THREE More Off The List...

The bolero is DONE!! And it FITS!! And I wore it last night. Whew.

So it's Knit One Crochet Too cotton, and I did it in a different colorway than they specified. I'd love to do another one in a solid color, maybe in one of their wools. The pattern is Yin Yang Bolero, and you can find it at your LYS or on Ravelry.

Here's the "pile of color" that was about the mid-way point. The colorways were similar, and I was looking for a "beachy" feel to it. Remarkably (why am I surprised?), this garment is HEAVY. Cotton weighs a ton and I can see why the Blueberry t-shirt I've got on the needles will be interesting to wear - I think I'll have to have a tank or camisole under that one!

The garment knitted up very quickly, even with a couple of additions insofar as adding some additional rows on the bottom to get a tad more length, and adding a few more rows at the shoulder to widen up the arms. The T-construction is quite simple, and once I got the hang of the weaving, the seaming up the sides was quick. A little quirky at the "rounded" part of the armhole, but I can't figure out how to do it any other way. I'm sure there is another way, but I wasn't going to futz with it.

Here's the completed bolero, front and back. I wore it with khakis and a white t-shirt. I have a purple shirt that kind of resembles the "heather" look of the purple on the bolero, but I thought it would pop better with the white. I guess that I could also wear it with black, and of course with a long-sleeved shirt, too.

I need to work on my posture... I like the way the blues and blue-greens blended here. And you know I'm a purple-nut, so it was nice to see the frankly purple areas and the more subdued periwinkle tones. This was pretty straightforward, mindless knitting in a plain stockinette pattern. The yarn did the work, and I just had to pay attention to some increases and decreases, plus areas where you cast on at the end of the row. Doing it again, I'd probably use a cable cast-on, but for this one, I think I did a backward loop.

Here's a shot of the fish button. The vertical buttonhole works marvelously, just have to remember to go "tail first" with the button so it lays right. All I did for that was run two lengths of yarn through the buttonholes separately and knot them in the back.

I'll be uploading a few of these pics to my Ravelry page, and I'm so tickled that I can "cross this off" and move on to some of the other patterns I've been itching to start. Patience, right? My friend Sue is fond of quoting "Patience obtaineth all things." But she's one of those quirky crocheters who only works on one piece at a time, and doesn't have a stash! She calls me a "yarn snob" but that's ok. Her only real fault is that she's a White Sox fan...I can live with that, though. LOL

Oh, and I guess I should mention that BOTH earflap hats are done. No pics; they're on the blocking board, so I have to get that taken care of in the next day or so. For Kid #1, he has I-cords. Kid #2 got braids. Honestly, I do like Kid #1's hat better - the colors are subdued. What I did wrong with them is that I picked up too many stitches around the earflaps for the edging, so they kind of "bow" out a bit, but I don't think it's a huge deal.

So now I'm just working on afghan squares. I need to pull out the headband for Kid #1's girlfriend; that should work up quickly. And the sweater that was originally for me? I'm so scared that it won't even go together that I may shove it in a bag, stick it in the yarn closet and let it marinate till I have more courage to face my obvious screw-up. Sometimes, you just need to let things get space and perspective. Right off the needle, the thing may have ended up in the trash. I spent a good chunk of money on it, so I'm hoping it goes together. But right now, I don't think I could tolerate it if it doesn't work out right. Perhaps a bit of meditation over my most expensive hank of yarn. Some deep breathing. Some prayer and definitely a plea to the Knitting Godesses...

A Respite...

...from the news, politics, and the Never-ending Baby Blanket. (Sorry, little one, but you're going to be 18 before you'll be able to lift this blanket!!) I have decided I needed a little "instant gratification," so of course, I was tempted beyond reason at the LYS.

I ended up with 1 ball of Liberty Wool. This is a lovely super-wash wool in simply amazing colorways. You look at the ball and say, "well, I think this might be ok" and then as you work with it, the colors unfold in many and marvelous configurations, giving your knitting a hand-painted look. Without the price!

So I'm doing a freebie pattern of simple chevron-edged mitts. Right up my alley, right? Here's the project in progress: As you can see, I don't bother with a "katcha." I use paper. :) And I actually did a partial gauge swatch. I am hoping that this appeases the Gauge Gods and they turn out ok, but if they're a little off, well -- they're mitts. Not a sweater.


The yarn doesn't look like much, does it? Well, guess again. Look at the picture. THAT is the colorway I got. Yes, hidden amongst the greys and drab are glorious spikes of purple, periwinkle and hot pink. Just what I want to chase away the boring and dull March weather we're having now.

While I don't normally do it, I'm trying the "pm" command (place marker) as they've indicated. With this very simple lacy pattern, I don't think I'll need it, but it gives me (a) a way to use my nice girly stitch markers; and (b) practice in using a marker mid-row and having to move it.

Here's another shot at what the yarn and the first 7 rows looks like. For some reason, the flash on the Crappy Red Camera wasn't firing, but you can still see the yarn against the white desktop. And even the cutsey pink marker. Gotta love glitz, right?

I figure after this, I can complete the Never-ending Baby Blanket (slated for this weekend - I have about 30 rows left, and it's all decreasing from here). And then I move on to the car seat blanket, in progress, and the charity afghan square -- of which I have 4 to do.


Then, maybe... I can finish the blueberry t-shirt, start the cocoa brown one, and finish (well, hang on - gotta FIND IT) the yellow shell. It's supposed to be spring and then summer, after all, and it would be nice to have something to wear that I've knitted with my own hands.

In the meantime, I'll look out at the 34-degree weather and watch the wind blowing snow flurries sideways, and observe that there are about 20 robins in the field next to me, industrially poking about for worms. If they can plug along, so can I.


