Planning for the holidays

The last little while hasn't been devoid of crafting, though I've been pretty slow with things. I have some fun DIY stuff that I've been doing, but I can't post it here just yet because they're Christmas gifts that I'm planning to give away.

I do have a couple things that I've been working on gift-wise that I CAN post about here. The first is a Citron that I've just set out to block tonight.

It's made out of Dream in Color Starry, in the colour In Vino Veritas. This was a great subway knit since it doesn't take a whole lot of brain power. I was a little surprised how much bigger it got after blocking.


Another thing I've been working on is improving my crochet skills. I'm currently working on a doggy amigurumi toy pattern called Buffy.

As you can see, I'm not exactly done yet, but I've been having a lot of fun with it. Since it's a toy, I just picked up some acrylic worsted weight at Michaels. Cheap and cheerful. I've finished all the limbs, and am working on the body now.

In other news, I've discovered Pintrest recently, and have been having lots of fun with it. Mostly, I've been using it to keep track of recipes I'd like to try, DIY projects, and some helpful hints for organizing and/or cleaning the house. Very domestic, I know. Still, I've learned a bunch of nice little tricks that have come in handy leading up to the holiday season.

Hope you're all doing well!

Almost there!

I've finally finished putting all the squares together for my friend's blanket. Now, that doesn't mean it's done, not by a long shot. One look at the photos will tell you why.



See all those ends that I need to weave in? Yeah...there's a whole lotta them. Plus there's a dark blue border that's supposed to go around the whole thing. But good lord, the ends that need weaving in...It's my least favourite part of completing a project, so I'm really hoping that I don't procrastinate too much on it. I'm setting myself a goal to weave in 3 ends every day, so hopefully it won't take too long.

I've started a new project too: the Five-Way Cable Shrug by Lily Chin. I've decided to make it using some Malabrigo that I've had stashed originally intending to knit myself a February Lady sweater with it. I've obviously changed my mind about the sweater, and think that the shrug will be a nice versatile piece that will be great in the transition from winter to spring. I think I may even have enough yarn left over to make a hat, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see!

Yes, still alive

I'm sorry, I've been a seriously delinquent blogger, I haven't touched this space for ages! I don't even have any good excuses, such as being too busy travelling to exciting places, or making a whole new person. Ugh. I think the problem is that my knitting doesn't excite me so much anymore, so I'm not motivated to take pictures of it, and if I don't take pictures, then I also don't update Ravelry until much later, and I don't blog about it either. It's not that I don't enjoy the knitting, it's more that I'm not in awe of the finished objects anymore because it's very much been there, done that. I really don't feel the need to discuss every single pair of toe-up stockinette socks I knit, you know?

In any case, until I figure out what to do about that, here's a roundup of some of the things I've knit over the past little while:

Green Gable (on Ravelry)

Pile-able Pups (on Ravelry)

Poppy (on Ravelry)

(Yay, the sleeves more or less match! As do both sides of the front! I don't think I'll be knitting another sweater out of Silk Garden anytime soon, worrying about getting the matching to work took too much out of me)

Citron (on Ravelry)

Katrina Rib (on Ravelry)

I'm happy that I'm now able to knit sweaters for myself that more or less fit. I don't think that I have a sweater FO that I'm 100% delighted with, but everyone who knows me well will probably say that that's pretty much an impossible endeavour. It's enough that I'm at least willing to wear them out in public! My next sweater goal is to tackle a fingering-weight sweater, maybe a Featherweight Cardigan?

And now I'll probably have to elapse back into blog silence, because I have to get a start on my Christmas knitting. Who knows though, maybe I'll manage to sneak a little something in there for myself, too.

Fiddleheads!

Happy New Year! I have a bunch of things to post about. I'll start with my sister's Christmas present, these awesome Fiddlehead mittens (Rav link).



