WIP Wednesday - Butterfly Shawl DONE!

I didn't post last week as I didn't have many projects that had seen much progress (plus I forgot to take photos... and really, what's the use of a WIP post without photos?!), which means that this week I have a LOT of progress to show!

I finished two pairs of socks last week! Both my vanilla socks out of sparkly New Years Eve yarn and the test-knit socks are DONE :)

The latter pair were a bit of a hassle to knit, as I discovered shortly into the first one that I'm really not a fan of stranded knitting in socks. I did enjoy seeing the pattern emerge though, and like the finished object, so I think at the end of the day it was worth it, and might make others, but I'm going to be very picky with which ones I choose. I think it was mostly the long floats that messed me up. But now they're done, and fit well, so that's the important thing.

I've also - ta da da DAAAAAA - finished the Butterfly Shawl! This weekend I realized I really only had very little left, so I put on one of my favourite series, and just went nuts... and Monday evening, I finished!!!
The contrast in the gradient yarn isn't as obvious as I'd hoped, so you have to view it in the right light for it to be noticeable, but I still absolutely LOVE it!!! And already have another 3 planned :-P So thank you Mum and Dad for that Christmas present! :-) It's a lot easier than it looks, but the rows got LONG near the end! For the last section, each straight row took 15 minutes to knit!
It's currently blocking, so I decided to take an 'up close and personal' photo to show off the colour changes.

I'm still knitting on the "Change of Heart" cowl. It's coming along nicely, but is unfortunately slightly boring to knit. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think it may be because the lace repeat is too long to learn off by heart, but short enough that each repeat doesn't show any significant progress, so it's neither mindless knitting (like vanilla socks), nor a project where each repeat comes with a sense of accomplishment... if that makes sense? The yarn is delicious though (a merino, alpaca, cashmere blend), so I'll keep on keeping on. Actually, with a bit of effort I might be able to learn the pattern off by heart - it's only a 14-row repeat - so perhaps I should just work on that to make it easier travel knitting.

Finally, my sister asked me to knit a balcava for my youngest niece, so of course I got right on that :) It's a really quick knit - mostly garter - so most of it goes WHOOSH! Should finish this before too long... possibly even today!

WIP Wednesday - Knitting Issues

Hmmm... is it possible to be allergic to specific types of acrylic yarn? I haven't had any issues earlier, but yesterday I sat to knit a swatch in the most amazingly soft acrylic yarn, and I'd barely cast on before I started feeling pins and needles in my hand. I've never heard of such a thing before, and it might just have been a coincidence, but I'm thinking that my orignal idea of using it for a cardigan for myself should probably just die. Instead I've decided to finally give in to my urges and purchase the pattern for Professor McGonagall's baby blanket :) I've wanted to knit this for ages, and am sure I'll eventually find a suitable recipient for it, who'll enjoy the softness of the yarn - even if it is acrylic.

Of course, if my hands keep itching while knitting it, it probably wasn't just my imagination, and I won't torture myself by forcing myself to finish it. But I have 10 skeins of the yarn and while it was cheap, I'd rather not it went to waste, so I'm going to give it a second chance.

I finished the Orchid Cowl this weekend, and love the way it turned out :)
It's slightly smaller than I would have preferred, so it'll probably be used more for looks than for warmth. But the lace and the beads fit perfectly together, and I'm really happy with my first attempt at bead knitting :) Definitely won't be the last time I do that!

Other than that I've mostly been knitting on my Cozy Memories Blanket. I've been wanting to get on with a new sweater project (see above re. swatch), but haven't really been able to figure out which one I want to knit. I've boiled it down to just a few contenders, but need to do some swatching before I fully make up my mind - and in the meanwhile the CMB makes for lovely mindless TV-knitting :)

WIP Wednesday - Baa-ble Hat

I only have a bit of knitting this week - actually, I've only worked on two different things!

