FO: Evolving Punk!
Look how cute! This little project is the perfect example of that thing that happens when you're surfing blogs and click a link that then takes you somewhere else, then somewhere else, and the next thing you know you're buying a pattern and starting yet another project (how's that for sentence length?). I didn't know this little guy existed, and I certainly didn't know I wanted to knit him, but then I found him yesterday and just HAD TO KNIT HIM. NOW.
The finishing took about as long as the knitting, but in the end he's almost as cute as I imagined (the original has more personality, I think) and will be a perfect addition to the baby gift package I'm working on for my friend who's expecting in May. I didn't want to felt anything so I decided to use thicker yarn on smaller needles to ensure the stuffing wouldn't show too much. I also ended up not stuffing the antenae or spikes at all because just stuffing in the ends was enough. The worst part of the finishing was sewing on the spikes, it was awkward and I kept thinking I was going to have to redo the angle, but it turned out well enough.
Not bad for a few hours worth of work!
Project specs:
Pattern: Evolving Punk from Mochimochi
Yarn: Cascade 220 in gray and turquoise, scraps of brown Koigu for the eyes
Needles: US size 6
Started: February 19, 2008
Finished: February 20, 2008
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PS - Wait 'till you see what else I was working on this week . . . even more out of my norm!
FO I forgot to Blog
So, during the photo shoot for Soho this weekend, I realized I had never posted a picture of the finished Kersti log cabin blanket I finished, oh, 6 months ago. What a shame! So here it is:
Each section is knit with its own ball of yarn and used up almost the entire ball, so they get progressively narrower towards the edge than they were in the middle. The blanket came out a bit small because I got bored, but I do have a few more skeins of Kersti leftover so I may one day return and add a few more sections.
This is such a dead-easy project, aside from picking up stitches all of it can be knit without looking at it, so it's perfect blog-reading knitting or homework-reading knitting. It wouldn't have taken me so long to knit except I got stuck picking colors! For someone who had bought random, leftover Kersti balls, I sure ended up with a LOT that looked the same. I didn't want to do all this knitting and end up with something that looked lopsided and unintentional, so I tried to think about what colors went where as I knit it up. Here's a more detailed shot of one of the corners:
As you can tell I decided to stack lights and darks instead of going the more conventional route of making the darks and lights into L-shaped sections on each side. I like it well enough but I think I might see why the convention exists, it's hard to tell there's a pattern at all in mine!
I actually use this blanket A LOT, it is really soft and very warm. I'm not sure how it will hold up to much wear since Kersti does tend to pill, but so far it's holding up very well. I did knit it fairly tightly on size 5 needles, so that should help it in the longevity category.
All in all I'm very happy with this project!
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Thank you to everyone for your kind words about Soho, and of course for purchasing the pattern!
I have to say I've worn Soho almost every day this season and it is versatile and warm, I wear it as a scarf unless I get a chill, at which point it becomes a wrap! On days when it hasn't been that cold (ie every 8th day this season, it seems) I just wear it, and I expect to wear it well into the Spring that way. I've worn it far more than most of my handknits, and that really says something since I wear something knitted almost every day! I'm thinking of making another one in some mostly-solid navy blue Koigu that's in the stash . . .
Now available for purchase: Soho!
At long last I've finished writing, editing, and photographing that shawl I was designing in Koigu Cashmere! Introducing Soho, a wrap that can be worn as a scarf or stole!
I designed this wrap specifically to work with Koigu and other handpainted yarns. Knit on size 5 needles and worked in a combination of a few simple patterns, this wrap knits up quickly and lets the gorgeous yarn be the star. The unusual construction plays up the variegation of the yarn and helps keep your interest! Here's a shot of the gorgeous center panel:
I knit the sample with 6 skeins of Koigu Cashmere, but you can use any one of the many gorgeous sock yarns that are on the market today.
Requires size 5 circular and double pointed needles. Pattern is suitable for an advanced beginner, as it requires only Knit, Purl, and YO.
Available as an immediate PDF download for $5.00. Click here to go to the pattern page and purchase through PayPal.
FO: Mittens for Anne
These were finished a bit late for their purpose (Anne's birthday is in late December), but just in time for the cold weather! My friend Anne had hinted that she wanted me to make her a pair of mittens because she was always losing hers, and that maybe they should have a string between them like children used to wear . . .
I loosely followed a plain mitten pattern from the Vogue on the Go: Mittens and Gloves book, adding the stripes and knitting in the round instead of flat as written. I wasn't sure what color to make her, since we have very different tastes in clothes - I kept looking at all the color choices in Classica and none of them were singing to me as being "her" color. Except for the green . . . and when I paired it with the white, it was perfect! Very preppy JCrew, which is exactly her taste. And I had the perfect navy blue buttons in the stash to use!
The string is crochet, using the two colors held together. I made a long chain, then worked sl sts in each chain, leaving a loop at either end for the buttons to go through.
The belated birthday girl loved them! I hope she's getting lots of wear out of them, there's plenty of winter left!
Project specs:
Pattern: Modified mitten from VOTG: Mittens & Gloves, made up string
Yarn: 1 ball each String Classica in Green and White
Needles: US size 6
Started: December 25, 2007
Finished: January 26, 2008
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It's a bit odd how all of a sudden I'm knitting gifts . . . for so long I only knit for myself, after having given almost everything away early in my crafting career. I wonder if I'm coming full circle? Or maybe it's because I have way too many sweaters in the closet and in progress already? Or maybe it's something deeper, more psychological? No idea, I just know I have 2 other gifts on the needles already, with 3 more planned for the immediate future! It's good to be my friend right now. ;o)
FO: First socks of 2008
FO Alert!
I actually started these the last week of December and literally finished the first sock in 2 days (that's what happens over long holiday weekends with lots of reading involved, at least to me!). I started the second one immediately in a bid to actually finish a pair of socks in one go, and got all the way up to the picot bind off when yarn arrived for the new lace project (which, by the way, is over 3 feet square already, and it's only been a week! No, it's not on laceweight yarn, how could you tell?) and the sock got cast aside.
Yesterday I was in a bad mood and decided mindless sock knitting was in order. I was 16 rows away from the picot edging, so it got done in no time, and now I have a nice pair!
These were knit toe-up (unusual for me) with a short row heel and picot cuff (a first for me). I don't know why, I just felt like doing all those things that I usually don't do. Actually, the toe-up part was logical, because this was my first time working with this yarn and I wanted these socks a little longer, but in the end I could have made them top down because I had tons of yarn left over.
This is Neighborhood Fiber Co's Studio Socks in the color Brightwood. I was really surprised when they started to stripe, and I think they might be a little on the ugly side . . . mostly because it wasn't what I expected from the ball. Here's the ball:
Now does that look like it's going to stripe to you? Me neither. But whatever, they're just socks. No one sees them unless I decide to show them off, anyway!
The yarn is quite nice to knit with, and very soft. I think it's slightly thinner than my favorite Koigu, but I tried doing a 64 stitch sock and it was too loose, so in the end it's VERY close to Koigu (these are 60-st socks, just like all my Koigu ones). Oh, and I used size 1 needles, as usual.
All in all very happy with this project, and especially happy to have gotten it off the needles in no time!
Project specs:
Pattern: Generic toe-up sock with short row heel and picot cuff
Yarn: 1 skein (with plenty left over) Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio Sock in Brightwood
Needles: US size 1
Started: December 25, 2007
Finished: January 14, 2008
PS - don't take this to mean I've been good so far this year . . . I bought yarn for 4 new projects last week alone. Oh the shame. ;o)
