St. Patrick's Day Socks (A Week Late)

I knit as fast as my little fingers would let me, but I still didn't these socks finished by St. Patrick's Day. Silly school stuff - always getting in the way of perfectly good knitting time.

I finished these over the weekend, and I really like them. I'm loving the color! I've definitely been on a green kick in my personal life lately.

I can't wait to wear these socks! They feel really comfy when I model them.

(Don't you hate it that self-modeling sock pictures always make the model look like she has cankles?)

I had several comments (both in real life and on the blog) of people not thinking that these would fit around the wearer's ankles. Rest assured - they do. Honestly, I never really thought about it until so many people asked, but in pictures like this one, it really does look like there's an extremely small leg that's going to fit into the sock. However, the leg is made out of ribbing which stretches for eternity, so once you put it on, it fits perfectly!

Final Specs:
Pattern: Oak Ribbed Sock, from Knitting Vintage Socks
Needles: Size 1 dpn's
Yarn: Knit Picks Felici (Arugula), About $9
Time: 3 weeks total without a lot of non-knitting school time in there

Calorimetry

I'd seen a zillion people make the calorimetry and it looks so cute on them! On me? Not so much.

I reduced the number of cast on stitches like people have recommended, but that wasn't the problem. I used some of my favorite yarn in one of my favorite colors, but that wasn't the problem either. It just wasn't... me.

However, as long as I live in the frozen tundra (aka Michigan), I'll wear this guy.

Finished Specs:
Pattern: Calorimetry from Knitty, Free
Yarn: Malabrigo Merino Worsted, Jewel Blue, $11
Needles: Size 8 circs

Total Random Content

I'm in love.

I've been sick and cooped up in my house for the past few days and to entertain myself, I sat and knit and watched TV. Tonight, I turned the heel on a sock and I watched the season finale of October Road. I laughed and cried in so many cycles that I really couldn't keep track. There were even a few random shouts at the TV when I didn't agree with the twists and turns. I can't decide what it is that I love so much, but there's just something about that show that really resonates with me. Maybe it's the small town life that I've been missing so much lately. Maybe it's the soundtrack that has some of the best music of any TV show. Maybe it's just the close bond that the friends have. That's something I've been missing so much since moving North.

Whatever it is. I'm in love with October Road. I want to live in Knight's Ridge and be friends with them all too.

Just to throw in some knitting - here's a sneak peek of a sock:

Waiting Scarf

Scarves are definitely my go-to project. When in doubt about what to cast on next, a scarf is always high on my list. Ironically, I only have two scarves that I wear that are handmade. The rest all get donated to charities. That's the fate of my latest scarf.

I started this scarf without a pattern in mind, and just kinda made it up as I went. This was my travel project for a few weeks, and I really only knit on it while I was doing other things, like sitting in moot court dress rehearsals, waiting on my oil change, getting my hair colored, etc. Because knitting only happened while I was waiting on things, I started calling it my waiting scarf.

I got the yarn on sale at Threadbear a few months ago. It's Mission Falls Wool 1824 in Rhubarb. It's normally about $6 a skein, and I got it for $3. Yay for deals!


Blocking really made a world of difference. The fabric doesn't even feel the same, and it blocked out really nicely. Here's the before picture so you can see for yourself:

Final Specs:
Pattern: No real pattern.
Yarn: Mission Falls Wool 1824, 4 skeins - $12
Needles: Size 8
Time: About a month of travel knitting

Multidirectional Scarf

I'm so behind in blogland. I'm way behind in my blog reading, and it's been a month since I last posted. Oh well.. life gets in the way sometimes!

There has been some knitting happening even though it's not being reflected on the blog!

I finished up my multidirectional scarf and I've been wearing the fire out of it with all the snow and ice we've been getting lately. It "warmed up" to 40 the other day but rained all day and turned into sleet at night, so I refuse to count that as good weather.

Overall, I really like the scarf. I'm not a big fan of the sudden light purple streaks in the middle of the dark, dark purple spots, but I like the scarf in the end. Ironically, the stark contrast is what my friend Amy likes the best.

Overall Specs:
Pattern: Multidirectional Scarf, Free
Yarn: Austerman Murano, One skein - About $23
Needles: Size 9
Time: About three evenings of TV knitting

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P.S. I have yet to break my Lent promise of no yarn buying! I even held up through a HUGE sale at Threadbear.

