The Power of Four

Grumperina might not like four (I can't believe she's been knitting for only four years. I remember when she first started and we 'met' through about.com. Gosh, I wish I had started knitting AFTER the internet took off!), but it does have some important qualities. It's pretty important when it comes to socks and mittens, for one.

I'm calling these intermission socks. I actually had a time, back in May, when I didn't have much on the go, knitting wise. My mom's secret sweater was just not working, I had the Montego Bay scarf, but that was ho-hum, a few other little things. I had just gotten two sock books and there were a few patterns using Cascade Fixation. I was currently using it to make a Zaftig (http://www.knitty.com/) and thought "I"ll just whip up a pair of socks to finish off some of this Elann version of Fixation." I really wanted to use up this verigated yarn, but it was less than two balls. I had a lilac colour that was supposed to 'go with' it, but elann's idea of 'go with' isn't the same as mine. That's happened twice now. The pattern I wanted to do, I checked out on Ravelry.com and decided I didn't like it in the verigated yarn. So, I just used the suggested needle size and number of sts, casting on from the toe. It was too big. I think it started with 56st, and I ended up using 48sts. The first one went fine; I did it up through the heel (a short row heel, even though I don't like them, I figured the stretch would help; and I added an extra three short rows at the top of the heel). Then I started the second one, just before my knitting group headed off on a road trip.


I got a little way up the foot of the second one, and thought "Hey, it's striping differently, even though it's the same ball of yarn." I did a few more rows. It kept striping. I counted sts. I had only 44sts. Four can be a powerful number with striping yarns!

You can see where I added the missing four sts (I think I did it over two rounds to spread it out a bit), and the subsequent change in pattern. It's the sock on the left up top. I don't mind it. They are very short, basically ankle socks, and very strange feeling, but nice for the summer as my slippers are very worn out and I don't feel like making myself a pair of felted wool clogs right now. Despite trying to avoid ladders by knitting one more stitch on to each needle, there are very visible ladders up both socks, but not just one ladder; there's two ladders separated by one stitch. What's up with that?!
(BTW, I've had these done for almost a month!)

When Babywearing Ends....

Ever have those times when everything is going along just perfect, and then suddenly a whole bunch of unexpected projects just 'have' to be made? A few weeks ago, I had only a couple projects on the go, and a few more waiting to start. Life felt balanced, predictable.
Then, I saw a cute little knitted elephant on another blog.


I showed it to Lucy who insisted on having one immediately. Sure, it's a quick little project...except for running to Wal-Mart for the poly-beads, doing laundry, cooking, night owl toddlers....It's almost done and I'll post it soon.
Then, on the Yahoo LK150 group, Ray mentioned he designed a new hat, so I checked it out. No pattern, but he said it was coming, so I checked again a few days later, and he was asking for pattern testers. I was the first to respond! So, last week and last weekend, I knit up two tuck stitch hats. The first one took about 5 days, the second, maybe 5 hours, LOL. I send him photos and he wiped out Meg's cute face, LOL, and posted the first hat picture. It was supposed to be adult size, but there was a little tension issue. You should go check out Ray's site, he dyes some beautiful yarns and is a success story after Hurrican Katrina. This is the second hat I did with the revised pattern, and it fits Rob. When it's on a human, the top is NOT that pointy!



