Chevron, lace and cables, O My!

**Pictures coming soon**

I have been working on some fun patterns recently.  I finished my Silverberg sweater in all it's stockinette glory and have been balancing that out with some patterns that have fun details to their stitching.

The first is a sock pair that I've been working on for a while and posted about before. My Jaywalkers are coming along slowly but surely.  I think it's the perfect travel project. The pattern is easy enough to do without paying too much attention but when I'm in a waiting room bored it's interesting enough to keep me from fidgeting the whole time.  Plus the yarn I'm using gets tons of ooohs and aaaahs from people. 1st step to an awesome project is use awesome yarn.

I'm taking the interest level up one more notch with the Vesper Cowl.  It's a beautiful flowy cowl with a wavy stockinette center and lace edging.  It looks amazing but is based on 10 row blocks that still make it travel friendly.  Last for my stitchy patterns is my Peking, which I have also already mentioned.  I'm almost done with the front panel but this one really requires me to sit with my knit-companion open following each row.  The flame pattern isn't as predictable as a leaf pattern and requires my attention.  These projects are inching their way towards completion while I finish my Rhinebeck Sweaters.

I'm loving my Silverberg, it needs to be soaked to get rid of the smell still but everything is woven in and finished off.  I love how fitted the top is and the elbow length sleeves.  It balances the bulky yarn and cowl neck well.  Now that it is completely done, I brought my Collins out of hibernation.  I finished the last sleeve (cross your fingers they are even), blocked everything out and started seaming the body.  I seamed the front pieces to the back so that I could pick up stitches for the collar and front tie section.  I could have seamed on the shoulders as well but I figured it would be easier to maneuver without them on. I tried on the body and it looks a little short (which is how it's supposed to wear) and maybe a little tight, hard to tell without the ties and thick collar band.  This might be a sweater that will fit better after surgery but I think will still be wearable now with a longer shirt under.

I need to learn to trust the designer.  I have ripped out and start over this neckline twice now.  The first time I thought I knew better and did half as many short rows as written.  I ended up with a collar that stood right up.  That was my own fault.  So was the second time where I stopped the short rows on the wrong side so one side was two rows wider then the other........ At least both times I was able to rip back to where the mistake started and not have to pick up all those stitches again.

Less then a month till Rhinebeck and I still can make it, onwards and knit-wards.

Knitting Update

What's better then a knitting update? It's so nice to have tangible things to share. I started a bunch of things lately and even finished something.  The past few projects have been a combination of jumping on the bandwagon and trying to do some stash busting.

The first project is something I started and finished! At my LYS summer cotton tees have been popular and I really wanted to make one.  There was a shop sample of the Lucia Tee, which a friend also made, that started my inspiration but I just wasn't feeling the sleeves.  I wanted something that covered my shoulder more and came down a little farther.  And as much as I hate putting in set in sleeves, I do like the look and wanted to practice a bit more.  Set in sleeves are a bit magical to me, I feel like it's taking a square and trying to put it in a round hole.  The math shouldn't workout right. I applaud designers that figure it out and make it work. I decided on the Mie Pullover from Knitscene 2011 Summer edition.  I made a few mods to this.  The original is knit in reverse stockinette but I'm not really a fan of purling that much and I like the look of regular better.  I also got a slightly bigger gauge but I really liked the drape so after decreasing for the waist, I didn't increase at the bust at all.  The last thing I did was make the sleeves a bit longer.

My second "bandwagon" project, is the Jaywalker Socks.  Chevron is really big right now. A bunch of the new Knitscene patterns feature this bold print. My LYS even blogged about chevron patterns.  I was planning on using the self-striping yarn I got at the RI Sheep and Wool Festival for a 3rd pair of vanilla socks, but those are getting boring and it's the perfect yarn for the Jaywalkers.  I'm over half way through my first one, using a size 1 needle and the 9" size for my 9.5 foot. It's working out great.

I finished up my Owlie Socks so I could use the needles they were on for this pair.  The small differences in fingering weight yarn are really crazy sometimes.  My Owlie socks are much thinner and looser then these.  Partly it's because the cheveron pattern but it's also because the yarn for the Owlie's was just a little bit thinner then this stuff.  You can't really tell before it's knit, but afterwards I probably would have done my Owlies on a size 0 with more stitches around. 

