5 little cardigans and 5 little hats
have been knit
waiting for buttons
waiting to give a lil'un a hug
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Progress
I just finished the third sweater (minus buttons) and started the third hat out of the leftover yarn.
I'm still not tired of the pattern, but I'm starting to daydream about other projects.
Saturday, April 07, 2012
Current project(s)
Currently, I've undertook a massive project. Knit 5 sweaters in less than 2 months. The project seems a little less massive when revealed that the sweaters are all 6 month size. The pattern is called Little Coffee Bean, and is a nice pattern. It is knit from top-down, with raglan increases. It's completely seamless and made in worsted weight.
The reason why I took on this 'massive' project is because I know 5 babies that will be born in May and June, all here in Athens, OH. Two of those babies will be born to knitters, whom I've gotten to know through my stitch'n'bitch group (first babies since I joined the group almost 5 years ago!) and the remainder to grad students whom I work with.
I have already knit almost two sweaters. The yarn for both of them was acquired in Salt Lake City, Utah, when I was there for a conference. They consist of a solid colored yarn and a varigated/multicolored yarn. I'll post pictures soon, perhaps after the baby shower 4 weeks from now, so stay tuned!
The reason why I say 'already knit almost two sweaters' instead of saying 'almost knit two sweaters' is that when I balled up the yarn for the second sweater, the band broke when I had just started, so I had two balls of yarn. One small and the other much larger. I finished the larger ball and all I have left is to knit the second button band, but I can't find the smaller ball! The two of them were in my project bag, but the little one must have fallen out at some time! I hope it's still here and that I'll find it because it will not be easy to replace it.
Last Thursday I got yarn for two more sweaters. I ran to Nelsonville to the Little Yarn Shop while my daughter had a soccer practice. I got Encore yarn, which is 75% acrylic and 25% wool. I normally would stay away from acrylic, especially for babies, but the parents of the babies I have in mind are from warm countries and I think it would be good to have a very washable garment, because I'm not so sure they have a lot experience in washing wool. My husband is from California and it took him a while to learn to wash wool, so I speak from experience.
The reason why I took on this 'massive' project is because I know 5 babies that will be born in May and June, all here in Athens, OH. Two of those babies will be born to knitters, whom I've gotten to know through my stitch'n'bitch group (first babies since I joined the group almost 5 years ago!) and the remainder to grad students whom I work with.
I have already knit almost two sweaters. The yarn for both of them was acquired in Salt Lake City, Utah, when I was there for a conference. They consist of a solid colored yarn and a varigated/multicolored yarn. I'll post pictures soon, perhaps after the baby shower 4 weeks from now, so stay tuned!
The reason why I say 'already knit almost two sweaters' instead of saying 'almost knit two sweaters' is that when I balled up the yarn for the second sweater, the band broke when I had just started, so I had two balls of yarn. One small and the other much larger. I finished the larger ball and all I have left is to knit the second button band, but I can't find the smaller ball! The two of them were in my project bag, but the little one must have fallen out at some time! I hope it's still here and that I'll find it because it will not be easy to replace it.
Last Thursday I got yarn for two more sweaters. I ran to Nelsonville to the Little Yarn Shop while my daughter had a soccer practice. I got Encore yarn, which is 75% acrylic and 25% wool. I normally would stay away from acrylic, especially for babies, but the parents of the babies I have in mind are from warm countries and I think it would be good to have a very washable garment, because I'm not so sure they have a lot experience in washing wool. My husband is from California and it took him a while to learn to wash wool, so I speak from experience.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Peysa for me!
Peysa is Icelandic for a sweater/cardigan and I finished one even before I finished the big green thing.
The pattern is the ever so popular Var from Lopi 29. I was inspired by my Stepmother to make a sweater out of Einband. Einband is a laceweight Icelandic wool and Var is normally knit out of léttlopi (worsted weight Icelandic wool). My stepmother makes very beautiful and stylish designs of sweaters/cardigans out of Einband. She sells them, but now they are handknit in China!
My sweater (or a hoodie) came out very nicely. I've been using it a lot.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The big green thing - finished.
In my last post I showed a photo of some big green thing all bunched up in my sewing machine.
Well, I finished it, washed it and wore it to my bi-annual advisory board meeting. I'm super happy in the pictures, not just because of the nice jacket, but also because my board meeting was over. It is the end point of a lot of hard work.
The jacket is knit with Álafoss Lopi (Bulky weight Icelandic wool) on size 10.5 needle. The actual knitting only took 3 weeks as I worked on nothing else. For a few weeks I couldn't do the actual finishing since I was working late and on the weekend, but I got a little break right before the meeting and was able to finish it just in time and wash it (in the washing machine on handwash). I've wanted to make this jacket for over 3 years. I got the yarn three years ago and I finally have it ;) I'm really happy with it.
