Pattern: Vahtralehed by Whitney Gegg-Harrison

Yarn: Sliver Moon Farms Worsted BFL, purchased at Rhinebeck in 2010

Needles: Size 8 circulars

Modifications: I took off the decoration at the wrist.

I had quite a few problems with this pattern, and am only relatively pleased with the FO. First of all, the pattern organization was a little all over the place, so I kept missing important information, only to find it was on a different part of the page or on a different page altogether. Also, this pattern has an optional math page for personalized waist shaping, which is very nice, but there are errors in the directions to do the math. I figured it out while I was doing it, so I was able to make my waist shaping correctly, but I’m sure that would confuse people less math-inclined than me. I also didn’t like the way it was written for several size chunks. With all the commas and parenthesis, it was easy to lose which number you were looking at.

The other problem I had was with the gauge. I’m not sure how she got the gauge she got, because when I was finally able to get gauge, the fabric was much too loose and drapey. I ended up with making the Large size to get the XS because my gauge was so much smaller. Of course, that could be my fault instead of the pattern, because my gauge swatch LIED and the sweater came out significantly bigger than I expected it to. I can’t wear it buttoned up because then you notice that the armpits are at the bottom of my ribs. When it’s worn open, it looks like it’s one of those loose sweaters that are in style now.

However, my FAVORITE thing about this sweater are the buttons I got. Yay!

Pattern: Hooded Sweatshirt from Knits Men Want

Yarn: Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky in Charcoal and Silver Gray

Needles: Size 10.5 circulars

Modifications: My gauge was a little smaller than called for, which is good because Dick is thinner than the XS size. I also lengthened the arms by about 3 inches because he’s lanky and they would have otherwise been about three-quarter length.

I found the pattern to be very good. It was helpful that it was written in so many sizes and gauges because you can really make it out of any yarn you want. After having made it, I wish I would have used a finer yarn because the sweater is seamed, and the seams are really quite thick. However, the sweater fits him quite well and he’s extremely happy with it, so I guess “Knits Men Want” is an appropriate title. Since the gauge was so large (3.5 stitches to the inch) I was able to complete the sweater really quickly.

So, all in all, a very satisfactory finished project!

Pattern: Spice Island Baby Blanket by Donna Childs

Yarn: So there’s a story here. I work as the colorist for a yarn recycling company who makes recycled cotton-blend yarns for the textile industry. I convinced my boss to give me three cones of the yarn to make this blanket so it would be extra-special. I not only knit the blanket, I designed the yarn colors. The yarn is a worsted weight cotton that’s 75% recycled cotton / 25% acrylic.

Needles: Size 6 circulars

Modifications: None. Though now that I’m finished I wish I would have made one. The pattern doesn’t account for the garter stitch border being wider than the slip-stitch stockinette pattern stitch, which are both knit over the same number of stitches. I wish there were fewer stitches in the border. But by the time I was finished and realized it, there was no going back all the way to the beginning, so I went with it for the sides and made the border a little ruffly.

The blanket overall is completely gorgeous, and the stitch pattern produces a really interesting effect, almost like chain link. The yarn turned out to be soft and I’m really quite happy with it.

I love how the pink yarn looks like it’s in front of the blue and purple, even though it was all knit at the same time, but it produces a really interesting, very dramatic appearance. It’s also quite a thick blanket, which means it will keep Delaney nice and toasty all winter long!

I packed it in a box to go find its home, and included one of the awesome tags that Dick made me! He altered it a little from the ones he made for Christmas and put baby things in the background.

After putting on the tag and putting it in a box, it’s all ready to go! I hope she likes it!

Anyway, coincidentally, my sister happens to be in the process of looking for a new job. Right after my textbook came, she got an interview! Yay! So she and I picked out all the parts of my textbook that seem to relate to salary and job-getting type negotiations and now she feels like she has a better idea of how to handle it. So how did that turn out? She has a second interview next week! Yay!

Now hopefully I’ll get to learn some other cool stuff!

Pattern: Cauchy by Cookie A.

Yarn: Knit Picks Sock Blank, as dyed by Dick

Needles: Size 1.5, two circular method

Modifications: I re-charted the pattern to be over 11 stitches instead of 10, because 70 stitches was much too small, and 80 stitches was much t0o big. The sock has 77 stitches.