Back to that set of mitts and the rest of the WIPs in my stack.

Bunnies!

Bunnies, you say? What???

Ok, so there's this contest we have at work. If you create something (music, art, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, etc.) you can enter it to have it judged and if they like it, you get published in the Magazine. The BIG PRIZES get money.

I won last year, but I got a certificate. So this year, I wracked my brain and I came up with something unique.

Y'all know I knit. So I figured that since the theme this year was "food" I could knit food! But not just any food. No cupcakes, no lobsters, no wedding cakes, no hamburgers. And if you think I'm kidding, just go search for "knitted lobster" or any of the other things I just mentioned. Knitted pizza? Seriously. But no thanks.

I found a "chocolate bunny" to knit. Here's where I found him:  Blah, Blah, Blahhhg: Knitted Chocolate Easter Bunny Pattern. http://ax174.blogspot.com/2006/04/chococlate-bunny-pattern.html  - and yes, I spelled it exactly how the link looks on my paper.

I thought about the bunnies I have received. And I always liked the white chocolate bunnies the best. But I know there are 3 kinds of chocolate: dark, milk, and white. The foodies will tell you that "white chocolate" isn't really chocolate since there's no cocoa in it. But that's ok. Here are the yarns I picked:

Bunny yarn

At about 11 o'clock, the "milk" chocolate is Bernat Cashmere Natural Blends, color 16013, "Earth." It's leftover from a prayer shawl we did for a friend, and it's a blend. It's 65% acrylic, 30% nylon and a mere 5% cashmere. Not sure how they get "Cashmere" right up there at the front of the name, but it doesn't matter. The yarn will make a nice "milk chocolate" bunny.

At about 2 o'clock, the "dark" chocolate is Bernat Satin, color 04013, Mocha. This is a lovely 100% acrylic, and right below the hank, you see the bottom of the dark chocolate bunny. Size 6 DPNs.

At about 8 o'clock, you will see Stitch Nation (Debbie Stoller) "Full O' Sheep" which is a gorgeous 100% Peruvian wool that is almost "roving" in texture. The color, coincidentally, is "Little Lamb." I bought this just because it was on sale. But it's really a stunning yarn. It's so soft that it makes Cascade feel rough. Take a look at these shots. You'll see that there's barely any twist to this.

The pattern calls for using needles smaller than the yarn label indicates, so that it's a tight fiber. Look at this close-up shot; you'll see that this white bunny will be plenty tight!

Check out the ply here!

I've just started the white one; and I have to tell you that though I am no speed-knitter, this little stinker works up quite quickly. I did the dark chocolate one in just a few days. With the texture of this yarn, though, I may go a little slower so I don't pierce the fiber with the needles. Once you get the stitches picked up, you just knit. You're in the round so it's all a lovely Stockinette Stitch without even having to think.

There's some shaping in the form of making the body and then tapering the ears, but seriously, there is NO SEAM on this bunny after you graft the ears. I used a Kitchener stitch for that, but if you've got a better grafting technique, by all means: go for it! The instructions just say: graft ears together.

So. The accessories. If you check out the pattern (and no, I don't know if the link is still alive), you will see that the creator recommends embroidering the eyes. I could certainly see this if you were going to give this as a baby toy.

Since I'm using it as a strictly decorative item, here's what my bunny looks like. Isn't he cute?? I used some old shirt buttons I had, and then some lilac sheer ribbon, since I remember my bunnies coming with a bow. 

Here's a hint: Start stuffing WELL before the pattern tells you because the neck is really, really  narrow. I started right about his belly button.

And here's another hint: I used about 1/2" of pony beads at the very bottom. That gives him a little stability, because you bounce him lightly to make sure his bottom is flat, and with the beads, he stands right up.

So for the white chocolate bunny, I might just use regular snaps...no sewing! The eyes don't need to be embroidered or tightened down, because the bunnies will be sitting on a doily.

The other thing I'm thinking of adding: about 7 pysanky, Ukrainian Easter Eggs. See here for more information on those lovelies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pysanka

For the record,  no. Mine aren't that pretty. And if I can't make them look like I've done them actually with HANDS instead of FEET, then I may skip that part. Heck, I can always KNIT Easter eggs!

Knitting Indulgence

So the Learning Sweater is progressing nicely IN SPITE of having to RIP OUT 6 1/2" last Friday. Counting is important in knitting. When it says "repeat 8 times" it doesn't mean FOUR KNITS AND FOUR PURLS. It means EIGHT OF EACH. Oy. Rookie mistake, but easily fixed! Sooooooooooo. While at the LYS, there's a sale. Yep, Danger Will Robinson territory. Pictured is the Jordana Paige bag I couldn't resist. I have to change it over to use for the holidays, and I can't wait to see how it all fits together. It's for smaller projects. Honestly, I looked at the larger ones, but all I'd do is stuff it with "other stuff" and I don't usually bring larger projects along when I'm waiting or the like. I love the bright green, not because I like the color, but because you can see the contents of your bag! A thinking knitter's bag to be sure. Check out http://www.jordanapaige.com/ for more of her designs. I've eyeballed them in magazines, but this is the first time I've been able to actually fiddle with one to see if I'd like it. Heck, it's going to be a great PURSE period. You can pull up the handles to make it more of a shoulder bag or keep it as a "hand" bag. And our Knitsters group is having a "notions" exchange in February. What a great idea - first of all, to wait till after the holidays and do something in February, which is usually the slow month for us all, and kind of grim weather-wise. And notions? Who doesn't need another tape measure, stitch markers, etc.? The bag is probably my biggest indulgence (well, except for that silk yarn in my stash...). Once in a while, you get to a point where knitting out of a recyclable grocery bag just doesn't cut it.