Holiday Gifts

i know i haven't posted in awhile, i took on a huge volunteer job at my son's school and unfortunately have had very little time for knitting :(

however, i have had some time to get some holiday presents done. here are some pictures with links to ravelry for the details!

latvian mittens for my sister

latvian mittens for my mother in law

fingerless mitts for my brother, brother-in-law and father

i hope to get a pair of mittens done for me soon!

Leftover Knitting

besides holiday presents the only thing i have been knitting lately is stuff i meant to get done a long time ago but never finished.

first up are a pair of socks from my ridiculous stash of sock yarn.

copper penny socks

pattern: copper penny by nancy bush from knitting socks with handpainted yarns

yarn: koigu painter's palette premium merino

needles: size 1.5 circular

i used the magic loop method and made a few modifications after reading other people's notes on ravelry. the pattern called for 72 stitches which seemed a bit much and most people commented that their socks were huge. i got rid of one 12 stitch pattern repeat and casted on 60 stitches - i'm glad i did because my socks fit great! the only other mod i made was to use the eye of the partridge stitch for the heel (but i always use this stitch!) all in all, i am very happy with these socks and i'm glad i used a little of my stash but i wish i used some of my claudia's handpainted yarn for socks for me - i think it is just a little but softer.

up next, i finally made another present for my husband.

cobblestone pullover

pattern: cobblestone pullover by jared flood in interweave knits

yarn: kathmandu aran

needles: size 7 circular

i have had this yarn sitting around for around 2 years and have started and frogged numerous sweaters for b until i finally decided i had to make something and the cobblestone seemed like an easy mindless knit. which it was but i didn't love it. basically just an ez seamless yoke which i have been knitting a lot of lately... the only modification i made was to the neck - i reduced the amount of stitches and the neck is still big! oh well, b is still happy with it and that is all that matters.

up next, i have a whole slew of latvian mittens in mind for holiday gifts and a coat for my mother. i have also taken on a huge role in my son's school (more about that another time) so hopefully it won't interfere too much with my knitting!

May The Force Be With You

my son is a huge star wars freak so last year i made him an adorable star wars fair isle yoke sweater. of course it is getting a little small so he wanted another one. not feeling up for all that fair isle work i convinced him that a "jedi" sweater would be soooo much cooler. he picked out some gray noro yarn and basically told me to get to work. now i was a little stuck - what would i do for a "jedi" sweater. after talking it over with some of my friday morning knitting group friends i realized all that was important was the huge hood. here is the end result:

"jedi" sweater

pattern: elizabeth zimmerman's tomten

yarn: noro shirakaba in color #2, gray

needles: #7 circular and #6 for inside of the hems

i decided to go with the basic pattern of the tomten since i knew that would give me the larger hood i needed. the biggest modification i made was to make the sweater stockinette instead of garter. once this decision was most of ez's percentages go out the window and then when i wanted to make the armholes smaller - the rest of them went out the same window!

the sweater was knit to h's measurements. i used a provisional cast on and then knit up to where i thought the sleeves should go. also, wanted the sleeves to start a little later so it would be less modular looking so i made the front and back larger and put less stitches on waist yarn for the armhole than you would for the typical tomten.

and then used a three needle bind off to make a more defined shoulder. i thought it was important for the hood to not have as much of a point so added some decreases in the center of it when i got close to the top. lastly, i then knit up the provisional cast on stitches and picked up all around the front and hood edges to form the mitered button hole band. and of course, used my favorite edge treatment - a nice neat hem. the buttons are different robot buttons i purchased at brooklyn general 2 years ago.

and there you have it - a "jedi" sweater - of course the hood should be a little bit bigger...

since i decided the rest of the summer will be spent finishing some things that have been sitting around - here are the egyptian mittens i started in january for my chicken knitting group. finally!

Glittery E

this was one of the first projects where the yarn called to me before a pattern. i saw the glittery silver threads and all the pink and just knew e would love it - sure enough she couldn't wait to put it on. in fact the pictures of her in it don't even have the buttons on it yet.

e's starry cardigan

pattern: loosely ez's seamless yoke sweater

yarn: dream in color starry, ruby river color

needles: size 3 circular

6 vintage pink buttons

went off of elizabeth zimmerman's seamless yoke sweater with lots of modifications. here are the full details of what i did...

provisionally cast on for the bottom of the sweater, knit one row, cast on 5 stitches for the steek and joined to knit in the round. from there i followed the usual seamless yoke pattern with, of course, making the sleeve wider than the original pattern calls for. the two sleeves have hemmed borders with a picot edging.

