Dyeing! (again)

I reallly like dyeing yarn. Here's some stuff.

First: the inspiration.














Next: the yarn.

The next one turned out really pretty but unfortunately I only dyed less than 50g. I'm using it to accent some socks now which are going well.

This last one is obviously not dyed. I knit this awhile ago with either 32 or 34 gauge wire, US 10 needles, and some glass beads in my bead stash (we won't even go into that stash...).


Next time, a sock post. Lots of socks. A plethora.

Heather

I am cashmere...

You are Cashmere.
You are sophisticated and luxe. You can often be found in high-end boutiques and hobnobbing with the upper crust. You are one of the beautiful people and you don't let anyone forget it!

I guess its pretty much true. I'm a snob. ;)

Ugh, I am knitting my sister some gloves like my Fibonacci ones, and I was about 1/2 through the left one and I was thinking "home stretch! yeah!". Then, I realized that I was increasing for the right glove. I tried it on, made angry noises, and then threw them back into the bag and took a nap. I then pulled them out again and ripped out the two messed up inches and started knitting again during Grey's Anatomy (!), which was difficult, but I did get about an inch done. So not too much time lost.
There really haven't been any other FO's since my last post that I can think of right now. I'm still working on socks for my friend who's birthday was Jan. 18, but they would've been done if I hadn't picked the grossest color of yarn to do them in. The gross colors plus knitting them in the car (I get motion sick, and now associate the feeling of being motion sick with knitting on those socks) really slowed the progress. But they will be done this weekend!

Heather

Dyeing and a much needed panta

I had my first real go with dyeing the other day. I was stuck at home with the flu and felt a little better, so I pulled out the kool-aid and vinegar and produced this yarn. Its lion brand wool, so not too expensive for my first trials of dyeing. I think it turned out really well, except now I have this little tiny odd-ball of yarn in valentine's day colors. I don't even really like valentine's day. It must have been the fever that made me do it ;)



And look! A panta. Its really coming in handy during these bitterly cold temperatures. Merino wool is nice in single/teen digit temperatures. Done awhile ago in Zara Extrafine Merino, more stash busting. It is toasty and warm.


Heather

Lace and post-Christmas knitting

Phew. Now that Christmas is over, I can finally knit for myself. Trust me, I have taken advantage of this fact.

I call these my Fibonacci Gloves. This is because I decided the stripe placement based upon the Fibonacci numbers and all that jazz. I got the base pattern from Sweaterscapes. It was opera glove length but I wanted gloves soon and I didn't have enough yarn to do them that long. I knit the turquoise one first and then discovered I didn't have enough yarn to do the second one in the same way, so I inverted the colors. I like it because it looks neat and I can always tell which is the right and which is left. I used more Filatura Zara yarn from Italy on them because they were good small projects. I used under two balls (one for each color). I also used the smallest needles I have ever used, US 3, and didn't go insane like I thought I would.

My next show and tell is the socks I knit for my stepmom's birthday. I finally can post them because I just gave them to her (she's wearing them now!). These were my first lace socks and my first time using sock weight yarn. Once again, I used the Universal Toe Up sock pattern from Knitty. If you can't see, it has a lace panel up the foot and then all over lace on the leg. This was Sisu Maskinvaskbar sock yarn in this pretty bright pink color as you can see. I got the lace pattern from Interweave Knits Holiday Issue in the Boudoir Socks Pattern. These inadvertently look very similar to them, and I didn't realize until I was well in that they look the same. I find that this happens frequently. Let's see, I used US 3 needles again and did the top ribbing in US 2.5.

This next FO is actually not in this state anymore. I frogged it because I wanted to do something else with the yarn because I discovered another ball of it. I bought it in Firenze last year and have no clue what its called or who made it (one of the few unidentified ones in my stash), but its gorgeous. I just wanted to post it because the yarn is so pretty.

This is an older project that I made for my mum's birthday in November. They are Urban Necessities from Magknits. I knit them up in Cascade 220 and omitted the pattern on the flap because I was knitting these on a bus and couldn't exactly sit and decipher charts. I really like the pattern and have another pair in the works that was abandoned as Christmas knitting took precedence. I did them on what I thought were US 6 needles but turned out to be US 8, yet they still came out perfectly.

Well, I'm off to knit on my socks (finally some for myself!). I'll post when I finish them.

Heather

Various Knits

So one of my "new year's resolutions" is to update this more often so I can have a nice account of everything I've done.


So the first is one of my rare lace projects. I knit it as a belated birthday present for a friend and she loved it, even though I gave it to her in July. I got the lace stitch out of Knitting for Dummies, which is a good all around reference book I think. This photo is graciously modeled by Orlando Bloom (okay, my Legolas cardboard cutout from my fangirly LOTR days).






