Catching Up

Lindsey here with lots to catch up on. The entire month of June went by without a single post! I'd like to blame it on the heat, but I think it'd be a lie. Apologies for the radio-silence on my end... I have no good excuse (except a huge work-related-thing that is now done. mostly). Since my last update - in April - I've done a decent amount of knitting! In anticipation of my first Madelinetosh Sweater Club yarn shipment (which arrived Memorial Day weekend), I did my best to finish some UFOs and knit from my stash. Two weeks of hellish jury duty in April along with diligent knitting until the end of May helped me achieve finishing the following projects: Girasole (for my parents' for their anniversary), Featherweight (which only needed a sleeve and a collar), Codex Cowl (for me), Snapdragon Mitts (pt. II for my NY friend), and a Scroll-Lace (which I did not love and gave to my mother for Mother's Day). Apparently you can get quite a bit of knitting done when you're not busy blogging (although a better knit-blogger would've made time for both).



Above is my second pair of Snapdragon Flip-tops (this pair for someone who actually needs the flip-top part) knit in Tosh DK in Copper Penny. But the real Tosh DK project I want to talk about is Girasole:



I knit Girasole in Tosh DK Briar which sat in my stash for over a year due to some inconsistencies in the color. I had tried knitting sweaters out of it multiple times to no avail. Finally I decided to put it to good use and knit a blanket for my parents' anniversary. I could not be more pleased with this project - everything from the pattern to the product. Sure, the final blanket has some color variations I would've been happy without, but since it forms concentric circles in tandem with the lace, it doesn't look have bad. Not only was the yarn amazing to work with, but the pattern was possibly one of the most enjoyable I've ever knit. Several different lace charts kept things interesting, but you also always go to know each chart well enough that you didn't have to refer back to it. It was always interesting and yet never overly challenging. I can't stress enough how much I recommend this pattern!



Anyway, the weekend of my brother's wedding I finally received my Tosh DK Twist in Dustbowl and immediately cast on Water and Stone. You can see a (terribly lit - sorry) picture of the yarn and collar above. The yarn is much darker and more gray than I expected, but now that I'm through with half the body and a sleeve I'm okay with it. I can't wait to finish this sweater and get started on the next when shipment two comes at the end of the month.

A Move, FO's and the Beginning of the End

So Kendra here, finally checking in again with lots to update you on! First off, I moved! It took what felt like ages to actually pack up four years of living in NYC, but we made it out after shipping 49 boxes and selling all of our furniture. 10 bags at the airport later...

...and we made it to California!!! It's good to be home, I gotta say. I miss my Brooklyn knitters dearly but it really is great to be back. We even found an apartment in San Francisco already, a gorgeous home up on a secluded hill. Here is the view from it, although the photo does not do it justice and the trees are about to be trimmed so it'll get even better!

And although I haven't been knitting a great deal recently I have finished two things since I last spoke up. My Scroll Lace Scarf, aka Whimsical Little Mushroom Scarf, was knit up ages ago (only took a couple of evenings in fact!) but I've barely stopped wearing it long enough to photograph/I forget to ask someone else to take a photo when I wear it. So here it is finally, in all its golden glory!

I knit it out of the beautiful Metamorphosis by A Verb For Keeping Warm in an awesome colorway that is naturally dyed with "locally foraged mushrooms". As an Oakland based company, this seems like the perfect welcome back to the Bay Area project! I love the color because it goes with everything so it's been my in-purse-in-case-of-chill-emergency scarf since I cast it off over a month ago.

The next big FO is a Color Affection shawl, the beloved pattern by Veera Valimaki. I love it!!! I picked out three colors of Miss Babs Yet Lace (in Pewter, Moss, and Oyster) while at Stitches West 2012 (with fellow WLKAer Lindsey's help!) and got knitting! And look how pretty!

This was one of those fortunate times when "blocking will fix that" actually worked out! The garter edge was just wee-bit-too-tight, but I foraged ahead because that's how I roll. By the time it was finished the effect was quite obvious and causing the points to spiral. I had pretty much decided to call this a Design Element and move on, but a goofy blocking on the bed with towels (this thing is HUGE!!!) where I tugged at the straight edge and smooshed the garter body and poof! Perfect shawl!