after knitting approximately one inch after joining the three tubes i knit 2 rows of purl and then doubled the amount of stitches to form the ruffle. after knitting 8 rows, i then halved the stitches right before it was time to decrease for the yoke. (does any of this make any sense?) i repeated this two more times. basically just replaced the fair isle patterns with ruffles and put two rows of purl in between.

when all that was done it was time for the steeking... wasn't as scary as the green sweater! i used the crochet method. i then picked up the cast on stitches on the bottom, up the front edge, around the neck and then back down the other front edge. knitting in the round i knit 8 rows of hem (including the button holes) with mitered corners - then the picot turn row (k2tog, yo) and then another 8 rows.

all that was then left was to sew down the hem and the steeked edges.

ta da! that's all it takes to make a very happy 2 year old girl! :)

Beaded Lace

beaded lace shawl

pattern: #10 beaded lace shawl from vogue knitting holiday 2008

yarn: canopy fingering weight, river dolphin color, approx 1000 yards

needles: size 7 circular

approximately 1000 size 6 beads

beaded lace is really my all time favorite thing to knit. just the sense of accomplishment alone makes it great! i've made a few of them and really wanted to make this one for myself. my friend made it for her wedding and i thought it would look awesome in a non-white color.

the pattern is well written. the only comment i have on it is the bind off takes a really long time and A LOT of yarn!! i ran out but luckily, mary, had some.

oh - btw - i am not pregnant even though i appear to be in the last picture.

Some Quick Sewing

i have to warn you - not the best photography here but i just finished some small sewing projects and wanted to share :)

pattern: oliver + s tiered halter from stitches magazine spring 2010

fabric: liberty of london from brooklyn general

words really cannot describe how much i love sewing with liberty fabric. it is just so smooth and flies thru the machine. now if it just wasn't so expensive! brooklyn general is having a sale so i finally got some to make the tiered halter shirt that was just featured in stitches magazine. i made three of these - for e and my two nieces. the pattern was very simple and easy to follow. besides printing out and taping together the pattern pieces... i didn't make any modifications. i do hope to get a picture today of all three girls in the shirt together.

pattern: oliver + s bedtime story pajamas

fabric: ready, set, robot from city quilter.

h was getting a little upset with the amount of sewing/knitting i do for e and not for him. it is true and i feel bad but it is just so much easier to a cute little dress than boys clothes :( but i had come across this robot fabric on a red background and picked up a few yards. (anyone who knows h knows red is his favorite color!) the pattern was super simple - the only mod i made was to just hem the bottom and i used the same fabric for the waist band as the legs. he's pretty happy with the results :)

Finishing Presents

i tend to knit almost all of the presents i give to people. just love giving someone i care about something i made. the only problem with this is when you are in the middle of the project and really aren't enjoying the process but need to finish or else buy something...

here are two cases of that exact problem. although, i think the receivers of these gifts will like them a whole lot more than i liked knitting them!

choice

yarn: berroco bonsai and berroco seduce - both in a natural color

needles: size 7, circular

pattern: choice by norah gaughan in her vol. 6 book for berroco

i wouldn't say this yarn was horrible to work with - but i definitely didn't love it... i wanted an easy no brainer project so i used the yarn the pattern called for and made no modifications. i probably should have gone down a needle size. made the smallest size but it is still a little big. this is going to be for my brother's fiancee and she is very little but she has a great sense of style so i am sure she will find a way to wear it!

golf club covers

yarn: berroco vintage in green, blue and tan

needles: size 5 and size 7, circular (magic loop method)

pattern: argyle golf club covers by sarah wilson

now this yarn i would say is horrible to work with!!! maybe i am just being a brat but i cannot stand knitting with this much acrylic! i bought some beautiful malabrigo sock yarn to make my dad socks for father's day but my mother didn't think he would wear them and would prefer golf club covers. i did like the pattern and only made a few modifications. 1- changed the ribbing to a 2x2. 2- added the stripes to the ribbing to mark the different sized clubs. 3- made tassels instead of pom poms for the tops.

i am going to be teaching a baby surprise jacket class at brooklyn general on wednesday mornings - starting next week. check out www.brooklyngeneral.com to sign up.

