OWLs

I saw a similar vest on Oiyi's daughter and quickly settled on what to knit for my friend Amy's soon to arrive baby. I had been going round and round thinking hats, baby surprise jackets, other baby sweaters, baby blanket...decision paralysis at its finest ;)

Pattern: Owl Baby Vest (download via Ravelry) OR get the instructions straight from the designer's blog
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Rialto, superwash merino (because baby things *should* be washable
Needles: US 4 & 5

Comments and Modifications: The biggest modification was the elimination of two owls (original vest has 5 across the front) and the seed stitch band that goes all the way around the vest during the course of the Owl section. I don't know why, but I really do prefer the fewer owls and the seed stitch to the purl field and stockinette on the back of the original. The only nit I have with the pattern is that the owls seem not to be perfectly centered underneath the point of the V-neck. At first I wondered if it was something I did during the course of the conversion (and this may well still be the case - that it's all knitter error on my part) - but looking at some of the other finished projects it seems like at least on some of the vests, the owls are off center.

Overall though, the knit was fast, and the instructions easy to follow - if you're looking to give cables a try, this may well be considered a good project since the more owls you eliminate the fewer cables you actually need to complete ;)

Twinned Knits

Pattern: Fake Isle by Amy

Yarns: For the Red one, I used Patons Classic Merino in Burgundy paired with SWTC Karaoke in the Black Sheep Colorway. For the other, it's all Karaoke - Black Sheep and Forest colorways.

Needles: For the Red one, I used US6 needles throughout. For the other, I used US4s and US6s.

Sizes: The Red was the Larger size, and the green is the smaller size. Sadly, neither fit perfectly.

It started with the red hat, knit according to the pattern, with a couple extra rows at the brim as the only modification - mostly because the hat looked a bit short in the photos on the pattern. I'm not sure what it is with my knitting, but it seems every time I knit a hat, it always develops a bell like shape where it is fairly wide at the brim. Seeing as a normal person's head does not do this, it makes for an ill fitting hat. While the top portion of the hat seemed to be about right for circumference, the hat wound up being too deep - and rather than rip it all out, I debated with myself over felting it or turning the bottom of the hat inside - due to the belled shape, I figured the 2nd option would make for lumpy lines, so into the sink it went.

Sadly, the felting experiment didn't go so well - instead of shrinking, the hat seemed to bloom (in case you're wondering, no, I did not wash my swatch. I'm one of those knitters that swatches rarely - and I fix my knitting on the fly. It can sometimes be my downfall). Anyhow, back to the hat - it seemed to bloom and expand. While the stitch definition became less defined, I saw little shrinkage. I also noticed that even after blocking the hat nicely, it seems to have a point at the top - nowhere near as pointy as my meathead, but the hat definitely does not lay flat against the top of my head - even when I pull it down tightly. I suspect an issue with my floats combined with the possible change in gauge for the very last bit of knitting (all one color for the very last bit).

Undeterred, I cast on for a 2nd hat, this time opting for modifications including knitting 2x2 (rather than 3x1) ribbing on smaller needles. I also stayed on the smaller needles after switching to stockinette for about 4 rows. This was successful in preventing the dread bell shape.

Unfortunately, the hat is still too deep - not by too much, but some. While the hat does fit better than the first, it still doesn't quite stretch right at the very top and also has a slight lump at the very crown of the hat. I'm thinking my head is not suitable for the pattern of decreases used on this pattern.

Excuse the baleful eye in the left hand photo :) I assure you - my head is not cone shaped as it appears in that red hat. Now I'm stuck with a dilemma. 2 lovely hats - neither of which fits quite right - I might keep the red one for my own, I can't see foisting the cone head on someone else. I'm still debating gifting the green one away - it was intended as a gift, but I'm not sure it will fit the recipient properly given that it doesn't quite fit me (or my DH) Comments? Suggestions for yet another hat pattern? I hate to say it, but I might be relegated to yet another Pirate Hat.

