FO: Plaited Points Socks

Pattern: Plaited Points from Knitty Winter '08

Yarn: one skein of Malabrigo Yarn Sock

Needles: US 2

Started: December 11, 2008

Finished: December 29, 2008

Comments: I would put this pattern in the more experienced category for sock knitters. Not that it's difficult, but there is lots of pattern reading and checking involved.

I'm pretty happy with the final fit of these socks. I didn't make any modifications, but if I was to do this again, I would perhaps do the heal different. The short-rows makes for bunching and I don't think I need a deep heal.

The cables pop on this slightly variegated yarn. Anything else with too much color change and you'll loose them. The yarn is nice to work with. Did get a knot, but that doesn't bother me so much.

I would say that knitting the sock on size 2 has given me a more loose fit, but as it turns out not loose where you swimming in the sock. Will have to give it ago with shoes for the true test.

One thing that I did like about these is the little motif put on the back of the cuff. How fun is that?



I would have modeled these myself, but as the temps are low...there is no way I'm going outside for any long periods of time.

I would also like to point out this makes my total projects for 2008 a whopping 30! Now, time to pick out another sock project...

Looking Back at 2008

A dear friend, knitter and blogger posted about resolutions for the up and coming year. I found it interesting and compelling enough to really take stock in what I've accomplished and what I'm looking forward too.

Granted I'm not one for making resolutions anymore. I used to be...then I figured if I didn't try to evolve or become better during the year then why put up promises that you can't keep. Yet I'm curious to see what I've done over the past year and peeps let me tell you, I was a little surprised to see just how much was done.

People... 29 projects have been completed in 2008... 29.

Of that lot, there were 3 scarfs, 3 hats, 10 socks and 8 sweaters. Yowzah! I really had no clue. So, looking back and seeing that makes it a little intimidating for setting goals of the next year, but here it goes.

My Top 9 for 2009:

1. Finish the Pea Coat
2. St. Brigid
3. Celtic Icon
4. Postwar Mittens
5. 4 hats for whole family
6. 4 scarfs for whole family
7. 8 pairs of socks
8. Spin at least one day a week
9. Design another pattern

So, what do you think? Not terribly unreasonable, right?

FO: February Lady Sweater

The one project I was not able to blog about was the Christmas gift for my mom. You might have noticed the shushing Santa on my project sidebar. Now that the holiday is past and the gift has been received then I can now blog about the sweater.



Pattern: February Lady Sweater

Yarn: 5 skeins of Cascade 220 Heather

Needles: US 7

Started: November 10, 2008

Finished: December 4, 2008

Comments: Loved making this sweater. I did not make any modifications (if you can believe it) for this pattern. I did end up making the medium size thinking the lace part would grow a little, but it really didn't so I was lucky to hear that the sweater fits. phew. One other thing I learned from this project is that lace can be easy and quick as long as you use your stitch markers. It is certainly a quick project with great results. Highly recommend this pattern.



The other great detail on the sweater was the fabulous buttons.

Happy Silence

Frosty made it to our neighborhood this week, but unfortunately was gone the next day. There were some tears over this fact and we had to convince the little one that "He'll be back again some day!"

In the knitting department I've made some progress on the Pea Coat. Once I get to 14 inches then I'll separate for the fronts and back. I'm hoping it will start to move along quicker then.



The socks are coming along. I might be living in knitters denial. These socks are knit up on size US2 needles and are producing a very stretchy sock. I'm not to fond of loose socks, but I don't have the heart to reknit them. I've started the heels so if they start to be seriously to big then I'll rip them.



As for gifts this year, I received a lap full of Riverstone in Harvest Gold... Yum! and yes I'm wearing some fabulous Chillin' Froggy PJ's ~ Thanks Mom!



This pile of yummy stuff will be turned into this awesome project... Raise your hands for St. Brigid.



I'm just happy to have a moment to myself to relax and enjoy a little knitting solitude. I hope everyone is having a happy and safe holiday.

Plaited Points

The other day I started a pair of socks in my usual toe-up style. After getting the toes done I was thinking, what about a pattern? With the new winter Knitty up, there could be possibilities. Eyeing the Plaited Points socks, I noticed the pattern is toe-up. Well Hell... it must be a sign. So far the only modification has been in the toe area.