Well, I finished it, washed it and wore it to my bi-annual advisory board meeting. I'm super happy in the pictures, not just because of the nice jacket, but also because my board meeting was over. It is the end point of a lot of hard work.
The jacket is knit with Álafoss Lopi (Bulky weight Icelandic wool) on size 10.5 needle. The actual knitting only took 3 weeks as I worked on nothing else. For a few weeks I couldn't do the actual finishing since I was working late and on the weekend, but I got a little break right before the meeting and was able to finish it just in time and wash it (in the washing machine on handwash). I've wanted to make this jacket for over 3 years. I got the yarn three years ago and I finally have it ;) I'm really happy with it.
Saturday, March 03, 2012
The big green thing.
Look what is in my sewing machine. Yep, steek in progress. This is what I call an exciting Saturday night!!!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
The year 2011 in knits - Part 5 - the sock edition
I made 5 pairs of socks in the year 2011, thereof 4 in a row in June and the fifth in August. I have to say, sock knitting and traveling go very well together. In June I traveled with my fiends Ingibjörg and Nancy to Alabama and Kentucky and then later in the month I went on a conference in Montréal, and in August I went to Iceland.
The first two pairs of sock were for my daughters. The first one was for Kamilla, blue ones of course as that's her favorite color. (Ravelry link)
The second pair was for her sister Ása. I was hoping they were pink enough. It seems that they were, but they are a bit too scratchy for her. She doesn't tolerate wool very well, although she is getting better wearing it. (Ravelry Link)
Both those socks were knit from the same pattern. My go-to pattern for simple, mindless socks. The pattern is a toe-up pattern by Ann Budd that appeared in the 2007 summer edition of Interweave Knits. It has sizing for all different sizes of foots, but in this case I was using a gauge that was tighter than given in the pattern since I was using size 0 (2 mm) needles to make a more durable sock (I don't know why since they'll probably outgrow them before they'd out wear them!). So I just started the toe and increased until it fit around their foot. My cast-on was the trusted old Turkish cast-on which is described in the pattern, but I really like this tutorial. The Turkish cast-on looks like a toe closed with a kitchener stitch! It's also very simple.
These socks each took one skein of 50 g sock yarn. This means that this will be the last time I can count on one skein of sock yarn to make socks for them! My kids are growing up!
My third pair was knit up when I went to a conference in Canada. I don't know what the yarn is. I had recently gotten it in a yarn exchange that my Athens, OH knitting group had. Again, the same pattern as for the first two socks in this traveling sock knitting frenzy. I never took a picture of them when they were completed. Maybe since middle of summer in SE Ohio is no time to wear wool socks! I really love these socks, they are thin and the patterning was very interesting. They are also knit on size 0 (2 mm) needles, but they are a bit big nonetheless. Could be due to the fact that I used 80 stitches around! Ahemm.... (Ravelry link)
The forth pair was not knit on the road, but it was heavily influenced by the fact that I exchanged the kid's toys out for my leftover yarn. I was able to do this because my friend Ingibjörg took my daughter's to Iceland when she left. So I was very inspired to use up the leftover yarn. I made a pair of 'International Socks of Doom' which is a super quick pattern as it knits up with a simple, yet interesting rib in dk/sport weight yarn. It also helped that I was using 3.0mm needles instead of the 2.0 mm needles I'd used for the previous 3 pairs! The pattern was originally used a weapon in the 'Sock Wars'. I knit the socks both at the same time, but on separate pairs of double pointed needles. (Ravelry link)
The fifth and the last socks were knit on route to Iceland and back from Iceland. I also got the yarn from the yarn swap (same as my pink socks above), and in that case the previous owner had named the yarn 'Clown barf', partly because of the colors, and partly because it had incredible number of knots in it. I used the same toe-up pattern as before, but because the yarn didn't have a lot of yardage, I made them short (they reach just above the ankle). The yarn was from Great Adirondack Yarn Co.
Here one of the socks is pictured with a prototype of my step-mom's design (that I got to keep since she has a new design adorning her home). (Ravelry link)
The first two pairs of sock were for my daughters. The first one was for Kamilla, blue ones of course as that's her favorite color. (Ravelry link)
The second pair was for her sister Ása. I was hoping they were pink enough. It seems that they were, but they are a bit too scratchy for her. She doesn't tolerate wool very well, although she is getting better wearing it. (Ravelry Link)
Both those socks were knit from the same pattern. My go-to pattern for simple, mindless socks. The pattern is a toe-up pattern by Ann Budd that appeared in the 2007 summer edition of Interweave Knits. It has sizing for all different sizes of foots, but in this case I was using a gauge that was tighter than given in the pattern since I was using size 0 (2 mm) needles to make a more durable sock (I don't know why since they'll probably outgrow them before they'd out wear them!). So I just started the toe and increased until it fit around their foot. My cast-on was the trusted old Turkish cast-on which is described in the pattern, but I really like this tutorial. The Turkish cast-on looks like a toe closed with a kitchener stitch! It's also very simple.
