WIP Wednesday - Week 50

FINALLY I can show off one of the things I've been working on the most for the past few weeks. BG: ever since I made my first Happy Hippo, Nina exclaimed over it, and mentioned that she had to have one once they got a permanent place of residence again. Well, this summer they moved back to Denmark, so I knew I had to get started on one, but had several other things I wanted to knit her first. Those all got done, and at the start of November I arranged to come visit them weekend before last... that would give me just 3 weeks to make a Happy Hippo for her... would I be able to do it? I looked at the two others I'd made and saw they had taken 2 and 6 weeks respectively, so I figured - yes, I would!

So since then I've been working pretty much exclusively on that (well - that and the owl puffs I made for my colleagues) finishing FRIDAY as I was heading off to visit them Saturday! I was in such a rush that I forgot all about the safety eyes until AFTER the last hexagon had been put in place! Ah well... it's not like Nina's in much danger of pulling them out and swallowing them, so I figured I'd take the risk of not undoing all that stitching ;-)
Fortunately she LOVED it! I'd packed it in my backpack and just let the head peak out, and she literally squealed when she saw it. She had had no idea I was even working on it. Awesome!!! :-D

I also got to hand off Jordan's hat, and fortunately it fit :-)

I'd brought the owl puffs to work with me Friday before last... I felt a bit silly about passing them out to my colleagues, as I didn't really know how they would react, but fortunately they liked them... or at least pretended to while I was around ;-)
I posted this photo on Facebook that evening, and a friend of mine wrote to ask if I'd make some to sell!!! They're fun to make, so I was happy to agree as long as she didn't want too many too soon. In the end she asked for another four by Christmas - that I can manage, and in fact finished the last one yesterday!

With those things out of the way, I have had time to knit some more on existing projects... for the first time in about a MONTH! The Jillian sweater has seen quite a bit of progress, and I'm just about finished with the hip increases.

I've gotten quite a bit more done on the Aranami shawl as the pattern's really easy to learn off by heart, so I tend to bring it along with me when I go out. I'm almost done with the fourth colour :-)

I'm also working on a blanket. I've been wanting a knitted throw for ages, but my cozy memories blanket is still YEARS away from being finished (which is fine!), so I found some cheap yarn and decided to just go for it! In my head I knew exactly what I wanted (a 'sampler afghan' of sorts), but I couldn't find anything quite right on ravelry, and my first attempt turned out a mess, so I'm just going for simple mitered squares again instead :-D At least with all the garter, it'll be nice and squishy!

WIP Wednesday: Week 47

Last time I posted a WIP post I'd recently cast on 3 new things. Since then, I haven't touched either of those things AT ALL, but have cast on a bunch of new things instead! Go figure...

I still really want to finish at least one of the two sweaters for this winter, but I have some gift knitting that I want to get out of the way first. Fortunately that means I have 2 1/2 finished objects to show off this time :-)

I finished the Margrathea shawl for Nina while I was in Exeter... playing a SERIOUS case of yarn chicken for my bind off! I ended up with less than 2 grams remaining. But it's bound off and blocked and absolutely gorgeous :-D Can't wait to give it to her!

Weekend before last, Nina wrote me to say that Jordan could really use a new winter hat if I didn't mind knitting one for him. Of course I didn't! I love knitting hats, but don't often wear them myself, so I was glad to get this chance to get one on the needles anyway. I wrote him to ask what he wanted: "Blue and black - something with diamonds, squares and stripes!" Immediately as he said that, I knew exactly what he meant... but utterly failed to find anything along those lines on Ravelry!!! What's a doting auntie to do? She makes up the pattern herself, of course! As it turned out, it was a super-quick knit, and I finished it in just a day... and I'm actually kinda proud enough of the hat, that I'm thinking of putting it up on Ravelry myself :-P

As for the half-finished object... I've been wanting to knit something for my team at work for quite awhile. They're really awesome people and have all commented positively on my knitting at some point or the other (we have a weekly internal status meeting where I've been allowed to sit and knit for the past few years :-D ) Besides, they're pretty much the best colleagues ever. When I stumbled across the pattern for some super cute owl puffs, I knew I had to make them for them! They each take about 1.5hrs to make, so I should be able to finish before Christmas... otherwise it'll just be a New Years gift instead ;-)
6 down - 6 to go.

