Project: Button Mitts
Pattern: All of ‘er Buttons Mitts
Designer: Lorilee Beltman
Available: sometime in Jan 2013
Yarn: Socks That Rock Lightweight in HRH Crown Princess of Purple, Violetta
This is the Jan 2012 Rockin’ Sock Club yarn, in the “not a sock” pattern. I am thoroughly in love! The cinched cable is delightful, and I love the buttons-as-seam closure (they are just sewn in place — the mitts do not unbutton, they just slide on). Nicely shaped wrist and thumb, high marks all around.
I finished this a while ago, yet all I can say when I think of it is, “oh, cashmere!”
Project: Wicked Abstract
Pattern: Abstract
Designer: Tonia Barry
Available: $6 download from CEY’s website
Yarn: CEY Wicked
Abstract is a shawlette worked tip-to-tip, punctuated by cable rows. After the body is finished, the ruffle is picked up from the long curved edge and worked in the same cable pattern. I thought it was the perfect vehicle for my windfall cashmere. Let me tell you, cashmere is amazing to knit with, an experience bested only by wearing the FO around your neck! I used up every single last bit (well, almost). I try steam-blocking the ruffle, but it didn’t really set — I’m actually happy with the curl, so I may never block it properly. (Don’t tell the knitting police!)
May I present, Diantha Aurora:
Project: Diantha Aurora
Pattern: Diantha
Designer: Susanna IC
Available: $6 on Ravelry
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Dusky Aurora
I made this shawl via the designers mystery KAL — it was super fun! Susanna did a great job balancing the “clues” so that each portion of the design took similar amounts of time to knit. This crescent-shaped shawl is knit from the border up, and is adorned with both nupps and beads. The only mod I made was using a crochet cast-on for the bottom edge. I think it blocked beautifully!
I finished a sweater for me! This is not something that happens every day.
Project: Tappan Zee Pulled Taffy
Pattern: Tappan Zee Cardigan
Designer: Amy King
Available: FREE! on Knitty.com
Yarn: Decadent Fibers Pulled Taffy in Red Hot Pepper
I bought this yarn on spec back in June, at the 20th (and final) Granite State Knit-In. I’m sorry to say that a LYS had brought all their merchandise and were selling it off at 2-for-1 because they were closing their doors. I’m glad to say I found two skeins of this astonishing fiber, each normally $35. I decided to take a leap of faith and buy both — almost-a-sweater for $35 was too good a deal to pass up.
Once I had it home, it proved to be a bit of a challenge. First of all, though it claims to be DK, it really feels and knits up closer to worsted. Also, it turns out that 980 yards is not quite enough to make most things, at least not in size large-enough-to-fit-me. I finally settled on Tappan Zee — a pattern I queued in large part because I love the eponymous bridge! I used to drive back and forth from DC to Boston fairly frequently, and every time I saw signs for Tappan Zee it made me happy. Try saying it aloud — you’ll be happy too!
Swatching told me three things: first, I should expect worsted-ish gauge. I decided to follow the pattern for a proportionately smaller size, which ended up working great. Second, blocking the swatch told me that this yarn would bleed dye something awful. This turned out to be a good thing, because the fully saturated color was a bit much — I prefer the toned-down color after blocking. Third, the fabric is also appreciably softer after a good wash-and-block, which reassured me while I was knitting — the WIP sometimes felt a bit crunchy and oh-my-god bright red and orange. Thank goodness for swatching to tell me the truth.
One thing I changed in the pattern was the armholes. I really hate tight, binding armholes, so instead of casting off for the arms, then bridging the gap directly, I chose to cast on a handful of stitches under each arm. I must have goofed the math a bit, because my sleeves ended up a little ruffled — too much fabric up there. It bothered me at first, but my knit group claims they like it, so I’m slowly coming around.