I bought the yarn for these (Reynolds Whiskey, it's a gorgeous yarn and I definitely want to use it again for a sweater someday) way back in the spring, during WEBS' big anniversary sale. I ended up knitting 4 mittens, because I wanted a pair for myself too!



The lining is knit out of Kidsilk Night/Spray, with two strands held together. The mohair in the Kidsilk plus the stranded wool means that these mittens should serve to keep our hands warm(ish) during the chilly Montreal/Chicago winters.



I'm not quite finished with my own pair yet, but my goal is to finish knitting the linings in the next week or two, because it sure is getting cold out there!

Fabulous. Absolutely.

Yay! I finally finished knitting my mother's Absolutely Fabulous Throw, after 10 months of knitting. I started this beast way back in January, made fairly good progress on it during the winter, then put it away once the weather started warming up. Then some chilly weather descended upon us in October, so out came the blanket again. And now it's done at last!



This is Colinette's Absolutely Fabulous Throw in the Antique colourway. I was under the impression that they stopped selling these in the U.S. a while back, and started selling other (similar) throw kits, but I think I've still seen some of these kits around so I don't really know what's happening.



After having experienced this finished product I dearly want one of these for myself, but I'm not sure I could bring myself to do all that knitting again. It's the mohair (3 different colourways) that really got to me. As well as the Fandango (chenille, ugh).



All that mohair makes this a very very warm blanket, though. Almost as good as having a purring kitty sitting on your lap.



My mom and I bought this kit together, so it's not exactly a surprise present. I hope she uses it, especially since it's basically the most awesome blanket ever.

Manly enough?

I have a deep and abiding love for Noro Silk Garden. In fact, a significant portion of my stash (almost a quarter of it) consists of Silk Garden. I usually only buy it when it's on sale or from eBay, since my budget wouldn't be able to handle buying much of it at full price. Over the past couple of years, I've managed to acquire a few skeins in darker colourways, colourways that fall far outside my usual palette of bright and pretty colours.



Not that I don't like the darker colours, they're just not the first things I'd reach for.



So what to do with these orphan non-girly skeins? How about a manly Noro Striped Scarf?



The only man in my life worth knitting for at present is of course my dad, so I'm thinking that this might make a nice Christmas present for him. The thing is, there are a couple of less-manly sections in the scarf, such as the one right here with the pink and green.



Looking at the scarf as a whole, I think it's plenty manly enough, and it's received positive reviews from at least one man (my coworker who was in the car with me when I finished the scarf on the way home from a conference). I'm posting these photos mostly for the benefit of my mom and sister, who get final say over whether the scarf can be gifted. What do you think?



(This scarf used 2 skeins of colourway 86, 1 skein of 82, and 1 skein of 88)

Colourful FOs

I've been doing some finishing lately. First of all my basketweave scarf knit out of a Sophie's Toes Magic Ball, in all sorts of pretty pastel colourways.



Then the Tulip Baby Cardigan from Dream in Color, knit from a kit purchased at Lettuce Knit last Christmas.



(the sleeveless cardigan-in-progress fit her much better. Maybe I'll have to make her a little Dream in Color vest!)

And there are even more colourful knits on the horizon. When WEBS was having its anniversary sale, I bought a bunch of Reynolds Whiskey for Fiddlehead Mittens.



I also got some bright Plymouth Encore for a Circle of Friends blanket from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.



I'm very glad that there are so many ways for me to indulge my love of all things rainbow. =)

Not intended for the "shrine of precious yarns"

I've been knitting dishcloths. Cotton dishcloths, in bright hot colours.



These dishcloths are not ultimately for me (ballband dishcloths from Mason-Dixon Knitting, using Sugar'n Cream cotton), but they got me thinking about "precious" yarns and knits that are "too good" to use. I've developed this pattern with my knitting -- I'll knit something that I absolutely love, wear it proudly for some time, then I'll put it away and start having thoughts like "well, now I can't wear it too much, because then it will get worn and old and it won't be pretty anymore". And then it just sits there in its plastic bin to be periodically admired, but not taken out into the world where it might, heaven forbid, get dirty or ragged.