WIP Wednesday: Week 44

I've had a "slight" case of castonitis this past month, so I have quite a bit to show off this time around :-D

The finished objects first - I finished the Katia sweater earlier this month, so Nina could get it when I saw her on October 12th. I am SO happy with how it turned out, and it fits her perfectly :-D It's not a colour combo I'd necessarily have chosen myself, but it worked really well and is SO right for her. And of course - being the ridiculously knitworthy person she is - Nina made sure to coordinate her makeup to it!

I recently discovered a group on FB that makes "pocket friends" for Danish ambulances. "Pocket friends" are small 7x13cm stuffed toys that EMTs can give to sick/injured children to offer a bit of comfort. Of course I had to join, and I've finished 4 so far, and am planning to make more.

Yesterday I finished the socks I'm making for a colleague of mine. I'm glad she said she likes bright colours, because it is LOUD!! But she squees every time she sees it, so I'm taking that as a good sign.

As for my works in progress, I decided to have a birthday cast on (i.e. a guilt-free cast on because it's my birthday. "Unlike 'a guilt-free cast on because it's Friday?" Nina asked... Hush, sis!) this year, and after a LOT of wavering back and forth I ended up with a modified version of the Jillian pullover. I knew I wanted something with stripes, but couldn't find a stripy project with the neckline I desired. This one had EXACTLY the right neckline, but wasn't stripy... very easily changed! I've just reached the waist decreases, although I've moved those further in towards the center of the sweater - Amy Herzog-style.

It's a quick knit, and I would have been much further along, if it hadn't been for me casting on yet ANOTHER sweater :-D One of my colleagues has this amazing green knitted sweater that she wears all the time. I complimented it the other week, and she immediately told me that a friend of hers had knit it for her - if I'd like the pattern? Uhm... yes, please!! I bought the yarn a few days later, and cast on that same evening (after doing only a cursory swatch... schhh... I'm living on the edge!). It's thick yarn held double on huge needles, so should knit up really fast! And the yarn is AMAZINGLY soft, so I can't wait to get to wear it!

And finally - because all of the above obviously isn't enough! - I decided to cast on Stephen West's newest Mystery shawl - the Starflake. I usually stay away from MKALs as I prefer to know what the finished product looks like before I commit to a knit, but I'd seen the two first clues and LOVED the way it looked, so couldn't help myself any longer. I didn't have any suitable fingering weight yarn in my stash, but loads and loads of lace-weight, so I frogged a long-languishing sweater that has been on the needles since 2015, so I'm obviously never going to finish that one and am using that yarn held double instead.

WIP Wednesday - week 39

I know I did one of these just last week, but thanks to my weekend away, I have gotten a TON of knitting done since last Wednesday. No finished objects, but three works in progress that have all seen significant progress.

Nina's sweater might not look all that much different from last time, but it now has both a neckband and 3/4 of a sleeve! I could have gotten further last night, but had reached the point where I needed to start the colourwork and was too lazy to get up from the couch and go get the green yarn :-P The colours are a bit washed out here, but it looks really awesome IRL :-D

The sweater was too large to bring away with me though, so I cast on two new things last week :-D First up - the Aranami shawl which I've been eager to cast on for quite awhile. Not that I really need another shawl, but I figured it would work well as travel knitting, and could make for a nice present for someone. It turned out to be the PERFECT travel knitting project, so I knit on it pretty much every time we were back in our room. Super easy to learn the pattern off by heart, and so extremely potato-chippy :) It looks a bit weird at the moment, as I decided to do the entire left side before I started "filling in" the tiers - but I wanted to see how the colours played together and besides... it's my knitting! I can break the rules if I want to ;-)

I also cast on a pair of socks for a colleague of mine. She's moved here from Spain and gets cold in winter, so I offered to knit her something. She immediately jumped at the offer, and asked for some hand knit socks in the brightest, most happiest colour I could find! As luck would have it, I had some almost neon bright colour in my stash, so could cast on right away. I wanted something a bit more intricate than plain vanilla, so found an easily adaptable pattern with some faux cable. They made for perfect car knitting, so I got quite a bit of the leg done there.

WIP Wednesday - Week 38

Been awhile since I did one of these last, so I figured it was about time! Of course I meant to post this yesterday, but life happened :-P

Off the Needles
Three finished projects since my last post... although one was a modification more than a complete new knit. Still counts though!!

First of all, I finished the fingerless gloves for Miriam. As always, knitting fingers is a hassle and a half, but actually went much faster than I had expected. Probably because they didn't have to be full length. I haven't seen her yet since I finished them, but she'll get them next month sometime.

