MMM....Toasty!

The holidays have come to a close and I am glad for it. I love the holidays but hate the hussle and bussle of Christmas shopping and whatnot. I have been going over my posts from last year and have found them to be...well...sparse. Not that anyone reads this but me, but I would like to think that somebody at least tried my pattern besides my testers. Oh well. I haven't been wholly unproductive over the last few months. I successfully knit and felted 2...count them TWO pairs of "alpine boots" and it only took me a weekend! I don't know what it is about slippers but I can whip out a pair in no time. Sweaters, on the other hand, they take me forever! Case in point the "February Lady Sweater" for my DD that only has two or three inches left to go on the sleeve. How pathetic am I! Why would anyone let 3 inches of a sleeve hibernate for two months? I think I just don't like the stitch pattern who knows. But slippers...those are my favorite for some reason. I think it has to do with the fact that slippers were the first things I learned to knit. I taught myself how to knit slippers and even guessed as to what the stitches were. I got most of them right too. As I sit here typing I am thinking, no reveling in the slippers I just felted. I changed the "Alpine Boot" pattern to be a lace up boot instead of just a pull on. I am amused at how different yarn felts up differently. I would guess by ply and weight but even brands surprise me. These are the third pair of boots I have knit up and the first pair I made in Cascade 220. They were not lace up and when I finished knitting them they came up past my knees. After felting there was so much room around the ankle and calve and they didn't even come up to mid calve. The next two pairs I made out of some old wool that a neighbor gave me. Thoroughly expecting them to felt somewhat like the Cascade 220 I knit taller and decided to make lace ups to accommodate for the wide ankle and leg part of the boot I was expecting. I even made a swatch! (Which I never do.) Needless to say I have a very tall, skinny boot as my finished product but ooooh are they warm! I almost gave them away due to the fact that they are slightly large for my feet but after wearing them in my semi-frigid house I am in love. I am also finishing up my "at first glance" version of the "wicked" pullover. It isn't exactly the same but that is because I just winged the whole thing and decided to change somethings mostly because I didn't have a pattern. I swatched this one too and it didn't work out for me either. I used Bernat Satin with a US 10 needle and for some reason it is stretching out a lot! I had to cut out 30 sts off my original cast on and I think maybe I should have done more. I ended up with more of a sweatshirt instead of a sweater. I am adding a kangaroo pocket to see if it will make a difference. I have never made one of those before either but we'll see how it goes. Cross your fingers!

Think before you speak

A poem by Smooth E, aka Eric Shwartz.
I sit when i pee.
I pee when i Sit.
I sit when i pee.
But i stand when i......Shave.

Hump Day

I've realized that I am in a slump. I have so many different projects going on right now and I have done bupkis. I am working on a quilt which was supposed to be started at a baby shower and nothing got done so I am left working on it myself. I have a scarf (which should be easy) and a sleeve...yes, you read correctly, a sleeve!...left to go on DD's February lady sweater and it's only a 3/4 sleeve not full! I am in the pit of despair! No, I'm really not. I guess I've been caught up reading. Something I don't do very often. Pick and choose my battles. That's what I'm doing. I think I'm losing.

Note to Self...

I have been busy with many projects as of late. I have just completed a humanitarian project which required lots and lots of baby booties. Needless to say...I am all bootied out. I also completed "Global Warming" by Suvi S. for my DD. It came out very cute. I used recycled cotton in red for her charter school colors. Very simple pattern. I don't know that I even looked at it except for the math and the puffed sleeve part of the pattern. I find it odd that when I use the smallest numbers for the pattern and generally a US 7 needle I end up taking an adult sweater down to fit my prepubescent elementary school aged child. I guess if it works...stick with it. I have passed that "technique" if you will, on to my next project which happens to be the February Lady Sweater. I think that's what it's called. This one is in a light, almost ice blue also for school. DD seems to be cleaning up on sweaters this year. This being my first lace project I had to knit and frog quite a few times because I kept losing my place. I think I did the first rotation of the pattern 4 times until I realized...DUH! It's lace! The holes are supposed to be there! And then frog again. For as simple a pattern as this is, it is taking me quite a long time to complete. Seriously!

