FO Friday: Goodale Firewood

November 16, 2012November 16, 2012remilyknits 3 Comments

And then a miracle occurred … I finished a sweater, for me! Of course it’s only just barely a sweater, with no sleeves, an open front, and a cropped length. But, still, a sweater!

Project: Goodale Firewood

Pattern: Goodale

Designer: Cecily Glowik MacDonald

Available: $5 on Ravelry

Yarn: Tosh Pashmina in Firewood

Oh my goodness, have you ever touched Tosh Pashmina? mmmmhmmmmm. It’s just that good. My size (45.25″) used just a smidge over two skeins — so not quite as insane as making a whole sweater out of this heavenly, but oh-so-dear, substance. Goodale was designed for Tosh Pashmina, and it worked up beautifully in this simple-but-elegant pattern.

I don’t usually make things with raglan shaping, because that shape hangs funny on me. But, I figured the open front and lack of sleeves would be forgiving, and I was (happily) correct. I absolutely love the clever little pockets, created by folding the fronts back and tacking them in place. The whole front has an i-cord edge, so there’s very little finishing to be done. (Even so, I stalled out for a bit with only the neck edge and sleeve ribbing left to go!)

I wore this cardi to the Fiber Fest with a shawl pin at the neck, but I went ahead and put on buttons that night — I love the little i-cord closure. I was tempted to make the cardi a bit longer … but I think I would have ruined the proportions. As it is, I’m glad to have 90% of a skein of Tosh Pashmina to play with.

Did I mention the adorable pockets?

I remain in awe of Madelinetosh’s gorgeous colorways.

uiu

FO Friday: Cranberry Wensleydale

November 9, 2012November 9, 2012remilyknits 4 Comments

Allow me to present, Miss Cranberry Wensleydale, of the Cheddar Wensleydales!

Project: Cranberry Wensleydale

Pattern: Wensleydale

Designer: Heather Ordover

Available: a mere $1.50 on Ravelry

Yarn: leftover Tosh Light in Alizarin

Materials: itty bitty safety eyes

I haven’t made a little knit toy just for fun in a long time, but that’s exactly what this was! Someone suggested I should stuff it with catnip. They would be mistaken.

Heather Ordover’s pattern is straight-forward. After the nose is complete, there is no shaping until the bum. I opted for the “knit separately, then sew on” version of the ears, and I ended up sewing them on upside down (I think), but they looked cuter that way, at least to me. I also bought and used safety eyes for the first time. They are SO much better than flat sewn eyes — they look right the first time, and don’t have to be redone a hundred times because the first 99 made the animal look demented.

Also? Cranberry Wensleydale is the best cheese.

FO Friday: Greta in Sanibel

November 2, 2012November 2, 2012remilyknits 1 Comment

In the spirit of “share everything, even the not-so-awesome ones,” I give you my Greta Headband in Sanibel:

Project: Greta in Sanibel

Pattern: Greta Headband

Designer: Nikki Wagner

Available: Interweave Knits, Summer 2012

Yarn: CEY Sanibel in #1395

See how pretty Sanibel is? It’s a woven yarn, with stretches of shiny/dark mixed in with the main color.

It makes pretty fabric!

Alas, I don’t love the FO. The headband works, but doesn’t suit my head. I guess I can live with this, since most hats look good on me. (I have a friend who can’t wear most hats — how sad!)

FO Friday: TSS Scarf

October 26, 2012October 26, 2012remilyknits Leave a comment

Sometimes simple projects are the most beautiful…

Project: TSS Scarf

Pattern: improvised

Designer: my head

Available: (not available, at least not yet)

Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino in “blue-purple” (2 skeins)

This scarf is for a good friend, the owner of TSS (aka Trial Secretary Services). She handles the scoring for dog agility trials, and often asks me to help her at the big trials. Scoring is one of my favorite jobs at agility trials, and working with Judy is always a pleasure. I’ve been wanting to make her something knitted for a long time, and I finally settled on a project that she would like and use.

I held the fingering-weight yarn doubled, and used #8 needles. Using an i-cord cast on, I cast on for 30 + 3 + 3 = 36 stitches. The three edge stitches stayed i-cord throughout, and the I worked the center 30 in linen stitch. I think the simple stitch pattern allowed the doubled hand-painted yarn to really shine. I finished the top with an i-cord bind off, and grafted the last three stitches of i-cord to that side’s i-cord edge. The seamless i-cord runs all the way around the whole scarf, giving a soft yet polished edge. There was some curling in the FO (as a mostly-stockinette stitch pattern, that’s expected).

FO Friday: Chicken Mittens

October 19, 2012October 19, 2012remilyknits 1 Comment

I made some chicken mittens!

Project: Chicken Mittens

Pattern: Honeycock Mittens

Designer: SpillyJane

Available: sometime after July 2013

Yarn: BMFA Socks That Rock Mediumweight in “Doodle Doo” (red), “Honey Cocka” (yellow), and “Valkyrie Fledge” (purple)

This was the July Rockin’ Sock Club “not a sock” pattern. The club yarn was GORGEOUS, as you can see. I loved the whimsy of the chicken mittens.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed in how the red/purple colorwork on the cuff just doesn’t show up as colorwork — the colorways just overlapped too much, sharing more than one red/brown hue. Similarly, some of the brown in the yellow colorway was close enough to the brown in the red colorway that some of the rooster’s tail can be a bit hard to see. This makes him look off-center on the mitten.

However these are minor quibbles. After waiting (and waiting, and waiting) for the mittens to dry, they have become my go-to mittens this season. Honey Cocka Doodle Doo, my Valkyrie Fledge!

