I Like It!

 

I love how I can knit this kid anything and he'll not only wear it, but will usually wear it out!

 

He picked out the yarn for this hat...looking at the color swatch online it didn't look quite so purple, but... he loves it! He truly doesn't care that it turned out to be more purple than grey! I think he mostly loved the name...'Misty Morn,'  While I was knitting,  I kept asking to make sure he was going to wear it, and he insisted and kept saying 'yep. I like it."   In fact, he likes it so much that it's the first picked out of the basket when he goes outside.    Gotta love that!!

That's just one of the many interesting things about this kid. ~ other than his obvious love of handmade stuff made by Mom!!   He likes what he likes and it doesn't matter if someone else doesn't like it.  Just the other day, a friend laughed when he wore this hat outside, but Boy just shrugged and said... "my ears are warm and I like that."  

 His ears were warm and he had picked out the color himself so that was that!

I often let him choose colors of yarn for other people... he usually goes for the bright stuff and so far everyone has been happy (or at least they are smart and say they are happy!) with what the gift is!  He never seems to go for the obvious gender choices... blue for a boy, pink for a girl... he just goes for what he likes and what he thinks the other person will like.

 

Take for instance this....    it's 'Cartoon', a hand-painted sock yarn that we just recently bought. Boyo picked it out for himself (looking online) but when it got to our house...

"Hey mom! Let's make Dad socks out of this too!"  So... that's just what we did...

 Boyo wearing his socks~ aren't they huge? He loves his new sock and although I don't have a picture of Dad's Cartoon socks.. he does wear them and really likes them too! They really look a lot like Boy's socks. Just a bit bigger!

Obviously there are a million reasons why I love my kid... but... this need of his to wear what he wants AND wear something Mom knits for him.... just makes me love him more!

 

 

 

Happy Feet

All of a sudden, totally out of nowhere.... I've been hit by the Sock Bug!

 *Fair warning... Sock Bug may be contagious!!*

It seems that socks, socks and more socks are on my needles AND poking out of corners in the couch!  I think right now I have at least 3 pair on the needles and getting ready to start another. Yikes! And to think... *yes CS this one is totally for you*... I used to think that making socks was well... kinda dumb.  Maybe it still is, but I suddenly have this mad obsession with them and I like doing it.
My current obsession is getting blamed on my favorite Aunt Gaily.  THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT.  True story.  She made me sit down last year and make a pair for Big.  Made me.  Gee thanks Aunt G. Now I'm stuck! 
It became fun when I could do it all by myself (without running crying to Aunt G that I was stuck!) AND then even more fun when I realized that I don't have to follow the pattern.  **this may not be a good thing because if I have the pattern memorized it might mean I've been doing it too much**  Sigh..
Either way... I like socks. I do. I like knitting socks BUT only two-at-a-time!  I like the toe-up method the best too because it means I get to fit the socks to the feet I'm knitting them for and the toes feel really nice when I'm all done. I don't mind the Kitchener stitch toe, I just like this one better.

I've even been stretching myself a bit and (insert loud gasp!!) NOT sticking with the same pattern... (more gasping!) trying something new!! I made this pair last month for Big as part of a test knit over on Ravelry and guess what... I think I will make them again! They only took a week!
Big must be digging this new obsession because he seems to be the recipient of most of these socks! *It' been easier to find 'guy' colors of yarn too so that really helps! He's gotten three new pair in just the last few weeks!

Boyo is getting his second pair ~ hopefully I will finish them today! Just a few more inches, some ribbing and wa-la! Striped socks for the kiddo! Don't you love the bright rainbow color he picked out from Knitpicks? It's 'Cartoon' in Stroll hand painted fingering yarn.

  I'm also getting ready to start another pair for me!  Going to try this pattern next : http://www.ravelry.com/projects/CrustyCupcake/irregular-stripes-sock and I'm using this yarn (I just got it today!)  Plymouth Yarn's Diversity in Deep Sea. It's 93% acrylic and 7% elasthane, but it feels really dreamy! My toes will be so happy!  I wonder what 'memory yarn' is....

 So.. wait... if I finished Big's Cartoon pair and am almost done with Boy's... that means I ONLY have one pair currently on needles... until of course I start mine and that makes two...
oh phew. That's not so bad is it! Not so much of an obsession after all!!  Any way you look at it.... my family and their feet certainly are happy with my latest craze!

