Month: January 2016

Pain in the hat

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You know those “easy” patterns that end up being fussy and rather a pain to knit? Well, I’ve just knit one. It’s a baby hat that should have taken much less time than it did. This is the “Rainbow Marley” by Susan B. Anderson, although as you can see, I didn’t use rainbow colors.  I decided to try to use up some pinks and purples from stash. 

        
I also opted out of the funky hat topper thingie, because it was going to take a really long time to knit it, and I’m not sure that it was any cuter than a Pom Pom.

Really, for a baby hat, this was too much effort for something a baby will wear for a short time, and knitting it didn’t make me feel very happy. Back to the Magic Coffee Baby Hat pattern, which is a quickie and I always love the results.

French Toast on the go

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At knit night tonight, I finished the body of my French Toast sweater. The fit is great, but I don’t like that the designer says to do the hem ribbing with the same needles as the body. Usually it’s done with smaller needles, but I trusted her explanation on Ravelry. It looks too big and sloppy, so I’ll reknit it with smaller needles later. For now, I’ve got a good start on the first sleeve!

   

Close!

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My French Toast pullover is nearly at the requisite 13″ at which I can start the hem ribbing. I’ll have to try it on before starting the ribbing, though, because it looks like this sweater tends to be short and I really don’t want a short sweater. 

  
Question time! Does anyone else have this issue I have when moving from stockinette to a cable panel which begins with a couple of purled stitches? 

  
(Keep in mind that this is being knit top down, so the right side up photo is the opposite of how its knit.)

So when I move from stockinette to purling (then cable), I have giant ladders that form. From purl to knit no problem. I’ve tried ignoring it, tightening up the stitches involved, tightening up the previous/latter stitches, all with the same resulting uneven cable panel. If I were knitting flat, it would even out on the wrong side, but this is in the round so that’s not an option. Any ideas on how to fix or better yet, avoid this?

Sweater progress, and socks-to-be

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A sweater in DK yarn can go quickly, and because the pattern I’m using is so simple, this French Toast pullover is flying! Progress as of five minutes ago:

  I’m about 11 rows from the ribbed hem, then on to the sleeves and neckline.
The fit is good- not too tight, not too loose, comfortable with a layer underneath. I have high hopes for this sweater!

In other knitting news, yesterday when I checked the mail, I got to tell my husband for the first time ever, “your yarn is here!!!” Seriously! He’s overcome his trepidation at wearing handknit socks (“they’re too special!”), and actually requested a replica of his favorite ones(Mr.Pitt’s Socks), in the same yarn (Berroco Ultra Alapaca Light) different color (Salt and Pepper).  

  
Maybe I’ll  wind the yarn when my sweater is done…. 😜

2015 goals recap

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Before we get too far into 2016, a recap of my 2015 knitting/fiber goals.

  1. Spin up my handspun stash (as of New Year’s Day).  I did the worst on this one. Aside from the yarn I spun for my POP blanket, I don’t think I knitted up any other handspun.  I spun a lot, I gifted some, but I definitely didn’t reach this goal.

 

  2. Learn to darn my hand knit socks.  I did this, at the very end of the year!

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I’ve missed some of these!  I’ll be happy to have them back in rotation.

 

3. Knit 15 bears for the Mother Bear Project and 15 hats for Larkin   Street Youth Services.  I blew this one out of the water, knitting 26 bears and 15 hats (plus one that I never wore that I added to the donation pile).  Some of these bear photos are the ones I knitted in 2015, others are some that were sighted in 2015 in Africa with their forever friends.

I was also lucky enough to 1) volunteer in the Mother Bear Project booth at Stitches West and 2) join other bear knitters in Minneapolis for their monthly get-together where they sew hearts on the bears prior to their being shipped off to Africa.

ready to go to MN!
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All smiles ❤
Paul Bear
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Bears on the move.
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Gloria! ❤
Wisconsin Bears
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Bye-bye, bears!
Bears to go!
With Amy (who runs the NPO), and another bear knitter!
Delivering some of my bears!
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next year I’ll put a little more focus on making attractive hats, rather than using up my stash quickly.  Some of these ended up a little fugly.

 

French Toast

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My French Toast pullover is speeding along nicely, even though I didn’t touch it yesterday.

Before I did any knitting today:

  And just now:
  

It will have a ribbed collar later- I’m really looking forward to seeing that done, as the collar looks so big and floppy right now. 
I tried it on twice today- at the time I took each photo. The first time was to check the fit before committing more time to the project, the second was to make sure I hadn’t been dreaming the first time; the fit was so perfect. 

I’ve made very few pullovers in my knitting career, but suddenly I’m feeling interested in them. Let’s see how this goes!

A bear, a sweater

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Today I finished my J bear, who I named Jango. 

  
This makes 26 bears in 2015, well beyond my goal of 15. And I’m nearly at the end of the gigantic skein of sky blue acrylic, yay!

Last night I swatched for my French Toast sweater. The pre-washed swatch was perfect, but it bloomed during the washing/drying, so I went down a needle size.

 

see the difference?


I casted on this evening and have about 2.5″ done so far.

  The pattern could be a bit better- some parts are a bit unclear, but luckily I’ve made plenty of sweaters and so far have been able to figure things out. 

Hopefully this will be my first FO for 2016! Happy new year! 🍾🎉