FO: Broken Dreams Socks

I think this is kind of a sad name for a pattern but the end result is worth it…

Pattern:  Broken Dreams by Kristin Benecken

Yarn:  Numma Numma Saucy, Cucumber Mint colorway

Needles:  US 2 Addi Lace

Date Started:  January 17th, 2009

Date Finished:  January 25th, 2009

Mods:  Knit toe up, 2 at a time, Magic Loop – cause that’s how I roll!!

First of all, I LOVE these socks.  The pattern was easy to memorize and the yarn is incredible.  The most amazing thing about this yarn is the yardage…after finishing my socks, this is how much I have left over…

I can definately get another pair of socks out of this, but I think I will knit another Dream Swatch instead – and this one’s for me!

 

FOs: Baby Beret and Eyelet Yoke Cardigan

 

For my neice’s 2nd birthday I decided to knit her a cardigan and hat but I couldn’t decide what to make.  This is one of the main reasons I LOVE Ravelry.  Being able to search for what you want and actually see many different interpretations of the pattern and yarn combinations really gives me some great ideas.

Pattern:  Stripey Baby Beret by Stacy Mar

Yarn:  Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, Berry colorway

Needles:  US 8 Knitpicks Options, Magic Loop

Date Started:  October 10th, 2008

Date Finished:  October 11th, 2008

Mods:  This pattern is meant for a baby so I knew I would need to up-size it.  As it turned out, my neice’s head is 20″ and I found that when I changed needle size to US 8 I could just cast on the same number of stitches as the pattern called for and it turned out perfect. 

Pattern:  Eyelet Yoke Cardigan by Stacy Hoadley

Yarn:  Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, Berry colorway

Needles:  US 8 Knitpicks Options

Date Started:  October 24th, 2008

Date Finished:  October 28th, 2008

Mods:  This pattern, as written, requires a lot of seaming.  I decided to knit the body in one piece.  I also replaced the seed stitch (not my favorite) with a picot cast on at the bottom of the body and the sleeves, and with 1×1 ribbing at the button band and the neckline.

This was my first time using Cotton-Ease I I will definately be using it again.  The stitch definition is great, it is very soft and it doesn’t hurt my hands like other cotton yarns.

 

FO: Mormor’s Shawl

My kids call their grandmother Mormor (Swedish for grandmother) so I was so excited to find a pattern called Mormor Shawl one day while I was looking around in Ravelry.  Of course, I had to make this for her as a Christmas Present.

This shawl is a very interesting (and quick) knit.  It is basically garter stitch with a lace insert and the increases on each side are stair-steps.  My mother-in-law loves earth tones so I think she will really love the color and I hope she get a lot of use out of it…if not, I may steal it back!

Pattern:  Mormor Shawl by Randi K. Design

Yarn:  Araucania Ranco Multy, colorway 308

Needles:  US 5 Knitpicks Options

Date Started:  October 15th, 2008

Date Finished:  November 9th, 2008

Mods:  The only modification I made was to make the stair-step decreases at the neckline match the increases at the outside of the shawl (the fact that they weren’t symetrical was really bugging me!)

 

FO: Prickle and Nana’s Socks

As I have mentioned, I have been very busy knitting up Christmas presents and while I will never, ever match the extreme mastery that is Bezzie’s Cheap Ass Christmas, I can honestly say that the vast majority of the items I am knitting for Christmas presents are from the stash.  There has been a little yarn that I have had to buy but five skeins of Dark Horse Fantasy Yarn have netted me two hats (knit with yarn doubled) and a 6 foot long scarf – all for $25…you can’t beat that with a stick!

Here are my latest FO’s…both from stash yarn:

First up is Prickle.  For quite a while I have wanted to attempt a moebius project but I was just never sure which one to tackle and then about a month ago I got a message on Ravelry from ewephoric who asked if I was willing to swap my Verde Malabrigo for some Emerald Green Malabrigo that she had in her stash.  I jumped at the chance because Emerald Green is one of my favorite colors of Malabrigo and I have had the Verde for a while with absolutely no idea what to do with it.

In the back and forth messages, she mentioned that she was planning to make something with the Verde for her swap partner and she was thinking about a Prickle since she had already made one for herself and really liked it.  Once I took a look at hers, and the other variations of the pattern, I was hooked and bought the pattern the same day.

I chose Option 2 with the lace edging and in addition to being a very quick knit, it is lovely and soft and although I plan to give this to my cousin for Christmas, I definately see another one (for me) in my near future.

The moebius cast on can be a bit tricky but once you get the hang of it, you can do it in your sleep.   I love the moebius but I can’t decide if Cat Bordhi is a genious or seriously demented!  She definately thinks outside the box and this cast on is a prime example!