Then I remembered my self-promise of knitting a dishcloth on the machine after each project, so I had to whip up a quick one, and I used a similiar tuck stitch. I haven't used the LK150 in a long time, the Singer 327 took it's space. It's such a nice machine to use....more sophisticated than the KnitSmart/Bond, but not as scary as the Singer 327. The KnitSmart is hibernating, LOL.
Okay, now for the reason for the title today. It's all Sandra's fault. I was reading her blog, and she posted a link to someone else's. I went there to see a pattern, but started scrolling down through her blog. Up came a CUTE little dress that instantly reminded me of my favourite babywearing wrap:
I followed the links and started looking at the thread on Craftster. I'm up to page 30 or so out of 123 pages, LOL. I dug through my fabric stash. I have some stretch velvety stuff with an interesting pattern, but it seems too wintery. I have a burnout velvet, but the burnout parts are stripes and I think they'd show too much ;) I have some grey interlock, but less than what the pattern called for, so I didn't want to start cutting it. Then I pulled out this wrap. I know we looked crazy, with her facing out, but it was much more comfy than a Snugli (because she's held closer to my body), and with her facing it, it was always a delight to carry her.
But, she grew. I've been holding on to it, hoping to find someone else who would understand the thrill of a stretchy wrap, but not mind it being handmade, not store bought (not like the Moby D I bought Rob's co-worker, who a few months later told me she wasn't able to figure out the 'rope sling').
I'm still too emotionally attached to this wrap! Then, I found another rectangle of the fabric--I thought I had Freecycled the leftovers! The rectangle would be enough for a skirt, not as full as the original dress, but still nice. The wrap is made with two 2.5m pieces, overlapped by a foot. I took it apart, and sliced one of the pieces so it was half as wide.
I made the skirt with an elastic waist instead of a band, and stitched the two long pieces onto it. Those pieces aren't as long as the original either, but they work:
This way makes me look a little busty, I think. And, it can get a little revealing on the sides, LOL. I think my straps need to be a little wider. This way, below, is like the blog I linked to. It's a little more covered and secure, and how I have it on today! I already have fabric for the next one! You can also make a top if you're not into dresses.

It would have been a great dress for the cruise...the size is very flexible, LOL. Stay tuned for more photos of the next one!

Thanks!

Last night I was thinking more about the Noro and that there had to be an aran weight yarn with the same sort of rustic qualities to go with it. I remembered one! Then, this morning, I had a surprise phone call from my knitting friend Cindy! Now, if anyone knows Noro, it's Cindy--the original Noro 'ho! LOL, just kidding, Cindy is one of the sweetest, funniest moms I know, frequently surprising me with some story that you just would not expect from the soccer mom image ;) Add to that the unique way we met and re-met and that our daughters birthdays are days apart and they both have unique, old-fashioned type names....Well, I think Cindy owns enough Noro to open her own yarn store! And, many of the books too!
She suggested three yarns, one was Patons Classic Merino which I know is paired alot with Noro, but I find it's very different and the gauge is off slightly (just like the elann yarn I bought). But her third suggestion was the same as my latenight brainstorm---Peace Fleece! I can get it 'local', it's rustic looking texture and colours, and it's quite economical. It is a 2ply I think, instead of a single like Noro, but that's okay. While I'm thinking about Camilla Valley Farm there's also Lopi Lite that might be an option. Cindy also suggested a pattern "Hacky Sack Hoodie" from Son of Stitch and Bitch. It's a great hoodie, with a wide section of Noro above the kangaroo pocket, up to almost the neck. Because it's knit in the round, the stripes turn out thin, making it look like you used a lot of separate colours. She said she also read to start the Noro at a colour similiar to the main colour, so the join blends in more! Awesome idea!
Peace Fleece is often used to make soakers---diaper covers or pants to go over cloth diapers. I keep thinking I'm going to knit one, and had hoped to have some PF left over from the cream afghan I made so I could Kool Aid dye it. Potty training is coming along, some good days, some wet days, LOL, but all my kiddos are night wetters, so if Meg would just stop growing for a bit so her cloth diapers will still fit and I don't have to sew more, then we could use soakers at night for a while.
Anyway, what I'm going to do, is knit up a full skein of the Noro on the knitting machine, so I can see the colours properly; then go up to Camilla one afternoon when Meg's not napping!

Thanks Cindy!

Noro

I have 5 skeins of Noro Kuryeon, from last Sept's K-W Knitter's Fair. I want to do something significant, but there's not enough for a sweater. I don't want another felted purse (I have 3 waiting for handles). I don't want to 'waste' it by making one skein projects. I mean, I could make a hat, scarf, mitts, and fingerless gloves, and it wouldn't be truely matchy-poo, but I don't think it's enough of a statement considering I have 5 balls. I have a couple of one skein shrug patterns I'm thinking about, but that leaves me with 4 balls, and if I'm having a hard time finding a pattern for 5 balls....and they are knit neck down, so it doesn't do anything marvelous for the striping. I could make a slightly smaller Clapotis, but would I feel like I'm wearing a blanket? I could make another W tank, but do I want an Aran weight wool close fitting tank (the pattern is written for wool I believe)?
I want something that shows off the striping. It makes a great BSJ, but I don't know any babies that I'd want to knit a BSJ with Noro for. A sideways knit shrug? I have a couple patterns but they are lace and that might be conflicting.
Mmmm....I have 4 "nieces" who would look cute in little shrugs.....