Like so many other knitters, I succumbed to the Baa-ble Hat madness. I started this Wednesday evening, and finished just two days later :) I knit this out of fingering weight yarn held double. It was a bit hard on my hands at times (not to mentioned it tangled like nobody's business during the colourwork section), but it was a fun and satisfying knit.
I gave it to my cousin as an early Christmas present on Saturday. It's a tad big on her, but I still think she looks cute :)

Mum loaned me some small crochet hooks (used to be my grandmother's) Saturday so I could get on with the Orchid Cowl. Oh my goodness! It is SO much easier to add beads with a crochet hook! A lot less fiddly and thus heaps faster. And kinda fun too :) It's oddly satisfying to fit the beads on. Definitely not the last time I'll do beaded knitting.
My gauge is waaay off, so I'm adding a full extra repeat in order to get a cowl as big as I'd like. It's quite a bit thinner than expected too, but oh well - not something I'm going to do anything about at this point.

WIP Wednesday - 4 finished objects!

Still mostly socks on my needles - I'm trying to work my way through the started pairs so I can free up the needles for something else. I also feel like my mojo has taken a bit of a hit, so I'm hoping that the sense of accomplishment in finishing stuff will help with that too.

So with that said, here are my finished objects :)
Gummy Bear Pullover. All done, just needs to be blocked :) Still have no clue who it's for, but I'm sure I'll find a suitable recipient eventually. It was a fun and quick knit and I LOVED the yarn (Knit Picks Felici) - so incredibly soft.

Tube socks for my niece. I needed something quick and easy over the weekend, and these fit the bill perfectly

Swirl.E socks for Liz. I still need to block these and weave in the ends, but the knitting is all done :)

Hundred Acre Woods. Also just need blocking and weaving in ends. I'll have to have a blocking party over the weekend ;) I was glad to get these off the needles. The lace pattern was easy enough to learn off by heart, but a bit too involved to be completely mindless knitting.

Still on the needles...
My flight socks. Finished the first one, haven't yet cast on the second one. I don't know what I was thinking when I made up this pattern - there's far too much purling! I do like the finished result though, so I guess it's worth it ;)

WIP Wednesday - Sock Knitting

Surprisingly enough, I didn't do nearly as much knitting while in New Zealand as I had expected to. Most of the time I ended up sitting and reading instead, so I only have one single finished object - although quite a bunch of WIPs.

I'd brought a bunch of socks along for the trip and nothing else. I figured they were small, portable, easily memorizable patterns... the perfect travel knitting. Indeed it was, even if I did end up knitting on 5 different pairs instead of finishing more than one! ;)

Finished object first - a pair of tube socks for my kiwi niece. She's only 17 months and absolutely loves socks! Will wear them even in the height of summer. So when she saw these (very colourful ones) she immediately took off her shoes and reached out for them. Awfully satisfying for a knitty aunt ;)
The yarn is Knit Picks Felici in the Gummy Bear colourway. Amazingly soft and yummy :)

As for the socks in progress...
The second "Hundred Acre Wood" sock.
Reason for stopping: Hadn't brought the first sock along, and realized I'd obviously made a mistake in my notes, as the number of repeats on the leg was clearly wrong. No way to finish until I came home and could compare to the first one.

Another pair of tube socks - this one for my Danish niece :)
Reason for stopping: Ran out of yarn, and couldn't get to the second skein until the Hundred Acre Wood sock was done.

Swirl E. socks knit out of Trekking XXL for Liz.
Reason for stopping: Had reached the heel of the second sock, and as I'm actually doing the pattern as written for once, rather than substituting the FLK-heel, I couldn't finish it on the plane, as I'd misplaced the pattern.

So instead I cast on...
My so-called Flight Socks! The pattern is inspired by Cookie A's Xeroscope, but is my own invention.
Reason for stopping: I arrived back in Denmark, and had to put it down.

But have I finished any of these socks since getting back? Of course not! After having knit nothing but socks for 2 weeks, I was desperate for something else, and as I'd fallen in love with the softness of the Knit Picks Felici (and thought the colourway perhaps a bit too twee for socks for myself) I decided to cast on for a baby cardigan instead. Not that I know anybody with or about to have a newborn girl, but it's bound to come eventually, and I'll be prepared. The pattern is inspired by "Jeudi" but with a ton of modifications.
Mods:
- Changed to a jumper knit in the round, rather than a cardigan knit flat.
- Added length to body and sleeves.
- Substituted another cable.

