Long-overdue Round-up

In which I present, in a series of collages, what I've been working on.

Things for babies and adult babies:

• Knitted Kitty for Liam
• Kari Baby Blanket for Kathleen
• A happy octopus (from my brain) for Lexi
• An upsized Dice Bag of Doom! to hold a new tile-laying game we got. 

Things to keep hands toasty: 

• Two pairs of Generic Mittens Knit Flat with a not-so-generic chart I made for some good friends in Winnipeg
• Dew Drops Mitts for Meg for Christmas
• Two pairs of Matrix mittens, also with a home-brew chart, for the kids in our work holiday hamper
• Thanksgiving Day Mitts for my coworker to wear in the chilly office

Things to keep heads warm:

• Catkin Hat for me (also serves as a gauge swatch for my upcoming sweater!)
• Wild is the Wind for Meg for Christmas
• A from-my-brain lined toque for Liam to match his sweater (too small, sad!)
• A cheerful Knotted Pine for me!

Things to keep bodies warm: 

• Sweetness Cowl for mum for Christmas
• Twigs Stole for Mel as a wedding gift (never got proper pictures! Sigh.)
• Lancelot for Liam for Christmas (which I think DOES fit. Phew.)

Whew. That's quite a few things. Looking back at these, I've done a fair bit of chart-making and pattern-modifying. Good! Also a fair bit of stash-busting, though not as much as my stash-adding. Half-good!

Things in progress:

• Some warm Lopi goodness for a friend with a very big head
• A Catkin sweater for my fourth Knittiversary! Made with some luxurious alpaca-bamboo yarn. Ah the joys of a light fingering weight sweater! 

See you in a few months when it's something closer to done!

No, wait! One more, because I love this picture so much:

They were amazingly appreciative recipients.

A Mystery

I break the blog silence for this: a knit mystery!

While enjoying a cottage weekend...

Featuring mist, rain, sun, and a few waves...

Pattern: Song of the Sea on Ravelry.

I came across a pair of...

A pair of I-have-no-idea-whats! These were hanging on the wall; decor in cottage adorned with a collection of eclectic objects gathered by a life of travel.

They almost look like mittens, but the main hand area is so big. And those flaps! They aren't just flaps, they're hollow, accessible by fingers...And while on one side there are two...

The other just has one!

The item on cover of this book has a similar shape, pompoms, and strange little flap, and it appears to be a bag. I thought that these were a bit too small to be a bag... and why a pair?

I thought these were cats, to match the dogs above, but they may just be paper dolls.

Curious. Our 'host' hadn't a clue, as the cottage belongs to her mother-in-law. Very curious.

Of course, further investigation into the patterns in the afore-mentioned book solved the mystery!
See: Exhibits A, B, and C.
Conclusion: It's a purse! A 'finger' purse (uña means fingernail in Spanish), and those little fingers are for small things like change, chapstick, and sunglasses. Oh the wonders of the internet.

Psst: Soon it will be fall, and with fall comes cool weather, and with cool weather comes more knitting! So. maybe, more frequent blogging.

Some Finished Objects for the End of Winter

Seems we've skipped spring here and gone directly from a late winter to summer! Crossing my fingers the snow is done for good.

While it was still cold, I got a few last winter-weather projects done. Time for a round-up!

1. Brad's Windschief Set

Brad had to go to oilfields in Alberta three times this spring. On site they're not supposed to wear synthetic stuff, in case of a gas flare-up or something. He's just driving around in the bog setting up big metal triangles for satellites, so I don't think there's much danger...but it was a good excuse for me to knit him a thing! Two things! Two matching things!

Pattern: Windschief by Stephen West.

The toque fits me in a trendy, slightly slouchy way, and fits him perfectly just covering the ears. I love it and have stolen it on several occasions. But of course, I haven't had the heart to badger him about standing around letting me take pictures of him wearing it. Sigh.

I used Illimani Yarn's Royal 1. It's 100% alpaca and amazingly soft with minimal halo. Pricey, but I got the set out of a single skein. I think it would be perfect for this amazing sweater, but oh would that be an expensive sweater!

2. My Blue Streak Cowl

While Brad was off in Alberta, safely warmed by his toque and neckwarmer, I raided the stash for some chunky yarn and whipped myself up a cowl too. The yarn was purchased to make a baby thing, but it adds a nice bit of colour to my drab wardrobe.

Pattern: Blue Streak by Wendy Chapman 

It's cozy!

3. Red Robot Mittens

 A friend of mine was dealing with some stuff, so I did what I do to cheer people up: make mittens! These are last post's sneak peek.

Made-up pattern.