I have another batch of Kuryeon, I think 4 balls. I was using it to make a cardigan---either side of the front done sideways and sewn to the rest of the body knit regular. It took a lot of effort to find a complementary yarn (and doing the math), but I wasn't totally happy. I used one of www.elann.com 's alpaca/wool or something. It was too smooth and commercial looking next to the Noro. Can anyone recommend another yarn? I'm still going to finish up something with those two yarns, and I suppose I can do the same thing with the newer Noro. Although I kinda like the idea of shrugs for the girls, and one for me. Any other ideas? On one hand, I'm feeling greedy; I really like the newer Noro's colours (pinks/purples/oranges), but I know it'd look great on the girls, although the wonderfulness of the Noro would be lost on them, LOL. They'd be just as happy with that Sean's Sheep Armitage I used a lot last winter. Which I have more of......

Stop It!

People who haven't seen Meg in awhile are surprised at how big she's gotten. I know she's been growing like crazy, but the proof is in the pictures!

These two pictures were from mid-December. The following is today, almost 6 months after the top two pictures.

(No, actually Lucy's shoes DO NOT fit her, but she wanted to dance, LOL). She's grown 4-5 inches (mostly in the leg, I guess) since Christmas. She's now almost 38" tall and about 35lbs. No wonder she's wearing the clothes Lucy wore when she was 3-4. She totally skipped the 18-24 month clothes (by the time I got the size 2 box out, she was JUST fitting in it). No wonder people think I'm crazy to still be wearing her on my back! I think I might have to make a taller body Mei Tai, LOL.

What happen to my little peanut, who wasn't even 19lb on her first birthday?

Socks!

If you read only this blog of mine, I'd like to invite you over to my other 'non-knitting' blog (link in the sidebar) to read a couple posts I've written lately. Scroll down to the one from June 10 first, then read June 11. I promise, it's not about natural birth or breastfeeding!

Lately (like, since last October), I've been wanting a pair of blank handknit socks. Just plain black. I emptied out my sock yarn drawer and found ONE ball of black sock yarn; I think I bought it to make Fake Fair Isle socks, and it's not enough for a pair.
Here's my sock yarn drawer: Sadly, most of it is pretty ho-hum, commercial sock yarns. I have a LOT of Kroy 3 ply from when they discontinued it, and a few balls of other commercial sock yarns, but not much in the category of STR, or LL or other 'indie' yarns. I have a lot of OLD pattern books that use Kroy sock yarn (from before there was a 3 and 4 ply versions), and keep planning to make some, but when it comes time to pick one pattern, none of them speak to me. I decided on the grey Kroy 3 ply as it was close to black. For a pattern, I chose ribbed lace from "Sensational Knitted Socks" by Charlene Schurch. In the picture on page 50 they are sort of lacey, in the unblocked picture on page 54, they are not lacey at all. But on the feet:

Exactly what I wanted!! A simple lace that didn't look like I had taken a vertical lace pattern from a stitch book. They remind me of Potonomus (sp?! Knitty is really slow right now cause the summer issue has just been launched). They're lacey, but not fussy. They are taller than my socks are usually---partly because the ribbed cuff was too big for them to be lower socks, LOL. I used 64sts with 2.75mm needles, and I can see on the sole that I could have used slightly smaller needles. They do slouch a little, but I haven't minded. I wore them hiking in the rain, in sandals, and they were awesome! Yes, Kroy is not as soft as a 100% merino, but they will last forever, LOL.

I did make them top down as I had lots of this colour (I had bought lots to teach a sock knitting class that involved making tiny baby 'work' socks!), and I really prefer the classic heel flap. The great thing was, as the pattern was pretty logical, I could work on these at various times/places, and I got alot done while Megan slept in the truck after her speech therapy/library story time afternoons. They worked up SO quickly compared to other socks that languish in the basket for months, LOL. Sure, I'm still not as fast as Wendy but really, that's okay and why won't the link highlighter stop? I've got other Kroy socks in the works now, but still no basic black!!

No More Ideas?

