Christmas Knitting

I've finished all my Christmas knitting! Not quite early enough for me to be able to participate in the "Grinchalong" hosted by the Knitmoregirls, but plenty early enough for it to have been stress-free just the same :) Still need to weave in the ends, but that's it.

The Princess Hitchhiker for my youngest niece is done and blocking :) It turned out just slightly bigger than expected, but hopefully she'll enjoy being able to wrap herself in it :)
Her favourite colours are pink and brown, so I knit this holding a strand of pink, brown and very light purple yarn together. The yarn used is Grignasco Extrafine (100g/1500m), so three strands held together worked perfectly.

I cast off the Little Pole for my oldest niece yesterday! So here it is in all its unblocked glory:
I decided not to do the pompoms for the belt. I'm not really a fan of pompoms, so I think it looks better without them. It's a bit of a weird construction, but I think it'll work out well. Can't wait to see it on her!

My November socks are going well - albeit a tad late ;) I finished the first one a couple of weeks ago (just forgot to take a photo) and am just over half-way on the second (having completed 7 of the 11 repeats).

However, since it IS December, I've also cast on my December socks. I decided I had been such a good girl with respect to sock-knitting, so I'd go a bit easy on myself for December, and finish up the year with a pair of tube socks for my newest niece. I still have almost 30 grams remaining of the Candy Skein Yummy Fingering in the Rainbow colourway, so there should be plenty for a pair of newborn socks.
I can't get over how cute they are! 28 stitches as compared to my usual 56-66sts! I started out with 32sts 2x2 ribbing, decreased to 28sts and 1x1 ribbing after 5 rounds and will probably switch to plain stockinette at some point... haven't decided exactly when yet.


Year of Projects 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 (Spring Forward)
December Sock (Newborn Tube Socks)
Stashbuster #3
Stashbuster #4
(Stashbuster #5)
(Stashbuster #6)

WIP Wednesday

On the Needles
Almost done with the Little Pole!!! Which is a good thing, since it's supposed to be a Christmas present. I've finished one sleeve, so now I just have the other sleeve and the belt to go. The first sleeve took 2 nights of concentrated knitting, and the belt will probably be something similar, so I should be able to finish with plenty of time to spare :)

Between the Pages
I finished "Landline" by Rainbow Rowell last night. SO GOOD! I just raced through it. It completely deserves all the hype surrounding it. You can find my review here.

Stash Stories
I had my very own "Etsy-incident of 2014" a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to the ridiculously expensive shipping from the US, I didn't do as much damage as I could've, but I did get 4 very gorgeous skeins out of it.

They all arrived last Saturday (so quick!) and as luck would have it, the skein I won from The Fat Squirrel's podcast arrived the same day! So there was lots and lots of yarny goodness to be had :)
I spot a scarf, a cowl and two pairs of socks!

Year of Projects - Week 20

Woohoo! Only one day late, instead of my usual 3 or 5 ;)

The Little Pole has finally seen some significant progress. I've finished knitting the collar and just need to graft it together - then I can get started on the sleeves! I'm slightly worried about how much yarn I have left though. I have another 4 skeins (50g each), which should be enough for the sleeves, but won't leave me much for the belt and pompoms. Ah well, if all else fails, I have some white cotton yarn I should be able to use instead. Or it may turn out that I've grossly overestimated how much yarn the sleeves will take, and I'll have plenty! Wouldn't be the first time ;)

I've managed decent progress on my November Socks as well. These are the "Spring Forward" socks by Linda Welch. I love the pattern, but am not entirely happy with the yarn. It's Mayflower Divine 1 ply, and it's both too thick and too fluffy for socks in my mind. I have one more skein, but think I will use that for something else instead.

It's not all bad though, I love the colours! :) I turned the heel over the weekend (a fish-lips-kiss heel - still my favourite, even though I want to try other short-row heels now) and am just over half-way through the foot, so it's going at a nice speed. Who knows - maybe I'll manage to finish within the month for once! ;)

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 (Spring Forward)
December Sock
Stashbuster #3
Stashbuster #4
(Stashbuster #5)
(Stashbuster #6)

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 - It's all about the socks!

