WIP Wednesday: Week 31

Soooo... apparently I only post WIP posts once a month now? :-P At least that means you're pretty sure to see heaps of change between each post!

Very shortly after my last post, I finished the Rainbow Elfe I was working on. I love the way it turned out, but actually haven't worn it "for real" yet, due to the heatwave we're currently having. Ah well - it'll keep till autumn.

I've also finally finished the Snowmelt shawl. It was originally designed as a 2 colour shawl, but I had a long gradient yarn I wanted to use for it. I absolutely LOVE it! I added about 20 extra rows to use up all my yarn, and ended up with less than 20 meters remaining - score! It's a cotton blend and thus not quite as warm as it could've been, so I've actually already used it a few times. It'll come in VERY handy once it cools down a bit.

Getting those two things off the needles really prompted my startitis (because why finish other WIPs when you can cast on something new and shiny instead?! :-D) and this past week I've cast on two new shawls.

First I started the "Closer to You" shawl using a merino/possum blend I bought in New Zealand. It's nice and soft but FAR too warm to work with these days, so I didn't get very far at all, before I had to put it aside.
Instead I cast on for the "Goldfish Memory" wrap that I've been eyeing for quite awhile. I finally decided on which colours I wanted to use for it (all from my stash - go me :-D ) and got them wound over the weekend. These are all fingering weight merino or merino/bamboo blends, so much nicer to work with in this heat. I haven't gotten very far on it yet, but am loving the knit. I'm two rows away from starting pattern section 4 where I get to add the third colour! :D

I've only done a tiny bit of sock-knitting over the past month, but at least I got the first blue Kinda Magic sock done - so now I have a fraternal pair!

WIP Wednesday: Week 27

It's been four weeks since I posted a WIP post last, so I have a ton of things to show off this time. Not very many finished objects, but I'm SO close on a few.

All the Socks!
I've finished one pair of socks and am in the middle of 4 other pairs. The finished pair was me trying out a new heel, and it turned out waaaaay too big, so I ended up giving them to Christian in the hopes that he could fit them - fortunately, he could :-D
I'm knitting two pairs of "Kinda Magic Socks" from Wool and the Gang which Liz got me the yarn for. I'm not entirely impressed by how they've sized the socks (far too short leg, far too long foot - I had to make a VERY shorter toe than the pattern calls for - and I have fairly large feet, for a woman!), but it's a fun knit nonetheless and a very clear indicator of how much a person's gauge can change - even just from day to day!


The last pair is a testknit I signed up for last month. I finished the first sock (and thus the testknit) over the weekend, but haven't yet cast on the second one. I'll probably do that once I finish one or both of the Kinda Magic Socks.

Meet Lark, the Cutest Monster Around
Some of our friends recently had a boy, so of course I had to make him a stuffed toy. Lark turned out so much cuter than I had expected, so though he was a lot of work, it was so worth it :-D

Almost done!
I don't think I've shown my rainbow Elfe off before. I started it just over a month ago and am almost done!!! Just one more stripe and then I can cast off. I've knit the Elfe 3 times before, so I took a chance and didn't swatch :-P Looks like it fits just fine though... we'll see how it goes after blocking. It's quite a bit longer than my other Elfes, but I wanted to use up every last bit of the rainbow yarn - besides, I like tunics, so it's all good :-) Just hope the yarn softens up with blocking though... it's a tad scratchy just now.

WIP Wednesday - Week 23

I've been doing a lot of finishing this past week, so have no works in progress, but 3 finished objects!

As expected I finished the Summa Shawl just a few days after my last WIP post. I played yarn chicken till the very end and ended up with less than 2 meters left of the light green yarn! Success! I can't believe how quick a knit it turned out to be, and am looking forward to seeing how it turns out once blocked. But here it is in all its unblocked glory :-)

Last week I was told that one of my coworkers is stopping later this month. I happen to know that she's a huge fan of unicorns, so decided to make one for her. The pattern was inspired by the SO FLUFFY unicorn from Despicable Me, but I decided to give it rainbow hair instead :-D It turned out really well, but was SUCH a hassle to make, that I doubt I'll make more of these. I plan to give it to my coworker this Friday and hope that she likes it.

After 1.5 years on the needles, I FINALLY finished the Skew socks. Not at all sure why they took me this long to finish. Sure, they're more complex than a "normal" sock construction, but not that bad. I like the way they look (the fit could be better, but that's my own fault as I didn't swatch ahead of time :-P) and LOVE the yarn! It's a merino-possum blend I bought in New Zealand and so lovely soft and warm! Waaaaay too warm these days, but they'll be awesome come winter.

WIP Wednesday - Week 22

StashDash2018 (a podcast knitting race) started this past Friday so as usual I'm finishing All The Things! (Capitalized, so it's true now). The previous years I've signed up for the 5K event, but I'm thinking I might only do the 3K this year - we'll see.

First finished item - the wingspan made out of my Christmas yarn. It's ridiculously colourful and I love it! Don't know how much I'll actually wear it, but I had fun knitting it, and that's the important thing.

Second finished item - a pair of socks for a colleague of mine. They're nothing special, but just a simple spiral around. I finally got to give them to her yesterday and I think she liked them 🙂 Of course, it is waaaaay too hot to wear them now, but they'll keep.

Third finished item - the forest wreath cowl. My first real attempt at two-colour brioche. I like the way it looks, but am not a huge fan of the actual knitting part of brioche knitting (which is also why I stopped after just two repeats instead of the 3 the pattern suggested), so I'll probably never knit any of the larger items.

