Thursday, February 28, 2013

FO Friday - Wingspan, 2nd edition

My second wingspan is done, and I loved the pattern just as much as the first time :)
I actually think I like this colourway just a tad more than the green one I used last time. These colours are perfect for my sister and I can't wait to give it to her! I didn’t quite have enough yarn for the cast-off, so ended up using Yarn Harlot’s crochet cast-off, which makes for a slightly tighter cast-off. I wouldn't use it for other garments, but it worked perfectly for a scarf.

The yarn is Hjertegarn Baby Trunte, which is 100% Merino.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

WIP Wednesday - Ladybug sweater

Stumbled across another test-knit, and as it used yarn I already had in my stash, and looked like a quick knit and really, really cute, I figured I'd go for it :)

Finished the front...
... and am working on the back. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of that yet, but it's like the front, only with room for sleeves ;)

I'm using 100% merino yarn and am knitting this in a size 3T. Hopefully I'll be able to get far enough by March 10th so I can try it on my youngest niece and see if it fits :)

Friday, February 22, 2013

FO Friday - Embroidery and Test knit

Two finished objects from me today :) ... although mostly because I forgot to take photos to post last Friday ;)

First the embroidery for my nephew's baptism... I still need to iron and frame it, but for all intents and purposes, it is done :)

Secondly, my first test-knit :) A cabled leg warmer. Cables turned out to be a lot easier than I had feared, but left slanted cables are SO much easier than right slanted.
Yes, that is my arm I'm modelling it on. Even though I achieved gauge, the finished garment turned out to be quite a bit smaller than expected... or perhaps I just have fat legs :-P I'll probably frog it eventually, as the yarn is so nice and yummy that I want to use it for something I'll actually wear. That is not the fault of the pattern though - I knew that going into it, as I just don't wear leg warmers.

The cast off was a tubular cast-off which took FOREVER to do. I'd probably just go with a regular stretchy cast-off instead.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

WIP Wednesday - Wingspan and YARN! :D

Still working on the wingspan. I took a bit of a break to finish my test-knit and the embroidery (photos to come on Friday), so I've only added one more "wing" since the last photo. I think it's coming along nicely though.


My favourite yarn-shop is moving (to a better and larger location, so it's all good :D ) and used the occasion to have a HUGE sale with 50% of pretty much everything. I'd discovered some serious deficits in my stash so went there Friday and again yesterday to remedy that...

That pile consists of:
2 skeins Katia Irina
4 skeins Katia Samoa
7 skeins Grignasco Extrafine
10 skeins Madil Yarns Bravo Sport
3 skeins Grignasco Soft Kid

I think I may have gone slightly overboard... but I prefer to think of it as that I saved $150 ;)

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

WIP Wednesday: Wingspan take 2

DH and I went on a road-trip Sunday. I knew that that meant I'd need something to knit that was easy enough that I wouldn't need to bring the pattern along. None of my current WIPs would work for that, so you know what that means... time to cast on something new!

Fortunately I had paid attention to my sister's sighs over the last wingspan I'd made, and since I had the yarn available already, I figured I might as well get started! 6+ hours' driving makes for a LOT of knitting, so I've come quite far already :)
I've decided to rename it to something to do with sunsets, because the colours of the sunset we saw on our way back home Sunday reminded me SO much of the colours of the scarf... although somewhat more muted.

My other bit of knitting is my very first test-knit! The pattern is already up on Ravelry, so I should be fine posting photos here :)
Cables! I've never done cables before, but figured "How hard can it be?" The answer is - not very. But it IS rather time consuming, and I find left-slanted cables SO much easier than right-slanted cables! It's fun though!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

FO Friday - Soft Box

The soft box took absolutely no time to knit up, so here it is as a FO already:


In fact, I think the most time consuming part was picking up stitches for the rim. I've come to the conclusion that I hate picking up stitches :( I'm pretty sure I'm doing it wrong, because surely it oughtn't be that complicated! I don't mind when it's just a few for the fingers of a glove or the heels of a sock, but here I had to pick up 108! Gah. Took forever.

I'm not entirely sure what I think of the finished product. I was going to make one in purple as well, but it is definitely more decorative than functional... on the other hand, it does do decorative rather nicely ;)

Pattern: Soft Baskets
Yarn: Coats Puppets Lyric 8/8 (100% cotton)
Modifications: I used seed stitch for the rim rather than ribbing. I got the idea of another Ravelry user and think it looks nicer :)

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

WIP Wednesday: Piglet

Taking a break from knitting in order to finish the embroidered name cloth for my nephew's baptism next month. I haven't done cross-stitch in years and had forgotten how much I actually like it.

(Still prefer the diversity of knitting though).

This is the work of 4 or 5 evenings / 2 hr sittings. Another 2 or 3 and I should be all done! :)