Oh hello there - I still knit (barely)

Right now my knitting time is pretty compromised, there just isn't enough time every day but I occasionally get to sneak in a row or two. My WIP list is about a mile long. There's an open cardigan (wool) that I had been working on for months. I put it aside to knit a baby blanket for my best friend's new nephew. I finally finished knitting it, several weeks after he was born. It's the Chevron Baby Blanket pattern from Purl Soho and the yarn is Lion Brand Baby (which seems an awful lot like Cotton Ease).

Once that was finished I had fantasies of knitting a summer top. Most of my yarn stash is in storage. I had a particular yarn in mind for this summer top and went to look for it. Imagine my surprise when I found the yarn - halfway knitted - in a summer tank top that I must have started at least two years ago, possibly longer. It's a bottom up tank, the pattern is Lillian, and the yarn is Jo Sharp cotton something. I had to rip out a few rows because evidently I was attempting bust darts and they look like crap. I ain't got time for bust darts, so I ripped out an inch or so and started back again. I have finished the front, but need to whip-stitch the straps together and then there's a whole mess of stitches to pick up for the ribbing.

In the midst of tank top knitting, last Friday I some time to myself and wanted to start something new and squishy and pretty.  I pulled out the Everett cowl pattern I bought last year, as well as some Madelinetosh Vintage in a color called 'Curiosity'. It's a really large cowl, so it will take awhile to knit based on my current rate but it's satisfying to knit something new.

I also haven't had as much time to peruse Ravelry as I used to, but there are some super cute patterns I hope to get around to knitting eventually.

Palmer by Alicia Plummer
Surrounding Tank by Hannah Fettig
Everly Shawl by Mindy Wilkes
Emmanuelle Sweater by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark
Vasa by Dianna Walla

A new fall hat + yarn p*rn

I had been really, really good in not purchasing new yarn for several months. Well, expect for the Magnolia Club, but I don't count that. A few weeks ago I was looking for a skein of yarn to use for backup in case I ran out for what I was using on a shawl I was knitting. When I ordered that I also found a skein of extremely pretty yarn in a very autumnal color. I clicked 'add to basket' and it arrived at my house a few days later. I decided it should be a hat for fall. The yarn is Jill Draper Makes Stuff - Hudson and the color is Cinnamon but I think it reminds me of a persimmon. I bought it at Happy Knits and they have some other really lovely colors. For the pattern I pulled the Molly hat out of my Ravelry queue. So far it's knitting up really quickly and has a super easy pattern, which is great for my addled brain.

 These gorgeous skeins are what I got with this round of the Madelinetosh Magnolia Club.

This first is Tosh Merino Light in Astrid Gray:

 The second is DK Twist in Chapterbook:

And finally, 80/10/10 Fingering in Sand Dunes:

I'm sitting out the next round of the club, the yarn is always beautiful but I'm at maximum capacity for yarn right now. Plus I still have to figure out what I'm going to do with all this pretty stuff!

Mr. Narwhal

Since our baby is going to be born in July or more likely August and I've already knitted a collection of hats, sweaters, and blankets for he/she, I decided to knit a few toys. I love Rebecca Danger's pattern and her Big Book of Monsters, they look hard and really aren't. I knit a monster for my nephew's birthday last fall and loved it so much. I started knitting this gal from the Big Book of Monsters for our little guy or girl, the body is done but it needs legs and arms (have to get on that) and her mouth needs glued on.

 

I also found Rebecca's pattern for Napoleon the Nervous Narwhal and had to knit him. He was super easy to knit and took very little time and yarn. I used some of that Lion Brand Martha Stewart yarn for his body and some leftover Madtosh DK for his tooth. I bought the safety eyes last year from Etsy and they came in a big bag so I have plenty. His tooth support is a chopstick, per Rebecca's instructions. My fins/seaming don't look as nice as they could but I think it's alright. I'm pretty sure though that Mr. Narwhal will be a shelf toy for awhile, at least until the baby learns not to maim himself/herself with the tooth.

