New Beginning?

So, I think this was my New Year's resolution for last year as well, but I'm vowing to keep up with this blog this year. I had a crazy idea to work through all my stash before venturing out and buying more yarn last year. That really sapped my energy to knit but I've lifted my yarn buying ban and have started knitting again (I did manage to use up a fair amount of my stash in the process, so I'm calling Success! on one of my resolutions!)
So, to begin this year, here's a little something I've been wanting to knit for years and finally did for my nephew's 3rd birthday (he's going to love me, the boring aunt who gives him sweaters every year!) It's the Leif's Twisted Tree Pullover. I love that she was inspired by the Yggdrasil tree- I'm a sucker for incorporating Norse mythology in anything I knit (see Example A).
I bought a bunch of Malabrigo yarn on sale and it was great choice for this sweater. It's so soft and I love the green.



Twisted Tree pattern close-up:



I made the 4/5 size so of course it's way too big and my nephew will eventually fit it sometime around July and outgrow it sometime around September! I hope not because it's so much fun and very satisfying to knit things for him and I'd like him to wear the stuff a little too.

Day 15

Imagine cute silver buttons...and this sweater is done! I've decided that I'm not going to fight the ridiculous city I live in and just hold off on finding the right buttons. The sweater won't be wearable until next winter anyway. It turned out pretty well, even with it being a scrap yarn sweater. I finished before closing ceremonies as well! (I don't think I get a gold medal though)

Day 14

I'm done knitting! I finished up the collar and the button bands last night. I started to weave in the ends but I hate that part so I'm going to work on that tonight...or just watch Apolo Ohno skate....no, I must finish this!

I still have to finish the sleeves, find buttons, and block --all in two days.

Day 13

Well, I almost made it. I'm about three rows short. I could tear it all out and knit a row or two of brown where the sleeves meet (what I thought about doing initially but didn't think of the consequences of only having 200 yards a yarn even though the pattern says I will need 205 yards.)

I'm just going to knit a couple rows of orange to make up the difference.

Day 10

Whoops, I was supposed to post something everyday...well, I got sidetracked with Men's figure skating and curling matches! The sweater is coming along great. I like the color scheme I created and as long as the cream yarn for the yoke holds out, I'll finish on time.

Day 3

I finished the bottom part of the body and started on one of the sleeves. The pattern calls for only two contrasting colors, but I'm using three --I like the blue and orange together. I hope it looks ok in the end. I don't want to tear this out!

A Year in review

I really fell off the blogging bandwagon this past fall, but school is now done and I can concentrate fully on crafting and blogging. I thought I'd start with a mosaic of my finished objects in 2008. I made quite a few things for my nephew! Despite my hectic final semester, I managed to create a couple handmade gifts as well.

There were several things I created at the end of the year that I never blogged about. One was a sweater for my cousin. I had her name for the family gift exchange. And inexplicably, I forgot to document it! I decided to make Flint Knit's February Lady Sweater. I used Cascade 220 for the yarn. It knit so fast and I think it turned out really well. I want to make one for myself now.

Other items I made for various gifting needs were: a toy alpaca, a felted rug, a lunch sack, and a reusable Target bag. I fused Target bags together and tried to recreate the real bag Target advertised earlier in the year. Stay tuned for my 2009 goals!

Weekend update

So this is what I've been up to - I started this vest on July 1 (!) and finally sewed the buttons on yesterday, November 1, but really it sat for long stretches without being worked on, so I should have finished much sooner than that. Anyway, I'm very happy with the finished product - pending the final fitting, on Christmas Day, by the recipient. It's for my Dad, and if you knew my Dad, you'd agreed this is just his style. It's knit with good ol' Patons Wool (with apologies to Mom, who will end up being the one to hand wash it) from a pattern in Men in Knits by Tara Jon Manning. A super simple pattern, with that nice little cable detail; I'm already thinking of doing another one in cotton for Dad's April birthday, since button-up vests are my Dad's favorites but they are getting harder to find in stores. I know I have some taupe Cotton-Ease lying around...

Making progress

Holiday gift knitting is coming along fairly well - I have two socks done, their mates are underway, and the brown vest is also past the halfway point! I also finished a last-minute wedding gift, the Plush Throw from Lion Brand, which couldn't be an easier pattern and shouldn't taken so long, but again, I blame Harry. Above you can see Penny testing the blanket for plushness (she deemed it acceptable). I should be starting at least one new gift this weekend now that the bulky blanket is out of the knitting bag.

