FO: Adorable Booties
These are quite possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen!!! And so quick to make, although as is usual with such small projects, the finishing takes practically as long as the knitting. Before you smarty-pants make any comments, these are a gift for a friend who's expecting.
Project specs:
Pattern: Saartje's Bootees, free pattern available here
Yarn: KPPPM color P436, a tiny bit (you can probably get 5 or 6 pairs out of one ball of Koigu)
Needles: US size 2
Started: July 8, 2007
Finished: July 9, 2007
Re-entry.
I've had quite the week. 2 days at the beach, then 4th of July festivities, then inventory at work, then friends in town from Cali . . . I am so behind on everything and I have no clean clothes to wear.
I have been knitting, though, and I'm proud to report some progress!!
First, I finished the knitting on the Soft Chunky Coat. I still have the finishing to do, but I'm calling this one done for now. It's not like I need a coat for another few months anyway.
I've also been working diligently on my WIPs, and I even managed not to start anything new!
Some proof of progress:
That's how much I got done on the Little Black Dress (LBD from now on) from Runway Knits. I knit the lace panels flat, then joined to knit in the round for the stockinette section. My gauge is a little wonky, I am definitely getting more rows to the inch than I'm supposed to get, but I figure it'll stretch when I block and wear it. I don't mind it being shorter than a dress, actually, I'll probably wear it over jeans more than by itself anyway!
Then there's the Koigu Pullover:
Yep, that's a sleeve! I'm at the sleeve cap shaping, which I had to rip out because of math problems (clearly not enough coffee had been consumed when I did the math). The body is already done, so after this sleeve I plan to seam the shoulders and the sleeve cap to see if it's gonna fit/work. If so it's smooth sailing from here on out, hopefully!
And last but not least, the other new project from last week:
That's yet another sleeve, this time in Sheep Shop 3 yarn (which is to die for, you should get some!). This will eventually be another Chiagu pattern, a pullover with a scoop neck and subtle Shakespeare sleeves (see the gathers?). This sleeve is also at the sleeve cap, but I think I'm going to put it on a holder and work up the body before I decide how the sleeve cap should go.
You know what just occurred to me looking at these three pictures? All of these are knit at 6 or more stitches to the inch! How the heck did that happen? The LBD is on size 3 needles at 6.5 sts/inch, the Koigu and the SS3 are on size 5's at 6 sts/inch!
It's a wonder I'm making any progress at all . . .
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Updated progress list:
- Nicole
- My mom’s cardigan’s last sleeve
- Orange summer top
- Frost Flowers shawl
- Kersti Log Cabin blanket (just needs a border and finishing)
- Katherine Hepburn cardigan
- Orange O-wool Balance cardigan
- Yankees socks
- Pomatomus hybrid socks
- Fleece Artist socks
- My dad’s Beau
- Stormy cardigan
- Jacket in Forbidden (just needs sleeves)
- Koigu pullover (1 sleeve left)
- Cascade vest
- LBD
- SS3 Pullover
Hmmmm . . . somehow the list didn't get any shorter.
Of yarn blobs, broken needles, and a sock
That funky feeling's still around.
A few funky feeling visual:
The weird blob that appeared half way through winding my skein of Martha yarn.
The TWO double pointed needles I managed to break over the last two days.
The first picture I can take no blame for, but the second is 100% my fault and completely due to my klutzy tendencies. The merely bent needle on the right broke when I was trying my new sock on, and the completely snapped one on the left broke when I SAT ON the sock on the couch (my butt's fine, I didn't even feel it!). I don't have any more bamboo DPNs in this size, so I had to make due with a stupid aluminum one for the rest of the sock. Thankfully only the toe remains.
What's that? You've never seen this WIP and need project details?
I started this sock two nights ago in a fit of wanderlust (for lack of a better word). It all started because I had that ridiculous feeling that I had nothing good to work on, and then I thought I hadn't knit in Koigu in a while (like 2 weeks!) so I started digging through the Koigu stash. I had this idea in mind to do a top that has various shades of blue in it, so I started pulling blues/greens/purples to see what I had to work with . . . and came across this color. And then I found 2 more skeins of this color. Which can only mean one thing: When I bought them I planned to knit a pair of socks out of the color, and have 1 left over for the color stash.
