Friday, January 1, 2010
Thursday, December 31, 2009
... and one more thing.
Bonus End-of-Year Entry: I accidentally started a hat Tuesday night with the leftover yarn from my husband's Trilobite Hat - It's called The Year-End Deadline Hat. Thankfully, it got finished well before midnight on Thursday!! Here it is about 1/5 done, whereupon I decided that no, there WAS such a thing as "too many DPNs" for a hat.
By the end of Wednesday morning, having switched back to five DPNS, I was about six rows from where I thought I could call the crown "done"; by the end of lunch, I could almost see about how much hat I had left to go... and, more importantly, I could tell that yes, though on the close-fitting side, this hat will actually fit. (Yay for having a tiny, child-sized head - my glasses are cheaper (with my eyesight, this is really, really important - people can buy cars for what I'd have to pay for "grownup" frames!) - and it doesn't take much yarn to knit a hat or headband!) Plus, I remembered that if I don't have enough gray yarn for this hat, the orange-rust from my Sharp Shootin' Mitts is also DK-weight. So, there may be pom-pomage. I'm went back up to 9 DPNs, since hat was starting to edge a bit too close to the ends of the 4 DPN setup; that got too complicated, so I went back to 7 DPNs, which worked well.
Looks, um, questionable though, so that's a "GO" on the pom-pom, so the, um, pointy bit is obscured. Finished all the gray yarn Wednesday night, and started working the orange/rust. And managed to screw up a bit, so there' a bit of reworking (hey, "k2p2 around" CAN be confusing if you haven't had much sleep due to over-knitting) that happened on the very, very long commute in this morning. I figure I'll do one "repeat" of the cable pattern I made up for my mitts, and whatever yarn is left? POM POM. Here's how it looked at the end of Thursday lunch:
And, here it is, all done!
Note: if there's an image here, I finished it in time.
If there isn't, it'll be done before the first time I fall asleep in 2010.
I'm hoping there's an image.
If it's done, that's two yarns (the Berocco Merino DK from the Trilobite Hat and the Shiubi (sp?) Baby Alpaca DK from the Sharp Shootin' Mitts COMPLETELY used up. And STILL at 49 UFOs heading into 2010!! **PHEW!!!!**
By the end of Wednesday morning, having switched back to five DPNS, I was about six rows from where I thought I could call the crown "done"; by the end of lunch, I could almost see about how much hat I had left to go... and, more importantly, I could tell that yes, though on the close-fitting side, this hat will actually fit. (Yay for having a tiny, child-sized head - my glasses are cheaper (with my eyesight, this is really, really important - people can buy cars for what I'd have to pay for "grownup" frames!) - and it doesn't take much yarn to knit a hat or headband!) Plus, I remembered that if I don't have enough gray yarn for this hat, the orange-rust from my Sharp Shootin' Mitts is also DK-weight. So, there may be pom-pomage. I'm went back up to 9 DPNs, since hat was starting to edge a bit too close to the ends of the 4 DPN setup; that got too complicated, so I went back to 7 DPNs, which worked well.
Looks, um, questionable though, so that's a "GO" on the pom-pom, so the, um, pointy bit is obscured. Finished all the gray yarn Wednesday night, and started working the orange/rust. And managed to screw up a bit, so there' a bit of reworking (hey, "k2p2 around" CAN be confusing if you haven't had much sleep due to over-knitting) that happened on the very, very long commute in this morning. I figure I'll do one "repeat" of the cable pattern I made up for my mitts, and whatever yarn is left? POM POM. Here's how it looked at the end of Thursday lunch:
And, here it is, all done!
Note: if there's an image here, I finished it in time.
If there isn't, it'll be done before the first time I fall asleep in 2010.
I'm hoping there's an image.
