Saturday, November 30, 2013

Got Gauge?

The Story of Two Mittens:
  1. One mitten (on the left above), knitted, so cool! With thumb, fit perfectly... very proud.  Needed a second, but...
  2. The second was knit within days of the first, yet it was bigger/wider.  Too wide. 
  3. Put together, they weren't a pair, nor did I like the way the black showed through between the white stitches.  (See below)
  4.  All decorated with duplicate stitch pink, they are sweet, but you'd have to have (really) big hands, especially the left hand...Now the left one above is the right one below.
  5. There was teeth-gnashing, and an hour later I had (un)raveled the bigger one, on the left below.
  6. I wanted to make sure the third mitten wasn't too big, so I decreased my needle size (2.5mm to 2.0mm) AND I was firmer with my yarn tension.  
  7. Third one is on the right in the above picture.  But what about that wide cuff, you say?  Got me... I didn't (un)ravel the cuff from the white stripe. (Boring!!!  Who sees the cuff anyway?)
  8. What I didn't expect was the length to be so diminished, so I'm 3/4 done.  Fourth Mitten is in my mind.  Dang!! I hope I can get two alike...

Friday, November 29, 2013

How does this look?

Modeling sweaters, and bottoms... Oh, how I hate looking in the mirror.  And how awful it is to spend months on a hand-knitted item and then find it isn't what you would wear!
I saw this video, and I really like the idea behind it.  Of course, there's only one model, and if she doesn't look like you, it's useless, but if you aren't the "model-type," maybe you'll find this useful.  I did!  It really made me want to knit up the favorite sweater.
See this Berroco Link.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Gifting

Time for secrets, and gifts to be made. It's hard to share without giving too much information, but besides:
This, for a little girl.
Using up stashed yarn, and getting dangerously short on white yarn, so the thumb is very colorful.
  
And:
Pies!  From a pumpkin!  Never did this before.  Six pies total.

In two shifts/days:
And:
A Sock;  someday there will be two... Again: ran out of yarn for the very end of the toe.  This is a great selling point for knitting socks "toe-up".  I'll have to decide whether it's worth it to undo the leg and remove a bit.  
And:
Something for Norway in January!  Stunning!  Pattern is Kilm Gloves from Interweave Knits, Winter 2007.  (Again, awaiting a mate.)
And a LOOONNNGGG term project:  A cardigan for myself.  No rush to finish.  I enjoy the mosaic color method.  The sleeves have a different design than the body.  A true knitter's dream project.
Happy Early Winter!

Monday, November 25, 2013

Ginger ale

And a sunset! I'm relaxed!

From a few weeks ago... flying east.  Had a great few days with friends.  That's the moon out there... a surprising scene.  One of those flights that you have to close the shade for, and an hour later you open it to see this!  It's the ONLY great thing about flying, well, except for condensing a trip that would take 3 days.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

A newborn baby

Robert, born in Denmark a few days ago, is the nephew of my daughter!  Hmmm.  Never thought of that... her "other" family.  I found this Norwegian pattern at Jorid's webstore.  Really great patterns.  I haven't tried any of them in English, but the Norwegian patterns are basic, and best for intermediate knitters.  She specializes in animals and colors... I love her designs.
They are large for a newborn, but hopefully they can be tied on this winter, and used again next year.
What does the cow say?  Mø

P.S. Jorid's blog is on the right, called Muffins Verden (Muffin's World)

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The Mystery Knitter

Remember my story from a week ago?  HERE  The person I taught to take the first steps of knitting...she impressed some others, too, though she hasn't had a minute to sit and relax.  She's moving this week, and all that that entails... sales, discarding, sorting... all she needs is a new hobby!!!
The first rows look like this... really?  That's better than beginner's luck!
 And she just has to develop her own style...
Good luck, VA!  I think you have a new career starting.

Here are a few tips that I think made learning a success:

  1. The yarn is sticky.  It doesn't want to come apart.  That makes it difficult to drop stitches and have them disappear.
  2. The needles are wood.  The metal ones, again, are slippery.  The first stitches come off the needle but not as easily as the metal ones.
  3. The cast-on:  I started her with "knitted cast-on" which is almost exactly like knitting, so by the time she had some stitches, I only had one thing to add: leave the stitch on the right needle.
  4. No purl stitches in the first swatch.  I hesitated to show her "yo, k2tog" but ... that's pretty easy.
I'm pretty proud of her and myself!

Monday, November 4, 2013

Ponchos - Who's for and who's against?

Am I a child of the 70's?  Yes, and no.  I date back farther...  really a child of the 60's, or 50's.  That makes me want to revolt when I see styles from those decades.  (Remember, Pattie?  In early 2000's I said I would NEVER wear "clam diggers"... and I've eaten those words.)
What about ponchos?  I've knitted several, and I love the ease of throwing them over my head... around the house.  Somehow, they've made it back into my heart!
Imagine my surprise when I decided to adapt a shawl pattern into a poncho!  It's not like there are too few poncho patterns, but I REALLLLLY loved this shawl pattern, and I REALLLLLLY don't need another shawl...  so here's my result:
Pattern:  Suki by Miriam Pike from Sherwood Knits
Yarn:  Casbah Sock by Handmaiden Fine Yarn
Fingering / 4 ply, 80% Merino, 10% Cashmere, 10% Nylon,355 yards / 115 grams

I gave high ratings on Ravelry for both the pattern and yarn.  This is going to be my Best Friend for...awhile!
P.S.: I bought the pattern alone through Ravelry.
P.P.S.:  How many shawls do I have?  I'm not even going there...

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