Stash Shrug

I've had this Rowan linen Print yarn in the stash for a while and never really saw a pattern I wanted to make  with it. Then I saw the Shrug pattern by Bonnie Jacobs. However I did not have enough yarn to do it without mods. In addition, the Rowan was bulkier than the yarn called for. So, this is heavily modified.

Yarn: Rowan linen print
Mods:

•  Size 8 needles for cuffs and 10’s for sleeves/body. 
•  Did increase on rows 1 AND 3 of the the 5 row repeat (instead of just row 1) 
•  Did a garter border on the body to prevent stockinette roll  (not enough yarn to knit on                  border after). Thus sleeves are shorter and more dolman-like

Piccies!

Happy knitting!

Palate Cleansing

So, in an effort to change things up a bit, I decided to knit a cat toy. Also, the cats seem to have 'lost' all their knit toys. Elvis in particular likes knit toys, so I thought I would whip a new one up.

Pattern: Vicki's Whale Cat Toy

Yarn: Paton's Classic Wool

Needles: size 7 US

Elvis approved!

Ciao

Cleaning Up

Yup, another one!

This time in Bernat's Handicrafter cotton stripes. I rather like the way the stripes worked out.

Ciao

More Cleaning Stuff

Another dishcloth for your pleasure, this one knit up VERY fast, 1 day it took me.

It's the Knitted Lacy Round Cloth, this one took pretty much an entire skein of Bernat multicolour. I have approx 2 yards left. I like this pattern and think I will be making more of these. They will make cute little presents for my giftmas box.

Ciao

Cleaning Up

I have to reblock the hat, I got the edge wrong when I blocked it the first time. D'oh! So, here is my next little project, already done!

It's the Double Bump Dishcloth in Bernat Stripes. Quick easy knit.

ciao

Mittens!

After the ice storm we had, I decided I really needed to finish my mittens. My gloves got soaked and I wanted a warm dry pair to change into and I didn't have them. The horror. Therefore:

Pattern: Brier Twist

Yarn: Paton's Classic

Mods: Made cuff longer

I've been wearing them for a couple of days now. I think I would cast on a few fewer stitches across the palm of the flip top part if I made it again. They are a little big on me. I would also make the ribbing on the bottom part of the flip top (ie the part that is stationary) a bit longer.

Overall, the pattern is good, very easy to follow. I would suggest that you put a lifeline in on the last row of pattern before you do the ribbing so that it is easier to pick up the 20 stitches for the flip top part.

Ciao!

Chug Chug Chug.....

Not much exciting happened on the knitting front over the last little while Chez Knot. Still working on the hub's stockinette hat. I picked up the provisional cast on and am knitting the second hat. In stockinette. So it is a lot of knitting in grey fingering weight yarn. Did I mention it is stockinette? Round and round and round and round.

If you are interested, a couple of progress pics:

See? Boring. You can kind of see where the provisional cast on was if you look closely. Not that that is a problem as that is the edge of where the inside hat meets the outside hat...

Who knows, that may even disappear after blocking. At any rate, it is good tv knitting. Sadly in December I had very little time to sit in front of the tv. Hence how loooooong this project is taking. Did I say that it was stockinette? In fingering weight grey yarn?

All right, I guess I should go knit on it some more.....

Ciao

Cat Photobombed my Knitting

Or some such. I set down the hat I am knitting for my hubby as today is Get All The Things Done Day. I went back to pick it up to do a few more stitches while waiting for the laundry to dry. And found this:

Normally Elvis licks wool and felts it. For some reason this yarn was deemed worthy of sleeping on without correction as to texture. (red arrow points to knitting in question)

I am approx 8.5 inches into the hat. No point in posting another picture of the WIP as it is a boring stockinette hat. I guess I should thank Elvis for giving me a photo op?

Ciao

Hat Knitting

My mittens are on hold. Hubby asked specifically for a hat. A very particular hat. So we went to the yarn store and he picked out the yarn:

At least it isn't black yarn!

I had to do some digging around to figure out how to get what he wanted. Specifically, an all-stockinette hat. With an edge that doesn't roll. I opted to go with a reversible hat design. Basically, you do a provisional cast on, knit one hat, then undo the provisional cast on, knit another hat from those stitches and then push the one hat into the other hat.

All in fingering weight yarn. Yah, it's taking a while. Although it is good tv knitting.