Pattern:  Prickle by Huan-Hua Chye

Yarn:  Malabrigo Worsted, Emerald Blue colorway

Needles:  US 10 Knitpicks Options, 40″ cord

Date Started:  October 8th, 2008

Date Finished:  October 11th, 2008

Mods:  None at all.  This is a very well-written pattern and I particularly love the lace edging which also serves as the bind off.  I was worried about running out of yarn but I ended up with enough left that when I knit this again (and I definately will) I will probably add a few more repeats of the porcupine lace pattern before starting the lace edging.  I love this one so much, I am going to have a hard time letting it go.

I also finished the socks for my Nana:

Pattern:  There really isn’t one.  It is a basic toe up sock with a short row heel.

Yarn:  Cascade Fixation, Purple

Needles:  US 2 Addi Lace for the toe, US 3 Addi Lace for the rest of the sock

Date Started:  September 8th, 2008

Date Finished:  September 25th, 2008

Mods:  None since it isn’t a written out pattern…it is all in my head. 

Nana loves ankle socks and these are soft and stretchy so I think she will love them!

 

Back in Black (and Orange)…

Another list of items to knit for Christmas presents and another batch of orange and black items to be sent to my cousin’s house for Christmas.  This year, at least, they kept their requests simple…hats for the kids and a scarf for my cousin’s husband.  My cousin is getting a non-orange and black gift that will be blogged about later.

First up…Center Square Hat for Caitlyn (graciously modeled by DS#2)

Pattern:  Center Square by London Nelson, Knitty Winter 2006

Yarn:  Dark Horse Fantasy, Orange and Black

Needles:  US 11 Knitpicks Options

Date Started:  September 28th, 2008

Date Finished:  September 29th, 2008

Mods:  I had a major issue with gauge on this.  In order to get the gauge in the pattern, I had to go down to size 9 needles but when I cast on the called for amount of stitches I ended up with a hat that could never fit comfortably on an adult-sized head.  I tried a few larger sizes before ending up with the needle size suggested in the pattern (but no where near the called for gauge)…go figure. 

Anyway, this was a very fast knit – I love the hat and I think my cousin’s daughter will too.

Moving on…Tychus (also modeled by DS #2)

Pattern:  Tychus by Brooke T. Higgins, Knitty Summer 2005

Yarn:  Dark Horse Fantasy, Orange and Black

Needles:  US 9 Knitpicks Options

Date Started:  September 27th, 2008

Date Finished:  September 27th, 2008

Mods:  Absolutely none.  This is a great pattern…well written and easy to make!

And the last one…a Garter Stitch Scarf knit on the bias

Pattern:  None – I just made it up as I went along

Yarn:  Dark Horse Fantasy, Orange and Black

Needles:  US 10 Knitpicks Options

Date Started:  October 11th, 2008

Date Finished:  October 19th, 2008

I would have been finished with this scarf much quicker but I ran out of yarn and had to wait until last Saturday to get some more.  As it was, I got the last skein of Dark Horse Fantasy black yarn that my LYS had in stock!  Boy was that close!!!

 

FO: Garter Rib Socks

These socks have taken five months to complete – I started them when I taught my first toe-up sock class and then put them aside for more exciting projects.  Lately, they have become my purse knitting in order to finally get them finished…

Pattern:  Garter Rib Socks from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch

Yarn:  Colinette Jitterbug, Moss Colorway

Needles:  US 1.5 Addi Turbo Lace

Started:  March 1st, 2008

Finished:  August 3rd, 2008 (yep, that’s five months, folks!)

Mods:  I knit these toe up, two at a time using Magic Loop.  I also tried a yo heel instead of my usual short row heel.  The yo heel was a bit more work, but I do like the look of it.  I will definately use it again.

All in all, I’m just glad these are finally finished!

 

FO: Noro Silk Garden Socks

A couple of weeks ago, my LYS finally got in the Noro Silk Garden Sock yarn.  Since I’m not too crazy about the feel of the Noro Kureyon Sock, I have been waiting for this for a while.  Karen hadn’t even put the yarn out on the shelves yet (it was actually all still in the bags) when I saw it but I asked her if I could go ahead and grab a skein – and boy did I have a hard time choosing between the colors.  In the end, I stayed inside the box with my color choice…blues, purples, and greens (go figure).

I cast on 60 stitches last Saturday (toe up, two at a time, magic loop) on US 2’s and decided to just keep it simple with a 4×2 rib.  After a week of knitting…

The colors, of course, are glorious…

I decided to do a short-row heel…

…and these socks literally flew off the needes.  I am fairly certain that one week for a full pair of socks is a record for me (since most of my knitting time is in the evenings after work).  These socks are also about 3 inches longer than I normally make my socks but I just had to get in all of the color repeats! 