I bought a skein of beautiful mohair (smooth)/wool at Wellington Fibers on Saturday during our knitting road trip (more about that later). It's lace weight and beautiful, but under 700yds. Pictures will come; I'm in a rush right now.
I have been thinking so hard what I want to do. I want a triangle shawl. But what? I've come to realize that there's basically three types 1)all over pattern, usually smaller scale motif (like the Flower Basket Shawl), maybe an extra border 2)bands of patterning 3)motifs that blend seamlessly into each other (like doilies).

I've done #1, and I've done #2 as baby blankets. But trying to find #3 as a triangle shawl....particularly as a free Internet pattern or single download pattern.....not easy! I toyed with doing my own banded design, maybe one pattern for much of it and then a deep border band of something else. But to me, it always looks like the designer/knitter got bored of the one pattern and started something else...unless it's blended REALLY well; and you just don't find that in free patterns. I don't have time to really design a #3....grafts and charts and swatches....
I thought about doing a #1 shawl....but I like larger motifs and they're a little harder I think to work with. And, it's the edgings that really make those stand out. Again, the #2 idea just wasn't calling to me.

I was flipping through IK Spring 2006 and came across the pattern for that scarf I started last summer that I haven't been too enthused with. I like the pattern, but doing something like 5 feet of it will bore me to death. I thought, hey, I could do it as a triangle shawl instead maybe. But it sure would be nice someday to publish my own designs....

Then I was browsing Knitspot's shop and got really annoyed with myself that I let myself start the Montego Bay scarf with my precious skein of Sea Silk. It really is an easy pattern, and it's nice to have it to tote around, but the yarn is so special it deserves more and I could just as easily be making a scarf like hers.

I've been looking through my stitch dictionaries a lot to find a lace pattern for a particular sweater pattern and haven't found anything like that dayflower tank/camisole I posted earlier. So, I'm looking in one book and there's two fairly large scale lace designs that I've always wanted to do something with. One has really nice diagonal lines with motifs scattered throughout. More on that in a second. I knew the last place I needed to look for ideas was Sivia Harding's site as I have always wanted to make the Diamond Fantasy shawl (and gee, being short, I could get a small shawl out of the Sea Silk!). While browsing around, I found this stole pattern. Yup, that's the pattern from my stitch dictionary I wanted to use, but as a stole instead of a triangle. Maybe I could morph the Montego Bay scarf into this, depending on the stitch count.....

While studying music, there was often a heated discussion about whether or not we would ever run out of truly unique/new musical ideas/compositions/motifs. Sometimes I feel this way with knitting too.

Some Quick Info

Barb (Catbookmom) wanted to know more about sizing the BSJ. I rarely knit baby items for specific babies, so I just take whatever size it ends up. The original pattern says it's a size 3 months if you get 5 st/inch (if memory serves me right). There is a chart at http://babysurprise0.tripod.com/index.html if you scroll down on the home page that gives you what every gauge would turn out to be sizewise. I did start to knit one using bulky yarn, but that REALLY eats up yarn and turns out big, so I don't recommend it (again, someone though has done the math and created their own bulkyknit version that works out to a baby size. I might actually do that one next).

I have more finished stuff to post later....but once I do, there might be a dry spell for a bit, LOL, so I want to spread things out. But I am working on socks, Cleo Tank top, and a Zaftig modified to be a bit more modest and involving fabric. None of those are close to finished so I don't want to use up my finished objects long before I have something more, LOL.

Not So Slow Knitting

Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Sweater/Jacket is a legend. Clever construction means it's pretty hard to make it look ugly. Recently, a member of the Yahoo group Knitbabysurprise (Meg Swansen is in this group, so it's THE group to be in, LOL), converted the original garter stitch version to stockinette. This changes the ratio of the increasing/decreasing, because garter stitches are nearly square, and stockinette stitches are not. He did a super job, and if you have the original pattern and would like to try this version, email me/leave a comment, and I'll direct you to his blog where he gives his version.



I originally cast on for this in the middle of 'big project boredom' in February or so...oh, just checked....the KAL started in early January and I was determined to actually 'knit along' this time! But I came to my senses and realized I had to finish that big afghan, so this sat in my basket for awhile. When I finally got it out (early May?) I counted the sts to find out what row I was on, and nothing was adding up. So I frogged it, and started over.