These socks each took one skein of 50 g sock yarn. This means that this will be the last time I can count on one skein of sock yarn to make socks for them! My kids are growing up!
My third pair was knit up when I went to a conference in Canada. I don't know what the yarn is. I had recently gotten it in a yarn exchange that my Athens, OH knitting group had. Again, the same pattern as for the first two socks in this traveling sock knitting frenzy. I never took a picture of them when they were completed. Maybe since middle of summer in SE Ohio is no time to wear wool socks! I really love these socks, they are thin and the patterning was very interesting. They are also knit on size 0 (2 mm) needles, but they are a bit big nonetheless. Could be due to the fact that I used 80 stitches around! Ahemm.... (Ravelry link)
The forth pair was not knit on the road, but it was heavily influenced by the fact that I exchanged the kid's toys out for my leftover yarn. I was able to do this because my friend Ingibjörg took my daughter's to Iceland when she left. So I was very inspired to use up the leftover yarn. I made a pair of 'International Socks of Doom' which is a super quick pattern as it knits up with a simple, yet interesting rib in dk/sport weight yarn. It also helped that I was using 3.0mm needles instead of the 2.0 mm needles I'd used for the previous 3 pairs! The pattern was originally used a weapon in the 'Sock Wars'. I knit the socks both at the same time, but on separate pairs of double pointed needles. (Ravelry link)
The fifth and the last socks were knit on route to Iceland and back from Iceland. I also got the yarn from the yarn swap (same as my pink socks above), and in that case the previous owner had named the yarn 'Clown barf', partly because of the colors, and partly because it had incredible number of knots in it. I used the same toe-up pattern as before, but because the yarn didn't have a lot of yardage, I made them short (they reach just above the ankle). The yarn was from Great Adirondack Yarn Co.
Here one of the socks is pictured with a prototype of my step-mom's design (that I got to keep since she has a new design adorning her home). (Ravelry link)
Saturday, January 28, 2012
The year 2011 in knits - Part 4
I've not quite forgotten this series. Here is the next project. It's a bathmat. Not just any bathmat, but the great Absorba bathmat of Mason-Dixon fame. I'd wanted to make this bathmat since the book came out, but double worsted Peaches'n Creme is hard to come by. You have to order it from the producer and when they were going out of business I figured this was my last chance to make the bathmat out of the yarn it was designed with. It didn't hurt that there was a 50% off sale to get rid of inventory!
The pattern is knit in the log-style knitting Mason-Dixon made so popular, but with double worsted (ca. bulky weight) cotton yarn held triple! Triple! The fabric is thick and squishy and I love it. I even have yarn for another one! Hopefully that will be knit sooner rather than later.
I learned how to do a version of double knitting where you slip the stitch in the back while you knit the stitch in the front so you can knit a tube back and forward. This is really neat for small circumferences, like these soap sweaters. I made 3 pairs of soap sweaters and granny dishcloths for gifts. Very quick project and makes a nice present for someone. I only took a picture of one of the soap sweaters and here it is:
The next project I finished in 2011 actually got it´s very own blog post. It's a pink wool dress blogged right here.
The pattern is knit in the log-style knitting Mason-Dixon made so popular, but with double worsted (ca. bulky weight) cotton yarn held triple! Triple! The fabric is thick and squishy and I love it. I even have yarn for another one! Hopefully that will be knit sooner rather than later.
I learned how to do a version of double knitting where you slip the stitch in the back while you knit the stitch in the front so you can knit a tube back and forward. This is really neat for small circumferences, like these soap sweaters. I made 3 pairs of soap sweaters and granny dishcloths for gifts. Very quick project and makes a nice present for someone. I only took a picture of one of the soap sweaters and here it is:
The next project I finished in 2011 actually got it´s very own blog post. It's a pink wool dress blogged right here.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
The yellow jacket
I was very excited about this one jacket called the Sunrise Circle Jacket. I even had my mom send me plötulopi to make it out of. Apparently, I started it in November 2008. That's over three years ago! I worked on it for a while, finished the back, but then it hibernated for a bit. It came out of hibernation in 2009, and I made one sleeve (and front) before it hibernated again. I finally finished the second sleeve and front in September 2010. That was 1 and a half a year ago. I had started to sew it up when I stopped and set it aside.