I'm loving this knit and have basically knit nothing else since I arrived home. I would have finished by today too, if I hadn't battled jetlag and had to have daily naps.

WIP: When Knitting Attacks

On and Off the Needles
I've finally finished my Stitch Surfers. I'd accidentally misplaced t at the bottom of a multi-project project bag (never again...) and had thus gotten behind. Fortunately I was missing less than I thought, so I still managed to finish it before the end of October.

My first Hundred Acre Wood sock is also close to being done. As I am already a tad uncertain about the sizing, I decided to go ahead and knit a well-known FLK-heel instead of trying to heel flap and gusset described in the pattern. I hope to finish this by tomorrow, but as we're having company over tonight, that might not happen. We'll see.

Finally, I've been working on my second pair of "One Step Ahead" boots. This pair will also be a gift for a friend of mine, and as she's crafty herself, she offered to seam them up herself, so I just had to do the knitting. Easy-peasy :) Again, I hope to get this off in the mail tomorrow, provided I have a suitable envelope around. Otherwise it'll have to wait until next month.

When Knitting Attacks
Unfortunately I'm having serious doubts about my $5 in Paris. I loved the first one I knit so much, but this second one just didn't quite come out right.

First of all, I'm not sure about the colours on me. I might be too pale to pull off grey and white together.

Secondly, and more important, the sweater stretched waaaaay out when washed and now feels like it fits about as well as a sack of potatoes. It is slightly possible that I'm projecting here, and that it's not quite that bad, but it's definitely too big for me, and has to be pulled back into place constantly. I accidentally knit the body of the sweater at too large a gauge. It didn't matter too much before washing, but washing it caused the drape to change significantly, and now... I just don't know. I've tried running it through the dryer to see if that got it to snap back into place, but without success.
I haven't made any decisions yet, but am seriously considering frogging this and reknitting it in a smaller size... or just use the yarn for something completely different, since I already have enough yarn in other (and better) colours for another two versions of this one ;)

WIP Wednesday - Blanketpalooza

On the Needles
I decided to dedicate the weekend to my Cozy Memories Blanket and really put a dent into this. The result being that I got an extra 18 squares knit, and it now almost covers the seat of our couch!


I still have a loooooong way to go, so don't expect to finish it neither this year nor the next, but I'm loving the way it's turning out, and it's a nice and relaxing knit, so I don't mind. It'll get done when it gets done - no rush.

I haven't really touched the Stitch Surfer socks at all this past week, but instead decided to work on my "Hundred Mile Woods" socks... with the result that I ended up knitting way past the point where I had to start the heel. *Sigh* I was planning on doing the pattern heel for once, instead of (as usual) substituting the fish-lips-kiss heel. Guess habit took over, and since I absolutely cannot be bothered ripping back, I'll just stick with the FLK-heel once again ;)

Off the Needles
After not having touched it for MONTHS, I finally finished my Nostalgia Shawl! I'm SO pleased with how it turned out. It's huge, and looks totally awesome :)

WIP Wednesday - LOVE this!

My Spring Showers cardigan finally finished blocking last week, and it is without a doubt my favourite thing that I've knit all year! The colour is great on me (if I may say so myself ;) ) and the fit close to perfect! The sleeves could have been a tad longer, but considering I only had 5 grams left as it was, I'm glad I didn't try to stretch it further.
And even with 4/5 length sleeves - I absolutely love it!
Modifications: I added ~10sts to the length, and took most of that length out of the wedges, as I didn't want it to flare quite as much. I knit seed stitch instead of garter stitch for the lower hem, and made long sleeves instead of short. If I were to make it again, I might leave out the wedges entirely - I don't think it necessarily needs them.

I also managed to finish the Olivia Cardigan for my niece this past week - or rather, it's currently blocking, so I'm waiting for it to be dry enough for me to sew on the buttons. Not a fan of sewing on buttons, but there are only three of them here, and they're so cute, so I think I'll cope ;)
This really turned out amazingly cute! I couldn't be happier with it! My sister and I are talking about whether it'll be best as a cardigan or a dress (would be easy to sew up the bottom half of the cardi), but it's hard to tell until my niece has tried it on. May turn out that she's much too long-legged for it, by the time it fits around the chest!

