Comments (0)

By Betty, January 1, 2009 7:47 pm

With only a couple days left before Christmas, I decided that I should knit a little something for my dad. I decided on coffee cup cozies since he frequents Tim Horton’s, where they serve coffee in thin cardboard cups that get so hot they are impossible to hold.

As you can probably tell, this is made of Noro Kureyon. I got three from one skein and they all looked different. It looks like I felted mine a bit more than the one in the pattern, but I needed to to get the right fit. Since they are so little, I just hand felted these then let them air dry on a Tim Horton’s cup. Here it is before and after felting.

I made 3 of these but wrapped up my dad’s before photographing them. I’m going to keep this one for myself! By the way, I used this pattern and made no modifications.

Comments (1)

By Betty, December 27, 2008 11:50 pm

I received a single skein of Cash Iroha as part of a swap a long time ago. It is quite lovely but has very little yardage. Since the hand warmers in Last Minute Knitted Gifts calls for a single skein of this yarn, I made those! They will be a Christmas gift.

I made the thumb opening about 2x the specified length – they fit my hands so hopefully they’ll fit hers, too.

Comments (2)

By Betty, December 16, 2008 9:12 pm

Since the cold weather hit a few weeks ago, I decided I needed all new winter accessories. My old hat is getting a bit pilly and my old mitts are threadbare on the palms. But what to knit?!

I decided on the fourth grade hat, a free pattern from Twist Collective. This was my first entrelac project. I think I liked the process, though it didn’t really make sense to me for the first couple of tiers! Here’s how it turned out:

I love the way it looks but wasn’t sure about the fit at first. It has grown on me and I’ve been wearing it a lot the past couple of days. I used Berocco Ultra Alpaca Light in several different colors. This yarn was left over from my mitten project.

These are Fiddlehead Mittens, pattern from HelloYarn (Fiddlehead Mittens“>available here). I love love love these mittens. The best part, besides their stunning outer beauty, is the super-warm-and-fuzzy liner. The mitts started off with an i-cord cast on (also a new technique for me). When the outer is done, you do the liner by picking up around the inside of the i-cord.

As you can see, I ran out of the Kidsilk Haze used for the liner. I decided to use some leftover pink mohair, Kid Seta, from some other projects (this and this) instead of buying another ball of the green. I don’t mind the “secret” pink thumbs.

Comments (2)

By Betty, November 23, 2008 9:18 pm

I finished this blanket a while a go (after 5 months of work) and the bonnet was just finished recently.

Pattern: Serenity Blanket (on Ravelry)
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton Ease (to ensure an easy care blanky). I think I got into the 5th skein.
Needles: Size 7 US. I used Denise Interchangeable but wish I hadn’t. It was hard to slide the lacy stitch pattern over the connectors.

Pattern: Leaves and Berries Bonnet
Yarn: American Cashmere Yarn – 80% Cashmere, 20% Silk
Needles: Size 1 US
Notes: I bought this as a kit (yarn and pattern) at the Michigan Fiber Festival a few years ago. The yarn and pattern come from Marilyn Merbach from Rabbit Tree Farm in Saxonburg, PA. The construction of this hat was new to me (click through to Flickr to see notes).

Because I was giving these as a baby shower present, I wanted to keep them secret. The shower was today and the gifts were given. I love how both of these turned out!!

Comments (3)

By Betty, November 10, 2008 7:41 am

I guess I’m serious about this finishing streak. A year ago, I started knitting the Minimalist Cardigan from the Fall 2007 Interweave Knits. You can see the early stages of it here and here. About 2 inches into the last piece (a sleeve), I had a minor mess up – but set it down instead of fixing it. And there it sat for until about a month ago when I ripped out the sleeve and started again. Days later, all the pieces were done and blocking.

I blocked the pieces before sewing them together – wow, what a difference! It was so easy to finish… all the parts just fit together. The fit is perfect and it has wonderful drape (thanks to the bamboo!).

Yarn: Briar Rose Celebration (50% Merino, 50% Bamboo)
Pattern: Minimalist Cardigan (in Ravelry)
Needles: Size 7 US (Denise Interchangeable)
Mods: None! Unless you count the variegated yarn.