The yarn is the lovely Malabrigo sock yarn. The one delightful thing is that it's not highly twisted, so no tangles and helicopter untwisting needed. The yarn is very light in the fingering weight department, but I'm liking the fabric that's coming out on these US 2 needles.



The cables are turning out fabulously and really with only a slight bit of doubt in the patterns foot length, but I'm just going to trust that it will work out.

In other news, the family holiday pictures were taken last night. sigh. After much giggling, silly play, a few tears (from me) and the bribing of ice cream sandwiches we finally achieved success.

Dilemna

While in design school, I remember a topic that was brought up for all designers to ponder on. The main idea is based around morals and how they can effect you in the advertising environment.

For Example: Do you have what it takes to design an ad campaign for the Marlboro Man if you feel strongly against smoking.

For as long as I've been a designer, I've never been faced with any major case against my moral beliefs. That is until the other day when given the task to scan a sketch for a designer.



WTF! Is this some kind of joke? I finished scanning the artwork and passed it back but was curious to hear why.

me: What is this for?

artist: Oh, so-in-so needs it for some birthday party t-shirt design.

me: ok. I don't know if you realize this but that image is quite offensive.

artist: wow. really?

me: I'm just concerned where this image is going to be presented. There could be some people who find this wrong. I mean, you understand the stereotype your representing here, right? Are you saying all knitters are old? or that when your old the only thing you do is knit?

artist: The request was for a hip old grandma with a possible suggestion of her knitting in a rocking chair.

me: I'm not saying your doing it wrong, I'm concerned your presenting this to the wrong audience.

artist: well, aren't there grandma's who knit?

Why do I even bother... go ahead and just spread the stereotype for others to see.

The next day I was pleasantly surprised to see that he had taken a different artistic direction.



Kinda like a score for the good guys, ya-know. So proud.

It Started out Great

I had this vision of a double knit hat made up for Mr. E as a tribute to his favorite anime character. If you click on the link it will show you the cloak he wore for Halloween and I figured if I could make a hat with this same odd red cloud then he might actual wear it.

The main image is a red cloud with white outline on a black background. I sketched out the image and after calculating the stitches per inch I made a grid for the pattern, which turned out to look like this:



The hat would be first constructed in red from the top down, increases for the crown then continue around until deep enough. One row of purls creates the turned edge and thus begin the black background and pattern. Once the pattern was complete I do everything in reverse as to the red. The red part gets inverted inside the black and attached at the crown once the decreases come to an end.

It was great, Now It's Arse. Perhaps worse then that. Fucked up and ugly = Fugly.



I don't know if it's the dpn's that are messing with my tension or if I'm just doing it all wrong. Perhaps I put the project up on a circular needle and see what happens. sigh.

FO: Windmill Beret II

Pattern: Windmill Beret

Yarn: One skein of Noro Silk Garden and One skein of Cascade 220

Needles: US 4 DPN

Started: July 18, 2008

Finished: December 10, 2008

Comments: Gosh it feels good to have that off the needles... not that it took 4 months to complete it... I was just hell bent on doing other things;) Great pattern, little tricky but overall a fabulous finished object to wear in these cold months ahead.

Guess What Fits In Her Nose

Go ahead... guess. Miss Mac got caught with an object up her nose and she causally played it off like it was no big deal. Yep, these are the things I have to deal with. I'll give you a minute to guess.

In other news I've been working a few things this weekend.



Does anyone remember this one? Oh yeah, I pulled out the Damn Tam. It was half way done anyway, so hell lets get this sucker off the needles. I'm perhaps a row or two from starting the decreases. Don't you love picking up old knits and BAM it's all done in no time!!

I gained a few inches on the Pea Coat as well. This project unfortunately hurts my hands when I work with it for to long.



What you see is approximately 6 inches of the full body. The construction is fairly easy and the pattern has you knit up to the armholes and separate for the sides and back.

Okay, did you happen to guess a baby doll pacifier?



She comes running to find me "mommy! mommy! look!" then pops the thing out her nose (with a definite pop sound) and then sticks it in her mouth. Ewwwwwwwww!

