Olympic Knitting

If you surf the discussion forums on Ravelry, you will know all about the Ravellenic Games when the Ravelry users knit and crochet and spin to their hearts content in honor of, and while watching the Olympic Games.  There are plenty of events, from WIP Wrestling to the Bag & Tote Backstroke and you post your finished items as though you were competing in an event.  Its tons of fun, and all in the spirit of enjoying the Olympics no matter where you live, or what yarnie craft you do.

Since I'm packing to move to a new home (next week!) I haven't had much free time for knitting, but it rained today so I got out a project to finish at work.  I started this cabled cap from Knitting Simple way back in February 2010.  At the time, my father was helping me get my house in Virginia spruced up to put it on the market, and we had 2 blizzards in a row.  My power went out, and I spent a little time working on this cabled cap to go along with a grey Prismatic Scarf (available on Ravelry) I had knitted for him and finished January 2010.  Apparently I never took a photo of the finished scarf though and I'm bummed about that.

Pattern: Cabled Cap, Knit Simple Winter 2006 / 2007
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky, Pewter (less than one skein)
Needles: US10

It's two years late, but its finished!  He will be here this week to help me get settled in the new house so its kind of ironic timing.  Hope he likes it!

Last Minute Mary

My mom used to always call either me or my sister Last Minute Mary. We generally work best under pressure, and getting ready for Christmas is no exception.  I'm working on a quick beret for someone on my gift list.  This is called Brambles, from Knitty.com Deep Fall 2010. Loving the pattern so far!   (also enjoying blogging from my phone!)

FO Friday

A finished object! I started this great scarf last fall in case the Redskins football game was cold. That weekend ended up being gorgeous so I wasn't in any hurry to finish. Then I misplaced the pattern and messed up so I had to rip it back a bit. I know, 'excuses, excuses!'  I just finished it because I needed the needles for another project.

     Pattern:  Misti Chunky Ribs & Ruffles from Misti International
     Yarn: Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick in Claret (I used about a skein and a quarter)
     Needles:  US size 11

It's a really easy pattern to memorize, and a good way to learn how easy it is to make ruffles by simply doubling the stitches. I think this scarf packs a big punch with just a little effort.  Once you're past the ruffle, its only 15 stitches per row, so it goes quickly. 

And here's a little memento from the game last fall!  I'm on the right in my Bruce Smith jersey (Bruuuuuuuce) and my friend Katrina is sporting her burgundy & gold feather boa.  She is a very girly-girl and not the type you'd expect to have fun at a football game, but she knows almost as much about football as I do!  And that's saying alot for a woman. 

Now that I'm in Tampa, I suppose I'll need to do pewter and red instead of burgundy & gold. I think the scarf may end up going to charity!

World Wide Knit in Public Week begins!

Well I didn't do our craft proud today, I'm afraid. I worked pretty much all day, and spent a good part of the day writing a blog post for the shop about what you can do for the birds during summer. It's a pretty good article, if I do say so myself, but that didn't leave me too much time for knitting.

I did get over to my sister's where I showed off the Barbie dress with the cute little ruffled skirt that I designed on the fly the other day. My niece loves the style, but I bound off too tightly, and did not leave any wiggle room by using a snap for it's closure, so of course it doesn't fit. Back to the drawing board, but I think I can fix it. I used CottonEase, which normally allows some give, but it wasn't enough to get over those hips! Pix soon, I promise.

We spent a good amount of time leafing throug the copy of Nicky Epstein's Knits for Barbie Dolls that I just got from the library and the Princess has selected only 35 of the 75 patterns in the book. "Barbie is going to be so excited with her new wardrobe!" How can an aunt resist? I am honestly looking forward to every one! I hope to get started while I'm at the shop tomorrow.

Birthday hats

This years birthday gifts for the little ones included hand knitted hats! Both my niece and nephew have January birthdays, and it was pretty cold here in Florida so they were a perfect addition to the birthday bounty.  The truly wonderful part is that I finished them!  Niecey-poo received hers on her actual birthday, and the Little Prince's was only a little late.

