Knitting Baby Gifts

Oh, what fun I have been having this week knitting up some baby gifts for a friend who is pregnant.  I mean what's not great about knitting baby items?  They are small and quick to knit, they are so so cute and they are for a sweet little new babe.  Also, I used stash yarn for these projects making the experience even better.  As you can see I'm not quite finished with the stuffed Elephant who is presently armless and the sweater needs buttons, but that's all that's left to do - oh and maybe some booties as I can't seem to stop.

The yarn I used is some lovely natural grey angora from here, and the pale yellow is a mix of two strands:  Malabrigo Merino Lace in the butter colorway and Tilli Tomas Raw Silk Warmth which is now discontinued (on a cool aside note Ravelry used my picture of the yarn on that page.)  Funny thing is my friend who is having the baby gave me the silk yarn, so it seems only fitting to use it for a gift for her.  I'm really loving the grey/yellow combo, but I have used it before as you can see here.  I was hoping to make angora booties, but I ran out of that yarn while knitting the hat (which looks a bit big to me.)  On the other hand, I do have lots of the yellow silk and merino leftover.  Maybe I'll double/triple up the lace weight merino and make these or these.

The patterns I used were Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Sweater (which there is a great YouTube video series for), Sweet and Simple Baby Hat by Debbie Bodmer and Elephant Elijah by Ysolda Teague.  Both the sweater and hat are pretty simple, but the Elephant is not for the faint of heart.  There is lots of picking up stitches, directional make 1's and short rows.  The pattern is very clear and very well written, but this is not a knock out in a few hours project and you do need to pay attention most of the time.  I love the way it's shaping up though making all the effort worth it.  I'll finish the arms and give him some eyes today, get the sweater some buttons from my LYS tomorrow when I have a babysitter and give my friend the gifts on Friday when we go out for breakfast.  I love giving a gift right after I finish it when I'm still excited about the project so this is working out perfectly.  

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm and Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.

YOP Update - Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

I made a big decision today.  I decided to buy yarn for that Veera Valimaki sweater vest from her Color Wheel Knits book that I mentioned in my previous post.  My plan after writing that post was to wait since I have other projects in the wings that use yarn I already have, but then I found yarn on sale.  Yes, I used the age old "but it was on sale" excuse for purchasing more yarn.  I have been scouring yarn websites for the right sport weight yarn that suited the project as well as my pocket book.  My search concluded with the decision to purchase Malabrigo Arroyo sport weight yarn in the Prussian Blue colorway.  It is a slightly variegated dark blue, has good drape and would be under $100.  My only worry was that Malabrigo pills, like a lot.  Since the yarn wasn't going anywhere I thought I could wait - right?  Wrong, I then went to the Knit Picks website searching under "sale" and "sport weight".  What I came up with was the lovely Hawthorne Sport Multi in the Irvington colorway.  It's comprised of super wash highland wool and nylon - much more durable than a merino yarn such as the Malabrigo.  The colorway is a bit of a brighter blue, but still has that superwash shine and drape and the best part is it would only cost about $50 to knit my beloved vest.  Alas, the sale only went to July 28th so I felt I had to purchase now.  I've reset my yarn counter to begin again in the yarn buying freeze.  I made it 70 days this time, not a lot, but double my last attempt.  Maybe next time I can double it again.

Because of this desire to knit this sweater vest, a friend having a baby, and a few changes in Christmas gifts I did some trimming and adding to my YOP list which now reads as follows:

Baby:

Baby Surprise Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Garter Ear Flap Hat by Purl Soho

Cowls and Scarves:

Classic Cowl by Purl Soho knit in handspun  Finished 7/6/15

Dudester Scarf by Jana Pihota 

Dryad by Jared Flood

For the Home:

Sock Yarn Braided Rug by Martha Lazar

My Oluffa Doorstop by Lucinda Guy

Cozy Coasters by Joelle Hoverson

Hot Out of the Oven Set by Knit Picks Design Team  (making the square pads) Finished 7/25/15