Too hot to knit

...but I've managed to make a little progress in spite of the ungodly heat. There was a slight change of plans in the BSJ; I decided I didn't like the scratchiness or color pooling of the original yarn, so I switched to this stuff (Gedifra something-or-other) which is not only softer and beautifully stripey, but it's machine washable as well, which I know the baby's mom will appreciate. And on the right, the brown vest continues. I'm almost done with the body of the Tree of Life afghan - I hope to have a ta-da photo of that by August!

Christmas in July

I've started on the Christmas gifts! From left to right: Baby Surprise Jacket; button-up wool vest; fabric for animal cushions (my charity project). I went over my Christmas list and came up with a few good, do-able (I hope!) gift goals. From the looks of it right now, I probably won't have to buy any new yarn to complete my planned holiday gifts!

Leilani

Here is the Leilani sweater from Berroco booklet #270. I used Cascade Sierra, a yarn that I really love & it's perfect for a summer sweater, although maybe not quite as drape-y as the linen-blend yarn the pattern is written for. Incredibly easy to knit, super simple seaming, and easy to throw on in a frigidly air-conditioned subway car! I made one modification - the pattern calls for the two fronts to be different sizes, but I made them both in the larger size specified for the right front, and I don't think the resulting symmetry takes away from my enjoyment of the unstructured simplicity of this sweater.

Seamless hybrid

I finally finished the sweater for husband. On the left is a shot of him trying it on before hemming; I ended up adding about an inch and a half to the hem, but the rest fit really well. The photo below is the wrong side before weaving in ends. I put a message into the hem facing - sorry for the naughty language, we somehow gave each other these nicknames a long time ago and they just stuck. He thought that was a nice touch. The top right-hand photo is the finished sweater after its first washing.
I really enjoyed knitting this pattern, the Seamless Hybrid from Knitting Without Tears. The shoulder construction is ingenious! I learned a lot from this project and tried a few things for the first time with an acceptable level of success, enough to give me the confidence to keep trying new stuff. This was the first time I made a swatch and laundered it to check for shrinkage; the first time I ripped a cast-on edge and knit down from it; the first time I used a "percentages" pattern; and the first time I successfully grafted (thanks to the amazing TechKnitter's non-Kitchener tutorial). All in all, I'm happy with this sweater and so is the man.

The big reveal!

I finished my Tangled Yolk Cardigan! I've been waiting for a good time to take an action shot though. Despite it being April on the calendar, Wisconsin still is in the midst of winter; yes, we had snow and a high of 38 this weekend. Yeah....needless to say, the lighting has been less than spectacular for taking detailed shots of tangled yolks. I don't think this picture does it justice, but I can't wait any longer!


This sweater is everything I started knitting for. It is SO amazing. I blocked it to the right size and it fits me so well. It is such a wonderful color!

One small story to go along with this post:
I was showing my non-knitting mother my sweater and I mentioned what a pain the pattern was. I had a hard time keeping track of 200+ stitches, where I was in the pattern, etc. She responded with "Don't you use markers when you knit?" DUH! As much as this sweater really shows off all that I've learned, I still think the knitting police should take away my needles. It never even crossed my mind to mark the repeating sections of the pattern. Oh, the nights of ripped out knitting....I guess I learned another valuable lesson!

Yeah! And since it's still so cold out, I can wear it before summer. I think my co-workers will think I'm crazy for wearing it everyday!

A sneak peak...

I'm so close...

Manly knitting

Although I could never top this project for sheer, legendary manliness, here are my latest attempts at knitting for men. On the left is another pair of Basic Socks from the Ann Budd book, in Wool-Ease Sportweight. They're for my Dad's birthday. On the right is the Seamless Hybrid from Knitting Without Tears. I'm using Cotton-Ease in Charcoal; it's really kind of like a faded black color, and my husband picked it out when I gave him some choices from my stash. I'm basing the measurements on his favorite Gap cotton sweater, but I'm still pretty nervous about how it will turn out in the end. I knit a sweater for him long ago when I was very inexperienced, and the result is only suitable for wearing while, I don't know, gutting fish maybe? He's really excited about this one based on the pictures in the book, so the pressure's on!