Princess got a Hello Kitty hat - its an easy pattern, and available from Beadwhore Knitting's blog here.  After a foolish misguided start, I eventually followed the pattern exactly and it turned out to be a great size for my now 6 year old niece.  The embroidery on the front was the best part of course when it comes to instant gratification - the hat really comes to life once Miss Kitty's features are on her sweet face.  I gave her a pink nose instead of yellow.  This used less than one skein of Loops & Threads White from Michaels, and I added some leftover pink from Bernat.  Isn't Miss Kitty adorable?

So the Kitty is cute, but obviously the Birthday Boy needed something considerably cooler for a 9 year old.  He loves Star Wars, especially the Clone Wars stories so I did a hat with an Imperial Storm Trooper motif in the round.  I found this fabulous chart by Sarah Bradberry here, through Ravelry of course, and added it to a simple hat pattern.  Unfortunately, I did not do any calculations as to the size of the pattern and the overall height of the hat, so it turned into a sort of Cat in the Hat tall affair.  Precious child that he is, the Little Prince is still willing to wear it at home.  I haven't caught a shot of him in the hat, but here it is on its own featured in the snow from one of the Washington DC blizzards this winter.

I loved Sarah's idea of the checkerboard border, and as a special bonus I used white glow in the dark yarn.  Very cool.  I do try to keep my title of favorite aunt, and I think I've managed it for the moment!  If I were to do this particular hat again though, I'd need to have fewer rows before the pattern starts, and perhaps decrease for the crown more dramatically than I did.  I would like to start designing my own patterns, so these are good lessons, right?

A lightbulb moment

I have been working on two projects to take to my niece and nephew in Florida at Halloween.  I found an awesome chart for an Imperial Storm Trooper, so I am working on a black hat for Ryan with Bernat Glow in the Dark white yarn from last fall.  Its going to be so cool, even though I have run out of the white yarn and I'm only halfway through the storm trooper part.  (No worries just yet though, I have a lead on some from a coffee cuff that I made for my dad last year.  He doesn't use it, so he doesn't mind if I frog it.  Yay Dad!)

Shannon's hat is going to be the Hello Kitty Hat and hopefully she is going to love it.  I seem to have a big problem trusting that knitting designers know what they are talking about, when they say to only cast on 76 stitches for a child's hat.  Being me, I cast on 87 instead.  And guess what?  Its too big!!!  Its even too big for me.  I am, seriously, rolling on the couch laughing as I think about what a dope I am to not follow the directions. I mean really, what are they there for???

I am already halfway through the decreases, so you know the light is at the end of the tunnel.  Once I determined that it was going to be too big for a five-year old head, I thought how much I would hate to frog it.  Ok, its just a simple acrylic hat in stockingette, but still, that was a few hours work.



(Isn't my fall teapot cute?  Its not a very large teapot so the hat probably appears even larger than it really is.  My teapot is holding my caramel candy corn at the moment.  Yumm!   But ... I digress.)
Anyhow, I was thinking about how sad it would be to frog the hat, and then I thought, "duh - finish it and give it to charity."  It was a total lightbulb moment for me!  So that's my plan.  I'm going spend maybe another 30 minutes and then find some place to donate it.  That makes my heart happy.   The next time I think I might frog something, I am going to try really hard to remember this is an option!

Think Pink - Knit Pink!

Its October again, and there are pink ribbons everywhere to remind ladies (well, mostly ladies) to get their yearly mammograms and to do monthly self-exams.  We lost my mom to breast cancer almost 4 years ago, and I sometimes have a hard time getting through October.  On the one hand, it all reminds me that she's gone and on the other hand, I love that we spend a whole month reminding women to take care of themselves, and I love that so many companies take the opportunity to donate part of their profits to cancer research.  (My shop does too of course - 10% of the purchase price of all our pink ribbon products goes to the Susan G. Komen Foundation.)

I have been eyeing the Star Crossed Slouchy Beret pattern for some time now, but kept finding other projects to cast on.  The temperature dropped down to 40 degrees during the day this week, and its been drizzling non-stop and I really wanted to wear a hat!  What else could I do but cast on for a pretty pink one with my MMMMMMalabrigo worsted in Cactus Flower?