Happy Mother's Day

hourglass socks

yarn: claudia hand painted merino fingering weight yarn - honey color

needles: size 1.5 circular

pattern: hourglass socks from knitty

i have wanted to make these socks for the longest time and finally found the perfect excuse - i would make two pairs. one for my mother and one for my mother-in-law for mother's day. only problem - i hated the pattern. don't know why but i found it really really annoying. they are going to my mother-in-law since they were a little short and she has smaller feet! the only modification i made was to change the heel to an eye of the partridge stitch - which i use on all the socks i make...

tribute socks

yarn: claudia hand painted merino fingering weight yarn - chocolate color

needles: size 0 circular

pattern: tribute socks from knitty

definitely have a thing for the frost flowers lace pattern :) i had to make these socks as soon as i saw them. made them for my mother for mother's day. really nice easy sock pattern - only mod was the stitch pattern on the heel that i mentioned above. only regret is i didn't make them in a lighter color yarn so you would see the pattern better.

that's it for now. we are finishing up a major house renovation and to say i have been a little overwhelmed would be an understatement. hopefully i will be able to get some good shots and will post some before and after soon!

Happy Friend

bitterroot shawl

yarn: knit picks shadow in spring green

needles: size 6

pattern: bitterroot from knitty

you may think i am strange but lace is really my favorite thing to knit. i am trying to make at least every other project be a lace one - to make myself happy, of course. but how many shawls does one person need? so i started to knit this one not really knowing who it was going to - i had some left over yarn for a shawl i made my grandmother. as i was knitting, i decided it would go to a really good friend of mine who is also a knitter. i find we don't tend to knit a lot for fellow knitters, after all they could just make it themselves. but my friend wasn't having the easiest weeks and i thought she could use a little pick me up. who doesn't feel better getting a little present? once i decided who the shawl was going to it became an even faster knit. i highly recommend this pattern to anyone wanting to try knitting with beads. since the beads are only at the ends it isn't too much. the only negative is that it is a little smaller than i would like.

oh, i use the oral-b super floss method of placing the beads on.

Feeling Green

there has been a lot of knitting going on with green yarn... first up i finished the leg warmers!

leg warmers

yarn: dream in color smooshy

needles: size 3, 12" circular

pattern: some cloudy day by owl knits

these were such a quick knit. i don't know why it took me so long to finally make leg warmers for myself. i am always so cold. don't have a lot of comments on the pattern - made no mods. i love the color of the yarn but i don't think i would like the feel of it for socks - leg warmers or socks, perfect though. here they are on ravelry - the picture of them not finished is closer to the actual color.

and now i am working on a beaded lace shawl from knitty - bitterroot. i have a friend in mind that i am going to give this to - i think she could use a little present. i've been so into knitting lace shawls lately - but how many can one person have? very happy to have so many deserving people in my life!

Little Knits

i haven't been in such a knitting mood lately. so i have been working on lots of little projects that i can finish quickly. (it is also my niece's birthday next week - so had to make something for her :)

peasant hat

yarn: cascade 220 heathers - purpley

needles: size 10.5 straight needles and size 5 for the band

pattern: just like a peasant cap by amber daniels

a friend of mine had a hat like this and i wanted one for myself for awhile. i came across the pattern on ravelry. it is a funny little hat - took a while to figure out how to wear it but once i did i fell in love. speaking of love - love cascade 220. i cannot believe i never made anything out of it before. but what a great yarn - can tell this will become a major workhorse in my stash!

oriental lilies

yarn: one made of fibre company savannah, one made of blue sky alpaca melange

needles: size 5, 24 inch circular and 12 inch circular

pattern: oriental lily by georgie hallam

i made one of these for my niece for her birthday and one for e. such a great pattern. super fast and always love something with minimal finishing. i have had the melange in my stash for a while and it may be my favorite colorway ever! - it is very similar to the color of the peasant hat. i thought i had 5 skeins of it so this was just the perfect project for it. but then... i found 4 more skeins! this is when i realized that maybe i am not the best mother - my first thought was, "i could have made something for myself." but i guess i'm not that bad because i didn't frog what i had already started. still need to do the arms of e's but it won't fit her until next year so i'll get to it when i get to it.

since i haven't been into knitting that much i decided to get the spinning wheel out. i have a ton of fiber that i have been really excited about spinning. of course, though, i have this mohair/romney blend that i started spinning already on the wheel. so i just figured i would finish spinning that up.

i am not a huge fan of knitting with mohair but a friend of mine made a beautiful dress out of it - so i think i'll give it to her :)

on the needles now - a pair of legwarmers!