New in-progress knitting

I've been project hopping, it happens to me a lot. I get bored working on one thing continuously, which is why I'm usually knitting several things at once.

Right now, I'm working on the Chevron Baby Blanket from PurlBee for our baby's nursery. The colors of the blanket are the same colors we'll be using in the room. It's really gone quickly, I did adjust the pattern by not holding the yarn double, going down a couple of needle sizes, and switching colors every 20 rows. The yarn is Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted Cotton in Poppy, Lemongrass, Sleet, Mediterranean, and True Red . I'm just doing two color repeats so I have around 70 rows to go to finish. I'm slightly concerned about the washing/blocking, I really hope the colors don't run.

I got the itching to use some of my prized Madelinetosh yarn club yarn for a project, which I actually don't have a lot of in sweater quantities. One of my favorites is this Eyre Light in a color called 'Envy'. The color reminds me of a lot of different things - sea colors, forests, mermaids, emeralds. I wanted to use it for something other than a shawl, I was thinking a mini-sweater. I combed through my pattern stash and found the collection of patterns (Breezy Blues from Cecily Glowik MacDonald) that I bought several months ago. She's one of my favorite designers and I have a lot of her patterns queued. I only have 950 yards of the Eyre Light, which sounds like a lot unless you have a 42" inch bust you have to accommodate. Luckily the Drifting pattern has just what I was looking for and I have right amount of yarn for it. I loooove the way the Eyre Light is knitting up, the colors are beautiful and the fabric is producing a nice drape. It's just a lot of stockinette, but I don't mind.   

A sweater for the winter that wasn't

My Jetty sweater is finally finished, blocked and everything. Unfortunately, it's not going to get much wear this year because of this ridiculous 'winter' we're having. The temps around here have barely dropped beyond the mid-50's. We've had several days of 60's and a couple of '70's. In January. And February. Not normal folks, climate change isn't 'junk science', we have something to be concerned about, not matter what your political view is. 

At any rate, despite our lack of winter, I have a perfectly nice worsted wool sweater to show you. The pattern is Jetty from Cecily Glowik MacDonald and the yarn is Quince & Co. Lark in 'Storm'. This sweater is very warm and the yarn softened up a lot once it was blocked. The pattern was very easy and the cable pattern looks intimidating but isn't. It's supposed to be a sweater tunic, longer than your normal sweater. I should have paid better attention and stopped knitting about 3 inches before I actually did because I'm 5"2 and the written tunic length is for someone taller. Still a pattern and a yarn I would recommend.

Finished knits & in-process knit

Here are a few things I finished up before the end of the year but didn't get a chance to photograph until now. 

Heirloom Baby Blanket, knit in Madelinetosh Vintage - colorway "Happiness"

I knit this blanket in September for my friend's baby girl and liked the pattern so much I decided to knit one for my own someday-baby stash. This version is a little larger because I used worsted weight instead of DK and the skeins were a little different color-wise but it still turned out really nicely.

Pebble Baby Vest, knit in Madelinetosh DK - colorway "Forestry"

I knit this up super quickly but it took me ages to sew the buttons on (lazy). I've knit this before too but the first time I messed up the sizing and it was more dress-like than vest-like. But this time it turned out pretty well. This is also for my someday-baby stash. The picture doesn't accurately show the color, it's a beautiful dark green/blue and the buttons are yellow/pale green.

Leaves Long Beanie (from Weekend Hats), knit in Madelinetosh Vintage - colorway "Silver Fox"

Again, a really quick knit (a weekend maybe?) and it was my first time finally managing to work from a chart without writing the instructions out, yay me. I was a little worried a slouchy hat would look weird with my haircut but I think it's looks fine.

And now for the in-process knit...

Jetty Sweater, knit in Quince & Co. Lark - colorway "Storm"

I originally bought this yarn to knit the Castle Pullover (same designer) and I even started knitting it. However I felt like the Jetty sweater might be a little more flattering on me instead. It's gone pretty quickly and I love the cable details. I might have started my decreases/increases a little past the point they needed to be so I have to decide if I want to fix it or keep it. Ugh.