(Side note: Turns out adding a yarn over after the 2nd stitch then dropping it on the way back is good idea to help this tight-edge problem - little late for me, but thought I'd help a fellow knitter out.)

I love the pattern and loved knitting it, but making the lace weight version meant by the end I had probably 600+ stitches (although to tell you the truth I didn't actually want to know the number at the time) so the last 20 rows were a bit painful. Now that it's bound-off and blocked the painful memory is gone and now it's just the warm and fuzzy feeling of new love. Even Adam is a fan...

Now it's on to the next and last project of Whimsical Little Knits 2 with the Cotton Reel Mittens. I'm making mine in the fingerless mitt version out of Miss Babs Yummy Toes in grey and greenie-yellow. The pattern starts with an I-cord that becomes the bottom of the cuff which is super cool in this knitter's opinion, which is as far as I've gotten so far.

Luckily I'm casting on in time to take them with me on the flight back to NYC for graduation. Back already, I know, but it means I get to see some knitter friends so it's all good :) Stay tuned to see how the final project of this knit-along goes and what we'll be knitting up next!

Red Scroll at Night

- Claire

Now that Mother's Day has safely passed and my package has arrived in rural Michigan (hi Mom!), I can finally tell you about my Scroll Lace Scarf. 

In my last update I had resigned myself to ripping out all of the body and starting the short rows again. I waited until I had good company for the ripping - Kendra! We had our last Monday coffee date before her big move a couple weeks ago, and she even wore her finished Scroll Lace so I had a handy reference. I reworked the short rows, "eating" up larger chunks for the whole body. I was able to do the picot bind off, but had to add more plain bind off stitches in between the points. But finally - it was done!!! 

A little bath and some stretching later, here is the fully finished result:

The slight semi-solid nature of the Tart colorway was perfect for the scarf. Mom just received the box today and called to say that she loved it. She made a good point that knitters don't often receive knitted gifts, which is sad, because we make the perfect recipients for handcrafted lovelies.  A knitter knows how much time and care went into that project!

Although if you train them well enough, non-knitters can come to appreciate your good work as well. Also in the box was my Dad's belated birthday present - a squishy knitted Alien face hugger! Hopefully he and the cat will have lots of adventures with it. 

Alternative Knits

Jess here with an admission: I'm a little bit picky with my knitting projects (okay, super picky). This is probably because I'm primarily a selfish knitter. So while I did like the looks of the Scroll Lace Scarf, I decided it wasn't quite my style. Instead of knitting along with the other ladies, I decided to go back to the beginning and re-knit Damson. As I previously mentioned, I left mine on a G train, and as any New Yorker will tell you, it's just not worth going after. Thus, I wound my yarn -- Tosh Merino Light in the beautiful, versatile Dust Bowl -- and began my knitting. As with my previous version, I knit the body in stockinette so that I wouldn't run out of yarn. The result is absolutely perfect. I haven't gotten the chance to snap a great photo of it, but here's a less than flattering shot to tide you over!

I'm so happy with how this version came out. I'm loving Dust Bowl even more than Smokestack; the slightly darker gray shade goes with my skin tone a little better, and it matches more of my wardrobe. I'm also pleased to report that I'm the proud owner of blocking wires, so I was able to make all of the loops stand out with ease. It's amazing how good blocking can elevate a project from good to great!

I had about 20 yards leftover, so what did I do? Okay, I saved half for hexipuffs, but the other half I used to create a fun little pal! Meet Joel the Jackalope.

Joel was based on the patterns Tiny Easter Bunny and Tiny Reindeer from Teeny Tiny Mochimochi by Anna Hrachovec. He's a little sweet and a little scary, which I find hilarious. I'm about to attend a wedding in Mexico, and I think that Joel will be the perfect date.