Even worse, I have handknit socks that are just sitting in my drawer unworn, because I like the yarn too much to stuff it into shoes where they will smell like feet and get pilly at the heels. Not to mention all the yarn that I don't want to knit with because it's "too pretty to disturb" or "too discontinued".

All of which is silly, right? I mean, there will always be more nice yarn (the rate at which I buy the stuff definitely attests to that), and as for not wanting to wear out the things that I've actually managed to make, I DO intend to be knitting for a good long while, and absolutely DO intend to make many more scarves/socks/hats/sweaters/whatever. By no means do I intend my current knits to be the pinnacle of my knitterly achievements.



I guess it all stems from my packrat tendencies, which in turn stem from a sense of scarcity that I often tend to feel. I'm always thinking "but what if there's no more? What if this thing I love is the thing that I love the most and always will, and what if I never find anything else to love better ever again?" But the thing is, I've always found more things to get excited about. My favourite yarn/colourway is always changing and evolving. Last year's favourite scarf is not this year's favourite scarf. That thing I thought was the most flattering garment ever looks weird on me now (am I the only one this happens to?). So what am I saving up for, if I'm just going to move onto other things eventually anyway? Why can't I have faith that there are indeed so many better things to come?

(we're talking about yarn here, but obviously this could be applied to other Life Issues, which we won't get into).

So anyway, dishcloths (and boring navel-gazing). Not for me, but perhaps I should knit myself some eventually as an exercise in using-the-handknits-already. Hopefully they will at least brighten up the recipients' kitchens and put a smile on their faces, if nothing else. =)

Big feet in Tiny Toes

More socks! Toe up, plain stockinette foot, short-row heel, garter rib for the leg. The yarn is Interlacements Tiny Toes. Very squooshy and very bright!



I think the garter rib plus the slightly stripey effect of the yarn look really cool together.

Onward!

Best knitty pal EVER!

About a week ago Karen emailed me to ask if she could ship a package to me. She was ordering a little something from Webs, and said that she saw something else that she wanted to send along to me, so could I receive her package for her, take out the surprise, and forward her stuff along to her? Well, when put like that, how could I ever refuse? =P

I was expecting something like a cute set of notions or a funny tape measure or a pretty skein of yarn, so I was COMPLETELY surprised to pull THIS out of the box:



Holy crap, a ball winder!

I have a swift, but have been meaning to get a ball winder for a long time. It's not that I necessarily mind winding all those balls by hand, but it's the rolling around and onto the floor part that gets irritating sometimes. Whenever I've knit from a yarn cake, I always marvel at how it just stays put and doesn't move. So well-behaved!

I immediately set it up and wound some yarn. These are most of the balls from my half-finished Ab Fab Throw (there are two more balls of mohair that I just didn't want to deal with). It took about 5 minutes. Wow, that was fast.



And look, yarn cakes are much easier to balance on kitty heads!



So now I will be tempted to do nothing but wind cakes of yarn, instead of "useful" things like laundry or my taxes (procrastinating much?). I can't believe I went all this time without one of these devices. Thank you so much Karen! You are the very best most super-awesomest of friends. =)

Getting it over with

After months and months of procrastination, I finished Greg's socks. These were originally intended as a Christmas gift, but after finishing the pair for my mom and dad, I just ran out of steam. So, we gave my brother some DVDs, and I promised him socks at a later date. So here they are. Finally.


Now on to more fun things...

Pretty....

Colinette Absolutely Fabulous throw in the Antique (#11) colourway, halfway done. Being knit at a rate of 8 rows per hour. Approximately 12 hours left to knit, not including fringing (I'm usually not a huge fan of fringe, but I think it is definitely called for in this case). That's a lot of Law and Order reruns!



