i make stuff

The little things.

As a knitter, I find that I feel a lot of pressure to knit sweaters. I do enjoy knitting sweaters, but somehow it seems like that's what I'm SUPPOSED to be knitting all the time. But in truth, I get a lot of pleasure from knitting smaller items. When you've been chugging away at a big sweater or blanket project for weeks, it's really refreshing to cast on for something small and nearly-instant in gratification. I'm a little behind on posting FOs, so I thought I would share some of the smaller things I've been making the last few months.

PATTERN: Toast by Leslie Friend
NEEDLES: US 7 (4.5mm)
YARN: Funky Carolina BFL in "Lupin," spun by me

I love these little mitts. I spun up the yarn and knit them as part of a knit-along in the Funky Carolina Ravelry group. I split the fiber up a lot to spin the singles, and then navajo (chain) plied the yarn, which created the skinny striping effect you see. LOVE. Such an easy knit, I think I knit most of them while watching The King's Speech in the theater. :)

PATTERN: Toorie by Carina Spencer
NEEDLES: US 5 (3.75mm)
YARN: madelinetosh DK in Oxblood (1 skein)

LOVE this cute little hat. I made this for my friend Chris. She loves hats and looks adorable in a cloche, so it seemed like the perfect thing for her. This yarn has such a great texture and as always, Tosh dyes are beautiful. This colorway has a lot of red, purple and black in it, very complex and glowy.

PATTERN: Melody by Melody Moore
NEEDLES: US 8 (5.0mm)
YARN: Have You Any Wool Lustrous in Graphite

It's a good rule of thumb to always have a Melody shawl on the needles. It's knit in a plain stockinette round, using a whole skein or more of lace or fingering weight yarn, and then you cut it to make the fringe. Super mindless and easy. I love this delectable yarn from Have You Any Wool. Her dyeing is very special, and I encourage you to try the yarn. If you've ever knit with Sundara Yarn Fingering Silky Merino, this is similar in feel. I wouldn't call this project instant gratification, but it's certainly mindless knitting, great for picking up for small in-between moments or working on while chatting with friends.

Scarves and cowls and hats, oh my!

Still playing catch-up, I have a few more items to share from this fall.

PATTERN: Melody's Shawl by Melody Moore
NEEDLES: US 9 (5.5mm)
YARN: Sundara Yarn Fingering Silky Merino in "Poppy"

This is the very definition of a languishing WIP (work in progress). I started in March 2010 during our trip to Paris/Warsaw, and dubbed it "Old French Whore" after the old SNL game show parody. I finished it this September. Yeah...that took a while. The thing about the Melody Shawl is that it's perfect mindless knitting, to cart around in your bag with you and pull out while you're waiting for your food to come at a restaurant or gabbing with a friend. There was really no rush to finish it, but as soon as it was done, it became a staple of my wardrobe for fall. I don't normally wear a lot of purple clothing, but as an accessory, the color is stunning. And the yarn is so luxurious. I get questions and compliments about this scarf all the time. And I've cast on another, which should be finished in roughly October 2011. 

PATTERN: Boneyard Shawl by Stephen West
NEEDLES: US 7 (4.5mm)
YARN: Hand spun yarn from my friend Marianne!

I cast on for this shawl very soon after receiving this gorgeous yarn (spun from Finn wool) from my friend Marianne. The color was "Orchard" so I thought it would be the perfect accessory for my October trip to NYC and Rhinebeck. I didn't finish it before the trip, but during, so I did get to enjoy it! :) Super easy pattern, great for showing off handspun yarn.

PATTERN: Honey Cowl by Madelinetosh
NEEDLES: US 7 (4.5mm)
YARN: Hand spun yarn made from Funky Carolina BFL/Silk in "Dragonskin"

I love this project so much. My knitting friends do these quarterly swaps, and I ended up with my friend Thayer as a swap partner. I wanted to make her something really fun and appropriate to her personality. Thayer is a huge gamer, and she loves big loopy cowls, so when I saw the Dragonskin colorway my friend Carrie dyes, I thought it would be perfect for Thayer. The color reminded me of the blues in World of Warcraft, and the stitch pattern of the cowl really did resemble scaly dragonskin. I found this hilarious button and pinned it to the finished cowl, and Thayer wears it that way. Love! It was a hard one to part with, because the cowl was so snuggly and such an awesome jewel tone. Again - will have to make another for me!

PATTERN: Flicker Socks by Cookie A.
NEEDLES: US 1 (2.25mm)
YARN: Sunshine Yarns Classic Sock Yarn in "Bella's Truck"

This is a lesser-loved Cookie A. sock design but I just LOVE the finished socks. I have had this pattern in my faves for a really long time, and the yarn seemed like the perfect match. These are mine all mine!