Beyond that, I've somehow managed to become a prolific knitter in the past month or so. I've finished my Rocky Coast Cardi, knit a Bunny Nugget, made a Tiny Armadillo named Queso (also coming with me to Mexico), and have started a pair of Elm Socks. Not too shabby. Now, time to keep knitting my socks! It's cold and rainy today, so I need some bright pink/red socks to make me smile!

Scrolling Along

Claire here with a quite update for you on a Monday evening. I'm closing in on the last hours of my 3-day weekend, and wanted to share a couple projects with you!

Let's start with a non-WLK2 project, but one that has been in the works for a while - I finished my Levenwick cardigan! I could have had it done much sooner, but of course it took me a while to do the front bands, and then to block it, and then to find the right buttons, and then to sew them on  - you know the drill! However, it is now complete, just in time for the warm spring weather. 

Sorry for the photo quality - I have to find time (and a willing photographer) for a pretty session outside, before it gets too warm to wear! 

I like it, but I'm not 100% in love with it yet. Hopefully that will come with wear. I think I over blocked it a but, so it's drapier than I'd intended. I do like it with just the top 4 buttons done, or with all of them done, but I think I will wear it the most with just the top button left undone. The buttons are cute little carved sunflowers, in a sepia colored resin. 

Continuing with the vaguely disappointed theme, I have an update on my Scroll Lace Scarf. 

I've made it much farther since this picture was taken - I was nearly done this afternoon, in fact! I decided to do the body in garter stitch to get rid of the curling factor. I knew it was going to take more yarn than the stockinette version, but I neglected to realize HOW much extra yarn I would need. 

I ran out. 

I'm still committed to the garter stitch body, but I'm going to have to figure out how to re-work the short rows, and I think I'll have to omit the picot edging as well. Until I feel like ripping out the scarf will be thinking about its mistakes in the knitting basket, and I'm going to get back to work on my Rocky Coast cardigan. Must finish wooly projects so I can start some spring things!

I Did a Bad, Bad Thing...

... and it's all Jess' fault. After years of avoiding pulling the trigger and joining the Magnolia Society, I finally joined. I'm in for three sweaters' worth of beautiful yarn. After a very long, confusing color selection process, I decided (with Jess' help) on these stunning color + yarn combos:

DK Twist in Dustbowl


80/10/10 Sport in Venetian


Dream Alpaca DK in Malachite


I haven't received any yarn yet, but used the pics above (from Ravelers jettshin, shkitty, and pnason respectively) to help judge what each color would like on that particular base. I know dye lots differ and such, but you could definitely see a trend with each base.

Next steps: 1. Finish Girasole (I'll post more about that later). 2. Twiddle thumbs (or finish other projects) while I wait for my first shipment.

Missing brunch, my enablers, and all things NY,
Lindsey

P.S. I don't know why I'm signing off like it's a letter - but I was told once I need to include my name in my posts. So there.

It Happened! Squirrel! Made a Friend!!!

A squirrel came to check out Squirrel!!!! As you can see, this was quite an exciting moment in my day. There may have been loud exclamations involved, but luckily there's no proof of that part.

It's a terrible picture, but it happened! I couldn't get to my phone fast enough, but this interaction started with Outside Squirrel sitting up and facing Squirrel! in the exact same pose. I promise it happened.

A Hopeful Squirrel Looking for Friends

Hello! Kendra here, finally checking back in! In my apartment, my living room window A/C is a common spot for little squirrels to visit. A few months ago I was fortunate enough to capture this adorable little guy peaking in on me one day...

Now that I too have finished my Nathaniel pillow (currently just named Squirrel! said in a very excited tone), Squirrel! is anxiously awaiting a visit from one of his outdoor buddies. He's new in town and a bit shy, but he's trying his best to put himself out there and meet new friends.

Sadly no one has come to visit yet, but day after day he waits, hopeful he makes some new friends soon! Will you come visit him?

Pattern notes: Knit in Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky in Walnut. It's a little fiddly to fit on needles in a comfortable way, but a quick and engaging knit. Stuffed with left-over yarn and man is he dense! (Don't tell him I said that...)