I'm really liking this knit so far. Some of the yarns are a bit fiddly to work with, and I've managed to mess up the pattern already (I added in some extra rows to compensate), but you can't tell at all and the final product will be very cuddly and soft and warm.

This is a present for my mom, I can't recall which occasion (birthday? Christmas?) it's supposed to be for. At any rate, it will get done this year. =)

Torture

Doesn't Sophie look like she wants to kick my ass here? Poor kitty, being tortured with the yarn all the time.



Knitting this Colinette Ab Fab throw is also torture, in its own way. Lots of mohair, lots of p2tog, lots of purling back across rows, lots of switching yarns. Each row takes forever, even though this is being knit on ginormous needles. It's pretty, though. I figured I should try to make as much progress on this as possible before the weather starts getting warmer (which probably means I should have a good 3 months).

Heh, I'm complaining a lot about my knitting these days, aren't I? Or maybe it's just the mohair. =)

Very Predictable

Ever since I learned how to knit, I've knit my dad winter accessories for Christmas. Usually a scarf, sometimes with an accompanying hat. And this year is no different.



This is a modified Irish Hiking Scarf (2 cables instead of 3), knit out of some pretty brown Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Chunky, which has been sadly discontinued. I was originally planning to knit both a scarf and a hat, but I miscalculated when I bought the yarn (and since it's discontinued, it's not like I could easily find more) so he's just getting a slightly longer scarf. Ah well.

Maybe next year I can come up with something different. One can only have so many brown/gray/black scarves, right? =)

Socks for Greg

DSC01375
Originally uploaded by hweishien

So, I've started the socks for Greg, and while they're progressing, I'm finding that I'm getting sick of knitting socks now. I mean, this would be my third consecutive pair! I'm thinking of telling my bro "Sorry, but I just wasn't able to finish your socks in time." I think I just need something different for now. I'm really not feeling motivated to finish these. And besides, I think they might be a little too big for his foot. I'll have him try them on when I see him. I might actually have to frog the whole thing anyway.

Snow day!

Today was spent indoors since the weather outside made it very undesirable to venture outside. Long periods of time spent indoors = knitting, and that allowed me to finish the socks for my mom, and start the ones for my brother.


I didn't take a photo of the ones for my brother yet. They aren't at a very interesting stage yet :D

One for me, one for you...

And Karen totally fails at stash busting.

Today, the fabulous Adrienne and I met up at Lettuce Knit and had a fabulous time playing with all sorts of beautiful, beautiful yarn. Have I ever mentioned how much I love that store?

Here's what I came home with in terms of yarn:

Believe it or not, I've got projects pegged for all of that. Two of them will be gifts, and two of them will be for me. The green Dream in Colour (Spring Tickle) is slated to become socks for my brother. The dark brown is going to be yet another Baby Bobbi Bear. The blue Malbrigo is going to become a Koolhaus hat (bought the Holiday Knits issue with that pattern too), and the Socks That Rock (in Jasper) is probably going to be a Swallowtail shawl.

Once home, I tried to split the green into two even balls so I could do that 'knit two socks at the same time' trick again. And I fail.

Oh well. I'm sure I'll be able to fix it when I get closer to finishing the socks.

Main Street Fair Isle!

The Main Street Fair Isle is done! Hooray! Cue the trumpets and release the confetti!

This sweater, while not a difficult knit at all, was a relative pain in the ass. I've documented the gauge issues with the sleeve here and then with the body here and here, and then I was worried that the fair isle part would come out too tight. The last time I blogged about this sweater I hadn't knit the neckline yet, it was to be a relatively painless K1P1 rib, no problem right? I originally knit the neckline as directed using the US8s that I used for the body, I figured that since I had done a whole bunch of decreasing just after the colourwork that the neckline probably wouldn't be too loose.

