Dinosaur!

My first knitted FO of 2014.  This year is already off to a good start knitting-wise.  This is the Steggie pattern from Knitty.com.  I didn't like the super baggy fit and the Boy is rather on the thin side so I opted for the smallest size but lengthened the sleeves and the body by an inch.  I do wish I'd lengthened the body by a couple more inches, though.  

My goal with this sweater was just to use up some age old acrylic in my stash (bought for baby sweaters when the Boy actually was a baby!)  I stumbled across this pattern searching Ravelry and knew it had to be. As you may recall, the boy loves dinosaurs.  I did manage to use up almost all of the dark blue and the turquoise, but had to buy the variegated for the spikes (doh!).  Two steps forward, one step back.

He was pretty enamored with it the night I finished it (and the entire time I was knitting it) but since that night it's sat pretty much unloved.  Of course, he hasn't wanted to keep his clothes on for most of that time, so apparently we're regressing to that phase.  Oh good, just what we need in the middle of winter.  A preschooler who lives in his socks and undies.

At least he kept it on long enough for me to snap some photos.  The original motivation, now that I think of it, was to knit the boy a sweater upon which to sew these car buttons.  He's been going through my big button collection to pull these out and play with and I decided it was probably time to actually use them.  Big plastic car buttons are only cute up to a certain age, after all.  

He really seemed to like it when I took these pictures, so hopefully I'll get him to wear it (and pants) again.  I would like to see this sweater gets lots of love before it's retired to the hand-me-down pile.  And of course, don't forget the Sewing for Small People Sewalong hosted by Leah over at Struggle Sews a Straight Seam.  I plan on doing a round up post about the time things wrap up in May to see what all I've managed for the small people over the course of four months.  And if you don't follow Struggle Sews a Straight Seam check it out, Leah's hilarious!

WIP Wednesday: Is it spring yet?

Lace and pastels...  Is it spring yet?

WIP Wednesdays: Anna Karenina

So this blanket is named after the book.  The interminable, never-ending book.  I started it while reading Anna Karenina... almost a year and a half ago (!!)

I finally cheated and finished reading the book on iBooks.  The blanket?  She remains.  Linen stitch takes forever, yo.  I don't really intend to finish this blanket any time soon; maybe next winter or the one after?  As new yarns find their way into the scrap pile it changes the look.  Of course, the look of this blanket will always be a crazy hodpodge of everything but the kitchen sink.  But that's what I love about it.

A very unhappy baby for scale.  You'd probably be unhappy too if somebody interrupted your playing to lay you down on a blanket and take pictures!  This blanket is about 3 feet (yes I measured it which means, basically, baby girl is HUGE!) so it's about halfway done.  I had to set it aside during summer but now that the weather's cooled off there's no better knitting project than a big, heavy half of a blanket you can curl up under while knitting =)

What are you working on now that there's a chill in the air?  Or is summer still going strong where you live?

WIP Wednesday: whatever happened to knitting?

i've been in a terrible knitting and blogging incaseyoudidn'tnotice rut recently.  there are some reasons, or excuses if you will, for both of these egregious oversights.

let's cover knitting real quick as i think it'll be more entertaining.  after all who doesn't like to gloat over hear about others' failures?  i know i do.

first there was the ill fated black recycled lace sweater.  there was so much wrong there it's actually hard to know where to start.  first, i did not make a game plan.  i had some notes on gauge and how many stitches to cast on, which would have been enough, but i lost them.  into the ether apparently cuz they never turned up.  then i started seriously doubting  whether or not it would even be a flattering style for me and i didn't think there'd be enough yarn.  and then came the kettle corn.  my god... the kettle corn.  i don't think i'll ever get all the kettle corn out of the knitting, much less the yarn cake.  fail.

then there were the socks.  ships that passed in the night, as it were.  halfway through the second sock i started looking for the mate (cuz, you know, socks get lonely without their sole mates... and yes you can expect to hear that pun many more times on this blog).  gone.  undoubtedly absconded with the sweater notes.  (sensing a theme here?  i really need to get organized =P)  double fail.  that pretty much killed my willtolive knitting mojo for awhile.  now that the weather is turning and fall is decidedly creeping up my thoughts have turned to woolly sweaters so i've finally cast on a new knitting project.

