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!

WIP Wednesday - Meet Lars!

The Zigzagular socks are done! Still need to weave in ends, but I just have to get that done before Saturday, so no worries there :)

I've made a couple of errors here and there where I apparently couldn't count to 8, but none that are visible to the naked and untrained eye, so I'm not going to worry about that. Hope my sister-in-law likes them!

I've gotten a bit of work done on my sister's vest. I forgot to take a new progress photo, but it doesn't look all that different from last week anyway. Only have another 30 rows to go now, so it's suddenly looking very doable to have it done by next week :)

It's too big to bring on my commute though, so since my visitor from New Zealand professed a love of all things turtle, I decided to make her one! Was quite fiddly at times, but still ended up taking me just 4 hours all together, and I've got to say I think it's ridiculously cute! Fortunately she seemed to like it too, and immediately named it Lars as that was "a nice pronounceable Danish name!"

Finally, I decided I didn't have enough on my needles as it was, so I cast on the Nostalgia Shawl which I've been wanting to knit for ages! No time like the present :) I've only knit 16 rows so far, but I think I'll enjoy it. It reminds me a lot of the Color Affection shawl which I LOVED knitting, and I like the way the two yarns play together. Slightly worried the varigated will become too overpowering after awhile, but I think/hope the purple will downplay it enough.

WIP Wednesday - Knit all the things!

Feels like I've gotten a lot of knitting done this past week, so let's see what it amounts too now that I actually sit down to write it all up.

First of all I've been working on the Seabrook Vest for my sister. It's slooooow going because of all the seed stitch, but I've just finished the first armhole now, so it's coming along nicely. I'm aiming to finish this by the time I see Nina next, which should be end July.

I've also been working on my Adjoin socks, and have just reached the heel of the second one. Still love the yarn, the pattern and the needles (my first Addi Turbo needles - won't be the last!), so I don't see these being WIPs much longer.

Sunday I started on a pair of One Step Ahead slippers for my best friend :) A friend of mine had posted a link with these slippers to my Facebook page, and Liz commented, saying she wished she could knit, as she'd love a pair. Naturally I offered to knit them for her :) They'll make lovely hostess gifts come November ;) And it's a sign of my love for her, that despite SO many of the projects on Ravelry compaining about the pattern, I never hesitated, but sat down to knit them for her straight away ;) And you know what? They were easy! Simplest DROPS pattern yet! Not entirely sure what all those other knitters were complaining about - but of course, the pattern may have been modified since they knit theirs.

Anyway, I finished the knitting of the first one yesterday, and got it all seamed up this morning, so now it's all done but for the buttons. I'll have to go shopping for those soon.

I've started a new crochet project... as you do, when you already have 5 other things on the needles ;) My niece asked if I'd make her a snail, so of course I had to cast that on. Not very far yet though, but at least I've started!

And finally, I have another FO :D Yes, I've been stocking them up, so I could finish all the things for StashDash. This is the Avery Pullover by Nikki Van de Car. I absolutely LOVE the yarn! It is so amazingly soft :) And since this was my second time knitting with it, I knew exactly how much it stretched when wet, so could plan accordingly :) I don't have any special plans for the pullover though. It's size 2-3T, so a lot too big for all the new babies in my family, so I may put it aside for later, or I may just give it to somebody else. We'll see.

Meet Zork and Lala!

There are a lot of gift-giving occasions coming up in my family these next few weeks, so I've been working hard out on getting stuff ready. And yesterday I finally finished the two last presents, so I proudly present to you - Lala the Panda and Zork the Alien!
I can't quite decide whether they're cute, ugly or just plain weird... a bit of all three, perhaps? I hope the intended recipients will like them, at least :)

After working concentrated on a lot of deadline knitting (pretty much all I've done so far this year, although much of that is deadlines I've set myself, e.g. to take part in the Clean Slate Challenge) I felt like a long term project, where I could focus on the process rather than the product, so I've picked my Cozy Memories blanket back up, and have added another 16 squares to it :)
I've decided on the width now, so from here on, it's just straight up! Still a loooong way off from finishing it, but I absolutely love how it's turning out! I'm keeping a record of all the yarn I use for future reference, but already now I think it's cool to be able to say "Oh, those are the socks I knit for my sister" or "That's the sweater Mum knit me" etc.

I've also finished my first "real" spinning project. The others have mainly been for practise, but I got some amazingly gorgeous Merino fiber in a rainbow colourway that I just HAD to use for something real. I finished spinning it up this weekend, and after meassuring out how much yardage (or meterage ;) ) I got out of it, immediately went to Ravelry to see what I could do with it.

