Happy Moment

I found the 'other' pink mitten of Megan's! They are safely rolled up together and in the mitten box. She refuses to wear them, preferring the dollar store red teddy bear ones instead! Rob and Lucy asked at Sobey's and looked in the lost and found, but my mitts are still missing.

Three Little Kittens

What is it with mittens this year? First I lose the tipless gloves that I loved. At least they were spotted in the slush of the Wal-Mart parking lot. Then I lost the plum/orangey/pink striped mitts I made just before New Year's. I think they might be at Sobey's, but I don't get there very often and I doubt Rob would remember to check for me. And now, it's Megan's turn. I made her a pair of little mitts in Patons Classic Merino in bright pink. Oh so cute! Then one went missing! I was just about to knit a new one, when I found the missing one in the back of the truck. I brought it in the house with the groceries....and now there is one pink mitts on the stairs and I can't find the other one. Is the one on the stairs the missing one, or the non-missing one? How long do I look for this time? I KNOW if I knit another one, I'll find the missing one, and then have three.....but do you know how confused that will make me? Especially since these are left/right mitts and I'll have two of one, but of course, will ever be able to only find the two that are the same.

Growth

Often knitters talk about growing as a knitter---trying new techniques, new colours, new ideas. Not very often do we talk about knitters growing.


Megan 'knitting' while lounging under the knitting machines desk, circa Nov/Dec 2006. Note the bag of green stuff between her legs....that's the alligator I just posted about, LOL.

Megan 'knitting' yesterday. She has decided that this green project is hers, and she asks me to sit with her and knit quite frequently. Charming at 4pm, not so much at 10:30pm. And trying to figure out how a non-verbal child is saying "Knitting"? It's a very similiar sign to the ASL for 'Popcorn'. LOL.

The crazy thing is, she's making almost as much progress on it as I am ;)

Happy Birthday to Me

Okay, my birthday was more than 6 weeks ago (and my mom's was last week and I haven't called her yet because it's been crazy here). I got NINE knitting books! Three from my parents, they ordered them and had them shipped directly to me from NABS. I got the box and thought "I'm pretty certain I haven't ordered ANYTHING from anywhere and what is NABS?" Once I opened it and saw the books and the card, I realized it was Needle Arts Book Shop(pe?). I was thrilled, because before Christmas I told my ma that books would be great this year, cause of the Cdn dollar, and I made out a big list, based on NABS website. I got NOTHING at Christmas :( But then just before my birthday the box came :) I'll write about those ones later.

Then, on my birthday, I opened the present from my MIL. It was "Knit Lit, Too". I've read the first one, but my library doesn't have the second one, so this was a nice gift :)

But, the day before my birthday, I got a 're-introductory' offer from Crafter's Choice Book Club. I had been a member, but somehow the address change when we moved never actually went through. I kept thinking that someday they'll find me and send me another great intro offer. Sure enough! And, because I don't buy many knitting books, and it's been so long, LOL, there were quite a few in the little catalogue that I wouldn't have minded getting....for $1 each. Now, usually with these offers they smoke you with shipping charges. Not this time. Take a look at this bounty:

I rarely pay full price for anything, and all 5 books came to $15.13. Total. That's right, under $20 for five knitting books, and they aren't all from the back dusty corner. Okay, sure, I have to buy I think, two more books in the next two years. But I think that's do-able :)
In looking just at these books, and thinking about others I have gotten from CCBC, I notice some small errors in the books. Is this how they sell them cheaper?

I'd love to do book reviews like Grumperina does, but having scanned a few things since getting the scanner, I know how long it takes! So, I'll just do a mini-version.

"Knitting Beyond the Edge" by Nicky Epstein. I have the first book of the series, and this is the third. The first one is a great introduction to life beyond ribbing and garter stitch, but I think alot of people were clueless as to how to use the edgings. This book is divided into more specific things "Necklines" "Collars and Cuffs" "Corners". Many of the designs are a little over-done for me, and often girly-girly. Perhaps it's because pale pink and purple were used a lot. And, alot of the cuffs and collars look like those fake collars you're supposed to put over a plain blouse to 'freshen' it up and update it....ie...they look like they were plunked onto a plain sweater with no thought of how to integrate it. And, if you just open the book to say, page 82, and start knitting....you might be in trouble. It just says "Cast on 82 sts...." Well, doesn't that depend on the yarn, and the size of neckhole, and......yes. You have to go to the back of the book and see the section on 'standard' necklines for the book and how to modify it to fit your gauge/pattern/yarn.
So, I'd say, the book is great for inspiration, but if you need hand-holding while you knit, you're going to be in trouble. If you want to try something, I'd recommend doing the sleeve first to try the pattern, see how to modify it for your gauge, etc, before committing to a big neckline.