finally, my swift is and has been broken for.ev.er.  my dad made it and insists he will fix it... but i may have to go buy a new one.  when all your yarn is in hanks it becomes a paramount task (not to mention team effort) to cast on a new project.  damn the evil spider that broke my swift.

as for the blog i can only blame myself (blaming the kids would be too easy) for my broken camera, sticky laptop keys (note the lack of capital letters and spaces... now you know why), and sporadic internet connection.  so the last one isn't really kid-related but it definitely puts a cramp in my style iykwim.  so all i can say is that i'll try and be better.  i've certainly been sewing quite a bit and reading about all the great sewing/costume making so now i feel ready to get back to it!

now that i'm done whining, anybody else started thinking about fall makings yet?

how do you catch a unique rabbit?

you 'neak up on it....

how do you catch a tame rabbit???

tame way =)

a long distance friend of mine commissioned me to knit this sweater at the beginning of February and I took on the challenge.  She wanted a sweater with a hood with bunny ears.  No big deal right?  Of course such a pattern does not exist (should you be curious) so I had to make one up based on the measurements she gave me.  After lots of work and collaboration it finally lives! Her post is here should you want to see more pics.  I totally ganked that pic; hope you don't mind chica!

i based the ears off of this pattern, but increased for a wider middle ear and made them a whole lot longer.  the sweater is just a basic bottom up raglan with colorwork bunnies on the yoke.  the yarn is a lovely recycled angora/cashmere/wool blend that is soooo soft and yummy!  I was saving it for a sweater for myself, but i guess this is the next best thing ;-)

total sweaters completed this year: 2 out of 12.... i'm already thinking i might not make it!

All the bunnies sitting in a row

Cute or creepy?  Please discuss

Summer heat

For August.  Fetching mitts (with the cables reversed on the second glove) and linen stitch scarf.  In warm summery colors because, well, don't we all need a little bit of summer heat right now?

I love linen stitch...  It's so warm and dense.  And Malabrigo.  Swoon.  I was tempted to keep this set, but I <3 and="" at="" august="" colors.="" good="" great="" in="" looks="" lus="" nbsp="" s="" saying="" she="" so="" thank="" these="" you=")</p">

Wip Wednesday: Bunny to Be

This one's for Britta.  But aren't my stitch markers pretty?  Christmas present from my dad =)  He makes 'em just for me!

It's a dark, chocolatey brown.  Yes.  Chocolatey is a word I assure you.

That's all for now on this WIP.  Linking up again for WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Hopefully I won't be run out of town for linking up a knitting project, it seems like mostly people are linking up quilts in progress.

Here at the End of Paper Things

Because I love a good pretentiously named sweater

I finished my first sweater of 2013 last night at 11, so technically just barely finished in January.  That means I'm still on schedule for 12 sweaters in 12 months.  Of course I started it mid-December but whatever.

I'm wearing a black camisole underneath (because I always wear a camisole underneath everything) so that lace is not part of the sweater.

The stitch pattern is lifted from Eunny Jang's Endpaper Mitts.... so you've seen it before.  It's a very simple stitch pattern so it was easy to sweaterize.  I worked it from the bottom up because I am perpetually indecisive.  This way I didn't have to decide on neckline shape or raglan versus set in sleeves until most of the sweater was knit.  

I worked faux seams along the sides of the body, running along the underside of the arm, and then up along the raglan seams.  I love using a raglan seam as a design element with a bold line or cable.  Plus the "seam" helps hide the jog when you change rows.  All cast ons and bind offs are of the tubular sort, worked over 2x2 rib.  I swear one day I'll get a tutorial up for that.

I'm an idiot and can't use the self timer on my camera apparently, but look how pretty the stitch pattern is!  Plus you can see the neckline.  The whole sweater is seamless so when I started the neckline shaping I bound off one stitch (for the bottom of the V) and cast on 8 steek stitches.  After I finished knitting I machine sewed the steeks (2 lines on each side) and cut.  I used a blanket stitch to tack down the steeks then picked up and knit the neckline.  It wasn't my first steek and I doubt it will be my last.  Sometimes I wonder why people say things are scary when they're really not that bad.  Steeks aren't scary, they're easier than the alternative!

