Knit for hire

So, I've wanted to knit a new swater for TW for a while, but money is tight and we don't have the spare cash to buy any new yarn. What is a knitter to do?

Knit for it!

There are a few "Will Work For Yarn" and bartering type groups on Ravely and I've been putting my self out offering my services in hopes of earning enough yarn for a sweater.

And I did! More on that later though. First, here is what I've been making:


Denver Cowl




yarn: Miss Babs Yowza! What a Skein in Copper City
needles: US 8 (5mm)
Rav project link

Lovely yarn and easy fun little pattern.


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Herringbone Poncho




yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Worsted
needles: US 17 (12.75mm)
Rav project page

this one was hard,the big needles were really hard on my wrists. And I've hard so many good things about the yarn, but it took 7 skeins, and 4 of them had knots! And it was spun in such a way that there was very little spring to it.


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Lovely Ribbed Cowl




yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Suri Merino
needles: US 7 (4.5mm)
Rav project page

Super easy knit, and OMG amazing soft yarn, I looked forward to knitting this it felt to nice in my hands!

Rhinebeck 2013

What to say about New York Sheep and wool 2013? Fun!
TW had a grand time checking out all the animals, he kept us going so much that I didn't get many pictures, but believe me, there was a lot going on. I wore my Arachne's Veil shawl, but didn't get any pictures.










I was able to take a break and go check out the Ravelry meet up while TW and Bill went to look at the traveling zoo animals. And then they wandered off to make volcanoes in the sand.







before we met back up to have lunch







TW was particularly interested in watching sheep being groomed and sheared.







and of course got to meet some Llamas!







and here's a gratuitous shot of my favorite sheep, the Jacob:

a smattering of small(ish) things

Hey there!

I've got a few FOs for you today!

Let's see...

I finished the Gentleman’s Socks with Lozenge Pattern for Bill:

he loves them, it just makes me so happy to make socks for him, he really appreciates them, I need to make more socks for me, but I keep picking out yarns for him, because it is so fun to see how happy they make him.



Pattern: Gentleman’s Sock with Lozenge pattern by Nancy bush (found in Knitting Vintage Socks)
yarn: Knitpicks Stroll in Wine
needles: US 1 (2.25mm)
I modified the pattern a bit to be able to knit them toe up, two at once, and good thing, too, because I ran out of yarn! You can see the ravelry page here


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then I knit a little blue sweater for Bill's brother and Sister in law, because they are having a little boy and we are all very excited!



this was a great little pattern, I really loved the cable detail. I continued the cables down under the arms, and mirrored them, because I'm like that.

Pattern: Sunnyside by Tanis Lavallee
yarn: Bernat Softee Baby Solids & Marls held double
needles: US 5 (3.75mm)
ravelry page here


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after the sweater it started to get a bit chilly here, and I had promised TW that I would make him a new hat since he grew out of his pixie

so I knit him an owl:



this was a fun little hat, but since my yarn wasn't to gauge, I needed to make a lot of adjustments, I cast on for the adult size and then added extra rows to the owl body and head.



Pattern: Chouette by Ekaterina Blanchard
yarn: Schafer Lola, held double
needles: US 9 (5.5mm)
ravelry page

now in print!

Hey everyone!


I'm just stopping in to let you know that I've been published*!


That's right! Come the new year, if you are looking for a new calendar, pick up the 2014 Knitting Pattern a Day calendar, and you will find my Felted Fish Cat Toy pattern on May 5th!




* Ok, it's kinda cheesy since I wasn't paid for the pattern. I entered it in their contest to win money, but didn't win, and all runners up were put in the calendar. But still... published!

Introducing Camembert, our new Doorstop Mouse

we like to keep the windows open as much as possible, but on breezier days that almost always means doors getting blown shut.

We've had Marmalade at our bedroom door for ages, but TW's door has been kept open by random object for far too long, so I finally decided to make Marmalade a companion.

Isn't he adorable?



Yarn: Bernat Baby Softee, held double
hook: G (4mm)
pattern: Amigurumi mouse doorstop

I stuffed him with a nice heavy rock I found while out on a hike and lots of polyfill.
He seems to be settling in nicely, and TW love him, every night before going to bed he has to stop and say 'hi' to his mousy.

Hey! long time no see!

So I've been super busy living life and enjoying my time with TW, but I have a ton of stuff to share with you!

Still no progress on the shawl, I really should get myself an audiobook and buckle down, but until then, I’ve finally finished the big blanket!

For size reference, that's our queen sized bed.

(yes, I had to stand on a chair to take that picture, it was scary.)

It's nice and soft and cozy and warm, and I finished it just in time for a summer heat wave, so it hasn't gotten much use yet, but I foresee lots of cuddles come winter time.

And just because, here is TW modeling it for you:

Yarn: my hand dyed hand-spun

Needles: size 10.5 (6.5mm) knitpicks options

Pattern: a bastardized Shetland Shawl construction: I cast on three stitches and knit the middle panel, increasing every row until it was big enough, and decreasing back down. (a la Grannie's Favorite Washcloth). Then I picked up stitches all along the edge and knit in the round increasing at the corners until I ran out of blue yarn, then I did a sideways knit on edging in white, ending it back at the beginning with Kitchener stitch.