If it's done, that's two yarns (the Berocco Merino DK from the Trilobite Hat and the Shiubi (sp?) Baby Alpaca DK from the Sharp Shootin' Mitts COMPLETELY used up. And STILL at 49 UFOs heading into 2010!! **PHEW!!!!**
A Resolution for the New Year
Well, a new year is about to begin, and this time, in addition to my NEW usual resolution of getting under "x" UFOs (this year, for the first time, it's "under 40" instead of "under 50" or "60" or.... or some really high number), I'm also going to have a resolution to finish all the things that I started in 2009 and haven't finished yet. These, in no particular order, are:
Clapotis, which will be my carry-around project until it's finished, which, thankfully, is less than a ball of yarn away. Still probably over 300 yards of yarn away, but at least it's not "over 1200" any more!
My TKGA Masters Handknitting Level I first submission...
Knitting swatches is draining...!
... including the Dreaded Hat.
This hat is done, but not well enough!
My Dragon Illusion blanket, which will be spectacular when finished. This will be my Ravelympics 2010 project - I'll only be entering WIP Wresting, and this will be the creature I'll be fighting with for over a solid week in February. Rawr, I fights the dragonz!!
And, most importantly, the Williamsburg Chase Sampler I'm stitching for my mother. She stitched it when I was little, and it got lost in one of the Army moves we made; I've had an eye out for one ever since. Found it, and started it, in 2009, and while I'd like it done for her birthday (she's a Capricorn), that would require no sleep and skipping work for the forseeable future to get it done in time. Hoping for Mother's Day, instead!
There's so little done on mine it's not worth a photo!
So, are there any knitting/stitching/quilting/crochet/etc. projects that you're absolutely, positively finishing in 2010?
Clapotis, which will be my carry-around project until it's finished, which, thankfully, is less than a ball of yarn away. Still probably over 300 yards of yarn away, but at least it's not "over 1200" any more!
My TKGA Masters Handknitting Level I first submission...
Knitting swatches is draining...!
... including the Dreaded Hat.
This hat is done, but not well enough!
My Dragon Illusion blanket, which will be spectacular when finished. This will be my Ravelympics 2010 project - I'll only be entering WIP Wresting, and this will be the creature I'll be fighting with for over a solid week in February. Rawr, I fights the dragonz!!
And, most importantly, the Williamsburg Chase Sampler I'm stitching for my mother. She stitched it when I was little, and it got lost in one of the Army moves we made; I've had an eye out for one ever since. Found it, and started it, in 2009, and while I'd like it done for her birthday (she's a Capricorn), that would require no sleep and skipping work for the forseeable future to get it done in time. Hoping for Mother's Day, instead!
There's so little done on mine it's not worth a photo!
So, are there any knitting/stitching/quilting/crochet/etc. projects that you're absolutely, positively finishing in 2010?
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Age is just a number...
We had snow. Lots of it:
Don't care how old you are - if you're healthy enough to survive the process and get back on your feet unaided, when faced with soft, fluffy light snow, it is incumbent upon you to make snow angels.
Old enough to "know better" but doing it anyway!!
Wheeeeeeee!
I did!
Don't care how old you are - if you're healthy enough to survive the process and get back on your feet unaided, when faced with soft, fluffy light snow, it is incumbent upon you to make snow angels.
Old enough to "know better" but doing it anyway!!
Wheeeeeeee!
I did!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Pattern - Super Simple Bedsocks
Pattern - Super Simple Bedsocks
Yarn - Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn (super-bulky, suggested gauge - Knit: 9 stitches x 12 rows = 4" (10 cm) on size 13 (9mm) needles). Acrylic (and very machine-washable) yarn made in the USA, and named after appropriate US cities - "Cleveland Brown" and "Cincinnati Red" really were gimmes. These use "Syracuse Orange", "Green Bay" and "Pittsburgh Yellow".
Needles - I used size 10, as I tend to knit very loosely, and wanted this to be a nice, dense fabric. Your mileage may vary.
So, I finished my bedsocks, as I said. They were pretty easy, and the secret to that is in the construction.
