Feels good

... to actually finish something!



A very gnome-like hat
Pattern: Pointy Elf Hat from More Last-minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Merino in Pop Rocks, 1 skein held double
Needles: U.S. 10.5
Mods: Check out my Ravelry project page



He chose the yarn months ago and was delighted to finally see it again. Now he wants me to knit one for his dad, but in green. I'm worried, though, that my husband's stubbly shaved head would have a Velcro-like effect on a knitted hat!

In other news, I've entered the whopping 210 yards I've used this year into the KnitMeter on my Ravelry profile page and am feeling a strange sense of accomplishment. Perhaps if I had a yarn-buying meter to keep track of all the yarn I've bought lately, I wouldn't be feeling so satisfied ...

Dig if you will

Honestly. The only thing preventing me from posting sometime within the past month and a half (well, not the only thing, but the thing that it really comes down to) has been the lack of visual accompaniment to go along with these words. I can't find the battery charger for either of my stupid cameras!

I've got a pretty OK camera in my smartphone, but you've gotta do some finessing for things to come out all right, and I'm just not patient enough to sit down with the manual and figure it out. So it's just pretty OK photos from now on, I guess.

Well, KAL-ing and yarn buying are in full effect. It seems I'm not holding back in 2012, which is kind of invigorating. I'm in no less than 4, count 'em, 4 KALs (though I'm not starting anything new for the Doubleknit podcast Finish, Frog and Slog-along), and I've cast on for a few other projects. Holy jesus (as my 5-year-old says, unfortunately, as he tries to copy my inappropriate exclamations), I'm out of control!

I've got an action-packed knitting repertoire lately (KALs, yarn buying, club joining, knitterly trip planning, etc.), so I'll ease into this, my return to posting.

Some beautiful Woolen Rabbit Opulence in Birch Beer. I love Ravelry destashes.



Aaaahhhhh. Some kind of shawl or scarf, of course.

Why do I do this to myself?

So things are not looking so great for the Fingerless Mitts Blowout 2011 Edition. It's 10 days until the Big Day and I've got 2 pairs done. (I have an extended family of about 20 people here in town, and they all have 2 hands each.)

What I've got done is pretty, though.



Pattern: One Cable Mitts
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes in a burnt orange, 1 skein
Needles: U.S. size 7
Mods: I shortened the thumb by a few rounds. I used Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off (after being reminded that I know this, while listening to the A Playful Day podcast -- thanks!) for the top and the thumb.

My aunt has already claimed these. Yay, a willing and appreciative recipient!



Shiny!

Pattern: Cozy thermal mitts
Yarn: Spud and Chloe Sweater in Moonlight, about .75 of a skein
Needles: U.S. size 4 (gosh I'm a crazy-loose knitter)
Mods: Jeny's bind-off on the tops. Shortened the thumb a bit.

Very nice and cozy, and I like the texture. Up next, a return to the Toast fingerless mitts of Knitmas past. And this Miss Babs Yowza in Merlot Shadows. Yowza indeed! Just beautiful.

A modeled FO!

Pattern: Kid's Vest from More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts
Yarn: Spud & Chloe Sweater in Moonlight, I think, 1.25 skeins
Size: Small (18-24 months)
Needles: US sizes 7 and 9
Mods: No duplicate-stitch initial, yet ...

I don't know why I shied away from baby/kid knits. Well, I do, actually: Kids grow fast. I knit slow. But, baby knits in worsted-weight? They practically knit themselves!



My younger son's first birthday was the other day and I didn't have enough time to do the duplicate-stitch initial on the chest. Part of the problem was I didn't have a similar-weight yarn in a good color to do the initial. Maybe I'll do it someday.

It was a quick and enjoyable knit. I see many more baby knits (worsted weight) in my future.

Some yarn action shots:







Up next: Finishing his cousin's birthday dress and knitting hand warmers/mitts for anyone and everyone.

(Thanks)Giving

I've wanted to return to the blog several times in the past few months, but either I was too busy or too sick or too uninspired to write. I had some pics to share and stuff to talk about about VKL, but then it seemed too long ago to remember the details really well. Someday, when I find my camera and can get all the photos where I'm smiling cheesily next to the stars of the knitting world, I'll do a post about it.

Along with being too busy or too sick or too uninspired, I haven't gotten a lot of knitting done. But something happened, something unusual, to give me a kick in the pants to get back on the knitting horse: knitting gifts for others.

Usually doing this is a pain and half the time I don't end up finishing anyway, or I get too shy and think the recipient won't like it and end up stuffing it in a drawer. This time, I'm determined to make some really nice, smaller projects. Once those are done, I can return to my regularly scheduled selfish knitting.