I'm still chugging away at my Featherweight Cardigan, Peking Tee and have some Berrocco Origami that I want to use up. Also, I'm thinking of pulling my Collins back out and finishing up that for Rhinebeck! (The count down has begun.........)

Support is great, and not just for bras

I'm a little afraid of my sewing machine.  I got it for Christmas last year, and have taken it out once or twice to learn how to thread it and practice some straight lines.  I watched a bunch of Craftsy sewing classes and bought some fabric for project bags. But I haven't really gone past collecting the supplies for projects.  I tried making a zipper pouch where the directions have you start with sewing the zipper in between two pieces of fabric.  And I tried doing this late at night on a weeknight (lets just say the pieces are still pieces waiting to be sewn).

When it comes to "crafty" labels, I am a self proclaimed knitter, first and foremost.  I love that you can't really make mistakes in knitting.  The worst that can happen is that you have to rip some of the work and start over.  But it's really difficult to go past the point of no return.

Sewing is not quite so forgiving.  You have to be precise in measuring and cutting.  Sewing machines are a bit of an investment and even though I'm an engineer, getting to know hardware can be a bit intimidating for me.  I have blue screened a few boxes and it's never a pretty sight.  Not sure how you would blue screen a sewing machine, but I feel like I could find a creative way of doing so.

So I've been waiting for that push to get me going.  Something that is going to give my procrastinating, slightly cowardly nature a jump start and get me over the hump.  That opportunity that I've been waiting for came Wednesday night.  I can also count on SnB.  One of the lovely ladies asked me if I could test knit/modify a pattern for our favorite LYS.  It's a small spring bag with a slipped stitch chevron motif.  Well that doesn't seem too hard.  I've done a slipped stitched color-work sock (yes, one sock, that's another story). And, I've done a bunch of small bags.  She has the yarn all ready, we just need to figure out the best way to make the pattern more seamless and get knitting.  All in all, that doesn't seem too bad.  Making a pattern knit up easier is my kind of trouble shooting.  I checked out the pattern and it was pretty easy to make the body of the bucket style bag seamless, working in the round, and to tweak the pattern repeat.  I kept the bottom separate so that the seam gives the bag a little bit extra structure and definition.

This is a type of bag that needs even more structure though.  Even if I were to add a few more seams in the body, it isn't going to stand up on it's own, especially with chunky handles.  So that means adding a lining.  **GASP** That means sewing a lining!

Lucky for me, I brought the bag with me to the Saturday morning Sit and Knit at the LYS it's for.  That Saturday morning group is amazing! It's a group of knitters that are full of love, support, laughter and the required shot of sarcasm (maybe two double shots).  Everyone was pumped to see how the bag was turning out and excited for the pattern to be finished.  There was going to be no procrastinating on this project, people were already buying the yarn so they could cast on as soon as possible next week.  There was no doubt in any of their minds that this bag was going to turn out fantastic. All that excitement fueled me for the rest of the weekend.  I finished the knitting and the seaming Saturday night with no problems.  Then I started planning out this lining business.  In my fabric/sewing stash boxes that have been sitting on the shelf waiting for me to love them enough, I found the perfect fabric to line the bag, some muslin for an outer liner layer, and some iron on interfacing for that extra support.  Mesh lining for the bottom was given to me by my friend with the yarn.

Sunday I was ready to start cutting.  I cleared off the junk table (otherwise known as the dining room table) and started to create a new mess.  The process went fairly smoothly.  Before putting the finishing touches on the lining, I did go and try it in the bag.  It was about three inches too high. But..... that's definitely better then being three inches too short.  It's a good thing I didn't finish it off, so it wasn't too hard to go back and fix.

Once that was done and the lining mostly fits (it might still be a bit big but it fits in the bag). I was ready to sew it into the knitting.  This is another thing that I have mostly put off trying.  It feels a little crazy to try sewing fabric to knitting.  I found this great tutorial from the TECHknitting blog to guide me.  And off I went again plunging down the rabbit hole with a different kind of needles and thread.  I made sure to use a bunch of pins to fit the bag and lining together.  And I only broke one needle while whip stitching the lining in.