It's James Brett Marble, totally acrylic, but still a very nice yarn. This little sweater took slightly less than one (100g) skein. The garter stitch version took more than one skein which is why it got matching hat and bootees. It went surprisingly quick. Baby sweaters always surprise me at how quickly they knit up, it's just the button buying that gets me down.


Just as I got to the button band, the sweater decided it would be a pullover. Okay, I said, no buttons to buy! However, I'm not sure the neck is big enough to go over a baby's head, LOL!

When I did the casting off, I was sure I had figured out how to stitch up the bottom to make it even, but something went wonky, and there's a big scallop at the front middle. Also, I'm not too sure about the section that looks like a buttonband in the middle. I knew I didn't have that result when I made the first version, but not until I got it out did I realize that I hadn't done the extension section, but to make it longer, after I grafted the front middle, I joined the bottom and worked in the round. I'd do that again next time.
(It still needs buttons on the shoulders, and I think I made this one July 2007).


As mentioned, the inc/dec sequence changes for stockinette, and you end up increasing in the same spot for three rows at a time. Usually I do a 'Make 1' by knitting in to the back of the strand, but when you do that for more than one row, it gets too tight (upper right part of the increase line). What I changed to instead was to increase (M1), yarn over, knit center st, yarn over, M1. In the next row, the increase is made in the yarn over (and you do another yarn over). This gives a little more slack for the make one on the next row. For the last inc row, and the next plain row, you don't have to do the yarn overs, as the first of the three inc rows can just use the strand between sts as normal.

I have big issues with seaming up the sleeves of these jackets. I thought, this time, because you're seaming rows to stitches, it'd be like sewing in a sleeve to the body of a regular sweater---three sts to four rows. But that didn't work out, and it ended up almost st to row. And the seam rolls (?) towards the back. But, maybe once on it's okay; I've never seen one actually on a real live baby, LOL.

I'll definately do this vesion again. It shows the colours of self striping yarns better than garter stitch (I think that's why he worked out this version). And it takes less yarn than the garter st version, LOL!!

More Slow Knitting Results

According to a previous entry, I started these socks in early June (the post is June 14 2007).
This is another good example of how if I would just knit 'proper' patterns, with the 'proper' yarn, I might have more projects finished and wearable! And, considering that they've been done since March, another example of how it's not the actual knitting that's slow, it's the blog posting!

The yarn is Kroy Socks, and I wanted a 'fake Fair Isle' type of sock. However, I didn't want much on the foot, so did simple stripes (I really didn't want stranded knitting--a double layer--on my foot). Then I did the heels (these were toe up, if you didn't read the post about casting on with 'Magic Loop'). I realized that the verigated yarn had very short colour bursts, and it wasn't going to give me the look I wanted.

So, I worked on the second sock, and then stopped for awhile. Actually, I had stopped for awhile before starting the second sock too, LOL. I finally picked a motif from "1000 Great Knitting Motifs" by Juise Roberts. I made some alterations to the design. I found that I didn't want many sts together of the coloured yarn because each colour only did a stitch and a half (or two), and I felt that really made it look NOT like Fair Isle. Originally, I thought I would need longer runs of the coloured yarn so it would stand out, but that's not an issue. THe cuffs were alternating rows of the two yarns, I think, to stretch one of the yarns out as it was running short.

Yes, there is a difference in the feet. Creative license. The crazy thing is, when I set them down after being partway through the second foot, and picked them up again, I noticed that one sock had a 3mm circular needle, and the other had 5 dpn....but not all the same size! I couldn't remember what size they were supposed to be, so I never bothered to fix that, LOL (although I suppose I could have read my own blog). Really, there's not much difference between 2.75mm and 3mm. However, I do feel the section on the feet where it is a mini-checkerboard! And, they are not nearly as soft and lovely as the Step socks or the other socks I made recently.

But hey, they will wear forever, LOL. And, I bought the yarn and used it up in slightly over a year!

One Reason I Seem Slow!