"One Skein Wonders" by Durant (sorry, the dog is asleep in front of the bookcase and I don't want to disturb him). I love this book....and it annoys me :) With each pattern, there is a line drawing of the item.....there is a photograph section in the middle of the book for all the patterns. But while the patterns are arranged by yarn weight/type, the photographs are quite random. So, it's easy to get sidetracked! And nothing is modelled on a person, which is both good and annoying. There are lots of hats, scarves, some socks, purses, etc, and a few really neat patterns, like a diagonal wrap front baby sweater. Also, because the patterns are submitted from yarn stores around the US, some of the yarns are rather obscure. But, for small projects, substituting isn't a big headache. There's a few things I want to make for certain. But I have a problem. I used to have a lot of odd balls. I've Freecycled a lot, and lately only buy yarn if I can get enough 'for something'. So, for example, there's a great scarf for Noro Kuryeon. But I have five balls. I don't want to take one away then find a project later on for 5 balls, LOL. Nor do I want to make matching-poo hat, scarf, and mitts. But I do still have enough I think to make some quick projects and use up stash. That's my goal for this year. Cough. Again. Cough.

"The Ultimate Sock Book" by Vogue Knitting. While I wouldn't call this the "Ultimate" sock book, it is quite comprehensive, with a great range of patterns. I wasn't expecting the literature section in the front on the history of sock knitting, and on designing. While I don't see me knitting many of the socks, there are some that I will :)

"The Elegant Knitter" by Gina Macris. First off, I noticed some errors in yardage needed. The patterns say something like 2 skeins, 108yds each. Then, a few lines down, the "total yardage" is given and it's some other number that seems randomly choosen. Two skeins of a 104 yd skein does not equal 334 yds. Even I can figure that out.
None the less, there are some nice patterns in this book! A neat felting technique, sort of like tie-dyeing, a short row scarf that's cute, some mitts, gloves, dog sweaters, etc. Not huge projects, but mostly nice. There's a couple where I shake my head, but perhaps I'm not elegant enough. There is a large techniques section, so even a beginner knitter can use the book.

100 Knitting Projects by...blame the dog. When I got this, I kept thinking that the sweaters on the front looked familiar, especially the model in the background. A LOT of the patterns are from Patons--from leaflets and booklets. A lot of the Patons models are used on the TV show "Cityline" because someone from Patons used to model on CityLine. Many of the other patterns are basics from Red Heart, Sirdar, LionBrand, and Twilley's. Now....I'm happy to have the Twilley's patterns after seeing them for years in the Ram Wools catalogues. However...there are no schematics and usually only one artsy photo, not always showing the whole item. But the biggest pet peeve of this book is how the yardage is given. Say, for a long red scarf in Patons Allure. They'll list "71 1/2 ounces of fun fur, scarf shown in Patons Allure, Ruby Red". Couldn't they even just say 20 1.75 ounce balls? Or give the yardage? I have no idea what 38 1/4 ounces looks like. Especially if you want to substitute--the weight of the yarn is meaningless, you need to know more about the length of the yarn. I can understand generic patterns that don't patronize a specific yarn, giving BOTH ounces and yardage, but the way this book does it is annoying. However, I know ALOT of crocheters substitute like this becuase they seem to work with very simliar acrylic yarns, and 43 ounces of Red Heart Worsted is going to be very similiar to 43 ounces of Patons Canadiana. But I'd just like to know how many balls as well so I don't have to convert first to grams, and then divide.....Oh...and then, back to Twilley's....I wanted to compare two patterns for tank tops using the same yarn. One pattern gave the requirement in ounces, one in grams!!! No schematics either. But, all in all, this is a good solid book with a wide range of patterns that would be great for a new knitter building up a library.

If you have any specific questions about the books, let me know!

Christmas Past, and Past, and almost Past

I started this in July/Aug 2005 for Huey. He knew I was making it, and sometimes asked when I was going to finish. Awhile ago, I thought it was time, and got out all the pieces. Somehow, while hiding in the bottom of the basket, the alligator ate his own leg. I was so ticked, I put him back in the basket. I finally decided to tackle the reptile and show him who's boss, and I finished him as a surprise for this past Christmas. I was really pleased with the buttons, although I'm not sure what the yarn tail hanging out is. Man, it took a lot to stuff this sucker though!!