And then success! Bag finished, lining looking pretty spiffy if I do say so myself and the sample was all ready to go to the store.  (I swear it's just my couch making it look lumpy)

I used Jil Eaton Cottontail, two skeins of the pink and one skein of the green.  The lining has a white muslin exterior and gray/white floral interior.  I put the mesh in between the two linings and it seems to be holding well without tacking it in anywhere.  I used white thread for sewing the lining but then a pink that matched the yarn for whip stitching it in.  You could do this bag without the exterior lining, but then I would use French Seams to enclose all the edges even though they would be mostly hidden by the knitting.

I did try to start sewing a drawstring bag Sunday night.  I started to lose my mojo as it got later.  Making a new bobbin with the green thread, and re-threading the machine didn't go smoothly.  And then I got in quite a tangle where I thought I may have snapped something while getting the fabric out of the clutches of the feeder teeth. But only fabric was harmed and I decided to call it a night.

Things that definitely helped me were:

• Craftsy classes - holy cow, these things are great.  Even just the free ones like the drawstring and bucket bag making classes are really informational.  I did also take the beginning sewing studio one.  Little things like how to place pins, measure fabric, and iron out seams made a big different in sewing it and the final look of the project.  
• Steam blocking the knitted bag pieces.  I've never been much for blocking.  I like to cut corners where I can.  But I am definitely learning the importance of blocking.  Steam blocking not only helped get the edges to lay flat and thus be easier to seam, but made the knitting look fabulous and professional.  An iron is a great secret weapon for knitters.  I used a dish cloth to cover the knitting, sprayed it down water and then put the iron on top.  The steam did most of the work.
• Energy and support from fellow knitters (probably the most important).  Knowing that the Saturday morning group was excited and had faith in my abilities was amazing, and something that really makes all the difference. 

Springtime Bandit and Sock Distraction

I get distracted by many things but especially pretty yarn.  I even missed posting last week because I was so distracted (or a bit lazy, whatever).  When it comes to festivals and yarn crawls I am lucky that I am a sock knitter.  Most booths have sock weight yarn and since you only need 1 or 2 skeins depending on the skein size for a pair of socks it's an easy, no planning involved purchase.  After my trip to RI Sheep and Wool, I couldn't wait to cast on with my super pretty sock yarn.  I started by casting on at Perfectly Twisted and finished up one sock in Plymouth Stiletto in a week.  I used the basic Figure 8 cast on and a short row heel.  I've found that 68 stitches around on size 0's is a good fit for my ankle.

Instead of starting the next sock right away, I moved on to my Play at Life Maki yarn.  Why make two of the same sparkly sock when you can make gradient socks? I can't wait to see how this knits up and how long of a leg I can get.  I started with the same Figure 8 cast on but for this one I went through my Socks a la Carte, Toe Up! book for something different.  I decided on a gusset with a semi short row heel.  The heel is nice and smooth on this one and I like doing a heel flap so much better toe up then toe down.  The only problem with this (and just about every normal heel method) is the gradient gets messed up when you start knitting the leg.  I tried to take a clear picture of the top of the instep where you start in the round again after the heel.  It's not a big jump but you can definitely tell it isn't a smooth color change anymore.  I  think if I were to do another pair of maki socks I would try to use the heel shaping method from the Concentric Socks to make a smooth heel.  I'm not sure if I could reconfigure it with a non-diagonal leg or not, and I'm a little too lazy/excited to finish these socks to go back and try with this pair.

I didn't have any plans Memorial Day weekend, so I went stash diving Friday night to find something new to cast on.  I decided on some brightly colored aran weight merino to play with, then went searching on Rav for something to make with it.  Springtime Bandit from Kelborne Woolens caught my eye and it's free, so I downloaded that and I went on my way.  Since I had the whole weekend to relax, marathon the new season of Arrested Development and sort of clean.... I got it done Monday night! But someone stood in my way so that I couldn't get it blocked.