I figured I didn't have much work left and that it was silly to let this jacket lay in the closet when I could very well need a nice and warm jacket in dead of winter. So yesterday I decided to take it out and see how the pieces fit. First I noticed that the back wasn't all the way done and then I noticed that the two shoulders were far from being even (see the photo below).
Actually, on of the shoulders was much bigger than the other. The two red lines should be the same size in the photo below.
After looking at it and pondering this for a while I noticed that the gauge was hugely different from one piece to the other. It obviously doesn't pay to do one part one year and the other the next! In the photo below the blue and the red box are the same size and you can see the difference in the gauge.
So what to do, what to do!!!!
After talking it over with my mom, I think that the best solution is to frog the bigger half and try to re-knit it, or frog the entire thing and use the yarn for something else!
p.s. this is approximately how it should look. So close, yet so far away!
I figured I didn't have much work left and that it was silly to let this jacket lay in the closet when I could very well need a nice and warm jacket in dead of winter. So yesterday I decided to take it out and see how the pieces fit. First I noticed that the back wasn't all the way done and then I noticed that the two shoulders were far from being even (see the photo below).
Actually, on of the shoulders was much bigger than the other. The two red lines should be the same size in the photo below.
After looking at it and pondering this for a while I noticed that the gauge was hugely different from one piece to the other. It obviously doesn't pay to do one part one year and the other the next! In the photo below the blue and the red box are the same size and you can see the difference in the gauge.
So what to do, what to do!!!!
After talking it over with my mom, I think that the best solution is to frog the bigger half and try to re-knit it, or frog the entire thing and use the yarn for something else!
p.s. this is approximately how it should look. So close, yet so far away!
Thursday, January 05, 2012
The year 2011 in knits - Part 3
Next up are 3 little fun projects that I just had a blast doing. They are all from the same book: Amigurumi knits. I can't believe I never blogged about these. They are the perfect blog fodder!
The first one was a cucumber (Ravelry link). It must have looked very yummie, because the dog ended up 'eating' it.
The second one was an earthworm (Ravelry link).
I actually made two earthworms, one for my kids and the other for a birthday gift for friend's son along with a kids' fishing pole.
The third was a garlic(Ravelry link). Obviously the dog doesn't like garlic because this one has been completely untouched unlike the cucumber - or could it be because it's made out of acrylic while the cucumber is made out of wool!
The first one was a cucumber (Ravelry link). It must have looked very yummie, because the dog ended up 'eating' it.
The second one was an earthworm (Ravelry link).
I actually made two earthworms, one for my kids and the other for a birthday gift for friend's son along with a kids' fishing pole.
The third was a garlic(Ravelry link). Obviously the dog doesn't like garlic because this one has been completely untouched unlike the cucumber - or could it be because it's made out of acrylic while the cucumber is made out of wool!
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
The year 2011 in knits - Part 2
Ahem, in my last post I was chronologically showing you my projects from last year, but I discovered I have finished 3 projects before the socks I started the first post with.
The first project of 2011 was started on Jan 1st and finished the next day. It was a dishcloth that was gifted before I remembered to take a picture. It was a dishcloth based on the granny dishcloth but with a twist. The pattern is from Ravelry. I used Sugar n'cream in 'warm brown' apparently. This project was 'obviously' not blogged (since I didn't even take a picture).
My next project was fun. It got a life of its own and ended up as Oscar (ravelry link), the e-reader (Kobo) cover. Oscar was blogged here.
Oscar was a rectangle knit out of Lorna's laces Shepherd Worsted in seed stitch (alternate knit and purl). He is very soft.
So far, these were small quick projects I left out, but the last one was neither. It was Tomten for my daughter. The yarn was plötulopi (icelandic unspun wool) held double and most of it was gifted to my by a dear knitting friend in a birthday game in 2008. I don't know who loved this yarn more, me or my dog, she chewed it at every opportunity.
The tomten was blogged and here is the ravelry link.
The first project of 2011 was started on Jan 1st and finished the next day. It was a dishcloth that was gifted before I remembered to take a picture. It was a dishcloth based on the granny dishcloth but with a twist. The pattern is from Ravelry. I used Sugar n'cream in 'warm brown' apparently. This project was 'obviously' not blogged (since I didn't even take a picture).
My next project was fun. It got a life of its own and ended up as Oscar (ravelry link), the e-reader (Kobo) cover. Oscar was blogged here.
Oscar was a rectangle knit out of Lorna's laces Shepherd Worsted in seed stitch (alternate knit and purl). He is very soft.
So far, these were small quick projects I left out, but the last one was neither. It was Tomten for my daughter. The yarn was plötulopi (icelandic unspun wool) held double and most of it was gifted to my by a dear knitting friend in a birthday game in 2008. I don't know who loved this yarn more, me or my dog, she chewed it at every opportunity.
The tomten was blogged and here is the ravelry link.
