Monday, October 26, 2009

Cable Ribbed Socks

Pattern: Cable Ribbed Socks
Source: Favorite Socks by Interweave Press
Started: October 19, 2009
Finished: October 24, 2009
Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoote Luxury Sock in Brick
Needles: US Size 2.5 (leg) and 2 (foot)
Modifications: Received this yarn for free from the "will trade or sell" section of Yarn on Ravelry.

As my first pair of socks for myself, I am pretty happy with these. They could have been a lot tighter, but I actually knit them with the recommended one size up needles because I have large feet for a girl. My friendly LYS owner told me during Lunch Bunch last week that socks will always stretch sideways and you can always knit them longer, so a smaller needle is better because a denser fabric will last longer.

Roger that!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Purple Sonata #2 (flip it, reverse it)

Pattern: #07 Pink Sonata (Ravel it!)
Source: Vogue Knitting, Fall 2008
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in Eggplant and Hyacinthe
Needles: US 2 dpns
Started: September 24, 2009
Finished: October 18, 2009


Modifications: These mittens are a flipped version of the same pattern that I completed a few months ago. But this set is for me instead of a Christmas gift. I bound off the fingers a little looser so they'd fit my fat fingers better. And that worked, but...

I had to shorted the two-color rib on the flip top because I ran out of Hyacinthe yarn. It still looks okay. What has been driving me crazy in the first few days of wearing these is I think I shortened the second flip top by just 3-5 rows and it's too short. Darn.

I had to dip into a few yards of the Eggplant that I was saving for Vespergyle Mittens later this year, which is why the second top is shorter. Curse trying to be economical.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Later Gator Mittens

Pattern: Later Gator Mitts by Laura Grutzeck
Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Red and Grass
Needles: US 5 dpns (cuff); US 7 dpns (body)
Started: August 3, 2009
Finished: October 6, 2009



Modifications: note! errata on the book's website corrects the number of rows in the straightaway of the red garter-stitch mouth pieces. 56 rows as listed in the book is ridiculous! Thank goodness I caught this after just one mouth was knit instead of later.

The two pieces on each mittens are tough to line up in order to sew them on correctly. Next time, I think some minor modifications of the mouth pieces (like not using garter stitch) would help them line up much better with the corresponding "body" pieces.

15mm was the perfect googly-eye size and the package of 12 eyes was only $2 at Hobby Lobby. I used dental floss to sew them on but green thread would blend in better. At least the dental floss will hold those eyes on through whatever battles they may face.

There are some really cute variations on this listed in Ravelry: dinosaurs, sharks; all manner of great puppet-animals. Even monkeys - my favorite!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Bulky Flip Top Mittens

Pattern: Bulky Flip Top Mitts (free)
Source: Life in Cleveland (blog)
Yarn: Noro Iro in super-rainbow!
Needles: US 7 dpns (cuff); US 8 dpns (body)
Started: September 5, 2009
Finished: September 26, 2009


Modifications: I used a bulkier yarn than recommended and changed my needle size to achieve the correct gauge. With mittens, where drape is useless, I pretty much figure the denser the better, and boy these puppies did not disappoint! They are thicker than a malamut's butt!

Striping self-striping yarn is always and interesting effect, and I thought (a) with such a small project, the colorway will barely get once through and the mittens won't match and (b) since I was cannibalizing a vest, I had a lot of shorter ends anyways, so why not use them in crazy stripes!

I'm very pleased with the end result, where the mittens still don't quite match, but they really go together. Love it!

Friday, September 11, 2009

Turn a Navy Square

Pattern: Turn a Square (Ravel it!/free)

Source: Brooklyn Tweed (blog) by Jared Flood

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Blue Ink (main) and CCs Dove Heather, Onyx Heather, Arctic Pool, and Cream

Needles: US 6 dpns (ribbed brim); US 8 dpns (body)

Started: August 29, 2009

Finished: August 31, 2009

Modifications: none. I'm not so sure about the sizing on this hat; my yarn was a bit thicker than the recommended Cascade 220, which made for a slightly bigger but denser hat than recommended. I also didn't use a self-striping yarn for the stripes, but instead created a colorway from related scraps that I had leftover from other Christmas projects.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Herringbone Mittens

Pattern: Herringbone Mittens with Poms (Ravel it!/free)

Source: Elliphantom Knits (blog)

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes in Dove Heather and Arctic Pool

Needles: US 4 dpns (cuff); US 7 dpns (body)

Started: August 24, 2009

Finished: August 29, 2009

Modifications: no poms :-(