Early in the spring, I decided Meg needed a new hat. Something not as warm as a winter hat, but not a sun hat either. Something to keep the wind out of her ears when we walk to the school. We tried a few hats from the 'sale/gift bin' and this one looked so cute, but a little small. It was made using a small version of Feather and Fan (like, a 8 st repeat I think), and many small bobbins of leftover acrylics in pale pinks, peaches and whites. It might have been done using the Helix method (Grumperina recently had a great series of posts on using Helix stripes for socks). I decided to go with blues, to match her coats. But it was a doomed project from the start. I couldn't get the pattern to work out. It was too small. I had brain farts when counting sts and remembering how many I was supposed to have. It's a 4 row repeat, and I was using 4 colours, which meant that the ridge row was ending up showing the same two colours each time. But that suddenly changed for some reason. Then, awhile further, I purposively changed it up again. But it still didn't have the subtle, sweetness of the pinkish hat.
Then the weather got very warm. Can we say it together "Rip-it, Rip-it, Rip-it" off to the Frog Pond it went. Then the weather got cool again. Sigh.

Not Exactly How a Knitting Machine Works....

......but still really cute and funny. I've always liked Pingu, and this video is hilarious in it's stereotypes and ignorance, LOL. I lOVE how the items come out of the machine with pom poms already attached!!!

Thanks!

Thanks Marie for the link. That is indeed the pattern I was looking for. Rob installed something on the computer to 'fix' Vista, and I think the bookmarks are working better now.

Now, I just have to figure out a different upper bodice and sleeves. Oh, and get measurements. Oh, and some 'free' time would be nice. Anyone know where I can get some of that?

What Is This?

I emailed this picture to my mom, and now can't remember where I found the pattern. It might be in my long list of bookmarks, in the "Patterns" folder, but quite often the internet freezes up when we use the bookmark menu. I think the lace pattern/pattern name is something about Daylily. Does anyone recognize it? I might have found it through the Sexy Knitter's Club.

Really, I AM a Fast Knitter

You'd never think so, given how long it takes me to finish projects, but I can knit at a decent speed. It's the little things that slow me down. Like, starting other projects. Designing my own but not keeping notes....

According to this handy blog, I had almost the front done (scroll down, it's after the MP3 issue) in late May, 2007 (from yarn bought August 2006), but ran into an issue with the neckline. I'm not sure when I did the back, but probably before I had done the front (so it would help with planning the neck line). It sat in my basket, just needing the shoulders seamed and the sleeves picked up and knit down, for the longest time. I toyed with the idea of doing the sleeves on the KnitSmart, but if you drop a stitch, you CANNOT see it! Finally, back in March, I got back to it, praying it would still fit Lucy!

The yarn is Bernat LuLu---something I had always wanted to buy for my own LuLu. It's very soft---it looks like Sirdar Snowflake, but feels MUCH softer. You need to use larger needles for it but it knits up airy and loose/stretchy. In reading back in that other post about the front, I see that I had planned to add a hood! That would certainly let Lucy know which is the front and back easily, LOL. She also doesn't care when it's inside out.

I still have 3+ balls left (almost 4 balls, and there might be another 4 ball bag of it downstairs). I could make one for Megan, but really, I've had enough of LuLu. It's nice and all, but once is enough. If it would work better on the machine I'd whip up some blankets, but I'm not sure it'd be worth the hassle of dropped stitches. If anyone likes this yarn, let me know if you'd like some more :)

Updates

Surprised by my mitten find, Rob decided to go back to where he thought he lost a glove and take another look. Sure enough, it was there! However, I will admit to this: I cleaned out the boxes of mitts/hats/scarves, and put together all the matching mitts. There were a few odd ones, which I kept in a bag for a couple weeks (a month or two?). Finally, I knew I'd never find the other red fleece one (my kids had never even worn them; they were hand me downs), so I THREW it out. Uh huh. Guess what I noticed one day last week in the basement? Uh huh.

On another positive find note....Years ago Rob gave me gold hoop earrings, a twisted rope design. Subtle, classic elegance. I wore them all the time, with all sorts of outfits. After being at my parents just before New Year's, I had a shower, and my scrubby cloth got caught in one earring. After my shower I noticed I had only one earring!! We searched down the vent, all over, etc, but it was gone (we thought maybe it flung into the toilet). I was really upset. He gave me new earrings for Valentine's Day, and I REALLY appreciated that as he's not a jewellry-buying type of guy. But they weren't the same :(

This past Friday my parents came to help me re-decorate the bedroom to surprise Rob....and guess what my Dad found on their lawn? Yup, my precious earring!!