Regardless of the fit issues, I think the stitches look nice, don't you?

Broadly Rippling

My husband is winning out on the handknits...first he (finally) got Avast, and I just recently finished him a pair of socks! And before anyone comments on the length of the socks, he was consulted and that was the length he wants - and all the easier on me as I didn't have to knit on and on and on for the leg :P And yes, you might be noticing a loose tail hastily tucked in - all my hand knit socks have that characteristic. Something about finishing and weaving in ends - I believe almost all of my handknit socks have the little tail hanging loose at the cuff.

Pattern: Broadripple from Knitty
Yarn: Sock Landscapes in Cape Cod from Knit Picks by way of Janet (thanks Janet!)
Needles: US 3

Modifications: Toe up with short row heel :)

Comments: Easy pattern to knit and plenty manly in the right colors. The pattern stitch, once established, allowed me to happily knit away without having to reference the pattern at all. I'm getting better at short row heels, though I still had a little bit of a hole when I resumed knitting in the round. This even after I picked up an extra stitch in an attempt to close the hole. *sigh* perhaps that's another characteristic of a handknit sock (for me anyhow :P)

Avast, at last!

Pattern: Avast from Knitty
Yarn: SWTC Karaoke in Black Sheep Colorway (50-50 wool & soysilk)
Needles: US 5 and US7 - managed to hit gauge perfectly :D
Size: Medium
Modifications: Slightly longer torso (I think) longer sleeves, and I opted to knit the sleeves in the round and kitchner the underarm seam rather than seam it. Essentially the sweater is seamless :)

Comments: I honestly don't recall if I washed the swatch before carrying on with this sweater - though it is fair to say that even if I had, I'm not sure I would have captured the increase in length of the finished object or not - after all, a full size sweater has quite a bit more material and weight to it than a tiny little 4x4 swatch. That said, the sweater fits great through the torso, though both the arms and the body are a touch on the long side...some of this may also be simply due to the ease that is allowed - when I took the measurements to knit to, I took exact measurements from the underarm to determine sleeve length and body length on the sweater - it should be obvious that the sweater does have some ease to it, and does not fit tightly into the underarm of the wearer (thank goodness) :)

The zipper (hard to see) actually goes all the way from the waist to the top of the collar - so in cooler weather, it can be zipped completely to form a mock turtleneck. I opted to take the sweater in to my local tailor to have the zipper installed - at 31.5-inches, I wasn't about to hand sew it in, and I certainly wasn't about to trust it to my sewing machine.

Classic in design, and easy to knit (oy, the miles of stockinette!) - I wound up knitting from a couple balls of yarn at a time in an attempt to reduce the broad striping that Karaoke tends to do. This is actually the first sweater I've knit for my Dear Husband, and he seems to like it well enough - we'll see once the weather cools down since he wasn't thrilled to be modeling it with the temps still over 100F down here!

Wabenschal Scarf

Pattern: Wabenschal
Needles: US8
Yarn: Spritely Goods Sylph Superwash Merino Yarn in Limited Edition Spring Chaparral colorway (less than one skein)
Finished Dimensions: (approximate) 10 inches by 7 feet

Comments: Quick to knit, this lace scarf is knit on the bias and is shaped like a long thin parallelogram. I found the pattern simple and easy to follow, with clear charts. For those just learning how to read charts, this may be an easy pattern to learn on - unfortunately for those that don't read charts, the instructions are not knit line by line. I always find it a bit of a challenge to figure out when a rectangular lace piece is "long enough" because they do stretch quite a bit in the blocking - in this case, I blocked this piece twice - the first time, it was more narrow and over 8 feet in length! Since it is intended to be used as a scarf (though I'm sure it can also be used as a table runner), I figured I should reblock it to get it down to a more manageable length. By stretching it a bit wider than it was originally when first blocked, I managed to "shrink" it by about a foot.

