Yarn Along: Cast on and Cast off

This sweet little cardigan is the fastest thing I've cast on and cast off recently.  The pattern is Newborn Vertebrae and it was fast and easy, even with the motif I added from Knitting Stitches Visual Encyclopedia.

The best part is it held my attention, which is how I knitted it so quickly and cast off not too long after I'd cast on.  It's so typical for me to become bored and get distrated by another project, and I imagine the sweater's tiny size also helped.  Sometimes it's hard to believe I'll soon have someone so small in my family!

Someone casually tried playing with all the yarn ends I'd cut -- look at the look on his face!  Caught ya!

On the reading front, I recently finished One Thousand White Women and haven't had a chance to hit the library for my next book.  Does anyone have recommendations for similar reads?  I'm loving the Native American/Wild West/Pre-1900 genre(s) as of late.  Thanks for your recommendations!

I recently joined Goodreads and I'm still filling my queue.  Wanna be friends?

Until next time, Happy Knitting, my friends!

Yarn Along: Finishing up and Casting on

This is my first Yarn Along post in a few weeks, and it feels good to be back!  (And knitting again.)  After a brief hiatus to embroider and do some sewing machine research (and to learn to sew -- check out my post on my first and sentimental sewing lesson), I finished a little butternut squash and cast on a new sweater for Nathan.

You might think it's a little nuts that I cast on a sweater for my son during the same month Spring will begin, but I have two theories that support my decision:

1)  It'll still be sweater weather for a while yet, and he can wear it as a jacket as it gradually gets warmer out.

2)  He'll be able to wear it again next year.  The size says ages 2-4 and the finished garment has a 25-inch chest circumference -- so I think I'll be in good shape.

If he grows like a weed this year and it doesn't pan out, I'll have learned a lesson, and hopefully someone else will be able to wear the sweater someday.  I'm still enjoying knitting it, and after all, that's why I knit.  Don't you?

The pattern is Child's Placket-neck Pullover and I'm knitting it in Knit Picks DK City Tweed in colorway Jacquard.  I like the pattern and I love the yarn, but that pattern really needed something.  It's a simple knit, which I wanted, but it's pretty boring as written.  And simple doesn't equal boring in my universe.

I was itching to knit some cables, so I did a bold thing, and by bold I mean potentially stupid and/or risky.  I added a chain cable from the book Knitting Stitches, and at the moment there's no way to know how it'll work out out when I get to the placket.  I might not be able to pull off a smooth transition and it might look comlpetely stupid; or I might be able to forecast how long I can knit the body to get a smoother join.  Or no matter what I do it might not look right... but that's a risk I'm willing to take in order to use my brain a little while I knit.

I guess the good news is that I can always rip it out and start over.  The sweater is clearly boring simple enough for that.  I resisted the urge to put narrower cables on the plain sleeves -- phew!  Wish me luck!

P.S. At the moment I'm reading an array of sewing books.  In a sewing-related post I'll let you know which ones are good for learning to use a sewing machine.  It's still too soon to tell! 

Linking up to:

Yarn Along

Last weekend I broke out my yarn swift for the first time and wound a ball of wool for a secret project.  So clearly I can't say much about the knitting, but I can show off the luxurious yarn.

It's worsted weight wool I had in my stash from Brambleberry Yarns and it's been dyed with goldenrod.  The color is called Sunshine and it's an intoxicating shade of yellow that seems to change in the light in ways I've never seen yarn colors change before.  Sometimes it's really warm and buttery, and other times it's cool and lemony, and other times it's shades in between.  Each one is lovely, and the yarn is knitting up so beautifully that I can't wait to see this garment on the recipient.  You'll get a more complete view of the finished object someday.

Tonight I hope to cast on a butternut squash for Nathan's kitchen set.  The apple and pear I knitted him recently are so sweet, and he actually plays with them -- a first for a knitted object.  Even if he didn't play with them, I like looking at them in his kitchen set from across the room so much that I'd still enjoy them immensely.  I can't wait to get started!  All three free patterns are from Linda at Natural Suburbia. 

I don't think I ever shared my pear finished object report.  The pattern is fun to work, easy to execute and knits up fast -- it was a real joy to knit and I highly recommend it!  The apple was fun, too, but for some reason the pear was slightly more fun.  Maybe it's because of its fun, really cute shape.  (You can see the apple in my 2012 Stash-busting Challenge graphic at the bottom of this post.)  All are great stash-busters.

Goal!

By now I'm sure just everyone knows that my goal this year is to knit from my stash for as long as possible, but does anyone remember my goal for 2011?  It was to knit one pair of socks per month....and I'm proud to say that I did it!

Here's a look back by month, with pattern and yarn for each pair:

January
Pattern: Butterfly Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Blue Yonder

February
Pattern: Lace and Cables Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Deep Waters

March
Pattern: My own Birds in Flight Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Blue Yonder

April
Pattern: Ribbed Ribbon Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Springtime

May
Pattern: my own Ice Pop Socks
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici in Afternoon

My little munchkin seemed so much chubbier back then!

