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!