A Squirrel Lives in Brooklyn

I want you all to meet someone new to town. He's a little shy and doesn't talk too much, but give him a few handfuls of cashews and he'll be your new best bud! Say hello to Lawrence:

He's hanging out with his little gnome buddy. Who knows what trouble they get up to while I'm at work! Mostly though, I think he likes to hang out on the couch, watch Animal Planet, or keeping watch through the window:

I had fun making him, apart from when I forgot to stuff his tail until I was about 3 rows from the end - oops! Like Jess I was worried about him being too small, but he definitely grew with stuffing! And as long as no one sits on him, I think Lawrence will keep his squirrelish figure just fine. 

I Knit an Oven Mit!

No, I did not knit an oven mit, but that's exactly what my beloved boyfriend thought when he saw me crafting a gray amorphous blob. While I admit that Nathaniel is not the squirreliest squirrel, he is still decidedly animal-like, thank you very much. I actually breezed through the pattern in just 3 sittings, but I hadn't gotten around to photographing him because I moved. He's safe and sound in his new home, enjoying his very own wingback chair.

While he didn't seem like he'd be all that big when I was knitting, Nathaniel did come out the perfect size for cuddling (especially when you're glaring at your boyfriend for not understanding your beautiful, whimsical pillow).

I knit the pattern almost as is. The one exception was the long strings of lifted increases. I found that these were pulling my knitting way too much, so I peppering in a few make ones whenever I didn't like the tension. I'm really happy with the way that turned out, so I recommend that tip to anyone who's having trouble with the lifted increases.

Now that the squirrel is all finished, I'm at a loss as to where to go with my knitting. I need to knit another Damson (I lost mine on the train!), and I definitely need to finish my hibernating sweater. I am proud to say that I've been steadily hexipuffing for lack of other projects, so I should have a Beekeeper's Quilt sometime this decade.

Squirreling Away

After much procrastination, a Jessly squirrel is finally taking shape! I won't make excuses -- although moving and knitting a sweater are great ones, if I were to be in the business of excuse-making. Anyway, I finally cast on Nathaniel yesterday, and this little pillow is just flying by! I'm already about halfway done, and I'm seriously enjoying the chart. Although it doesn't look totally squirrely yet, I can see how it's coming together. For now, my Frankenberry doll is currently using it as a sleeping bag.

A word about yarn selection: the original pattern is knit in a beautiful 100% wool. Since this is a pillow, it will inevitably live on my couch, where it will be subjected to the less than graceful presence of my boyfriend (okay, and me) around food and beverages. That's why I'm using Lion Brand Wool-Ease Chunky: it's easy-care, so I can clean my pillow whenever need be without fearing felting. Since I grew up in West Virginia, I had to make my squirrel gray (the most common type of squirrel in the area). The charcoal shade has a nice heathered quality to it, too, which I really enjoy. Like Claire's, my squirrel seems to be knitting up a bit smaller than I expected, but that'll probably change with stuffing. I almost wish this project were taking longer since it's so fun, but I'd really rather finish it before I move. Eek!

Hi-ho, Squirrelio!

Hello all! Claire here, joining the "We're still here!" posting line up. And yes, we have been busy in our silence. I started my Levenwick shortly after the new year and am making good headway on that. Then Jess and I both got the beautiful book Coastal Knits and were ooh-ing and aaah-ing over that for quite a while. Finally she pressured me enough (like it was hard!) to get the yarn to start the Rocky Coast cardigan. I ordered myself some nice light grey Shepherd's Wool from Stonehedge Fibers. I admit, it was a front-runner because it's from a mill in Michigan - yay mitten! I think this is the first time I've had 2 sweaters going at once, so it's been a challenge to keep pace on both of them. I also finished a sock, started (trying) to learn Continental knitting, and made an exuberantly pom-pomed hat. It keeps me cheery in this snow-less NYC winter. 

And FINALLY I have put buttons on my Peaks Island Hood. Finishing a piece can be the trickiest part, and  honestly I wasn't sure if I was going to put buttons on this, since I think I blocked it a little too much and the scarf parts were quite long. But I fiddled with the placement some, broke out the embroidery floss and needle, and in 10 minutes I had a truly finished hood! 

