i make stuff

One yarn, two projects.

At the beginning of the year, I took on a Pay It Forward project that involved letting several people sign up for me to make them something, and then in turn, they would have to pay it forward to someone else. I've been a wee bit slow to get going on these, but I finally buckled down and got started this summer. I decided to spin up some fiber into yarn and make handknit legwarmers for my friend Alex, who's a yoga goddess and so of COURSE needed legwarmers!!!

I started with this fiber, falkland dyed by Funky Carolina, in a color called Run Into the Fire. 

I had two braids of this gorgeous stuff, so I made two skeins of sport/dk 2-ply yarn, spinning on my Lendrum DT.

Once the yarn was done, I got really excited because I realized I totally had enough for TWO projects. So I decided to knit the legwarmers and also a birthday hat for my friend Marianne. I love how the handspun yarn looked in the two projects.

PATTERN: Improvised
NEEDLES: US 5 (3.75 mm)
YARN: My handspun, Funky Carolina Falkland

I made up this pattern, so feel free to use it. For an average woman, cast on 40 stitches (gauge about 4.5 stitches per inch). Knit 3" (approx. 18 rows) 2x2 ribbing. For the first knit row, increase 4 stitches, evenly spaced (I just did a k1f&b). Knit in the round. Increase 4 more stitches in row 50. Knit to 80 rows. Do another 3" (18 rows) 2x2 and then cast off using the sewn bindoff method. Easy!

PATTERN: Norie by Gudrun Johnston
NEEDLES: US 5 (3.75 mm)
YARN: My handspun, Funky Carolina Falkland

This is such a great hat! I wasn't sure about it in handspun at first, but my friend Tracy convinced me that with a semi-solid handspun, it wouldn't interfere with the lace panels, and she was right. This is a great pattern for a not-too-crazy handspun yarn. I love the slouch factor and the lace panels. It was a very fast knit, and I think it's really cute on my pal! The only change I made was to leave out the last pattern repeat, but it's still very slouchy.

And that's how one gal makes two gifts from the same yarn. Yay!

Sock central!

This year, I promised myself I'd get to making more socks, as I only had about 7 pairs and I have about a bazillion skeins of sock yarn I'm trying to knit through - not to mention all the fiber that's begging to be spun up and knit! Here are a few pairs I've made so far this spring...

PATTERN: Walk Now by Irishgirlieknits
NEEDLES: US 1 (2.25mm)
YARN: Funky Carolina Superwash Merino/Cashmere/Silk in "Vampyr"

Holy decadent socks, Batman! When my friend Carrie recently dyed up a bunch of yarn along with her normal spinning fiber, I knew I needed to have a skein. She does the best reds! This one had to come and live with me. Even though the blend is super fancy, I just really wanted to make socks, and my OTHER friend Carrie had just released a new sock pattern - it seemed like a match made in heaven. Thanks to my pal Ceylan for taking photos for me during our March weekend lakehouse getaway in Texas.

PATTERN: Wendy's Generic Toe-Up Socks (recipe)
NEEDLES: US 1 (2.25mm)
FIBER: Two if By Hand Superwash Merino in "Whiz Bangs"
(spun to 2-ply fingering/sport weight yarn)

It's impossible to explain how much I love these socks. This is one of my favorite colorways dyed by my girlfriend Ceylan - isn't it awesome? I think you really have to see what the fiber looks like before it's spun, because it's so stunning...

OMG. I love it. I have spun this several times, for customers of Plied Together (our Etsy handspun yarn shop) and will be spinning several more braids for upcoming custom orders. It's the best. I made basic toe-up socks using a provisional cast-on and with a short-row heel. Love!