Out of the Frying Pan by Amy E. Anderson  Finished 7/18/15

Socks:

Simply Elegant Cable Socks by Judy Alexander

Taylor's Orange Toe Up Socks by Jasmyn Cunningham

Sweaters and Vests:

Ground by Veera Valimaki

Glen Moir Vest by Luise O'Neill 

White Russian by Thea Colman

Glenfiddich by Annamária Ötvös

Tops:

Astonish Top by Katy Banks 

Jordan by Wendy Bernard

Mittens and Gloves:

Connnectivity Gloves by Mari Chiba

Nordic Mittens by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Double Knit Mittens by Sue Hedgecock

Felted Mittens by Joan Sheridan

Hats:

A Family Tam by Beth Brown-Reinsel

I added 2 baby items for a pregnant friend, some felted mittens for my mom and another friend for Christmas and my sweater vest.  What got cut was a couple of pairs of socks, the sweater I was going to knit for my mother (yes, I downgraded her to mittens for this year) and a cowl.  It's hard to admit that time has it's limits and I simply cannot knit everything I want as quickly as I'd like.  So, while I was hoping to fit absolutely everything in some projects had to be cut to make it a viable list.  

I did finish one item on my list this week.  In my felting frenzy I knit, felted and trimmed 12 potholders.  Yup, that's 6 pairs or as I like to think of it 6 Christmas gifts done - yay! (these potholders also brought me to the 5K Stashdash finish line!) My rug alas, did not get finished as I really needed a break from cranking out all that I-cord, but I will get back to it this coming week.  Currently though, I have a Baby Surprise Sweater on the needles which I'm hoping to finish this week along with a matching garter stitch hat.  I'm using some grey angora yarn along with a pale yellow raw silk yarn that's paired with a strand of Malabrigo lace.  It's gender neutral since she doesn't know the sex of the baby and of yarn I already own - isn't that the best!  I'm loving the look of the stripes.  It's like a little muted bumblebee.  I feel a bit bad that neither sweater or hat are machine washable, but am making up for that by including a wool wash with the gift.  Ok, this is becoming a bit of a long post so I'll be leaving you now.  Have a great week!

Check out the other Year of Projects posts here.

A Felting Frenzy

It's been Christmas in July for me this week as I am busily knitting and felting hot pads to give as gifts this holiday season.  I loved how my oven mitts turned out so it got me to thinking what else could I felt.  Then I ran across this pattern realizing I could get a pair of pads from each skein and thought "Perfect"!  It would be lovely to give everyone a pair of the mitts, but I don't have enough yarn to make a pair for each of my friends (or at least a good looking matching pair.)

The pattern is very simple where you cast on what amounts to the outside edge and knit decreasing towards the center.  I did make a couple of changes though.  I knit them on US 11 needles instead of US 13's as I don't have any that size and wanted to get started right away.  For the hanging loop I knit 18 rows of I-cord instead of the 12 the pattern states, and I'm glad I did as I think it would have been way too small a loop to be useful otherwise.  For felting, I threw them in my washing machine with soap and hot water agitating for about 30 minutes.  Then I let the wash cycle complete rinsing out the soap and wringing out all the excess water.  I tugged them into shape and laid them flat to dry.  

The yarn I used (Lamb's Pride ,held double, and Burly Spun) comes out pretty fuzzy from the mohair content so I do some judicious trimming with my scissors.  It's pretty quick to do and not much of a hassle.  The yarn felts so nice and thick I think it's worth the extra effort.  Since, I did knit them on smaller needles their finished size is a bit smaller at 7 1/2 inches rather than the 8, but still a good size for handling hot pots and pans. 

I've got three pairs done with only 2 to still knit so I couldn't be happier with how quickly it's all going.  I'm knitting a couple of odd ducks too with no matching pair to give away as thank you gifts when needed.  I'm just having so much fun using up all this yarn!  