Chewie here was kind enough to model for me. Doesn't he look cosy? I think I mentioned in an earlier post that the buttons are some I got for Christmas, from a company called Buttons by Nature. Made of spalted maple, they're the perfect size and give the hood a nice little rustic flair. 

And now on to further projects in the Whimsical Little Knitalong! We've made our way to Nathaniel, the cutest little squirrel pillow you ever did see! So far he is a very fast knit, and has some interesting construction details as well. You start with a garter strip, slipping stitches on the side to be picked up later for the squirrely body. It's a little awkward at first, but with a chunky yarn it goes very quickly! Clever decreases shape the feet and tail parts. I think my gauge is a little small, but I think Lawrence (of Brooklyn) will be just the right size to cuddle with on the couch and watch Shaun the Sheep with me. 

Returning to Life as Usual

Obviously the past year has been full of changes for me, so it feels great to finally be settling back in (to knitting and life in California). It's been a bit of a knitting dry spell for me lately. There were lots or reasons why I wasn't knitting, but one really great reason I got back into the swing: a new knitting group. Not to belittle the importance of my fellow WLKA-ers, because without them I don't know where I'd be (knitting or other-wise), but having a group of people to knit with is such a wonderful thing! Looking back on my knitting career, I remember that it was always being around people who knit (and often knitting-along, thanks Jess) that ended past dry-spells.

When a few girls at work (P.S. I'm officially full-time employed!) decided they wanted to learn to knit, I jumped at the opportunity! It took a little planning, but last Wednesday we all got together to buy some yarn, drink some wine, eat some pizza, and KNIT! I brought my yarn with me, but of course managed to spend too much money at the yarn store anyway. To be fair, I've been telling myself I can buy yarn required for WLKA projects. So I got enough Mirasol Miski for the Peaks Island Hood. I also had to buy needles to cast on a cowl. Who goes to knitting night without needles?


Anyway, I taught the girls to knit and started casting on a seed stitch cowl (inspired by Gap-tastic). The "party" went till almost 11 (on a school-night!) and I didn't even finish casting on - but the social knitting was just what I needed to reboot. I'm now done with my cowl, plus I organized my stash and added it to Rav (photo-less, but still an accomplishment)! Now that I'm back on track (with both my knitting and adjusting to California), I rewarded myself with... A KNITTING CORNER! That's right, I went from living on a couch to having a knitting corner!


~The Perpetually Prodigal Knitter, Lindsey

I've Not Only Been Quiet, But Quietly Knitting & Crocheting

Kendra here with another apology for the lack of recent posts but it hasn't been for a lack of yarn crafting! Here's the laundry list:

Finally finished the Estelle Cardigan by Melissa LaBarre! Not exactly in time to wear to Rhinebeck, but it's done none-the-less. I'm not crazy in love with it yet, but we're warming up to each other. I am still obsessed with this gorgeous MadTosh Tart ToshDK for sure though and have leftovers - I see a gorgeous red Ysolda hat (Snapdragon? Rose Red?) in my near future!

I also rocked out 2 (two!) crochet sweaters in January - both only took a matter of days although one was technically started a year ago. The first is the Persimmon Pullover by Doris Chan, in Sky LB Collection Superwash Merino. I made the sweater longer than written to make it more of a tunic and it's super easy to make, great to wear.

The second is the Textured Jacket, also by Doris Chan, in Eggplant LB Collection Organic Wool. Here I am sporting it for the first time at VK Live in NYC (photo credits to Jess!)

With those distractions out of the way, I finally finished my Peak Island Hood, which I'm calling my Llama Hood 2.0. I'm calling it done although *technically* it's in my room, drying on the blocking boards. 

Then it's buttons on and hood wearing time, because it's SNOWING outside as I'm writing this! Finally winter is trying to arrive out here and although I'm not thrilled about cold, I want snow!

And as a teaser, here's another little guy that's been keeping me busy and I'm expecting to have a completed pattern available soon!

We'll be back on track with this knit-along very soon and next up: Nathaniel! Lindsey made her's ages ago, so it's time for the rest of us catch up.