Here's a more flattering but much less informative rear view.  The yarns are dark grey and off white (natural?  sheep colored?).  They contrast pretty well but I've noticed that from afar they seem to look more like a heathered solid.  

Speaking of which, the yarns were salvaged from two old sweaters.  The grey is wool and the natural is a really soft yummy angora wool blend.  The grey isn't that soft but the combination of the two is super snuggly and warm.  I'm glad I combined them because I didn't think a sweater out of the grey would be wearable.

Overall I'm quite pleased with the outcome.  After taking these pics we went for a bike ride and it was comfortable and warm enough to go jacketless (which in January in Seattle is no small feat).  Actually hurray for finally having a nice enough day for outside pictures.  I didn't actually do any bike riding but the boy is getting the hang of this bike thing =)

tips & tricks: stranded

No, not that kind of stranded.  Today some general stranded knitting tips for your perusal, consideration, and general cogitation.

1. Keep the stitches on the right needle spread out like this:

Not scrunched up like this:

This'll help keep your floats nice and even.  When you aren't using a strand of yarn it's carried behind the stitches and makes a float.  The hardest thing for me when I first tried colorwork was keeping my floats loose enough.  Tight floats make your fabric pull in and pucker like crazy so this is pretty important.

2. Weave/catch/wrap long floats.  I recently saw someone imply that this isn't really necessary, and perhaps if you live in a world without watches, buttons, knobs, and wardrobe malfunctions it isn't.  For those of you who live in my world however, I recommend wrapping every 3 or 4 stitches.  Floats can easily get snagged and snagged floats leads to tears and curses.  They can also mess with your tension.  How do you weave your floats?  Like this:

Top left: two strands coming out of the work.  Top right: cross the strands

Bottom left: twist the strands around each other.  Bottom right: you can (kinda) see how the grey strand is coming out of the middle of the long run of beige stitches and that's how it's done.

3. Pick an easy pattern for your first go.  I don't mean pick a scarf or gloves (although fingerless gloves are an excellent starter pattern to practice your tension).  Pick a stitch pattern that's intuitive.  It will help you learn to read your knitting and you won't have to constantly refer to the chart (thus giving you more concentration to bestow upon maintaining your tension).

A simple chevron pattern is easy to remember and predict.

Endpaper mitts are a popular choice for beginner fairislers

How do you know if it's simple?  One way is to look at the size of one repeat.  4 stitches by 8 rows?  Easy. 10 stitches by 10 rows?  All right...  50 stitches by 100 rows?  Maybe not for your first go.

4. Work it in the round.  This is optional but highly recommended.  Why?  You can't read the pattern from the wrong side which makes purling across pretty much interminable.  Plus it's pretty hard to keep your tension nice on those edges (at least that's what I've found).  

5. Work it inside out.  Especially if you're working on DPNs or magic looping.  Otherwise the floats where you change needles are liable to be way tight.  As a matter of fact, as long as you're working inside out you don't need to worry too much about tight floats.  It helps keep your floats nice and long.  That's a good thing.  Remember tight floats mean tight sleeves/gloves/whatever and puckered stitches.

That being said, be sure to pull your yarns tight at the beginning of each needle.  Too long and loose floats can be unattractive.  I find I get the best results by pulling tight when I'm knitting the second stitch not the first.  If I pull the first stitch tight the yarn always ends up loosening back up.  This brings me to...

6. Blocking works wonders.  I don't have a good before and after, but trust me.  Blocking will smooth out most tension issues as long as they're not pervasive (think lots of too tight floats).  Be aggressive (just be sure to block your swatch so you know if everything's gonna get crazy big).

7. Work your gauge swatch in the round.  I know, I know.  But do it anyway.  If you don't believe me, try it both ways.  I think you'll be surprised.

8. The purl faux seam.  Sounds crazy right?  Why would I work something in the round and go to the trouble of including a fake seam???  Because it will hide the jogs between rows and that's a good thing.  Plus it gives you a good place for increases/decreases.  All my decreases are worked on either side of that purl stitch.  I've tried using a knit stitch instead, and while it looks all right it doesn't really hide the jog as well.  Not that anyone but you is ever going to look that closely at your non-seams.