My opinion of the Silk Garden Socks…I like it much better than the Kureyon.  The Silk Garden is easy to work with but it also comes the same issues you expect with Noro – a little vegetable matter, some thick and thin spots (although not as drastic as I have seen with the Kureyon), and my skein had a knot in it which accompanied a break in the color pattern.  Luckily, the knotted portion did include the colors I needed to complete the entire color spectrum so I just had to piece it together a bit towards the end.

All in all, I love these socks - they are very thick and will be nice and toasty this winter! 

(and no, it is not your imagination…I haven’t bound them off yet.  My LYS is having Christmas in August later this week and Karen wanted me to keep them on the needles to advertise my Two at a Time, Toe Up class so I will actually bind them off on Friday night!)

 

FO: Jack Sparrow’s Favorite Socks

A couple of weeks ago I took my youngest DS with me to my LYS.  While I was talking to the owners, he wandered around the shop and eventually came up to me with 3 skeins of Berroco Comfort Sock Yarn in his hand (Red, White and Black).  He handed them to me and quietly asked me if I would knit him some socks…of course, I bought all three skeins.

When we got home we sat down and talked about what sort of socks he wanted and we finally agreed on Pam’s awesome pattern, Jack Sparrow’s Favorite Socks.  Here is our interpretation…

I finished them late last night – hopefully, I will get some modeled pictures over the weekend!

 

FO: Ene’s Scarf

Until recently, I never had a burning desire to knit lace.  Don’t get me wrong, it is beautiful, I just didn’t think it was practical for me to wear.  I have knit one lace scarf and some lace details on a few sweaters but that is about it…until I saw Ene’s Scarf.  I’m not sure why this appealed to me, but I knew immediately that I needed to knit it and I also knew exactly which yarn and colorway I would knit it in.

Here is Ene’s Scarf (this color is the most accurate):

Knit with Dream In Color Smooshy Sock Yarn:

In the Beach Fog Colorway:

I wore this to work yesterday and I have found that I really love wearing shawls…go figure!  I definately see many more in my future!

Pattern:  Ene’s Scarf by Nancy Bush from Scarf Style

Yarn:  Dream In Color Smooshy Sock Yarn, Beach Fog Colorway – 1 1/2 skeins

Needles:  US 7 Knitpicks Options

Date Started:  June 10th, 2008

Date Finished:  June 25th, 2008 

Mods:  I knit this exactly as charted with two stitch modifications.  For the left-leaning decreases, instead of sl 1 as if to knit, k1, pass slipped st over, I did a SSK.  For the double decreases, instead of sl 1 as if to knit, k2tog, pass slipped st over, I did sl 1 as if to knit, sl2tog as if to knit place all 3 slipped stitches back on the left needle and knit through the back loop.  The results are the same, but these stitches looked better because my psso’s always look too loose.

This is a great first lace shawl pattern if you can get past casting on 375 stitches to start and use lots of stitch markers on Chart 1 (moving them one stitch to the right each row).  The best part is that each row gets shorter rather than longer like most shawl patterns and the main body of the shawl is an easily memorized 2 row repeat.  I did use lifelines after each repeat of Chart 3 but, luckily, I never needed them.  There is also an Ene’s Shawl KAL group on Ravelry to help answer any questions.

 

FO: Noro Capelet

After two weeks of sporadic knitting, I have finished my Noro Capelet…

The story behind this capelet spans many months…I originally saw the pattern on Craftster but thought that it would never look good on a plus sized girl.  Then a few months later I saw this one made by Quad Mom.  She made the neckline a bit lower and added some length and it looked great as a 2X pattern.  With hers as an inspiration, I added it to my Ravelry queue but was never inspired enough to start it.  In the meantime, my LYS got in some Noro Matsuri.

I instantly fell in love with it but could never figure out what to knit with it so I just settled for petting it whenever I was at the store.  Finally, I saw Cristi’s Noro Capelet and the lightbulb went off!

Pattern:  Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet by Julia Allen

Yarn:  Noro Matsuri, 6 1/4 skeins

Needles:  US 7 Knitpicks Options

Date Started:  May 17th, 2008

Date Finished:  May 31st, 2008

Mods:  Since I used DK weight yarn and to accomodate a larger size (about a 3X), I cast on 121 stitches and then after the ribbing divided it up as follows:  33/14/28/14/33.  I made the garter stitch edging 5 stitches instead of 2 and added some extra stitches for more coverage over “the girls”.  I also added enough length for the capelet to hit around waist level.  In addition, I took Cristi’s lead and added some short rows to the sleeves which definately helped them fit much better.

All in all, I am thrilled with this capelet…the weight of the yarn is perfect for the Summer and I know I will be getting a lot of wear out of it!