Harvest

It feels like harvest time. We have a constant stream of tomatoes coming into our kitchen from my daughter's garden. She's also brought in green bell peppers, pumpkins, green beans, and okra. Her sunflowers are huge! That ladder is about 8 feet tall.

I finished my Camp Loopy project #2. I knit Miss Sophie's Hands using Studio June's Eight Bells yarn in the Blue Suede Shoes color. I'm still not very happy with the fingers. They feel a tiny bit bagggy and I should have knit those with a smaller needle. I finished two other pair of socks for the cabled sock, mittens, or gloves challenge.

Now, I'm working on project #3. I'm using Bugga yarn in Common Emerald Moth to knit a Gnarled Oakwoods shawl. I've had this pattern for a while, but have been hesitant to knit it because of the grafting. I have no idea why. I've knit other large shawls that required grafting in the center.

For this shawl, I'm knitting both halves at the same time on one circular needle. It's sort of like knitting two socks at once from both ends of one ball of yarn. Since Bugga has a slight variation to it, I'm knitting both halves from both ends of the same ball of yarn. I hope that the slight variation between different balls of yarn will just look like shading that turns out equally on both ends of the shawl.

This is my 12 Legs sock pattern. It was originally knit toe-up a few years ago. I've changed it to cuff down. I want a good variety of cuff-down vs. toe-up patterns. This sock was knit with Dream in Color's Everlasting sock in Bitter. I really like the feel of this yarn.

I just put a call out for test knitters for this sock and for my Threaded pattern on ravelry. Both of these socks were knit with green yarn and both are cuff down. I need to find other colors to knit with. ;-)

I'm enjoying our last day before school starts. I'll be spending it knitting and pattern writing.

Yeah, I'm still here...

Yummmmm. This is what we made for dinner on Monday. This pizza is so easy to make and so yummy. We fancied it up by adding some spinach. I don't think E or D minded the added green to their pizza either. Now, if we could only find a whole wheat crust recipe that we like. The crust on this one is out of a package. After making the crust, you just layer the mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, spinach, grilled chicken, Parmesan cheese, and oregano.

I've made some knitting progress. I'm slowly working on my Arabian Nights stole. I'm nearing the center of the stole. I plan on tweaking the pattern in the center. The center is supposed to have three vertical lines of beads. I don't want those there and I'm going to try grafting it to be as seamless as possible. I'll have to find a good place for this half of the stole to end before I setting it aside. I think that I'll run a lifeline and keep this side on some needles and still attached to the ball of yarn. That's just in case I have to rip, tink, add more rows, or do whatever to get the center to look how I want it. I'll take some pictures when this half is done.

I finished the mittens from Selbuvotter for E. Steaming really does wonders for evening out funky stranded work. ;-) These mittens were so lumpy before I steamed them that I hid them away and didn't want to look at them. After steaming, they're acceptable to me. I still need to do more practice with my stranding tension. You can really see my tension issues on the backs of the mittens. I tried doing one mitten on two circular needles and one mitten with dpns. After the steaming, the mitten done on two circulars looks better than the dpn mitten. I don't like small circumference stranded work. The thumbs on both mittens look bad. :-(

Details:
Pattern: NHM #3 from Selbuvotter
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill solid in Pink and Knit Picks Bare
Needle: size 2 (3mm) Knit Picks circular and dpns
Start: March 4, 2008
Finish: March 18, 2008

I have a few other projects on the side too. I haven't gotten much further with the chicken/egg toy from Craft magazine. My hands and acrylic just don't get along, but I do like how acrylic looks for toys. It was supposed to be done for Easter, but I don't think I'll get two done before this weekend. Oh well. I'll just give them whenever they're done.

Can you figure out what this is? If you said a sock, then you must have looked at the new spring Knitty. This is going to be the Posey sock designed by Lisa Kay. I just had to try it for the cool construction. Those little squares are tiny and a bit awkward at first, but they fly by once you get the motions down. I'm making the sock one row shorter because I can't count. ;-) Really, I was eager to see where the sock was going, so I shortened it. Lisa was so nice and linked to my picot edge tutorial in her pattern. It will be a while before I get there, but I think that I'll have to use my own tutorial. It's been a while since I've done a picot edge that I've forgotten how to do it. I still have one more row of squares to do before I start sewing the leg together and make it look more like a sock.

In other news around here, our wonderful postman is leaving our route. :-( He was so nice and he's been here since we've moved to this house. The kids loved it when he delivered a package to the house because he would always talk with them for a bit.

Lost that lovin' feelin'

Whoa, it's gone, gone, gone... I just can't be motivated to work on lace right now. My Spring Surprise Stole has stalled at clue 4. I did knit a few rows of clue 5, but I'm just not in the mood to knit something that needs so much attention. There are so many other great mystery lace alongs going on right now, but my attention is somewhere else. Maybe it's the beautiful sock yarns that are so distracting to me.