I then said I'm taking a picture and she's all "cuz you love me!" ...ha! Yes baby blackmail pictures are taken because I love you.

FO: Noro Striped Scarf

Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf

Yarn: 4 skeins of Noro Silk Garden (color numbers: 84 and 284)

Needles: US 7

Started: November 17, 2008

Finished: December 2, 2008

Comments: Loved making this. Quick, fun and wish I could afford to make another. It's about that time of year to think of others...damn how many days left until Christmas?

The pattern is a basic 1x1 rib and you keep knitting until you don't want to do it any more. If you happen to pick up and touch the Noro Silk Garden and were a little concerned...don't be. The yarn softens up fantastically.

Final dimensions for this was 6 inch wide by 6 feet long. I could totally see this done up skinnier/shorter/longer what ever floats that boat;)

I might have jumped in the Noro Scarf line with everyone else, but I'm glad for it because temperatures in Chicago are unbelievably cold... freeze the nose hairs cold.

FO: Neckwarmer

Another one bits the dust. I can't express how wonderful it feels to crank these little projects out. I mean. come. on. you gotta love it!!

I know you want to see more then just a peek from under my thick winter coat...okay.



Pattern: Woven Slip Stitch*

Yarn: one skein of Cascade Dolce

Needles: US 6

Started: November 28, 2008

Finished: December 1, 2008

Dimensions: 4 inch wide by 23 inch long

Comments: The pattern is easy to remember and becomes blind knitting for me after a couple of repeats. The alpaca content did make this stretch to a loose fit, but I think works well as I don't like the feeling of being choked.



*Here is the stitch pattern in case your curious:
Cast on odd number of stitches. In this case it was 21.
R1: k1, * yf, slip stitch, yb, k1 * repeat from * end with a k1
R2: purl
R3: k2, * yf, slip stitch, yb, k1 * repeat from * end with a k2
R4: purl

Evenly spaced 2 button holes one inch before bind-off.

My Little Piece of Heaven

Some time ago I had been given this child's size armoire from an associate of mine. Nothin' like free stuff baby! Took it home and gave it a spanking good coat of chocolate brown paint, some railing trim and new hardware... and what do you get?



My fiber storage cabinet! I'm just gitty with delight. Like most of my SnB gals have guessed... it doesn't all fit, but it helps. Wana peek inside?



What I think amazed me the most is how perfectly it fits in this cubbyhole next to the fireplace. Like it's meant to be.

My other half of crafty central is in a stage of chaos. Things need to be purged, organized ... as my art supplies, sewing machine and piles and piles of photos are taking over. Overall I'm happy with the new layout. The other side of the room will not be seen as it's been taken over by hubby's creatures.

FO: Holiday Fetchings

You know I had told myself that I wasn't going to do this, but alas here I am doing it again. Christmas Knitting! Yes, with having NO idea what to get people, but somehow finding interesting knits is easy to conjure up.



A pair of Fetchings are so quick and an easy no-brainer. It will become part of a set with the neckwarmer, which I'm hoping will be a winner.



I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was successful and filling. We had a blast with unexpected guests, but with this family you can't help but smile.

The Land of Pea Coats

I've been putting this off for so long. Why? Not sure really. Perhaps I'm a little worried about my calculations being off and I'll run out of yarn. Maybe I feel like this has become a chore more so then a desire.

The yarn isn't the softest on the market...and I'm okay with that. I guess I figured it would go a lot quicker. I mean come on... chunky yarn and big needles is suppose to equal fast knit. I cast-on over the weekend and 230 stitches in this woven stitch is nothing to sneeze at. Keeping the tension is also killing my hands, so I can't work on it for any long periods of time.

Here is what I have so far:



Nice right? Yeah, we'll see. I can only hope that I'll have this done at least by Spring.

::Spoiler Alert::

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The Rockin Sock Club package arrived and the new colorway is called Muddy Autumn Rainbow. This is the last package for this year. I certainly have loved every shipment and every colorway in its own ways. The club has truly opened my eyes to other colors and pushed my comfort zone.

The pattern in this shipment is Holidazed and I'm not sure how I feel about that one yet. The repeat creates a sideways zig-zag down the leg, which could be cool, but might loose the pattern in the great colorway.