This is my favorite sweater so far! By the way, did you notice I’m wearing the same tank top as the model in the magazine? Unfortunately, I didn’t have a belt that fit around my chest to finish of the look. (scroll down on this page to see the original)

Comments (1)

By Betty, November 5, 2008 10:37 pm

I started these about 2 years ago… Seriously. I knitted one around the time the pattern was released then put it aside for other things. I had a hard time with the tubular cast on and didn’t like how it looked. This kept me from going back to it. Now I’m on a finishing streak and I knocked the second mitt out in 4 days.

The first one uses the Italian tubular cast on (without waste yarn) – tutorial here. I found it to be a bit unsightly, at least the way I did it. So, for #2, I tried the long tail tubular cast on – video tutorial here. This came out much nicer. Now that they are all blocked and have been worn several times both of the cast on edges look about the same – so there was no need for all the fuss after all. Either method works.

And I love them! They have been worn many, many times already.

Comments (0)

By Betty, November 1, 2008 1:51 pm

I put a new free pattern up on the Knitzi website. Something a little different this time… easy fuzzy legwarmers for your little ballerina. Inexplicably, Ava picked the name “Pickles” and it stuck.

This is a very straightforward pattern but the combination of yarns makes them something special. I used 2 partial skeins (just over half of each) of Claudia’s hand painted sock yarn (in Pink Clouds) and one full skein of Kid Seta silk/mohair blend (in Cotton Candy). They are very warm and will come in handy this winter!

The pattern is available here and is also on Ravelry:

(how sad is that… come on, knit some up so I can have more than 1 project!)

Comments (0)

By Betty, October 25, 2008 3:43 pm

Having just completed two large and lengthy project, I needed something super-fast to satisfy an instant gratification craving. I decided to make a neck warmer/cowl. I’m not quite sure why that was my choice because I’m much more of a scarf person. Maybe I just haven’t found the cowl for me.

Anyway, I started digging through my yarn closet, looking for something interesting. I pulled out some yarn I dyed spun a while ago and decided on the simple but effective Gloria Cowl.

I love how it turned out, but as I mentioned, I’m not crazy about this form of knitwear. So I decided to give this to a coworker. She also like it a lot and has offered me artwork in exchange. I’ll share that when she’s! You’re going to love it!

Comments (5)

By Betty, October 13, 2008 10:55 am

I actually finished this a couple weeks ago, but I’m only getting around to this now. Last year for Christmas, I got a gift certificate to a yarn store in Windsor. With that, I got 5 skeins of Manos wool and silk blend. Then it sat around for a while because I couldn’t decide what to do with this lovely yarn.

Finally, I decided to go for Clapotis. It was started in May – working only a few rows at a time. After many months, I finished it.

Before I started, I figured out that I should use all 5 skeins, starting the last skein when I started the decrease section of the pattern. My calculations were a bit off… it turned out well over 6 feet long!! I guess that is OK because it is really cozy, even if it isn’t all that practical. I’m sure I’ll enjoy it when the weather turns really cold.

Comments (2)

By Betty, September 19, 2008 9:39 pm

I needed something baked good-related to knit as a thank you gift (or a bribe or payment… depending on how you look at it). This was for someone at work who doesn’t really come across as a knitting fan.

I decided to go with something utilitarian as well as cute. It went over pretty well, I think. Though I haven’t seen it since I guess pink and sparkly might not be his style.

Comments (9)

By Betty, September 1, 2008 1:56 pm

I’m still trying to pick out a name for this sock. If you haven’t picked up on a theme yet (Nutkin, Twinkleberry, Hunca Mucna, Jenny Wren), I’ve been selecting all my sock names from Ava’s favorite book series by Beatrix Potter.

I’ve been working on a new pattern and this is what I came up with. I wanted to show off the subtle color variation of the ShiBui yarn, but didn’t want it too plain.

The lace panels are simple enough to make it a quick knit while the heel and toe design add a little extra challenge. The are knit toe up with a wrap/turn short row heel.

I’m in the process of writing up the pattern now.