I was about two dozen rows shy of the official “start the edging” point, when I noticed that the yarn ball hand dwindled to an ominously small size. I got out my new and wonderful super-accurate digital scale and weighed the ball before and after the next two rows … and discovered I had barely enough to finish the edging, but only if I started it RIGHT THEN. As it was, I had to rip out the swatch in order to bind off the last few inches. I think the finished cardi is long enough — any longer would have been odd, actually, which implies I shouldn’t have been doing quite so many rows in the first place.
The luckiest part of this project was that I found the perfect buttons. They seem as if they were dyed-to-match — and they were cheap, and they were the first ones I saw at the shop, and they came in a set of three!
This week, I offer you another “finished it a while ago” project. I am wearing it right now, so I thought — hey, I haven’t show this to anyone yet! Better take care of it. In contrast to last week’s epic blanket, this cowl only took 5 days from CO to BO. Whee! Quick projects are awesome.
Project: Minotaur Obsession
Pattern: Minotaur Cowl
Designer: Rachel Henry
Available: FREE! on Ravelry
Yarn: CEY Obsession
I had exactly one ball of this interesting (but discontinued) yarn. It’s a bulky-weight cashmere, made up of 8 different skinny strands, each a different color. I was a pleasure to work with — I mean, cashmere, right? I made a tight-fitting mobius cowl using my own design. Minotaur starts with a foundation strip (knit flat in garter stitch) that is twisted and seamed to form the base of the mobius. From there stitches are picked up along the single mobius edge, and the remainder of the cowl is knit mobiusly.
This construction allowed me to get exactly the right fit, because the foundation strip is easy to measure as it is knit. It also allowed me to use up every last scrap of this extra-luxurious fiber, because I just kept knitting in pattern until it was all gone.
I finished this about a month ago, but I think it slid directly off my needles onto my lap. My Yggrasil lap blanket is so warm and cozy!
Project: Yggrasil in Blue
Pattern: Yggdrasil Afghan
Designer: Lisa Jacobs
Available: FREE! at Interweave Knits
Yarn: Knit Picks City Tweed HW in Dungarees
You might remember this blanket from my “Finish it or Frog it!” post back in January. I’d already made some progress then, because it was my “neglected project KAL” target for January. I won’t say it was “easy” to finish, not exactly, but I did eventually get into the rhythm of the border cables. I do not think I will ever do this pattern again, and although I admire the finished full-size Yggdrasil Afghans out there, I have reason to doubt the sanity of those who accomplish such a gargantuan knitting feat.
The pattern itself is well-written and clear. Plenty of good charts. I think this might have been my first knitted-on border, back in the day. I also have a niggling feeling I may have grabbed the wrong size needle when I re-booted this project … the “old” border (right edge, upper right corner) looks a wee bit tighter than the rest. However, this is invisible when I’m using it, so I am doing my best to let the slight difference go. I am definitely not going back and fixing it, ooooh no.
I continue to love, love, love City Tweed. What a wonderful soft yarn with gorgeous colors, and it shows cabling so nicely! And it’s so warm and cozy!
I finished these socks a few weeks ago. I’ve been wearing them LOTS — so I guess it’s about time I FO-Friday-ed them. “Shoreward” was one of two patterns from the September shipment of the Rockin’ Sock Club from Blue Moon Fiber Arts.
Project: Shoreward Socks
Pattern: Shoreward Socks
Designer: Sivia Harding
Available: sometime after September 2012
Yarn: Socks that Rock Mediumweight in Drop Dead Gorgeous
The pattern doesn’t photograph easily — you’ll have to trust me when I say how pretty the twisted stitches and curved recurves are. The construction is fairly traditional toe-up style, with a nice heel flap. I love how she makes sure the leg pattern lines up, no matter where you started the gusset etc. The waffle-ish pattern on the instep and leg front make these socks a little heavy/bulky, but also super warm and squishy. It’s a trade-off I’m willing to make.
Best of all (from my point of view) is the yarn — the colorway is, as advertised, Drop Dead Gorgeous. I mean, look at this stuff!
The first time I saw it, I thought ZOMBIE! 🙂
As promised, here’s William!