On a side note, I purchased this lovely book of patterns by Veera Valimaki called Color Wheel Knits and really, really, really want to knit the vest called "Ground".  It looks very wearable with what I actually wear - jeans and t-shirts.  Not like all those sweater patterns you see modeled with that perfect shirt, you know the one you don't own and aren't likely too and would probably not wear because it's not comfy and needs to be dry cleaned?  So, I think I would get a ton of use out of it.  The only hiccup in this scenario is I don't have any sport weight yarn that the pattern calls for.  Meaning I would have to purchase some yarn.  Now I've gone about 67 days (as of writing this post) without buying yarn and am proud of myself as the last time I think I only made it around 30 days.  Thus, I am torn on what to do.  Should I just say no and keep knitting from my stash or do I knit what would be a very useful sweater for myself?  My husband said I should go ahead and purchase the Prussian Blue Malabrigo yarn, but I still don't know.  I feel I should wait some, but then I also like to "ride" these waves of excitement as I can get so much accomplished if I do.  Any thoughts?

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.

YOP Update - It's Looking Like a Rug

Hi!  Well, it's Sunday and time for a Year of Projects update so here I am inside typing on a beautiful, albeit hot, summer day.  Actually, I'm having lots of fun sitting here in my chair people watching out my front window.  You see today is the Hopkins Raspberry Festival (my city of Hopkins used to be farmland where they raised lots of raspberries) and from my comfortable vantage point I can see all the floats lining up for the parade on Mainstreet as well as all the people walking there to nab a great viewing spot.  I'm not much for parades myself as I really don't like crowds, but the atmosphere is overflowing onto my street which I do enjoy.  

I've been working on my braided rug every morning before my son wakes up and I've been pleased with how its coming along.  Today was, in theory, going to be the grand finish, but it's still a little small to my eye.  Currently it measures 21 1/2 inches wide by 28 inches long (71 cm x 55 cm), whereas I am aiming more for 24 x 36 inches.  With the rug being a bit more circular than oval this will probably end up as 24 x 31 or something along those lines.  My guess is about two more loops around should do it.  I have enough of the red and the blue/green colorways, but am now out of the pink/orange/yellow.  I'll be adding in what I call my "Autumn" colorway which is red, orange, yellow and green.  I think it'll blend in pretty well.  It's really starting to look like a rug don't you think?

I did have a finish this week though, my Out of the Frying Pan oven mitts are now both knit and felted!  The even turned out almost exactly the same size even though I felted them separately.  Cool huh?  I would really recommend this pattern as the fit of the mitt is excellent.  Now I'm all set to start mordanting my base yarn this week.  I only have to skein them up in small sample sized skeins. Yay!

Since I really enjoyed making the felted oven mitts I think I'm going to make some felted potholders for my friend's Christmas gifts.  Every year I pick something and make the same thing for everybody.  Last year it was this Market Bag, the year before simple dishcloths, and this year I was going to make everyone these trivets, but after making all the I-cord for the rug I am getting a little bit tired of the process.  I am trying not to buy yarn, but I think I have plenty of color choices now that I'm using up my knitted toy business yarns. 

Thus, I'm checking off one item to the list and adding one item to the list.  Which means I'm not getting ahead really, but then again not behind either.  Have a great week everyone!

Making My Own Supplies

Thanks for all your comments on my last post!  Looks like a lot of you are interested in plant dyeing yarn so I hope to show you my progress after I assemble all my materials and begin actually dyeing.  Today, I purchased a single electric burner to use outside in the garage for heating up dye baths instead of taking over my kitchen as I did last time around.  When you have a son who likes to snack all day it simply doesn't work to use your kitchen for dyeing.  Even natural dyeing does not mix well with food prep.

I also needed some potholders in which to handle the hot pots of dye solution which brings me to the above photos.  See, I found some more use for the plant dyed yarn I used for knitting my stuffed toys - felted potholders!  The pattern is called Out of the Frying Pan and it is very, very simple.  The hardest part is waiting for the oven mitt to felt to the proper size.  In my case it took 4 long wash agitation cycles (I would reset the washer each time before it got to rinsing until the mitt was the size I wanted, then I let the full wash cycle run.) in my top loading washing machine.  I mention that my machine is top loading because it is best for felting to have your item submerged in hot water while agitating.  You probably still could felt in a front loading machine, but my guess is it would take a lot longer.