I love the pattern - the cables are graceful and each row is easy to memorize.  The hat works up so quickly, I think it would make a great last minute project a night or two before you really need to be gift-giving.  I used size 10.5 needles on the band to get started, and then switched to size 11 so I don't have exactly the same proportions.  The pattern called for size 10 and then size 11.  I finished it at work today, and will probably wear it home and then block it later.  My Buddha at work graciously agreed to model for me - at the moment I look like a giant pink headed mushroom wearing it!  I think I messed up some of the cables, but I can't really tell.  These photos don't do justice to the color either - it is beautiful!



This is the first time I've used Malabrigo before, and oh my gosh, it's so soft and lovely.  I have done two projects in different alpaca yarns, but this feels even softer.  I really wish I had started knitting a long time before my mom was diagnosed - all I ever knitted for her was a scarf out of Homespun.  She loved it though, and wore it daily.  I wish I could have made her a whole wardrobe of Malabrigo hats.  And maybe pajamas too - it is so soft, and the weather is so yucky here today that the thought of pj's made from Malabrigo is just heavenly.  Ooh - maybe long underwear?!?!?!

So, two thumbs up on this Finished Object - I knitted it to completion in a little over 48 hours.  Yay.  I'm not sure what I will do with the left-overs. Perhaps a coordinating cowl?

AND GO SCHEDULE YOUR MAMMOGRAM OR DO A SELF-EXAM!  Please.  It can save your life.

Knitting in Spirit - Listen to Podcasts!

I can't believe its been so long since I've posted.  There just never seems to be enough time in the day, does there?  I have finished some small projects, but haven't been able to photograph them in decent light just yet, so you'll have to wait to see those.  Because I've been so busy, I've been knitting in spirit only - skimming posts on Ravelry, looking at new magazines, and listening to podcasts!

I have an hour commute in the car to my little shop, so I have started listening to podcasts, specifically knitting podcasts.  After a little research, I discovered a couple podcasts that I am really enjoying.  First there is Cast On with Brenda Dayne.  Her story is quite interesting - she's an American living in Wales.  In addition to discussing her knitting projects, she tells charming tales of her community and even such mundane things as the weather in Wales seems a little more romantic than the weather here in the Mid-Atlantic.  Her website, blog and podcast can be found at Cast On.  She's taking a little break from the podcasts at the moment, but old episodes are so worth a listen.  I love how she produces a series all based on the same theme.  I especially enjoyed the Make Do and Mend series, beginning here.  The current economy has us all tightening our belts, and spending more wisely, and its a natural extension to be more careful in our crafting or to craft new uses for items rather than spending on something new.

Another podcast I have enjoyed is Never Not Knitting (what a great name!) with Alana.  She has a blog here, with links to her podcast episodes, some beautiful children's patterns and lots of interesting knitterly things to pass along.  She does a product review which I appreciate - its always helpful to get someone's honest perspective on something, isn't it? Listening to a few of her podcasts recently helped me get through a day of cleaning in preparation for house guests. It was nice to be in the world of knitting in my head, while busy vacuuming and tidying up.

Both of these are available through ITunes.  Just type in knitting in a search of their podcasts, and a whole list pops up for you.  I have downloaded some others as well, but these two are my current favorites.  Grab an easy project, and have a listen!

WIP Wrestling

WIPs, also known to knitters as "Works In Progress," are the bane of many a knitters' existence.  Many of us have half-finished projects laying around the house (or perhaps neatly collected), in whom we've lost interest, or lost a needle, or we need more yarn to finish.  A group on Ravelry has declared July to be WIP Wrestling Month - where the goal is to finish as many works-in-progress as possible, one way or another.   I have plenty of unfinished projects that are weighing on my crafter's soul, so I jumped in too!

