The Good, the Bad, and the Sweater

The good news is that I have made progress on my socks.  I have finally reached the turn in the heel.  The bad news is that I have well and truly broken my New Years' Knitting Resolution to not cast on another project until I finish what is on my needles.  Not only have I cast-on, but I have also cast-off, a quick project.  That project was a sweater.  Before I go into detail about the sweater, I would like to introduce you to the newest member of my family.  Please welcome Udvar!

Udvar is a rescue puppy.  He and his brother were surrendered to the Lost Dog Rescue.  Isn't he adorable!?!  Our best guess is that he's a Dachshund/Chihuahua mix.  Did you know that's actually a designer dog mix?  There are people who pay exorbitant amounts of money for the type of puppy I rescued!  We always look in the local shelters or rescues for our new pets.  Especially this time of year, there are lost of puppies and kittens who need loving homes.  They come fixed and up to date on all their shots.  As you can tell, at least some of them are much cuter than any puppy-mill puppy. If you absolutely must have a specific kind of dog, find a reputable breeder where you can meet the parents and visit the location where the puppies are living. *end puppy rant*

As you may have guessed, the sweater I made was for Udvar.  I came up with a quick, ribbed design for a puppy sweater using some old acrylic yarn I had inherited and hidden in my stash.  By quick, I mean that I finished in within a 12-hour window.  I do not intend for this sweater to be used for long.  It is a prototype pressed into service when the mornings were still cold enough to make him shiver.  I need to change the neck section and want to give it a more interesting design on the back.

In addition to knitting up quick little puppy sweaters, Udvar has increased my use of a craft that I have fallen out of the practice of using: mending.  You see, puppy teeth are very small, but very sharp.  We got him two stuffed toys shortly after bringing him home.  One has a tear smaller than my pinky nail that I will probably sew up tonight while watching TV.  The other is a favorite for tug of war and required mending of multiple holes and tears large enough for stuffing removal.  My next quick project could be a felted puppy tug toy, hopefully reducing repairs required.  The next puppy sweater will have to wait.

Different crafts don't count, right?

Last post, I mentioned that I wanted to avoid casting on a second project until I finished the project I was working on.  Since this project was crochet, it wasn't cast on.  How about only working on one project per craft at a time?  Regardless, I think this hat was worth it.

My father is a die hard Vikings fan.  One day, while the family was driving around, we realized that my nephew did not have any Vikings paraphernalia.  I decided to correct this egregious oversight.  I decided to crochet it so that it had more structure to support the horns.  Unfortunately, since I made this ad hoc, I forgot to write down the instructions.  Apparently, the little horns are a hit with my sister and her husband, which is good because they are not Vikings fans.  I'm hoping the hat is cute enough that they let him wear it frequently anyway.  :)  Though truth be told, I think he's pretty darn cute with or without the hat.

He may not need to wear a hat much longer.  The weather is warming up and we are starting to get more rain than snow.  Yesterday was nice enough that we managed to tackle some gardening projects.  I planted pea seeds in a pair of containers.  My father and I managed to wrestle our rhubarb plants out of their pots and settle them in the ground.  We've had these plants for a few years now so I'm hoping we finally get some usable rhubarb out of them this year.

Yesterday also provided time for us to go to the Capital Home and Garden Show.  We came back with a garden stool and a neat little product called Rainbow Crystal Soil.  It works like this.  You start out with the packet full of little beads about the size of the head of a sewing pin.

You then soak them in water over night and they swell up to the size of marbles and feel a bit like the tofu balls in bubble drinks.

Then you can use them as soil replacement.  I'm unsure how they will work with plants that require more nutrients than they get from water so I'm starting with some philodendron cuttings.

This plant can actually grow in just water, so I am certain they will do well in this new medium.  The Rainbow Crystal packet also gives directions for use as an air freshener.  I may try that next.  All in all, I find them to be an interesting novelty and look forward to experimenting with them.