Hello Kitty

hello kitty sweater

yarn: spud & chloe fine, pink #7808

needles: size 3 24" circular and 12" circular for sleeves

pattern: elizabeth zimmerman seamless yoke sweater

since h's star wars sweater was such a big hit i really wanted to make a fair isle yoke sweater for e. but i learned my lesson and made this one big - the star wars sweater is already getting a little small - eeks! the spud & chloe yarn has a great feel and great colors for kids - e is a little bit of pink freak...

the pattern is elizabeth zimmerman's seamless yoke sweater. have i ever said how much i love this pattern? so simple and i love how easy it is to add motifs of whatever the person is into. for e's i thought hello kitty was perfect - she loves her (and truth be told - so do i!). the cherries and hearts are basically from a sweater i saw on ravelry - subculture girl: stranded yoke pullover.

i used a lime green for the hem. have i ever said how much i love a hem on a sweater? also used the hem for the neck - i think this works fine and never feel the need for a ribbed neckline.

i have the chart of hello kitty and tried to post it but can't figure out how to do that - so if any of my fellow bloggers out there know how to paste a chart in a post, please tell me how!!!!!

next up for me - some little girl dresses and a hat for myself. plus, the house renovations are coming along so hopefully my craft room will be ready soon and i can actually sew a little...

February Flowers

frost flowers stole

yarn: colourmart cashmere heavy lace weight, blue

needles: size 6, knit picks harmony 36 inch circular

pattern: from interweave holiday 2008

this stole was a long time coming. i had wanted to make something out of frost flowers, from the cover of barbara walker's first pattern book, for awhile and i've had this cashmere lying around for a couple of years. then i came across this shawl pattern in the interweave holiday 2008 issue and thought perfect! it took me awhile to get to, with holiday gifts and sweaters for my family to get to. plus a surprise elizabeth zimmerman thrown into the mix. anyway, it took me awhile but it wound up to be perfect timing. it has been a rough couple of months for me personally and a detailed lace project was just what i needed to take my mind off of things. something else to concentrate on!

the cast on took a little more than 2 hours - 992 stitches! really crazy! but the brilliance of this project was that it got smaller (faster) as you went along - the opposite of the typical shawl. i don't really have any more notes except - make sure you mark every 50 or 100 stitches when you cast on and trust the charts - there are no erratas, it works out perfectly. there are a few more pictures up on ravelry.

right now i am working on a yoke sweater for my daughter and think hello kitty may make any appearance... i learned my lesson with my son's star wars sweater though and am making it big enough to fit for a few years!

More Silky Wool

last summer my fabulous knitter friend, kusi, introduced me to norah gaughan's patterns. of course i immediately started lining up projects in my head. i've made a few and had some hits and some misses but the "anhinga" from the berroco vol 5 book was the one that always stood out. the problem was i wanted to make it for myself but i had too many holiday gifts on my queue! i even bought the yarn for it in august at brooklyn general's august sale. i finished it this morning and couldn't wait to show it off:

after two seamless hybrids and the ez green sweater it was really a pleasure to knit separate pieces and sew them together! it was so great to just finish the back quickly! all the details are on ravelry.

as i write this, i am trying to figure out what to knit next. here is a list of what i want to get to this year:

leg warmers for e (she is a little obsessed with leg warmers)

frost flowers shawl

two color bog jacket

rorschach sweater

fair isle sweater for myself

fair isle yoke for h

hybrid for b

the olive sweater from amimono

something fair isle and steeked

actually, the list can go on and on...

i am thinking i will go with the frost flowers shawl. i haven't knit any lace recently. it would be nice to put down the size 6 needles and maybe step away from the silky wool for a little. plus, i am sure i can make some leg warmers for e on the go since lace isn't really a good traveling project. oh and anne, if you are reading this, i know i should have the chicken mittens on that list but i am just sooooo not into them :(

most importantly, i will be teaching a baby surprise jacket class in february at brooklyn general on wednesday mornings at 10am. you can call the store at 718.237.7753 to sign up!

Help

Not Blocked

but here's a shot of the green sweater on!

as you can see, i still can't decide on any closures. for now i am going with broaches as closures until i come up with something else... the fabulous art direction of the photo is all mary!

i've got a norah gaughn sweater on the needles that i've been wanting to knit forever and i'm having a blast. after all these sweaters in the round there is something to be said for finishing pieces and knitting with decadent rosewood straight needles. but the lovely norah has to wait a little because my friday morning knitting group "the chickens" is doing a mitten kal. so here are the start of the egyptian mittens. don't hate me, anne, if i finish them soon - i have a long car trip this weekend ;)

Finished!

well, almost. it needs some blocking and buttons - but i couldn't wait to share!

ta da - the green sweater!!!!

it took a little bit of time because i had to rip out the sleeve twice! and redid how i sewed down the steeked edges. but i love how it came out - it has a real retro fit. i will get some pictures of it on after i block and get the buttons on. i am thinking of just doing some hook and eye closures - any opinions?

2009 Wrap Up

happy new year! i have a ton of projects in my head for 2010 but thought i would take some time for a 2009 knitting wrap up.

wow, i got a lot done! :) here's to a great year of all good things and happy knitting!