Wishful Knitting

This was a quick little knit. It was great to watch the colors ebb and flow. I don't mind the pooling a bit. I think this colorway is called Sophie, but I would have called it "think spring!" My handy helper is always ready to help with the drying and blocking process- she loves it. It's probably time to buy some blocking wires and maybe a board- but the bed works for now. I just have to ensure it's dry by bedtime! (Oh, and I have to keep my furry friend off the bed as well during these drying times.) This photo shows my only modification of the pattern, I added more rows of garter stitch at the end to use up the yarn. I didn't have enough left for another repeat of the eyelet section, but I wanted to finish the skein. Plus, I thought the extra rows would be additional anti-roll protection : ) The fabric has a nice drape- it seems like I will get use out of this when the weather gets chilly. I suppose time will tell, but The Truth Is.....I just like seeing it...

Well, as I said before, my favorite little scarf is starting to show it's age : ( There are pinpoint holes, and the ends are beginning to fray. I started searching around Italy to see if I could find a similar scarf at one of the markets. What I learned about myself is that I really had no idea what actual specific colors were in the scarf- so I started taking it everywhere I went to try and find something similar. I didn't have any luck- and then I had an idea. I had heard of custom-dyed yarns, so I could send it off and see if someone could re-create the colorway with yarn. Then I had another idea....surely this colorway already exists....somewhere. So, I headed to the Blue Moon Fiber Arts website to have a look. Their colors are amazing and wonderful! I decided to give myself a little Mother's Day present and I splurged on 4 skeins! After I made Azzu's Shawl with merino, it was a little itchy. I had an "OH NO!" moment, when I imagined the Socks that Rock Li...

From what I can tell, my current shawlette/scarf passion started for two reasons: 1.) a giant "leftover" ball of fairly expensive yarn 2.) my current favorite scarf is showing some serious signs of wear These 2 factors have converged and my knitting craze has aggrandized. I never paid much attention to shawls because I have never worn one draped over my shoulders in the traditional sense. I do, however, wear little scarves around my neck frequently when I have a little chill. So a small shawlette would be perfect. The leftover yarn was a ball of Dream in Color Smooshy. I made fingerless mitts out of this yarn and still had a ginormous amount leftover. I should check the yardage on the skein- it must be like 1,000 yards : ) Anyway, this extra ball of yarn was hanging out downstairs on the table daring me to use it in some way. I'll save the discussion about my ancient scarf and it's signs of wear for another time perhaps. So, off to Ravelry I went to find a pattern- a...

This tank top was seriously languishing in my project bin forever. I started it when I was knitting just about every project from Last Minute Knitted Gifts . I heavily modified it to make it more wearable- I made the straps wider and added a little waist shaping. Then, when I had but a mere 20 minutes more work to do, I ignored it for a year or so : ) It turned out quite nicely. I am eager to wear it to see how the hemp behaves. This is the first time I knit with hemp- it was a bit rough on my hands. When I washed it, there was not any color bleed, but the smell was very strange. I happen to have a very good sense of smell- most of the time, I wish I didn't! Nonetheless, when I was washing this tank top, it smelled kind of "chalky." There are some bugs that smell like that when they are smushed. It's a strange smell. The garment did not smell when it dried- thankfully! I know it looks lumpy here, and I was in a hurry to get the picture, but it fits well. It's reve...

This is my favorite picture for the moment. Since there are 2 little gals in my life, there are frequently 2 very similar knitted items : ) I am so happy that she wound up choosing her own colors. Originally my little Z-bomb wanted the same color scheme as her sister. I was not intrigued by the idea of knitting 2 nearly identical sweaters, but I would have done so if needed, of course. I think the swinging point came when I told her the name of the purplish colorway- yep, it's called Fairy Tale. She loves it and so do I. Specs: Pattern: Drive-Thru by Wendy Bernard Yarn: Knitpicks: Wool of the Andes Size: 6 Mods: Made the sleeve circumference larger

This project was in the boot of the car for a long time. I had it stashed back there so I always had some knitting with me. As it turns out, it's an excellent idea for me- I was able to work on it quite a bit. I had ordered this yarn a while back from Knitpicks. I got 2 different colors and I was going to make the chevron scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts. But, once I started knitting, I didn't like how it looked, so this yarn has been hanging out in my stash for a while. Even though I like these colors, I don't wear these colors and I don't think they look great on me. Since I realized this mid-knit, I only used one skein of the 2 I had. So, it's very short, which is fine since I don't wear shawls, but I do frequently wear little scarves. It's the perfect size for a 4-year-old! But would look ridiculous on me draped out like that. This photo brings me to the second thing that I don't love about this shawlette- it's too "holey." I suppo...