This is Supposed to be Fun!

Knitting is fun! It is! It really is.... until you start slapping a deadline on the knitting project AND you hurt your hand AND it's kind of a complicated pattern. **sighing loudly**
 It seems that my current lace project is rapidly becoming a 'not so much fun' project for me. This is a total bummer because, it's not that hard, it's a  nice pattern ~ I watched it in the knitting lab and when it was put on the forum... I pounced!! I really like it and I want to be able to wear this lovely, blue, lacy scarf.......... someday.  Someday....
Right now it's not so much fun. Nope. Not much at all. My pinky on my right hand is swollen and painful. Don't know why, it just is. I took a break from knitting and guess what?! Ha! No. It didn't help at all. I can knit... sort of... I just have to hold my pinky out like I'm holding a tea cup and well... my whole hand gets tired pretty fast and the knitting is slow.  Slooooooow....
I keep plugging away because a) I want to finish it *Did I just say that?* and b) I have a deadline to meet. I'm hoping that I will be able to meet it, but... tea cup holding, pinky stretched out sort of knitting is very awkward and it makes my family giggle.
I've been learning a lot of things about lace knitting (in the whole whopping 3 days I've been working on this) and thought maybe I would share them.
#1 and foremost... use the right yarn. If you don't......... you won't get gauge. Sighing again... that was a whole day own the drain right there.
#2 NO INTERRUPTIONS... must concentrate. Must. Concentrate. What was that? A squirrel? Jeez...
#3 Use a lifeline. Run a contrasting thread through your pattern somewhere in the pattern so when you frog it all back... you don't have to go to the beginning. Note* only works when you get past the first three rows....... more loud sighing....
#4 Pay attention to the chart! Duh... on this particular chart the odd rows (right side) are worked from right to left and that pretty much means the even numbered rows would then be worked from left to right.... Pay attention to the chart and no interruptions... damn squirrels!
#5 Decorative markers. Helpful indeed! Between each of my gold markers there is a number of stitches... these numbers should remain the same always. A L W A Y S. Um... yeah...
#6 Practice your pirate talking because boy oh boy are you going to need it. Aaaargh seems to pop up an awful lot.
So off we go... pinkies up!! This is supposed to be fun remember?
#7 Sticky notes ~ love these! Plus it meant I had to go on a field trip to the office supply aisle at the store! BUT they are really helpful in keeping track of where you are at in a pattern/chart ESPECIALLY if squirrels, kids, TV, life, etc... keeps getting in your way.

Charts & Deadlines

I've recently joined a free pattern testing group over on Ravelry. It's cool, but it's making me stretch myself out of my happy little, comfortable (all right... boring) place. It's made me try new things AND finish them!  How funny is that?  Me getting excited about finishing stuff AND being held accountable to a time limit?  Stop laughing.
That's been one of the biggest challenges I've had while knitting... finishing. Oh! Gimme a break! I finish stuff, just um... sometime way (waaaay) later than when I start. Christmas presents need to be started in July; that sort of thing!  Knitting is enjoyable and I'm kind of good at it, but time limits... well... yeah...
BUT now that I've joined this free testing group, I have to be accountable. I must complete the tests I sign up for within set time limits. Must. So far it's been easy. I've completed the few I've done way ahead of time and now I'm ready to begin another one.  I've signed up to make a scarf. Say What?
A scarf?  Yep. A scarf.
Ha ha.... it's a lacy, lovely, huge thing and it has to be done by 10 March.  AND guess what?! I haven't started yet. Go figure.
Hey! I was waiting for my yarn (it arrived yesterday) and when I printed out the pattern... oh no!!  Wait! Whoa! It's a chart. C H A R T . Wow. No k2,p2,k47 kinda thing ~ which is what I'm used to. Nope. This one is all little squares with weird symbols. WTH?
Okay... checking another "trying something new" square on my resolutions box... how in the heck do you read a chart?!
I had to spend some time online to figure this one out and guess what?! It's pretty intuitive. You read it just like a regular ol' knitting pattern except it's more of an 'I don't know how to read actual words' sort of thing. Like a picture menu at a restaurant. Point to the picture of what you want dearies! Each little picture, in each little square means some sort of stitch. *more sighing loudly* I guess I'm going to go slowly until I get all those little symbols memorized... hoping for sometime before row 442.... omygosh I certainly hope I can meet the time limit!