Stats: US 13 needles, Caron Simply Soft (chunky something rather, I don't remember).

Next I have some lovely merino fingerless gloves I made my best friend for her birthday. Again, I felt silly giving them to her in July, but I figured she could use them when the AC got too cold. This was not only my first intro to knitting with really nice yarn, but also to duplicate stitch. Stats: Size 5 US needles, Filatura Di Crosa Zara Yarn (bought in Florence, Italy (!)), original pattern by me.

These gloves, or rather glove and a half, are done now, but I don't have a good enough picture of them finished. These are my first full gloves, and I am not scared of working with size US 3 DPNs anymore. I said I would never go skinnier than a US 5 needle, but it was only out of fear.
Tomorrow when the sun is out I'll go take better pictures because they deserve it.

Now, I'm off to drool over my 1 skein of Noro Kureyon. I think combined with some coordinating Cascade 220 (now that I can afford) I'll do a felted purse.

Happy Knit Year,

H

Christmas 2006

Well, since I've abandoned this for so long, I decided to post more Christmas Presents on here.
















These are my first socks ever! I made them for my mum and they went so quickly. I got bored with the straight stockinette midfoot, so I added those lovely mini cables on the top.
Stats: Size 7 dpns, Pink Cascade 220 wool, violet knitpicks wool of the andes, and navy blue lion wool. I used Knitty's Universal Toe-up sock pattern.



Next we have an argyle pillow I made for my sister. I knit the main diamonds on with intarsia (the teal colored parts) and then did duplicate stitch in the darker green over it. It looks a little wonky in this picture, but its fine in real life. It is also green on the back (the darker shade).
Stats: Size 10 US needles, Cascade 220 yarn (I had a lot left over!), stuffing. Self made pattern.






This is my gift for my stepmom. She asked for a felted purse in like July when I made mine, so I let her choose colors and knit it up for chistmas. Its on the small size, about 8in wide and 6in tall. I really wanted to keep it, but I guess I'll just have to wait and make myself one later.
Stats: Size 10.5 needles, Cascade 220 Wool in purple and light gray, buttons. Pattern was mostly from Magknits Sophie, but I added the two colors and the flap. I also didn't make twisted I-cord handles.


Here is another sock (wells, there's obviously two) that I made for my dad. The modeling on this had to be done by me, and while my feet are big, they are not as big as my dad's. I went off of a sock of his, and they fit him perfectly!
Stats: Size 7 needles, Black Wool of the Andes, Green Casacade 220. Pattern is also from the Universal sock pattern.

blue shawl

Here's a blue shawl I finished. I saw this yarn at the store and I had never knit with anything like it before, so I picked it up and started. The pattern was simple, just knit one stitch to begin with, then knit through the front and back of each edge stitch until its as long as you want it. It was like 120 stitches for me, so kind of overwhelming. The lace inserts are just k2tog, yo, until the end of the row, so nothing to hard. I really love it. Its been attached to me for awhile now.
I've also found that you can wear it tied around your shoulders, as a head scarf, or tied around the waist. I wonder why one pic is tiled... Anyway, here's the stats: Red Heart Symphony in light blue, size 15 needes, self-designed pattern.

Purse and hat

So, this purse is the product of my first lace knitting and me losing the pattern. The pattern I used, which is most excellent, is from knitty.com. I lost the paper where I was keeping track of the rows, so I decided to finish it off into a purse.









Then, we have my christmas gift to my mum. Another knifty knitter creation because admittedly, I do not actually care if I can knit a hat with regular needles. I did add the bottom solid pink part on with circulars and it rocks, being my first time. Let's see, pink homespun, some random white yarn, and more random creme yarn. Top knit on KK, bottom part knit on circulars in seed stitch. Bow was knit on some needles... I don't remember. Sorry for the dreadful pictures, it appears that someone needs to read thier camera manual.

Christmas presents

This year I went for a totally economical all-knit themed christmas in terms of presents.
[for lorie] scarf, crimson Bright 'n Lofty, size 15 needles, self-designed lace pattern.













[for dad] Scarf, black softee yarn, size 10.5 US needles, self-designed cable pattern
















[for hannah] scarf, green bernat disco yarn + waste for trim, size 15 needles, garter stitch pattern















I will post my mum's present soon.

pink scarf, blue-green hat

So these were my first projects. Major ones that don't include tiny squares I guess.
Pink scarf done with size 15 needles and bright 'n lofty:
Blue-green hat, done on knifty knitter, bright 'n lofty:

So...

This is my knitting blog.