Springtime Roundup

No, I'm  not talking about the Monsanto herbicide. I'm talking knitting!

Here then is the projects roundup since January.

1. & 2. Meg's Requests
At Christmas time, Meg had a few requests. She bought the yarn, so I obliged. First was an infinity scarf/cowl. She'd seen some around that were 'kind of braided', so I browsed patterns and finally settled on this one, by the owner of a lovely yarn shop I visited while in Vancouver. Using the super-bulky Rowan Big Wool, I knit it up fairly quickly, with only a brief pause while I waited for mum to find and send me more wool- I had vastly underestimated how much I would need, and Rowan is hard to come by around here.

It can be worn long, hanging down to the belt, or with one or two twists around the neck. I like it best long or with one twist.

The other thing was half-joke. While browsing patterns, we saw a "medical" category, which baffled my med-school sister. It was mostly hot water bottle covers, but we stumbled upon stethoscope cozies, and I jokingly offered to make her one. She accepted, so I invented a pattern (basically a ribbed tube that increases at the end into a triangle).

I had to make it stretchy enough to fit around the bell, since it wasn't removable.

1x1 ribbing quickly got boring, so I added a simple twisted cable.

And a cute little button on the back to keep the tab closed.

3. Boot Warmers
I have a problem. My feet are large but my calves are small. So, when I buy boots that fit my feet, there's this big gap between the boot and my leg. To solve this problem, knitting!

Here they are worn with my lovely leather Keens. They also work hidden on the inside.

This quick little pattern was just perfect. I might make some more one day.

4. My sweater
It's done! I'm almost completely satisfied... except that the sleeves are too short. I've still got some yarn, so I might undo the cast-off and add some length to both sleeves and bottom hem. We'll see. It's comfy and warm and I mostly love it.

Here it is! Fits very nicely. Unfortunately, every 'full body' shot we took involved me making a stupid face. I'm not good at playing 'model'.

A shot of the side. Shaping was done by some paired decreases/increases and morphing cables.

I really like the hemmed neckline.

5. Jackie's Birthday Companion Cube
Part of my vacation involved visiting Jacks in Seattle. And with two weeks to go before her birthday, I decided to make her a Companion Cube. For those who are not nerds, the Weighted Companion Cube features in a computer game called Portal. You use a gun to make portals, and the Companion Cube is used in your training. Basically.

 

The pattern had six panels of stranded colourwork knit in the round, then steeked, then sewn together. I wanted to save time, so I used intarsia (for the first time, and oh did I love it), knit two panels stacked on top of each other, picked up the provinsional cast-on edge, knit two more stacked panels, then grafted the ends together. This made a tube, with lots of ends to weave in.

Like so.

Then I knit the final two side panels separately and seamed them in. It's stuffed with stuffing and there's a cardboard cube inside to keep the shape.

In the game you have to incinerate your Companion Cube. Not required in real life.

There is also frequent talk of cake, which is a lie. Also not so in real life.

6. & 7. Failed gifts, no pictures.
Sigh. I made mittens for mama's friend Deb, but they were too small, and I didn't have time to take pictures. This "making things way too small" thing is an issue I encounter a lot.
I made mama a scarf for her birthday, but it's too scratchy for her wool-sensitive skin. I had a feeling it would be, but the yarn was too pretty not to use; it's the ball I got to make her mittens with initially before finding the much softer and more perfect ball that I ended up using. She's sending the scarf back to me, so I'll take pictures of it when it arrives... and then I get to wear it!

That's all for now. Phew. I've currently got two more small things in the works, then I have a big project or two to embark upon. I picked up some lovely wools in California (including a few balls of Rowan at half price!) and I have vague ideas floating around my brain for them. I still want to knit all the things ever, but summer makes it hard to knit-and-wear. Brad's dad jokingly said he wanted "old man slippers" for Christmas, and while I know he's not serious, I might make him some just to be smart. Smart-alec, that is. But Christmas is so very far away!

Time to enjoy spring. We've got the daffodils and tulips coming up in the front garden, and an assortment of perennials in the back. The sun is shining outside. Mmm.