One of the best things about felting is all your knitting mistakes shrink up and disappear as the wool tightens and felts.  My "mistakes" in this case are the "ladders" I always get when knitting with double pointed needles.   Experts all say to tighten up your knitting, but I already knit pretty tightly and get the ladder affect not between the 2 end stitches, but in the middle of the knit V of each end stitch.  Make sense?  The join between is tight but the stitch on either side of it is loose.  I loosen, I tighten it simply doesn't seem to matter - I get ladders.  Thus, now I knit my socks and other small circumference items using the 2 circular method, but I would love to one day conquer the double pointed needle technique. 

The colorway I used on the bottom of the oven mitt was one of Judy's experiments which she gave to me with one of my larger orders as a gift.  It was so sweet, but sadly I didn't really care for it and so it languished in my stash for some years until now.  I didn't have enough for a pair (yes, I am currently knitting the second one) as I wanted so in comes the canary yellow I used for knitting rainbow teething rings.  This mitt is very bright which probably means I won't lose them!   And since they are just going to be for dyeing it simply doesn't matter how they look  They will do their job keeping my hands protected being super thick and just the right size to easily slip on without being too big that they become clumsy.  Hmm, seems I have a lot to say about oven mitts!

Joining in with Nicole for Keep Calm and Craft On and Ginny for Yarn Along.

YOP Update - All Over the Place

It's Sunday and time for a YOP update.  I finished 1 item on my list, yay!, and added 5 more. What?  Yeah, I was a bit all over the place this week for knitting because of a decision that's been a long time coming.  You see I've had a little knitted toy shop on Etsy for some years now, but I've decided to stop making toys and to change the shop over to something new - plant dyed yarn.  It's not too much of a stretch because all my toys are knit with plant dyed yarn (dyed by the wonderful Judy of Mamajudes also on Etsy) which is a passion of mine.  In my zealousness last Summer I purchased a good quantity of yarn for the shop, but with dwindling sales I have a lot of yarn leftover.  Since I don't want to knit toys anymore, all of it needs a new purpose.  Judy uses Lamb's Pride Worsted yarn for her base yarn which I love for making toys, but not so much for wearing as it's a rather stiff.  The great thing is that I have come up with a bunch of ideas on how to use it up, the bad news is I seem to be trying them out all at once!

So, I added a "Home" category to my YOP knit list with the following patterns: 

For the Home

Sock Yarn Braided Trivets by Martha Lazar 8 of them 

Sock Yarn Braided Rug by Martha Lazar 

My Oluffa Doorstop by Lucinda Guy 

Cozy Coasters by Joelle Hoverson  

Out of the Frying Pan by Amy E. Anderson

 

With the exception of the Cozy Coasters which uses some Frog Tree alpaca yarn (that never seems to run out as seriously I've made 3 sets of 4 coasters using the yarn doubled and still have yarn for more) they are all knit with my toy business yarn.  They Trivets I mentioned in this post, the rug you can see about halfway done above (it's basically a big trivet), the doorstop will be more of a pillow as it will use some other toy knitting yarn that's angora, and last are felted oven mitts which I'm making for use when dyeing and handling the hot pots.  Felted projects are really perfect for this yarn so I'm hoping to come up with a few more ideas along those lines.

Oh, and the finished object for this week was the Classic Cowl I knit with my rainbow handspun yarn which you can see here.  So, as you can see I didn't go with last week's plan to finish spinning my alpaca/angora yarn, but I'm pretty pleased overall.  Now I probably need to tweak my list a bit by removing a couple of items to make up for the additions I made this week.  Decisions, decisions, decisions...