FO Friday: Little Brown Aeolian Shawl

October 12, 2012October 12, 2012remilyknits 6 Comments

Way, way back in May 2010, I selected some soft brown Alpaca Cloud and some gorgeous bronze beads for a full-sized Aeolian shawl …. a mere 2.5 years later, I have finally got this ~~sucker~~ lovely creation off the needles!

Project: Little Brown Aeolian Shawl

Pattern: Aeolian Shawl

Designer: Elizabeth Freeman

Available: FREE! on knitty.com

Yarn: Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud in Carob Heather

Beads: #8 Miyuki seed beads in Dark Bronze Metallic

Now, here is a case where I had to be a process knitter. I absolutely love the finished shawl. Alpaca Cloud is light and soft, the beads are shiny and delightful, the edging and shape of the shawl are perfect. BUT — the knitting, oh the knitting! It was interminable. Beading and nupps? Seriously? I stopped counting stitches when I hit eleven repeats of at least 30 stitches each, per half. Ugh.

But look at this:

…. totally worth it.

I always like to block almost before the last stitch is off the needles. This project was no exception. For your edification, I give you the pre-blocked shawl…

… and the blocking shawl!

FO Friday: Tute Catkin

October 5, 2012October 4, 2012remilyknits 2 Comments

I finished my Catkin a couple weeks ago! I’ve been wearing it a LOT because it is so lovely.

Project: Tute Catkin

Pattern: Catkin

Designer: Carina Spencer

Available: $7 on Ravelry

Yarn: Tosh Light in French Grey and Byzantine

Buttons: LaMode Style 24794 1/2” antique silver (purchased at Jo-Ann’s)

This is a pattern designed for Tosh Light, and I found two colors of Tosh Light I loved … is “French Grey” a brownish grey, or a greyish brown? Either way, it really allows the Byzantine to shine. Working with a single-ply yarn is always a bit more challenging that working with a nice round plied yarn, but sometimes the results are just so lovely, I don’t mind a bit.

The striped neck section was a bit boring to work, and keeping track of the increases was a pain. I stalled out a bit there. I stalled out again in the textured middle section, until I figured out the pattern and didn’t have to watch the chart as closely. The slipped-stitch lollipop section was fun, fun, fun — no stalling out there at all, even though the rows were at their longest.

I especially adore the slipped-stitch vertical stripes at the corners!

FO Friday: Sheep Head Hat

September 28, 2012September 28, 2012remilyknits 4 Comments

I’m so pleased with my Sheep Head Hat! 🙂

I used CEY’s soft and lovely Vail, which is an alpaca/bamboo blend, available is eight naturally-dyed shades of grey and brown. When I bought the yarn for this project, only six shades were out — the other two were added with this fall’s line of new colors.

Project: Sheep Head Hat

Pattern: sheep heid

Designer: Kate Davies

Available: £2.75 GBP on Ravelry

Yarn: Classic Elite Yarn’s Moutaintop Vail, six hues

The original pattern called for nine natural sheep colors, so I had to modify my hat to use the six shades I had to work with. I lost a bit of the dynamics of the original hat, but I still love my version. The alpaca-bamboo fingering weight yarn is amazingly soft and lightweight. The standing sheep in the hat body are adorable, but I love the graphic rams-head decreases on the top. UPDATE: my hat was featured in the CEY blog!

FO Friday: Purple Hedgehog Hat

September 21, 2012September 4, 2012remilyknits 5 Comments

I made a very silly hat! Also, a very warm hat.

Want to make one just like it? I have plenty of yarn leftover — if you promise to make a hedgehog hat, I’ll send you my leftover Mushishi.

Project: Purple Hedgehog Hat

Pattern: Hedgehog

Designer: Mercè Janer

Available: FREE from Knitty.com

Yarn: Plymouth Yarns Mushishi #12

I picked up some Mushishi as a “courtesy purchase” while checking out a LYS. The long color changes seemed just right for the short-row hedgehog hat. I love how yarn and hat came together for this project. I know it’s not to everyone’s taste … but I love a silly hat sometimes!

The hat is worked flat, with each bump worked as a set of short rows. For the hat you work a row of bumps, work a couple stockinette rows (decreasing the overall number of stitches), and then work a row of bumps back the other way. I definitely put my new(ish) skill of “knitting both directions without turning” to good use with all those short rows!

In addition to a delightfully silly look, the bumps also trap air — this is a one WARM hat. I look forward to wearing it for more than a few minutes at a go, come this winter.

FO Friday: Poodle for Hire

September 14, 2012September 4, 2012remilyknits 3 Comments

Some time ago, I donated a custom-knit dog to a raffle to benefit a friend (sad details here). The lucky winner was the family of Zacharia the mini poodle. Everyone say, “Aw, what a cutie!”

This project turned out to be harder than I initially anticipated. It was hard to find the right fiber to make the poodle’s fur look right. I ended up with Bernat Pipsqueak … which was WAY WAY to large a yarn. So, I un-plied it, and knit with individual strands — this took a lot of time, but it gave me the look I was going for. Eventually.

Project: Poodle for Hire

Pattern: Poodle

Designer: Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir

Available: in Knit Your Own Dog: Easy-to-Follow Patterns for 25 Pedigree Pooches

Yarn: Bernat Pipsqueak and Swish DK

As I have come to expect from the KYOD series, this toy poodle was constructed in multiple flat pieces, then sewn together. I used Swish DK for the toes and face, and the Pipsqueak every else. I ended up modding the ears and tail, but other than that this was knit as-written. Doing the PULT stitch is Pipsqueak was especially exciting.

I’m not completely happy with how the legs came together with the body, but I think Knit Zacharia is recognizably a poodle … so I am satisfied.

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