17 posts tagged “finished”

I've been working on this cardigan for a couple of months now (after buying the pattern as soon as it was released in October! It's not quite done - I need to find some buttons, but it's close enough to call!

It was a bit of a mission to get through the stocking stitch, and on to the interesting smocking section. And that seemed to take me forever! All the details can be found in my Ravelry project.

When I was at the Autumn Home Show last month I was tempted into buying some dyed and carded polwarth fibre from Sharon of Jumbuck Carding. There was only 85 grams left of the heathered sliver (top-left), so I nabbed that, and a quantity of a solid purple.

I didn't have a plan for them when I purchased (no surprise, I'm sure), but got spinning pretty quickly, at first on my old Traveller (now gifted to Mum), and then on my new Joy.. Soon I had 170 grams of about a sport weight yarn (plying together a single of each sliver), ready to knit. But what to knit?!

Not a scarf, or a hat, or a fraction of a jersey. So, mittens or gloves it was. I did eventually settle on a fingerless glove pattern, but given that I had no real plan before, I saw no need to stick to it. As you've probably gathered from the title of this entry, I made mittens!

Call me a heretic, but I didn't work them in the round, preferring to use straight needles, and then seam. I do dislike rangling dpns for fingers and thumbs.

Anyway, the mittens are nice and soft, and a pretty heathere colour! I'm very pleased with both my spinning, and my knittings. And that my fingers are warm!

When I want to make booties, I seem to go straight to this book, 50 Baby Bootees to Knit. While I haven't made anywhere near fifty pairs, I do find the patterns in this book very quick and simple, and easy to adapt.

So, in addition to the booties I made for my niece(s) offspring, and the two pairs for baby Penelope, this book has now been the source for two more pairs!

These green and brown slip-on style booties are for Helen, a friend who is due late February, early March. She's having a boy, so I figured I used up some of the green wool I ordered from Bendigo Woollen Mills last year for no apparent reason (or at least a reason that I can recall). Of course, two little slippers don't make much of a dent in a 200 gram ball of yarn, so I might have to make some adult-sized slippers for me! The undyed brown yarn is an NZ merino, from Naturally Yarns.

If you want more nerdy knitter details (and are one of the almost 76,000 registered members), you can check out the Starry Slippers and Harmonly Slip-Ons in my Ravelry projects!

I haven't really done a lot of knitting lately; I've been quite tired and tending to spend any spare time working or reading. Still, I have made some progress, clearing out a few old projects that were hanging around.

A pair of mohair socks that were three-quarters complete (that's one and a half socks) -and far too small for anyone I'd gift them to - has become one Christmas stocking trimmed with rick-rack, and a whiteboard duster (the leg of the second sock was folded, sewn, and randomly decorated). No way was I going to unravel the mohair knit on 3.25 mm needles, so it was either let them languish for many more months, toss them out, or torture myself by knitting an unneeded item. I'm happy to have found a somewhat practical solution!

A quick project was a pair of Saartje's booties, finished wish some neat "wooden" buttons decorated with leaves. I used a DK/sport yarn (Treliske Organic Merino) in a dark brown, on smallish needles; they're quite sturdy and pretty small. They're not for anyone in particular (though I've just found out that another niece is expecting...

Otherwise, I'm plodding along on a jersey for Mum, the Cozy V-Neck Pullover with Deep Ribbing from Fitted Knits. I've had to do some math, a I'm using an 8ply yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills instead of the suggested heavier weight yarn. Lots of stitches, and lots of rows, but I think it will work out! Mum's not in a hurry, anyway. :-)

I'm also working on a hat (with cables) for a friend, and am probably just about halfway done on that; just need to focus! And this weekend I actually did some work on my mitred square blanket - I'm not officially further than halfway.

I still haven't made any real start on Christmas gifts. My table has been covered with supplies for who knows how long, but I've not jumped in yet. I will! And most likely before I finish the two pairs of socks I have half finished!

I've added a couple of crochet items to my queue, too - a tissue box cover and toilet roll holder! I'm not sure my crochet pattern reading abilities, and actual crochet skills, are up to it, but when I came across the patterns in a book when looking for tea-cosies (which I found), I couldn't resist. I'm sure I'll have fun with it, when I get around to starting...

Well, just about finished! No seaming (because there is none), just some ends to weave in, and I'll be sorted. This has been a satisfying project, and I think I'll get a lot of wear out of it. I can wear it alone, with a cami underneath, or even with a funky long-sleeved top beneath!

The finished is really even less than somewhat cowl-like, as rather than working sixinches for the neck ribbing as called for by the pattern, and folding in half, I worked about half that, and then cast off. The extra weight on the collar may have caused the neck to be more "cowl" like, but I didn't think the look was worth the effort.

Now, on to those ends (or more likely, other knitting)!

Two months ago I wrote that I had completed one purple bootee, and one pink bootee. And that is exactly how that project languished until the other day. Finally, however, I had two pairs of girlie bootees, all sewn up and one trimmed with ribbon.

Really, they're so quick to knit it is ridiculous that it took me this long to get around to it. It didn't help that I'm not exactly (or even approximately) sure when my step-niece is expecting to deliver, but that's not much of an excuse.

Now, I just need to package them up and send them on their way to Wellington to my brother, so that he can deliver them. Hopefully they won't still be sitting on my desk in a few weeks like last set of bootees waiting for a trip to the post office for stamps (I knew it was a bad idea to get a non-prepaid package to send)!