I See Rainbows

I love rainbows and what better month to make a rainbow cowl than the one where gay marriage is (finally) legal in every state in the United States.  It's Purl Soho's Classic Cowl knit with my own handspun yarn.  You can see the details here.  It's a pretty fluffy cowl and it makes me want to either cut my hair short or grow it out so I can pull it up.  Seeing this pattern makes me want to knit a pair of matching socks, which makes me want to plant dye the yarn myself and learn to make self striping yarn.  Oh how crafts can build on one another!

Actually, I am planning on doing more in the way of plant dyeing this summer.  Unlike the previous times I've ventured into plant dyes, this time I tend to make many samples trying out different mordants/modifiers and in general learn before I leap.  Last time I leapt into indigo dyeing, accidentally making my vat double strength (which meant I was rinsing the residual indigo out for days upon days) and tying the yarn too tightly (meaning little bits of undyed yarn remained under each tie.)  It took over our tiny kitchen, as I did it in January, and left me with lots of full skeins of not so great looking yarn.  So, this time around I'm making mini sample skeins with this absolutely adorable sample sized niddy noddy, dyeing in summer when I can do it outside, and using superwash wool so I can rinse vigorously without having to worry about felting.  I also plan to document my process better thus I'm sure you will be seeing my results here on the blog.

This cowl puts me at 4391 meters toward my 5K goal for this year's Stash Dash hosted by the Knit Grillls.  I've got until August 14th to knit a mere 609 meters, but to be on the safe side I better get cracking and start a pair of socks or something.  Hmm...

Joining in with:

Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On

Ginny for Yarn Along

A Year of Projects 2015 - 2016!

   

This is the start of my "A Year of Projects" for July 2015 - June 2016.  What is this all about?  It's a group on Ravelry of bloggers getting together to share progress on their knitting/crocheting/spinning and all around crafting goals throughout the year.  I enjoyed reading others blog posts from last year so this year I decided to get off the bench and join in.  Yay!

Without further adieu here is my proposed list of knitting for this year:

Cowls and Scarves:

Classic Cowl by Purl Soho knit in handspun 

Field of Stars by Amy van de Laar knit in handspun alpaca

Dudester Scarf by Jana Pihota 

Dryad by Jared Flood

For the Home:

Sock Yarn Braided Trivets by Martha Lazar 8 of them

Sock Yarn Braided Rug by Martha Lazar

Socks:

Slip Stitch Heel Basic Sock by Wendy D. Johnson

Simply Elegant Cable Socks by Judy Alexander

Broken Seed Stitch Socks by handepandehttps

Taylor's Orange Toe Up Socks by Jasmyn Cunningham

Sweaters and Vests:

Glen Moir Vest by Luise O'Neill 

White Russian by Thea Colman

Three in One Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman

Glenfiddich by Annamária Ötvös

Tops:

Astonish Top by Katy Banks 

Jordan by Wendy Bernard

Mittens and Gloves:

Connnectivity Gloves by Mari Chiba

Nordic Mittens by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Double Knit Mittens by Sue Hedgecock

Hats:

A Family Tam by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Ok, now that I write it all out it looks like an awful lot to accomplish, but some are already WIPS which will help (or at least I'll tell myself that.)  It was really fun to figure out what I wanted to knit over the course of a year and surprisingly easy when things like Christmas, birthdays and anniversaries dictate so much of what "needs" to get done as opposed to all my wishful thinking and wants.

What's on the needles currently is the Basic Cowl by Purl Soho using my own rainbow handspun yarn.  The colored wool is plant dyed by this lovely lady and the white is an angora/wool blend I purchased from here.  It's a very simple pattern, but my yarn makes it a bit tricky to keep track of where I am in the 4 row pattern.  In a solid color this would be a snap I think.  I have only a few rows of yellow and the white angora twisted ribbing left to go, which I hope means I'll finish by tonight.  Cross your fingers for me.  

Next up will be some bobbin clearing as I finish spinning some aplaca/angora three ply yarn.  Then I plan on casting on the Field of Stars cowl.  If I have way too much yardage for it I may have to pick another pattern though.