Those are Wollmeise 100% superwash sock yarn in Emil, Paul, Johannisbeer und Brennessel, and Franz. Wollmeise is so hard to get from the Loopy Ewe. I ordered these direct from Germany. They sat on my desk for a few days before I wound them into balls. I still don't have a ball winder, but I've found that I did enjoy winding these by hand. I get to watch the colors go by and think about what I want to do with the yarn. I usually wind yarn if I'm having trouble deciding on what to knit. It's not like I don't have enough projects lined up, but I'm having trouble getting motivated to work on the bigger ones.

I finished the cross stitch block fingerless gloves for my sister. Those were such a quick knit. The cross stitch block is one of my favorite stitch patterns. It's easy enough to memorize, but it's entertaining enough to keep boredom away.

I like the individual fingers, but they are uncomfortable when I try to knit wearing them. These type of gloves are great to wear while taking pictures outside in the cold. I used to just take one glove off, but now I just wear fingerless gloves and my hands stay warm. In between pictures, I do put my hands in my pockets or my finger tips do get a little cold.

Details:
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Midnight Derby (used 55gms)
Needle: size 1 (2.5mm) Knit Picks Classic Circular
Pattern: my own basic fingerless glovepattern with the Cross stitch block from More Sensational Knitted Socks
Start: February 6, 2008
Finish: February 8, 2008

After the fingerless gloves for my sister, I wanted to make another pair out of the pretty Wollmeise yarn. Now I have these, Very Terhi fingerless mitts. The pattern is by Yarnissima. They're so pretty! The yarn is Wollmeise sock yarn in the Brombeere color. This one is such a deep, dark color.

This pattern is written for thicker yarn, so I had some adjusting to do. I ended up adding two stitches to either side of the main section on the top of the hand. I also added 4 stitches to the palm. The thumb had to be adjusted too. I messed with that while I was knitting until it fit comfortably. I only used 45 grams of yarn and there is a lot left over in the skein. I'm thinking of using the main criss-crossed section on a pair of socks.

Details:
Pattern: Very Terhi by Yarnissima
Yarn: Wollmeise sockenwolle in Brombeere (used 45 gms)
Needle: szie 1 (2.5mm) Knit Picks Classic Circ.
Changes: I added 4 stitches to the front and 4 to the palm to accommodate the thinner yarn.
Start: February 9, 2008
Finish: February 12, 2008

Speaking of socks, E was wearing some socks that I made for her last October. They're too small--already! I'm back into sock production mode. I want to make a few pairs for E and then a few pairs for D too. I've noticed that he fits her socks better than his own. But he doesn't really want to wear her socks because of the colors. He likes bright colors like orange and yellow. She likes girly colors like pink and purple.

E and D love their socks that I knit. They don't wear the regular white store bought socks anymore. Dwight made a crack that I was saving money, since we don't have to buy socks anymore. Right....that's because sock yarn is so cheap. *insert eyeroll* At least the socks I make fit. Both kids have very narrow feet and my socks fit their feet so much better. For example, E's foot is 7 inches long and 5.75 inches in circumference. According to the chart in Sensational Knitted Socks, a foot that is 7 inches long is usually 6.75 inches around.

I like knitting socks for them, even if they do outgrow them so fast. It only takes me two days to finish a pair. I'm off to finish E's new socks.

It's easy!

It's easy. I think that some people probably don't like to hear those words from anyone. I find myself saying it or wanting to say it a lot. I don't know if it's natural talent or just an uncanny ability to read directions and actually follow them through. Dwight would say it's a natural talent. I would give the second reason. I always feel a bit strange when someone who sees my work and says, "wow, I bet you can make anything." I feel like telling them, that I can indeed make anything, especially if there are given directions. And if there are no directions, I will try to do it on my own.

I've found this true for myself with sewing or knitting. To me, sewing is just following a pattern. You cut out the pieces and put them together how the directions tell you do it. Just a few days ago, I've found that it's also true for doing our taxes. I do our taxes by hand. That's how I've always done them, but this year proved a little more difficult. I ran into a snag, read the (insane) directions, and figured it out. To double check, I used a tax program and I did get it all correct!

This is another thing that was easy for me. The directions for Jean Greenhowe's dolls are so thorough. I did try to make things a bit less complicated by knitting in the round. That messed with my row gauge a bit, but I like how it turned out anyways. This is the second doll that I made for E for her birthday yesterday. I gave the doll to her and then remembered that I didn't take pictures of it yet. So, Miss Sophie is looking a bit rumpled. This doll stands at around 12 inches high. She can stand on her own. I used whatever leftover acrylic yarn that I had on hand already. That's why her pantalets are pink instead of white.