Next thing I know, I'm starting Pomatomus. I'm one of the last people on the planet to knit this sock (at least it seems that way!) and I have to say I'm loving it. The color is perfect for the stitch pattern, which is easy to memorize and quick to work, even with all those K tbl's. I'm already almost done, see:
I decided to change to plain stockinette at the gusset because I have very delicate feet (ahem) and I can't bear the idea of feeling all those stitches inside my shoe. Since the stitch pattern pulls in so much, I decreased evenly across the foot stitches on the first gusset round, when I changed to stockinette, and then continued straight when I had 60 sts. I also worked one fewer repeat on the leg, which strangely turned out to be exactly the same length as my Yankees Sock leg, not that I planned it that way. Other than these tiny changes (cough) I'm doing the pattern exactly as written!
Speaking of which, I really love the heel. It's a deeper heel flap than I usually do on flap socks and it fits really well! Actually, the whole sock fits extremely well, so I'm planning to cast on for its mate tonight, to try to avoid that one-sock problem that's haunted me forever . . .
(PS Before anyone asks, I'm using size 1 needles and Koigu KPPPM color #438)
FO: Kersti Pullover
Here's my finished Kersti sweater! I'm really happy with how it came out, it's simple enough to wear all the time but has a few details that make it special. And it fits really well, although you'll have to take my word for it because every shot I took of it on me looked like, well, a$$. The manequin is about the same size as me anyway so it gives you the idea.
My original plan for this yarn was to make a completely simple, nothing-to-it pullover. But as I started working I kept asking myself why I was bothering to knit something so boring, so I had to jazz it up. I came up with the idea of working a single cable twist at the beginning of the vneck, which came out perfectly:
Isn't that cute? I love tiny details like these that don't overwhelm the wearer and make the sweater a little more special.
Then when it came time to work the sleeves, I originally planned on 3/4 length sleeves with a little detail at the cuff. I knit the first sleeve and tried it on and HATED it, so I came up with Plan B (or is it C or D? I lost track). I ended up with fairly wide, extra-long sleeves, and I echoed the neck detail at the cuffs. Here's a detail shot:
The cuffs are split and where they join that is another single cable twist. It's nice because it lays exactly at wrist level, with the split cuffs hanging down over my hand and reaching to about my thumb knuckle.
I'm really pleased with this sweater and will definitely be wearing it a lot! Especially if the weather keeps on dumping snow and sleet on us randomly . . .
Project specs:
Pattern: My own original. No name or publication date yet.
Yarn: 9 skeins Koigu Kersti in color K410
Needles: US size 7
Started: February 28, 2007
Finished: March 12, 2007
It's a good thing I can laugh at myself!
So you know my plan to make Koigu kneehighs from my leftovers? Well, I finally decided to start (spurred on by Caryn wanting to join me) so I started gathering up the Koigu leftovers. It turns out that at some point in my packing/repacking I had actually already gathered all the Koigu leftovers, and this is the sum total of them:
In my mind's eye, I had pictured, oh, 5 times this amount. Even further digging only resulted in 2 more partial balls.
I am not surprised that what I think I have and what I actually have differ by such a large amount. But what are the chances that the actual amounts would be less than I expected? Slim to none, to be sure. This is too weird.
I've been trying to figure out how come I have so relatively few Koigu leftovers, and I've come up with a few reasons why I thought there was so much more than there is:
- I hoard Koigu like it's going out of style, so when I use it I plan appropriate projects that don't result in wasted yarn.
- Such "appropriate" projects are usually the type where you knit until you run out of yarn, again so that little Koigu goes to waste.
- I don't like to wind the skein before I know they'll get used, so when I'm in the planning/swatching stage of a new Koigu project, I use scraps from an old Koigu project to try my ideas on, so that if I change my mind the new Koigu is still new and perfect in its skein (wow I sound like a nutcase).
- I might have been confused as to the ratio of New Koigu Stash to Koigu Scraps Stash. In my mind's eye, the Koigu Scraps Stash looks a lot like this:
So it looks like I don't have enough Koigu Leftovers to make several sets of kneehighs. But I do have enough to make one set, and I plan to measure my leg and start on that tonight. And if I have to break into some new balls, that's ok. I think there are some available.
On the bright side, I did find 2 sets of size 1 DPNs in the bag with all the Koigu leftovers. I guess sometimes I put like with like, although it would be nice if I remembered that I had done it.
OH, and while we're talking about Koigu (since that talk is so rare around these parts), did you hear that the Koigu book has SOLD OUT its first printing? String sold out our first order in less than a month, and when I went to reorder today, I was told I can't get any more! Selling out within a month of publication is pretty much unheard of in our little industry. The second edition is being printed right now but probably won't ship for a few months.
I am so happy for Taiu and Maie! And I'm even happier that I already got my copy. ;o)