I loved the yarn I used for the forest wreath though, and as I still had quite a bit left, I decided to use that for the Summa Shawl. I cast on Sunday and have pretty much been knitting exclusively on that ever since. It's flying off the needles, and I absolutely love how it's turning out. I fully expect to finish within a few days :D

WIP Wednesday - Week 19

No finished objects this time. I'm saving up finishing projects for stashdash (starts May 25th) in the hopes I'll be able to reach 5K again :-D

That said I've made a lot of progress on a lot of WIPs :)

First, I've been working on no fewer than 3 pairs of socks! The first are just plain vanilla in a self-patterning yarn. I'd brought them along to knit on at a work event as they required little to no attention and therefore made for perfect "keep my hands busy" knitting. I'm just past the heel but am in no rush to finish as I'm putting these aside for mindless knitting.
One of my colleagues/friends saw me knitting (hard for her not to - she was sitting right next to me!) and started squeeing so much over the socks that I immediately offered to knit her a pair too (would just have offered her said socks, but her feet are quite a bit smaller than mine, so that wouldn't work). I cast those one the very next day and am about half-way through the first sock. I really like both the pattern and the yarn.
Finally, I discovered a test-knit I just had to sign up for as it called for "extremely varigated yarn", and I had just such a skein I didn't know what to do with. I cast those on and finished the first one (all the test called for) in less than a week - it was very potatochippy to see the diamonds appear! I can't quite decide what I think of the finished sock - the purl bumps make to almost too busy - but know that I definitely want to knit a no-purl version at some point.

Other than that I've been knitting on my colourful wingspan. I'm on the very last wedge and my very last colour. Definitely not sure that I'll have enough yarn to bind off with, but fortunately it's just plain black, so I should be able to find more in my stash ;) This has been put aside to finish for stashdash! :D

Since I put that aside I had to find something else to work on, so I picked the Snowmelt back up and have managed to add on another 20 rows to that. I'm half way now, and will soon increase the stitch count to 500+ stitches per row!!! :-O
(Still not a huge fan of the current colour, but I loved it in the skein so I'm sure it'll be better once the green starts to appear.)

WIP Wednesday - Week 16

I never got around to posting my WIP Wednesday post last week, so this week I have a finished object that I never got to show in progress!!

Ages ago I stumbled across Heidi Bears' designs and completely fell in love with her African Flower animals. I especially kept returning to the happypotamus as being too cute for words. A couple of weeks ago I finally decided to buy the pattern, and once I did, I naturally had to cast it on right away.Well! Turned out it was a MUCH easier (not to mention quicker!!!) pattern to make than I had ever expected, and Sunday morning my darling Happy Hippo was done!I am SO pleased with how he turned out, and can easily see myself making more of these. Even Lars was surprised by how utterly CUTE he is :-D

In other news I finished Miriam's hat. Not a big feat as I had all the knitting done last time and just needed to add the pompom :-P We are celebrating her birthday next week... of course, it is far too hot for hats now, but at least she can save it for next year.

Nina helped me sew on buttons for Peter's cardigan (THANK YOU, Nina! ♥ ) and Saturday evening I could FINALLY hand it off to him! Fortunately it fits him perfectly, and he's already asked me if I'd knit him another 7! Not entirely sure why he'd need (or WANT!) 8 identical cardigans, but I heard and appreciated the compliment all the same :-) (... and also told him I'd consider ONE... in a few years :P Hopefully by then I can convince him to chose another pattern instead)

I've also finished a small pendant with Yggdrasil for a friend of mine. It was really easy until I came to the last round which is done in crab stitch (reversed sc). I'd never tried that stitch before, and it was a hassle and a half to execute! Took almost as long time to do as all the rest of the pendant put together! Worth it though - I really like the finished result, and hope my friend will like it too :-)

As for "currently knitting", I'm still working on the wingspan made out of miniskeins, and have added 3 more colours since last time. However, I recently forgot it at Mixi's place when I went to babysit Frederik, so took a bit of an unexpected break :-P I've gotten it back now though.

During the break I picked "Snowmelt" back up (I know, I know - so many different projects on the go at once! But I'm really enjoying having NO obligation-knitting on the needles :-D ) and have just finished clue 3.
Not terribly fond of the brown colour of the gradient that I've reached now, but I'm counting on it all coming together once the green starts emerging :)

WIP Wednesday - week 14

I spent most of my Easter break knitting, so have gotten quite a lot of progress done on my various projects.

I've finished the Punk Hedgehog since last I posted, and though cute, I don't think it's something I'll make again. It was easy enough to make but a hassle and a half to finish up! seeming the parts together is always fiddly and adding all the hair took forEVER! Ah well - as long as my niece likes it, it'll have been worth it.

I needed a mindless knitting project for an Easter lunch I was going to last Thursday, and as none of my current projects really fit the bill, I decided to cast on for another Wingspan. I've knit two of these already, and really enjoy the pattern. Besides, I had 24 mini-skeins in a DK weight which would be PERFECT for this project, so why not :) I'm half-way done already as it's a great pattern for when I'm too tired/distracted to follow any of my patterns.

"Any of my patterns" is mainly the favourite things cowl. I've added a few more sections since last time and have a feeling this is going to be a recurring guest in these posts for quite awhile yet.

Finally, Miriam asked for a knitted hat for her birthday. Obviously I couldn't pass on that opportunity, so I've cast on and almost finished a lovely cabled hat for her :) I've finished the hat itself and am just missing the pompom :-) It was a super-quick knit (took me two evenings) and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. Just hope it fits, but ribbing is generally very forgiving in that regard :-)