That first photo isn't enough... this is better:



or how about this...

Oh Cheese and Crackers!

I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Mine was full of sleep, cleaning and knitting. Thanksgiving is practically on top of me... last minute runs to the store and I should have everything I need.

Does anyone have a clue how much it takes to put on a dinner like this, besides the ones hosting the event? My son asked me Sunday morning what was for breakfast. I gave him "the look" and said I was resting for my day of food slavery. I could tell he was puzzled, so I told him I would be cooking ALL DAY on Thursday and if I wanted to skip a couple of meals in the mean time then so be it. He is such a sweet boy... he then got up and made eggs and bacon for the whole family without burning down the house. I think I've done good.

In the knitting department, the Noro Scarf is coming along fantastically.

Such a Follower...

Hello, I'm Knifty Red and I'm a follower, a sheep that is following the rest of the knitting herd down the Noro Scarf path.



I don't quite mind, as the journey is fun;)

FO: Cloning Rib Socks

Pattern: Cloning Anemone Rib (only available for Rockin Sock Club members)

Yarn: 1 skein of Socks That Rock - Tide Pooling Colorway - Light Weight (not available to the general public until 2009)

Needles: US 1.5 circ's

Start Date: October 24, 2008

End Date: November 16, 2008

Comments: The pattern is pretty interesting, but once I got a couple of inches down I noticed that the pattern gets a little lost in comparison to the colors. I kept to the rib portion of the pattern but started extending the sections where it twisted to longer and longer stretches between.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out and now have more scarps for my blanket;)

Psychotic Santa Strikes

No one can ever say that Nana’s Knitting Shop can't throw one hell of a party. Thanks ladies, what a blast!

I had intended to do perhaps 2 or 3 different ornament designs... yeah, well we all can't be like Georgian right? So I set my sights on a little Santa. The pattern is not difficult and in a matter of hours I had him stuffed and hanging on the tree.



The pattern had brought back memories of my childhood during the holidays. Each year that we pulled out the decorations, my sister and I would play with Mr. & Mrs. Clause. They were handcrafted ornaments that eventually showed the true well loved nature of small children.

So, do you think that Mr. Clause will be lonely on the tree? I might have to modify the pattern in order to get Mrs. Clause.

In other knitting news, I helped Tangled with a photo shoot of her Avalon



I'm so thrilled to have helped out. I truly believe such a lovely item should be showcased to the best of our abilities. It was fun.... cold, but fun.

My Latest Experiment

Since the weather has been turning towards tundra temperatures I've been itching for a little lovely for my neck.



With the hopes of being able to do this once in awhile as well:



There is no pattern just me trying to make it work. It works fairly nice, as it's warm and soft, but it's also bunchy and tight on the throat. Hummmm...back to the drawing board. Don't mind ripping it out, as it's quick to knit up. My only drawback is there isn't much left over, so what you see is 2 skeins of baby alpaca.

What did you say?

Kids say the darnest things.

While cooking dinner Miss Mac comes running into the kitchen to proclaim "I turned Family Guy off. I'm a hero Mom!" and it shocked me just a little. I paused, then answered "Why yes, yes you are."

Then during dinner she announced to the table "I passed gas!" ... as my husband is trying to stop her from saying FART all the time. I just couldn't help myself and had to ask her "Where did you pass it to?". She thought about the question and bust up in a half laugh with "my daddy!.

In other random thoughts... a Sonic opened in our neighborhood yesterday and Eric just wont let up. He claims that the anticipation is killing him. He'll live.

Anyone watch Ghost Whisperer? I'm really kinda pissed off right now and not sure if I can watch the show anymore.

Knitting has been happening, just can't muster enough energy for posting right now. Soon. Real soon.

Kisses and Cookies!

Random Leftovers...

My heart just pounds seeing my son. MY SON. On the court and having no clue as to what he's doing along with every other kid on the court;) He gets better and better each day, but seriously... it's hard to watch sometimes.

You see I'm that obnoxious parent in the stands who yells and screams at their kid. I'm so going to get kicked out one day, perhaps even banned.

What else have I been up to... well knitting of course.



The Cloned Rib socks are coming along perfectly. Wish I could put more up but work is killer.