Comments (1)

By Betty, August 27, 2008 9:18 pm

I was in Baltimore for a conference in June. While there, I made sure to stop at the yarn shop closest to the hotel – A Good Yarn. It was a tiny shop that is aimed more at teaching than at yarn sales, apparently. Regardless, I felt the need to purchase (as I normally do in a yarn shop!). There was a lovely mohair/silk lacey scarf as a sample for the Kid Seta yarn.

I decided to get the Kid Seta and for some inexplicable reason, I chose the pale cotton candy pink! The yarn lady kindly wrote out the pattern for me and tucked it in my bag. For some reason, when I went to start the scarf, I decided I wanted to make something else – not the sample scarf from the store. I decided on Wisp from Knitty.

I decided to skip the buttons and button holes – I would never wear it as a poncho, I know that. So, now I have a lovely little fuzzy pink scarf. Never thought I’d say that!! I do really like how it turned out, though. And it was a easy little knit.

See how happy I am with it?!

Comments (0)

By Betty, August 23, 2008 7:47 am

So, I seems as though I took the summer off – very little knitting and no blogging. Many of my projects are larger and although I have been picking away at them, it doesn’t seem like much progress and nothing is getting done. I really need to mix big projects with smaller, quick to finish, ones to keep my momentum up! Oh, and only one biggie at a time would help, too.

I’ve got my head on straight again and am on a role again. One night, a couple weeks ago, Ava was out for the night. [side note: She regularly spends the night at my in-laws' house. She always says that she had a great time with her babysitter, Grandma Lucy.] Something snapped and I really needed to start and finish something that night – it was already 8:00pm. It is hard to do that with knitting, so I headed for the sewing machine. I had some pre-cut fabric in the closet and just started sewing – we’ll serging. Yes, I pieced and assembled a quicky quilt using the serger. Top stitching was done on the sewing machine.

It is small and rugged – the perfect thing for Ava to take outside with her. The front is made of old Knitzi bag fabric and the lining and backing are fabrics I got from my mom. It took just under 3 hours from start to finish. While it isn’t too pretty, this is what got me going again!

I do have a little catching up to do so here are some things I’ve worked on since my last post…

Boteh Scarf:
This was super-fun and is made of 100% cashmere. Love it!

Rusted Root
Started then ripped out. The gauge was off and the stitches were sloppy.

Clapotis
This is one of the ones taking me forever! It is enjoyable to knit, I just don’t get to focus on it too much. It is about 3/4 complete now.

Express Lane Socks
Started ages ago but finished recently.

Spring Forward Socks
My comeback socks. After taking over 6 months to complete Express Lane, I finished these in just a couple days.

Top-down Beret
After at least a month with no FOs, I finished this hat as a sample for a local yarn store. I didn’t enjoy the pattern much, but the yarn was lovely!

I still have several things in the works and hopefully I’ll start finishing things, too!! Here’s what I have going: clapotis, serenity blanket, fuzzy pink mohair scarf, socks (a new design), and the minimalist cardigan (just one sleeve to go). More soon…

Comments (4)

By Betty, April 16, 2008 7:05 pm

There have been a lot of comments about the Nutkin sock twisting uncontrolably. I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure out why some twist and some do not. Thanks to Trish fromThe Tangled Arts, the mystery has been solved.

Behold the lovely Nutkin on the left. It has a minor amount of twisting, which is a natural effect caused by all of the left-leaning decreases. On the right, you see Nutkin’s evil twin.

You must take care to keep your stitches straight when you fold the cuff over and knit the cast on row with the live stitches. The first cast on stitch must be knit together with the first stitch in the round. If you are off just a stitch or two, you end up with the evil twisted twin.

To ensure you get the right stitch, it may help to put a split ring stitch marker or safety pin on the first cast on stitch before knitting the first round.

That is Reynolds Soft Sea Wool, by the way, and I don’t like it very much.

Comments (6)

By Betty, March 29, 2008 12:49 pm

I like Christina’s and Erin’s Montego Bay scraves so much, I finally decided to make my own. I’m using Wollmeise Sockenwolle in Raku Regenbogen.

I had to start 3 times because I didn’t like the way the colors were pooling. At 63 sts and the recommended 43 sts, the colors were pooling in vertical stripes! I ended up going with 47 sts and it it working out great.