I probably could have moved her, but you could see it in her face that she was saying "MINE."  And I was tired.  But after blocking, drying and weaving in ends, I have a great shawl/scarf for when it gets colder.  I think the triangle shape will be great to tuck into my pea coat and keep my chest warm.  

Hark it's some Lark and other Quince Yarns

The planets and stars are aligning, or at least that's what it feels like in Plainville.  My LYS (In the Loop) recently became the first and only MA flagship store for Quince yarns. Quince yarn is great American wool.  They have a handful of wool bases, a few blends and they all come in a ton of beautiful colors.  Chickadee is a sport weight wool, and Lark is the worsted weight wool.  The colors are completely saturated.  The yarn has no hint of scratch and is super soft for being all wool.  The stitch definition is wonderful. The beautiful yarns, patterns and weather have me hooked and in the mood to get knitting.

Back in November, In the Loop held a Mabel's Closet trunk show. Baby clothes aren't really my thing but I did buy a great goodie bag.  It was a Quince tote bag (don't wash and dry these things they shrink, guess how I know) filled with Knitbot Essentials by Hannah Fettig, two skeins of yarn (Chickadee in Peacock and Lark in Honey), plus a button and sticker.  I have drooled over the patterns and the yarn since November but I haven't done anything with them until recently.

A few weeks ago I cast on the Featherwight Cardigan from Knitbot Essentials in Madelinetosh Lace.  Also, I tried out the 70 yard mitts with the Lark for my mom for Mother's Day / her birthday.  I'm just at the start of the raglan neckline for the cardigan but the mitts were a bust.  I made one and it was way too tight, so I ripped it out and tried again on a bigger needle.  But that was still too tight.  If you do try them, go up a needle size and throw a few more stitches in.  I decided to go with a free Braided Mitts pattern from Rav instead.  There are 134 yds in a skein of Lark, which is more then enough for these mitts.  They came out looking pretty good if I do say so myself. Hopefully my mom won't lose one of these like she did with one of the Jacoby mitts I made her.  

During a special sales event I picked up Knit with Me, by Gudrun Johnston, which is another book using Quince yarns.  This book is full of sweaters and a few accessories to be knit and worn by both mothers and daughters.  They are simple, classic designs that are flattering for an array of bodies.  I love the patterns but haven't quite found the time or yarn to cast one on.  Well I finally found my chance and inspirations.

The last week in April, In the Loop had their grand re-opening event for the arrival of all the Quince yarns.  Well there was just so much Quince love in the air I couldn't walk away.  I ended up searching through my favorites for a while and then realized I have two books using Quince yarns to pull from.  I thought Empire would be the perfect sweater to cast on right now.  Even though the weather is getting warmer, my office building is just going to get colder with the AC being turned on.  I think my knitting ability is at the point where I really will be able to make it fit well.  I'll have to "bust out" Little Red in the City when I get closer to the bust shaping.  But for now I'm working on the body and waist shaping.  I cast on as soon as I got the yarn (April 27th).  It's going pretty fast for being a sweater on size 4 needles.

Sunday, Jeremey and I went to go see Iron Man 3.  I brought along my sweater and was able to work on it during the movie.  I did decrease two rows early once but I don't think it will make that much of a difference.  When I took my measurements I have a 47" hip that decreases down to 39" at the waist with a 5" vertical difference.  The pattern only has a 3" difference for a 6" vertical.  So I might add a decrease repeat anyways but leave the length just to ensure I have it.  

I want Spring!

To start a little poem my grandmother and aunt are always reciting:

SPRING HAZ SPRUNG
DA GRASS HAZ RIZ
I WONDER WHERE DA FLOWERZ IZ
DA BURD IS ON DA WING
MY WURD HOW UBSURD
I ALWAYS THOUGHT DA WING WAZ ON DA BIRD

I have no idea what this is from or where they got it but I hear it every spring.

I am ready for spring. I want to go out without my coat and wear pretty shoes and feel good in the sun, maybe even do some yoga out on the balcony. And I might be getting a little impatient, if I stomp my feet will it come faster?