The provisional cast on was a pain. I didn't want to do the crochet chain one. I've done it before and detested undoing the chain. So I did a looped provisional cast on. The fist time I thought I'd be smart and do it onto a circular needle so I wouldn't have to pick up stitches. That just made the whole cast on waaaaaay too tight. So I did it with waste yarn. (the blue yarn above). In retrospect, maybe if I had tried it with a longer circular it would have worked. Either way, it's cast on.

Knitted Mittens for Me!

I decided I needed new mittens for me. After perusing various patterns, I decided on Brier Twist as it is a flip-top mitten which will come in handy. (Handy. Get it? heh heh. I crack me up)

The first one is almost done. Thumb not finished , ends not woven in and there is something funky going on where the one side of the flip top meets the mitten. However I am confident that I can fix all that. Want to see a picture of my not quite finished mitt? Of course you do. You are a knitter! (I suspect. However if you are just popping by for the hell of it, welcome!)

Same mitten, flipped open:

The cuff is a bit longer than the pattern calls for, I wanted it that way, I hate scraping ice on the car and getting cold bits on my delicate skin.

This is just the first one. I still have to cast on the second! SMS anyone? (second mitten syndrome. related to Second Sock syndrome)

Ciao

Fast Christmas Knit

This was a VERY fast Christmas knit. 6 days start to finish.

Pattern: Spiral Knit Tube Sock

Yarn: Bernat Satin Solids

As the pattern name says, it is a tube sock, no heel to turn. Thus it is good tv knitting. Since the pattern calls for worsted weight yarn, it is a pretty substantial sock. I am planning on giving this pair to a friend of mine as "Slipper Socks". I am also thinking I may make myself a pair too.

The hubby said they 'look fancy' so I think I'm safe in saying that simplicity does not detract form the pretty.

Ciao

Christmas Knitting

Almost done the Christmas knitting! last dishtowel:

pattern:Chinese Waves Dishcloth

Only instead of a dishcloth, I made it bigger for a small towel.

One more Christmas knit to go!

Ciao

Knitting and Yarn!

Still knitting here. This is for the Giftmas box:

Another cotton dishtowel. Just plain stockinette with a garter edge.

And now for another taste of Italian yarn!

This yarn is microfibre. It is sooooooo soft! And nubbly, as you may guess from looking at it. I was thinking maybe a slouchy hat and an infinity scarf.

Ciao

Colourwork-I'm Going In

I saw this on the Yarn Harlot's blog and loved it. So I went to Ravelry and looked at all the lovely projects people made. I thought to myself, "I haven't really done colourwork, this looks intriguing". Then I went stash diving and found some yarn that would work! (shocking, I know). Clearly the Fates were with me. Then I swatched. (another shock, I'm sure). The pattern is Catkin by Carina Spencer.


I'm glad I did swatch, as a couple of the stitches are different. Also, there are spots on the chart where the symbol(s) go over 3 or more stitches. Took a few minutes for my brain to realize that I wasn't looking for ONE symbol on the legend, I was looking for 2 or 3 grouped together. Otherwise it went pretty smoothly.

Colourwork ahoy!

Lazy Katy Tuch/Shawl is Done

This was a pretty quick knit. It took me awhile only because I was working madly on the Ice Cream Blanket.

Project Details:

Pattern: Lazy Katy Tuch/Shawl
Yarn: Smooshy by Dream in Colr
Colourway: Lipstick Lava
Yardage required: 301 yards
Final size: 54" x 22"at the longest widest point







This is really more of a scarf than a shawl. The unusual shape makes it hard to drape over the shoulders effectively.

At Long Last

The lighting was horrendous today, I will try for better pics another day, but I am too excited to hold out! Ta DA!!!!!!

And a closer up:



And even a pic of the back for those of you who like to look at the finishing on things (and the heavens know there was A LOT of finishing involved in this project):




DONE. Whew, that was more work than I want to contemplate doing any time soon.......

Continuing On

The seaming is complete! Whew. Here's proof:



Um, yeah, Elvis decided this would be a good spot.....

Edit: this isn't finished yet! Still working on the border...

Not so much knitting as....

seaming! and seaming and seaming...it never seems to end! But I have gotten thus far:

Lazy Katy Progress

I am currently working on a Lazy Katy shawlette/scarf. This is Smooshy sock yarn.

It doesn't look like much right now. I just started the first row on the lacy border and realized about 1/3 of hte way in that I started on the wrong side of the chart. headdesk
So I will have to tink back a bit and try that again....

Next up!

I am on a shawl roll. I keep seeing lovely ones that NEED to be made. The next one is the LazyKaty.

Ciao