riizu.blogspot.com

Yeah, okay, so it's not much of a "year" when you've only really learned to knit in July, and have only been seriously knitting since November ^^;; so, many a Christmas 2007 review? *sigh* I'm special.

*ahem* Onward! The final count:

2 pairs of mittens, one of them fingerless
4 hats
4 scarves (1 repeat)
1 dish cloth
1 pair of slippers
1 bag that I really need to line! Gah~!

The biggest loser was probably the bag since I keep meaning to finish it, but never do ^^;; (And you don't even get to see a picture of it so there!)

In first place I think I'll put Dashing fingerless mittens that I knit for my friend Lise (They're going in the mail soon, I promise!) in England because learning how to cable was a pretty big wall for me and I was pretty nervous about it. Thanks to these mittens, I'm fearless!


New years eve was an enjoyable evening with some friends, and I started a sweater so that's a great way to start the new year I think!

I was resisting doing the typical new years resolutions this year, but I think maybe I can make some knitting resolutions.

1. Finish this sweater this year. I don't know how ambitious this is, but I do know that I have a crappy attention span so we'll have to wait and see if I lose interest or not.
2. Go to at least one knitting gathering a month
3. Participate in at least one swap per season
4. blog at least once per week (to encourage knitting? Perhaps ^_^)
5. knit a pair of socks!

2007 FO's

Drop Lacestitch Wascloth (Christmas game contribution)

Dashing (Fingerless Mittens at Knitty)

Manly Mitts (free pattern at knitty)

Foliage (hat on Knitty)

Cotton slippers (modified pattern)

Calorimetry headband (free pattern on knitty)

Brown vine-stitch scarf

Reversible lace-stitch scarf

Vine-stitch scarf (blue)

Mock-cable slouchy hat in green

I decided that it was time for Christmas cookies. It just doesn't feel like Christmas unless there are cookies and other treats around. Somehow they just weren't as good as Mom's, but they were still tasty ^_^ Chris helped!


In knitting news, I finished all of my Christmas knitting, the final packaged arrived on Monday which concluded my Christmas shopping, and I finished tagging and wrapping all of the knitted gifts last night. *siiigh* I can almost relax. Almost. Not quite. We fly out to Toronto tomorrow night and I should be packing not blogging XP

I also started a smallish afghan (ravelry link) the other night. I have all of this old Acrylic Bernat SuperValue that I bought before I knew better and needed to use it because they're taking up way too much space. I'm knitting it in the round so that it's easier to take it on the plane (and because it would get pretty heavy on two needles)

I also managed to get some progress bars thanks to Ravelry! They're awesome because they update themselves so I don't have to babysit them. Hooray! I still need to find a better way to archive my FO's though.

Christmas Spam!

As of today, I am officially done my Christmas shopping. The final package arrived today and now all that's left to do is tag and wrap my knitted gifts. *happy dance* I didn't know if I would finish in time. Knitting Christmas presents seemed ambitious and a little scary and I didn't know what to expect. Hopefully they are met with surprise and hopefully people enjoy what I knit for them. Or I may join the ranks of bitter disappointed knitters everywhere whose knitted gifts are met with less than stellar reactions.

I also signed up for the Hot Cocoa Swap yesterday. I'm looking forward to starting my accumulation of gifts for whoever my pal ends up being, but for now, I think it's high time I knit something for me! Why is it so much easier to deside on making something when it's for someone other than yourself? Maybe I just get overwhelmed with all of the awesome free patterns out there.

And then there's the whole instant gratification thing. I mean, I could start a big project like a sweater, but then I would have to go possibly months before completing another project and then what if I get bored? If I knit something small, then I can play with my new toy much sooner! Ah, decisions decisions.

As promised, pics of my first attempt at cables. I chose Dashing because I figured the simple cable was a good one to learn on. So they aren't symmetrical so what? So the mittens are slightly different lengths? So what? I'm happy so there!

Christmas knitting is sloooowly coming to a close. It was ambitious, I know (for a beginning knitter, I mean) but I think it's been successful so far. I have 7 knitted gifts done, finishing up another, and have another one scheduled to knit for a family secret santa and then I'm done everything I set myself up for. *sigh of relief* Now if only I could stay home from work and just knit all day XP

I'm not going to post on what I'm currently knitting (ssh, it's dashing at knitty) because the person it's for is a bit too web-savvy and probably reads my blog ^^;;;; Needless to say it's going well, I love the yarn I'm using and the colourway is awesome too.