It went from this:
to this:
and finally to this:

I was thrilled to realize I'd have enough for the contrasting colour of the Conjunction Cowl and immediately added it to my library... only to turn around and realize I'd miscalculated the yardage, and only had half as much as I thought I did! So I had to great creative and add another CC. I went yarn shopping Monday and found two colours that I think will look totally awesome with my rainbow skein, so here is the first step towards knitting the cowl!
(I'll use black as MC and then the light blue and rainbow as the CC. I was inspired by this yarn which I think is absolutely GORGEOUS!).

I've decided this will be my London knitting (small, easy and portable), so I won't cast on until after Easter sometime, in order to have it ready for when we leave :)

Startitis!

I have startitis in a big way, and want to knit on everything at once! Which of course means that each project sees very little process from week to week. I think I have 8 (semi-)active WIPs at the moment, so I will spare you from showing off all of them, and just picking out my favourites.

In order of casting on...

I absolutely adore my $5 in Paris. It was the first sweater I knit, and I love everything about it - the colours, the yarn, the fit. So I've been planning to knit myself another pretty much ever since. And last Friday I finally cast on for one :) Didn't get much past the swatching and initial caston, but at least I've started now!!! ... and bought yarn enough for two others - shhh... don't ask ;)

Next up is my second bigger crochet project. My niece's birthday is coming up, so I offered to make her something, and she ended up picking Lala the Panda by Stacey Trock. I started out on a 4.5mm needle, but thought it turned out a tad small, so I've now switched to a 5.5mm and will either rip back the smaller pieces, or see if I have yarn enough for two!
The two legs for comparison - there's quite a significant size difference even over just 12 rounds!

Earlier this week I signed up for another test-knit! The first in ages, but I simply couldn't resist this one. It's an absolutely adorable baby cardigan, and I knew just what yarn to use for it - some of the lovely Candy Skein yummy fingering that's been languishing in my stash for a couple of years :) Whenever I knit with CandySkein yarn, I feel tempted to buy more! It is SO wonderfully soft and a treat to knit with :) The cardigan is a quick knit, but I'm once again reminded that I'm really not too fond of purling :-P Guess my plans of making a full-size cardigan for myself are a tad on the optimistic side.
So cute! Love the eyelet edging especially :)

Finally I decided that since I have multiple knitting WIPs, I apparently need multiple crochet WIPs as well. In past years I have done cross-stitch projects for my nieces and nephews baptisms, but I really don't cross-stitch any longer, so I figured I'd start a new tradition and crochet something for my newest niece instead. And of course, every child needs a crocheted alien, right? Of course right! :)

So three time-sensitive items that all have to be done before April... fortunately I love them all, and my problem is more that I want to work on all of them at the same time :) The cardigan is getting most of my love these days though, as the test-knit has to be done by February 15th, so that's cutting it a bit close. But with no plans this weekend, I should be able to get quite far on it... unless the siren call of some of the other projects become too loud to ignore ;)

FO Fridays - Up to date with Year of Socks!

Three finished objects this week! I'm so proud of myself ;)

Those of you who follow my facebook page will always have seen Herbert the Snail. I absolutely adore it! Even if the eyes did get a bit crooked ;)
Isn't he cute? I'm SO thilled with how it turned out! :) The funny thing is that I didn't realize until about halfway through that this was perhaps a tad ambitious for what was only my second crochet project, but when it comes to knitting and crocheting, the skills really do transfer! Once you know the stitches, it's just a matter of being able to read a pattern and taking it one row at a time, without allowing yourself to get overwhelmed by the entire thing. Stacey Trock's pattern are really well written, so I never felt as if I was in over my head (well... except when it came to sewing the things together, but that has less to do with it being a new skill and more to do with my lack of dexterity! ;) ). Most importantly - it was FUN! :)
Pattern: Milton the Snake by Stacey Trock.

Last weekend I finally managed to finish both my September Socks and my October Socks, so now I'm all up to date! ... and just have to get started on the November Socks ;) I'm considering trying two socks at a time to see how that works... Anyway - the socks :)
September Socks: My Cup of Tea by Robin Lynn. Don't think I made any mods to this one.
October Socks: Sunset Scale Socks by Melissa J. Goodale. Substituted the Fish-Lips-Kiss heel and turned them into ankel socks as the yarn was a lot heavier than anticipated so 60 grams didn't get me as far as it usually does.

Year of Projects - Week 17

It's been a while since I did a WIP-post - not because I haven't been knitting, but I keep forgetting to take photos! And a knitting post without photos is slightly dull.