WRONG. In actuality it turned out all floppy and faintly resembled a pathetic turtleneck, totally unacceptable (sorry, no photo!). So it was ripped and reknit on US6 needles by my mom, who knits way tighter than I do and probably gave herself hand cramps trying to be as tight as possible. Several attempts were made at a tubular K1P1 bindoff but they all turned out horribly due to the soft and yielding nature of the yarn (mostly alpaca). So we had to resort to a regular bindoff which my mom has previously characterized in the past as being ugly.

I think it looks ok.



Overall, this sweater required a lot of reknitting. But the final result fits! And the recipient is happy!



Of course, not one to waste yarn, she promptly cast on for a ribbed scarf to use up all the leftovers:



I should have taken a photo of all the scary ends that had to be woven in.

This sweater was the 4th sweater project that I've embarked on, the 3rd sweater that I've actually finished, and probably the only one that will get any regular wear (and not by me!). Maybe I'm getting a bit better at this whole sweater thing, I've certainly been learning about how different sorts of yarns translate into actual knitted garments (I haven't always made the best choices), and it's gratifying to look at the final product and think "hey, I made this whole thing!", but I still don't think I'm really into knitting sweaters. Then again, a girl can only have so many scarves, and I'm so terribly vanilla with all my sock knitting (oooh, more stockinette, how exciting!), and I've grown to hate buying sweaters in stores because they're all so expensive (ha! irony) and most of them don't fit properly anyway....so maybe there's something to be said about this knitting-sweaters-to-fit-one's-size-and-shape thing. If only I could cultivate the patience.

Final thoughts:
- The pattern was relatively easy, but I felt that some of the numbers for the size that I knit (the smallest one) could have been better. For example, starting a sleeve with 28 stitches at 4-4.5 stitches/inch in 3x1 ribbing ended up being way too tight, so I increased it to 32 stitches. I also have a feeling that I could have done the fair isle on more stitches since it ended up being a smidge tight, but I don't know how much of that comes from my own tension and how much from the pattern itself.
- The yarn (Valley Yarns Lenox) is very very soft and comfortable, but as a result the sweater doesn't really have much structure. We're ok with this because the sweater was meant to be more for comfort than style, but just something to think about.

A little advice

I need some advice. I've finished the foot part of the socks for my mom. I didn't do anything fancy with this part because I know she hates odd bumps and what not on the foot part of her socks. Here's what it looks like so far.

Not too bad, despite the kinda random striping. I'm going to turn the heel tonight, but after that is what I need some advice on. I remember musing that I might put a cable or something on the side. However, now that I can see the way the colour knits up, I'm not totally sure if I should add that cable on the side or not. In my head, cables look kinda funny if it's not a solid colour, but maybe I'm just not experienced enough with cables (all the cables I've ever done just happen to have been on solid colours).

So, what do you think?? Help, please!!

Oh, and on another (rather random) note, here's a photo of how much yarn I had left over after finishing up my dad's socks.

Is it sad that I take great pleasure in knowing that I used up as much yarn as possible for a project?

Almost FO

Okay. I'm pretty much done the socks for my dad. All I have to do now is to cast off. I haven't done it yet because I'm going to see one of my patient's tomorrow, and his wife wants to see what I meant by knitting two socks at the same time on a set of circular needles.


So there they are. I didn't do a very good job photographing them, and it looks kinda weird all squished up cuz of the ribbing. But I think they're pretty good on the whole. Hopefully they'll fit.

With Dad's socks pretty much done, it was time to start Mom's socks. Finished the toe of yet another set of toe-up socks, and realized that something I feared was starting to happen.

Yes, that is the start of striping. (Insert scream of despair here.) However, I'm continuing to knit the foot section and am finding the colour alternating just about every round. Unfortunately for me, the change isn't happening at the sides, but I guess that means I can put that part as the sole. I'm not sure if the end result of this will be just a jumble of purple, or actual stripes. And who knows if I'll be able to get the other sock to behave the same way. Ugh. I was hoping it wouldn't do the stripe thing.