Buddy

Here are a couple pictures of our house bunny named Buddy. He turned 5 this past May. He loves his hayloft.

Added June 18th:
This original post was made it a hurry to show the pictures to someone in particular. So here's a bit more about Buddy.

Buddy loves to come out of his cage. He can open the door himself (if it's not locked). He used to run and jump more but since our carpet has been removed most of the running and jumping occurs on the couch and throw rugs. He loves to lay on the throw rug by my chair (especially when I have the foot thingee up...it's like a little fort). He only sits on your lap when the mood suits him. He will lay down when you start to pet him and get back up again when you stop.

Birds and bunnies...they have to be two of the messiest pets...but we do love them to pieces.

Bit by the lace bug!

Yes, more lace!

This is the Adamas Shawl designed by Miriam Felton. For those of you who know your Greek (or Latin ) the name will most likely be familiar to you. If you need a little help, check out the link for the translation. Or here's a hint....adamant. "I was adamant in my desire to knit this shawl even though my husband thought I was nuts!"

The designer loves to name her patterns with classically derived names. I love that! This yarn has been in my stash for years and was going to be Icarus but I was afraid I was going to be a little short on the yardage. But I have many reasons why I still need to knit Icarus. One reason being my love of the band Kansas. That may seem a weird connection but you Kansas fans know what I'm talking about. (I'm sure I'm only talking to myself but oh well)




Anyway...this yarn is one skein (850 yds) of Alpaca with a Twist "Fino". It is 70% Baby Alpaca, 30% Silk. The color is a light lilac or periwinkle. I used size 4 Knitpicks Options needles (love those pointy tips!). After blocking the size is 72" across the back and 36" from upper edge to the point.

More Calorimetries

These three are done with TOFUtsies sock yarn. All the sock yarn ones are done on size 2 needles. The pattern was linked in the previous post but here it is again if you missed it.

Red/pink one:
136 sts. 10 markers each side.

Pink/blue/green:
128 sts. 10 markers each side.

Green/brown:
144 sts. 11 markers each side.


















This one is Crystal Palace's Panda Cotton sock yarn. It was some elastic in it. This yarn was fairly splity and completely unplied itself when I was doing the sewn bind off. But I did like the softness and how the stitches looked on the finished piece. 128 sts. 10 markers each side.



This is the only worsted weight one of the bunch. This is Tess Designer yarns superwash worsted weight I had leftover from a project a few years back. This yarn is super soft! Size 5 needles. 88 sts. 9 markers each side.

Calorimetry

I'm still working on the Adamas Shawl but I've also been experimenting with the Calorimetry. My first attempt was ripped down before pictures were taken. It was too big. 120 stitches on size 7 needles with worsted weight yarn. It was very stretchy. This picture shows my second attempt. It was done with sock yarn, size 2 needles and 88 stitches. It was a wee bit tight but works ok for a headband for a small 9 yo.












This next picture is same yarn, same needles but 120 stitches. Worked row 5 until I had 10 markers on each side (not counting the first 2 sts on each side). The fit was good. I say "was" because the day after it was finished it was lost. I'm thinking it will turn up sooner or later. But until then a new yarn was picked to make a second one.

I've made two others...no pictures?!? Plus I've got the replacement one made. I'm going to do some modeling shoots today.

Diamond Fantasy off the Blocking Board

Approximate finished measurements:
Top to tip: 27"
Tip to top corners: over 36"
Top edge: 52"

The Miracle of Lace

Here is my Diamond Fantasy shawl (really more a scarf size again) right off the needles. Looks cozy and warm and all but not anything like it is suppose to look. Even the color of the yarn is not portrayed accurately in this photo.





Here it is after a bath and a good stretching. It is still pinned to the blocking board. This is one of those folding cardboard boards that I used to use for cutting fabric. To protect the cardboard from the wet shawl I covered the board in a medium weight clear plastic. That's the stuff you can get at Wal-mart or a Ben Franklin type store located in the fabric section by the large rolls of vinyl tablecloth. This board worked WAY better than the gingham checked fabric I used previously. Hope it's dry by bed time! (Oops...I cut the sheets out of the picture. It's blocked on the bed!)


Now about the pattern....


The Diamond Fantasy Shawl by Sivia Harding can be made scarf size or shawl size. The one I made is scarf size and only uses 350 yds of fingering weight yarn. I used one skein of Mountain Colors-Bearfoot . I love it for socks and thought it would be pretty for this scarf-sized shawl. The color name is Pheasant and it is made up of 60 % Superwash Wool, 25 % Mohair, 15 % Nylon. The dye did bleed out a bit when I soaked the shawl before blocking. I used size 5 circular needles (3.75mm).

