dashing number 2

I really enjoyed my first pair of Dashing so I decided to make another pair. This time I used Lion Brand Cashmere Blend. It turned out much softer and cleaner-looking.



Pretty? I love the color. Sadly, it doesn't work very well with my skin tone. =( Here are a few more pictures of Dashing.


^{my friend lora modeling dashing at work}




I have a few more finished objects to show you and one or two WIPs. I'll save those for another day. =)

Knit hard!

just a quickie

since my last post i've finished a few more objects. i havn't taken pictures of them, but, i hopefully will get the chance tomorrow.

i've made another pair of Dashing but this time in Lion Brand Cashmere Blend. hmm, cashmere blend? sounds familiar. =)

one of the fastest things i've ever made is Calorimetry. i used Malabrigo in the Tortuga colorway. i looked up "tortuga" and i found it means "tortoise". my Malabrigo is varying shades of a purple-grey color. other skeins of Tortuga had greens in them which makes sense... so, i guess my skein was faulty. =( it looks good though, and it was a SUPER FAST knit. i still need to find a button for the attachment.

i started another moss rib stitch scarf in Malabrigo in the Solymar colorway. so far the color has been pooling weird, but, i'll keep going and hope it looks better.

i've really been at a loss for things to knit. i figured since i've done Dashing twice i might as well try Fetching so i went to my LYS looking for some Debbie Bliss Cashmerino. they had none so i browsed a bit more and finally decided that i would try to knit my first pair of socks. so, bought some superwash wool and i'll be getting started on that project tonight.

hopefully i'll be able to post pictures of my FOs and WIPs soon.

knit hard!

yarny

Sorry about the lack of updates!

Knitting has been slowing down a little over here. I've decided to stop knitting scarves since the weather is getting warmer. Scarves were such a huge part of my knitting repertoire that now I have nothing to knit.

In my last post I had finished the ski hat with ear flaps. The fit was a little weird and the knitted fabric ended up being really thin so I decided to try again. This time I double stranded the yarn and added a few size changes.


^{new prototype!}

The flaps and the bottom inch and a half are ribbed. I double stranded Malabrigo (in Autumn Forest) and Rowan Yarns Silk Wool (leftover yarn from Odessa).
The middle section was Malabrigo and Wool Pak Yarnz (in Brownstone).
The top was just double stranded Malabrigo.
With all the changes the hat is now much thicker and much more fitted. I'm still not too happy with the ear flaps. No matter how much I adjust them to look more rounded instead of pointed the ribbing just pulls in and messes up the shape.

Because I had no idea what to knit I decided to try a pattern on-line for fingerless gloves. Knitty.com came out with their Spring 2007 issue and it had Dashing, a more male-friendly counterpart for their Fetching pattern.
I'm in love with Malabrigo and so I decided to use it for Dashing. The colorway I chose (Vaa) is a bit dark, and it's quite varigated so I paired it up with Catalina (a silk and wool blend). The Catalina was a solid lighter blue so I figured it would help balance the Malabrigo and help the cables visually pop out.


^dashing!

Dashing turned out pretty well. I had spent a whole night swatching Malabrigo + other yarns and when I finally got to the Catalina I got lazy and decided to just go for it with a size 8 needle. The fit turned out alright but it ended up being about 2~ inches longer than the pattern stated (I even left a few rows out!).
It knit up fairly quickly and it doesn't take much yarn (only about half a skein of Malabrigo!).


^{modeled by my friend kevin}

Isn't Kevin a great model? ^_^
He recently bought a Nintendo DS Lite. It's like the more current version of the Game Boy. He bought a case for it and was a bit disappointed because the case was very thin--not protective at all. So, he asked me to knit one for him.
I looked on-line for a pattern but the only nice one I found required some sort of Turkish Cast On using 2 24 inch circular needles in a size 8. I didn't have two... I didn't even have one... so I decided to create a pattern myself.


^DS!

It's a pretty basic pattern. I just knit two separate rectangles and left them on the needles. I used the 3 needle bind-off to connect the bottoms and then I just seamed up the edges. The yarn is Carron Simply Soft. It's a REALLY soft acrylic but acrylic and I don't really get along. It just seemed to want to stick to my wooden needles. o_O But, I finished and I'm happy with the results.

@nikki: My first Odessa I used Rowan Yarns Cashsoft (142 yards) and it took less than one ball. The second Odessa I increased the pattern a bit (to fit my big head) and used Rowan Yarns Silk Wool which only has 96 yards and I ended up needing about 7 more yards from a second ball to finish.

