Just Knitting Around

Zach’s Stocking

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here was my Christmas gift to my nephew. He has a better stocking than my own kids do. I didn’t knit when they were small. Now I have to start making more stockings. The pattern is Evergreen from Annie’s Woolens . I knit it in about five days. I ordered the pattern on Thanksgiving and had it finished by The Feast of St. Nicholas. It is stranded knitting for most of the colorwork. The name and heart are duplicate stitched.

Zach’s Santa Hat

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here is the little Santa hat I made for my newborn nephew. He was a little preemie, so I just winged a pattern based on his head measurement. Of course, I didn’t write anything down so I probably can’t repeat it. . It fit him very well and he was the cutest baby in the NICU.

Lendrum

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Meet my blind date for Saturday.

Christmas Gifts 2008

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

The DH did good this Christmas. He can follow a Christmas list very well. No ad libbing when it comes to knitting gifts. Just in case you cant figure out the cone, Take a look below.

That’s 2.86 miles of laceweight yarn and a pattern that will use about half. Thanks Honey!

I was just notified I was a winner of Cascading Fuschias Market Bag pattern in a contest on CraftGossip. I am so excited. I just finished knitting and felting a bag for my mom fron the Noni Vintage Bag pattern. I bought it on a trip to Chicago at Sister Arts Studio during her Noni trunk show. I will post a pic as soon as I get it put together. I love the Cascading Fuschias pattern and can’t wait to get it. Yay!!

Scaruffle

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here is my complete Scaruffle. (Ravelry Link) from the Knitters Book of Yarn. I need to weave in the ends and block it a bit. I really like it, and my mom just loves it, so I think I will give it to her. Since we live together I can borrow it back anytime. I think it will look beautiful with a black top in the winter. It is knit with 1 skein of lucious Artyarns Silk Mohair. Lovely yarn, I bought it when Fiber Naturelle closed. Original price was $19, i either got it for 50% or 70% off I think.

Elaine Beaded Coin Purse

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

I have started a beaded coin purse, its really easy, you just have to use really tiny needles, 0000! The seed beads came on a hank that you transfer a bunch at a time to the yarn by tying the bead strand to the yarn and sliding them. The kit I bought (Elaine from Purse Paradise) didn’t include lining or instructions for lining it, so I will have to figure that out. I think lining it will be necessary for a nice coin purse.

I only had one almost disaster so far. As I was pulling one end out of the hank of yarn, another end came loose and I lost some beads off of it. I caught it before too many came off. So be really careful after you have pulled a acouple of strands out, the knot that holds them together get loose after you pull some out.

100_8832

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Finished about 1:30 am last night and blocked this afternoon. I had less than 7 yards of yarn left. I was worried I would run out, and bound off a little too tightly to make the “peaks” come out as shown in the pattern. I should have taken out the bind off and redone it when I saw the amount of yarn I had left. But c’est la vie. It is beautiful nonetheless and I am pleased with the result. I think the reason I was so close to running out of yarn was that I knit so loose, it came out really big. I measure 39 inches down the center instead of 23, and about 70 incs across the top instead of 49. I think I will knit it again sometime. It was enjoyable, and I would like to knit a version that comes out more like the size it should be, with the points properly “peaked”.

More shots…

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It’s about 12:30 am, and I think the nupps ate up the yarn quicker than the Shawl Progress Calculator could account for. I have two rows and the bind off left at this point, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 grams of yarn. Some decisions need to be made.

1. Buy more yarn.
2. Beg for leftovers on Ravelry
3. Make adjustments on the fly and go ahead and finish the thing.

I decided on 3. and will knit the final increase row, and then bind off, skipping the knit row on the wrong side. I will do the BO in the pattern since I know it needs to be loose to block the points properly. If I run out, I will tink back and take out the last two rows of Peaked Points chart. Then finish as directed since I know the last increase round can’t be left out.. Stay tuned.

I had begun to worry if I would have enough yarn left to finish Swallowtail. I used the shawl progress calculator at Rose Kim Knits. According to that, I am 75% finished with the shawl and according to my scale and calculations, I have used about 67% of the yarn. I think I will have enough. I have finished the Lily of the Valley Chart 1 and am about to start on #2. Since it is such a rainy 4th of July, I think I can get alot done this weekend.