THE SECRET
First, you make two k1p1 things over your-foot-is-this-wide stitches, with slipped edges. (The slipped edge makes it easy to hide color changes, and makes construction easier, IMHO.) Mine would up being about 40" long, since I like tall socks. Mine are made from Lion Brand's "Hometown USA" yarn, since "machine washable" is mandatory for bedsocks in my house, and this is a great, soft, super-bulky yarn that knits up quick. But the trick? You can use ANY YARN with ANY PATTERN (lace not recommended, unless you're going for pretty over warm) as long as you wind up with two rectagles of the proper width and length. Not only that - you don't even have to knit them. You can do the same thing with, say, crochet rectagles, or quilted ones - how's that for "make it your way"?
The pretty side
The not-so-pretty-side
See, you want to fold your bedsock-to-be roughly in half, but not exactly. You'll be making three seams from the cuff down, like this:
The secret
I just crochet 'em together, from the cuff down, RIGHT SIDES FACING, a stitch through the two loops, then a stitch with the resulting loop and the last stitch, then keep going.
From the top of the calf down, work to the midpoint of where the eventual wearer's ankle should be, then make the heel seam. I just chain the yarn back to the main seam to continue.
Then, finish from ankle to toe.
There, you have an inside-out sock.
Now, as a design choice, the crocheted seam is actually kind of pretty, and you may want it on the outside of your sock, instead.
Either way, weave in all your ends, and turn sock right-side-out. Ta-dah!! Toasty warm bedsock in a matter of hours (or less, if you knit fast!).
Now, if, like me, you've got people in your house that like quieter colors, that's also an option (this pair was made in Lion Brand Jiffy Yarn):
Taller people require longer, wider flat pieces
to make up their socks.
This could've been a scarf.
They sure like them, though!
Yarn - Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn (super-bulky, suggested gauge - Knit: 9 stitches x 12 rows = 4" (10 cm) on size 13 (9mm) needles). Acrylic (and very machine-washable) yarn made in the USA, and named after appropriate US cities - "Cleveland Brown" and "Cincinnati Red" really were gimmes. These use "Syracuse Orange", "Green Bay" and "Pittsburgh Yellow".
Needles - I used size 10, as I tend to knit very loosely, and wanted this to be a nice, dense fabric. Your mileage may vary.
So, I finished my bedsocks, as I said. They were pretty easy, and the secret to that is in the construction.
First, you make two k1p1 things over your-foot-is-this-wide stitches, with slipped edges. (The slipped edge makes it easy to hide color changes, and makes construction easier, IMHO.) Mine would up being about 40" long, since I like tall socks. Mine are made from Lion Brand's "Hometown USA" yarn, since "machine washable" is mandatory for bedsocks in my house, and this is a great, soft, super-bulky yarn that knits up quick. But the trick? You can use ANY YARN with ANY PATTERN (lace not recommended, unless you're going for pretty over warm) as long as you wind up with two rectagles of the proper width and length. Not only that - you don't even have to knit them. You can do the same thing with, say, crochet rectagles, or quilted ones - how's that for "make it your way"?
The pretty side
The not-so-pretty-side
See, you want to fold your bedsock-to-be roughly in half, but not exactly. You'll be making three seams from the cuff down, like this:
The secret
I just crochet 'em together, from the cuff down, RIGHT SIDES FACING, a stitch through the two loops, then a stitch with the resulting loop and the last stitch, then keep going.
From the top of the calf down, work to the midpoint of where the eventual wearer's ankle should be, then make the heel seam. I just chain the yarn back to the main seam to continue.
Then, finish from ankle to toe.
There, you have an inside-out sock.
Now, as a design choice, the crocheted seam is actually kind of pretty, and you may want it on the outside of your sock, instead.
Either way, weave in all your ends, and turn sock right-side-out. Ta-dah!! Toasty warm bedsock in a matter of hours (or less, if you knit fast!).
Now, if, like me, you've got people in your house that like quieter colors, that's also an option (this pair was made in Lion Brand Jiffy Yarn):
Taller people require longer, wider flat pieces
to make up their socks.
This could've been a scarf.
They sure like them, though!
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