9. Find what works for you when it comes to weaving in ends, but remember that you've already got some extra yarnz to hang on to.  Do yourself a favor and try the braided or Russian join.  They're both pretty great but I think the braided join is easier.

10. Use a nice cast on.  Seriously.  Use a tubular cast on.  Just do it.  Techknitter's tutorials are generally brilliant.  She doesn't seem to have one for casting on 2x2 ribbing but now that I've done it I might put up a tutorial on how it works.   Seriously, though, why waste all that time and effort and not use the nicest looking cast on you can find???  I promise, it's not that hard.  I don't even need to look at the tutorial any more (I use tubular cast ons always).

See how pretty and stretchy?  Tubular cast on for 2x2 rib

11. Steek it.  Seriously, it isn't that bad.  If you have any sewing experience at all and a sewing machine I can highly recommend that option.  Block your piece, sew your reinforcements, cut, turn, sew.  No big D.  Even with superwash wool it's unlikely to all unravel as soon as you cut (after sewing your reinforcements of course).

12. Don't be afraid.  Tackle this one step at a time.  First try knitting in the round, then the tubular cast on, then a small stranded project, then a whole stranded steeked sweater or blanket or whatever.  Just remember people were doing this before you ever started knitting and they'll be doing it long after you've been buried in your favorite knit cardigan.

13. Finally, and this one may seem obvious, but do not put two different stranded WIPs in the same bag together and then knit.  Tragedy will ensue.

I hope that the wisdom gained from my abject failures (I jest; most of them weren't that bad... but some of them were pretty bad) can help someone just starting out.  If the internet had been then what it is now it would have definitely saved me some bitter tears.

tips & tricks: colorwork

So I originally wanted to write a post with some advice for those wanting to tackle colorwork (e.g. fair isle) knitting for the first time.  Once I uploaded all the pictures for this one, though, I decided it would be way too big for one post if I put up everything so stay tuned; there's more to come tomorrow.

Today's  topic: what to do if you realize that you messed up on the row before (or even a couple of rows before).  This is basically how it works with any kind of knitting.  Frog not; just drop the offending stitch right off your needles.

Take your right hand needle (or an extra needle) and pull on the yarn to one side of the offending stitch, thus pulling it out of the loop (stitch) below.

... and here it is once you'e pulled the stitch out.  Repeat as necessary for as many rows as you need.  I prefer to fix one stitch at a time, though, for simplicity's sake.

Now stick your right/spare needle through that recently liberated loop (in this case grey) from right to left/front to back (things can get a bit shifty but hopefully you get the idea.  If you pick this stitch up twisted or backwards it will show.  Of course, it's your sweater I'm not gonna make you fix it.  Then again, if you aren't gonna fix it right why fix it at all?).  

Now that you've got the grey stitch on your right needle, what color should be above it?  In this case white (tan/beige/whatever) is next.  Note that this example was staged and the stitch was fine to begin with.  Ironically when I picked this up and started knitting today, though, I'd done 3 stitches in a row wrong.  Would that I'd gotten pictures of the real thing but alas this will have to do for now.

Anyway, find the beige strand (called a float) from the correct row and stick your needle under it.  It should be behind the stitch on your needle.  I think it's worth mentioning if it's in front of that stitch you'll end up with a purl not a knit stitch.  This is kind of a biggie.  Especially if you're fixing several stitches in a row or going down several rows.  Picking up the wrong strands can mess up your tension and just generally ruin your day.

Now it's time to get your left needle involved.  Stick it through the front of the grey stitch with the beige strand still laying across the right hand needle.  It will basically look like you're about to do a normal knit stitch except that you're not hanging onto any yarn tails.

Now pull that beige strand through the grey stitch with the right hand needle (again just like you're doing a normal knit stitch)

et voila!  

It is fixed.  

This is the same general idea you can use to fix a myriad of mistakes: a miscrossed cable, a knit instead of a purl, I can't think of anything else off the top of my head but for realz if you don't know how to do this it's worth learning.

Obviously this post is already very photo heavy so I'll be back with more colorwork tips tomorrow.

Endpaper mitts

For a dear friend who always brings the boy something special when she visits and plays tirelessly when his poor padres are pooped.