All these projects (listed in no particular order) will be knit with yarn I already have in my stash as I am trying to cut back on my fiber spending.  Oh course when we go to the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival I will be making a few purchases, but then I am holding out until Minnesota's Shepard's Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival in the Spring of 2016.  Well, hopefully I will be too busy finishing knitted objects to mind.

See ya next week!

Lots of FO's!!!

Hello All!  Well, I have been busy actually finishing projects this week.  It has been amazing.  I am so motivated by participating in The Knit Girllls Stash Dash that I've completed no less than 6 projects this week!  My goal is to knit/spin 5K of yarn by the end of Stash Dash on August 14th.  With finishing the above projects I have only 1075.33 meters to go, which should be no problem with over a month and a half left.  Now on to the projects...

First up is a pair of socks you've seen from an earlier post.  They are Wendy D. Johnson's Gusset Heel Basic Socks with an added 3 x 1 rib and using Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.  The yarn is some Stroll from Knit Picks in a discontinued colorway that I don't have the name for anymore.  They have been on the needles since last year and I am so happy that they are finished that I am giving them to my mom today instead of being prudent and saving them for her birthday or Christmas.  I have such a hard time waiting to give gifts once they are finished.

Next, is another pair of socks this time using Wendy D. Johnson's Short Row Toe and Heel Basic Socks pattern with no added ribbing and using the same cast off as the previous pair.  What makes these particularly fun is that they are knit using up lots of sock yarn scraps from other projects in 5 different colorways.  I tried to make them match up as best I could and am quite pleased with the results.  The only downside to them is weaving in all the ends.  Next time I make scrappy Frankenstein socks I will make a sock yarn magic ball instead I think.  Really the same amount of work, but it's on the front end of things which I prefer.

Now these next two projects were really fun.  They are trivets made out of knitted I-cords from this pattern in the latest Summer issue of Interweave KNITS.  I used this little I-cord knitting "machine" which made the actually knitting go pretty fast.  Then you braid the cords together pinning the end bits.  Next, you then sew up the braid as you wind the braid around (braid itself hides the stitching under the I-cords.)  Lastly, you unwind the cords until they are all the same length, tie them together and weave in the ends.  I used the thick plant dyed Lamb's Pride yarn I use to knit my toys instead of the sock yarn recommended in the pattern.  The resulting trivets are thick and stiff and should sufficiently keep hot pots from burning a table.  My guess is I'm going to give these out as Christmas gifts this year so I'll be making a lot more.

The last two are spinning projects that I've been working on and off on for about a month.  I was only planning on making one skein, but being still pretty new to spinning I didn't spin the plies the same thickness and had a lot, 42 grams, of the white leftover.  So, I wound what was left on the bobbin into a center pull ball and plied it to itself plying from both ends of the yarn.  Thus 2 skeins:  one a rainbow gradient from plant dyed wool and angora/romeldale wool and the second all white angora/romedale wool.  The rainbow came out to weigh 181 grams with 410 yards in length and the white 42 grams and 100 yards long.  I'm going to knit this cowl from them.  I am short about a 100 yards according to the pattern so it will be a bit shorter, but still lovely I think. 

I always skip the part of Yarn Along where you tell what it is you are reading as I haven't been reading.  It just cuts into knitting/spinning time which is my first love.  Then it finally dawned on me that I could listen to audio books while I knit or spin.  Yeah, took me a while didn't it?  I've heard lots of buzz about Outlander by Diana Gabaldon from all the knitting patterns, project bags and yarn colorway inspirations that I've started listening to it this week.  I'm mainly of Scots heritage so it's particularly interesting to me being set in Scotland in the mid 1700's.  Some of my ancestor names have come up like Dougal and Duncan (in fact most of my male ancestor names start with the letter "D" or some Gaelic version of John.)  Anyway, it's good so far, a little more on the sexy/romance side than I like being more inclined to historical fiction and mysteries, but it has a lot of those elements too which are keeping me interested.

Well that's what's been keeping me busy this week.  What have you been up to?

Joining in with 

Nicole for Keep Calm Craft On

Ginny for Yarn Along

Beth for Whatcha Workin' On Wednesday