It's a pattern from LionBrand. I used Homespun for one of the colours and Bernat .....something....I actually bought enough yarn for a slightly different coloured one for Lucy. Anyone want three balls of two different green Bernat yarns?

For new pictures, see here!

Not Christmas, but Winter

Argh. I asked Rob to download the recent pictures off the camera card last night and he did, but he started at one picture newer than the picture I actually wanted. So I wonder if that picture is hiding in some folder somewhere.

This is the 'winter' dress I made for Lucy and Megan. I was going to do a Christmas fabric, but thought they'd get more wear out of a winter fabric. Well, they've worn them to the two Christmas parties, and that's it! Lucy wants long sleeves.
Same pattern as the Hallowe'en dress. These ones actually have the button sewn on though!

This is a diaper cover to go over fitted diapers, made using PUL (polyurethane laminated fabric) and FOE (fold-over elastic) binding. I'm not getting a snap press, so I used very wide hook & loop tape. It's too big, but works good. I've since made two pocket diapers (a cover with an inside lining--one velour, one microfleece--with an opening to put in soaker pads), and a fitted flannel diaper that I'll show later cause I did something really neat with it. I do still knit! I'm just doing lots of little things like mitts, hats, finishing up old stuff....I've got two 'big' projects on the go that I'd like to finish up (okay, one is barely past the first couple inches), but instant gratification is calling me :)

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Not Christmas, but Still Old

I started working on these pajamas back in the fall (and I finished them just in time for the Chicken Pox in mid-Jan.). I bought a bit more fabric than the pattern said cause FabricLand flannel is not as wide as 'normal' brand flannel. But the cutting lady didn't know A) if I needed extra to allow for shrinkage compared to what the package said to get and B) how much extra to allow because it's narrower. So 'we' guessed. I washed it up right away, and got cutting pretty soon.
However....I knew this was a one way fabric but somehow forgot that when I laid out the pants pieces! Huey would NOT have upside down skulls on his pajamas. Not even when I said that if he looks down, then they're right side up. Argh. I cut more pieces the right way. Then, I laid out the top and found I could use the legs for the sleeves, but I'd still need a bit more fabric for the body of the shirt.

These are raglan sleeves, and from a knitter's perspective, it's done wrong. LOL. There is a seam on the top of the arm, neck to wrist, as well as under the arm. So each sleeve is two pieces. Perhaps this allow for better layout/less fabric when cutting, but it seems silly to add a seam where one isn't needed. You don't notice it in the patterned fabric, but you would on a solid.

The ribbed cuffs were another new thing. The instructions perplexed me, but I muddled through. For the pants, he likes the cuffs snug, so I wrapped the ribbing around and measured it that way. But for the neck (and sleeve cuffs), I just went with the pattern pieces. The neck turned out huge. I re-did it, and it's still pretty loose, but he actually likes that. LOL. I made a size 6-8 (he's 7 1/2), and they fit decently I suppose. He's actually smiling in the picture, and wore the pajamas for more than one night, all through the night, so I guess they're a success?

Pajamas have been a good way to practice sewing AND have an end result that's usable. I don't want to make pillows or purses or aprons; things I won't bother using, so these have been a good option. I highly recommend it for new sewers. The flannel is ALOT easier to work with than the rayon I used for the flowered dress in the fall! OMG, I thought I might never sew again!

More Christmas Stuff

Really, I'm not TRYING to stretch Christmas out as long as possible. Between chicken pox, colds, no naps, an 'import pictures' menu that is now MIA.....

I can't even remember what I"ve shown and what I haven't. I still can't find the awesome warm plum stripped mittens. I might rip apart the matching slightly felted hat and make more mitt/fingerless gloves with it. I made real mitts to go with the turquoise hat/almost mitts (so, I can wear a real mitt on the left hand, and an 'almost mitt' on the right hand, LOL). I've just made two "Thorpe" ear flap hats. I made Huey some mitts out of the black/grey/white yarn below, and a pair of mitts for Megan with Classic Merino in hot pink. And I thought I was being a good mom when I made mitts with 25% wool yarn before! Nothing but 100% wool for my kids now! Me, well, that turquoise was about 50% wool and the lack of wool is okay because the strand of glittery gold makes up for it, LOL.