I followed the pattern exactly and had about 20 yards of yarn leftover. I was worried that I was going to run short so I placed a lifeline at one half pattern repeat on the last repeat. If I ran out of yarn I would have then ripped back to that lifeline.

Doing the lifeline was easy. I just threaded a piece of thread (still attached to the spool) through the keyhole of my KnitPicks Option needle. Tied a knot so the thread would pull along while I knit the next row. When the row was finished I just had to be sure to leave the thread long enough, cut the thread from the spool, and cut it free from my needle. This also meant that my stitch markers were trapped on that row. But as I used a thinly sliced soda straw (which makes about 50,000 markers...okay maybe not quite that many) I just pulled out some more markers to place on the next row. I also used my row counter that I made with jump rings. The thread was thin enough to just slide through the crack of the jump ring. So I didn't need to let that dangle.

Undulating Rib Socks

I've been a bad blogger. These socks were finished April 29th and I'm first blogging about them now. Oh, well...better late than never.

This sock was my March entry for the SKA (Sock Knitters Anonymous Raverly group). The challenge for March was either an Ann Budd pattern or entrelac. They needed to be finished by April 30th to qualify. I just squeaked under the deadline. (Yeah, I knew to steer clear from the entrelac based on my raveled entrelac dishcloth experience. Here's a link if you want to see entrelac and how it's done.)

This picture doesn't show the pattern very nicely at all. It doesn't look too bad if you click on the picture to make it bigger. I was hoping to get a better picture on my feet. All I managed was a close up shot.

The pattern is from Favorite Socks. It is written to be knit from the cuff to the toe. I knit it the other way...from toe to cuff. So I didn't follow the pattern 100% as written in the book. I used size 0 circular needles...that's 2.0mm for you metric people out there.

This was my first time knitting with SWTC TOFUtsies. I liked the yarn. It was a little splity but not so much that it bugged me. This yarn is 50% superwash wool, 25% soy silk, 22.5% cotton, 2.5% chitin. What's chitin? Something made from shrimp and crab shells. Never thought I'd be wearing that on my feet.

I loved the color (#847) of this yarn. It would make a nice wrap on those cool weather days...or a summery sweater. But I'm all out.

I bought this yarn at Loose Ends Yarn Shop in Mayville. (NB: This shop will be moving at the end of May but luckily the new store front is just south a block or two...on the river side of the street.)

Oh and for a little teaser of what's coming next.
Well, I guess it's not much of a teaser if you look at my "in progress" projects on the side bar. The knitting part is done. I've got to block it yet...get it wet and stretch the dickens out of it. This picture shows the color fairly well.

Swallowtail Shawl

Here's the Swallowtail Shawl. This is a pattern from Interweave Knits Spring 2006 issue. It is also being offered right now for a limited time as a free pattern at the Knitting Daily site (along with 4 other patterns).

The knitting wasn't too hard...although I did have to pay attention and count more than usual. I feared the nupps (the part that looks like Lilies of the Valley). After reading through the tips at Ravelry I made the decision to go ahead and give them a go (some replace the nupps with beads). The trick to the nupps are making the k1, yo, k1, yo k1 (all in one st) very very loose....like a half an inch of yarn pulled out for each k1.

The cast off I did with a needle 2 sizes bigger but it still may have been done too tightly. My "swallowtail" peaks didn't stay very pointed at all. Ahhh well...maybe next time I block it I'll try something different. I'm not an expert blocker by any stretch of the imagination.

This shawl, although called a shawl, is really scarf size which is what I wanted. Here are some pictures of how I've experimented in wearing it today. It's my first triangular shawl/scarf and thought I'd have some fun with it.

This was knit with Knit Picks Alpaca Cloud. Stream was the name of the color. It is very soft yarn. It took less than 1 skein (50 gms). I probably have about 13 gms left over.

Row Counters

Here's what I worked on today for a friend from Ravelry....

I went with spring colors...even though we've got snow in the air.

The craft stores I checked didn't have the wine glass charm rings that I wanted so I went with the hoop earring hardware instead. Worked nicely I think.

Brigit Socks done!

The yarn that I used for these is Anne from Schaefer Yarn Company. It is very fine and very soft. The content is 60% merino wool, 25% mohair, 15% nylon. The mohair gives a bit of a halo effect.

The pattern is Brigit...all that info is in the previous post. Here are my notes of the tweaks I made to the pattern.

Cast on: long tail method in knit and purl combo following the stitch sequence. Here's how to long tail cast on in purl.

I ended up charting the stitch pattern which made the knitting much quicker for me. This stitch pattern is an 18 stitch/35 row repeat. A magnetic chart holder and my row counter made the job a piece of cake. Oh...and a pretty pink coated small paper clip bent into a cable needle.