The Lazy Days of Summer

Once again the heat and my children have prevailed upon my time thus enticing me to procrastinate my latest project. But alas, my deadline has prevailed. The lazy days of summer are coming to a close and I am excited! Who knew.
It has been a long time coming but I have just finished sewing on buttons to my most recent FO. I haven't done this toggle button thingy before and I think it shows. I patterned this baby hoodie after one from the Drops website but I made some changes. Firstly, I knit this in the round from the bottom up instead of in pieces. Why sew the pieces together when it is a raglan top? Useless. Secondly, I dropped the garter stitch trim and used a ribbed bottom and trim for the sleeves. I also dropped the single row of purl st on both the body and the sleeves and got lazy about the pockets. Who knows, maybe I'll add them later if I get a wild hair. It is knit in Bernat cotton which I got for a smokin' deal at Joann's. The colorway is kind of a celery. I used US 10's even though the yarn label called for 7's. I thought that might be too dense and the 10's made the FO a bit softer. Knit for a baby boy due next weekend. I hope mom likes it. That, however, remains to be seen.

Babies, babies, and more babies!

It is that time of year again when people are trying to be skinny to no avail. Some of them have excuses...I, for one, do not. I am in the process of making another baby gift for a friend. She is due at the end of August and so I have put it off too long. This will be her first child and it will be a boy. Boy gifts are a lot harder for me than girl gifts because there is so much to choose from in the way of patterns for girls and even some of the patterns for boys look too girlish to make for a boy. Perhaps that is my own view. My dear husband has deemed himself very much a "manly man" and cannot be bothered with things that would threaten his man card. His answer to all my questions is "fine." What does that mean?!!! Fine is his way of saying "I'm not really paying attention but I'm sure you won't leave me alone unless I give you some kind of answer so I'll give you the most noncommital answer that won't evoke any further conversation." Who knew so much could be in one word. So I knit on...I am making "Tom" from Rowan's archives. It's a little vest and so far I'm a little confused as to how it will turn out. I guess we'll see. I have two more gifts to get started on and finish by December. I suppose that doesn't sound like a lot but at the rate I knit or find the time to knit, it might just take me that long. My biggest problem is in picking out the pattern for the gift. Every time I look at patterns I find something that I'm sure would look so cute on me. I guess I'll have to stop that.

AUSTIN

This is my first pattern so it may be a little sketchy. My wonderful test knitters at Ravelry Chra and SLOrnamentals have been a great help in this process. This pattern is for personal use and not for resale. Please do not copy this pattern or its pictures in any way.

This hat is an oversized hat not meant to be fitted to the head as a proper hat would be. The sizing can easily be adjusted by adding or subtracting 5 sts from the band. It is knit in the round and on DPN's in US size 7 needles with the exception of the brim which was knit with US size 5 needles. It is a very tight knit except for the band so as to give it form and not be too floppy. Should you find any errata please let me know. Thanks

AUSTIN

An oversized newsboy cap. (21 ¾”)

Materials: Worsted weight yarn. Size US 5 straights, size US 7 DPNs, and 16 “ US 7 circs. Yarn needle. 5 markers one different. One safety pin

Gauge: The only gauge I measured was sts per inch because as the type of hat it is, row count should not really matter. 17 sts per 4” single strand st st with size US 7

Band
CO 95(105) one strand with size US 7 16” circ.
PM Join being careful not to twist sts. Knit st st 1 ¾ “. Purl one row then knit st st 1 ¾” and BO leaving 24” tail. Fold, purl side (WS) in tucking loose end in and sew purl sts from RS together. Folded edge or purl row is top.

Hat
Yarn doubled. Pick up 95(105) sts on folded edge and knit 1 row. PM at beg of round. PM every 19(21) or evenly distribute sts between markers..
Row 2: *K2, P to marker . RPT from * 4 more times. Continue for 2”
P2tog on each side of k sts every other row until one or no sts remain between k sts switching to DPNs when necessary. K2tog each set of two knit sts. Cut yarn for finishing. With yarn needle pull yarn end through all sts tightly and finish.

Brim
Size US 5 needles yarn doubled.
Fold hat in half and mark center with pin. Pick up and knit 43(48) sts
Row 1: P 26(29) w&t
Row 2: K 9(10) w&t
Row 3: P 12(13) w&t
Row 4: K 15(16) w&t
Row 5: P 18(20) w&t
Row 6: K 21(24) w&t
Row 7: P 24(28) w&t
Row 8: K 27(32) w&t
Row 9: P 31(36) w&t
Row 10:K 35(40) w&t
Row 11: P 39(44)
Row 12: K 43(48)
Pick up st next to band onto R ndl. P first st from left ndl and pass picked up st over. (first BO st)
Continue BO to end purlwise. Sew end into next st on band

-For personal use only. Not for resale. Do not reproduce.-