Every year, the one side of the family does a gift exchange game. It gets very heated and exciting, LOL. I thought, this year, I'll make some clogs. The pink ones went over good on the other side of the family, and this side is even more appreciative. I used the Sean's Sheep Armytage from Wal-Mart, about two balls for the orangey pair, and a little over two balls for the white/grey pair. Uh huh. More for the smaller pair.

Felting is fun. Felting is not an exact science, and not for those who thrive on exactness. I made the orangey pair first, using the woman's large (9-10) size. They were a touch small on me, and although some of the girl kids have almost adult size feet (at age 8?!), the game is really for the adults. So, I thought, I'll make a pair using the man's large size, so they should felt down to be a ladies' large. Right?

Well....felting is fun.....they did turn out VERY thick and substantial. I used 8mm needles, just like I did with the Headwaters Wool pair from last year, and the Lopi pink pair from the other Christmas party. One strand. They aren't too fuzzy, almost a blend of Headwaters and Classic Merino. I'll use the yarn for felting again, but if I'm going to make clogs again, what size?! LOL.

Not Much New

Those mitts I posted two posts ago....so warm and cozy? I can't find them. I looked through our three baskets in the closet, and unless I'm confusing them with the matching hat, I can't find them! But I did get a pair of proper mitts made in the turquoise yarn that I made a hat and the 'half' mitts from.
I'm disappointed you can't see all the colours in that Baby Surprise Jacket photo. The one strand stays grey, the other one changes pink, white and purple.

I'm still really behind in posting my FOs.....even stuff from Christmas! I'm just doing little things for the most part, so they do add up quickly. And I got 9 books for my birthday!

And I really wanted to share more, but I don't remember what and Nina is coming to see Megan who is asleep, so I've got to clean!

Still Playing CatchUp

Did you know that the ASL sign for 'ketchup' is to make one fist, and whack it with the palm of the other? Oh, the things you learn when your kids have developmental delays :)

This here is a little Baby Surprise Jacket, hat, bootees and ball, all made with just under two balls of James Brett Marble. They are big balls, but a good deal at about $5.99. I like the slightly thick/thin texture, and how one ply stays grey while the other one changes colours (pink, purple and white). It is 100% acrylic, but I think in the greys especially, it does have a 'natural' quality to it. The pattern is pretty nifty too, although I'm not a fan of the seam along the top of the shoulder/arm. It makes the sleeves a little stiff.

The sweater had been done for awhile (except for sewing up and buttons), and then I decided to use up the leftovers to make a complete ensemble. It always takes me awhile to do the buttons! I did actually finish everything a little while ago (beginning of January?), but am just getting around to showing the pictures now!

This hat is called Cameron's Cap and is a free pattern. I altered it by using a bulky yarn and making the child's size, and I attached the hem when I got to that point instead of sewing it later. It's a little big on me I think. You do the hem, then shortrow, starting with about 6sts and working out to 2sts from either side of the 1/2 way marker and start marker (so, my size had 100sts, you work to 46st are in work). I was concerned about this because your ears are not placed directly center on your head (which is why after I made this hat, I did that other plum one that I felted a little). While it all works out, I didnt' like the way to works up to a V shape on the forehead, and my glasses get in the way. My mom however, really liked it but it didn't match her coat. I think it needs a little I-cord knot on top or something.

So, I made another one :) This time in Patons Decor. I started with a provisional cast on, but when I got to the row to join the hem, I couldn't get it even--either the front or the inside had 1/2 row too much or too little. Then I did the short rowing, but as I got near the end, I started working two more sts at one end of the shortrow but one st at the other end (and reversed it for the other earflap). This meant of course that there's not quite as many rows in the earflap as it should have, but I couldn't figure out how to get more rows but not go over into the other half of the hat. If someone figures it out, let me know. Maybe start with fewer sts at the bottom of the earflap--although I don't think the hem is flexible enough to bend around a steeper curve. If you picked up sts and did the hem after, that might work, adding in dec/inc around the curves of the earflap. These two pictures show the 'front' and 'back' (one side shortrowed 1 more st each row to almost the 1/2 way mark, the other side shortrowed 2 more sts each row. It's a very subtle difference as it ended up being only about 3 or 4 rows).