It's fun to make stuff for MEEEE! :)

Comfort Jeanette With Apples

Tomorrow, I'll resume my Rockin' the Handknits series - I've really been enjoying putting those together and hope you have, too. But first - I have a couple of new knits of my own to share with y'all and I'd love to start with a pair of socks I knit up for my friend Jeanette. I call them Comfort Jeanette With Apples. I knit these socks with my own handspun yarn, which I made using a braid of yarn dyed by my friend Maria of Two if By Hand. Here's the original braid of fiber (the second braid is for me and will be spun/knit later):

Two if By Hand SW Merino in "Comfort Me With Apples"

Jeanette asked me to spin her braid up as a navajo (chain) plied sock yarn, and that's just what I did. Fibers dyed like this make wonderful self-striping yarn when you chain-ply them. Chain plying means taking one strand of yarn and making loops to create multiple plies, rather than taking two or more strands of yarn and plying (twisting) them together). I was super pumped with the stripy, awesome result:

Pretty neat, eh? After I spun up the yarn, I thought, "Ya know...Jeanette doesn't really love knitting socks. Maybe I'll just knit them up for her as a surprise!" And that's what I did. Stealthily, I knit the socks without her knowing and zipped them to her in the mail. 

Sometimes, it's really nice to knit something for someone as a surprise! But you can see how the yarn knit up into stripes. Cool! They're a bit fraternal, but still pretty awesome.

I just did a basic toe-up sock for these, casting on 20 stitches provisionally for the toe and increasing every other row till I had 56 stitches. Then I knit to two inches before the heel and did a normal short-row heel, followed by the leg and a twisted 1x1 rib cuff. Easy!

 

 

Some Cloudy Day

I've been so busy showing you all these other people's gorgeous handknits, I've been neglecting my own! Here's a recent knit that I'm in love with...

PATTERN: Some Cloudy Day by Tiny Owl Knits
NEEDLES: US 3 (3.25mm)
YARN: Mama Blue Knitting Goods Sea Merino in "Smoke"
(discontinued, any fingering weight yarn will do), 380 yards

I ADORE these legwarmers! My friend Ceylan knit a pair over the summer and I knew I had to have them. I put off doing it for a while because I assumed they might take a while, being tall - but no. They didn't. They were a very quick knit, mostly because the pattern is super simple and you'll memorize it after the second repeat. And then they just fly right off the needles!

It's very sad that this yarn was discontinued. A couple of years ago, Mama Blue Knitting Goods was a sold-out-in-five-minutes-every-time Etsy shop, and I frantically stashed a bunch of yarn - as much as I could grab, which wasn't that much, given the frenzied shop updates. When I heard she was going out of business a few months ago, I was sad, but she had slowed down her updates dramatically, to the point of barely even dyeing any yarn. So now I'll have to hoard my remaining skeins. This yarn is super soft and cozy. But any fingering weight yarn will do, as long as the yardage is high enough for you to get good length. I believe the pattern is actually written for sport weight yarn, so you could go that route, too.

These are awesome for lounging around on a weekend, and they fit inside my tall boots with the top peeking out for sass-factor. LOVE!

 

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.

Christmas knitting.

Friends, I am so behind on blogging. OMG. I don't know what's been the matter with me, but I just have been totally comatose when it comes to writing. And now I have a ton of things finished and not shown. Part of this was Christmas knitting, which of course means not showing things off till people receive them. But anyway, let's catch up a bit. 

Jay and I did a mostly non-storebought Christmas this year, which was great. I knit a lot of small gifts, which was also great, since last year I about killed myself knitting two gift sweaters. SO...

PATTERN: Christmas Greens (improvised toe-up socks)
NEEDLES: US 3 (3.25mm)
YARN: Hand spun yarn made from GLBLF Superwash Merino in "Greensleeves"

My sister loves green and hates knitting socks, so I decided to spin up some yarn for her and make her a pair. I contacted my friend Sam of GLBLF and asked her to custom-dye a gradient colorway for my sister, and the result was so beautiful! 

I knit the socks over just a few days, and sort of improvised a toe-up, 48-stitch sock recipe. 