Monday, January 02, 2012
The Year 2011 in knits - Part 1
I can't say I was a prolific blogger in the year 2011. From Ravelry, I count 40 projects I finished in the year 2011. Although these are mostly small projects, it's a lot more than I made in 2010. However, I only had 24 blog posts in 2011, so a lot fell between the cracks.
The first project I finished in 2011 was blogged. It was the socks Sam by Cookie A (ravelry link). Made out of yarn I had previously knit up in a shawl, but resused and some yarn from a friend of mine (see if you can see it in the picture).
Next project was about 7 potholder (counts as 7 in the total number of projects), 5 of which were used for the 2011 Crochet Potholder exchange. The yarn was sport weight mercerized cotton, Reynolds Saucy Sport, which has since been discontinued :( This project was blogged and here is the ravelry link.
The next project was not blogged. It is a sweater called A by Védís Jónsdóttir from Lopi 26, made out of plötulopi (unspun icelandic wool) held triple on huge needles. Very quick project (took only a week), and the shoulder decreases are very interesting. This sweater was made from my coworker who is always cold and ordered the yarn from Iceland for me to make it. A knitter can't resist to knit for someone that's perpetually cold. (Ravelry link)
The next project is one that I've used quite a bit even if it's fingerless mittens. I never took a picture of the finished product, but they match a shawl I made in 2010. I actually have accessories that match! Public Ravelry link but no blog post.
I did blog about the next project, but I never told you I made 2 more. Perfect project to learn knitting backwards. Ravelry 1, Ravelry 2 and Ravelry 3.
This is enough for now. I want to get back to my crochet blanket (afghan for some people) which is almost done!
The first project I finished in 2011 was blogged. It was the socks Sam by Cookie A (ravelry link). Made out of yarn I had previously knit up in a shawl, but resused and some yarn from a friend of mine (see if you can see it in the picture).
Next project was about 7 potholder (counts as 7 in the total number of projects), 5 of which were used for the 2011 Crochet Potholder exchange. The yarn was sport weight mercerized cotton, Reynolds Saucy Sport, which has since been discontinued :( This project was blogged and here is the ravelry link.
The next project was not blogged. It is a sweater called A by Védís Jónsdóttir from Lopi 26, made out of plötulopi (unspun icelandic wool) held triple on huge needles. Very quick project (took only a week), and the shoulder decreases are very interesting. This sweater was made from my coworker who is always cold and ordered the yarn from Iceland for me to make it. A knitter can't resist to knit for someone that's perpetually cold. (Ravelry link)
The next project is one that I've used quite a bit even if it's fingerless mittens. I never took a picture of the finished product, but they match a shawl I made in 2010. I actually have accessories that match! Public Ravelry link but no blog post.
I did blog about the next project, but I never told you I made 2 more. Perfect project to learn knitting backwards. Ravelry 1, Ravelry 2 and Ravelry 3.
This is enough for now. I want to get back to my crochet blanket (afghan for some people) which is almost done!
Monday, November 07, 2011
The Surprise Wash Cloth
I ordered yarn form Elann.com at one point. One of the yarn was a skein of 100% linen called Linus.
Last spring I needed a quick take-along project to work on while waiting for the kids while they had their activities. I grabbed this skein of Linus and started a crochet washcloth where I did every row with a single crochet (sc) through the back loop of the previous row. The idea was to get a washcloth with a texture. Then I did 'crab stitch' around. Crab stitch is basically backwards 'single crochet' worked from left to right, while crochet normally goes from right to left. This is an excellent edging stitch for crocheted objects.
I made the washcloth last May, but for some reason I never actually did the finishing until couple of weeks ago (October 23rd according to Ravelry). This is what it looked like when I was done:
I used it the next day in the shower and something strange happened. The washcloth grew longways! It did not retain any of the structure but just stretched out and became flat! Completely flat! It was a joy to use though and felt great on the skin.
It's been washed now and it even more soft than before (the yarn is barely spun and therefore soft for a linen yarn even as I crochet it up) and it regained a little bit of it's structure but not a lot.
I was excited though. This was a great washcloth material. It felt great and would make a great gift, but I wanted to try different stitch patterns or different gauges etc. My mind was all fired up. Then I tried to find it on Elann's website. No luck :( Turns out the yarn is DISCONTINUED. AAAAARRRRRGGGG!!!!!!!
Of course.
Back to the drawing board.
p.s. if you know of any yarn that I could use instead (and no not Euroflax), please let me know!
Last spring I needed a quick take-along project to work on while waiting for the kids while they had their activities. I grabbed this skein of Linus and started a crochet washcloth where I did every row with a single crochet (sc) through the back loop of the previous row. The idea was to get a washcloth with a texture. Then I did 'crab stitch' around. Crab stitch is basically backwards 'single crochet' worked from left to right, while crochet normally goes from right to left. This is an excellent edging stitch for crocheted objects.