Ash Wednesday

I decided that this year for Lent, I was going to make a true sacrifice. None of this, "no chocolate" or "no caffeine" business for me. No siree! I, my friend, will be giving up yarn buying.

You read that correctly. I am about to attempt a feat so horrible, so gruesome, that only few will attempt it, and even fewer complete the mission successfully. From February 6, 2008 to April 27, 2008, I shall make no yarn purchases.*

People outside of the knitting world think that it's a light promise and that I'm not truly making a sacrifice. However, I know that anyone who reads this message will understand just how painfully difficult it is to resist a beautiful skein on Malabrigo that screams at you to take it home.

Plus, knitting from stash is going to help me out in the long run. I'm moving at the end of the semester, so my yarn will have to go into storage for the summer. That means that it gets packed, toted to the truck, unloaded into a storage locker, sits for the summer, loaded back into a truck and then toted into my new apartment where it gets unpacked. The fewer things that can be included into that vicious cycle, the better!

*Promise excludes yarn related items needed to complete a current project. For example, needles or stitch markers.

Snow Day!

This morning, I woke up to this:

Yuck. Although it doesn't look like it, we got 6-8 inches of snow. (Those cars had been moved during the day, so they are deceiving!) I decided that the best thing I could do would to be stay at home and knit. :-) Life is terrible, I know.

Did I decide to finish one of the 15 UFO's that I have? No. I decided to cast on for another project. That's much more fun!

Back on December, I had an interview in Chicago. Sarah met me afterwards and we went yarn shopping. I didn't get the job, but I did get some fabulous yarn.

It's Austermann Murano in Blue/Purple. It comes in 240m skeins, so one is all you need for a scarf.

To be perfectly honest, I've never been a huge fan of the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf, but this yarn seemed to be calling out for it with the really long self-striping sections. I like the results so far. There's really more color variation than shows up in the picture, and there's a black section that still hasn't came around too.






I'm about a foot into it and I'm liking what I see so far.

This is the last "free" weekend that I have for awhile and I plan to spend as much time as possible knitting. Wish me luck!
I hope that you all have a fabulous weekend as well!

Cleaning out the cotton stash!

This Sunday at our Knit Night, Marcy was knitting ballbands & it inspired me to knit my own. As soon as I got home, I had to cast on. I honestly have absolutely no idea what colors I used, but I do know that the yarn was Sugar n' Cream.

I love this little pattern. It's so easy & I just love the end results. I really don't know that I've seen a completed one that I've thought looked bad. Although, there are some questionable colors out there, so I'm sure that it could be done.

Pattern: Ballband Dishcloth, Mason-Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Sugar n' Cream, less than half a skein of each color
Needles: Size 7
Time: About 2 hours
Total Cost: About $1


I was still in the cotton dishcloth mood today, so I cast on for another dishcloth and knit this one while I was reading for Criminal Procedure. I did more reading than knitting, but in my defense - knitting was much for exciting.


This is the Feather & Fan Dishcloth by Linda Smith. I'd never made one of these before, but I thought it was pretty. It was a surprisingly simple pattern. I noticed on Ravelry that a lot of people were getting rid of the garter ridge in between pattern repeats, and it looks fabulous. I'm definitely trying that next time.


I have no idea what I'm doing with these dishcloths. Maybe they will end up as a gift one day. For now, they are sitting in the "Finished Objects without a Home" box in my closet.

Pattern: Feather and Fan Dishcloth, Free
Yarn: Sugar n' Cream, about 3/4 of a skein
Needles: Size 7
Time: About 2 hours
Total Cost: About $1

P.S. I almost forgot to mention this groundbreaking news! Amy and I went to have our picture taken by Franklin for his 1000 Knitters Project. It was lots of fun, but I was really nervous to meet him. He came to Threadbear in Lansing, and 111 people came out for the photo shoot. Seriously.. 111 knitters came out in the snow to have their picture taken.

Imperfect Unoriginal Hat

Have you ever cast on for a project that you were really, really excited to make, yet it just didn't seem meant to be? That was me and this hat!


It all started innocently enough. I spotted this beautiful yarn at my LYS and fell in love instantly. Amy had given me a gift certificate and it was burning a hole in my pocket! I saw The Yarn and I knew that it was destined to be an Unoriginal Hat. After looking over the pattern, I figured that this would be my "bag" knitting for the week - which means that it's my go-to project for those spare minutes you find randomly.