I think she deserves a little something special for Christmas this year.  But Santa ain't gettin' credit for these guys.  I used the Endpaper Mitts pattern again (my second time using this pattern but both have been gifts).  Blue yarn is Dream in Color Smooshy (omg smoosh I love this yarn drool) and the white is Plymouth Yarn Dye for Me Happy Feet.  I really like the Plymouth for colorwork projects because it's similar to most of my favorite sock weight yarns, it's white (or off white) and it's pretty reasonably priced.  I can't actually remember how much I paid but the skeins are big and I remember thinking the price was right.  

Anyway, she says she likes them and how cute is that scarf?  Want.

wip wednesdsay

with christmas over i can't help but breath a sigh of relief.  no more deadlines, no more shopping, no more getting all kerbobbled...

and now i can spend my time being selfish.  sweater #1 of (hopefully) 12 to be finished in 2013.  

i've got half a sleeve and a few inches of the body.  i love colorwork and i think it looks really good in these neutrals.

always reading mitts

pattern: suzie's reading mitts

yarn: alpaca upcycled from an unwanted sweater

rav page

a christmas present for my mom.  by request...  although she so casually asked for both fingerless mitts and a ruffly apron that i wonder if she'll even remember.  

this is the third time i've made this pattern and it never fails to please.  these gloves are so simple and elegant but quick to knit.  a perfect last minute gift (not that christmas is that imminent but it is officially looming!)  these gloves are officially wrapped and under our christmas tree!  it's a regular santa's lil sweatshop around here.  the boy and i have been making christmas ornaments and wreaths, decorating, making christmas cookies, breaking ornaments, and all sorts of other holiday stuff =)

i've been soo busy doing all this christmas prep stuff as well as making christmas presents that i've got quite a little backlog of projects to photograph and blog.  if only the sun were ever to grace our seattle november...  i love christmas, i live for it i really do.... but all i want to do right now is knit myself a sweater.  i imagine it will be cast on before christmas; i don't have many more christmassy items to knit =)

everybody else getting amped up for christmas?  or foiled in their blogging attempts by the wintry weather?

wip-down #2 & 3 or if my mom was a kitchen

i'm pretty sure if my mom was a kitchen she'd be a down home country kitchen done in bright cheerful colors and lots of ruffles

hopefully she thinks so too.  wip-down item #2 is a christmas present for my mom; by request extra ruffly.

everything is from the stash, including the age old spool of orange thread so, you know, go me.  the pattern is from here (tutorial actually) but i made it a bit bigger and added the ruffle at the neck.

this is actually my first sew weekly challenge, so i suppose i'll be posting about it over there, too.  the theme this week is aprons conveniently enough.  i'm wondering if i should post this one or all three aprons i've made in the past week!

dad: if you're reading this please stop now

item # 3 are these big fish.  this is the second time i've done these in a larger size and i will write up how i did it as soon as i have a spare moment.   these are also a christmas present, this time for my dad.

note they don't fit me because, well, they're big

up next?  you'll never guess in a million years

overall i've finished 4 of the 15 items (i found another wip so the total count went up to 15 and i finished one more item tonight too late to take photos).  i also went and bought batting and got my quilt sandwich pin basted so i should finish that in the next couple of days.  my embarrassing admission is that to celebrate i cast on a pair of fingerless mitts.  in my defense, though, they're a christmas present for my mom and i'm trying to just focus on finishing everything i wanna make for christmas.  besides, they should be super quick

i hope y'all are doing well with your christmas crafting.  slow and steady!

wip-down #1: the boy's mitts

well there's no use denying it: winter is upon us.  the days are short, wet, and cold.  of course that doesn't stop us from going out to play, which means we need lots of warm woolies to protect us. 

i'm rather fond of summer, but i love pulling out all the knit goods when the weather turns cool.

of course new wooly stuff is half the fun right?

that being said, the first thing i can cross off my inordinately long list of wips is (drumroll please)

a pretty unimpressive pair of fingerless mitts for the boy.  they're made of lamb's pride superwash.  they're quite tight and long.

 i think i'll whip up another pair and see if he keeps them on for more than 2 minutes

removes gloves faster than a camera shutter!

i am quite pleased that his sweater is going to see another year of wear.  especially considering how long it took me to spin the yarn!

one wip down, 13 to go!