That's my update for now! Hopefully I'll find more things to knit soon.

a week of FOs

I've been finishing a lot of my knitting these past few days. Surprisingly.
After finishing the scrunchable scarf last week I picked up the odessa I had CO for a week or so ago. Hats go super fast and I finished it. Unfortunately, like my first odessa, it's STILL too small for me. =(


^{my perfect odessa!}

I have a big head. x_X It has always been relatively large for my body. My cousin who used to babysit us when we were younger used to tell people who teased me that it was because I was very smart and had a big brain. =) I think, for the most part, I've grown into my head, but, when a hat says "one size fits all" it's usually wrong. For this green odessa I actually cast on an extra 10 stitches. Maybe, if I decide to knit it again, I'll add another 10... maybe even 20.



^{i love the greeeeen.}

After finishing Odessa I began extra work on My So Called Scarf. I finished off the rest of the first skein and from there it was a breeze. I wasn't so sure about the colors when I first started knitting. Kevin said they looked like "old lady colors" but, I'm pretty fond of them. I'd definitely like to do it in a lighter colorway, but, I'm quite happy with how it turned out.
Binding off was a bit difficult. I tried a few different combinations because a simple k1, pass previous stitch over bind off made the edge flare out. I ended up doing a k2, pass previous stitch over and it really kept the scarf straight.


^blue!

I think I want to block it. I'm not really sure exactly how to go about doing it though. It's a pretty long scarf and I've never really blocked anything before... but, we'll see.
The wool I used (Manos Del Uruguay) is surprisingly itchy. I've heard washing can soften everything, but, I'm not sure how to go about washing it either. My last washed object (scrunchable scarf) completely deflated and became flat--I would NOT want that to happen with this scarf.


^MSCS!

My cousin IM'd me the other day telling me that she read my blog and really liked my knitting. So, I offered to knit her something and she chose a hat. Specifically, a hat with ear flaps and a pom pom on the top.
A month or so ago I was looking at my little nephew's winter hat. It was a hat with ear flaps and a pom pom. The ear flaps were ribbed and the ribbing continued around for about 2 inches into the main body of the hat. I really liked the look of it so, unable to find a pattern, I altered a basic hat pattern and added ribbing.
I decided it would be best to do a prototype first, so I grabbed a skein of Malabrigo: Autumn Forest and knitted up my hat.


^{my own pattern!}

I feel like it needs a lot of changes. To start off, it's really thin. I think I'll have to double strand the one I make for her.
Second, despite all my calculations for the ribbing, it actually just disappears into the hat. I think I need to incorporate a color change.
I thought the earflaps looked small as I was knitting them, so, I kept adding more rows... after trying it on the earflaps were on my shoulders. x_X Those will definitely be altered.
I didn't make a pom-pom for this prototype, but, I'm assuming it should be relatively easy.
I also wanted to attach i-cord to the earflaps so they could be tied, but, I couldn't figure out how to do it. x_X We'll have to make another attempt soon.
The coolest thing about the hat though, is that I wrote out the pattern and knit it all in one night! Knitting stockinette in the round is awesome and superfast. =)

Knit hard!

oops, i did it again

i've been telling some friends to deny me if i ask to check out a yarn store. i've been buying too much and i don't knit fast enough to use it.
so, over the weekend i hung out with lora. i havn't told her yet that i need to stop, so, of course i asked her to visit a store with me. i ended up buying 4 skeins of malabrigo in autumn forest and solymar. oops.



^mmmmalabrigo


my odessa hat is turning out perfectly. well, it was.
i figured that since the silk wool had less yardage than the recommended cashsoft i would need an extra ball. i "calculated" that once i get to the decreases i should be out of yarn.
i got to the decreases and i still had a good amount left, so, i continued.
not the smartest idea. i noticed that i was quickly running out of yarn but, since i had already started i tried to finish. instead of doing a decrease row followed by a regular-pattern row, i ended up doing consecutive decreases. well, i now need 6 more rows and i've completely run out of yarn. it's $10 for 94~ yards and i seriously only need about 7 of those 94. AND i'm supposed to be saving money. o_O
i was about to cut off my tail end and use it, but, my tail is only about 5 inches long. so, today i gave in and stopped in at my LYS and grabbed the last ball of silk wool in the green color.
i'm gonna have to rip back a few rows... well, i think i'll just tink x_X, but, i guess i'm "safe" now ... i just really didn't want to spend an extra $10 for maybe 7 yards of yarn.

oh well, .. i'm just happy that i havn't made any huge mistakes in this odessa.
here's a picture of the first one, btw.





i had cast on too few stitches in the beginning and didn't realize it until i had finished the ribbing and started the pattern rows. i figured i was too far into the project to frog.
i messed up on the pattern multiple times, and, i didn't really catch the mistakes until a few rows later when i realized my count was off. once again i figured i was too far from the mistake to rip back.
i started my decreases an inch and a half too early because i misread the instructions. and, as usual, i didn't rip back becuase i had already done a few rows of decreases.

so, i'm happy my green odessa is "perfect" right now and hopefully will end up wearable. =)

knit hard!

stitch markers?

i recently purchased a few sets of hand crafted stitch markers from artists on-line. i'd been using this set of thick plastic stitch markers from boye. they worked fine for large needles and thick yarn, but when i used them for smaller needles they left gaps between my stitches. =( but, now i have replacements that fit better and also look much more beautiful.

the first two sets are from charles. he was selling his stitch markers to help with AIDS/Life-Cycle so i bought them to support. ^_^


^{glass beads!}

he shipped them really fast! and they look and feel really great.


