Yummy Stripes

Some day, advice these will be knee socks. Some day. It is a pretty pattern, information pills though.

I’ll tell the story of what I was avoiding finishing after I show the avoidance project! I saw a beautiful woman last winter wearing a Cossacks style hat (a cap with a very wide fur cuff style brim). Around the same time, viagra 60mg a friend of mine created a knit hat in a similar style. I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, so I made up my own pattern and was extraordinarily pleased with the result. I used a nice soft Moda Dea washable wool for the cap and put in a spiraled star pattern of decreases. Then I used 3 skeins of Moda Dea Chichi for the fur, which has a lovely shaggy fur texture.

Then I picked up a nice cream color wool to make one of these hats for my friend Allison, but while waiting for the outrageous pink Tiara fur from Moda Dea, I picked up some Lion Brand Fun Fur in Chocolate and made one for my Physical Therapist (minor knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus).

When I got the Moda Dea Tiara in, I quickly knit up the third hat. I had enough of the Paton’s wool and the Moda Dea Tiara to make a pair of cuffed fingerless gloves for Allison. Yeah, that’s her showing me how much she loves the set!

It made a perfect Valentine’s Day gift!

Ok…so what was I avoiding?

Back in December I started on a hoodie from the wonderful angora/denim blend I spun up. I got as far as the pocket and realized I didn’t like several things. I was following the pattern in Son of Stitch & Bitch for the Hackey Sack Hoodie. Her method for the increases on the raglan sleeve inset and the increases for the pocket just looked sloppy. I learned a little while ago about twisting the picked up stitch to get rid of holes in increases and I prefer that seamless look. The increase on the pocket was very raggedy as well. Being that this was designed for a man, the crossover neckline was bulky and high. I prefer a lower v-neck neckline, personally. And the hood was really bulky and didn’t lay nice. So, despite being over half done, it got frogged.

Upon rebuilding it, I decided to redesign all the elements I didn’t like into things I wanted. I could not be happier with the results so far. I’m at the same place I was when I frogged it the first time. I wish I had taken before and after photos…but I have taken after photos to show. Clicking on the picture will take you to a larger version if you want more detail.

This is what it looks like in it’s current state:

This is the new rolled V-neck neckline. It’s hard to see, so I took the liberty of darkening the bottom layer in photoshop.

This is the smooth raglan seam at the right front shoulder.

This is the pocket. Instead of a simple increase at the edges, I wanted something that would lay flat and not roll, so I did two knit stitches, 1 perl, 1 knit and then the increase. It turned out really nice and lays just like I wanted it to.

I still need to decide on how I want to do the edge ribbing, because K2 P2 just won’t cut it any more. I want to vent the sides a bit as well for a nicer fit. I will also flair the sleeves just a touch to make it more feminine and match the ribbing to the bottom. It’s become all about the little details to me when I create a garment. It doesn’t matter if no one else notices, it’s purely for personal satisfaction.

I have a couple of things now that I’ve spun from fiber and knit into a finished product. Brian points out that I knit like I cook, I can’t follow instructions without adding my own personal touch. Just as it should be *grins*

Cowl & Gloves

I may eventually felt the gloves a little to tighten then up, but boy is this set warm against the cold winds we’ve had.

Gloves

Won’t make excuses for how tired I look. I’m just going with the thought that pale is sexy.

Cowl & Gloves

Back of Cowl

Also…I am VERY geeked about my two Yule presents! The first one I used to take all these wonderful new photos. The other is in the photo below! A jumbo ball winder so that I don’t have to split my plyed skeins!

Jumbo Ball Winder

Without a doubt, these are the most difficult things to photograph since they truly do look like a mop head. Or leftover muppet.

I also made her a matching scarf as a birthday gift. It earned me a big hug.

There’s something totally wonderful about getting paid to knit. But…just as I had vowed to swear off eyelash yarn forever, I got another order. Honestly, this stuff is so difficult to work with because you can’t count stitches or rows, so you have to be very diligent in paying attention to the pattern. Heaven help you if you drop a stitch. If you catch that you did. *rolls eyes* At least I insisted on a new color.

At the Christmas party at Brian’s folks, his mom let me know she’d love a pair in black. *sigh* I will never get away from eyelash yarn.

At least folks seem to love these fun gloves. It takes me an evening a glove, working at an easy pace, and since I combined patterns to get the effects I like, this pattern is now something I can do without grabbing for the instructions.

This is without a doubt my favorite way to knit up the thumbs. I just love the symmetry and the comfort.

I also made a fantastic duck dinner last night. Click on the picture if you’d like the story and the recipe.

Of course, this site the dinner and the gloves came after spending several hours stacking the wood that Brian split yesterday. Who says Sundays are lazy days?

Also, I ran out of steam helping my husband stack wood while he cut down some dead trees, but I wanted to keep an eye on him since they were 75′ trees and he had to carry much of it up hill. So I stayed close and collected a bunch of maple leaves and set about to do a rosebud boquet. I saw a tutorial here and just had to try it out.

Ta Da!

I forgot how much I enjoy knitting with double point needles

I’m actually really rather proud of how consistent I can keep my stitches. The needles are a size 3 US/3.25mm.

I fell in love with elbow length fingerless gloves last winter. I had some jet black alpaca fiber that I spun for these, pharmacy then I went the distance and even knitted them up with cables. I am looking forward to the cold weather just to wear them again. I love the feel of alpaca, seek and these are perfect since I like to wear capes more than coats. Perhaps I should consider making myself some thigh high alpaca socks

This will be perfect to help keep my damaged wrist warm and comfy this winter.

Looking over my recent posts, I realized I didn’t document the 24 oz. of Leicester I got last year. I love the colors, but it’s too scratchy for a sweater. I need to find a good project for it and quit buying pretty colors on itchy fiber.

I have also made firm plans for my birthday weekend to go to the fiber festival at the Allegan County Fairgrounds. Why no, making birthday plans 10 and a half months in advance is not presumptuous! I just have a lot of projects to finish between now and then!