June
Pattern: Midsummer Night's Dream
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Canopy

July

Pattern: my own Birds in Flight Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in Blue Yonder

August

Pattern: Edwardian Boating Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted in County Fair

September

Pattern: My own Raindrop Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted in Playtime

October

Pattern: My own Thermal Textured Socks, featured in the winter edition of Rhythm of the Home

Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll in Jackrabbit Heather

November

Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Woodsman's Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Squirrel Heather

December

Pattern: My own Handsome Men's Slipper Socks

Yarn: Knit Picks Swish Worsted in Squirrel Heather



What were your knitting or crafting goals last year?  Did you reach them?

Yarn Along

Over the weekend I cast on my final Christmas gift project.  It's the most difficult one yet, so I don't know what possessed me to knit it last.  I hope I can get it done in time.  In a fit of uncertainty I looked for a comparable item to gift just in case, but I couldn't find one I thought my gift recipient would like.  So.  The pressure's really on!

Since I can't show it or any of my Christmas knitting -- yet -- I thought I'd instead share two things. 1) My Finished Object Report on Nathan's Big Birthday Owl and 2) this amazing amazing hand-dyed yarn that arrived today from Brambleberry Yarns:

The color is called Sunshine Yellow, and as it sat in the car next to me on the trip home from the post office (yes, I opened it in the car) it reflected back the warm yellow light of the sun.  It's beautiful!

Cynthia from Brambleberry Yarns dyes her yarns and fibers with plants she grows in her garden and finds in the wilderness around her.  Does that intrigue you the way it does me?  This yarn was dyed with goldenrod.  All of a sudden I'm a sucker for yellow, but I've always been a sucker for blue, and she has some gorgeous blues and purples in her shop right now.  If you're in the market for new yarn, I hope you'll stop by her shop!

On to the Finished Object Report: Big Birthday Owl

Pattern: Big Snowy Owl by the Purl Bee
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Bare, Porchini, Hazelnut and Chocholate
Needles: Size 11 circular and size 11 DPNs
Rating & fun factor: 5 out of 5 stars

This pattern is clever, interesting and fun to execute.  What more could I want in a pattern?  I know, a finished object that my son will actually play with!  But really, I went into this knowing he'd never play with the owl.  It was 10 days before Nathan's second birthday and I realized that I didn't have a gift for him -- or even one in mind -- and when I came across this pattern I knew I had it figured out.  And I had an idea that he wouldn't really play with the owl -- yet.  Someday, sure.  All he does for now is throw him around or toss him out of the way to get to the more interesting toys.

But the good news is, the owl is super squishy and he gets to live in my house so I can hug him whenever I want.

Two things I'd do differently if I knitted him again:

1.  I'd use smaller needles so I don't see so much stuffing through the stitches.  The pattern calls for super bulky yarn, but I only had bulky, so I went down two needle sizes.  I could have gone down another size or two, but I didn't want the owl to get smaller, too.

2.  If I used smaller needles and had tighter stitches, I would have added a lot more stuffing.  I like how downright squishy he is -- I did it intentionally -- and adding more stuffing wouldn't have made him less squishy... but it would have stretched the stitches further and shown off even more stuffing than it already does.

It was a fun and easy knit.  I hope you'll give him a chance for a little (or big) one in your life.  Just make sure he or she is older than two.  :)

Finished Object: Edwardian Boating Socks

I'm pretty stoked that I hummed right along (finally)... on my August socks! 

Here are the deets:

Pattern: Edwardian Boating Socks by Emma Grundy Haigh
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted in County Fair
Needles: Size 2 DPNs
Difficulty: Intermediate
Rating: 4 of 5 possible stars

This interesting pattern isn't as difficult as it may look.  I enjoyed working it, and had no trouble memorizing the six row pattern repeat.  The only slow part was the linen stitch heel flap -- yeesh, that's a lot of linen stitch!  I tweaked the heel a bit and threw on my own toe (I'm sick of pointy-toed socks, is anybody else?)

The V's and linen stitch showed off the remarkable colors in this colorway.  I love Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted, and I like the colors individually, but from afar, these socks just look kinda...purple.  Maybe it's the pattern-yarn combination, but it's not keeping me away from the yarn line.  I'm using Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted in Berry Patch for my Hitchhiker shawl!

Plus, look at this bit of lovely rainbow goodness on the heels:

It pays to start each sock at the same place in your colorway.

Finished Object: Multnomah

It's been a while since I've posted about a finished object, let alone had a finished object to share!  A quick look at my Ravelry projects shows about a billion projects in process and only three completed ones in the past two or three months.

Pattern: Multnomah by Kate Elsa
Yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Handpainted in Hayride
Needles: Size 3 circular
Difficulty: Advanced beginner toiIntermediate -- it's easier than it looks!
Rating: 5 of 5 possible stars

This shawlette is a great example of the magic that can happen when you pair the right yarn wiht the right pattern.  Frankly, this pattern would be great for any variegated yarn, but I think it did this great colorway so much justice.  I loved watching how the colors changed through the feather and fan pattern as I knitted it up.  The yarn and the pattern accentuated each other, really.  The pattern was fun, interesting, easy and fast -- and now I'm completely addicted to shawls.  I've recently added three shawls and a stole to my Ravelry queue, and I can't wait to dive in!

...except I should really focus on some winter and Christmas knitting first.