Good thing it's been unseasonably cold where he lives; the robots may be getting some use.

4. Meggie's Birthday Herringbone Cowl

Sigh. Spring birthdays sneak up on you. I needed something for Meg, and it needed to be fast. I looked in a few stores, but nothing really struck me, so I decided (with five days before her birthday) to make something.

Pattern: Big Herringbone Cowl by Purl Soho, with modifications inspired by the Tea Latte Cowl by Laura Jansen.

I used bigger yarn and needles than called for but cast on far fewer stitches for a smaller loop. It's still quite big! The stitch pattern is loose enough that the buttons can go wherever, so you can wear it a few different ways.

One way to wear, folding the top down toward the buttons. You can also fold the bottom up for a kerchief-y look that's snug around the neck, wear it as one big loop, fold it in half, etc.

5. Wishbraid Headband

And finally, this quick little headband I made during a meeting.

Pattern: Wishbraid by Erika Neitzke. She called for i-cord ties, but I wanted a button.

Phew. That's it. I've been idle for a week or two, but a couple I play soccer with just had a baby, so there's something cute and soft in the works. 

And then? It's getting a bit warm for wearing knits, but I was recently hand-me-downed a working sewing machine...

Alafoss Mania

I haven't quite been working exclusively with lopi for the past few months, but it's almost true.
Wanna see?

A few Christmas gifts:

A toque for Brad.

With lined earflaps for extra warmth. (No pattern, inspiration from Thorpe and Riddari.)

A toque for Meg, in green, of course. (Pattern: Thorpe, with colourwork from Hlekkur.)

And a sheep for mum. With her wool sensitivity, there's no way I could make her a lopi garment. (Pattern: Fluffy Little Sheep from Lion Bran Yarns.)

A few post-Christmas gifts:

Some slippers for Brent's brother to slide around the hardwood in his new house. (Pattern: Non-Felted Slippers, which I've used once before.)

And a vest for a friend's new baby to wiggle in. (Pattern: Kambur, minus the sleeves.)

And a few just for me:

A sweater to celebrate my third year of knitting!

With a neat cable/lace combo. (Pattern: Kross)

And some thick, warm, pretty fingerless gloves.

Pattern: Handtak, with colourwork from Hun.

Five out of seven patterns taken or adapted from Istex Lopi 28. I think I got my kronur's worth.

Some nice things about lopi:

• It knits up SO QUICKLY
• It is SO WARM
• It comes in SO MANY NICE COLOURS

Some not-so-nice things about lopi:

• It's got quite the halo
• It's a wee bit scratchy
• It costs more than double here what it did in Iceland!

I think the nices outweigh the not-so-nices, especially because I STILL have some left after all these projects!

I have to try to get Brad outside and bring the camera one of these days while it's still winter. Neither of us are particularly willing models, but I have no action shots, ever. Not even for my two epic took-forever projects of 2012 (sweater and blanket).

Fall!

We took a walk to the park to take some pictures of little Liam the other day. Hard to believe he's already 10 months old!

And look at that! A Buzzba for him! I was a bit worried, since it fit MY head, but it's super stretchy and squishy, so it fits him fine and should do so next year too. Plus, tying the strings ensures that he won't pull it off and lose it.

He's a spider for Hallowe'en.

Hanging out in the leaves.

Swinging is the best.

And thumbs are delicious.

More knitting-related things soon...

And more summertime

It's getting cooler at nights now, but we've managed to pack in some good summer times.

Playing with lakeshore clay.

Making jaunty sculptures.

Eating summer salads.

Winning at Scrabble.

Blowing in the wind.

Blooming in the heat.

Catching frogs...

...and fish...

...and babies.

Touching giant diggers.

And a tiny bit of knitting. (Dino Baby Booties, pattern here. I did not choose the yarn with the best stitch definition, but I was working with what I had in the stash.)

More to come, namely, the never-ending sweater. I finally got the right zipper... And then I'm off to knitter's paradise, the land where they sell quality wool in the grocery store, Iceland. SO. EXCITED.

And Then Came Summer

It's been a busy month chez nous. Despite working a normal job, I've managed to squeeze in some knitting here and there. The baby knitting never ends, which is okay by me, and I've started my own very selfish project too.

Recent projects include:

1. Various Items for Baby Tharen

Meg called in her personal sweatshop (me) just in time for her good friend's baby girl to be born. I made a wee tiny elephant, a pixie cap I've been wanting to do since I started knitting, and some matching booties. They knit up quickly; I was able to leave the elephant for her in Vancouver while  I was there, and the cap and booties were mailed off shortly after the baby was born.