I was a little worried about making dolls for E. She has so many dolls already, but none of them were handmade. Well, I had nothing to worry about. She has declared that the two dolls that I made are the best simply because I made them. That was such a sweet comment for her to make. I've kept the pattern book hidden while I was making these. I showed her the pattern books yesterday and she's picked out Jemima Jane as the next doll for me to make. I want to make the pirate doll for D. I'm not sure when I'll get around to them, but they're on the list!

In knitting, I've started to branch out and do my own thing with socks. And now I'm just winging it with these fingerless gloves. And I've found that once again--it's easy. It was all about finding a pattern that works for me and plugging in a stitch pattern. Finding a good stitch pattern is the tricky part. I've found that I can plug in just about any stitch pattern that's used in a sock and it will make pretty fingerless gloves.

Here are the completed Wollmeise fingerless gloves. These took up 60 gms of yarn. That's less than half of the skein. They are quite snug because of the pulling in that this stitch pattern likes to do. The stitch pattern is Stansfield 304 that can be found in the More Sensational Knitted Socks book. I wore them out yesterday and they do keep my hands warm. I have a few more skeins of sock yarn that I want to make into fingerless gloves now.

To recap:
Fingerless gloves made up by me.
Yarn: Wollmeise sockenwolle in Drachenblut (60gms)
Needles: size 0 Addi Turbo
Notes: These are knitted with 72 stitches around, due to the stitch patterns nature to pull in. The gloves are quite snug.

I've started this pair with Dream in Color Smooshy in the Midnight Derby color. This pair is for my sister. She loves blue and I think this one just about matches the color of her car. My sister is all about being matchy-matchy. This is the Cross Stitch block stitch pattern that can also be found in the More Sensational Knitted Socks book. I have found it in one of the Barbara Walker treasuries too, but I can't remember which one. This glove is knit with 64 stitches around and I did use a larger needles. My sister has larger hands than I do and I was worried that 64 stitches around on a size 0 might be too snug for her.

The color is more accurate in this picture, but you can see the stitch pattern detail better in the first picture.

Details so far:
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in Midnight Derby
Needles: size 1 (2.5mm) Knit Picks Classic Circular
Glove pattern: my own
Stitch pattern: Cross Stitch Block




----------------
Now playing: My Way - Frank Sinatra
via FoxyTunes

Gothic Irtfa'a has flown off the needles

Irtfa'a is finished! Actually, it was finished last week and I had to wait for the floor to clear to have enough room to block it. I love this shawl. The design is just beautiful!! This is my first faroese shaped shawl. How do you pronounce faroese? The pattern was really well written and so easy to follow. But this one was never boring. Those rows got really long, but I never grew tired of knitting them. It's not just the pattern, but I love the yarn too. This is Dream in Color's Baby (lace) yarn in Gothic Rose. It's such a tricky color to photograph. This is what it looks like in direct sunlight. It's really a darker color with very subtle shades here and there.

Those are some detail shots that I took for putting up on ravelry. The bottom edging starts at the very tips of the "wings" and is knitted onto lives stitches until they meet in the center. I wasn't sure about my grafting, but I think it looks alright.

Details:
Pattern: Irtfa'a by Anne Hanson (knitspot)
Yarn: Dream in Color Baby in Gothic Rose(1.75 skeins)
Needles: size 3 Knitpicks Classic Circular for the neck edge and edging, size 4 Knitpicks Options for the rest
Start: January 14, 2008
Finish: January 25, 2008

I've finally gotten around to taking a photo of E's fingerless gloves. She requested ones where the fingers are separate. She says that they're loose, but I did that on purpose. I want these to last a bit and hopefully she'll still like them when they fit how she requested. I followed a generic glove pattern and just didn't finish the fingers. If I were to make these again, I would shorten the thumb and make the cuff longer. Fingerless gloves seems to be my thing right now. Lace is still around, but I need something to do while waiting for the next clues.

I have some fingerless mittens that I made from a pattern in Interweave. I like them, but I wanted another pair that was more snug, had actual fingers, and in thinner yarn. This is what I made! I used one of my favorite stitch patterns and tried to adapt that into a glove. It was working until I hit the fingers. I don't like how the fingers are just plain up there. I'm going to leave this one because I like how this glove fits. The yarn is Wollmeise sockenwolle in Drachenblut. I'm using a size 0 Addi Turbo and it's make a nice, snug, and comfortable fingerless glove. In fact when I was outside taking these pictures, I left this glove on my left hand while taking pictures of the shawl. This hand was nice and warm while my right hand was cold.

Now, I'm off to knit the second glove.