It's meand to be big and warm, and not need any blocking if it needs to be washed.  I can simply squeeze out the water and pat it out in a rough square shape and let it dry.
(My poor pi blanket got dirty soon after TW was born and it still hasn't been blocked since we don't have the room for it here.)

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Bill's socks are coming along nicely, I have one more pattern repeat and then I start the ribbing.

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And as the weather has finally started to cool off a bit we can start turning off the AC and opening the windows, which means pleasant breezes... and slamming doors. So I’ve had to get back to the little mousy doorstop. I picked up a nice heavy stone for his base today while out on a hike so I can stuff him and finish up the rest of his head. Then its just a quick nose and a couple of ears!

(although I do have to admit that he looks a bit creepy right now.)

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In other crafty news, my poor juggling balls have been sitting on my bedroom bookshelf for ages, ever since the old bag fell apart in the wash, so I decided (with the inspiration from my new friends on the FB Project Project group (hi guys!)) that it was time to make them a new bag.

It was super simple, just the leg off of an old pair of PJ bottoms, and a kumihimo cord made from cotton yarn. But now my juggling stuff has a happy new home, and I have more room for books on my self!

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Before I made the juggling bag I decided to try my idea out on a pair of jeans first. Then I got the nifty idea to make it a set, so I whipped up a few denim bean bags to go with it. (the aren't filled yet, since I need to pick up some of those little plastic pellets first, but I have a craft store trip planned for the near future for some other crafty projects, so I'll pick some up then.)

I have a friend who juggles also, and since I certainly don't need any more balls, I may give them to him.

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I have a few more crafty ideas in the works, and I'm trying to keep up knitting regularly, (even with the lack of a weekly get together) so hopefully I'll be back soon with more updates!

Slow progress is still progress

with the lack of Monday knitting, and Bill's work schedule landing on a few Saturdays, I haven't had as much knitting time as I would like. But I have been making progress, because i can still knit simple things during date nights (we cuddle up after TW's bed time and watch a few episodes of British TV)

the shawl is still stuck in the trees, so no pictures of that yet, but I’ve almost finished my hand spun blanket!

One problem...I ran out of white yarn.

I have a tiny ball left over from when I knit the center and I think I may have a hank from when I was doing test spinning, but I don't think that will be enough. I also have a bit of blue left, so I could just finish the last corner with that, but then it would probably drive me nuts. We'll see. It's in time out right now as I ponder my options.

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I've started a new pair of socks for Bill as well, perfect waiting room knitting and for date nights.

Knit Picks Stroll in "Wine" on US 1 (2.25mm)

Nancy Bush's "Gentleman's Sock with Lozenge Pattern" from Knitting Vintage Socks, slightly adapted to make them toe up.

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TW is starting to outgrow his pixie hat so I need to plan for a new hat for next year. I think I want to do Chouette but I wanted to be sure I understood how the cables work, and to check for any mods I would have to make (a lot of people mentioned needing to add rows to the body and head of the owl) so I knit a mini prototype:

knit with one strand of random acrylic on US 7s (4.5mm) I did the smallest size and this would probably fit a newborn, super cute. I added two rows to the body, but I think it probably could use four, and maybe a few extra in the head too. (ravely page)

there’s a basket for donated baby/preemie hats at Saturday knitting, so I’ll probably put it in next time I can go.

arbres!

Knitting moves slowly along.

There wasn't any Monday night knitting for a few weeks because of the holidays, and then because if Bill's work schedule getting in the way, I couldn't go the last few weeks, and the holidays also got in the way of Saturday knitting a bit, but I have been knitting a little: I'm about halfway through the trees on my sheep shawl:

and I'm on the fourth and final ball of blue for my hand spun blanket (no picture because it doesn't look much different.) once I finish that I'll cast on a few stitches and do a sideways knit border with the last two balls of white. I can't wait until I'm there, it will be fun to see exactly how big this blanket is.

I'm feeling a little miffed about knitting out though. Because the Monday knitting is so much earlier than when it was at Flavors a lot of people can't reliably make it, and the people at More Bread and Jam are (understandable, and rightfully) thinking of not staying open any longer for it. And Saturday knitting isn't really all that fun for me because all the ladies that go there already know each other from other things, which means I'm usually out of the loop on their conversations, when anybody shows up, that is, one day I was the only one there and while it was nice to have tome to just sit and knit, it was also kind of lonely. And then the last time I went the two other ladies who showed up sat off at another table and talk to each other and essentially ignored me the whole time. So I'm not even sure if I want to continue to go to that either.

Despite all the roadblocks to finding actual knitting time, I have been able to get a new pattern posted! It's and oldie but a goodie: I knit it a long time ago, but never really got around to formatting everything up properly until recently. It's been test knit a few times, and some errors were found, and I just the other day fixed it all up and you can now download the Arachen's Veil Shawl pattern!

have fun with it!