Category: knitting

Tuesday Project Progress: Sock Monkey

Karen

Doc’s dad loves handknit socks, which means he will get a pair every year for his birthday and for Christmas for the rest of his life, because really good gift ideas are rare and it’s always nice to have a sock on the needles.

Here’s the progress on the birthday pair, which is starting to look a little like a sock monkey:

This yarn has been discontinued since I made his first pair from it, but it’s been reported as “the warmest” and requested again. I found a few balls on eBay but wanted to stretch them into two pair–hence the colorblocking. (The Christmas pair will be this colorway reversed, if my yarn estimates are right.)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Success!

Karen

I finished a cardigan and it fits and it isn’t ugly! This is big news.

I gave up knitting sweaters for myself back in 2013 because they always fit weird or they were too itchy. (The last one I knit was also so ugly I was just demoralized.) But after the election I wanted acres of mindless knitting and I wanted a big cozy cardigan, so I approached this strategically: I hate seaming, so one piece it was; if it was a cardigan, I wouldn’t have to deal with itchiness; and it if was a big old oversized blanket, I could worry less about the fit.

I picked the Iba pattern and Brooklyn Tweed “Shelter” yarn and, as discussed before, they’re a good match. I really love how light and warm and wooly and soft this is–it’s almost like wearing a little creature.

I do have to fix the sleeves though. I guess I got carried away and made them about four inches too long, but that’s an easy fix. Plus it’ll give me a chance to keep working with that yarn

Tuesday Project Progress: Still Knitting

Karen

I mentioned I was making a big blanket cardigan back in December, but I never put up a picture because it’s looked like a gray blob since then. But now, the gray blob has sleeves!

pattern

It needs another 12 inches of the body and then a good blocking and shaping, but I like how it’s turning out. Granted, it’s not hard to get the fit right on a giant oversized cardigan, but I did have to rip back the yoke and get the armhole depth right (back in… January? It’s all blending together).

The wool is a delight to work with–Brooklyn Tweed Shelter, in “Narwhal” (aww).  I didn’t jump on the BT bandwagon for a long time, thinking the yarn was too coarse and rustic. Surprisingly, it knits up into a really beautiful, soft, light fabric, so you can get a giant seamless cardigan out of it with not a lot of weight or dragging.

I’m going to make it as long as I can until my yarn runs out. I don’t think I’ll have to resort to colorblocking, but I’m kind of intrigued….

Photo by Bonnie Marie Burns (project details)

Tuesday Project Roundup: Birthday Knitting

Karen

While knitting one of the socks I was making for Doc’s pop (that rhyme never gets old), I asked Doc if he’d like me to knit something for him. Because he is a polite person, he said yes. So about two weeks before his birthday I got the idea to make him a hat.

img_1271

img_1272

Making a secret project under a deadline meant that I was knitting at work during meetings, I was knitting in the car at lunch, I was knitting up until two days before the birthday when I finished with just three yards to spare.
img_1261

He seems to like it (but again, he is a polite person), the pattern was a fun knit, and he looks very handsome in it. I was really pleased that he asked, “Is this wool? It’s so soft!” because I used some nice Woolfolk “Tov” Ultimate Merino with all kinds of Orvis certifications and micron counts. (One skein was enough for a hat. Barely.)

In conclusion: Doc is fun to knit for, hat is soft, birthdays are good.

This Week, I’d Rather Be Knitting

Karen

Anyone else feeling the crunch? Clients rushing to spend their 2016 budgets, presents to wrap, January 20th creeping closer every day… no wonder I just want to knit.

“Now, let us all take a deep breath and forge on into the future; knitting at the ready.”

Elizabeth Zimermann,  The Opinionated Knitter

Tuesday Project Planning: Wearing Blankets

Karen

The current projects in both my sewing and knitting queues are big, blanket-y cardigans. Because winter is cold and the days are short and life feels a little foreboding, and sometimes you just want to wear a blanket.

For sewing, I have some sweater knit coming to experiment with the Sabel Boyfriend Cardi PDF pattern:
e3478ce83d757cf4932059d44cae4fcf

And for knitting, I used a gift card to get some fancy Brooklyn Tweed yarn to make the Iba Cardigan:
9013c7e0b470737ea54fd4102df21949

I think I’ll lengthen both projects by four to six inches for maximum blanket effect.

Tuesday Project Roundup: Kind Of

Karen

img_1101

Well, I finished the “Om Shawl” I started back in July, which is good; and it was fun to knit, which I guess is the overall point. But my substituting a lighter weight yarn means it’s all a little smaller than the designer photos–and I definitely made the middle section too short, so it’s hard  to really wrap around you as it was originally shown:

Processed with VSCO with kk1 preset

It’s been blocked and stretched with extreme prejudice in this picture and I think I’ll sew buttons on and try to wear it as a poncho. But if it just doesn’t work out, Toby’s going to get a lovely new blanket.

Project Poncho Is A Go

Karen

I’m nearly done with my big scarf and I like it so much I think I’ll try the poncho pattern pattern from that designer, as previously discussed.

But what color? I have a gift card to the yarn store so can afford the recommended yarn, Brooklyn Tweed Shelter. I’m thinking a neutral? But that dark gold is calling to me, too.

7f45c79e3ce1139a755c2b58bcd0f8fd
“Newsprint”
1b060396db6853a051264f2459da85ac
“Bale”
77067810b6d42da06c07376e4852a0b6
“Hayloft”

One ticket to Poncho Town, coming up!