While working on those, I also realized that I really wanted to turn my own fingerless mitts into proper mittens. I NEVER wear fingerless gloves as my fingers actually tend to get cold before the palms of my hands do, so though I absolutely love the look of the musical mitts I knit a few years ago, I never ever wore them... and that was just a shame! Fortunately I had more of the green yarn, so it was the work of a few evenings to get them knit up :) Wasn't quite sure I'd have enough for separate fingers though, so mittens it is. We'll see if I'll get to wear them more this way.

Finally I finished the test knit shawl I'd just started in my last post. It was a fun pattern, and I love that it was knit sideways, so the rows never got too long. It's not yet cold enough to actually wear it, but it won't be long now.


On the Needles
Other than my usual socks I only have one thing that I'm actively knitting on currently - a sweater for Nina. I know, I know - I have a ton of things on the needles already, so it's not like I NEEDED another project, but I had an urge to cast on something new, so it might just as well be another gift for her :-D I'm so used to knitting fingering weight sweaters that I was constantly surprised by how FAST this worsted weight sweater knit up and I finished the body yesterday! Now I just have the neckline and two sleeves to go. Nina wants me to add patterning to the sleeves as well, which should be simple enough, but I'll have to do a bit of maths to see when to start the pattern, in order to have enough of the green. The body used exactly half, but the sleeves do need to be a bit longer.

WIP Wednesday: Week 34

I'm obviously all about the shawls this time round. I finally gave away the present I was knitting, so I get to show it off here as well now!

My aunt invited me to her birthday last weekend, and as it was a round birthday, I wanted to give her something handmade. I very quickly fell in love with the pattern for the Lionberry shawlette, and fortunately had the perfect yarn for it! As I was knitting it, I was a tad worried that it would be too "twee", but as always blocking worked wonders, and I almost fell so much in love with it, that I didn't want to give it away after all! :-D


I'm still working on the shawl for Nina. It's slow going, because every time I pick it up to knit, I end up stopping every few rows to admire the way the yarn is knitting up. I'm so glad I bought this for her - it's just so HER! And fortunately it fits the pattern really well, so this is a labour of love in the best possible sense of the term.

And of course with three shawls already on the needles (one not featured here, as it hasn't seen any progress in ages) I found yet another test knit I had to sign up for, as I found the pattern really, really cute. I'd originally thought to use a more varigated yarn, but it really needs a tonal or speckled yarn to really do it justice, so I ripped back and started over with this MadTosh single ply. Much better yarn for it too!

In non-shawl news, I'm knitting a pair of fingerless gloves for Miriam. She wrote me a few weeks ago to suggest that if I ever needed something new on the needles, she would really love such a pair, and had very specific ideas of how they should look. Fortunately her wishes were easy enough to comply with, and I finished the first glove last weekend! Should cast on for the second one tomorrow.

Finally I finished a ... kittyhat... for a friend of mine. Originally trump was supposed to come visit Denmark in the beginning of September, so she wanted a hat to "celebrate" that. (... of course, that visit has now been canceled, because Denmark refused to sell Greenland to the US... x_X ... I keep saying we should offer to trade it for Hawaii...)

WIP Wednesday: Week 31

My current WIPs are either a) boring b) gifts or c) pretty much untouched since my last WIP post, so I'll just stick to showing off my one finished object this time.

I finished the mermaid's tail last week! I knew I was going to see my niece last weekend, and really wanted to have it ready for her. Fortunately it was a really quick knit (2 strands of yarn on THICK needles) so took no time at all to knit up. I adapted an existing pattern and made a few bad choices along the way, but it turned out alright, and she LOVED it! I mean she
absolutely
loved
it!
Granted, this was all within the first 48 hours of receiving it, so it might lose its shiny newness soon, but even so I was VERY gratified to see how much she enjoyed it. I've already promised her mother that if it keeps being this popular, I'd be happy to add some extra length to it, so she can keep using it as she grows. I love when gift knits work out this well!