If only it went so well. After casting on 3 times because I couldn't properly measure yarn, I got started. About an inch into the pattern, I found myself with about 10 minutes to spare, so I broke out the knitting. The next thing I know, someone had come up to me, grabbed my knitting from my hands, said "let me show you how I do it" and started knitting on my project! I kid you not.

Instead of saying anything, I just sat there speechless watching this woman proceed to knit my hat completely out of pattern. Looking back now, I can think of all kinds of witty things, but at the moment - I could will no words to come out of my mouth. Nothing.

So, after that debacle, my hat sat in time out for a few days because I couldn't bear to rip it out. Frogging this on dpn's just drives me batty. Turns out, I didn't rip far enough back and I completely missed a cable crossing, somewhere along the way I dropped a stitch that could never be found, and then I crossed other cables too soon. Good times!

The point of the story is that at the end of the day, I didn't care. I thought about ripping it back and starting over.. but then I looked outside at the 2-3 inches of snow that had fallen over the past 24 hours. I decided that I liked my Imperfect Unoriginal Hat just the way it was.


Pattern: Unoriginal Hat by The Yarn Harlot
Yarn: Malabrigo Yarn Chunky in Whale's Road, $11
Needles: Size 10.5 dpn's
Time: About 3-4 hours of total knitting/frogging time

Sparkley goodness!

A girlfriend of mine is celebrating a birthday today. When I made this scarf for another friend of mine earlier this month, she strongly started dropping hints that she wanted a scarf too. So.. I made her a scarf.

She has this really awesome hat that is charcoal and white with sparkles, so I thought I would make her a sparkly scarf to match. The colors look a little washed out in the pictures, but believe me, there's some serious sparkle in this sucker!

I tried a few different stitch patterns and then realized that I just needed to go plain old ribbing to get the full effect. It was a quick knit. I picked up the yarn Saturday and had all but the last few inches done by Monday. I finished up the last of it this morning, cast off.. and then whipped up a little sparkly gift bag on my new handy-dandy sewing machine!

I shopped the 50% off the clearance fabric sale at JoAnn's and picked up some silver fabric and lining. I just kinda winged the bag, but I think it looks ok. I only got 1/8 a yard of each, but I have enough leftover for another gift bag! Yay for remnants!



In Summary:
Pattern: 2x2 ribbed scarf
Yarn:

• 1 skein Cascade 220, Gray, $6.60
  
• 2 skeins Filtes King Australian Merinos, $8.60
  

Needles: Size 11
Time: One knit night and one evening of movie night
Total Cost: $24

Totally unrelated to knitting.

For Christmas, I asked Santa for a sewing machine. I'm in love with my new toy. So far, I've made several small things that are almost done, and one thing that's 100% completed.

I made a skirt out of the brown flowery material, and I had a lot of leftovers, so I went back and got some muslin and made a little bag. I didn't really use a pattern, but I based the idea in my head off of this pattern. Mine isn't reversible though.

This has now been christened my new knitting bag. I debuted it last night at our knitting group and it held up pretty well. I can already tell that the sewing machine and I are going to be great friends!

Mysterious appearances.

It's amazing what you find when you clean your apartment. I don't even remember knitting this, but obviously I did.


Pattern: Bib O' Love, Mason-Dixon Knitting
Yarn: Sugar n' Cream
Needles: Size 7
Time: I have no clue.

Benjamin's Cable Hat

I made this hat for my brother at Christmas, and then made a second one to donate. Over Thanksgiving, I taught my mom how to do cables. She was so shocked at how easy it was. We then sat and designed a simple cable scarf for her to make, and she decided that it was going to be my brother's Christmas present, and I should make him a hat. So, like a good daughter, I cast on for a hat.

I did a little bit of a modification and added about an inch or so of ribbing at the bottom.

Pattern: Chunky Cabled Beanie, Free
Yarn: Less than 1 skein Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky, Charcoal - $4
Needles: 10.5 dpn's
Time: 1 night of TV knitting

The only cute for a knitting emergency

While studying for final exams last fall, I had a knitting emergency. You know the kind. The "I-Must-Knit-Something-Before-I-Go-Crazy" kind. So, I dug through my stash and pulled out some Lion Brand Homespun that I bought more than a year ago and had forsaken for more delicious yarns. I immediately cast on for a Diagonal Baby Blanket.


I've made like 3 of these things so far, so I hated to make yet another carbon copy, but - again, this was a knitting emergency. The requirements were that the project be simple and made on big needles. It really just fit the bill.