Also, the decreases happen rather quickly at the top of the hat (4 double decreases, every other row). Although I don't think this bothered me on the pink one, it seemed too pointy on the Decor one (although it could have been because my sts counts got really wonky). I ended up ripping back and doing 8 single dec on every row for the last few rows.

The first two pictures were taken with much difficulty using the self timer (after the bathroom mirror thing didn't work). This one was a last minute impulse before putting the camera away! I just held it out at arm's length and snapped, LOL. The yarn was pretty neat, it made really thick stripes in the section worked on all sts. The hat starts out going really fast, then you end up in stockinette land for awhile, and then finally you start the decreases, and they happen really fast! I'm thinking it could be done on the knitting machine, perhaps take it off to do the dec. section by hand.

There are still MORE finished object pictures to show!!

Here's the Mitts

Here's the mitts I made to go with the hat from a few posts ago. I'm not loving the hat so much anymore, but I'm loving, loving, loving the mitts. Except for driving and doing up carseats. LOL. Good thing I have more of the yarn to make another hat, and a pair of mitts like the turquoise ones! These mitts are SO warm. I can't believe how much warmer they are than the Decor mitts I make which have 25% wool. I don't think I can make mitts with less than 50% wool anymore!!

The first mitt got done quickly and easily. The second mitt had some issues...put on the backburner, the colour wasn't striping, I cut and restarted the yarn and then there was a knot, I messed up the decreases, etc. Why do I have MORE trouble with the second item of pairs? LOL.

Oh, and a bit more of the Mooloomooloo yarn (what the turquoise ones are) might have followed me home from Wal-Mart the other day....I wanted more of this Armytage that I did these mitts with, but they only had a similiar red/orange colourway, and a boring beige. I really hope they get more stock. They have another one, Malden, that has a high wool content (75% maybe) but it comes in solid colours (including a turquoise like the hat and mitt set), and it just looks so plain, LOL.

Ooohhh Baby!

I don't get too excited by knitting patterns too often. Yes, I do see lots of 'nice' patterns, and I do see lots of patterns that are very interesting but I won't knit, but I don't see a lot of interesting AND nice AND knitable.

Last week I took Huey to the library and I stopped by the knitting section. Somehow there was a new book there that I had never seen in the new book section at the front of the library!

"Greetings From Knit Cafe" by Suzan Mischer. The cover says "30 Original Designs Included" so I wondered what kind of knitting book it was if including patterns needed special mention. And, as I expected, just like any knitting book written by a yarn store owner, the yarns are all expensive yarn store yarns, LOL. But that never stops me!

It starts out rather ho-hum...a ribbed scarf, a beret, boxer shorts, hiking socks, plain sweater, a computer keyboard cover, a felted saddle blanket using 14 skeins of Kureyon (!), a plain afghan using 9 balls of Blue Sky Alpacas....and then I turn the page and see this little delight:

"Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater, or the best-fitting, no seam, reversible baby sweater".

It's actually on the baby in the picture backwards...the two triangle flaps have long ties that go around to the back. Tie in a bow for a girl, tie in a knot for a boy! I'm really close to ripping out the new Baby Surprise Sweater in stockinette (it's usually in garter st) that I started under peer pressure of a KAL two weeks ago. I find it hard to find boy sweaters--I love to do little lacey things, so boy sweaters are either cables or depend on the yarn or sweater design, and the James Brett Marble would look great for this one (depending on the gauge, I'll have to check). Oh, it's not totally seamless, but close enough.

There are some nice patterns in this book--some simple and classic, some more fashionable. There is the skirt on the cover, and two dresses. One is a pretty, frothy pale pink number, unfortunately, in the picture, the charming cake is in focus and the dress is a pink blur. There are schematics, but I like seeing photos of the items on their own. THere's also this dress:

If I had 8 hanks of Fiesta La Luz 100% silk and a chest suitable for a 36" finished measurement, I certainly wouldn't be wasting my time knitting this number! LOL. It's pretty, but I'm not sure it's suitable for leaving the house, let alone going to pick up the kids after school ;)

Check Your Weight!

