Monday, October 26, 2015

Fall has arrived!

The temperatures have dropped, and it's lovely.  The nights are getting cooler, and knitted things are needed.  Princess' sweater is finally done.  All I had to do is sew on the pockets.  That was trickier than it sounds.  The trouble was that I couldn't make them even.  Somehow, every time I would start to sew them on, one side of the pocket would work, and the other wouldn't.  I fixed that though.


So here's the finished modified Teagan.  It's a great sweater, and it fits wonderfully.  I'll get pictures with her wearing it soon.  She's already worn it and gotten it dirty (fall leaves) and so I need to wash it.  Again.  I fixed the pocket issue by crocheting them in.  Duh - it should have occurred to me to do that sooner.  The color is more like the picture below, and not as peachy as the one above.


That made attaching them not only easier, but faster as well.  And they are stronger than if I had merely sewed them on.  The extra strength is needed, because Princess loves to fill her pockets with rocks and things.  Go figure.

New Works In Progress:


This is a quilt, so don't be confused.  My parents have a queen size quilt from my great-grandmother that is currently falling to pieces.  My dad, have all the faith in the world in me, thought I could repair it, but alas, if only I could.  The fabric is worn out - not the seams.  So, the only thing to do is to replace it.  And that is exactly what I'm doing.  There is no way I could match the fabrics she used - that was from the 60's and 70's, and what I remember is horribly faded so even if I could find vintage fabric, finding the right colors would be near impossible.  Instead, I found some cotton locally and bought more than enough to piece together an easy 12" HST queen quilt.  HST is half square triangle for those of you who don't know.  I didn't know either until I got started doing this.  The stack on the left are the pieces that are already cut, and the stack on the right is yet to be cut.  I think there will be enough for the front and back, and I may buy the binding once I get there.  I still don't have the batting either.


This is an experiment for which my children picked the color.  It is a crochet project, and there is no pattern up for it - I have made it up on my own.  I try to keep a crochet project going along with my knitting projects, just because I enjoy the difference.  Once this is complete, I'll post a picture and some more details.


This is the first sock in a pattern for me that I received a while back.  They have never progressed passed this point, and I think I need to pick them back up.  The yarn is Malabrigo Sock in Indiecita, so you can't really go wrong.  I'm just not sure about the toe-up part.  I love the pattern, but toe-ups just don't have a stretchy enough bind off for my liking.  Any suggestions?


This is my first Multnomah.  A while back, a friend suggested this pattern to me.  Being finicky and ornery, I decided not to use it then.  However, it continues to haunt me, so I have finally broken down and started one.  Dearest Ginny always knows her socks and her shawls.  She knows her patterns very well, and I should have listened when she first suggested it.  The yarn on this one is Melody from JoJoLand.  It's my first time using it, as I just found it in my stash and I really wanted to use it NOW.

Hubby bought me this yarn a few years ago, in a super stash haul for Christmas.  He's a keeper.  I thought I'd make the Blueberry Waffle Socks with it.  There are more projects, but I thought I'd just pull these out and show you.  Maybe tomorrow?  It will still be raining, so who knows what will get done?

Thursday, October 08, 2015

Moving along


This is actually easier than I thought.  I thought it would be much harder changing the flat-written pattern into an in-the-round one, but really, it's not.  The directions are making it WAY easier than I anticipated.  I had tried to use another pattern to re-write it, but once I really read through this one, there is no need for the other one.  You can see where I am - I'm still working on the shoulder decreases for the sleeve cap and armscye.  The rounds take a while, as there are a lot of stitches, but really, it's working out quite nicely.  Once I realized how easy the conversion was going to be, I'm sticking close to the pattern, but knitting freely (as in unfettered by worry).  I hope that by next week, this will be off the needles and on the Princess.  Then, it's time for some Christmas crafts.  I have a quilt that I plan on doing for my parents, and I already have the fabric washed and dried.  It's waiting to be pressed, cut and sewn.  It will be a large quilt, a queen size, but the top needs to get done quickly.  Then the back and I will need to pick up the batting for it.  Once I have all the pieces, it will be time to layer them and pin them.  Can I tell you I'm a bit worried about that?  However, I think I may have some help.  My mother-in-law, with whom I now live, has quilted before.  She may be able to help me pin it.  Once I get over the "this-is-so-scary-because-I've-never-done-this-before-and-haven't-seen-it-done" factor, I'm sure it will be fine.  I am hoping that my newly serviced machine will be up to the challenge.  If not, I think I can handle that too, as I have options.  I can either hand-quilt it (massive amount of time) or there are a few places I can take it to have it done.  In either case, I hope to have it wrapped up by the end of October.  November will be for a pair of crazy socks, that may get some knitting time here and there, as socks are easily transported.

Tuesday, October 06, 2015

Quest Complete

I found my swift and ball winder.  Of course the box was hidden.  It was surrounded by boxes, with stuff piled on top of it.  And it took me about half an hour to find it.  But on Sunday, I did finish this:


I think the fringe turned out well.  Here's a modeled shot:


I think he's a good looking model, don't you?  But then, I'm a little biased.  I had to rip back on the pink sweater.


I think it's even less than this picture.  I took it back and started some more decreases.  I had stopped decreasing on the front, and I ripped back to add more.  I think I was going to end up with too many.  So, I'm working on it still.  Once it's done though, I think it will be great.  It's just a matter of getting the neckline right with the sleeves.  I think I can work it out.  It's getting to be sweater weather here...how about where you are?

Friday, October 02, 2015

Quest

I think I found the answer to my problem.  This sweater:


should be completed in another week or so.  For whatever reason, I was having a mental block on how to proceed with the neckline, since I've basically just re-wrote the pattern.  I found my answer in another pattern (since all my knitting books that would give me how-to instructions are currently in a box somewhere) and I think now I can finish it.  I also have to block the curling scarf and then fringe it to death.  I will post a picture once that's done...for now, it's sitting in a plastic bag awaiting its fate.  It's an extremely rainy day here, courtesy of a hurricane from my understanding.  I don't know if it's a good day to block something, as it would take forever to dry, but maybe in the morning I can get it started.  In the meantime, there is fringe to be made and a sweater to be finished, and then the Christmas projects can begin.

Thursday, October 01, 2015

Rainy days

It has been raining for the past 3 or 4 days...I have lost count because the greyness has just be so continuous.  But today, today is different.  The sun is shining, the sky is a brilliant blue with a few puffy clouds, and it may actually dry out.  At least until the rain hits again.  Since it's been so rainy, I haven't taken any more pictures.  This has grown tremendously, though it's still not done:


It is now like this:



(in full disclosure, I did actually cast off last night, after this picture was taken, and adding just a couple more inches - it was already over the prescribed 72).  So, now all I have to manage is blocking it and adding fringe.  It curls something fierce, so blocking is a must.  I am still stuck on the birthday sweater, which is horrible, because it's now October, and her birthday was EARLY September.  I know - terrible me for still not finishing, and having Christmas knitting to do.  It's time to get busy, but I need peace and quiet to figure out the neckline, and that's rare in a house with 7 people.  How are your projects coming?