On the Needles
The second "My Cup of Tea" sock is finally taking off. I'm 4 rows away from the heel and know from experience that once that's done, the foot will feel like it takes no time at all.

However, the heel-flap-gusset heel does not qualify as mindless knitting for me yet - I still have to check the pattern constantly - so when I needed some easy knitting last Monday, I decided to just go ahead and cast on for my October Socks even though the September Socks weren't done. After all it IS October already! ;)
These are the Sunset Scales Socks by Melissa Goodale - I picked them specifically as they looked like they'd be good for variegated yarn... this was before I bought the book you'll see below, or I might have chosen differently ;) Anyway, I'm just over halfway through the foot already, and enjoy the way it knits up :) I'm knitting these toe-up, as I may end up having to play a tiny game of yarn chicken, and it's easier to shorten the cuff this way ;)

(Love the kiwi stitch-marker. Saw it at a yarn shop last week and knew I had to have it :) )

Off the Needles
I finished my third pair of the Magic Slippers Saturday. They're such quick knits, and I've pretty much learned the pattern off by heart. Each slipper takes me between 3-4 hours to knit. I gave them to my niece yesterday, and fortunately she was absolutely delighted :) They're a tad big, but that just means she'll be able to wear them for longer :)

My cousin and his wife had a boy not too long ago, and I finally get to see him on Saturday! When they had their first child I knit her name for her as a present, so of course I have to do the same for this one. I've only managed the first initial so far, but it took me two years to finish the letters for their daughter, so I'm not going to feel bad about only having the 'P' ready for Saturday ;)

Between the Pages
Got two new knitting books for my birthday :)
75 Birds, Butterflies & Little Beasts was a gift from my parents-in-law :)
Knitting Socks With Handpainted Yarn I bought myself with money Morfar gave me. With all the colourful sock yarn I have in my stash by now, I thought this was the perfect book for me! I even got it at 10% off, as it turned out they only had the display copy left!

Stash Stories
Last year at around this time, I biked past this absolutely GORGEOUS tree, splendid in its fall colours. I immediately stopped and took a photo of it, all the while giggling a bit to myself that the VERY first thought on my mind was "I want yarn in this colourway!!!"
Well, last week I found it... and of course had to buy it!
It's not exactly right. This yarn is variegated instead of a gradient, and I'm actually not sure what it'll look like all knit up (will have to swatch before deciding on a pattern... it might be good for the leaves in Leftie though), but I still had to get it :)

WIP Wednesday - Second Sock

On the Needles
I haven't been knitting as much this past week as usual... mostly because I found two awesome books I had to disappear into, and I couldn't read fast enough while knitting to satisfy me, so knitting was put to the wayside for a bit. Almost like old days ;)

So very little progress on very few projects.

I've just finished the cuff for my second September Sock (am about 8 rows into the first pattern repeat). I always tend to procrastinate when it comes to casting on the second sock, but once it's actually on the needles I usually do okay, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm also considering casting on the first October Sock before I finish this one, just to give me some variation ;)

The 12 pairs of socks for 2014 is starting to look a bit iffy at this point, but I'm not about to give up yet! I know I can do it - it's all a matter of priorities!

My Princess Hitchhiker is up to 23 tips now! Each row is starting to take quite a bit longer now, and I still have another 19 tips to go! Glad I started early, so I have plenty of time before Christmas.


Finally I have cast on something new :-P But for some weird reason the photo I took of this never got saved on my iPhone?! Odd. Anyway, apparently I have absolutely NO willpower when it comes to knitting stuff for my nieces and nephews... so when my sister told me that her daughter kept stealing her magic slippers (so called because they look SO weird off the foot, but great on it), and wanted a pair of her own, I knew I had to make them. Especially as I see Isabella again next week - it would be cool if I could have them done already. Each slipper takes me about 3-4 hours to knit, so it's an achievable goal.

... and once they are done, I HAVE to get back to knitting her "Little Pole" :)