Or, as he will now officially titled:
C-ATCH Hawkhaven Sweet William O’Mine
Project: C-ATCH William
Pattern: Scottish Terrier
Designer: Joanna Osborne and Sally Muir
Available: in Knit Your Own Dog (currently $10.17 on Amazon!)
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in …. mmmm… a heathered black, a ruddy brown, and a true red (my labels have come off)
William is a present for my friend Julie, who is a fellow dog-agility competitor. The real-life William was up for a big title last weekend: he needed one more qualifying run (“Q”) in Jackpot to earn his C-ATCH. This title represents 40 Q’s in seven different classes, all at Level 5 of difficulty. It’s a big deal for us agility heads! 🙂 I decided on the spur of the moment to channel some castonitis into making a cute little dog for her. I knit for about 10 hours on Friday and Saturday, and finished! I showed a few people, but decided not to tell her until after the Jackpot run … it was a tricky run, a non-traditional Jackpot with complex rules for gathering points. Julie planned a conservative path, getting exactly the 44 points needed to Q. Everyone cheered and cheered!
This is my second “Knit Your Own Dog” project — I made a Border Collie a while ago. I found the pattern to be similar in many ways, but tailored to the breed. He really looks like a proper little Scottie! The legs are knit flat, then joining via some cast-on stitches to make a left and right body. The neck and tail are worked from held body stitches. The head does use those crazy PULT short-rows that have stymied more than a few knitters! I’m especially proud of the tail — Julie said it was very close to correct to breed standard! She also said the wild beard on the knit-Scottie was perfect because William’s beard is always looks like he’s been partying it up.
Congrats Julie and William! 🙂
I finished my Fylleryd!
Project: Happy Green Fylleryd
Pattern: Fylleryd
Designer: Mia Rinde
Available: FREE! on Ravelry
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Happy Forest
I knit this fingering-weight shawlette as part of the January KAL in the Beginner Lace Knitters group on Ravelry. I keep tabs on each month’s KAL, and when I can — I join in! This is my first “nupps” project (I’m not counting my WIP Aeolian, because I haven’t gotten to the nupps yet), so I was extra excited to try something new. I’m pleased with how the nupps came out — and they weren’t that hard (people make things sound so difficult sometimes!).
I’m also extra excited, because this is some of the yarn I liberated in my January frogging festival. I am SO MUCH more happy with this new project — I will definitely be wearing my Happy Green Fylleryd, lots. Because I only had one skein, I had to be conservative … I did two repeats of the leaf chart, then three repeats of the blueberry chart. Judicious math and careful thought revealed I would not have enough for the edge, so I went back a few rows and made it TWO repeats of the blueberry chart, then the edge, then I added a crochet-lace cast-off (similar to how I finished the bottom edge of Red Seas).
As an aside, three cheers for my willing & adorable model! The shawl looks huge on a six year old :).
I made my nupps the old-fashioned way: k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1 into one st on the right side, then purl all seven together on the returning wrong-side row. I made a special effort to make the loops LOOSE because that seems to be key … it definitely worked for me.
For Christmas, my in-laws gave me a copy of Weekend Hats. Swoon! I cast on and finished this sweet little hat in less than a week — I found the pattern absolutely addictive. My middlest son was kind enough to model for me … but I think this hat will be for ME, thank you very much :).
Project: Sea Drift Toque
Pattern: Drift Toque
Designer: Jocelyn Tunney
Available: in Weekend Hats ($15.30 on Amazon.com)
Yarn: Happy Feet DK in #52
This hat has a really cool construction! It’s worked sideways from a provisional cast on. The cables sidle back and forth using increases and decreases (hidden by the reverse stockinette), and the crown shaping is accomplished with short rows. I’m great at hiding short rows on the stockinette side — looks like I could use some practice hiding them on reverse stockinette too. At the end, the large graft is a bit of a bug-a-boo, but totally do-able. I only had to undo stitches once, and that was only 10 or so.
Remily Knits 