PATTERN: Wurm by katushika
NEEDLES: US 4 & US 6
YARN: Madelinetosh Pashmina in "Tart"

Yep, I jumped on the Tart bandwagon. In case you don't know, Madelinetosh is a maker of gorgeous hand-dyed yarns, and this color was something of an internet sensation throughout the end of 2009 and most of 2010. It appears to be going strong still, because really, it is the perfect deep red. Not pink, not burgundy, RED. So I had to copy my friend Megan, who also made a Tarty Wurm. It's such a great, adorable, slouchy hat. I already had one made with handspun but I just had to have another!

Whew! I was productive this fall, even though I fell off my sweater-a-month kick a bit.

Not quite a sweater.

Earlier this year, I signed up for IntSweMoDo (International Sweater-a-Month Dodecathon) on Ravelry, the goal being to knit one sweater for every month of the year. Up until September, I was totally on track. And then...the wedding shawl. As a gift for my friend who was just married this weekend, I knit a stole for her to wear to her wedding reception. And it ate my entire September. In all likelihood, I won't finish my current sweater, Pas de Valse, until November, thanks to other gift knits that are in line right now. But it sure came out pretty. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you...White Wedding!

PATTERN: Nightingale Wing by Anne Hanson
NEEDLES: US 2.5 (3.0mm)
YARN: Grey Drizzle Fibers Silk Merino Mist in "White Wedding" (custom dye)

The pattern is very straightforward and not all that difficult, really. I actually think it might make a pretty good first lace project, because it's a stole that remains the same width the entire length of the project, rather than a triangle that grows from the center as you knit it and the rows get steadily longer. The most difficult stitches in this pattern are knitting 3 together, or knitting 2 together through the back loop. Not hard at all.

I will caution anyone who plans to make this shawl that it's lace on both sides. There's no easy back purl side like in a lot of lace patterns. Also, the pattern repeat is 24 rows long, and you knit the pattern repeat 24 TIMES. So it's a lot of knitting - took me about 60 hours to complete - and you really have to focus. I wouldn't call this tv knitting, as I never really memorized the pattern, although it did become pretty intuitive by about the last third of it.

I didn't make any changes to the pattern other than to omit the last 3 repeats. This was due to the length, which was just right. It was 54" when I stopped knitting and after blocking it was 68" - just right!

The yarn was custom dyed for me by my friend Deb, who lives here in Seattle and is the artist behind Grey Drizzle Fibers. She is fabulous and great to work with, and I recommend her fibers very highly.

Stripes for Marianne

Sometimes you just find inspiration and have to go with it. I was visiting The Most Amazing Yarn Shop In The World in June, and I saw this beautiful little cowl, knit with a yarn I'd never heard of, and decided it was exactly what I needed to make for my friend Marianne. So I copied the unpublished pattern (with the consent of the shopkeeper) and bought a skein of the yarn, and from there I was on my way.

 

PROJECT: Stripes for Marianne
 YARN: Crystal Palace Yarns Mini Mochi (self-striping), #118
 NEEDLES: US 4 circulars

Here's the recipe for this little cowl - super easy: In any fingering weight, self-striping yarn, cast on 120 stitches. Knit 1.5" 2x3 ribbing, then continue in stockinette in the round until you've reached your desired length (I made mine about 11 inches long). Bind off using your preferred method (I did a long tail sewn bind off). Gift to your good friend and wait for smiles. If you're lucky, she'll model it for you in 100 degree North Carolina heat.

 

  

It was all yellow...

This winter, I went on a spree knitting yellow things.

PROJECT: Super-Secret Snobby Spinner Swap Surprise
PATTERN: Simple Yet Effective Shawl by Laura Chau (Ravel it!)
YARN: Handspun Sunshine Yarns Organic Merino Roving in "Sunshine," fingering weight, approx. 370 yards
NEEDLES: US 5

This shawl was sort of a long slog but the end result was awesome. I knit this with yarn I spun myself, the first fingering weight yarn I'd ever created, so it definitely had some flaws, some slubs here and there and a little bit of overtwisting - so the yarn was rustic and uneven. This seemed like the perfect shawl for that sort of thing, and it was. Once knit up, you really can't see the imperfections in the yarn at all, and it was an incredibly mindless pattern to knit. I would certainly make another, I think it's great for showing off the gentle striping of handspun yarn.

I actually knit this for a swap with some other snobby spinners on Ravelry, so sadly, I had to part with it - which was tough, but that's the thing with yarn and knitting - there's always another beauty just around the corner. Plus, I was working on something yellow for myself...

PROJECT: Shalom
PATTERN: Shalom Cardigan by Meghan McFarlane (Ravel it!)
YARN: Sunshine Yarns Merino Worsted in "Saffron Sarie," approx 3.5 skeins (595 yards)
NEEDLES: US 6, 7 and 8

I love this sweater.