I was winding some yarn last night. It's from a local yarn store, but you can get it online. It's great for felting--comes in lots of colours, several thicknesses, doesn't felt too quickly, and doesn't get too fuzzy when felting.
I had two balls of dark purple wound up when I noticed that one was larger than the other. Sometimes, depending on the speed setting of my electric ball winder, the balls can be tighter or looser than other times. So I thought I'd weigh them.
Ball 1 was 119g---the label gives 100g as the weight. Ball 2 was 91g! So, because I had two balls, I am ahead of the game by 10g, but that's 10%. If I had only bought the smaller skein, unknowingly, I could easily run out in a project. What if one skein had been SHORT by 19g instead of over? That's almost 20%! What if I decided to short-change them 20%?
I"m not about to complain this time, because I am in the advantage and I feel the extra 10g is a sort of 'pay off' for the aggrevation of having one ball be short. But you bet your double points I'm weighing each and every skein from there from now on....before winding them!

Cluck cluck cluck

Ever had one of those days/weeks/months when you think you have everything figured out, got your days planned and accounted for, everything is turning out the way it should.....and then THIS happens:

What's that? you ask....old fashioned chicken pox!

On Jan 2 or 3 I got a call from the mother of Dianna, a girl up the street who comes over after school to hang out/play with Lucy. Her brother, David, had chicken pox just before Christmas, but apparently Dianna had had a mild case when she was younger so her mother was worried/concerned. They played together on Dec 30 or Dec 31.

What can you do? You're contagious before you know you have CP. I couldn't quarentine the kids for the 3 week incubation period. On Sunday, Jan 13, Huey started to feel sick with a headache, sore throat and stuffiness. I thought it was strange that he'd show signs first.

Yesterday after school Lucy says she has a sore spot, near her ear. But during the night she woke up really upset saying her ear hurt. But she was pointing to a totally different spot--the spot in the top picture, where the shoulder meets the neck. It was a raw blister.

When I got them up this morning, Huey felt sick, Lucy didn't. I kept them both home. It's Megan's speech therapy day--we cancelled. We were supposed to go to a 'booster workshop' for Spirited Children but you can't take sick kids, LOL. Now, Lucy has quite a few spots on her back. At first, they looked like flea bites. A couple years ago when Lucy was in pre-school, we had a flea problems and they just loved her. One day, the director calls and asks why I sent my kid to pre-school with chicken pox. Ugh. I felt so bad having to say our dog got fleas!

In other news

A short row, sideways knitted hat using "Sean's Sheep" yarn from Wal-Mart. Just slightly less than one 75g/98yds skein of "Wooloomooloo" for the hat ($2.67). Whenever I have made this hat, I end up with a ....nipple at the top. I steamed the hat a bit, then put it on, pulled it down snug, and steamed some more! That would have made a good picture, me with the iron up to my head (in front of a mirror--I'm not totally blonde!). That really helped smooth out this yarn, which is a thick and thin 51% wool with a thin metallic strand wrapping the two plies.

These are the mittens to match. This pair took one ball too. But it's not adding up. The hat weighs 74g and the mitts weigh 69grams, and I have a tiny butterfly left. Oh well. I had the first mitt done and

was waiting to graft the top, when I saw these mitts. Because I had done a plain mitt, I ripped it back a bit before the shaping, and switched to 2x2 rib. They extend to the tip of my index finger. I can fold the ribbing back to expose my fingers, just like the originals.

For a change, I had decided to leave the thumb till after the rest of the mitt was done, so I finished the thumb off with some 1x1 rib.

I started each mitt with a provisional cast on at the bottom of the hand. I wasn't sure how far the yarn would stretch. Once I had both mitts and thumbs done, I separated the leftover yarn into two little balls--8g each. I really didn't think it would make a big enough cuff, but I couldn't get out to Wal-Mart to get more. I went ahead anyway, picked up the cast on sts and knit downwards, and surprisingly, it was enough! These mitts will be great, after losing my tipless gloves. I can fold them back to have total finger freedom. My gloves were a little bulky, even though my finger tips were free. And they were a little slippery on the steering wheel, LOL.

This crappy picture is a scarf I made to 'test' the ISM (Incredible Sweater Machine) I gave my parents for their birthdays. LOL. It's another Sean's Sheep yarn, "PennyRoyal" has about 50% wool. I noticed after I was done (when working on the knitting machine, you look at the purl side, so things tend to blend more), that it had created a strip pattern to some degree, which changed when I started the second ball of yarn. This took two balls.

One side was purple and blue, the other edge was turquoise and brown! It looks awesome with Lucy's coat, but it was intended to go with the hat from above. The yarn is interesting--different textures for each colour. Some of it was a little thick on the ISM, but we got through it. Again, some steam helped it open up and lay flat (I ribbed 8 sts on each edge) and smoothed out the texture.