My socks are coming along nicely.  I like the cable pattern.  It's involved, but I was able to figure out the pattern enough that I no longer had to reference the chart about halfway through the first repeat.  I've reached the gusset section.  This is the first sock I've done with a gusset so I hope I started it at the right place.  I'm supposed to continue increasing until I have twice as many stitches on the sole as I have on the instep.  That's going to take a while.  I love this sock patten, especially how delicate it looks, but one of the drawbacks to knitting something this fine is that it is time consuming.  I try to work a few rows a night while I'm just sitting watching TV with the family, but it will still take a while before they are finished, especially if I tweak the design to make them knee highs.  But one hurtle at a time, I have to finish the foot and heel before I start worrying about final length.  I love that about toe-up socks!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  The first project I finished in 2011 is my Jester's scarf.  I love it!  It's worm, colorful, and unique.  A perfect pick-me-up on dreary winter days.  It ended up taking about a ball and a half of each color.  All in all, as my first entrelac project, it was fabulous!  I will probably end up doing more in the future.  I especially love lack of a wrong side that this pattern gives.  The ribbed entrelac is fun and easy.

My Knitting New Year's resolution is not to cast on a new project before I finish what I am currently working on.  I didn't quite follow that for the ribbed entrelac scarf, taking a brief hiatus to knit up a Weekend Scarf as a quick gift over the holiday season.

My first project of the New Year is a pair of toe up socks in a baby pink, cotton yarn.  I was going to use this for a baby project until my expected niece turned out to be a nephew!  So, now I am using it to cast on for a pair of Ballet socks from Melissa Morgan-Oakes 'Toe-Up 2-at-a-Time Socks' book I am borrowing from my mother's library.  I am thinking of adding an alteration to the leg portion so they can be knee highs.

I am also considering designing a pattern for my sister.  This Christmas she decided she wants to make a set of stockings for her family.  She wants to be able to personalize the tops with each family member's name.  She has a specific look she wants for the toe and heel and since no one will be wearing them, sizing is not a big issue.  I'm excited.  I love a challenge!

On the Road

It has been a while since my last post.  Since then I have driven to the DC are, flown across the Atlantic, and stayed at numerous places in Ireland (more detail here).  All this travel has kept me busy, but airplane, train and bus rides are excellent opportunities to knit.

I am still working on a project I started before leaving the States.  I think of it as my jester scarf because it has such bold colors and odd shapes.  It is based on the Carolus Rib Entrelac Scarf by Andrea Krüß-Anders I found on Ravelry.  I loved the different shape of the blocks forming each row, and I wanted to make the shape more obvious.  I also wanted a multi colored scarf.  After some figuring, I discovered that entrelac lends itself to a three ball rotation.  I debated using 6 balls, three of each color, in order to create a two-color scarf.  I didn't like that idea as much as using three colors.  I pulled two colors from my stash and purchased a third color of the same yarn.  I love the way it is turning out.  As my first entrelac project, I am surprised at how quickly it grows and how easy it is once you have the rhythm.  Frequently, I will find myself staying at it for 'just one more block' realizing it only when I reach the end of the row.

I have worked on one other quick project while I've been here.  I designed it one night after coming back to my trailer at the end of the day and knitted it the next day in the car.  I wanted a sky blue neck wrap.  I found that I had accidentally included the remains of the ball of yarn I used for my nephew's hat in my travel stash.  A little bit of experimenting and minimal frogging, and I came up with the pattern for this.  I call it Throat Chakra.  I still need to wash it and find a way to block it.  I may make some modifications to the pattern to help reduce some of the curling in the lacy ends.

Change is in the Air

I has been a while since my last post, and I've been able to complete a few things in the mean time.  I have seen a few tatted earrings posted on other blogs and thought I'd try to make some myself.  I created these as a simple introductory project, but I absolutely love them.  These earrings are motif #7 in the 25 Motif Challenge.  I made them out of a variegated purple and white thread and the color bisection was accidental, but I quite like it.  The picture doesn't show it well, but I also included three seed beads on the bottom of each earring.  These add some weight to keep them from flopping around.  I like these enough that I can definitely see myself making more earrings in the future.  They are fast and easy ways to use new designs.