And as always, when I bind off one thing, I have to cast on something new. This time it's the "One Step Ahead" socks for a friend of mine. I've already knit these once, and they go even faster the second time around.

My Stitch Surfer socks are coming along nicely. I finished the first one on Thursday, and - thanks to a knitting-and-coffee-date Sunday - am about one third of the way through the foot on the second. It's my goal to finish before the end of October, which is looking VERY feasible.

WIP Wednesday - Almost done!

As expected, I got into the groove this past week, and ended up wanting to knit nothing but my Spring Showers... which meant that I managed to finish it over the weekend!! Not without the knitting attacking me first though :-P For the sleeves I had to pick up 84 stitches (really not a fan of picking up stitches, although I can definitely tell I'm getting better at it, so there is that :) ), decrease down to 64 on the first round, and then do a ton of short rows to make the sleeve cap. I had just reached the last few short rows on the second sleeve and could see the light at the end of the tunnel when I discovered that I had 11 unworked stitches on one side and only 7 on the other! Gah!

I could probably have fudged it, but this is my first time ever doing sleeve caps, so I wasn't entirely sure how visible it would be, and didn't want to risk having one shoulder that looked off when the other fit me perfectly. So I took a deep breath and ripped back almost to the start of the sleeve cap. *sigh*. Worth it though - the end result is awesome :) (And obvious in need of a block to get the hems to lie straight, as you can see.) In the end I had enough yarn for full sleeves (or what I expect will be full after blocking) and ended up with just 5 grams left!
It's currently blocking - will hopefully be dry tomorrow or the day after - and I can't wait to try it on! It looked so great prior to blocking, although a bit snug (as expected - I knew the fabric would grow when blocked), so now I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it didn't end up growing too much and will fit even better post-blocking. Time will show. I'm trying my hardest to stay patient and not pick it up until it's completely dry.

And since I got that off my needles, obviously I had to cast on something new! Last weekend I frogged a carding I'd knit for my youngest niece as it just simply didn't fit. She was very intrigued by the process.
This is the repurposed yarn (which explains the wrinkles - it should be fine once it gets blocked) which I'm turning into another cardigan instead that'll hopefully fit better. I'm knitting the 2T size (the largest size I had enough yarn for) and it's coming along very nicely :)

Not much new to say about my Stitch Surfer socks. They take quite a bit longer to knit than socks usually do, but I love seeing the pattern unfold so I don't mind too much. I got the heel done over the weekend, so I just need to surf up the leg now.

WIP Wednesday - Swatches aplenty

I have a finished object to show off this week! After procrastinating for a lot longer than I should have, I finally got cracking on the crocheted snail last week, and this weekend I finished it!

It's every bit as cute as the first one I made, and I'm almost said I promised to give it away ;) It's incredibly fiddly to sew together though - especially the shell and bottom foot.

Ah well - worth it :)
Compared to the first one I made, it's quite obvious that I've gotten better ;)

I've also gotten quite a bit more done on the nostalgia shawl. I finished the second lace part and am about half way through the garter section before the next and final lace part. I'm still totally in love with this yarn :)

Finally, I've been doing lots and lots of swatching! My knitting mojo was low over the weekend, and I realized it was because I wanted to knit on something new... so I swatched for a new sweater... and promptly felted the swatch! I was NOT impressed, as the label said it was fine for 30C machine wash!!!
After ranting and raving for a bit, I took another look at the label, and noticed two small dots under the temperature indication... a quick visit to google told me what I'd pretty much already guessed... 30C yes - but on the GENTLE cycle! Gah! Another washed swatch later to prove that it did indeed work that way, and I now have to figure out what to knit instead... Because of course I'd chosen a pattern where my yardage was juuust close enough that I knew I'd probably have to use the swatch... bit difficult now that it's felted! So I needed to do another 2 swatches for another project instead (same yarn - two different colours on two different sized needles).
But once again it goes to show - always treat your swatch the way you would the finished project! Certainly saved me a lot of heartache here!