 

PATTERN: Chicklets Socks by Anne Hanson
NEEDLES: US 3 (3.25mm)
YARN: Sunshine Yarns Merino Sport in "Counting Lilypads"

I knit these socks for my mom for a wee Christmas gift. The yarn is special - my friend Dani chose a photo I took in the Asticou Gardens in Bar Harbor, Maine for her annual summer photos-inspired shop update. I knew I had to have some of the color to make something for my mom, who lives in Bar Harbor. I used every single inch of the yarn, and barely made it through the second toe, but I love the finished socks. Super simple, I must make another pair for me!

PATTERN: Dotty by Irishgirlieknits
NEEDLES: US 1.5 (2.5 mm)
YARN: The Plucky Knitter Merino Cashmere Nylon Fingering in "Cream Tea"

I love these socks! They knit up so quickly for fingering weight, and I think my mother-in-law, Susan, really loves them too. It's another pair I'll have to do again for myself, because they turned out so great. The yarn was really awesome - I love MCN! It's so stretchy and soft.

PATTERN: Cross-Country Garter (improvised)
NEEDLES: US 7 (4.5mm)
YARN: Hand spun yarn from The Thylacine merino fiber in "Zig-Zag Track"

This scarf took sooo much longer than I intended. I started it last winter during my move across the country, but then put it on hold for a really long time and finally finished cranking it out this fall - just in time for the cold weather. I think Jay likes it, because he wears it all the time :) It's just simple garter stitch, perfect way to show off hand spun yarn.

PATTERN: Seaman's Cap by Brenda Zuk
NEEDLES: US 6 & US 7
YARN: Hand spun yarn from Squoosh Fiberarts Corriedale in "Coffeehouse"

I love, love, LOVE this hat. It's actually a gift for my brother, Jeremy, who is a sophomore in college, but I made Jay model it for me before sending it off to him. The yarn was just so gorgeous and manly, I was really proud of it. The pattern was perfect, too - manly, simple, not dorky. Total success. I made a size large, and really didn't make any modifications.

I have a lot of other projects to catch up on, so stay tuned.

Spinning for Babies

This spring, two of my lovely friends welcomed their second babies into the world. I wanted to do something extra special for both Mandi and Nicole and their little ones, and I thought, what would be sweeter than spinning the yarn with which I knit the babies' gifts? Nothing. So that's precisely what I did. Both moms were cool enough, having received hand knits before, to give me the OK on non-superwash baby items, which means they'll have to be washed by hand, but I had more fibers to choose from.

First, up, Mandi's 2.0, little Alexia. I made her a Baby Kina sweater and matching Saartje's Booties. I started with polwarth from Squoosh Fiberarts...

 

...and spun it up to a 2ply sport weight yarn.

 

Then, I knit the sweater and matching booties.

 

PROJECT: Baby Kina
YARN: Handspun polwarth from Squoosh Fiberarts
NEEDLES: US 2.5/3.0mm

PROJECT: Saartje's Booties
YARN: Handspun polwarth from Squoosh Fiberarts
NEEDLES: US 2.5/3.0mm

For Nicole's sweet baby girl, Violet, I decided to knit in less traditional baby colors. I spun this merino from FLUFF Fibers (dyed by my friend Jeanette) in a colorway called Asleep in the Trees...

into this beautiful 2-ply sport weight yarn...

...and then I knit a sweater.

 

PROJECT: Baby Sweater on Two Needles (February)
 by Elizabeth Zimmerman
YARN: Handspun merino from FLUFF Fibers
NEEDLES: US 5/3.75mm

This sweater was actually fairly modified - it normally has a gull lace pattern, but I knit it in plain stockinette to let the handspun striping sing.

 

 

Knitting baby gifts is really satisfying because it's quick, but also it's great to be able to make something that will hopefully make the baby a little bit happier and warmer. It's a great way to wrap your arms around a baby, which makes me really happy.  

Handmade holiday.

Wow. Just wow. Am I ever behind on project posting. Sheesh! I apologize! It's been such a busy fall, gearing up for our big move took up a lot of time. But I did do a TON of knitting and spinning and have been dying to share all my projects with everyone. Many of them were secret though, because I took on a huge thing this year - a handmade holiday. 