I made the washcloth last May, but for some reason I never actually did the finishing until couple of weeks ago (October 23rd according to Ravelry). This is what it looked like when I was done:
I used it the next day in the shower and something strange happened. The washcloth grew longways! It did not retain any of the structure but just stretched out and became flat! Completely flat! It was a joy to use though and felt great on the skin.
It's been washed now and it even more soft than before (the yarn is barely spun and therefore soft for a linen yarn even as I crochet it up) and it regained a little bit of it's structure but not a lot.
I was excited though. This was a great washcloth material. It felt great and would make a great gift, but I wanted to try different stitch patterns or different gauges etc. My mind was all fired up. Then I tried to find it on Elann's website. No luck :( Turns out the yarn is DISCONTINUED. AAAAARRRRRGGGG!!!!!!!
Of course.
Back to the drawing board.
p.s. if you know of any yarn that I could use instead (and no not Euroflax), please let me know!
Monday, October 24, 2011
Good housekeeping
I had Thursday and Friday off last week to recuperate after a very busy time at work. By Sunday I felt so much better. I had energy to do things I normally don't on the weekend, like cleaning. Getting my room/craft space in order resulted in me finishing up some small projects that only needed a little bit of work. One was recent (the Lizard Ridge Dishcloth) and two were some I made in May and only had a little bit of finishing left).
One of the patterns made in May was a potholder / hot pad I made from three strands double worsted weight Peaches and Creme. Unfortunately, this yarn had been discontinued, although the worsted weight equivalent is still being produced.
I made them by casting on few stitches and knitting stockinette stitch for a while (knit one row, knit backwards the next). I made it rather long and then folded it in half on the 'wrong' side and sew together. This thing is like an inch thick! It will protect you or your table well from the heat.
The yarn was left over from a project I had just finished at the time (in May 2011): Adsorba from the first Mason-Dixon book.
I never blogged it, but it is super squishy and soft. A dream to step on after a shower or a bath (I'm more of a shower person). When the Peaches and Creme company was bought out, I figured I better order this yarn (double worsted) so I can make this bathmat before it's too late. I'm glad I did, since the yarn was discontinued. The bathmat is made from Hunter (dark green), celery (light green) and white. I was originally going to get off-white, but they were out of that color, but I'm glad, because the white really makes the other colors pop, whereas the off-white would have made the colors more blend. I bought three other colors, dark and light gray and yellow. Hopefully someday I'll make another Absorba bathmat.
The other project I worked on in May was a linen washcloth. I had gotten the yarn from Elann.com, but sadly it's discontinued. I crochet a square with SC (single crochet - fastapinni) through the back loops to give it more texture.After I had a square, I did a reverse SC on the edges ( crab stitch - krabbahekl) for support since it was rather flimsy. I only had a few crab stitches left because I hadn't secured it well enough and some of the stitches had come undone.
I used it this morning in the shower, and what a luxury. I loved the feel of it and it held the soap very well. But something unexpected happened. It grew! The yarn relaxed so much, I've never seen anything like it.
Perhaps it's because it's linen. Perhaps it's because the yarn is barely spun. Perhaps it's the stitch pattern. Maybe it's all of those things. I wish I could try another stitch pattern or a tighter gauge. I would love more linen washcloths, but unfortunately the yarn has been discontinued.
The final project I finished yesterday (Sunday 10-23-11, 23. október) was another dishcloth I only had a couple of garter stitch rows left on. I saw denim colors of Sugar'n cream yarn - indigo and stonewash - which were irresistible. It's not actually denim yarn (which shrinks and fades with wash), just denim colored yarn, but it's supercool just the same. I made the Lizard Ridge dishcloth pattern, using 'indigo' as the ridges and 'stonewash' as the short-row valleys.
I was looking around for a dishcloth intarsia project to hone my intarsia skills, when I came upon a intarsia 'Dr. Who' pattern of the Tardis. It was designed for exactly the same colors I had in the denim yarn. I got some more of them to be sure I'd have enough and I finished the Tardis pattern a week earlier (Oct 16th) and blogged right away.
If you are a "Dr. Who" fan, you'll think this is super cool. If not, you probably think I'm nuts for knitting a intarsia dishcloth pattern of a Police Box.
One of the patterns made in May was a potholder / hot pad I made from three strands double worsted weight Peaches and Creme. Unfortunately, this yarn had been discontinued, although the worsted weight equivalent is still being produced.
I made them by casting on few stitches and knitting stockinette stitch for a while (knit one row, knit backwards the next). I made it rather long and then folded it in half on the 'wrong' side and sew together. This thing is like an inch thick! It will protect you or your table well from the heat.