I also want to say hello to anyone who happens to be reading today. Thank you for commenting on my Manly Mittens. I'm so excited that people actually read my little knitting thing over here. Yay! ^_^

So after Christmas I'll do a big post with pictures of everything I knitted for people this holiday season, and maybe we'll see something knitted for ME. Finally. Happy Holidays everyone.

I finished my Manly Mittens last night at a housewarming party. I finished the first mitten earlier in the week and was so happy when I got to this thumb. Not that I didn't enjoy the pattern, but I was getting really bored with mittens and wanted to move onto something else. Behold! Pictures! (specs to follow)

This was my first attempt with such a complicated colour pattern. I know it's not really that complicated, but it was ambitious for me, since I only started doing colour a couple weeks ago. I love the pattern, it was easy to follow and easy to remember. The mitts are warm and the Falk yarn is awesome because even though it's 100% wool, it's still soft and not too scratchy.

To continue in the theme of christmas gift knitting, I'm currently knitting my grandpa a pair of Manly Mitts from Knitty's summer '05 issue (free pattern here)

So this whole "swap" thing is new to me, but sounds like so much fun that I want in! Yes! Everyone check out

http://cocoaswap.blogspot.com/

and then join in on the swap… whatever it ends up being cause I have no idea ^^;;; Hopefully we're not sending steaming mugs of cocoa in the mail cause that would make the mail man angry. Yes… um yeah ^^;;;

Anywho, go check it out and join in the fun! (Oh, and let them know you found out about it from me please!)

Hooray! I finished Foliage today. I knit it for my grandma and I think it turned out just lovely ^_^ I could block it, but I love the texture and am afraid that I would lose too much of it if I blocked it. So there.

SPECS:

Pattern: Foliage (free pattern)
Source: Knitty.com
URL: http://knitty.com/ISSUEfall07/PATTfoliage.html
For: My grandma for Christmas
Yarn: .75 skein(s) of a beautiful alpaca yarn I found at wool-tyme
Needles: US8 (round)
Timeline: started 11.21.2007; finished 11.29.2007

I finished another Christmas knitting project today. Info and pics to come later tonight.

Yet another Christmas gift finished! I couldn't believe how fast this one knit up. I want to make another one, but maybe a little smaller. I tried to adjust for my gauge, but it still ended up a little big. Hopefully that's okay ^^;;

Pattern here:
http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter06/PATTcalorimetry.html

I put this scarf off and off, mostly because I didn't particularly enjoy working with this 100% acrylic yarn. Luckily, it doesn't feel so bad when worn and actually turned out quite nice. The tassels were a nice touch, I think ^_^

Pattern can be found at bellaknitting.typepad.com

I stayed up waaay too late last night and finished the lace-stitch scarf I was working on for my brother's girlfriend. I don't know if blocking really did anything, but I'm very happy with it. Because of the yarn I used, it's pretty short, but I think it works for something so funky looking.

Yarn: I used two 50g skeins of Scheepjes Aspen (5% Lurex, 95% Polyamide) Link (site's not in english, but you get the idea)
Needles: 4.5mm
Pattern: Reversible Lace-Stitch scarf at leesburgyarnshop.com

I finished the blue scarf I'm knitting mom for Christmas!! This is a very big step in the world of scarves for me, since they're very very boring. Behold! Blocking!

I was really frustrated while knitting this piece because every flaw is sooo obvious with this yarn. (Aspen: 5% Lurex, 95% Polyamide). The colour is lovely, the stitch is lovely, and I'm pretty happy with it overall. The second I started to pin it down, I felt better about the shape. (I can't believe how many people don't block their knitting!)

Anywho, more pictures to come after the blocking is complete. Success? I think so!

As promised!


Based on the Vine Stitch scarf at Bella knitting. Pattern can be found at the following website:
http://bellaknitting.typepad.com/bella_knitting/2007/03/vine_stitch_sca.html

I was really unhappy with it until I blocked and now I'm quited happy! I declare it a success!

Progress is being made. This afternoon, I looked at the width of this scarf and realized that I was just knitting a ginormous pink square… and that I would run out of yarn waaaay before the end of the scarf was ever in sight. So, frogged it was, and I have spent the evening redoing all the work I did on the weekend. *sigh*

I must say, that I'm much happier with it now. Thanks to someone's suggestion that I replace the garter stitch with a seed stitch, the whole thing looks better and is knitting up faster so I'm happy. Enjoy! Pics ^^

Jumping right on into gift-knitting fun ^_^ I'm getting this lingo down, I swear. I'm so totally new *sigh*

I currently have three scarves on the go. All of them gifts. You know, I wasn't planning on doing scarves initially, but it's what people seem to want. At least they're not all the same, I'm trying to keep them interesting so I don't go blind with boredom. ^^;;;

On with pictures!!