So, I can still say that I never really lose things :)



Anyway...more knitting....
This is a machine knit version of the Cameron Cap that I made earlier this winter. I used the same Sean's Sheep Armytage wool as the hat I loved before Christmas. I don't know why the above picture is so bizarre, but the next one is fine. I still have issues with the fact this pattern assumes your ears are located exactly at the 9 and 3:00 positions. Other earflap hats have the flaps moved just slightly to the back. I like the idea/concept of the hat but not the fit. I also changed a little to try to fix this, but wound up with some strange puckering of the bottom of the earflap, out over the knitted hem. When laid flat, it looked like this:


Mmmm....that looks a lot like the top of a FiberTrends felted clog. Although the moving in off sts every 4th row as you decrease up the top of the clog would be annoying, could you not knit the top and soles separately and then join? (The soles are garter stitch, with lots of increasing; not practical on the machine).

Another hat and fingerless gloves in Wooloomooloo (Sean's Sheep). You can't see the gold strand in the photo above, but you can below. The set was made with just two balls, only a few inches left I think. To do that, I made the gloves first because they are very similiar to the turquoise ones I made already so I knew fairly closely how much yarn to use up. They could be a smidge longer over the fingers, if I had had a third ball. I find it hard to fold back the 2x2 ribbing; there's not enough and it's cast off a little snug so it wouldn't flare. The hat I started at the top; it had a couple rough starts and ended up with 7 increases across the rounds instead of 8, LOL. It's a 1x1 rib. Here is one of the Thorpe earflap hats I made. I had to ask on Freecycle for some yarn to do the crochet edge and braids. I couldn't find the same yarn (Patons Portage; discontinued ages ago), so I rigged up some black Homespun (the lady thought), with fine strands of baby yarn in lilac and purple. It blended in quite fine. The Portage is one strand charcoal, one strand that changes from white to lilac to violet.
I forgot I had this wighead in the basement. Meg does NOT like it, LOL. But it sure is easier to photograph than setting the self-timer or asking Lucy to do it :)

Fashion Help

The problem with getting 'old' is that fashion starts repeating itself, and sometimes, you just don't want it too. I see alot of tank tops this winter, worn layered over blouses and t-shirts. I've already done this fashion years ago (okay, a little more than 2 decades ago, gulp). So whenever I try to layer a tank top over something, I feel that I'm either wearing a shirt under the tank because I forgot some personal hygiene that morning, or because my wardrobe is so sad that I'm trying to wear summer clothes in the winter. Anyone have any hints or tips or similiar issues?

But I would really love to wear my Lotus Blossom tank, and this W tank. I'm not overly in love with this though. Remember the great dye misfortune and how this was supposed to be shades of brown? I think I would have really preferred that. The green doesn't 'go' with anything I have. I don't think I can make pants to go with it, I don't wear skirts enough.... it just doens't quite look like I envisioned (I really wanted to be the skinny model in the pattern pictures). If I ever find a better yarn in the right gauge, I might try it again. Or, maybe I should not have a short 5 year old take the picture? Maybe it's the triple chins that are bothering me more than the actual tank top? LOL.

I actually had this all finished and wearable early last fall; that's how you know for sure I'm not in love with it; I hesitated on blogging about it for so long!

No Kittens in this House!

I often say that I never actually lose things. They might get misplaced....often for very long periods of time, but rarely is something gone for good. I was just beginning to think that my plum stripey mittens were gone for good though. I half expected to see someone around town wearing some cozy plum mitts, LOL.

Then, on April 1st---April Fool's Day---I parked in my usual parking spot about a block from the school. The snow was finally melting back from the curbs. As I was getting Megan out of the truck, I noticed something plum coloured in the snow. At first I thought it might be my other tipless glove (the ones that got lost at Wal-Mart), but I quickly realized it was my mitt. I looked around but couldn't find the other one. I got the kids, and had Huey look around. He is VERY good at spotting things (unless you say "Look at the giant white cruise ship on the small blue lake" LOL). He noticed that there was a mitt inside the mitt in the snow! They were very much stuck to the icey snow. We tried again on Tuesday to get them out. The snow had melted all around the mitts, but thanks to the wonders of wool, they were stuck to a patch of ice, LOL. On Thursday, Huey was the only one wearing winter boots, and he was able to kick the ice blob free from the dirt. I've left the mitts on the front porch, but the ice hasn't melted off of them yet (it's shady). I think a gentle wash and they will be good as new. We had some snow today, but hopefully that is it!!