Sweaters for fall

Well, technically I finished this sweater before fall started, but whatever. It's the knit-a-long sweater from my knitting group's summer knit-a-long. The Narragansett pattern from Thea Colman (aka Babycocktails). One of my sleeves is a little longer than the other and the neck is a little wide but overall it was a really good pattern to knit. I like the uniqueness of the cable detail. (also the weird middle stripe is because it's been folded for weeks!)

The second sweater is really a shell/t-shirt and I've been knitting it since August (while knitting other things too). It's the Imogene pattern from Carrie Bostick Hodge at Quince & Co. and the yarn is Tern (75% wool, 25% silk) also from Quince & Co. There's side shaping and I love how the lace pattern looks really complicated but it's not. The sweater is a little wrinkly in these pictures and the garter edging on the sleeves doesn't want to stay down but can be fixed with some more blocking/steaming. There's a whole set of Imogene patterns, a baby shell, a cowl and a blanket too.

I cast on for this sweater in Madelinetosh Merino Light in Mineral. The short rows in the round seem a little complicated to me but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it.

I've also finished two hats and another baby stash item but they need to be blocked, hopefully I'll have pictures next week.

Halloween snapshots

I meant to post about this last week but got distracted....hope you have a Happy Halloween! We'll be passing out chocolate at our abode while watching the original Halloween movie.

Photos from our friends annual Pumpkin Carving Party (it was the tenth one Doug and I have been to!) Our pumpkin was somewhat lame and I forgot to take a picture of it.

Last week I had knit night at my house for Halloween, mainly as an excuse to make Ham Face again. It was so much fun though and the weather was nice enough that we sat on my patio (especially helpful for those allergic to my cats). Plus it was the day after my friend Kenan's birthday so I made her a cake too.

These are apple-almond teeth made by Kenan, completely awesome.

These are some of my decorations from around the house

Knitting updates

Hey look finished knitted items!

Summer Flies, knit in The Sanguine Gryphon Skinny Bugga in 'Stick Insect'. This was an easy/fast pattern and the yarn is dreamy. I skipped the picot edging and just bound off like normal, which still created a ruffle edge. Excuse my smirky face, I couldn't get a picture I was happy with.

Right now I'm knitting the Imogen tee from Quince & Co. in Quince & Co. Tern yarn, 'Kelp' colorway. This yarn is 75% wool and 25% silk, it makes a really nice fabric and it's springy. However, since the yarn and needles are small it's taking a looong time to knit. Well that and I've knit several other things while working on it.

This a monster from Rebecca Danger's The Big Book of Knitted Monsters. It was a gift for my nephew who turned one last week. I used Stitch Nation yarn from Debbie Stoller, the Full O'Sheep version. I ended up left off the leaving off the arms because I couldn't get them to look right (need more practice) and I figured he might pull them off at some point anyway. I still think Mr. Monster is super cute looking, although my nephew wasn't as interested in Mr. Monster as he was the books we bought him.

This was a special gift for my friend Christiana's soon-to-be-born baby girl, it's the Heirloom Blanket knit in Madelinetosh DK, the color is Duchess, a dark purple/almost black. It's not a huge blanket, more like a crib or pram blanket, but it's very sweet looking I think. The second picture is more color-accurate.

In yarn procurement, this is what has come to live in my stash recently:

Madelinetosh Eyre Light in "Folklore" from the Magnolia Society

Madelinetosh 80/10/10 Sport in "Steamer Trunk" from the Magnolia Society

Madelinetosh Vintage in "Happiness" from Knit Happy. It's going to be an Heirloom blanket too, for my someday-baby stash.

 Madelinetosh Prairie in "Lichen" a gift brought back from PDX for me by my friend Lynsey.

 I finished my knit-a-long sweater weeks ago but haven't taken pictures yet. Soon!