I've finished a Harry Potter House Hat - in Gryffindor colors of course.  I originally started a House Scarf in hopes that I could wear it to the Half Blood Prince movie, but it was taking way too long, and I was frustrated with the color changes (one edge of the scarf is not very neat as you change colors).  I frogged it, and started the hat instead.  Took considerably less time, and although it is a wee bit too long for my head, I'm quite happy with it.  No errors!  This one is more burgundy & gold, than scarlet and gold, so it'll make a nice hat if I get to go to any Redskins football games in late fall.  I may knit the scarf at some point - I loved the quidditch scenes where everyone was wearing them.



I also frogged a shrug I have been working on for a little while.  It was about half finished, but I am not crazy about the way the colors were turning out, and I was sure I'd never wear it.  Life is too short to waste time completing a project, if your heart isn't really in it, isn't it?  I'll return to the pattern with a different yarn choice at some point, and return to the yard with a different pattern.  I have also been working on two gift scarves, which I aim to finish by the end of July.   Of course, the recipients won't need them for several months but I'd like to get them off my plate, so to speak, and get on with something new!

Next up on the needles will be Hermione's Cable and Eyelet Hat from JL Yarnworks.  After seeing the Half Blood Prince movie, I must, Must, MUST make one!  A big thanks to JL Yarnworks for sharing!   I loved the movie - all in all, I think they did a great job.  Its never easy to condense a book that size into a mere two and a half hour experience.  The best part from the knitting perspective, was of course when Dumbledore came out with the knitting magazine and said "I do love knitting patterns."  The best!  There was a nice range of knitted items to think about - I loved Hermione's sweater with the two different stripe patterns on each sleeve.  Unique!

Detroit Lions Knitted Cloth

I love football.  A wee bit of personal history here - skip down to the picture if you're not interested.....  I grew up in Buffalo, where it is practically the law that you must be a Bills fan.  In my customary ornery-ness, I actually started out  supporting the Dallas Cowboys - this was waaaaayyyy back when Tom Landry was head coach there.  My mom was a huge fan of the Cowboys at the time, and their games always seemed to be on tv.  I can remember sitting in front of the television with a clipboard, trying to keep track of which player wore what number, like Ed "Too Tall" Jones - #72.  (He was my favorite.  I always seem to have a thing for defensive ends.  All hail Bruce Smith - Buffalo's best #78!)  No internet searching then for the team roster, so I every Sunday I had my handy clip board and a pencil, and I would frantically try to read the back of every player's jersey.   Then they fired Landry, and I thought that was unforgivable, so in protest I dumped the Cowboys and started learning about my home team, and I have never looked back.   No matter where I live, the Buffalo Bills have always had my heart!

Skipping forward to the present, I have a friend who grew up in Detroit and is an impressively fierce fan of all Detroit professional sports teams.  He and I often bet on who's hometown hockey or football team will make it farther during a season, or who will score the most points etc.  We've also done fantasy football against each other.  (I am quite proud to admit that my football prowess won me the Fantasy Football Super Bowl title one year, in a league with 9 guys.  Yup.  Got their butts kicked by a girl!)  Anyhow, I owed him a trophy of some sort for some bet or other, and decided to make him something.  I found a neat website where you can upload a graphic and it will give you a grid in return, making for an easy-peasy knit / purl pattern.

So here we have the Detroit Lions NFL Mascot cloth.  I have yet to write up the pattern, but if anyone is interested, send me a message and I'll make a concerted effort to put it on paper.  I altered it a bit from what the graphics program gave me, and have ideas on how to make it a little more defined after seeing the finished product.  This was just the basic Sugar & Cream cotton in Cornflower Blue.  Go Lions!

An algae green cowl - sounds gross, looks great!

Another lovely quick project! I really enjoy doing small pieces like cowls - this one is called The Darkside Cowl, its by Sarah Fama, and I found it on Ravelry. (All roads no longer lead to Rome - they lead to Ravelry!!!) I used some pea green yarn that was given to me by a former knitter (she overdosed on scarves for Christmas gifts one year and & has sworn off knitting for a while. She very sweetly passed along her leftovers to me.) I think its acrylic, but I might be wrong. Its very stretchy, which I guess makes it good for a cowl so it will stretch over the head easily.