Happy Birthday America!

Swallowtail and Habu Silk

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

I started this Swallowtail (free .pdf) while on vacation a couple of weeks ago with my souvenir Habu silk bought at Knitch in Atlanta. The pic is from shortly after I got home. I am now on the first Lily of the Valley chart and am lovin’ the nupps. I am doing them as written with no mods to make them easier, using an addi lace needle and just making sure to keep them loose when I make them. I had no problem with the p5tog and they are looking very nuppy. I’ll take a pic in a day or two when I have a few more rows done.

Summer Shawlette Blocking 2

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here is what I made with the remaining yarn from my Faux Russian. It’s the Summer Shawlette from Knitting Daily by Sandi Wiseheart. I upsized it a little since it was lace weight instead of fingering. I kept doing increases until it looked like it was big enough, then I had to figure out how to make the lace border around the botton match up when I got to the back. In the end it worked, but I can’t tell you how many stitches I had.

I gave it to my Aunt Sandi who is alway cold in restaurants. She lives in Savannah, and hopefully will be just right for her.

Here is another pic

Black Russian 2

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Finished! It’s Blocking! Next stop–New York City!!

Faux Russian in the dyepot1

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Faux Russian in the dyepot. The water has almost cooled, and the dye is not fully exhausted. Maybe I used a little too much dye? I cooked it for about an hour, and it has been cooling over 3 hours.

Black Dye Job Yarn

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here is the remainder of the yarn from the Faux Russian. I test dyed it black this morning and I think it came out pretty good. The shawl is in the dyepot now.

Faux Russian 100%

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

At 12:30 AM EST I finiished the knitting of the Faux Russian. I am going to leave the grafting for tomorrow since I am so tired I annot see straight. Tomorrow I dye and block, Wednesday I pack and Thursday I leave for the Big Apple.

Faux Russian 75%

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

No time to blog. Must. Keep. Knitting. The Faux Russian is now 75% complete. I started the second hank of yarn. Its a good thing I ordered it. My goal is to dye on Monday. Will I make it?

Can you name that tune?

Snow 3

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

I got a bit of knitting done on the shawl and reached the halfway point last night. This picture is why I got caught up last weekend after falling behind. Without the big snow, I never would have gotten this far since I was supposed to be busy all weekend. I should be able to finish though. I did this in12 days, and even ripped an reknit quite a few rows at one point. The change in needles has made a huge difference in decreasing the amount of mistakes I make. I switched from a Addi Turbo US 2 to a Knitpicks Harmony US 4. My guage did not change and I am dropping less YOs. I only tinked two rows yesterday and that was the first in about four days. Then I saw a misplaced YO three rows back at one point. It was in a good spot and I got brave and dropped back five stiches and reknit the 3 rows. So at the pace I am going now I might easily finish in the 10 days I have left on my schedule, which will give me 3 days to dye and block it before New York.

Take a look!

Half a Russian

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

A few weeks ago I was in Yans and Fabrications and saw a little bag on display. It was the Clutch You’ll Never Give Up from One Skein. It was so cute, so one skein of Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky and a couple of hours later, I had this:
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(Pen included for scale.)

Twenty minutes after popping it in the wash, I had this:

A couple of days later after I picked up a bag of buttons at Meijer, I had this:

Now all I have to do is add some snaps for a closure. Cute as a button, eh?

Beaded Rib Bearfoot

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

I am working on a pair of socks in Mountain Colors Bearfoot, my favoirte sock yarn, in a beaded rib. I am doing these separate rather than two at at time like I usually do, up since I am showing a friend how to knit a toe up sock. I knit the first on a 2mm knit picks harmony circ. and started the second on a 2mm addy turbo. I am going to frog the second, since it’s coming out bigger and I’ll have to wait to do it on the Harmony. The wood has just a little more grab than the turbo, and that is making a difference in the gauge.

We have 8 inches of snow today with more to come on top, perhaps 12 to 15 by the end. So I will get lots of knitting done on the shawl.