But first: I have heard much about Elizabeth Zimmermann's books and thought "Hey, I'll check the library!" with the idea that if I liked them, I might ask for one for Christmas. Alas, much to my dismay, all copies of her books are out and all have approximately 6 holds on them before I'd even get to them. Ah well, maybe it can be a birthday request.
And now, projects! (Prepare for several pictures of my head. I've been making hats.)
1. Meg's Lazy Leaves Tam (Pattern link)
I never put up a finished picture here! She says she wears it a lot and the fabric has gotten more drapey with use. Yay!
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| The leaf pattern is so pretty! It stretched out a bit with blocking (duh). We'll be revisiting this lace at Christmas. |
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| The brim had little faux-cables, but they didn't show up too well. I also may have done them wrong. |
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| I don't really do slouchy tams, I just don't have the hair or head shape for it. They slide off. Meg, however, has curly hair of the med-student-messy variety. |
I tried another, simpler pattern with these yarns, one made to look like the wristlets Alice wears in the beginning in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, but I had so much trouble with gauge and sizing that I picked a new pattern, holding the yarn double. It worked much better! They are so soft and cozy and I think they even fit. Jacks said her XBox avatar wears some just like them, so that was fortuitous.
3. Karl's Totoro Mittens (Ravelry pattern link)
Yay I can share these now! Made for the cheering of Karl, they were a lot of fun and a serious exercise in both stranding and patience! I got partway done and restarted to make them bigger TWICE, and I still have a feeling they were a bit small. Them being super cute makes up for it, right?
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| They are designed to have ALL the Totoros, and also the dust bunnies/soot sprites as seen on the palm. I regret to admit that I have not actually seen this movie. I feel it is something I should remedy at some point. |
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| This teeny guy hiding on the thumb under a leaf is my favourite of all of them. |
I whipped up this little guy to accompany the mittens. Just cause he's cute. His eyes are a bit... special. I'm not very good at embroidery.
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| He's just hanging out with our pot worm/caterpillar/thing that lives in the arbricola pot. |
Brad and I went for a visit to BC in September and I had a chance to see my friend Allison and her baby Alexis. I made my third ever project (the strawberry toque) for Alexis last year, but I think it was too warm a winter for her to get any use out of it! Now, at 8 months, there's no chance she still fits it. As such, I decided to make her something that she can't grow out of!
The pattern called for a pipe-cleaner to make the neck bend, but wasn't sure if that woudl be good for a baby's mouth. I figured it out using short rows instead. My gauge could have been a bit tighter, but that would have required more altering the pattern for it to fit around the bouncy ball that's inside the body, so I just went with it. Allison said Alexis would probably learn to love it because of the long dangy legs for chewing and swinging around.
6. Mouldy Pepper Toque (Ravelry pattern link)
Hoping to use up the yarn left over from Jackie's mitts, I made this. I thought I wouldn't have enough, so picked up another ball of kidsilk to add a bit of colour. Held them double, and didn't even use up the rest of one ball of the leftover yarn! Oh well, I love the result. It's perfectly light and warm all at once. It was great in BC, where the weather was a bit colder and damper than in Ottawa.
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| The lace pattern doesn't stand out too much due to the haziness of the kidsilk... |
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| ..but when you hold it up to the light you can see! |
7. Pine for the Cedars Toque (Ravelry pattern link)
I wanted some kind of knit souvenir from Vancouver, so I bought this lovely merino at an excellent yarn shop there. (Gina Brown's, the biggest and friendliest of the three shops I went to). The lace pattern is almost the same as the pepper! It was supposed to be all slouchy, but my gauge was weird (and of course I couldn't find it/didn't check or something before starting) so I ended up with a regular old beanie-style toque. Which is just as well, since slouchy things don't stay on my head and I'm not a hipster. I really did like the slouchy look though, just couldn't be bothered to frog down and restart more than once.
I used this method of tubular cast-on, which I love. I used it on Karl's mittens as well. Next time I think I'll have to try a provisional/'italian' version, which doesn't require set-up rows. Whatever the method, it looks so nice and is so stretchy for 1x1 rib!
8. In progress: Blue Bolero (Pattern link)
Brad's cousin is getting married this weekend, and all I have is a grey dress or a black dress. Not very exciting! So to add some colour (and also to keep me warm) I'm knitting up this pretty little bolero. It's super simple and super easy but also requires just enough attention that I'm not super bored. Using 100% merino that is so soft and squishy. A little over halfway done, I already love it.
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| Sneak preview! |
Of course, there's a few secret projects on the go or in the works that I'm being careful not to mention. Stay tuned after Christmas for their expose! (I know you are so riveted.)
As for me, I'm going to work some more on that bolero. Still thinking and planning and plotting all the amazing things I want to make... Looking forward to my knitiversary in January! I am trying to decide what to knit for myself in celebration, it will probably be something significant (like a sweater). I've got a retail job interview at an outdoorsy store tomorrow, so if that goes well I might even be able to afford nice yarn for it! Mmmm, I will keep dreaming of nice things to make.
I must confess that I have indeed discovered your blog, so that I can say, "WOW you are amazing"!
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