Thursday, August 30, 2007

Arm Socks in Record Time!


Oh yeah!!! The arm socks are done! And they turned out exactly as intended. They can be worn with the finger part extended:


or folded over for more dexterity:

Nifty. Anyway, let me note that these were knit on size TWO needles. Each arm sock is about 16 inches long...and since I made them in under two days, it really was record time.

Woohoo!

It's growing!

The purple Alaska socks are growing!!

This picture makes the leg bit look extremely narrow, but I assure you, it fits my monster-calf comfortably. And the yarn is so lusciously soft. It's awesome! ...if I do say so myself.

Monday, August 27, 2007

More Alaska Socks!

If you recall, I came back from Alaska with some beautiful hand-dyed yarn and have only made the one pair of socks...

Well, now there has been more progress with the Alaska Yarn!


This sock is knit in the same pattern as the blue and white Alaska Socks, the only difference being a slightly longer foot. Oh, and these are gonna be knee-high. WOOHOO! Knee-high socks that'll actually fit over a normal-sized calf.

Note to the readers: before I started blogging, I made one knee-high sock that probably wouldn't even fit on my arm. it was out of really itchy wool too. I honestly don't know what I was thinking. I guess my excuse it that it was summer and I didn't feel like knitting anything useful, so I was just messing around.

Back to the awesome socks: I'm super excited about them. They are knit on 6s so it should be pretty speedy! hooray!

Arm Socks

In other news, I'm making some arm socks. These differ from handwarmers only because they extend much further up the arm. Totally simple pattern, which is good for when I feel like zoning out and knitting. I got this yarn for my birthday and it looks way cooler when knit than in the skein (surprise surprise, right?) yeah, well, it's awesome and I'm sure the recipient will like them come Xmas time

UFO Sighting

UFO as in alien spacecraft...Unfinished Object UFOs are no stranger to me.

My first foray into illusion knitting is so far a success! I'm making the Alien Scarf from Stitch and Bitch and it's turning out great!

From straight on it looks like green and black stripes:



But when you look at it from a more horizontal angle, the aliens appear:


Pretty nifty, eh?

Yes, this is going into the Xmas stash, but I'm not saying who it's for. After Xmas I'll be sure to make a nice little list of who got what, but until then, it'll have to be a mystery.

Speaking of stash-ness: so I had to buy yarn to make this scarf, but I plan to keep making aliens until the skeins are gone...therefore not adding to the stash...that's allowed I think.

Saturday, August 18, 2007

X-mas Stash

A note to my friends and family:

After finishing that afghan, I've decided to start building up the stash of knitted Christmas presents....in an attempt to have them all finished on time. Therefore, most of the time I won't be saying who the recipients of these gifts will be....ya know, because there are too many of you that I knit for who read this blog...and/or have big blabbermouths...

So just know that any of these strange items could end up under your Xmas tree...

Attack of the Brain Slug

A la Futurama, I present this brain slug:



Isn't he pretty? I made a few alteration to the original pattern. Mainly the bobbles on the antennae and the way the headband is attached to the base.

Anyway, here's the bottom of him where the headband is fastened:



As I was trying to take his picture, he escaped...


...into the freezer,


onto the bikes...


and into the stash...



And then he got Christian..... duh duh duuuuuhhhh....


no more brains for Christian.... awwww.


At least the brain slug didn't starve to death!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Yet another hat

Another quick to knit hat from knitty... this one is Coronet. The band is knit on straights and then grafted together, and then you pick up stitches in the round and finish it in plain stockinette with the simplest of decreases for the top.

Despite the simplicity of the patterns, it makes a very nice looking hat....and it even fits my head! Hooray!


This one was also entirely from stash-tastic yarn! Hooray!

Final Pictures

Ta-da!




Washing it didn't really fix the color problem, but it did help the pattern open up and made the afghan feel more like fabric and it seemed to get bigger...it covered my whole queen bed.


Anyway, I mailed it off today, so I'll keep you all posted as to how the parents like it!

Unique Hat

This hat is constructed with only knit stitches. It's probably one of the most creative ways to make a hat that I've seen.

The pattern is Tychus from knitty and consists of a series of short rows to make the circular shape. Very cool.

The yarn I used was from the stash (see, I'm trying)....it was leftovers from the afghan and leftovers from the orange cabled bag from a few months ago.

Anyway, this was a quick knit and very very easy.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Das Ende!!!


I'm done done done done done done done done etc etc... HOORAY!!!!! I finally finished! Now it's getting washed and will be blocked today, and hopefully will make it to the mail tomorrow!!

DONE!

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Afghan-osity

I'm almost done!! The anniversary was two days ago, so I'm a little late with this one, but I'm so close to finishing! I'm convinced I could've finished on time, but there were about 2 weeks last month when I didn't knit at all... we had company and then my hands were all bruised from mountain biking.

Anyway, I think my parents will forgive the delay. They are expecting a present, but I'm pretty sure they have no idea what's coming.

Here's what it looks like so far:

I'm still need to finish the last two strips and attach those. Then it's all about sewing the end in...and then it's off in the mail.

However, there is an issue. You may be able to see it in the first picture, but there are definite color discrepancies within this yarn.

Here's a picture that shows the screwy color more clearly:


Each cable strip only requires one skein of yarn, but the lattice and the honeycomb patterns need more than one skein, so those are the ones with the obvious problems.

Yes, I know about dye lots, etc, etc....and I wouldn't be complaining if I was at fault here. Ok, I might still complain, but seriously, the yarn labels were misleading.

Here's the deal: the yarn I'm using is the economical, yet still soft, Caron Simply Soft. One of this things that this brand boasts is that its yarn is NO DYE LOT. Meaning, I assume, that they claim the yarn color is always consistent, regardless of when if was dyed. Even so, I bought all of this yarn at the same time from the same store...trying to minimize the differences in yarn age and sun exposure and other things that might affect the color. AHHH! but they were not the same color!!

I'm not about to re-do any of the pieces, so now I have to problemshoot. My options as I see them are:
1) do nothing. This is a present for my parents and I'm sure that they will love it even with a slight color issue. Also, it's not that noticeable when the afghan is on someone's lap. You can really only see the color discrepancy if it's laid out on a flat surface.
2) mess around with dye. I haven't really thought this one through, but it includes some black dye and a short dip time. We'll see.
3) wash the whole afghan excessively and hope that the colors blend a little better.

I'm leaning towards option 3 now, but we'll see what I feel like when I'm done.

Here's another looks at the screwy color:


And time for the close-up...

The Cable Pattern: 3 down, 1 to go



The Honeycomb Pattern: 1 down, 1 to go



The Lattice Pattern: 1 down


Oh, PS: I learned how to cable without a cable needle! Take another look at the honeycomb pattern and you'll see why I bothered learning this shortcut. It makes cabling sooooo much faster!