Before knitting the heel flap I moved 3 sts from beg of N#2 to end of N#1 AND 7 sts from beg N#1 to end of N#2. 40 sts on instep and 32 on heel. I would do this differently on the next pair by putting 38 on the instep…one knit st on each side of the instep should be moved to the heel needle (34 sts) based on my original stitch move. This centered the stitch pattern on the instep.

I continued the rib pattern down the heel flap but not the cable.

I used “Heels by Numbers” to turn the heel. (This isn't the one I used but it's the same type of thing.)

For the toe I decreased every other round until 18 sts remained on each needle (using 2 circs). Then decreased every row until 8 sts remained on each needle. Donkey ear trick. Kitchener.

One sock done!

This sock is called Brigit. It is a pattern designed by Momma Monkey (Monkey Toes). The pattern is currently unavailable as Momma Monkey (Gigi Silva) has recently passed away. How very sad for such a young family. The Socktopia group on Ravelry is the group to watch for information of when (or if) Gigi's patterns will become available again.

Brigit is my Sock Knitters Anonymous (Ravelry link) February sockdown challenge. Good thing I have until the end of March to finish the mate. It also was my February memorial purple knitalong but I didn't make that deadline. oh well. I'm still enjoying the pattern.

Some tweaking of the pattern was done. I'll fill you in on the tweaks later.

Sorry for all the Raverly links. You need to sign up (and wait for an invite) before you can view those links. The sign up is FREE and the wait is MUCH shorter than it used to be. I waited a few months. I think the wait now is about a week.

MonthlyDishcloths for February

I joined Monthly Dishcloth yahoo group. These are the two cloths for February. Dd#1 knit the Valentine Candy box cloth. The picture is of the reverse side but I like that side better. I did the striped one. Both are larger and bulkier than I like to use. Regardless I liked both patterns and they could be tweaked for the thinner cotton I prefer.

Christmas knitting DONE!

It took about 7 days per sock but they are done!

In the previous blog entry I mentioned that these are Roza's Socks from Interweave Knit. I didn't mention that the pattern is written for knitting them cuff to toe. I did these from toe to cuff. I used the general method from Crazy Toes and Heels and just inserted the stitch pattern from the Roza's socks with some tweaking to fit the recipient. The fit is perfect.

Here are the notes (in blue) I put in my Ravelry entry. If you own the Crazy Toes and Heels book the notes will make sense. If you don't own it, I highly recommend the book for making socks that fit....any yarn, any needles.

I’m doing these toe up on 2 circs. Crazy Toe and Heel style.

Aloha cast on: 9 Inc to 35 sts. Even round. Increase round: 2 sts on each end of heel needle only. Stitches on instep: 35. On heel: 37. Total: 72. One more plain round then begin pattern st on instep.

Row 55 start gusset inc. At 15 sts start slip st heel. At 21 sts end. 4 plain rounds. (94 rows)

Heel to 11 sts.

Cuff: Row 35 add one st on knit rib #’s 2&5 (both needles) 76 sts. Row 55 add one st on knit rib #’s 3&4 (both needles) 80 sts.

Round 71: p 72: k 73: p

Increase 1 st in knit ribs 1&6 (both needles) using kf/b as increase. This is now plain 4X3 rib. 16 rows.

First sock done Feb 17th. Cast on #2 Feb 18th. Second sock done Feb 25th.

Christmas Knitting...still

Another pair of socks done. These are a Christmas (2007...yes, I know I'm late) present to my brother-in-law. They aren't much different than the pair for my dad (see two posts below) so I tried to take a picture to show the true color vs. showing the sock. I think this picture captured the color (dark charcoal) pretty well. These are off to be washed so they are ready when we see him next week.



This is my last pair of Christmas socks. They are for my mom. I'm using the Roza's sock pattern again from Interweave Knitter Spring 2007. I love this pattern. The purl stitches turn out so pretty. I've had to tweak the pattern a bit for fit. But once the math is/was done it should be a fairly quick knit.

The plan was to do a felted bag with yarn she already had in her stash. But the yarn didn't cooperate. So the back up plan was socks.

Dd#3 is purling!

Dd#3 has been knitting coaster size squares (garter st) for a several months on and off. She wasn't interested in learning how to purl.

Then I ordered Kids Learn to Knit by Lucinda Guy.

She found a cute little owl project in that book that she wanted to make. It required purling which she picked up in a flash. 2 stockinette squares later and some felt shapes cut and we've got Flapping Fred.



She now also knows how to cast on using the reverse loop method. She'll sometimes just grab yarn and needles and cast on over and over.

Polly Pocket also received a rug designed and knit by dd#3.