Anyhoo, I love this pattern - its easy to follow and things keep changing so it stays interesting. Not to mention, it makes for a lovely finished object! I think next to cables, anything that resembles basketweave is my second favorite thing to knit.

[caption id="attachment_111" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="the Darkside Cowl in algae green"][/caption]
[caption id="attachment_112" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="totally scrunchable!"][/caption]

And speaking of basketweave, I have started a new scarf in a gorgeous deep forest green, in alpaca.  I officially adore alpaca - this is Misti International Misti Alpaca Chunky and it is the softest yarn I have ever used. It reminds me of the satin bindings on my blanket when I was a little girl - the ones I rubbed so hard they wore out. How I loved that satin binding. There is just something terribly comforting about rubbing something soft on your cheek.  This pattern is Basketweave Scarf by Ann Budd, also available here from Knitting Daily.  I really like how the sides undulate with the basketweave, and its an easy pattern to follow.  Its good for semi-short-term knitting too, since the repeat is only 18 rows.  I think I am doing this for a friend of mine who wanted a soft scarf to wear with his topcoat, but I just might keep it for myself.  It would be a nice color for a Michigan State Spartan's fan, but he might not be so lucky!  I'd made him a cabled scarf out of some Noro wool/silk two years ago, but he thinks its too scratchy, so I started this.

[caption id="attachment_113" align="aligncenter" width="257" caption="Super Soft Alpaca Scarf"][/caption]

And I learned that I really need to find a better place to photograph my projects, instead of the dining room table.  The chandelier makes huge shadows!

I also finished another berry sweet preemie hat - used the circs this time, so the main portion of the hat went super quickly. Not bothering with a photo, as I don't want to bore you to tears.  Also did one that looks like a pumpkin.  I am really enjoying the i-cord stems.  What a neat trick!

Fly Fishing Gloves

A friend of mine asked me to make him long fingerless gloves for when he goes fly fishing.  It is a fun and easy project, for the most part, so I was happy to get started.  I couldn't find a men's pattern that I liked with short fingers, so I took a super popular pattern called Dashing (from Knitty.com) and added fingers based on a men's glove pattern.  Modifying patterns is something new for me, so it was an adventure!  I have finished the first, and tried to take good notes so I can finish the second just the same. 

[caption id="attachment_37" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="First One Is Done"][/caption]

 

I've been knitting at the shop when it gets quiet, and I am amused at how many people are interested and politely ask questions.   I have met some nice knitters, and told some people about Ravelry.  Its such a fun community of knitting knowledge.

I am using Plymouth Yarn's Galway and am really enjoying it.  I wanted a yarn he could toss in the wash without worrying about it felting.  (Don't I sound like I know what I am talking about?  I don't really, but I am learning!)

[caption id="attachment_38" align="aligncenter" width="510" caption="Love those cables!"][/caption]

 

I told you I'm crazy about cables!

Cables, cables, cables

Is there anything prettier than cables?  I am making fingerless gloves for my sister.  They were supposed to be to keep her hands warm this winter, but winter is fading fast in her neck of the woods, and I only have one finished.  It is just so pretty though that I had to share...

Aren't they lovely?  This pattern is Fetching, from Knitty.com.  The cables all swirl in one direction on the right wrist, and in the opposite direction on the left wrist.  Very demure.  I'm using Lion Brand Cotton Ease for easy care.  I don't know how they'll stretch or wear, but we'll see.  This is a perfect blue for Elizabeth.  Looking at the photo though, I seem to have done one cable row, one row too soon.  Ergh.

It really is a fabulous pattern - easy to read, and an easy on-the-go project too.  I love, love, love this patter, and I am curious to know how many people have knit it.  On Ravelry alone, there are 10,371 pairs listed.  TEN THOUSAND!   How cool is that?  Plus several "Fetching-inspired" projects and patterns available too.  A big thanks to author Cheryl Niamath for her inspiration, and for sharing!

My photos do not look as crisp as some others I have seen on blogs.  I am still learning how to use my new camera, and hopefully things will improve.