To my non-family knitter friends.....click on the link to my other blog to see what Megan did!

Christmas is Over!!

The long awaited finale to Christmas 2007! I kept postponing posting this because some new photo issues/new computer things have been happening, and indeed, today when I went to download the pictures, the computer suddenly downloaded ALL the photos on the card....over 500 pictures, most of which had already been downloaded. Then, I had to go find WHERE the computer put them! FOr some reason, the computer has been making a new folder in Lucy's 5th Birthday folder, and importing all new pictures there (a new folder each time we try to download). So I decided I might as well sort those folders out right now while I'm here and not too distracted, LOL.
This is the Spring Blossoms Shawl by Fibertrends. Make with 5 skeins (1000 yds!) of Peace Fleece in Antarctica White. By the end, each skein was only knitting up about 15 rows, and the repeat is 16 rows. But the yarn is fairly economical, has a great story, and washes up beautifully. I used 6mm needles, and had to borrow some from a Freecycle friend--in the end, I think I had 4 sets of circular needles in use! In progress, spread out on the mini-trampoline. I was hoping it would only need 4 skeins and I could do other things with the 5th one, but no.....I was basing this on the Hemlock Ring afghan that's so popular. I was going to make it, but I'm just not a fan of Feather and Fan, and it just didn't seem 'right' for the receiver or the yarn.

It also took alot longer than the 30-40 hours reported for the Hemlock Ring!
Lucy's artistic shot while I was trying ot decide if it would block out big enough, LOL.

This is it spread out on my bed just before I blocked it

Rob cut up my styrofoam blocking board when we moved (May 06), so I bought these squares at Wal-Mart. They were supposed to be grey on the other side, but they're not. If they were joined together, it would be 4ft sq. So, I estimate the blanket to be about 51 inches. Is that big enough for an afghan, for someone who's not too tall?

A close up of the pattern. It really didn't stretch out too much when I blocked it; I could have used 6.5mm or 7mm needles, but also, it's not going to lose it's shape as easily either by being knit too loose. It's been done for over a week now, sitting in a box, waiting to be mailed.....I keep procrastinating so much with this blanket!! But now everything for Christmas 2007 is finished!! Is it too late to start on Christmas 2008? LOL.

Don't Let the Green Fool You!

Being that I'm totally not Irish, how am I celebrating St. Patrick's Day? Well, Huey's middle name is Patrick, and after a week and a bit off for March Break, he went back to school today! Yeah! Lucy is there now, and Meg is napping! I'd put some Bailey's in my coffee, but I have none. Bailey's, that is. You'd think I'd actually run out of hot, caffinated beverage items? I keep a 'back up' instant/flavoured-milk already in powdered mix type thing for those days we run out of milk :)

So, still some Christmas items, but some details and pictures!

Remember I talked about making clogs for the family Christmas gift exchange game, and they came out too small? My neice Ally (who is NOT an adult, LOL, I think her mom actually won) is the recipient of custom made clogs. She asked for purple and orange. I was having a hard time dealing with that, LOL, this was about as orange as I was comfortable with. Two strands Headwaters Wool and 8mm needles, size....crap, I've forgotten already! Not the lady's large, but the next size down. The gals have big feet in my family :)


I was concerned that I wasn't joining the soles on right. Because the inside sole, the bumper, and the outside sole are different colours, it's easy to see in pictures. This is ......picking up the sts for the bumper? Why is the working yarn on the left needle? LOL. I think I'm showing it from the 'other side'.


Here's the bumper (orange), with the light purple inner sole showing along the picked up sts. I thought after I did the pair before Christmas, that next time, I'd do the last row of the inside sole in the same colour as the bumper, but it actually doesn't show much once felted. And, sometimes I don't know until the end what colour all the different parts will be :)
Here's the same spot after felting; I had to pry it apart and open to show this much.

That's a handcrafted diaper cover :)
I had these done in early February, and I kept procastinating about mailing them. Then we suddenly decided to go to Oshawa for Family Day, so I got to actually drop them off :) I hear she likes them, but it'd be nice to hear it from her :)

I think there is only one more Christmas item to show! It's not quite finished though ;)