^{i think the blues are my favorite!}

i've been somewhat addicted to etsy.com lately. through flickr i see artists who dye their own wool put up pictures in the "crazy for knitting" group. i followed a few links to their own etsy shops and it's fascinating to see all the different handmade arts and crafts people put up there.
i recently found someone selling stitch markers made of freshwater pearls. i thought they were beautiful and i liked the idea that they were made of something "natural" as opposed to my set of plastic markers. the following are from zer0 markers.


^{pearls in shades of green}

zer0 markers also shipped really fast. they even included two business cards each with a stitch marker attached. the markers weren't as large as i thought they would be, but i think i definitely got what i paid for. ^_^


^colors!

i recently finished my malabrigo scrunchable scarf. i made it for a friend and so i decided to wash it in order to remove the malabrigo-vinegar-smell.
well... the smell disappeared but now the scarf isn't as soft and fluffy. i think i may have washed it wrong? or maybe i smooshed it too much when i dried it in a towel? i dunno... it's a little upsetting, but, at least the colors are still bold and it retained some of its softness.
since i finished a project i decided to continue with my 2nd odessa hat. my first one was a HUGE disaster. i didn't cast on enough stitches, i didn't knit the hat long enough, and i kept making mistakes. o_O, but, with my current hat everything seems to be going smoothly.


^{odessa! and a stitch marker to indicate the rounds}

instead of the recommended cashsoft yarn i'm using rowan yarn: silk wool. it's the same weight but significantly less yardage. i'm almost done with the first ball and i havn't even started the decreases. x_X i'll probably buy another one tomorrow.


^{i think the inside of odessa looks as cool as the outside}

that's all for now! happy knitting.

smoooth

i wish i could knit faster. i have so much yarn and so many patterns i want to try out, but, i knit too slow. the scrunchable scarf has been a WIP for more than a week now.
i think i need to dedicated time solely to knitting. for some reason i can't just sit and knit... i have to be watching TV or a movie, or maybe reading, or at the very least drinking coffee. hmm. we'll sort this out so i can move on to more projects.


^{scrunchable! almost done.}


my current largest project is My So Called Scarf. i originally bought two skeins of Manos Del Uruguay colorway 118: mulled wine. it was my first encounter with manos at a yarn store and they didn't have a large selection.
when i got home i realized that the two skeins were distinctly different. same colorway but, one was more saturated and the other was lighter and less saturated. so, i figured i'd need to knit from both and alternate skeins every other row.
i ended up pulling the "swapping side" too tight and my scarf started curving and puckering. so, i quit. it wasn't really a color that i would wear... and My So Called Scarf is REALLY hard to frog for some reason. i decided i would get 2 new balls of manos in another colorway.


^{manos, oh, manos}

i visited a new yarn store recently and found a HUGE selection of the varigated manos. i took my time and found 3 colorways i really liked. and then i spent another good 10 minutes comparing skeins to see which colorway had 2 almost identical skeins. i ended up with #110: stellar.
since they were so similar i figured i could knit from one and then attach the second at the end. it's been going pretty good so far, but, just to be safe, i've decided to start knitting from both (the first ball is about half way done).


^stellar!

i've had major difficulties with MSCS. i've probably frogged stellar 4 times already. the edges always turn out wonky for me, nothing smooth and straight. i tried altering the pattern for a selvage edge. basically i added one stitch to each side so i could always slip the first stitch and knit the last. that actually stood out a lot from the pattern so i frogged that. i wanted something that wouldn't be too noticable.

what i FINALLY ended with was slipping the first and last stitch of the knit row. it's working out really well.

i bought stitchionary volume one the other day. i love it. i've been testing out different patterns on my amber gold malabrigo. it's definitly going to be a scarf, but, i havn't really settled on a pattern just yet. i'll keep testing though!
here's the malabrigo in its current condition: a slip stitch pattern (strangely the slip stitch pattern wasn't from stitchionary).


^{i love gold}

so, that's what things are looking like for me right now. i think i'll be able to finish the scrunchable scarf by tonight and i've casted on for another odessa but i promised myself i wouldn't work on it until i finished a project.