining this yarn club. You get two color choices and YOU pick the base yarn (sock, worsted, bulky, DK, etc.) each shipment. You can order extra skeins too, and you can even choose to get both colors if you want. I *love* it. This time, I got both colors in sweater quantities (because I loved them soooo much and couldn't choose just one). Pictures this week. (Yarn is not here yet.....mail comes at 12.)

I also decided last minute to knit a few Christmas gifts. Great idea, right? Especially since Christmas is in 5 days. Uh-huh.

I actually purchased some fun-fur, on purpose, to make one of these gifts. I hate it, but my mom thinks it's the bees knees. I am making her a scarf. I am holding the fun fur with a strand of some Caron Simply Soft acrylic (at least it's not squeaky) and knitting a garter stitch scarf on size 10.5 needles. Should be done soon.

I am also going to make my brother (I hope, may not get it done in time) a Green Bay Packers hat our of Cascade 220 wool. It will be warm and wonderful and he will like it.

Don't tell them what they're getting. I am talking to you, Aunt Sandy. :)

Seekrit Christmas Knitting

I am not a Christmas knitter. People in my family and friends have not received knitted gifts from me for Christmas and I don't know that they ever will. I do knit for them. But, I am not so disillusioned as to think that I would be able to hit a deadline, let alone Christmas, and have knitted items for everyone.

This year, however, I entered a swap on Ravelry. It's part of the "Super Swappers" group. You have to include yarn and the rest is up to you....value $30. The yarn is on it's way (to be sent out again, of course).

In the mean time, I knit up these Candy Cane Mitts. My own "made up as I went" pattern, and I like it.



The woman I am swapping with (it's a Secret Santa swap, so she doesn't know it's me) cannot actually eat candy canes, so I thought this would be a nice substitute.



Yes, there are two.

They came out pretty nice. I like the striping/spirally pattern. You just cast one less than [an even number] (in this case 6) x [your stripe repeat] (in this case 6, 3 red + 3 white)....35. Knit in the round, you will have a cute little spiral going up the arm/wrist/head/whatever you knit it for. I saw this originally on Ruth's blog in a hat (where she did a 4 one color, 4 another color repeat on 87 stitches I believe for a hat). Ruth is knittingbloggyblog. Can't link, but it's on the sidebar.

FO: Lovely Pants

I finished another pair of longies. These are lovely. I *heart* them. They turned out really, really beautiful.

Of course, you wouldn't know it looking at the pictures. It's a rainy, rainy day here and there is no good light to take pictures in. I tried. I really did.

Got some cute action shots on these though.....

These picutres just don't do the yarn justice. It's a beautiful cherry red, perfectly varigated.
I knit a size large - 8 inch inseam, 18 inch rise (front to back, 10 inches back, 8 inches front). I almost got them out of 1 skein. I had 3 more rows to knit on the second leg when I ran out of yarn! Three rows! And then there's the whole i-cord drawstring....but still. Three rows.

Now I need to decide what size to knit the other two skeins (whales road and velvet grapes.....picture in the next post) in to. I could try to do a large again, with even shorter legs. Or I could just go for a medium and have leftovers to knit some scrappies with.