The yarn was left over from a project I had just finished at the time (in May 2011): Adsorba from the first Mason-Dixon book.
I never blogged it, but it is super squishy and soft. A dream to step on after a shower or a bath (I'm more of a shower person). When the Peaches and Creme company was bought out, I figured I better order this yarn (double worsted) so I can make this bathmat before it's too late. I'm glad I did, since the yarn was discontinued. The bathmat is made from Hunter (dark green), celery (light green) and white. I was originally going to get off-white, but they were out of that color, but I'm glad, because the white really makes the other colors pop, whereas the off-white would have made the colors more blend. I bought three other colors, dark and light gray and yellow. Hopefully someday I'll make another Absorba bathmat.
The other project I worked on in May was a linen washcloth. I had gotten the yarn from Elann.com, but sadly it's discontinued. I crochet a square with SC (single crochet - fastapinni) through the back loops to give it more texture.After I had a square, I did a reverse SC on the edges ( crab stitch - krabbahekl) for support since it was rather flimsy. I only had a few crab stitches left because I hadn't secured it well enough and some of the stitches had come undone.
I used it this morning in the shower, and what a luxury. I loved the feel of it and it held the soap very well. But something unexpected happened. It grew! The yarn relaxed so much, I've never seen anything like it.
Perhaps it's because it's linen. Perhaps it's because the yarn is barely spun. Perhaps it's the stitch pattern. Maybe it's all of those things. I wish I could try another stitch pattern or a tighter gauge. I would love more linen washcloths, but unfortunately the yarn has been discontinued.
The final project I finished yesterday (Sunday 10-23-11, 23. október) was another dishcloth I only had a couple of garter stitch rows left on. I saw denim colors of Sugar'n cream yarn - indigo and stonewash - which were irresistible. It's not actually denim yarn (which shrinks and fades with wash), just denim colored yarn, but it's supercool just the same. I made the Lizard Ridge dishcloth pattern, using 'indigo' as the ridges and 'stonewash' as the short-row valleys.
I was looking around for a dishcloth intarsia project to hone my intarsia skills, when I came upon a intarsia 'Dr. Who' pattern of the Tardis. It was designed for exactly the same colors I had in the denim yarn. I got some more of them to be sure I'd have enough and I finished the Tardis pattern a week earlier (Oct 16th) and blogged right away.
If you are a "Dr. Who" fan, you'll think this is super cool. If not, you probably think I'm nuts for knitting a intarsia dishcloth pattern of a Police Box.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Tardis
If you know what a Tardis is, you'll be thrilled. If you have no idea what a Tardis is you'll be perplexed.
A Tardis is a time-travel machine in the shape of a Police Box, and it's bigger on the inside.
For more information, watch any episode of the British show Dr. Who.
I got the pattern on Ravelry (where else!) and it was knit with Sugar'n Cream dishcloth cotton in Denim colors (Indigo and Stonewash), which incidentally are the recommended colors in the pattern!
This dishcloth will NEVER be used to wash anything.
It was fairly hard to do, including colorwork on the purl side, which was a first for me. I got used to intarsia though when I knit my Stephen West mystery KAL. I actually came across this pattern while looking for intarsia/colorwork dishcloth patterns.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Earth and Sky - Stephen West's Mystery KAL
I participated in the Mystery KAL organized by Stephen West that took place in August. Since I had over 2 weeks off in August, it was perfect timing for me. I knit at least half of this shawl while I was in Iceland. I finished casting off last Saturday and I blocked it today (also Saturday).
The pattern is called, Earth & Sky, and is supposed to be made with fingering weight yarn. However, I didn't have any fingering weight yarn in 3 colors that I wanted to use for this project. I did however have a lot of Icelandic lace weight yarn, Einband, so I decided to use it with white as the main color and yellow and turquois as extra colors.
This is clue nr. 1:
Already we had intarsia! Yep, this pattern has intarsia in it. It's a very simple intarsia, but intarsia nonetheless. (It's a lot of fun to write the word intarsia).
The clues came every Monday (except for clue number 3 which came on Friday and included the bulk of the knitting). This is clue number 2:
And clue nr. 3:
You could knit the shawl in 3 different sized (small, medium, large) depending on how many repeats of clue 2 and clue 3 you did. It was very tempting to do a large size, since I´ve been wanting a larger shawl and I'd made a good progress while I was in Iceland.
It was not easy to knit this shawl unless you could focus on it and have a lot of space. With the exception of the white stripes, you had 3 balls of yarn going and this yarn (Einband) sticks together like it's made out of Velcro! But I got more and more used to handling the yarn and the yarn tangling up was less and less of an issue. It was never a very portable project though.