Instead of stomping I decided to try knitting something happier.  I just finished the Peekaboo socks I was knitting for a friend's mom.  Black socks are definitely a challenge to knit but at least they were only ankle socks and a simple pattern.  I'm thinking of making myself a pair.  It would be fun to have a pair of socks to put on for a pedicure.  It's a little annoying to scrub and put on lotion to then walk on the carpet and get fuzzies stuck to my fresh feet. That might be a future happy knitting project but I just wasn't feeling casting them on right away after I just finished a pair.

Between the plain black getting a little depressing and not really feeling the double heelix socks I had started, I was starting to think I was all socked out.  How could that be possible?

I went searching in my Sock Club 13 list for something bright and happy to get me going again.  And I found it! I cast on to start my Owlie Socks in some bright blue.  I need to find some beads in my jewelry stash but right now I'm still on the cuff.  So much happier then black socks.

And they just keep coming...

I finished my first Sock Knitters Anonymous monthly challenge  One of the March themes was unusual construction.  And I'm a sucker for a funky constructed sock.  And the concentric socks were on my Sock Club 13 list. I cast them on on March 1st, then got a little distracted with Sock Madness but managed to get a ton of knitting done over my PAX weekend. I finished these up on Saturday.  I spread the love at Knit and Chat and I think I got a few people casting them on as well.  The pattern is easy to read and follow, the shaping feels magical.  They fit perfectly when on, even if they are a little tough to get over your ankle. 

PAX was a whirlwind.  The 3 days we were there went by so fast.  Between panels, and seeing Gabe and Tycho from PA, to concerts and hanging out with friends it was a jammed pack weekend and a lot of fun.  My favorite panel/speaker was about "Video Game Addiction," it focused on how society views video gamers, and debunked a lot of myths about video gamers, what people call video game addiction. The speaker was Mike Langois, who wrote Reset: Video Games and Psychotherapy.  The book was $3 on Amazon for kindle, so I picked it up but haven't had a chance to read it. He was an extremely interesting speaker so I'm excited to read more.  

I really need to pick back my Phineas and Ferb Wii game.  I thought I would start small to build up some real skillz.  Since whenever Jeremey and I try to play Mario I'm pretty horrendous.     

Knitting Update

Finishing a sweater in a week is pretty fabulous. Only, I wish it was in my size.  I am completely in love with Classic Elite's Jil Eaton Minnow Merino. Long name but really lovely yarn. It's a worsted 1-ply superwash wool, that comes in bright, saturated colors. I've used it to make a bunch of monsters, since it's superwash and super soft it's perfect for cuddly things. This was my first time using it for a sweater. My Baby Sophisticate was a present for one of the women at SnB. She is due in about a week and I made the 3-6 month size in the hopes that it would be a good fit for this fall.  If her baby is anything like her, she will be tiny and it will fit through the winter. I used the purple, black and white for the body, trying to do a gradual striping effect.  Then used some left over pink for the collar and button band. I had just enough and I think it gives it a nice pop. The sweater was a super easy top down raglan shaped sweater with short rows to make the collar.  The pattern was easy to read and straight forward.  The only modifying I did was the striping.

Round 1 Down!

This is definitely going to be the year of the socks. I can add another pair to my finished list and it's only the middle of March! Last night I completed my entry for Round 1 of Sock Madness and I'm on way to competing on a team for the first time.  Last year I made one sock during the 2 week time period, so I am definitely getting faster or at least more determined.  These socks were bigger then my normal socks too, with a 70 stitch circumference and a pretty long leg.  Hopefully the gauge will increase for the next sock and I won't have to knit on size 0's for the rest of the competition.

Bring It On Snow

I probably shouldn't tempt the weather but I was ready for a weekend of enjoying some more knitting. All these snow weekends have made me a really productive knitter.  I'm not hindered very much when it snows because Jeremey drives me to work and I don't have to do that much shoveling. I just wait to get my car out of the plow wall the apartment maintenance guys make, when I finally need it.  So being snowed in with a cup of hot chocolate really puts me in the mood to get a lot of knitting done.