It's my first of 2010 (did I mention I joined a challenge to knit 12 sweaters in 2010?) I made a lot of modifications to it, with the help of other Ravelers and also some of my own intuition, because the original was written for bulky weight yarn and I had worsted. So I've got really extensive notes on my Ravelry project page, but basically I had to change the number of stitches I cast on and throughout the whole pattern. The twisted rib stitch at the top is a really easy pattern, and it was simple to modify, and really easy to fit to my body. The end result is a sweater that fits me really, really well and is a comfortable, versatile weight.

I bought more yarn thinking that I would lengthen the sleeves, but in the end I kept them as originally written - they're so cute! I doubt I would actually wear this without somewhat long sleeves under it, but we'll see - at least this way I have options!

I found the awesome buttons at - where else? - Etsy. They're vintage pinstripe Lucite and I found that at Button Odyssey, which has a ton of cute stuff.

Sometimes you just need a burst of sunshine in the middle of the winter, you know?

Carolina Clapotis

PATTERN: Clapotis (Ravel it!)
YARN: Sunshine Yarns Classic sock yarn in Carolina Coast
NEEDLES: US 6

I'm a little overdue in posting this project, which I actually finished back in August. I knit this with the yarn my friend Dani at Sunshine Yarns dyed based on a photo I took at Holden Beach, so the colorway is very personal to me. I don't knit with variegated yarn often, so I had to think about what I could make that would show off the colorway without being too busy. The Clapotis scarf, one of the most popular patterns on the internet, was just the thing.

I sized it down from a shawl to a scarf by doing fewer repeats of the increase (and thereby the decrease) sections, and it came out perfectly with yarn to spare.

Milkweed

PATTERN: Milkweed Shawl (Ravel it!)
YARN: The Plucky Knitter Superwash Merino Wool Handpainted Fingering Weight in Sag Harbor
NEEDLES: US 4

I love, love, love this FO. I am not hugely into purple. I don't wear it or buy it or knit it much. But this shawl is making me rethink that. It was my first time knitting with The Plucky Knitter yarn and I loved it. Wonderful stuff. Worth trying to catch her updates on Etsy. They sell out quickly, but she updates regularly so it's not impossible to score yarn from her shop. And it's very reasonably priced for indie hand-dyed yarn.

I didn't make a single modification to the pattern. It's wonderfully written - you can read the written instructions or follow charts, which is awesome. Whatever works for you. What really appealed to me was that this scarf has zero purling, which makes it a much quicker and more relaxing knit. The rows are pretty simple and easy to memorize. 

A super knit. I'll have to make another one for me at some point. (Yes, I'm in gift-knitting mode).

Montego Bay Scarf

PATTERN: Montego Bay Scarf (Ravel it!)
YARN: Sunshine Yarns twist sock yarn
in Butterbeer
NEEDLES: US 8

My first FO in what feels like forever! This is a really nice, simple pattern that shows off variegated yarns really well and knits up into a light, airy shawl. I made mine wider than the pattern suggested and I also minimized the fringe to just 2 12" strands each. The pattern also calls for braiding the fringe, but I liked the look of the loose fringe several people had shown on Ravelry.

Lagging!

Oh my god. I am the world's slowest knitter this summer. I have three projects in the works and I'm just dragging my feet finishing them. Probably because it's summer, it's hot, we're traveling a lot...I know! Excuses! But I'm hell-bent on finishing up some of this stuff this month.

Hedgerow Socks in Sundara sock yarn for Rachel - I'm making my way through sock #2. I adore these socks, but they're on tiny needles and the stitch pattern is not the fastest.

Montego Bay scarf for me in Sunshine Yarns twist sock yarn. It's actually much longer than this now, and I have to finish it by July 15 - I'm doing a knit-along and that's the end date.

Prickly Pear socks in Sunshine Yarns soft sock yarn. I am totally dragging on these, I've had them on the needles for months now. I need to get serious!

I have so many other projects in my queue - time to get cracking! Someone light a fire under me!

Red Skies

Another FO to share...

 
PATTERN:Red Skies at Night (Ravel it!)
YARN: Sundara Yarn sock in Roasted Persimmon
over Green Papaya (one skein)
NEEDLES: US 5

This photo really doesn't do justice to the beautiful yarn and pattern. I love this scarf, and I knit it exactly like it was written, in the exact same yarn. I love the scalloped edging and the gently rolling pattern definitely does remind you of "Red skies at night, sailor's delight..."

As far as lace patterns go, this was definitely a bit more challenging - I never did memorize the stitch pattern. I knit a great deal of this on the plane to and from London, so I really can't help associating it with the sights and sounds of England!