Wallaby Sweater KAL

Another Wallaby KAL is in the works!
 

 We started a couple of weeks ago and I don't have a lot of progress to report, but I've been getting hints that my friends are zipping along!  I really need to catch up!

** the pictures are from Big's sweater that I made him over a year ago.. almost 2 actually.. but I needed pictures to illustrate a few points for my friends that are making this sweater now. 

 I've made this sweater four times now and each time I do it, I realize stuff and even change some of the ways I do the pattern. It's made it easier for me and I'm hoping that it helps you now. 

 

The pattern calls for worsted weight yarn and although I had my eye on a few nicer (read $$) yarns, I  ended up with this Lion Brand Wool Ease.  I liked the soft grey color and the fact that it was washable almost as much as I liked it being less than $4 a skein! Winning! 

One of the hardest parts of this pattern is deciding whom to knit said sweater for.  Once you decide that, the rest is fairly simple!  Now that you know what size you are making, cast on using the smaller of the two needles (24" circular needles size 6 & 8).  I chose to make the 'Wilbur Wallaby' ~ size large so I cast on 146 sts using my size 6, 24 inch needle.   The ribbing is simple K1, P1 ribbing done for 3inches for this size. *check pattern for your particular size. 

 

 Once the ribbing is done, change to the larger needles (size 8's) and increase evenly across on that first row AND mark your halfway point with a stitch marker.  You have 2 markers now.. one at the beginning of your round (my green marker) and one halfway (the pink hanging on the left needle). *use a different color especially for the beginning of round**

  On the SECOND row of the body... place a marker 3 stitches in from your beginning of round marker.... knit over to 3 before the midway marker and put another one in. You have to use a locking stitch marker on the stitch itself because it stays here and doesn't travel around like a regular marker. You can also use a safety pin if you don't have any locking markers.  These markers form the 'line' where you begin your pouch and just stay here until later. THIS IS WHERE I MADE MY FIRST CHANGE....

I went ahead and ran a thread between those pouch markers AS I WAS KNITTING across to place the second marker. I figured that if I ran it along now I wouldn't have to fight with it so much later! **the pictures are from the sweater where I followed the directions exactly! I just don't have a picture to show you of the changed up version!

Once you do that... that whole marking thing... now you just knit your body for 6 inches (*check your size again in the pattern!) and then you will go back to that pouch spot!

This one I stitched a gold thread between those two pouch markers so I would have a straight line to pick up stitches along. It totally saves your butt so I suggest you do it!! !  BUT instead of going back and doing it, just weave it along with you as you knit that second row!  The contrasting string and the markers will just stay here waiting for you to knit up the body for those 4, 5, 6inches.

Now just park your body stitches on your needles - use something to keep them on there! Don't want anybody falling off!! 

Take a second ball of your yarn.........go in from the back on the left side (at that marker you placed earlier and that contrasting thread line) and pick up stitches. You reach in from the front with a crochet hook and pick up the yarn from behind. The pattern says to leave at least a 5" tail on the inside, but it's okay to leave more.  You stick your crochet hook into the center of the V of each stitch and reach in and just hook a loop of yarn from that second ball.  Once you have a few on your hook, you just slip them purlwise off the back onto your knitting needle.  

Another little hint.... pay attention and follow the directions... *If you work left to right like the pattern says... you end up on the right side to start knitting.  If  you look closely at my picture... yeah... I didn't.

I used another size 8 needle to work the pouch. I thought about putting the body onto waste yarn for safe keeping, but nah. I just pulled out my straight 8's and went to town! I've even used another circular needle here, it doesn't matter. You just need two more pointy sticks of the same size.

 

Now just follow the  directions here... pick up 46, 50... however many stitches you are supposed to until you get that line going between the two markers.  If you are off ~ have too many or whatever, you can fudge it so no worries! JUST make a note of it somewhere because if you forget to adjust for it, you have to work it in when it comes time to fuse with the main body.  The pattern says now to remove the pins (markers) but I didn't. I liked the reference point.