In other knitting news, my first ball of hand-dyed yarn is becoming yet another Calorimetry head scarf. I'm very please with how it is turning out! Socks are on the go, too.

I've invited my parents to visit me this weekend, and at this point it looks like I'll meet them in Papakura, where a Knit Out is being held. Dad has a golf thing on Friday, so they're thinking of coming down on the Saturday morning; not a lot of point them coming here from Rotorua in the morning, and then us going over to Papakura together in time for the event starting at two in the afternoon. So, I need to take a look at bus or train timetables. The last time I was on a train was a trip from Hamilton to Christchurch - I can't imagine that an hour or so away could be half as bad!

Life has been pretty quiet. My brocolli has gone to seed, I have more silverbeet than I've ever eaten, and my houseplants are still alive. I started being the "weigher" at my WW meeting. Otherwise, I'm a little sad, a little bit angry, and disappointed, but I'm OK. Knitting is keeping me out of trouble, and Ravelry is keeping me in knitting.

After spotting Calorimetry at kiwichickknits the other day, I've taken to it with avengence (or at least like a person who doesn't have several unfinished items on needles).

I hate having cold ears. And I hate having to pull a hat down over top of my hair clip. Now I have a solution! This buttoned head scarf is a quick knit, and does exactly what I need it to. So, I've made three!

The first one served to further reduce the ball of Ashford Tekapo that I used for Maddy's jumper (and so stained my hands). I knit this on 3.75 mm needles, and finished it off with a funky oblong button I bought for some unknown reason a while back. It's a little looser than it might be (even on my big head) but is still comfortable.

Second attempt is knit from a Cleckheaton Country Naturals wool, a rich cream with browny flecks. The same size needles were used, but this 8ply knit up smaller over the same number of stitches (and a couple less rows), and is a snug fit, and pretty much perfect.

And the third? Well, rather than completing a pair of socks in the same yarn, I decided to use the unallocated third ball of Vero Tweed. I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get an of the fuschia in the finished headwarmer (I have enough to try again), but the green, blue and purple does look rather funky. This yarn is a heavier weight, and I reduced the number of stitches to about 90 from 120 (no, I didn't get a final count), and used 4 mm needles for another suitably snug fit.

So, yay for warm heads! And woo for projects that don't require much thought (especially if you're a short-row fiend like this sock knitter); like my blanket, these are perfect for taking places like Knit Rangers (which was fabulous, and much more productive for me this fortnight than last) where I spend as much time (if not more) talking as knitting!

Other knitting news? Well, I stumbled across this event, which isn't too far away, and conveniently on my day off in a couple of weeks. And, I'm starting to have sock knitting withdrawal... since the friend I was hoping to celebrate my birthday with is either dead or ignoring me, tomorrow may be a sock knitting evening for me.

Now that Mena and Ben have announced their news to the world, I thought I'd better get knitting. Any excuse will do! Having seen them with a co-worker's baby last year, I think they'll be great parents. And great parents deserve handknits. ;-)

I decided to use some undyed Treliske organic merino, grown in New Zealand , because well, if the the finished products is going to travel from here, they may as well be from here!

No traditional baby colours here (pretty hard to find traditionally baby coloured sheep roaming about).The natural brown and off white will suit either sex, so they'll be easier to pass on if/when they're no longer needed. From memory, I think I knit the 3-6 month sizes, but I'm not 100% on that (and well, I'm too lazy to check right now).

Both of the patterns I used are from 50 Baby Bootees To Knit, by Zoe Mellor, though of course knit in a different yarn. It's the first time I've made the little slip on style, and I was quite happy to find that I could get a pair of them out of the leftover wool after the textured cuff bootee (it's moss stitch - or seed stitch if you prefer). I added a little strap to go around the ankle for added security, though it is removable.

Now all I need to do is pop them in the post one day soonish. I figured I'd go ahead and post the pictures now rather than later, as I've had a slow knitting week (and I might have actually done these last weekend now I think about it), and needed to post some progress! Hopefully the mail service doesn't let me down now I've declared my intentions...

I still have to complete the partners to two booties I knitted for my (step) niece, but have just learned that her due date is later than I'd originally been thinking (or not thinking). Last night I finished up a pair of cabled gloves for a friend. I hope they're not too big even for his manly hands, but if they are (or if, as I suspect, he won't wear them), I'm sure the city mission or some other such place might appreciate them. I used the yarn I'd originally tagged for my wristwarmers, which was sitting to one side after I unravelled that attempt. In other knitting news, I've worked one more square on my blanket (pitiful progress after my initial burst of enthusiasm), and the red thing is definitely a jersey (to have, all going well, raglan sleeves and a roll neck), and has progressed (now with no cabling) to just about short of the arm shaping.

Knit Rangers this week, but I don't know yet whether I'll be working on one of these unfinished projects, or the bundle of chocolatey cashmere merino I want very much as a v-neck jumper. I suspect (wrongly, most likely) that after travelling on the bus and ferry with my laptop (work continues up to 2pm, when the meeting starts) on the way there that I might feel I deserve a new project. Of course, there may be so many new faces I'll do more talking than knitting anyway... ;-)

It didn't take too long to finish off the first sock, and I was well past the heel before I went to bed last night. A few more rows after work today before finishing with a very simple suspended cast-off, and they're done!

When I made similar socks for myself, I worked over 32 stitches, and used just over one ball of yarn per sock. These socks are a little shorter, and worked over 28 stitches. So, two balls for a pair was perfect!

Now I just need to remember to whip up a card, and post them in the next couple of days to be sure they'll get to my sister in time for her birthday.