And, believe it or not, I still have more finished object pictures to share! Lots of little projects were going on in December, I'm working on some bigger ones now!

ETA: What's the point of the preview function if what it shows is TOTALLY different than what the finished blog looks like?!

Recycled Bum Sweaters

Isn't that a great name? I went to our thrift stores and found two sweaters for myself, LOL, and two sweaters to felt for diaper covers. One is going to be too thick though. And then my mom gave me a pile of sweaters to cut up too! This was the first one, a 50/50 wool/acrylic, that felted quite nice, but is a bit on the thick side. I used the waist ribbing of the sweater for the back ribbing, but I think for other sweaters, I'll cut it so the waist ribbing goes around the whole diaper cover. I'm having trouble with sagging at the front:

I tightened up the elastic, but it's sagging, it might be even worse now (no photo). And it pouffs out above the front thigh. So, I don't know how to get a good fit. Maybe make the rise in front longer, and the front a bit wider, and try to have it stay up over her belly? All her pants slide down too!

Sad News

I have a sad update on the tipless gloves I loved so much. We went to Wal-Mart today, and crossing the lane before the store, I noticed a familiar shape in the slush....a glove with no fingertips. Kicking it over and stepping on it to remove some of the slush revealed that indeed, it was my beloved glove. The kids were quite amused, wanting to bring it home. It would probably wash up fine, LOL, being Patons Decor, but without the other one, what's the point? I have enough to make another pair, but why not embrace the change that was splashed on my boots and move on? Sob.

Socks

I was going to post about the matching mittens I made to go with the hat from yesterday, but I don't have a photo yet, so lets go with these instead:
My 'surgery' socks. Started May 29 on the drive down for surgery. Apparently I had the first one done in early July, thanks to all those evenings in the ER getting the IV antibiotics. But the second sock....I had too much on the go, lost a bit of interest, blah blah blah. Decided to take it on the cruise to get it done. Well, I did knit a bit on the flight down (on something else), but didn't do any knitting on the cruise until the last morning when we had to be out of our cabin by 7:15AM. I didn't write anything down about the first sock because I didn't know it was going to take me 6 months to finish them, and I figured I could just 'read' the first sock.

Every single section of cable on the second sock had to be ripped out because I 'read' the first sock wrong! I started with 3x3 cables with some purl sts and a knit st in between. After doing a few crossings, I tried it on and although it was good for my ankle, there was no way the sock would fit my calf. So, I travelled the outer st on each edge of the cable, outwards by one stitch and made it part of the ribbing, and then had 2x2 cables. I continued this up for a ways, then moved the outer sts over again and just had a tiny 1x1 cable (really, just a twisted st at that point I guess).

I also did a bit extra with the short row heel. These were done toe up, and when I finished the heel and was at one side, I knitted/purled back across the center number of sts (8? 12?--the number that you knit down to and then switch to getting bigger rows), then worked back across those center sts, then turned and worked back to the other edge, then turned and worked back across the heel and then kept going around the sock. It added a bit more depth to the heel. Never underestimate the power of 3 or 4 rows, even in sock yarn!

I purposely made the sock to be fraternal. I knew that if I didn't get them exactly the same, they would irritate me. So I made them off enough so it's obvious, but I did make both with the yarn going in the same direction this time, unlike the beige ones that I had made where one started with the outer end of the ball and the other started with the inner end.

These are Austermann Step yarn, the one with aloe and jojoba. I didn't get peeling on my cuticles like I do with other wool yarns, and they are very soft. I don't think they'd make any difference to your feet though unless you wore only these socks. I'd like to make some gloves though! But not a hat. Ewww.

Back to the Hat

ALrighty, sorry for the intermission, let's get back to what's important.

Those tipless gloves. I loved them. Made them last winter, wore them all the time. Apparently lost them on Boxing Day, either at Wal-Mart (Haven't checked) or Home Depot (Rob checked). But before that, I made a hat to co-ordinate with them (not matchy-poo!).

Here it is on the floor of the school gym while waiting for Lucy's Christmas concert to begin.

Not a great picture, is it?

Uh oh, with the new computer, I don't have to go to the editing software to re-save pictures as .jpg files, so I'm forgetting that some pictures need some editing! I was LOVING the hat.

Okay, I'm sure that one was vertical when it got pasted here.