Lots of Distraction!

After rushing to finish holiday knitting, knitters often have a difficult time getting back into the swing of things in the new year. I think all of us at WLKA-headquarters have been off of our game recently, so we'd like to apologize to our stashes for all of the neglect.

Personally, I've had a major lack of inspiration. I received the amazing book Coastal Knits for Christmas, and so many of the patterns have made my needles itch. However, I realized that my stash contains large quantities of fingering weight yarn -- perfect for the Rustling Leaves Beret, but not so perfect for the sweaters and other beautiful items I want to knit. That means I've had to do some stash acquiring. I'm sure you pity me, right?

Of course, the brand new Whimsical Little Knits 3 has now debuted, and I'm more inspired than ever! I'm often really picky about my patterns, but I want to knit the whole book (except for Roisin and maybe Oxidize). But like I said before, I have very little stash on-hand that isn't fingering weight, so it looks like I'm going to be cruising the yarn stores for even more yarn. What a terrible problem to have!

Knitting into the New Year

Claire here, bidding adieu to the year 2011. It's been an excellent year for me, and hopefully for my fellow bloggers and all of you as well! I've had a wonderful time knitting through WLK2 and being able to discuss problems and design elements with Kendra, Jess and Lindsey has made it even better. We like knitting along together so much that we've got more projects planned for the future. And of course we're eagerly awaiting the arrival of Whimsical Little Knits 3 as well!

Back to the knitting at hand, I have a finished project, and one that is so close I can feel it. While I was home in Michigan just before Christmas I finished the knitting on my Peaks Island Hood. It was especially fun because my mom was also working on the hood!

Mine is the orange Mirasol Miski on the right, mom's is the red-purple yarn she can't remember the name of on the left.

She was having some trouble with the shell shaping on the hood, so I was able to give her some pointers, and it helped having mine there to look at for reference. Even though I finished mine while I was home, I haven't gotten around to weaving the ends in, blocking and sewing the buttons on yet, so my mom technically beat me!! Hopefully that will be my task tomorrow - finish my 100th project on Ravelry in the first day of 2012. I got some lovely maplewood buttons for Christmas that will look great, so keep your eye out for an update post soon!

The other project I can finally share with you is the Emily capelet. This was one that looked cute in the book, but wasn't something I would normally wear. I called up my sister Emily and asked if she would be interested in it. We talked over the yarn requirements and her color requests, and decided on a light worsted-weight wool, or wool blend, in a chocolate brown. And then the quest began. It seemed like every yarn I looked at wasn't a rich enough brown, or it was too semi-solid, or the color was right and the weight was wrong. Finally I hit paydirt (with the help of Jess!) at Rhinebeck in October. I got two skeins of Shadyside Farm Colored by Hand in Chocolate - perfection! I skipped ahead to this project since I wanted to have it to give on Christmas, so I'll have to find a replacement project when the rest of the girls knit it.

This was a fun pattern to knit, with the short row shaping and the fairly easy, but very pretty, lace edging. My only concern while knitting was the yarn - it was so saturated with dye that it came off on my hands, leaving a lovely brown-purple stripe over my index finger where I tension my yarn. I was worried that it would all wash out during blocking and the finished product would be much lighter, but I think it turned out okay. Have to give Emily a warning not to wear it in the rain or with a white shirt though!



I love the drapiness of the yarn too - going through the project gallery on Rav, some capelets looked very short, but I'm pleased with the length of mine. I think it will provide some warmth as well as being super cute.

It hangs a little funny on the mannequin, but I swear it's even in front!

I had to tighten the button holes a little to fit my buttons, and I also added a stabilizing button to the back. A knitter needs a button stash as well as a yarn stash - these were bought years ago at an antique mall, and I never thought I'd have a use for just 3 buttons. Just goes to prove the need for variety in your stash!

I hope you all have a Happy New Year and continued knitting success! I'm off to go put on some sparkly nail polish (it's a party, after all!) and decide which project to bring with me into 2012!