I enjoyed knitting these socks quite a bit actually. I decided to use the “beach” end of the yarn cake for the heel because otherwise there would have been a major jog in the coloration on the top of the sock. This way we got a nice even transition. I wish there would have been enough to do the heel entirely in blue, but that wasn’t a possibility.

I am happy, though, as I expected the socks to look much more like a rainbow than they do. They look nicely like a sunset.

And since one of my dear readers asked, here is a picture of the sock blank again so you can see the change:

I brought my socks with me on my trip to Georgia last week, and I didn’t leave them on the airplane like last time!  I actually was less exhausted than usual, too, so I had plenty of time in the evenings to watch tv and knit, rather than just passing out as soon as I got to the hotel. I took my July socks, which are for Dick, with me, and actually got pretty far on them:

So far, I think the color looks a little silly, mostly because it’s all blue and then orange at the bottom real quick, but after it is orange for a while and then turns yellow, the orange will look a lot less random. I think they’re shaping up nicely.

Meanwhile, I need to be getting on with the baby blanket I’m knitting my cousin. I got the invitation to her shower, and it’s at the beginning of August, so I have a pretty strict deadline.

This is where I am (you won’t be getting a daylight picture until it’s done. I am not lugging 15 lbs of yarn outside to take a wip shot):

This won’t be done until it’s a square. I really should get back to knitting it and quit writing a blog post…

I have had a stressful, busy week so far, so not much knitting has been done. No work on the baby blanket at all. I did get to spend some time today on the airplane knitting Dick’s socks (the ones from the sock blank) and now I have enough that I’m starting to see the pattern.

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

I’ve been working on a baby blanket for my cousin who is having a baby girl. The yarn I’m using came from work. I thought it would be nice for a baby to have a recycled cotton blanket, and the fact that I made the colors doesn’t hurt either.

The problem is, the yarn comes in five pound cones. I am not lying, the three-colored blanket I am knitting for my cousins baby is attached to fifteen pounds of yarn. Yes. I said said FIFTEEN POUNDS.

I will obviously never use it all, so I’ll have to find a new home for the yarn when I’m finished. In the mean time, I have been enjoying this nice little blanket, even though the pattern is a little boring to knit.

Pattern: Wanida by Cookie A.

Yarn: Debbie Macomber Blossom Collection Petals socks in Kiwi Flower

Needles: Size 1.5, two circ method

Modifications: I changed the foot to stockinette stitch, but kept the center angles going until they ended to keep the pattern regular.

To be perfectly honest, I’m not thrilled with these socks even though the yarn is very soft and the pattern is pretty. I think part of it is that I finished it at the last minute, but I was annoyed with the fuzziness of the yarn making little balls around my yarn. Also, the yarn seemed a tiny bit felted into the ball shape that it came in.

Maybe I will like it more when they aren’t so new. I’m sure I’ll like them in the winter when the angora portion will keep my to-toes nice and toasty!

This was a project that I did as part of a knit-along with my knitting group. We all loved the pattern and it was designed by someone local, so a bunch of us got together to knit it.

Pattern:  Aethercopter by Jocelyn Tunney

Yarn: Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sport in Solitude

Needles: Size 5 and 7 circular

Modifications: I used sport-weight yarn instead of DK weight, and changed the needle sizes accordingly.

I really like this pattern and think it ended up being an absolutely beautiful…umm…shawl?…scarf?….uhhh….wrap thing.

The construction of it was quite clever, and makes the finished object into a beautiful mixture of a scarf and shawl, with the stiffer, more structured folded stockinette section acting as a support beam for the drapey, laciery part.

And even with going down so far in yarn/needle sizes (I’m convinced the sport weight yarn is much closer to fingering weight), I still managed to make the scarf about five and a half feet long.

For me, the inspiration of this project was maple seeds. We always called them helicopter seeds when I was growing up, and I loved to play with them. When I saw the pattern, I wanted to make it, but more like a helicopter seed. So I was very particular in choosing exactly the right color of yarn. It had to be the color of a browned seed and semisolid, to represent the veins that grow though the leaf section.

I would say that I didn’t do half bad.