The goal was to make as many of my Christmas/Hanukkah gifts as possible and only use purchased items as extras. That didn't so much happen because I always, always cave and spend a lot of money on people - but the exercise was a good one. For my in-laws, for instance, my handmade gifts were the centerpiece, and the bought items were smaller. Same for my mother and my sister. I sort of failed on Dad, brother and husband - but they're harder to knit for, I think. Next year will be even better, I just know it - making gifts for people gave me more ideas for the future.

So, without further ado, here's what I have been gifting.

 

PROJECT: Handspun Toast
 PATTERN: Toast (Ravel it!)
YARN: Handspun bulky-weight merino
NEEDLES: US 7

This cozy pair of fingerless gloves was knit with yarn I spun myself - only my second spin on my wheel. I am really proud of it, even though it's certainly not perfect - lots of thick and thin spots. But it knit up into a beautiful pair of gloves for my dear friend Jen.

 

PROJECT: Seamless Raglan Sweater
 PATTERN: Elizabeth Zimmerman's Seamless Raglan Sweater (Ravel it!)
YARN: Cascade Wool 220 in Irelande - 7 skeins
NEEDLES: US 6

Last year, I made Elizabeth Zimmerman's Seamless Hybrid for Jay. Basically, her patterns are recipes you follow, and they're really simple and rewarding knits. I liked Jay's so much, I decided to make another one for his father for Hanukkah this year. Jed's has a traditional crew neck, which is more his style. Cascade is a good non-expensive wool - it comes in great colors and is widely available. It's not too scratchy and I was really pleased with the hand and the finished project.

 

PROJECT: Squooshy Cotty
 PATTERN: Cotty by Irishgirlieknits (Ravel it!)
YARN: Squoosh Merino Cashmere Sport in Hibiscus
NEEDLES: US 3

A while back, I tried and failed to make a pair of socks for my mother-in-law. They're her measurements but they somehow turned out far too tight. Susan is notoriously cold, so I really wanted to try again. I thought this Squoosh colorway was perfect for her, and the yarn is nice and stretchy. I have fallen completely in love with sport-weight socks. They're fast and fulfilling! I adore this project, I almost hated to send them away but that's how you know you've got a good gift!

 

PROJECT: Hip to be Square
 PATTERN: Turn a Square by Jared Flood (Ravel it!)
YARN: 1/2 skein Cascade 220 Heathers in Walnut Heather; 1/2 skein Noro Silk Garden in #245
 NEEDLES: US 6, US 7

My brother is hard to knit for. He's in college, and rightfully picky. But I adore this hat pattern. It's so simple, but I love the finished effect. It features a cool jogless striping pattern that was a great trick to learn so your stripes all line up just so. Love it. And I think he loved it too, because he barely took it off after he opened it.

 

PROJECT: Dad's Sleeping Socks
 PATTERN: improvised
YARN: Cascade 220 Heathers in Walnut Heather
 NEEDLES: US 6

This was the only requested hand-knit this year, and it was also the easiest. Living in Maine, my dad likes sleeping in warm woolly socks. Done! I cast on 44 stitches, knit a 2x2 rib cuff for 8 rows, then knit down the tube. The heel flap is knit over 22 stitches in stockinette for 22 rows, slipping the first stitch of each row. Short row turned heel. Picked up 13 stitches on each side for the gusset and decreased every other row till I was back to 44 stitches. Knit down the foot, decreased 4 stitches per round every other row for the toe shaping till 16 stitches remained. Kitchener bind-off. Voila! Warm socks! Dad said he was sweating in his sleep - which I suppose is what he wanted?