Merry Christmas from Utah

Lindsey here, reporting from beautiful southern Utah. I finally have a minute (on Christmas mind you) to update you all on life and knitting, but mostly life because there isn't much to say about my knitting. I did finally ball a skein of Tosh DK in Copper Penny (purchased from The Loopy Ewe) today for my friend Chelsea's Snapdragon Mitt Replicas. Since I last updated (a long, long time ago) I've basically cast on a sweater (the Silky Alpaca Lace Open Front Cardi to be exact) and knit 1/4 of the body. That's it. In all the months of radio silence, the needles have been pretty quiet as well. At least you didn't miss much there. While I haven't been knitting much, I have been wearing my knits. I swear that right up until I took this picture on my hike this morning I was wearing my Damson AND Ripley, but alas by the end of the hike I was too warm and took them off.



On to life, I'm finally feeling a bit more settled in LA now that I have a job. A job I really, really love. A job doing pretty much what I want to be doing (marketing movies/tv). So what that it's currently freelance (and all that that entails). I look forward to settling in to LA in 2012 (and hopefully being joined in California by a few friends). I love and miss my WLKA-ers! Merry Christmas to all!

Distracted Knitter

Hello, Kendra here checking in from California! It's finally starting to feel like winter (Bay Area style at least) with the temperature dropping to the 30's at night and Christmas lights all around the neighborhood. I can't believe how close Christmas is! In my family we pretty much have a no-gift policy but I'm still thinking of making a few small things - actually teeny-tiny things - in the shape of small knitted magnets. Using the patterns in Anna Hrachovec's Teeny Tiny Mochimochi, I knit the little critters and then put a magnet inside when I'm stuffing them. It took some searching to find the right magnets, but the super-strong metal ones are working well. They are proving to be great gift knitting because they only take an hour or two each and it's encouraging to keep knitting them because of how cute they turn out!

These monkeys were made for a friend of mine for his birthday. He's a zookeeper and works with primates, so monkey magnets seemed like the obvious choice. The funniest part to me is that the tan one turned out looking slightly evil, something about his eyes...

Unfortunately, my Llama Hood is being a bit neglected as I work on these tinies and some other projects, but I have made some progress, finally finishing the 28" of seed stitch!

It's time to move onto the hood increases, but I've been distracted by other projects instead. One distraction continuing progress on my much-neglected Estelle Cardigan, made in my beautiful Tart MadTosh DK. I decided to knit the sleeves 2-at-a-time and before I knit the rest of the body for two reasons:

1. It's much easier to knit top-down sleeves before the body is completed so you don't have a finished sweater in your lap while you try to knit sleeves.
2. I hate knitting sleeves! They take forever and they are soooo boring! I'm actually excited to knit the body and collar so that served as motivation - if I finish the sleeves I can knit the body as a reward. Then the finished sweater is that much closer to being done!

I finished the sleeves (finally!) and now I'm back to the body. This really is going to be a lovely sweater.

Additionally, I've suddenly become an obsessed sock knitter! I found some very cool MCN sock yarn at Michael's of all places and it inspired me to finally knit some new socks. I'm making them pretty simple - worked a rounded toe using these instructions, then working a 2x1 rib across the top of the foot. I'm doing an after-thought heel so I can just keep happily knitting along without gusset shaping. I'm already past the heel on one sock and making my way up the foot of the second (I work back and forth between the first and second sock as I go - that way I remember what I did so they match, and I avoid the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome!) I'm pretty happy with how they are looking so far!

Alright, time to say goodbye - all this talk about knitting has my fingers itching to keep at it! Just have to decide which is going to get my attention for now...

Hood on the Road

Claire here, welcoming you to the month of December!

