too many hobbies

Off the Rails

Just in time for sweater weather to be over, I've finished the sweater for my son (that I started in February).  Fortunately, it was cold and rainy this past weekend, and I suppose there's a thin chance he won't grow out of it before October.

Of course, I totally ran out of yarn and had to run out and buy another skein and still managed to run out of that before I could entirely finish the collar, but it turned out all right in the end.  The pattern is from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for Older Kids, by Julie Carles and Jordana Jacobs, and it worked out okay, although I again had to totally rework the sleeves because theirs were way too short and wide.  This was the first time I'd done set in sleeves, and they were a bit more work than the drop sleeves, but not too bad.

I've also finished a bag I've been working on for a very long time, but I'm not showing it off because I again ran out of yarn and so the handles are very short, and while it'll work for its intended purpose (holding knitting stuff), it's extremely homely.

Washcloths

I am in the middle of three knitting projects right now and getting nowhere on any of them because we're in the process of moving.  So.  If there's even less posting than usual around here (is that even possible?), you'll know why.

I made these washcloths on a lark, because I saw them in a book (Yarnplay by Lisa Shobhana Mason) and they looked easy/cute, and I had some leftover cotton yarn hanging around anyway (hers are made of hemp, but cotton works just as well).  They are easy, and I'm entertaining the idea of keeping some cotton yarn on hand from now on in case of last-minute gifts.

The top one is garter knit, which is k1p1 on one side and k across on the other, and the bottom one is broken rib, which is k2p2 across for six rows, then p2k2 across for the next six.  The textures are interesting to look at, they make knitting the washcloths less boring, and they are a little bumpy, so the washcloths are a bit exfoliating.

Little, lovely

Just in time for Valentine's Day (and her birthday), I've achieved the apotheosis of knitting: the sweater.  Now, granted, it's a very small sweater (for a very small person), and it's a very simple pattern as these things go: no cables or bizarre patterns, no color work, drop sleeves.  But it's still a sweater, and I made it, and I'm (perhaps inordinately) proud of how it came out. 

It maybe could have been a bit longer, and I messed up just a little bit on one of the side seams, and I think it would be exponentially cuter with a hood, but it otherwise fits, and I had enough confidence to muck with the pattern (I made the sleeves longer and thinner), and it mostly looks darn good.

The yarn is Malabrigo's kettle dyed merino wool, and the color is 'Little Lovely'.  Unfortunately you can't feel it though the tubes, but it's extremely soft and warm.  It was also exceptionally easy to work with; my son wants a sweater next, and I will find a pattern that works with this yarn, or redesign one so it will.

Happier Feet

You know, it's really hard to photograph your own feet.

I adore these slippers, the pattern for which comes from Piddleloop.  It was easy to follow, and their online store was really quick and friendly.  Like their example slipper, I used Noro yarn, but instead of a solid contrasting border, I just used the same yarn, because there were a couple of colors that hadn't come out in the slipper part.  They're warm and comfy, and, if I do say so myself, hella cute.

Happy Feet

Warm, woolly socks in bright, sherbetty stripes; not bad for a first try.

New Year's Hat and Emergency Scarf

Every New Year's Eve we head out into Boston for the First Night festivities.  In years past we've headed to the Hynes Convention Center, which has crafts and puppet shows and performers geared towards kids.  It does get uncomfortably crowded later on in the day, and this year there weren't any performers we really wanted to see (in the past they've had some awesome kids' music - Dan Zanes, Elizabeth Mitchell, Mr. Ray, Ben Rudnick, etc.), so we gave it a miss and just took in the ice sculptures and the parade.

If memory serves, New Year's ends up being either unbelievably cold or warm enough to reduce the aforementioned sculptures to puddles.  This year was the exception; it was just around 32-ish, so the ice didn't melt, but neither did we freeze.  Still, it wouldn't have done to go out without a hat on, and in the week previous I had made this one in anticipation.  Unfortunately, I chose the yarn based on what looked good at the store and it totally didn't match the scarf that I made earlier in the year, nor any of the other scarves that I own.  Thus, the night before New Year's Eve, I picked up some leftover yarn and came up with this:

I love this scarf because it matches the hat, and my coat (which is black, with pink lining), and because I made it entirely out of leftover yarn so it didn't technically cost me anything except time, and not too much of that, either.  I also love it because I knit it without any pattern, just my own common sense and experience (what little I have), and it came out nice enough to wear on a regular basis.

Presents: Scarves and Hats

This Christmas I gave almost everyone something hand made.  My dad, my husband's dad, my brother, and my brother-in-law all got wool scarves and hats, which took me about four weeks to make.  I tried to choose colors and styles that would go with pretty much anything, and I'm really happy with how they came out.

The scarves are in seed stitch (or moss stitch, depending on who you talk to).  All together they come to about 13 square feet of fabric.  Yeah, scarves may be easy, but they do take a while.  Seed (or moss) stitch is a good choice for scarves because it stays flat, and it looks a lot harder to do than it actually is.

The hat pattern is from Hip Knit Hats by Cathy Carron, a book with lots of great-looking hats and many typos, so if you do pick it up, read carefully.  I've now knit several of the hats in this book and they all look great, but two of the patterns were more or less wrong and I had to work them out based on the photos.

I also made three necklaces and an eyeglasses holder thing, but I forgot to take photos of two, and the photos I did take of the other two were rushed and didn't come out so well, so, you'll just have to take my word that I made them and that they were very nice.

Scarf (fuzzy, green)

This is the scarf that got preempted by the kids' hats.  I made it for my husband, again in anticipation of the New England winter that still has yet to materialize.  The yarn is a blend of wool, mohair and nylon.  The scarf is a knit 1 purl 1 rib, so it looks the same on the reverse, as well.  I'm pretty happy with it, except the one end is a bit bigger than the rest of the scarf.  Most people have trouble casting on too tightly; apparently I have the opposite problem.  Anyway, it's a relatively small defect and the point is it's warm and fuzzy and my husband likes it, so, mission accomplished.

Last night I made a hat, which both looks good and was quick and easy.  It's part of my holiday gift-giving master plan that has had me knitting furiously for a week or so now.

The Other Hat

Much the same as the first hat (in fact, exactly the same, except for the color), except it was a bit easier to knit since I'd had the first one for practice.  Also, it fits him a bit better.

Yesterday I bought a whole bunch of yarn for Christmas presents, which means a whole bunch of knitting between now and then.

Cable Knit Hat

Well into November the weather is still pretty mild here in the (usually) chilly Northeast, but I thought I'd get a jump on Old Man Winter and knit hats for the kids.  I started out with a much easier hat pattern, but the yarn that we picked out was entirely the wrong size, so it was either return the yarn or use the other pattern I had.

As it turns out, cable knitting isn't all that hard once you get the hang of it, although it is a little fussy.  Although the pattern was for an adult hat, I figured it would work out okay, since my kids have enormous heads.  Okay, so it's a little big, but she doesn't seem to mind:

It took me about five days to finish, but that was really more like two evenings of concerted knitting, and then three days of occasional attention.  I'll be starting on the boy's hat sometime today, and should finish well in time for ice skating next week.