Again though, the stupid yarn was different dyelots when it said that it wasn't. So, some of my blanket is a different color. Oh well, what can you do? I wove a purple ribbon through the eyelets to spice things up a bit, and personally, I think it's really cute.

Pattern: Diagonal Baby Blanket, Free
Yarn: Lion Brand Homespun in lavender sachet, 2 skeins; less than $10
Extras: 1 spool of ribbon, less than $2
Needles: Size 13 circs
Time: About 2 weeks of random knitting
Total Cost: Less than $12

Have a great weekend everyone!

Another one for the collection.

I'd like to apologize up front if this post sounds churchy. It isn't meant to be. It's just meant to be about things that are important to me.

I have to admit, sometimes it seems like I'm sending all my knitting off to others, and it makes me feel really selfish for a moment. Why shouldn't I be making things just for me? It's my free time, and as I don't have much of it as it is, I should be able to reap the rewards of my knitting. Then, there's times that I realize just how important my church's shawl ministry is. While we were doing Meals on Wheels on Christmas Eve, I noticed that a lady was wearing a beautiful scarf. Then, I noticed that the label on it said "UMC Shawl Ministry" and realized its significance. This lady had lost her son during the past year in an unexpected accident. The scarf was more than just a scarf. It was a symbol of all the love that we as a group had for the woman and her family.

That realization really spoke to me, and I've decided that I'm going to try to do at least one item a month for the shawl ministry during 2008. I don't do resolutions, so I'm choosing instead to call this one a goal. Big and/or time consuming items count as one thing, while baby hats will only receive half credit.

So, in the spirit of knitting for others, here's item #1. I did another So Called Scarf because I just love the pattern. To be honest, I tried about three different patterns and nothing at all looked good enough to me. The yarn really pooled and I was concerned that it wouldn't do that with the second skein and one side of the scarf would look different - it didn't. Both skeins behaved the same, so I lucked out!


I used Vanna's Choice in Charcoal Print. I packed really, really inappropriately for such a long visit, and found myself at Hobby Lobby itching for a new project. A knitter must have something on her needles at all times!

Overall, I was pretty happy with the finished project. I don't really care for the yarn too much. It just kinda felt weird in my hands, but it was a nice quick project for me, and that made me happy.

Pattern: My So-Called Scarf
Yarn: Vanna's Choice in Charcoal Print, 2 skeins
Needles: Size 11
Time: A couple days of TV knitting with the fam
Total Cost: Less than $6

Mindless Knitting

While I was home over break, my mom really wanted me to make my step-sister a scarf to match her newly decorated room. It's bright pink and bright green and is perfect for a 13 year old girl. She'd already picked out the yarn and told me exactly in Wal-Mart where I could find it. How can you say no to that?

You can't. I didn't even try. I just said "Yes ma'am, I'll pick that up in town tomorrow."

I actually made two of these scarves. One was made in an evening while watching TV with the fam, and the other was knitted on here and there - specifically while watching National Treasure 2. (Great movie! I loved that they set it up for a third movie by using my favorite random number - 47.)

Pattern: Garter Stitch Scarf
Yarn: 1.5 skeins of Wal-Mart No Boundaries, $4
Needles: Size 11's
Time: About 4 hours each

Another Scarf Completed!

I'm back from Tennessee and I miss everyone already. I did a lot of knitting, a lot of eating, and a lot of visiting and loved every minute of it. I finished a lot of little projects, so I'm going to post pictures of them periodically because there's just too many for a single post.

The first thing I completed was My So Called Scarf for my friend Meredith's birthday. I wanted something easy but not completely and totally mindless, so this was a great project for me. I wrapped it up and tied a ribbon around it to make it cute for mailing. It seems that while I was in Tennessee it was freezing here in Michigan so the scarf came in handy for her.


Here's my mom modeling the scarf. She's so cute. She fell in love with the pattern and made me teach her how to make it. She's about a foot and a half into her first My So Called Scarf right now.

I love the stitch pattern, and the semi-solid Malabrigo really just did wonders with the pattern, in my opinion. I liked the pattern so much that I've actually made another one since. Details to come!


Pattern: My So Called Scarf, Free
Needles: Size 11
Yarn: 2 skeins of Malabrigo Merino Worsted, Velvet Grapes

One for the Handknit Hall of Fame.

I survived another semester.

I always hate how when you turn in your last exam, there's never confetti & balloons and people serving cake. It feels like such a big deal to me, yet the proctors rarely even look me in the eye. That's ok, I'll find my own cake.