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Brown Vine-Stitch (yes, I know it looks huge, I did it on purpose)


The scarf is now twice as long as it was on the weekend so there is true progress being made!

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Blue Vine-Stitch (Using much smaller needles)


A very fuzzy blue yarn, I call it my cookie-monster scarf. I figure I'm about a third done this one.

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Pink Fluff reversible lace thing of DOOM (what the hell was I THINKING???)


Okay, so after starting to knit about three rows, I'm under the impression that I could have gotten away with a garter stitch just fine… because LIKE YOU COULD SEE THE STITCH ANYWAY! ^^;;;;;; gaaaaahhh… I'm hoping that once I block it out it'll look awesome but we'll see. At least no one will see my mistakes! *cheers*

Back in February, I was home visiting my mom and she was knitting… well, she's tried to teach me to knit time and time again for years and for some reason, it just never "stuck". Well, when I was home, I asked her to show me again how to knit. So we go through the same thing, she teaches me the basic garter stitch, she teaches me to cast on, to knit, to purl, and sends me home with a pair of needles that I promptly toss in a corner and don't think about again.

Well, something hit me in July. I was wandering around Micheal's and bumped into the yarn section. Something made me buy a set of round needles and (way too much) burgundy yarn. I went home, found the internet, and a pattern and started knitting.

Well, now I'm stuck and I've been knitting like crazy ever since. I bought some books, bought some needles, and am now throwing myself unceremoniously into the land of christmas gift knitting. Oh boy.

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I won't post pictures of the first few things I've knitted, as they're not too note worthy, but I will post on what I just completed. The pattern I used was the "Slouchy Copy Cat Hat" at slomoeknits.wordpress.com (pattern at the website). Behold!




I'll repost the pattern in case anyone was interested in giving it a shot:

The Slouchy Copy-Cat Hat

Materials:
Cascade 220 Quattro – colour 9435 Jamaica (Greens)
4mm 16” circular needles for ribbing
5mm 16” or 20” circular needles for main body
5mm double point needles

Gauge:
~ 18 sts = 4” stst in the round on 5mm needles
~ 5 sts = 1” in k2p2 ribbing unstretched (with ribbing, who the heck really knows?)

Cast on 76 sts with 4 mm needles, place marker, and join in the round.

Work 2×2 ribbing (K2, P2) for 1.75 inches.

Next round: M1 *K2, M1* repeat from * to end. 115 stitches.

Change to 5mm needles and work in eyelet mock cable ribbing.

Eyelet Mock Cable Ribbing (multiple of 5 sts):

Row 1: *K3, P2* Repeat from * to end.
Row 2: *K3, P2* Repeat from * to end.
Row 3: *SL1, K2, PSSO, P2* Repeat from * to end.
Row 4: *K1, YO, K1, P2* Repeat from * to end.

Continue in pattern until hat measures about 8.5” from cast on edge, ending after Row 1 or 2 of the stitch pattern (to make sure you still have 115 stitches before starting the decreases).

Begin decreases, switching to double points when needed:

Row 1: *K3, K2TOG* Repeat from * to end. 96 stitches.
Row 2: K all the way around.
Row 3: *K2, K2TOG* Repeat from * to end. 69 stitches
Row 4: K all the way around.
Row 5: *K1, K2TOG* Repeat from * to end. 46 stitches
Row 6: K all the way around.
Row 7: K2TOG all the way across. 23 stitches.
Row 8: K all the way around.
Remove marker, and K2TOG until 8 stitches remain.

Break yarn, leaving a lengthy tail; thread tail through remaining stitches, pulling snug. Weave in ends.

Author's blog: http://slomoeknits.wordpress.com/

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In progress: I'm knitting various items for friends and family. I know, I'm probably crazy, but I'm knitting a scarf for my bro (Pattern at Bella Knitting)

A photo of my progress so far:



I'm using 9mm needles and a heavy acrylic yarn because I wanted it to be bigger/looser so that's why mine looks so odd in comparison to the one at Bella Knitting (love her stuff, by the way!)

The original pattern:
Using US 8 (5mm) needles, loosely cast on 19 stitches. Knit 2, *yo, sl1, k2, psso, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, knit. Repeat for every row until scarf is desired length. Bind off loosely. Block if desired — blocking will open up the scarf and enhance the lacy look.

Here's a closeup of the stitch. Abbreviations:

k - knit
psso - pass slipped stitch over
sl - slip
yo- yarn over

Happy knitting!