Now you just knit the pouch! Just like the pattern says. K the first 5, purl across, K the last 5 ~ that's the first row. KNIT THE FIRST and LAST 5 STITCHES in every row! Makes a really cool edge! BUT if you mess up... and I may or may not have... You can just leave it or pull it out. It's up to you. I have a sweater with a mistake on it and one without, but on the one with, I can't really tell!

The first row or so is kind of tight, but after a bit it gets better. Don't forget to do your decreases!

You will knit flat so now you have to purl the return rows! You want the stitching to look just like the rest of the body! Keep going until you have the right amount of stitches after all your decreases and your pouch is the same size as your body... the pouch may be longer here, but that's okay. Just knit some more on the body until both are the same size!!

Now.... eek! It's time to fuse the pouch with the rest of the body. Go ahead and read page 21 in the pattern book and look at pages 12 & 13.

It's not going to be that bad.... just hang on & I'll catch up so we can all do it together!

 

Here's the link for the pattern....

http://cottagecreationspatterns.com/Sweaters/Wonderful-Wallaby.php

 

 

 

 

Testing....

Ever been stuck on one row in a knitting pattern and no matter what you do, it just doesn't make sense? Or it just will not work and no amount of fudging is going to make it better? Yeah....been there. Sigh. It sucks. I don't often spend money on patterns (too much free stuff out there!) but when I do, I really want the dumb thing to work! I don't mind tossing things aside and waiting for the smoke to clear, but when I pick it up again... it had better work! Which makes me think.... somebody needs to step up and help a designer out! Enter me.... into the realm of pattern testing. Yikes.
There is a really cool forum over on Ravelry ~ that anyone can join BUT you better follow the rules~ it's exactly what the name implies... Free Pattern Testing... A designer makes up a pattern and then asks YOU, yeah you... average knitter to 'test' the pattern. 
All you do is sign up in the forum to become a pattern tester and then the fun begins!   A  designer will post a thread with just enough information to pull you in! Usually there is a picture and a little bit of information about the pattern, but... you don't get the pattern UNTIL the designer emails it to you.  Once you get the pattern you have to follow the directions and the rules of the group from start to finish. No fudging & no changing things! ~ I'll admit that this little part has been a bit of a challenge for me because as I'm knitting and I find an error... I want to correct it all on my own and get the thing done, but.... I need to send a message to the designer and let them do it. It's their pattern and their design after all.
 For me, it's not only been a test of a pattern, but a test of my patience and how I read and interpret patterns.  I'm a total direction follower so that helps, but when I can clearly see an error and how to fix it... sighing loudly... I have to put on my patience hat and well... you all might know how that goes.

Eyelet Fingerless Gloves 1/13

So far so good.... I've done three 'tests' so far and the results have been nice! I get to keep the patterns too which is pretty cool. What I'm really hoping for is that this stretches me and my knitting... I've already been working on that whole patience thing :)

Night at Big White ~ 2/9/13

Winter Wind Cowl - 2/13
Don't you just love Boy's face!!
 

Mid-Winter Motivation

I don't know about you, but the grey days of midwinter not only have me wishing Spring would return in a hurry, but that my motivation would hurry up and return as well!
I do seem to be knitting, but it seems that not much is really getting accomplished ~ I finish up my projects, but really don't have a whole lot to show for it. Which makes me wonder... what in the heck have I been doing?
Here's a list...
I've organized (partially) my stash and my stuff. Purged a bit here and there so I've  sort of already begun Spring cleaning. I've started AND finished projects completely out of the stash which is directly in-line with my resolution for the year. I've been working on test knitting some projects for designers and making all of my deadlines so how can it seem like I'm not on track and nothing is getting accomplished?  Wow.
Doldrums. Winter blues. Winter blahs? ~ yep. All of those and then some!
 I needed a little motivation to get me back on track! A little pick me-up...
so that's what I did! More than once actually....
I went to the yarn store!
 I didn't buy much, but what I did buy was directly related to how much of the sunshine and Spring I've been missing ~ everything!
Just look at this...
isn't it lovely? The picture doesn't really do it justice.. it has a lot of light and dark greens with some yellow in it and reminds me of Spring and Summer! ~ green grass, sunshine.... mm mm....
It's 'Rustic Fingering' 100% Superwash Merino by Neighborhood Fiber Co. here in D.C.
I think it's going to be some cabled socks for ME!
How's that for a little inspiration? Now I'm off to knit!