Well, I was cold! It seemed like a good idea- I mean I frequently wear a scarf inside! It makes sense. It's practical. Cowls are IN . It's a good use of small amounts of yarn. It keeps me warm........no matter what the excuse, my friend Stacy put it best when she SHOUTED (in public), "IT'S A DICKEY!" followed by peals of laughter! The good news is that my daughter H loves it...so she'll happily wear it around the house. Fashion is so much more forgiving for a kid : ) Drat. Specs: I don't think they matter much : P Also, H thinks this also makes a perfect hat!!!

These first pictures were right when the sweater was finished. As you can see, she is thrilled with it and for that I am happy. Otherwise, this sweater is not my favorite. For whatever reason, the sleeves (the first time I finished the sweater) were too tight. I think fellow knitters had mentioned this on Ravelry, and although I had her try them on a couple of times, they were too small. After I knitted the yoke done is when I decided the sleeves were not going to work. At this point some of my kind and loving friends and family tried to convince me to weave in the ends and give it to my second daughter, then re-knit another for my oldest. But, well, the colors were those chosen by H and Z had picked out her own, and well, I just couldn't! So, I frogged and re-knit. Then I didn't like the yoke, which I changed around a few times and I still don't necessarily love it. I think the colors don't have enough contrast-but she LOVES it, and for that I am happy! I picked up too...

How could I resist? I am a francophile after all. I was sucked in by all the hype on Ravelry and all the pictures of the beautiful slippers. I wanted to make my Mom a nice pair of cute slippers for Christmas, so I bought the pattern and cast on. Then the first problem reared it's fuzzy purple head. My Mom's feet are bigger than mine. Not having her around to try them on during the felting process was problematic. I made my dear hubby try them, and then my younger sister. Nothing like begging family to try on wet stinky slippers! Hmmmm, these are My Man's legs and not my sisters in case you were wondering : ) It was hard to determine when to stop the felting. Here is the first pair- sans button band. I cannot account for the difference between the two slippers, but you can see, the first finished pair was way too shallow by the heel! It just would not stay on her foot. Seems simply adding rows to make the foot bed longer for larger sizes leads to a shallow fit. : ( As much a...

Look who is drying on the radiator after a nice overnight soak in the sink. (I forgot about the poor little thing and I felt sorry for him this morning when I found him belly up in the basin : ( But he's feeling better now! I am trying to make these little reversible duck/egg toys as a surprise for the girls for Easter. The surprise part isn't going that well. I have been working on them when my youngest is around and she's far too knit-curious for it to be a secret....I am hoping the old "out of sight out of mind" will come into play. People, this is an all-time record for me- usually my Easter treats require a grueling late-night last minute finishing fest. Hmmmmm, I probably shouldn't count my ducklings before they hatch.....

Here's my pattern for an instant doggy bed...... I just couldn't resist posting this.....think I have too many knitting bags all over the house? Don't even think for one minute that I "shooed" him off, he'll only climb back up there as soon as I walk out of the room : ) Besides, he looks so comfy....who could disturb him?(!)

I thought a nice slouchy hat would be a good addition to my winter hat collection, so I set off to find one that I had seen from Knit and Tonic . Unable to locate the pattern, I found one that was a copycat version. The first hat I knit wasn't slouchy....I figured it was the faux cables that were causing the problem. In my quest for the slouch effect, I frogged it and re-knit it with larger needles. Well, the result was roughly the same : P It fits, just not with envisioned slouch effect. But, alas, I am not interested in knitting it again. Oh well.....it's still a usable hat- and the faux cables were very fun! I am happy to have added that technique to my repertoire. Specs: Pattern: Slouchy Copy Cat Hat (Ravelry link- if you haven't already, JOIN!) Yarn: Berrocco Comfort Worsted- this is a great yarn! I really like it and it's machine washable- I think Berrocco has some cute patterns out too. The faux cables are actually well-placed decreases followed by an increase- ...

These little mitts were started a while ago. I fell out of love with them at some point and, sadly, they were languishing at the bottom of some knitting bag with only one thumb left to knit!!! I eagerly finished them up before the Ravelympics started. I realize the Olympics only lasted 2 weeks, but I really felt inspired to complete several UFOs. Hurray! As you can see from these pics, the mitts look pretty cute. The pattern is nice enough and the yarn was pretty. But this next picture may show when I stopped feeling the love. You see, as you increase the stitch count along the gussets for the thumb, the pattern becomes a bit wonky. For this glove, I just let the space grow between the spirals.....not really the best looking pattern I have ever seen. Then for this glove, when the numbers were right, I started another spiral to see how that looked. You can see it here in the pic, it just starts out of no where. So, they are finished and I have worn them several times. I simply put the w...