Dayflowers and Leaves

Yarn: Spritely Goods Sylph in Globe Mallow, less than 1 skein (approximately 3 oz)
Needles: US8 / 5.0 mm
Pattern: Now available at Spritely Goods
Finished Size: approximately 9 inches wide by 7 feet long.

Comments: I really enjoyed working this scarf up, and if I knit another one, I will probably swap the left and right leaf panels. If I'm really brave, I'll figure out how to eliminate the "border" stitches between the two motifs...though after examining the finished project, I suspect those border stitches between the motifs help keep the scarf nice and even along the edges.

The big challenge with this scarf was charting it out...the full repeat for the entire width of the scarf is 80 rows....because of the differing repeat length of the individual components. I suppose I could have gone and knit it from 2 different charts, however I'm sure I would have mucked things up had I done so (keeping track of individual rows was enough of a challenge ;) )

As for the yarn, it worked out very nicely. I wasn't sure how the variegation would play out on this project - it turned out that it didn't hide or diminish the lace pattern at all :)

I believe this is my first project that I've actually also kept tabs on over in Ravelry - for those that are members, the project is listed here.

Eyelet Lace

This scarf was knit as a holiday gift, it's a nice long somewhat narrow scarf from handspun vebena batts! The pattern was simple, and unfortunately it no longer appears to be online any longer. And of course, I knit it so long ago I don't recall what the dimensions of the finished scarf was (and of course it's winged off to its new home), nor do I recall what size needles I used. Anyhow, It's warm when wrapped several times around the neck, but open enough to stretch and cover a longer season.

If you're wondering what the yarn looked like before it was knit, click here!

I was very happy to hear the response of the recipient :) she's very happy with it indeed!

Red for the Bride

A good friend of mine is getting hitched, and I decided I needed to make her a little something to celebrate the occasion. Why Red, you ask? Well, I'm Chinese. Red is a color for good fortune and happiness - and no wedding would be complete without a little red. The above is probably the best representation of the color - the other photos are a little off in their color and I had a hard time correcting them.

The Details?

Yarn: it's more Southwest Trading Co Bamboo. The same stuff I used on my Shetland Triangle Shawl. Almost 2 balls.

Needles: US6

Pattern: Cinnabar, from the December 2006 Magknits

Finished Size: Approximately 10-inches wide, by 80-inches long (oops. It's a bit longer than I had anticipated - it grew about a foot and a half in the blocking process)

Comments: A neat pattern, it's garter stitch based, so it's reversible! It incorporates these mock cables with a little bit of openwork and dropped stitches of the Seafoam stitch. The total scarf took a little longer than the two recent shawls - I think I had it finished in perhaps a week to a week and a half. I wasn't originally planning on blocking the scarf, but the edges of the scarf were definitely not straight. The blocking really made the pattern (especially the mock cables) much more distinct. This may not be required for some yarns, but you'll have to decide for yourself :) The pattern was quick to "memorize" and I only had to quickly glance at the charts to jog my memory once I had gotten into the flow of the knitting. It is a beautiful scarf, and the bride really liked it, as did numerous other women at the wedding!

Incidentally, the designer has made a matching hat pattern available for purchase!

Chaparral Socks

Gift socks...and incidentally, the first socks I've knit to give away, and also the first I've knit in my own DK yarn. I sure hope they fit! (and they do, so says the recipient :) *whew* what a relief!)


Pattern from All Tangled Up
Yarn: Spritely Goods Sprite (superwash merino!) in Chaparral
Needles: US3

Comments: A much faster way to knit socks (compared to my usual fingering weight socks) and the pattern seems to have a fair bit of give, to more easily accomodate any mistakes on behalf of the knitter who may or may not have access to the intended feet.

I'm even more excited over this pair of socks because it's the first full garment I've actually knit up in my own yarn...and now that I've seen it knit, I've got more visions for this colorway - I think it will do well with lace patterns too as the colors are so harmonious :)