Finally, one of me wearing it.
It was a lot of fun participating in this KAL, along with over 2000 other people!
The pattern is called, Earth & Sky, and is supposed to be made with fingering weight yarn. However, I didn't have any fingering weight yarn in 3 colors that I wanted to use for this project. I did however have a lot of Icelandic lace weight yarn, Einband, so I decided to use it with white as the main color and yellow and turquois as extra colors.
This is clue nr. 1:
Already we had intarsia! Yep, this pattern has intarsia in it. It's a very simple intarsia, but intarsia nonetheless. (It's a lot of fun to write the word intarsia).
The clues came every Monday (except for clue number 3 which came on Friday and included the bulk of the knitting). This is clue number 2:
And clue nr. 3:
You could knit the shawl in 3 different sized (small, medium, large) depending on how many repeats of clue 2 and clue 3 you did. It was very tempting to do a large size, since I´ve been wanting a larger shawl and I'd made a good progress while I was in Iceland.
It was not easy to knit this shawl unless you could focus on it and have a lot of space. With the exception of the white stripes, you had 3 balls of yarn going and this yarn (Einband) sticks together like it's made out of Velcro! But I got more and more used to handling the yarn and the yarn tangling up was less and less of an issue. It was never a very portable project though.
Finally, one of me wearing it.
It was a lot of fun participating in this KAL, along with over 2000 other people!
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Cooler weather - socks number 4
Yay. The weather is cooler. Instead of being 28 - 35 °C (82-95F), it's more like 14C (57F) and rainy. We can start wearing our woolly goodies. First wool thing: socks.
I made these socks out of dk/sport weight leftover yarn in July, and now I can finally wear them.
The pattern is 'International Sock of Doom' which was a pattern made for the Sock Wars with the intent of being super quick to knit.
This reminds me that I never finished blogging about the socks I've been knitting this summer, plus lots of other stuff too. These are the 4th pair of socks I've knit since the start of summer out of a total of 5 pairs! Socks are great traveling, summer kind of knitting :)
I made these socks out of dk/sport weight leftover yarn in July, and now I can finally wear them.
The pattern is 'International Sock of Doom' which was a pattern made for the Sock Wars with the intent of being super quick to knit.
This reminds me that I never finished blogging about the socks I've been knitting this summer, plus lots of other stuff too. These are the 4th pair of socks I've knit since the start of summer out of a total of 5 pairs! Socks are great traveling, summer kind of knitting :)
Sunday, September 04, 2011
10 lbs of yarn
Have you ever wondered how 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of yarn look like?
That's how much yarn I brought back to the US from my trip to Iceland in August.
Here is the plötulopi (unspun Icelandic wool):
I put the yarn in a small suitcase, but didn't end up using that suitcase. It was funny though that it filled up a whole (tiny) suitcase.
Here is the rest of the yarn stacked up:
Here is how it looks all vacuum packed. That's how I fit it all in one suitcase (along with the unspun yarn).
Most of it is Icelandic wool, but a little bit of Norwegian and Danish yarn slipped in too. I have a lot of knitting ahead of me :) Not all the yarn is mine. I bought most of the unspun yarn for my friends in the US.
Finally I have a picture of most of my Icelandic wool stash:
At the top is a blanket (throw) I have in progress made out of Kambgarn, which is Icelandic yarn, although it's not made out of Icelandic wool. It's merino wool, dyed in Iceland.
The top most box is full of Álafoss lopi (10x 100 gr skeins), which is the bulky weight Icelandic wool. The next one has my lace weight yarn (Einband), and the bottom one my plötulopi (the unspun) and létt-lopi (the worsted weight). Good times :)
That's how much yarn I brought back to the US from my trip to Iceland in August.
Here is the plötulopi (unspun Icelandic wool):
I put the yarn in a small suitcase, but didn't end up using that suitcase. It was funny though that it filled up a whole (tiny) suitcase.
Here is the rest of the yarn stacked up:
Here is how it looks all vacuum packed. That's how I fit it all in one suitcase (along with the unspun yarn).
Most of it is Icelandic wool, but a little bit of Norwegian and Danish yarn slipped in too. I have a lot of knitting ahead of me :) Not all the yarn is mine. I bought most of the unspun yarn for my friends in the US.
Finally I have a picture of most of my Icelandic wool stash:
At the top is a blanket (throw) I have in progress made out of Kambgarn, which is Icelandic yarn, although it's not made out of Icelandic wool. It's merino wool, dyed in Iceland.
The top most box is full of Álafoss lopi (10x 100 gr skeins), which is the bulky weight Icelandic wool. The next one has my lace weight yarn (Einband), and the bottom one my plötulopi (the unspun) and létt-lopi (the worsted weight). Good times :)
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