I started this simple shrug in the hopes of wearing it to the wedding of one of my best friends.  Unfortunately, with work and school, I wasn't able to get it finished in time.  However, it is done now. The short sleeves keep it from getting too hot, but it adds a layer to your shoulders and back.  It helps fight off a slight chill by keeping your core warm.  The original pattern is the Circular Shrug by Julia Allan.  I changed the stitch pattern in the center section from a mock rib to a seed stitch.  I just love the texture of a seed stitch.  It also helps that there is no wrong side.  I made it out of plain white cotton.  What is sometimes called kitchen cotton.  It's the same stuff I use for dish cloths etc making it very easy to take care of.  All in all, I think this will become a solid accessory in my wardrobe.

As the title of this post suggests, changes are coming.  One major change is that I will be moving.  I am leaving this little college town and heading for exotic destinations; first the Washington, D.C. area then onto Ireland and Sweden.  After my jont across the pond, I will be finished my master's degree!  I can't believe I'm so close.  I hope to continue posting while I am in lands far far away.  Wish me luck!

Long time gone

I'm afraid I haven't been as busy with my crafts as I might have been since my last post.  Unfortunately, being a student makes my craft time rather sporadic.  But I have made some progress.

Last post, I was working on socks for the knitting olympics.  Unfortunately, I did not finish them.  As you can see, I still haven't finished them.  I'm a bit stalled on the after-thought heel.  This is actually my third attempt at the heel.  The sock went well until now.  I actually like the pattern, but I think if I do it again, I will include the heel with the rest of it.  The mitered squares are quite addictive and easy to work on in quick bursts between studying.

Over Spring Break, I got some old, acrylic yarn from my grandmother.  I decided I would use some of it to test some theories and make some prototypes for some projects I've been stewing over.  A double knitted swatch with increases, decreases, a yarn-over, and a cable section.  The other sample is a first prototype of a slipper, a double knit sole, no seaming, and an i-cord bind off.  I'm not completely happy with it, and will probably work on another version or two before I'm happy with it.

I am also ecstatic to announce that my sister is pregnant!  I finally have a good reason to knit baby things!  I immediately dug out my cotton yarn stash.  Cotton being easy to care for and less likely for the baby to be allergic to.  My sister and her husband are both BIG Pittsburgh Steelers' fans.  Since we don't know the gender of the baby, I thought I would make a Steelers-themed bib.  So, I created a pattern and made my first stranded knitting project.  I think it turned out well.  I still need to wash it, but I like how it came out.

What's new?

Lots has happened in the last month and a half.  It's a new year.  I'm back at school and classes are moving along at a very fast clip.  I've also moved, I changed dorms so I don't have to move for the summer during finals week.  It is also the Olympic Season.  As far as crafts go, I've slowed down since school started.  I finished the convertible fingerless gloves.  I added silver snaps after the fact to help hold the mitten part in place when I use them as fingerless.  I am happy with the results and glad I finished them before the cold snap hit us here in Oklahoma.  On to what's on the needles now.

I joined Yarn Harlot's Knitting Olympics.  The rules are fairly straight forward: you choose a project, cast on during or after the opening ceremonies, finish before the Olympics end.  I browsed Ravelry for a simple sock pattern, I have some nice sock yarn I wanted to put to good use.  I will be attempting to finish the Peppermintoes in the 14 days between lighting the torch and the closing ceremonies.  I started my project last night while watching the opening ceremonies.  Between last night and this morning, I've completed the first diamond and started the second.  You might not be able to tell, but I'm doing two at a time.  I really like that technique because any mistakes you make are at least the same on both socks.  I haven't done any mitered squares before, so I've been very excited to watch the square take shape.  I think I'll be using a lighter yarn for the next round of squares, but I'm going to wait to see how I feel when I get there.

Another project I've started is a scarf for one of my friends who helped me move earlier this semester.  While packing, he found a color combination in my stash and mentioned that he would love a scarf in those colors.  Of course, I couldn't resist.  What a great way to repay him for his help and help clear out my stash a bit at the same time!  I wanted to knit something simple, something I could knit during lectures or during a study break.  But I also wanted something that would look nice.  So, I browsed Ravelry and found the Double-double Scarf from Le Blog de MichelineL (yes, it's in French; no, I don't read French).  Two things I really appreciated: she posted an English version of the pattern, she included pictures of how to knit the stitch.  I really like how easy this is and how polished it looks.  It's based on a basic garter striped scarf.  Lovely.  However, it's going into a holding pattern until the end of the Olympics.