Wee tiny elephant pattern here. It's only so tiny because I used tiny yarn and needles, could easily be larger with heavier yarn! His eyes are made of Meg's graduation cap tassel, since I had no spare black yarn or thread laying around in Vancouver.

Pixie cap and booties, in a lovely cotton yarn I've had for ages. Knit in gender neutral colours, since no one knew what baby Tharen would be until she was born.

Cap and booties patterns are both free! Cap available here. I did short rows and grafted the back together rather than casting off and seaming shut, and used ties instead of a button.

Booties pattern available here, I used the modifications listed in this Ravelry project to do them in stockinette.

2. A Knightly Bear for Baby Michal

Another baby! Brad's childhood friend's wife is due any day now. I started this bear months ago on the ride back from London with yarn that Brad's mum had given to me; I had nothing else to knit with! He sat around in various pieces until I had time to come back to him. I sewed his pieces together and made him some knightly raiment for fun.

Pattern for the bear is here. The clothing is improvised.

Brad made me up a chart for the Polish eagle (who looks like a seagull and has a somewhat droopy crown).

Only the bravest bears ride dragons (even if the dragons are small).

I think they'll be pleased with him. Making little teddy clothes is FUN!

3. SHEEP!

Ohmygoodness I haven't raved about this yet! For my birthday, my mama got me the kit for the most beautiful sheep blanket that I have been ogling since it appeared. I had so many baby things to knit that I didn't get time to start it until recently, but the perfect occasion presented itself. Brad had to have some surgery on his leg, so I brought it along as hospital knitting.

Still very much in progress, but so much fun to knit.

So much love! The colours are wonderfully subtle, the yarn is fantastically lofty (and strangely soft for how scratchy it is), and it's so much fun to see the little sheep heads appear. It is the best blanket.

Non-Knitting Items of Note

A few other things worth mentioning.

Cut Paper Lakes

For his birthday, I got Brad a lovely piece of art. It's a cut-paper piece depicting the Great Lakes.

Etsy seller Crafterall; The Great Lakes in royal.

It's such a nice piece, and the maker included a postcard (now on the wall in my cubicle) and a hand-written note thanking us for our purchase. She's a really great seller based out of Minnesota, and she's got a bunch of other bodies of water (including several MN lakes). I'm really happy with it, and he is too. Now we just have to get a frame...

Baby T-Rex Shirt

For no good reason other than that baby T-Rexes are adorable and that Liam started making dinosaur noises, I made him a shirt with a dinosaur on it. I bought the white shirt on sale at Zellers, cut a dinosaur out of an old shirt I never wear, and appliqued away. Applique is a lot harder than I expected! I like knitting because techniques are always do-able, no matter how hard people claim they will be. Sewing, I think, is a different matter that takes a lot more practice and experience.

A bit of internet research revealed lots of places that recommended spray starch to stiffen the work and ironing the edges under for a neat look. The starch is in the cup, applied with a Q-Tip. The white is a stretchy fusible interfacing specifically for knits.

Despite the often frustrating process, it turned out really nicely!  I tried to zig-zag stitch the edges, but it just didn't look good. I probably wasn't going slowly enough, but I just didn't have the patience. After ripping out the stitches more than once, I just straight-stitched around, doing it a few times to overlap and hide any bloopy-looking curves. Curves are hard, but little tiny pointy bits are harder.

The multiple layers of  stitching make it look on-purpose messy, right?

The finishing touch on the bottom back corner.

It's size 3T, which means almost nothing to me. The good news is it's too big for Liam just yet! He grows out of things way too quickly. I'll have to get a picture of him wearing it someday.


My next applique project is going to be a long-sleeved Liam shirt with a guitar that extends up the arm, so when he's lying down with arm spread out, it'll look like he's playing guitar. I anticipated it'll be easier; it's a much simpler shape than a T-rex.

Garden

As always, the backyard garden is sad now that the trees block all the sun. All the plants were flowering the other week, but I forgot to take pictures, and now it's mostly a wilty green mess.
The front garden, on the other hand, is a riot of healthy green stuff. There will be tomatoes soon, and the beans, carrots, and lettuce are coming along nicely.

This illustrates illustrate the inverse relationship carrots and lettuce have with the sun. Sunniest patch is the closest, where the biggest carrots are. Shadiest patch is farther, where the biggest lettuce is.

That's about it for now. It's been a busy few weeks. Brad's surgery threw a wrench in the gears, but it has worked out fine and he's recovering. We spent the weekend relaxing with friends, which gave me lots of time for knitting, and let us recuperate in the outdoors after a week in the hospital.

And one more plant for good measure.