WIP Interruptus

Soooo....don't get me wrong. I looove my Central Park Hoodie...and I'm getting quite far on it. HOWEVER, with the new warm weather, I've started getting a little tired of knitting this big woolen cardigan that I can't wear for at least six months. Because of that, I've put it aside for a while. I will absolutely finish it -- there isn't a doubt in my head, but I really wanted to start on something that I can wear this summer.

So, I realized that I still had this gem in my stash:


..this is a 100% Egyptian cotton yarn by Classic Elite. It has since been discontinued, but I have about 900 yards of it. The best part? The yarn was 100% free to me. My mom got it while yard-sale'ing with my Aunt Mabel in Boston. I have a bunch of it, actually, but the most I have in one single color is in this pretty purple. The color is actually much deeper than it looks in this picture. Anyhoo -- I decided that I definitely had enough for a summer top.

What pattern did I decide on? Well, if you recall, I recently purchased the book DomiKNITrix: Whip your knitting into shape by Jennifer Stafford. While flipping through, I found this:



(sorry about the poor picture quality -- this book doesn't photograph well, I think because of the matte pages)

...and it is PERFECT. I got gauge on size 8's, and I immediately began. I must say that I LOVE this pattern...It is knit sideways, beginning from the armpit and knitting over to the other armpit. The cast on is provisional (I started with a crochet chain), so after I finish to the left front, I will rip out the crochet chain and knit in the other direction to finish the sweater off. The pattern also has that great waist detailing which is incredibly slimming (who couldn't use some slimming). What I really love is that Jennifer Stafford has built a little leeway into the pattern -- I can make the v-neck as deep as I want, for example.

I'm just so excited. I'll leave you with a picture of my kitties, enjoying their new bed, purchased from Ikea for $5!

This makes me embarrassed to be a knitter:

It's Haturday!

(Originally posted on Feb 10, 2007)
Between now and this time last week, I've made 3 hats. The first was the felted cloche as seen in my last post, the second looks like this:



This one is not so good. I made it too big. I didn't realize this until it was too late. You see, what happened was that I cast on enough stitches for a me-sized hat on size 8 needles. About 5 inches in, I realized that I was in fact using size 9 needles. Oops. So, I ended up making it too short because I was too lazy to frog the whole thing and start over. Not to mention, I have two poorly placed stripes of color because of this. So, I have a too short, too wide funny looking hat. Ho hum.

So, I wanted to make a nice hat. That is where this:


hat comes in. This is a pithy hat based (incredibly loosely) on this pattern: http://www.littleturtleknits.com/pithyhat.htm -- the red hat, not the green one. This hat turned out very, very nicely. In case anyone is wondering what I did:

Size 8 needles 16" circs, Paton's Classic Wool

I c/o 78 stitches, knit about an inch in k2p2 rib and then increased every 3rd stitch (by kfb of every 3rd stitch), to get 104 stitches. Then, I knit straight for about 8 inches. For the decreases, I k2tog across the row, knit two rows straight and then I repeated that. Finally, I pulled the yarn through all my stitches, cinched the top and weaved in my ends.
So, all in all, I think Haturday turned out to be a success. Now, I just need to find a girl that has a very big but very short head to give that first hat to.



EDIT: I just realized that my pithy hat looks very small in the picture. Just for reference, I have it pushed back so that there is that bunchy effect in the back. I can also pull it down to cover my forehead and earlobes if it gets VERY cold.

Happy SnowDay!

(originally posted on Feb. 6 on Vox)
The snow is coming down, and I'm finally home for the day. I wish I could have left work a bit earlier because the roads were already very bad by the time I was on my way.

I just wanted to post a picture of the felted hat I made for my Stitch N Bitch Valentine's Party grab bag gift:


I used the leftover yarn from a felted box I made. The pattern is "Flowers on a Grave" from www.anticraft.com (The samhain issue).

Happy Knitting!

Books and hats and gloves, Oh My!