So this will be a joint YoP / WIP post so I can finally update you on all the things I've been working on lately. I'm sure you can't wait! Right? Of course right ;)

September Sock: I've turned the heel of the second sock and am now working on the gusset. Once that is done, the rest shouldn't take long at all, so it's starting to look like I may actually finish this by the end of the month! Of course, that would be more impressive if the month was September still...

October Sock: But fortunately I'm not doing too badly on the second October sock either! So it's actually looking good all around :) When knitting the first sock I discovered that I'd be playing a much more serious game of yarn chicken than first anticipated though! My socks usually weigh around 30g each, but with this one I'd already used 22g when finishing up the heel! So it's more of a ankle sock than I'd anticipated at first. Must be heavier yarn than I'm used to. Never mind - fortunately I don't mind ankle socks :)

But with a bit of luck and a bit of effort I should be able to finish these by the end of the month too! :) Or very early November anyway.

Little Pole hasn't seen that much progress. I would have liked to have finished the body by now, but I got sidetracked by other projects. It is what it is. I should still have plenty of time to finish in time for Christmas :)

Newborn Vertebrae: One of the things that have sidetracked me is the vertebrae KAL hosted by The Fat Squirrel. I'd wanted to knit one for my niece-to-be anyway, so it seemed the perfect opportunity. The KAL ends by the end of October, so I made sure to finish the knitting this weekend. Still needs to be blocked though.

Herbert the Snail: Another distraction is the fact that I finally feel accomplished enough at crochet to tackle one of Stacey's amazing animals! I bought her book, Crocheted Softies almost two years ago, because I knew that I just HAD to learn how to crochet and make some of these! I'd especially fallen in love with "Milton the Slowpoke Snail", so of course I had to start with that one. I would have finished already if it wasn't for the fact that I couldn't find any safety-eyes, so I had to put it on hold for a bit until I figured out what to use instead.

The name comes from a childrens' song we used to sing in church about "Herbert, the very slow snail" :)

Progress
July Sock (Braided Swirl Socks)
Stashbuster #1 (Dragonfly Elfe)
August Sock (Vanilla Socks)
September Sock (My Little Cup of Tea)
October Sock (Sunset Scales)
Stashbuster #2 (Little Pole)
November Sock
December Sock
Stashbuster #3
Stashbuster #4
(Stashbuster #5)
(Stashbuster #6)

WIP Wednesday - A Block Away

On the Needles
I actually have surprisingly few things on the needles, as I've managed to cast off a bunch of things this past week. I'm too eager to show them off to wait for Friday, so I'll "cheat" and post them early! :)

I have finally gotten the hang of crochet it seems. I've been playing around with it a bit, and this weekend managed to finish my two first proper crochet items :) However, it is more than a tiny bit confusing that not only are UK and US crochet terms not the same, but sometime the same term means two different things!!!! That will cause some frustration until I get the hang of it, I'm sure :-P

I'm getting pretty fast at doing the stitches themselves, but getting that first row done where I crochet into the chain? GAH! That's still giving me problems. I almost hope I'm doing it wrong, because I'm getting increasingly frustrated by how slow-moving it is, but probably it's just a matter of practise, practise, practise.

During the church luncheon Sunday I managed to finish this bracelet (pattern not on Ravelry yet). I can't really decide whether it's my 'type' or not, but it was a nice way to practise some of my new skills.


This next project, however, I am absolutely THRILLED by how it turned out! It's the Crochet Hook Case by Sally V. George, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out :)
The badge fits it perfectly :)

I added a border and simplified the pocket, but otherwise it is exactly as written. At the time of making it, I hadn't yet decided I wanted to keep my DPNs there too, which is why it isn't quite tall enough, but it's close enough that I don't even mind. I absolutely love it, and may make another one for the rest of my DPNs :)


I haven't completely forsaken my knitting though. I finally cast off Sleeves, and it's currently blocking, waiting to dry so I can weave in the ends.
I love Martina Behm's patterns and didn't even mind knitting this twice! It was just as much fun the second time around. Now I just hope it fits! :-P Things tend to grow when blocking and then snap back into shape when thrown in the wash, so I always fear that it's a tad too big, but then it all comes out right after the first wash.


And finally, while I didn't finish the pair, I did at least manage to finish one September Sock ;) Hopefully I'll do better with my October Socks.
I do enjoy the pattern though, and think it suits the yarn nicely. I also realized that while a gusset/heel-flap heel fits me nicely, it takes FOREVER to execute, compared to the fish-lips-kiss heel! So I think I may just start to substitute that whenever possible.