I'm back home in Tennessee for the holidays and knitting away. I've finished up a few things but forgot to pack my camera cord, so pictures will have to wait.

Here's a neat story. Al Gore is my hometown hero. Everyone loves him. Some people from my community went to Norway to support him when he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize recently. They decided to take him a scarf from my church's shawl ministry - after all, who needs more prayer than a man who is trying to save the world & has won an Emmy, an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize in the past year? Turns out, they took him one that I had contributed!! He's definitely a man that I have admired for many, many years and I deeply respect the work that he's doing now. It's really cool to know that if only for a brief moment, he held one of my handknits.

Eyelet Cardigan

I started this sweater in August when I was home in Tennessee for a few weeks. Mom and I went yarn shopping, and they had this sweater knit up in this color on a model. I fell in love with it instantly and had to make it - in that exact colorway. (Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton in Pickle) Of course, that yarn store was out of my color. So, I called my trusty yarn store in Lansing, and they shipped the yarn out to me immediately.

I was so excited. I cast on immediately, and then the project went on the back burner when school started. I need instant gratification during the semester, it seems. I finally finished it a few weeks ago, and I really like the turnout, although I have something funky going on at the sleeves that needs some repairs. It's too wide & likes to fall off the shoulders a lot. The 80's Flashdance look is so out right now.

I made some modifications from the original pattern. The sleeves and the body were supposed to be cropped, but I made the body long enough to cover my belly and the sleeves are 3/4 length.
I used wooden buttons that I picked up from Jo-Ann's. They aren't anything too special, but I figured that the eyelet pattern had enough "umph" to handle plain buttons. Plus, sometimes simple is better.

Ironically, I'm currently working on Tomato and it's in the exact same color, only a different yarn. Apparently I really, really like green lately.

Final Specs:
Pattern: Blue Sky Alpacas Eyelet Cardigan, $4.50
Yarn: 7 skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton, $66.50
Needles: Size 7 circs
Time: August-November off & on knitting

Thankgiving & Knitting Go Hand In Hand

Warning: Seriously Picture-Heavy Post. Sorry!

I've been offline for the last week and loved every minute of it. My trip home for Thanksgiving was all that I could have wanted and more. I realize how much I miss my family when I go back home. I cried all the way until Indiana on the drive back today. *sniff*

Anyway! There's been knitting. Whole days of movie marathons with the fam allow for plenty of knitting time. There are now officially enough baby hats for all the babies that are expected to be born (in my hometown) in the month of December.



For all these hats, I used variations of this pattern and then just kinda made changes as I felt like it when knitting. For the most part, these hats are all made out of stash Caron Simply Soft (my favorite-est acrylic yarn). However, there's a little Knit Pick Shine Worsted and Classic Elite Premiere thrown in for good measure.

Also, I know that the black and yellow "bee look" might be a little disturbing to some people out there. However, black & gold are the high school colors, so they make a little more sense when put into that light. My little sister has already requested one the grandson of one of her teachers.

I also finished up two more scarves that have been my bedside knitting for awhile.


Yarn: Wal-Mart No Boundaries Yarn, 2 skeins
Pattern: Plain old garter stitch - cast on about 20 and go!
Needles: Size 13
Time: About two months of just looking at it resting in the knitting basket, about 6 hours of actual knitting time
Cost: Gift yarn - Free!

Before we all snicker & laugh at the Wal-Mart yarn, I was pleasantly surprised by this one. I don't shop there, but my mom sent this to me in a care package last spring. It's really soft & has a very pretty sheen. If I didn't live in the middle of Siberia, I'd actually keep this one for myself. It's just too thin to be useful here in Michigan.



Pattern: One-Row Handspun Scarf, by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, Free
Yarn: Adrienne Vittadini Nadia, 4 skeins - $11 (on sale!!)
Needles: Size 10.5
Time: About 1 month of travel knitting

This is another scarf that's going to the shawl ministry. It's very pretty, but just not quite the right color for my winter coat.

On a funny note, I posted this up on Ravelry earlier tonight and I went back to check something about 5 minutes later, and someone had already "favorited" it. Aww.. I feel special.

Believe it or not, there's actually more pictures to show, but they are just going to have to be brought out at a later date. I'm pooped from all the traveling. I hope that everyone else's Thanksgivings were as wonderful as mine.

(My family! Aren't they cute?)