1) Anouk

My DS No. 2 was born on the same day as his girl cousin. They're about to celebrate their first birthdays together, so I wanted to make something special for both of them. For the niece, Anouk.



I've had this yarn since, oh, 2006 , or was it 2005? It's the suggested yarn, Cascade Pima Tencel, and it's soooo soft. However, the yarn does tend to get a fuzzy halo around it -- not pilling exactly, but looks like it has some slight wear. Because I wanted to make a larger size than the one I originally had planned on, I ordered more yarn and, can you believe it, the dye lots are still right on! Way to go, Cascade!

I decided to knit it in the round since I had less than 2 weeks to finish, and I'm glad I did. I've gotten pretty far in only a few days, and hope to have it finished this weekend.

2)Vest from More Last-minute Knitted Gifts

I again went with the suggested yarn and am finally getting to try Spud & Chloe Sweater. It feels wonderfully sproingy despite the cotten content, and I'm so happy that it's superwash! Also, it won't roast my little man alive when he wears it for his birthday party.



3)Some mitts for Mum

The other day I was at my parents' house and noticed a pair of fingerless mitts I made for my mother during the Fingerless Mitts Blowout of 2008. They were made in some super bulky Alpaca With a Twist and they had a hole in the palm. A hole! A sign of wear! She actually wears them every day, on her morning walks. I was so jazzed to see someone regularly using my handknits (even I don't use my knits that much) I decided to knit her a new pair, maybe even several. Heck, handwarmers for everyone -- looks like it's gonna be another Fingerless Mitts Blowout!

That's the way the cookie ...

This little pile is what I've been able to accomplish so far before jetting off to Vogue Knitting Live in LA next week: two just-started Cookie A socks (Twisted Flower in pink Malabrigo, In and Out in pale blue-grey Squoosh) and a VKL app downloaded to the iTouch.

I had hoped to be further along (OK, I had hoped to finish at least one of the pairs before the trip; do you think that's gonna be possible? You can stop laughing, I really thought I could do it) because, supposedly, I'll be sitting at the designer's table for some overpriced gala meal (it was part of the package I got, I don't generally go for gala dinners with intimidatingly creative designers). I figured I should have at least one of this talented designer's patterns under my belt before I have to sit awkwardly with her and a few other people I don't know and pick at my salad. I mean, what would I say to her? "Oh, I'm such an admirer of your designs! I've had a half-finished Baudelaire on the needles for the past 3 years ..."

I can't seem to get gauge for Aidez and I'm too brain-dead these days to figure it out. But I think once it's started, it'll be a quick knit. Soon, soon.

OK, back to planning the trip ...

Trying

So there will be no (good) photos of my finished Cria today, as you can see by this wonderful self-shot beauty. Also, I haven't blocked it yet, probably because I don't really know how to block, since I admittedly don't finish many of my projects. Kind of pathetic, I know. Anyway, sometime soon you will get to see my second finished sweater, ever.

After what seemed like years of stockinette with only a tiny bit of garter for a treat(!) with the darn Cria, I decided now was the time for me to do something super-cabley. Like, right now.

I was trying to hold out until Vogue Knitting Live to buy the yarn for Aidez, but I wasn't doing well with the prospect of waiting a month. I was jonesing for cables, so I started looking.

Now, somehow I got the idea that I wanted Aidez to be in an obscenely squishy yarn, in a watery blue-green color. Not seafoam green, like from your box of Crayolas. A truly watery, milky blue-green like vintage jadeite glassware.

Strangely enough, the closest I came to finding the color I wanted online was from KnitPicks, their bulky Cadena.

Then I had to wait for the yarn to arrive. Ugh. The urge to cable hadn't abated, so when I saw an ad for the lovely Milkweed Capelet (I know, a capelet? Because it's so me), I jumped to cast on.



And again color dictated my yarn choice. This is some old, old Queensland Collection Llama Seta (80 alpaca, 20 silk) in a nice lavender. Mmmm, squishy.

OK, that took care of the cable jitters. But what about that bandwagon I was going to jump on last week, the Beekeeper's Quilt? Consider that bandwagon jumped.


Two teeny pinkish-purple and pinkish-orange hexipuffs

They are fun and luxuriously mindless. Expect an FO post here in 10 years.

Oh look, the Cadena is here!


Sagebrush. Mind you, it doesn't look this minty in real life. It strikes a really nice balance between minty green and pale blue with a tinge of gray-yellow. Ha, who would have thought I'd wax poetic about a KnitPicks colorway (not that there's anything wrong with that ...)?

Time to cast on for Aidez at long last.