To prove I have done a lot of knitting so far this winter, I just finished another pair of socks (3 so far this year!). This is my first pair off the sock club list. Now it's time to take a club break and start sock madness.

The first pattern was released on Wednesday. It took me until Friday night to go stash diving.  I came up with some really pretty Creatively Dyed. I tried casting on with my square size 1's but not only do I still hate the points even after taking a nail file to them, my gauge was too big. I switched over to my size 0's and finished the cuff and setting up my knit companion app Friday night just as the snow was stopping.  I was able to get out for Saturday morning Sit and Knit. Hanging out at In the Loop really got me going on my Sock Madness socks. As of Monday morning I"m halfway through the foot, on the first cuff down sock. I have two weeks to finish this pair to get placed onto a team.  If I just finish the one sock I can still get the patterns as they come out for each round but I will not be able to compete.

Here's Jeremey helping me dig out and get to Sit and Knit, how awesome is he? You can see the snow was almost to his knees.

Socks Go Nuclear

I survived my first site visit for work. Even with delaying our flights to Monday because of the snow we were still able to get everything done we needed to, and leave on Thursday. All went well on site even though it was a little awkward to learn that I needed to be escorted to the bathroom, which was also in a different building. Once you go through security and are in the main area of the plant you must be within line of site of your escort. Luckily the women's bathroom only had one door so I could go in there alone. It was a great experience to be inside the control room we are upgrading and watch the operator, I feel like I have a better understanding of what they do and how best to layout the graphics on our system.

On to the good stuff. Because of our flight change, we flew down to Atlanta then to Cleveland. This added a few hours of flying time on and gave me a chance to knit the entire leg on my second Love sock. I didn't get much knitting done Tuesday or Wednesday because I was so wiped once we got back to the hotel after a full days work and dinner. But I did start the heel enough that I got through the top bumps that I was using stranded colorwork for. On my first flight back, from Cleveland to Detroit, it wasn't a long enough flight for them to allow us to turn on our electronic devices. So, I had to finish up the heel and heel turn by copying the other sock. I started to get bored of my Love sock so between the layover and the second flight I cast on my second Monkey sock and worked on my Fiddlehead mitts a bit. It's a good thing I checked my bag and didn't have to worry about it getting lost, I had a lot more room for yarn in my carry on.

I did finish up my Love Socks on Saturday at In the Loop and they are as comfy and soft as you could hope socks to be. 

Sunday I picked up a long lost project. On Christmas 2010, I start making these flower petal triangles for the Tosh Purse. Once you make 20 triangles you seam those together to make 5 squares and then seam those together to make an open topped cube. I feel like I'm doing a word problem now. Well it took me a few months to get a bunch of triangles together. Then I blocked them.

Now it's 2013 and I have all the triangles knit, and they are all seamed (twice). This past weekend I finished the little bit of work at the top of the bag and I'm on to the seed stitch strap! It's a really fun knit, there isn't a reason it has taken me over two years to get this far. Because of the open top I'm planning to make a drawstring bag with a square bottom to fit in the bag as a lining and closure. The yarn is an awesome bright blue-y turquoise from Creatively Dyed that could go with a solid or a print, I'll have to keep my eye out for something interesting. 

Fingerless Madness/mittens

I admit I was a skimmer.  Whenever I had to read books for school I would most likely end up skimming the book to get the gist.  I can assure you it's not really the best method for getting good grades in English.  It's not that I hate reading, it's that I hate reading when I am forced to. There is just some part of my mind that shuts down when I haaaave to do something. Haaaaving too takes all the fun out of it. Well the same thing usually ends up happening when I get a knitting request. A feeling of UGH just comes over me when someone asks for something. Part of my annoyance for knitting requests is that I want to knit stuff for ME, I buy the yarn and put the time into something so that I can enjoy it. Knitting takes a lot of time and most people don't realize the effort and skill it requires. One pair of socks usually take me over a month to complete. Plus there is picking out the project and the yarn, making sure they work together and most of all will be like by the recipient  Since the recipient is usually me there is no random guess work involved and I'm sure that I will like what I'm making. But for other people, who knows if they are going to like it or change their minds and then you end up wasting time and money.