I've been busy:


My new books came from Amazon today. I got: Naughty Needles by: Nikol Lohr. This is a very cute book to have in my library. Even if I don't make anything from it (which I will, I think), it is very nI'ice. I like this one better than Sexy Little Knits because everything in that book is made for little waifs. Which I am not.

Domiknitrix: Whip your knitting into shape by: Jennifer Stafford. This book is just gorgeous. There are some great patterns, and some more advanced techniques outlined, unlike most other books that only cover the basics. I hate to be a vain knitter, but damn, this book just looks good. From the pleather binding to the gloriously un-glossy pages, I just adore flipping through this book. Isn't that what knitting books are all about, anyway?


Anyway, the only complaint I have about this book is that the final pattern, "Elfin Bride + Gothlet" isn't actually in the book. You have to email her and then she will email you when it is available (it isn't yet). In the book she says it is because of "time and space constraints". I assume that meant the pattern wasn't ready yet. The sweater itself is alright looking. She claims that if you attempt and finish this pattern, "you've demonstrated mastery of this craft." Which just rubs me the wrong way. I think it presumptious to assume that your pattern is the do-all end-all of difficult knitting. And it doesn't even look that difficult. Of course, that is coming from me, so whatever.

Oh, I almost forgot the last book: The Knitter's handy book of sweater patterns, which is really just more of a construction book. I was just looking for something that was going to explain how different kinds of sweaters were put together so I can start designing. We'll see though. I wish I had gotten an EZ book instead.

In other news, I finished the hat to go with the baby sweater. It is very cute and looks good with the sweater. It is seen to the right, modeled by Perfect Baby Computer.


And, finally, you will notice the current issue of Knit It! and Knitscene (yay Knitscene -- I'm still under the impression that this magazine should automatically be included with my IK subscription, but oh well). I really like the tank on the cover of the Knit It!, but not in the colors shown.

Keep Knitting!

Kristy

Oh, Baby!

I'm knitting baby sets! My cousin, Becky and my SO's aunt and uncle, Chimi and John, are having babies! Becky is having a girl and Chimi is having a boy. So, fun for me, I get to knit both blue and pink. I've never knit for babies before, so I'm going with the basic blue/pink this time around. Perhaps when the babies are a little older, I'll get creative with the colors.

This sweater was knit using two strands of a baby yarn (fingering/sport weight) held together, on size 10.5 straight needles. The back is a basic rectangle and the front is two rectangles, each half the size of the back. Again, the sleeves are just rectangles that are slightly larger than the front panels. I do very much like the white stripe on both of the sleeves.

As I have no idea how large a baby actually is, I sort of went off of patterns for this sweater. I just looked at different baby sweater patterns, and I looked at baby sweaters at the stores for size comparison. I think this sweater will fit a newborn up to about 6 months. Who knows, though? I know it will definitely fit a baby of some size :)

So, since this is actually my first FO post, I guess you may have figured out that I'm not a very precise knitter. Actually, I am when I'm following a pattern, but when I'm not, I just make sure the sizes are close. For an adult, this could turn into a catastrophe, but for baby knitting, I guess it is ok.

Next up on the needles is a baby hat to match this sweater. Then I will make booties also to match. This (along with a similar set in pink) has to be done by March, so I think I'm ok. Also, I would like to find some time to finish my first ever sock, which is currently sitting in my knitting basket with a bit of a heel flap just hanging there. I'm sure I'll work a little more on that tonight, and then I can post some pictures.

Speaking of my first ever sock, have you heard of the Yarn Harlot? Her book, Knitting Rules!, is amazing. I never had the urge to knit socks until I read it. I thought I was a bad knitter or something, but the Yarn Harlot made me see the light.

Speaking of Inspirational knitters, Glampyre knits maven Stefanie Japel is my hero. Her designs are so beautiful. She has a book coming out soon called "Fitted Knitting", and I think it will be a smash. It is available for pre-order on Amazon now.

Vox vs. Blogger?

I started this blog, then I decided that I wanted to use Vox. Well, I changed my mind again, so I'm in the process of moving all of my Vox posts here.

Be patient.