PROJECT: Farmer's Market Cardigan
 PATTERN: Farmer's Market Cardigan by Connie Chang Chinchio (Ravel it!)
 YARN: Beaverslide Dry Goods Worsted Weight in Mountain Morning, 7 skeins
 NEEDLES: US 7, 8

This sweater was the big kahuna of the year. I started it in August, and it took me till just a few days before Christmas to finish. This was obviously influenced by all the other things I was working on, but still. This pattern was a challenge for me. I'd never seamed a sweater before (i.e. knit it in pieces and sewn it together) and it had a lot of pieces. Plus, it has a lot of positive ease and I knit it as more of a jacket, so it was a big piece. Suffice to say that, although I love it, I'm glad it's done. I have to say that this yarn is DIVINE. I am so in love with it, I just ordered more for a sweater for me. I love the rustic tweediness!

So...that's what I've been up to! I made a couple of other little things in the meantime - a cowl, another pair of fingerless gloves - but this has been eating up most of my time. And now I'm knitting for ME! Which is incredible! And so relaxing!

Stay tuned for another upcoming post with all my spinning so far... 

Duckies!

PATTERN: Duckies (Ravel it!)
YARN: Sunshine Yarns Merino Sport in Luna
NEEDLES: US 3 DPNs

I love indie dyers - those who hand-dye their own yarn in very small batches. There are some great commercially available indie dyers out there, but there are several whose goods can only be obtained through their websites or Etsy shops. Sunshine Yarns (www.sunshineyarns.com) is one of those, and Dani is one of my favorite dyers. She does a wide range of stuff, from wildly variegated skeins to subtle overdyes and not-so-solids. I'm not so much a variegated girl myself, but I loved this colorway the first time I saw it and after she made it available at several shop updates, I finally caved.

The colorway is called Luna, part of a series of colors Dani has developed based on the Harry Potter books. And doesn't it just look like Luna Lovegood? It's so light and airy and ethereal. I love it! I think it's the perfect colorway to show off the Duckies pattern, which is quick and easy and a lot of fun to knit.

 

There's not a lot of commentary to this project - I knit it exactly as written. It was my first time using the Merino Sport and it's a fantastic base - I highly recommend it. Socks knit in sport weight yarn knit up faster and are warmer than socks knit with fingering weight yarn. Love, love, love the result. Dani's Luxury Sport yarn is even softer and more glorious than the Merino Sport, so I can't wait to try that out as well.

Easily my favorite pair of socks I've knit so far!

Hedgerows

This pair of socks may be my all-time favorite FO - and they're not even for me.

PATTERN: Hedgerow Socks (Ravel it!)
YARN: Sundara sock yarn in Spruce Lane
(limited edition colorway)
NEEDLES: US 1 (2.25mm) DPNs

Awesome pattern, absolutely stunning yarn. This is probably the most beautiful colorway I have ever seen, and I'm really not even sure how much of its complexity the camera is able to capture. It's a mixture of dark and light greens, blues and even a little yellow. Unreal. I adore everything about this pair of socks and sadly I don't get to keep them.

I knit them as part of the second "Your Socks, My Shawl" Sundara yarn swap on Ravelry. The basic idea is that we partner up and send each other a skein of our own yarn to knit up. One person knits a pair of socks, one knits a shawl. For the last swap, I knit a Shetland Triangle for my friend Thayer, who in turn knit me a pair of socks. This time, my friend Rachel knit me a gorgeous mini-Ishbel with a skein of Sundara in Secret Admirer.

Ishbel, knit for me by Rachel

So the swap is really an awesome way to meet new people and to knit something different for someone else out of a skein of yarn that's not yours. It kinda rules. :)

I stuck to the pattern for the socks for the most part. The pattern called for a round toe but I really didn't like how it looked when I knit up the first one, so I modified it using Cookie A's toe from her Monkey sock pattern.

Modified Toe
K 1 round.
Decrease Round: K to last 3 sts on Needle 1, k2tog, k1; k1, ssk, k to end of Needle 2; k to last 3 sts on Needle 3, k2tog, k1; k1, ssk, k to end of Needle 4.
Repeat these 2 rounds 8 times more. 28 sts remain.

Using Needle 4, k to end of Needle 1.
Slip sts from Needle 2 to Needle 3.
Graft sts on Needle 3 to sts on Needle 4.

I'm sending these socks off to Rachel this week and I won't lie - I might shed a little tear.