As proof that I am not a fan of making stuff by request, I made a pair of fingerless mittens for my mom because she started them but was confused by DPN's and thumb gussets.  She bought the yarn and picked out the pattern after seeing a sample knit up at Webs, so there was even a good chance that she would like the finished product.. I think I started them 2 years ago, and just gave them to her on Sunday...... I did give her a pair of Fetchings that I had made but were too small for me so it made up for the lateness a bit. And of course I didn't get pictures of either pair before she left with them.

So when my aunt asked me if I could make her a pair of fingerless mitts I was hesitant. But she is pretty awesome and offered to pay for them. I told her to pick a pattern off Ravelry and off I went. The pattern was a simple worsted weight pair with a garter stitch edge. While hanging out at In The Loop Saturday morning I picked up a ball of Cascade Pacific. It's a soft, silky looking merino/acrylic blend. I thought it would be an easy to care for yarn and the color is really nice.  The pattern called for 125 yards and the Pacific has 213 yards. So I thought I would get the first pair done for my aunt and then see what was left for some coffee cup cozies. But after weighing the mitts and then ball and realizing that it only took 18 g / 100 g to finish the mitts I would definitely have enough yarn for a second pair. Since the first pair only took me a day to do, I started the second right away, made them a little longer, added some really pretty buttons and voila! Two pairs of simple mitts in one weekend!

Monsters!

There is something exciting about knitting monsters. Maybe it's because they are made from quick little pieces, or maybe it's because they are incredibly well designed to look seamless (check out Rebecca Danger's designs for proof). Or maybe they are fun to knit because well they are fun to have. They are happy go-lucky monsters. And, in my humble opinion they are great baby gifts because who better to keep the boogie man away then your very own monster? Last night I finished up a pair of Geet the Garage Monsters for a friend who had a baby a few months ago. They are a fraternal pair one for the new baby and one for her big sister. Pretty cute if I do say so myself.  The Classic Elite Jill Easton Merino I used was awesome. It's a soft 1-ply superwash worsted weight wool. And it comes in a ton of monster loving colors.

I've made a few other monsters and can testify they are fun to have around. And buttons for eyes are much easier to sew then just sewing eyes. But buttons for eyes for babies probably isn't the best idea. 

My couch potato monster is completely knit but I've been lazy about finishing it and this seams to be the only picture I have of it. 

Rhinebeck 2011 Complete in 2013

Back in October I was feverishly knitting socks to try and use up the three skeins of sock yarn I bought in 2011. I almost completed my goal, finishing my Hermione's Everyday Socks and my Afterthought heel socks just before going, (sewing in ends the night before). I swear they are finished even though the only pics I have are WIP ones. Both socks are free patterns on Ravelry, the Hermione's Everyday socks were knit in Miss Bab's and the colorway is Cleopatra. It's a really funky black, teal, magenta, baby blue and yellow. It sounds strange but is really nice and different knit up. The Afterthought heel socks are knit in Into the Whirled, I loved their colors and was completely blown away when I first saw their booth. I was looking for really simple projects to cart around with me, in the hopes I would do them faster. It ended up being super boring but at least I'm happy with the finished product.

                 

 

While at Rhinebeck I cast on my last pair. I choose another free pattern Maeva from the Winter 2011 Knitty.  I loved knitting these socks, just the right amount of interest with a great twisted cable pattern and seamless gusset increases. The Sanguine Griffon Skinny Bugga really brought out the twists and the color is just fabulous. I finished them this past weekend and wore them to work today. 

I think I'm going to try for 13 socks in 2013, not sure if that is going to be pairs or individual socks but we'll see. I at least want to pair up my yarn with patterns for my own personal sock club. Starting this off is another free pattern from Knitty: Monkey. I'm knitting these in ShiBui sock, colorway Tweed. It's such a cool colorway with cool browns, light blue with a hint of green, a gray brown, and hints of dark green. I think it will be a perfect mix of subtle pattern and subtle colors. The simple pattern repeats will be interesting but still easy for travel. Which is especially good because they are in my new In the Loop sock bag that I got from a friend! I am super lucky.