WIP Wednesday: Week 29

Long post is LONG! I've just been on vacation which means that I have had a LOT of knitting time these past few weeks and thus have a bunch of finished items to show off, as well as SEVERAL works in progress! Apparently finishing stuff always makes me want to cast on three new projects for every one I cast off ;-)

Finished Objects
Most importantly, I've finished both my test-knits! The deadline isn't until August 1st, so I'm happy to have those done in plenty of time. Actually, I'd been knitting pretty much exclusively on the Tolovana Tee for the first week of my vacation. I love everything about it, and can't wait until it's cooled down enough to wear wool again.
With that out of the way I figured it was about time to pick up Midnight Sun again and finished that the very next day (including adding a bit of extra length to the first sleeve, as I'd measured it wrong). I'm not quite as happy with the fit of this one (particularly the sleeves, as they are a bit tight), but I'm hoping it'll stretch the right places with wear.
And then, just as I was about to try to figure out what on EARTH to cast on next, Nina texted me that she was looking for some knitted/crocheted wash- and dishcloths - if I knew where she could buy some. Sheesh! As IF I'd let her buy something I could make so easily! I hunted through my cotton scraps and 2 days later I'd finished five :-D I've got plenty of scraps left, but figured I'd leave it at this until I see how she likes them :-)

On the Needles
Thanks to the vacation, I currently have 5 new WIPs! (And haven't touched the 5 older ones at all... go figure :-P ) After all, I needed something suitable to bring along with me on my trip, right? Of course right ;-) So it ended up being 2 pairs of socks, 2 shawls and 1 mermaids tail! The latter didn't get cast on until day before yesterday though ;-)

When reading through a recent edition of "The Knitter" magazine I found a pattern for some awesome fair isle cat socks! (As in - socks with cats on them - not socks for cats!). I couldn't resist them, and as I was looking for a gift for Liz' birthday anyway, I decided to cast them on! As always, fair isle is amazingly potato-chippy, and knitting the Favourite Things cowl has definitely helped in making my floats better. It's still uneven as anything, but oh well... I guess that's just the nature of the beast.

I've finished the first one (although I decided to change the pattern on the foot to a simple Fibonacci stripe sequence instead), but though I cast on the second one right away, I'm still just on the ribbing. That's okay - I have until the end of October to finish it.

They were much too complex to bring along with me on vacation though, so I cast on a simple vanilla sock, as I had some left overs for my "Fading Point" shawl that I wanted to play around with. Perfect car knitting... except for the fact that I couldn't try them on, so just guesstimated where the heel should go and made them about 1cm too small! Of course I could just have continued with them like that, and passed them on to a niece or sister... but I kinda really wanted to keep these for myself :-p so I ripped back a few hours of knitting and am now back on track again - but only just past the heel instead of almost done.

One new cast on isn't enough for a vacation though, so I also cast on for the Turtles Trail shawl. I have some gorgeously soft mystery yarn that Liz gave me which I wanted to use. As far as I can make out, I have about 800m of a lace weight, but I couldn't find a suitable lace shawl I felt like knitting, so I decided to hold it double and use it for this instead! It's so soft that I couldn't see myself using it for anything other than a shawl, so it was just a matter of finding the right pattern for it. I'm really picky when it comes to one-skein shawl patterns, but I do love an applied edging, so this seemed like a good fit.
Can't wait to finish this. It's so soft you guys... SO soft! I can't even... just wish I knew what was in it. My guess (knowing that it's a New Zealand yarn) is that it's probably a merino-possum blend of some sort, but it might have some other fibers thrown in there as well.

While away on vacation I (of course) visited a yarn store and got some gorgeous new yarn for myself. However, the VERY first skein I spotted was one that immediately called out to me that it HAD to be bought and knit up for Nina. I did NOT have a say - it had to happen! I actually even considered purchasing a new set of needles and getting it wound up right then and there to cast on the very same day.... but realized that was just a tiiiiny bit silly :-P So I waited the two days until I got back home again... and then immediately sat down to find a suitable pattern. I knew I wanted something asymmetric and quirky like Martina Behm (in fact, I originally thought it should be another Hitchhiker, but then realized that not only had I already knit 3 of those - I'd knit one of those for Nina! Time for something else) and ended up with Margrathea - another Douglas Adams inspired pattern of hers.

And finally my newest cast on. Last Sunday Michala told me that Nora really wanted a mermaid tail and had gone right on to say that "auntie can make one!". Of course I always want to encourage my nieblings in their belief that "auntie can knit/crochet anything", and as this is the first time Nora has ever actually asked me to make her something, obviously I had to comply. As she wants to be able to wear it in her bathtub (as any self-respecting mermaid would, of course! ;-) ) I had no suitable yarn in my stash so went yarn shopping the very next day and cast on the same evening. Not much progress yet, but as it's DK yarn held double on 7mm needles it should take me no time at all to finish :-)

WIP Wednesday - Week 25

A LONG overdue WIP post! I have so much to show off.