I hope your holiday knitting is going well, if you've taken the plunge this year. I hope you've chosen your recipients wisely as well! Gifting a knitted item is never as simple as handing the package over with a "Hope you like it!" You have to make sure your giftee knows the care requirements for the item and will fully appreciate the hours of work that went into it. Not just the knitting of the thing, but all the time spent picking the right pattern and yarn and (how agonizing!) picking a color. And after a bit of time has passed, you check in with the recipient, see how they like it, is the fit okay, have they worn it out. It's that last bit that is important - if they haven't worn the item, without prodding, in at least a month from the time of gifting, you may want to reconsider giving them another knitted gift the next time a holiday comes around. At least that's how I feel about it! You have to make sure that the giftee will really, truly, fully appreciate the time you put into this, the care and love put into each row. Especially compared to the ease of online shopping, where you can purchase something, have it gift wrapped and sent directly within the space of a few minutes, putting hours - or weeks - into a project represents a big investment. So, really, the best people to give knitted gifts to are knitters!

That's who I'm doing the bulk of my knitterly gifting for this year. Apart from a giant amigurumi Mr. Krabs (his body took a full bag of stuffing!) for my boyfriend, I am knitting for my fellow knitters - my mom, my sister, and maybe some co-authors of a certain blog. I know they will cherish the items they receive, keep them clean and safe from moths, and wear them without pestering from me.

As such, gift knitting has taken up most of my time in the last couple weeks, so I don't have a lot of pictures to show you! I did get to take the Peaks Island Hood with my on my Thanksgiving trip to visit my sister Emily in North Carolina, but was plagued with camera-forgetfullness. After a loooong bus trip down, we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with her friends in the next town over, necessitating a trip through some very windy mountain roads! We got to spend some time grooming her horse, playing with the dogs and chasing down her cats to cuddle with. Of course I had to make a stop at Earth Guild, a very cool yarn/crafting store. They have so much to look at, you could easily spend hours wandering about. In the evenings we sat in the kitchen by the wood stove, knitting and eating some more tasty pumpkin pie. I thought I would be bored by the 28" of seed stitch, but it made for good mindless knitting, and the Miski yarn is so soft and smooshy that it seemed to fly by.



This picture is a couple days old - I have completed the hood increases and am now working on the 9" between that and the hood decreases. Sadly it has to compete with something else from the trip - scores of books picked up at the Goodwill outlet! I was very excited to find three of Gladys Taber's books in the .59 cent per pound bin. I have fond memories of reading and re-reading her book Especially Dogs from the elementary school library, even though we have never owned a dog. I'm keeping the book confined to my bag to read on the train, so hopefully I can have all my gifts done on time, and a hood to wear now that it's getting properly cold out!

Knitting Disappointments

Nobody knits to create stress. Unfortunately, things outside of our control can quickly take knitting from relaxing to infuriating.

First, I had the worst time ever choosing yarn for Levenwick. I'm usually pretty decisive about these things, so not being able to select a yarn, let alone a color, was mind-boggling. After purchasing a few sweater quantities (which will all be put to good use), I finally settled on the recommended yarn, Brooklyn Tweed Shelter in Homemade Jam.

This brings me to my second piece of stress. As much as I love the tweedy shades and wooly hand of this yarn, I just can't get over the sheer quantity of vegetable matter (or VM, as we say in the biz)! For those not in the know, VM is the general term for hay, wood, and other goodies that may make it into your yarn from the fleece. While I can tolerate a little bit of VM (sheep aren't the cleanest animals, after all), I cannot justify spending a pretty penny on yarn that is absolutely ravaged by it. Here's how much I pulled out of less than half a skein:

When I contacted Brooklyn Tweed about this, they were sincerely apologetic and offered to replace my yarn in the same dye lot. Hooray! Except when I received the yarn, it had just as much VM as my old skeins. Sigh. So now I'm knitting a sweater in yarn that is making me very angry, but I can't let myself admit defeat. I worked too hard to select this yarn, dammit.

And finally, here's my last disappointment. I ordered 3 skeins of yarn for my Peaks Island Hood, but only 2 were available. That means I'll have to wait until at least Monday, maybe Tuesday, to get the yarn and start the project. I guess that gives me more time to begrudgingly trudge through Levenwick, right?

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I can focus on enjoying my knitting (no matter how much VM I must pluck from it). Maybe I'll cast on a beautiful shawl for myself to make up for my recent string of annoyances. Sometimes you just have to treat yourself.