Happy Herbie is next in her queue.

3 pairs of socks done!

I finished the pair of Philosopher's House Socks (Nov/Jan sock class) for Cat Bordhi's sock book. They fit nicely over a pair of regular wool socks...so I've got extra warmth for these really really cold days. The yarn is Cascade 220...more leftovers from the Wonderful Wallaby sweaters. Needles: Size 4 dpns.











This purple pair is for dd#3.

Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoote, Columbine
Needles: Size 0 circulars
Method: Toe up, Crazy Toe & Heel style








This charcoal pair is my dad's Christmas present. It looks really black in the photo but it is a dark charcoal in real life. These were toe up - Crazy Toe & Heel style on size 0 circs. The yarn is called Pace from Universal Yarns.

I've got my brother-in-law's socks...same color, same size as these....on the needles . One foot is to the heel and the other is almost halfway to the heel.

Knitting and Reading

There has been some talk on the KnitList about knitting while reading.

I use a nifty little book holder called The Book Gem if I'm reading a printed book while knitting.

If the book is on CD...then a CD player will do.

I've recently acquired a Sony MP3 player (dd#2's old one). Today Wendy (from the KnitList) shared a link for LibriVox. This site provides free audiobooks for works in the public domain. That looks like a great resource! I'll have to learn how to download the files....not today....I've already got a book on CD and several "real" books going at the moment.

Another fun way to get a daily dose of literature is Daily Lit. They email you a small portion of a book of your choice each day at the time of your choosing. You can also omit weekends if you like. Set your mouse to slowly scroll and grab your knitting.

NB....I don't always read while knitting. Sometimes the TV is going (I don't often get control of the remote) or I'm visiting with friends or knitting in public....or sometimes everything is quiet. That doesn't happen real often in this house.

Philosopher's House Socks

This is the sock that we worked on in our sock class in November and December. December's class was snowed out so we met on the 8th of January for the final class.

We did the arch expansion to the heel turn in class. I finished the heel and cuff the next morning (way too early). It was knit in worsted weight yarn (Cascade 220...left over from my Wallaby). Fast knit. Although I'll use them more for slipper socks. They're a bit too thick for my regular shoes.

This pattern is from Cat Bordhi's newest sock book:
New Pathways for Sock Knitters, Book One on page 72.

I've got the toe started on its mate.

Christmas Crafting

Here are some crocheted soap bags. The pattern is from the Klutz Crochet Book. I did a twisted cord instead of a chain for the ties and also made them drawstring bags. It's about 3" wide and 5.5" high. Irish Spring or a bar of Dove fit just fine. The bag for the little one was filled with candy instead of soap.








My husband's work friends received Tribbles (scrubbies) knit by dd#1. This link doesn't seem to be working for me. Could just be my computer.






My sister got a storage case for her knitting needles.






The large plastic pockets are 3.5" x 6.75". The smaller plastic pockets that hold the needle labels are 2.5" x 1.75". I cut two pieces of coordinating fabric 30" x 28" and a piece of window screen 16.5" x 28" (to add stiffness to where the needles are stored). To fold: Flop the top down. Fold the left and right sides in toward each other 3 times and secure with ribbon and button. The button isn't really necessary but I liked it. I tie the half knot above the button and the loops of the bow below the button.

She also received the pink lacy round linen cloth (already pictured here). My mom also got one in a dark purple. I didn't take a picture of the purple one...hmmm. I also promised my mom that'd I'd knit her a bag with yarn she had been hoping would turn into a felted bag. Unfortunately the yarn didn't cooperate so she asked instead for a pair of socks in fingering weight yarn. She's got the first pair of socks I ever knit but they are in sport weight and don't fit in her shoes so well.



My dad and brother-in-law are also both getting a pair of socks. I had one toe of a sock started before Christmas for my dad. My b-i-l wants the same color as dad's...charcoal. One sock is about an inch from being complete. If it is a smidget too short for dad (and that is my only concern at the moment) it should fit my b-i-l just fine.

(This picture is from the 29th of December. The heel is done but with dental floss as a life line in case it didn't fit and I had to reknit the heel.)

My mother-in-law received the Truly Tasha Shawl...previous pictures here. We tried to get a picture on Christmas Eve of her wearing it (at least long enough to get a picture) but before I had it over her shoulders she had it off. Hope she comes to love the warmth it will provide her as she reads her books and/or surfs the webTV.

Friends at church and our next door neighbor received crocheted diagonal potholders, knit cloths, and tribbles.

Truly Tasha's Shawl

Blocked....


Posed for a picture....


or two....


Folded neatly to be wrapped and delivered to recipient December 24th. Hope she likes it....or not....I wouldn't mind keeping it!