Off the Needles
First things first - after having procrastinated on grafting 120 stitches for FAR too long (took forever too!!!) I am now finally, finally, FINALLY absolutely done with My Favourite Things cowl, and I couldn't be happier with how it's turned out. It's obviously much too warm to wear right now, but I can't make myself pack it away, and smile every time I walk past it. It's so colourful and so ME! I love it! I've promised Liz to knit one for her too, but haven't cast that on yet... think I need a bit of a break from fair isle just now. :-P

But here it is, in all its glory.

This next cowl I actually finished ages ago, but had to wait to show off until I could give it to Nina. It was originally written for DK weight yarn, but she'd asked me to rewrite it for fingering. Took some maths, but hopefully it worked :-)

Finally, I have two pairs of socks! The Jaywalkers that I showed off in progress last time, and a pair of plain vanilla that I've been knitting during work meetings.

Works in Progress
I haven't actually touched either of the two sweaters from last time, because I've signed up for two test-knits! I usually try to limit myself to one at a time, but I was literally just missing the sleeves of one when the other turned up, so I couldn't resist :-D

First up is the Midnight Sun top. The boatneck is slightly wider than I usually prefer, but I loved it on the model, so hopefully I can pull it off too :-P Working the stripes is a hassle and a half though!!! Four different balls of yarn at the same time - it tangles ALL the time. I've finished the first sleeve, but am taking a bit of a breather before tackling the next one... Managing 4 skeins was bad enough for the body, but at least I used each for a decent amount of time for each stripe. Now I have to change colours all the time, meaning the yarns tangle even worse! First world problems, I know ;-) Also, I think I knit the first sleeve too short, so I want to try to knit the second a repeat longer to compare... and then either rip back the second one, or undo the cast off of the first one and add an extra repeat. We'll see. I LOVE the colours though! The bathroom shot does not do it justice at ALL - the colours are a lot more vibrant in real life.

The other one is at the "impossible to photograph right now" stage, so it basically just looks like a blob, but it's absolutely gorgeous, and I love working on it. I should only be a few cm from separating for the sleeves, and then it'll be a lot easier to photograph.

WIP Wednesday: Week 19

Only one FO since last time, but a LOT of WIPs currently in progress.

I'm in a sweater-knitting mood and thus have not one, not two, but three different sweaters on the needles at the moment! I've only been working on the two new ones since last time though, so my long-languishing WIP is long-languishing once again. But who cares - it's not like it has a deadline anyway.

First, I cast on the Long Cabled Vest out of some bulky yarn. I adapted it to be knit in the round, as I don't think I'd ever wear it open anyway, and this way I could eliminate a lot of the purling :-P Time will show if my modifications work (as it's knit bottom up, so I can't really try it on as I go), but I'm honestly not too fussed if I end up frogging it. With such thick yarn I might have been better off with a cardi, but at the time I cast it on, I REALLY wanted to be knitting in the round, so that overruled everything else ;-) And who knows - I might also end up loving it!
I'm going to sew on some buttons despite having knit it in the round. I think it'll give it a more structured/finished look, and I don't mind sewing on buttons when they're just for show.

The vest didn't really scratch my cast-on itch though, so shortly after, I swatched for and cast on the Twylem cardigan (I know, I know - lots of purling after all!). You guys, I LOVE this knit!!! The yarn is amazingly soft, I love the colour, and the pattern follows a really interesting construction and is so much fun to knit!! One of my favourite knits in a very long time, and I can't wait to finish it so I can wear it.

As always I also have some socks on the needles - one plain vanilla, for when I need to be able to just knit and not look or think, and one with a minor amount of patterning, for when it's okay that I have to look once in awhile (still doesn't require much thought though, fortunately. I've finished the first sock of both, and am racing along with the second, so will probably finish those soon too.... My handknit socks are outgrowing the drawer I keep them in!! Fortunately I managed to pass on two pairs to a friend last month, but still!!! I forgot to take a progress photo of the plain vanilla, but here is the first Jaywalker sock. Great pattern!


But with all those new things on the needles, I only have one finished object since my last post. Henni is moving later this month, and I wanted to give her something as a housewarming present. When we moved, she gave us a "Nisse" (~ Santa's helper), which has been guarding our living room ever since, so I figured I'd get her one too - but since it's May, I quickly gave up on buying one, and made one instead. Took no time at all, and I'm very happy with how it turned out!