I had made a hat just before this one that I really liked, but I had some issues with the design and the fit. I'll discuss that one next time. I casted on for the whole head, then short rowed starting with about 35% of the back stitches and adding one more each side until I was at 47% of the stitches. Because, I measured my head and my ears (and I'll bet, your ears too) aren't located exactly at the half way point. However, the angle is a little steep and my earlop still gets exposed. You'd think Canadians would evolve so that their ears would be covered by a simple toque style hat. I can fold up the longer portion for a cute look.

However, the hat is not very dense, and while it fits better than other hats, is not terrible snug--it slides around. So, even though I knew it would totally screw up the ear coverings, I decided to lightly felt it. Lightly. And I did (and considering what happened when I felted some clogs with this wool next....yikes!). Now the hat is more dense, but covers even less of my ears. And still slides around. But it's still cute! It's "Sean Sheep" from Wal-Mart, "Armatage" is the one. It's 100% single ply wool, 118yds (or maybe 108yd/118m), for $2.69!! Less than a ball for a hat!! Less than 2 balls for lady's clogs! Needless to say, they are almost totally out of stock now!

I was thinking of adding cords so that I could embrace my inner dork and tie it under my chin on those really bad days. When I pull it down, it does cover my ears, but it just won't stay! No one else ties their earflap hats though....

More hats to come.....I am on a quest for the perfect hat.

How Come

How come on the other blogs I'm doing, you can click on the pictures and they'll come up bigger, in a new window, but that doesn't happen with this old blog?

I Really Like(d) This Hat

Okay. Everything I want to post about has pictures still on the Memory card and I don't feel like downloading them/editing. I have this glove picture above because I was going to write about them and a hat and mitts....but now I can't delete the picture. I try left clicking--it adds the little squares around the picture. I right click, those squares go away, and 'cut' is greyed out in the box of options that shows. Mmmm....





Anyway, lets go with this post instead:

This is a dress I made for Rob's work Christmas party. I used New Look 6557, view B, without the tie belt. I thought I'd be able to wear a bra under this one (but the straps didn't line up right). This is the same pattern (used view A then) I used for the flowered dress I took on the cruise--the one that was too big in the back and was way too hard for an "Easy!" pattern.

This time I used a flocked taffeta from FabricLand, $6.99/m (and I get the club discount on top of that). Used about 2.5m so it was very economical. Most of the fabrics I looked at were $25/m!! When I saw this one, I thought it was too red, but at the cutting table it looked more burgandy so I went with it instead of black. It was a little stiff, but washed up nice, although it is still noisy, LOL, and wrinkles (not crumply wrinkles, but wrinkles from being folded up on the edge of the table inbetween work sessions). This fabric made making the dress a WHOLE lot easier and enjoyable.

My biggest issue--the straps. They are long and skinny (continuing up from the bodice to the back in one piece). It was hard to keep the fabric straight while cutting, and then I had some sewing issues (you cannot easily understitch the lining when both edges will be seamed to the lining! I guess that's why it didn't say to understitch the edging!).

I can't get the bottom inner edge of the bodice cups to look like the picture on the pattern. I felt that you shouldn't need 2 1/2 inches of ease in the bust of this type of top, but perhaps I needed a bit more than what I have. The one that overlaps in particular does not lay flat.

The other fit issue is the sides of the bodice. I didn't take the time to measure myself much, but I know I'm short waisted. I figured it wouldn't matter much with this style--that the wide bodice waist would make my middle look longer. However, there was sagging at the side seams. At first, I took it in a little, more off the back than the front. This helped, but not enough. Then I thought about the issue, and realized that the skirt was not as high up as it should be, even though it's not tightly fitted, it still showed that it wasn't fitted right. I ripped out those bits of seams and took a bit off the bodice waist, and that helped. To totally eliminate that bulging at the sides, I'd have to totally take it apart and resize the back pieces and the waist piece, and figure out what that does to the hem...

I did do the zipper twice. I was trying to be careful and picky the first time, but I realize that if the first step is not the best, there's no way to improve it later; it goes downhill. The second time looked GREAT! I do have an issue with what to do with the top of the zipper and the lining. The instructions say to fold the zipper tape over the back, but that was really bulky. And I found it really hard to keep the zipper stitching straight at the top when the zipper thingy gets in the way and spreads it out. But it looks okay somehow. I wore it proudly and comfortably, although I did need a shawl, LOL.

I'll probably give another view of this dress a try, in a heavier, non-slippery fabric again. They do suggest satin, but OMG. How do you sew satin? LOL.