knitting – Page 13 – Behind the Smile

November 10, 2009June 24, 2010

What I’m Working On

I’ve inexplicably been compelled to knit a sweater, which honestly doesn’t happen that often. I don’t like purling that much, I really only like cardigans (in which purling is pretty much a must) and I just REALLY REALLY love making socks and shawls more than anything else!

So, EXHIBIT A that I’ve lost my mind a wee bit:

Is it not super pretty? I realize that I’ve already added the buttons, but that was to try it on. I still need to sew on 2 more but I don’t really need them. And I’ve knit another three or so inches on it since I took this picture last weekend. The inside is finished as well – I’m weaving in ends as I go. (Since this picture was taken I’ve finished the body of the sweater and started on the sleeves.)

It’s an extremely painless process, I am amazed to report. That Ysolda really knows how to write a pattern, and Liesl is no exception. The Vanna White yarn is nice to work with and seems to have a nice drape. Also, *ahem* only cost me $10.81 for four skeins, which will be the perfect amount. IN FACT, the yarn was the cheapest thing, the notions and the US 10.5 circular needles (a small circular for the sleeves and a large one for the body) will have cost about $16, hah – and I used a coupon at JoAnn’s for the larger needle.

I am enjoying the knitting and I do like sweaters, so I may make an attempt to make another one, but the construction would have to be interesting and not too purly (I’m thinking Manon from Norah Gaughan, maybe). On the other hand, I would also like to try a yoked sweater, so I dunno.

I must be out of my mind, wanting to knit sweaters. But I did go through my closet and pulled out a bunch of yarn for various projects. I apparently really like kelly green Vanna yarn because I counted fifteen (15!!!!1) skeins in the closet, so I would just like say WTF about that. And also: ugh.

Anyway, I also finished a pair of socks, like, a month ago. Six weeks ago even.

Another pair of Lacunae Socks from Anne Hanson/Knitspot. I really love this pattern. I think it might be my new “Monkey” or vanilla-type sock. Quick, easy, interesting and super comfortable.

Next time: I’ve been obsessively crocheting snowflakes for a Christmas themed decoration that I am planning on affixing to my ceiling. Good times at my house.

September 29, 2009June 24, 2010

Hatapalooza 2009, an Epilogue

And so, we come to the end of my crazy hat making. I really have no particular desire to knit any more hats any time soon, though I did promise Sam I would knit him a hat in Redskins colors for his birthday. I will have to suck up the courage and fortitude in order to knit a boring man hat. I know the recipient will like it when it’s done, however… meh. Though, I do think I already have the yarn in my stash somewhere, so I don’t have to run around looking for it in a store. I am tempted to do some sort of colorwork on it to keep my attention. I wonder if there are any sort of terrible Indian motifs I could use? Haha! Well, they ARE the Redskins…

Anyway, so here is the hat I knit Stefanie at work. She paid me for it in February and I only just finished it, but she was cool with the delay and had a great reaction to finally receiving it. There were squeals of joy, so I have my suspicions that she liked it. I am hoping to get a picture of her wearing it at some point. But here are some pictures of the hat, which I designed to have cables going up the earflaps and in the front.

It’s super cute, if I say so myself. One of the things that I did differently for this hat was I tried out using applied I-cord for the edging. I’d never done it before, and it worked out just as I’d hoped – it smoothed out the rough edges and even flattened the stockinette areas of the earflaps which were popping out funny.

The color is very wrong in all the photos I took. It’s actually a deep periwinkle blue in worsted weight Malabrigo. Mmm, Malabrigo.

I must confess, I did buy some awesome brown Dream in Color Classy to make myself a similar hat with cabling and flaps but I have lost the will to knit hats at the moment. So, we’ll see.

Meanwhile, I finished my Lacunae Socks I knit out of Miss Babs sock yarn in the Terracopper colorway. I love Lacunae socks (a knitspot/Anne Hanson pattern) and I think they may be my go-to “vanilla” socks, since they’re mostly ribbing. I still have to take a picture of those, though.

September 9, 2009June 24, 2010

Hatapalooza 2009

I must be out of my mind. I haven’t whipped out this many hats in years, since I first started knitting. I got SO tired of them. And yet, in five days, here we are:

From left to right we have Swell, #14 Blossom Hat, and Koolhaas.

I started off with the Blossom Hat, which can be found in the latest issue of Vogue Knitting (Fall 2009). It’s a Norah Gaughan design, and it is great. The only things I changed about were that I knit it in the round, and the ribbing is 3 inches, not 4.

It’s knit from the top down and hides these fun bobbles at the top. I like the structure of it a lot.

Next up is Koolhaas, which according to Ravelry has been knit approximately 3500 times. I can see why: it’s awesome.

The texture is just fabulous. I should have knitted it a smidge longer, though. As it is, I knit it to exact specs for the ladies version. Probably should have fudged it a bit between the ladies and mens version, ie about half a pattern repeat longer. However, no big deal as it is totally wearable, and I probably can block it to the size I want.

Then, I had a ton of the yarn left over (Dream in Color Classy in Blue Lagoon and Spring Tickle) so I went wild and knit the following in a single day because I AM CRAZY:

Swell, from Knitty. It’s a good little pattern that I didn’t follow exactly to specs. Left off the purled peace signs on the earflaps (ugh, I hate peace signs), knit the whole thing a bit longer before decreasing, and did two rows of single crochet around the edge to help flatten everything out.

Anyway, I had never used the Classy before, but I had used Smooshy for various things. LOVE IT. LOVE IT MORE THAN SMOOSHY. I got three hats out of 2 skeins, and STILL have more – could probably get another hat out of what’s left, though to be honest, I am sick of the colors at this point! hahaha. Still, I think it will become my go-to hat yarn, because it is THAT AWESOME. As soon as I have more money (as if) I am going to get another skein in a pink or red for something else.

The other thing that is crazy is that there is almost another done hat to behold. Needs earflap ties and a healthy blocking, then will be done. It’s a Malabrigo cabled hat. SORRY MALABRIGO WORSTED, YOU HAVE BEEN SUPPLANTED BY DiC CLASSY IN MY HEART. I know, right? Who woulda thunk. I still have a bunch of Malabrigo to knit up too. I think I will be knitting a Zimmermann Ganomy hat out of some Mal in that awesome red candle wax color. I have one going in a purple/green colorway, but I can’t friggin find it – looked everywhere, but it seems to be a casualty of the move. It’ll turn up, I know it will, but MAN, that’s annoying.

I still love Malabrigo sock the most.