I just love the feeling of making a new project and immediately knowing that that item is going to be a favorite for years. It’s been a minute since I finished a project on such a high note, and I’ve gotta say, it feels good to experience this again.
I finished my alpaca hat this week- I didn’t even wait to block it before popping it on my head and going about my day. It’s soft, warm and cozy, but still feels fancy. I made the brim super long, so I have options about how I can wear it. I can fold it up higher for warmer days, and wear it right down over my ears when it’s chilly. I love the dark, chocolate brown and the simplicity of the design. It’s an incredibly simple hat, and in its simplicity, it’s ultra-versatile.
In fact, I’m considering writing it up as a pattern. Would that be something you’d be interested in?
Of course, I still can’t take a non-awkward picture of myself to save my life, so this one will have to do.
Have you been really pleased with any of your recent projects?
I did it! Finally! I honestly didn’t know if it was going to happen.
I finally finished my socks.
That’s right. They’re done. I’ve Kitchener-ed the toes and woven in the tails. True, I haven’t blocked them yet, but frankly, I may never do that. We’ll see. They’re still wearable as-is.
I really like how they turned out, and I enjoyed dipping my toes back in the sock-water (ha!). It’s been nice to go back to my roots. I didn’t start knitting with socks, of course, but they were my first real love. I went on a tear for several years, basically knitting nothing but socks. Now, all my socks from those days are worn out and holey. Maybe it’s time to get back on that sock horse. (If that’s a thing.)
What was your first knitting love? Do you ever go back?
I can’t believe I’m actually writing this, but the wedding blanket is finally, finally finished.
I made it through 10 of the 12 skeins of Simply Wool Bulky, but couldn’t keep going. The blanket was just so big and heavy, I couldn’t keep going. It’ll make for a fantastic snuggling, but it’s not the most fun to knit on (my poor arms would ache any time I worked more than a row or two). So, I finally gave up, bound off and declared it done.
I even blocked it! That’s how done it is! I soaked it in the sink and spread it out in the basement (where the children and dog can’t get to it) on a clean drop cloth. (I know… such a fancy setup.) And, lucky for me, it’s been super dry here, so it blocked in just a couple days.
The blanket ended up roughly square, which is fine with me. I just love how it turned out. I even took it out into the snow for a few glamor shots.
It’s taken me 9 months since I received the yarn, and I’m only 7 moths late for my friend’s summer wedding. But, dang it, I finished this thing. And that’s what matters.
Now let’s see how long it takes me to get it in the mail…
They’re done! They’re done! And just in time for the baby to turn 6 months! (It might not be a very punctual “Congratulations on having a baby” present, but oh well. New sweaters are better in October than April, anyway, right?)
That duplicate stitch nearly did me in. It was such slow going. Every night I sat down to work on it I’d think “This’ll be the night I finish these ding dang sweaters,” and I’d end up only finishing one half of one letter.
But, finally, after much whining and several bad movies, I managed to finish! A little blocking later and, tada! Matching sweaters for Luna and Albus! (Or maybe Lupin and Aberforth? Or Lord Voldemort and Aragog?)
I’m so pleased with how they turned out. The duplicate stitch (while a slog), ended up looking just lovely. I love how it blends into the knitting, and how much the blocking made everything so nice and even (I swear blocking is some kind of magic).
Now that I’ve got these guys done (which took surprisingly longer than I had intended), I guess it’s time to get back to the wedding blanket that was “due” last June… Oops!
I DID IT! I finished a sweater! It’s the first sweater I’ve finished in… a while.
Yes, it’s a kid’s sweater, but still. It’s so cute and so soft and it’s going to be so appreciated by the recipient (or at least I’ll pretend it will be… the recipient is 3, and probably couldn’t care less about clothes, but still.)
I’ve roped our sleepy dog Ollie into modeling for me:
He’s a good sport.
I haven’t blocked it yet, and I’m going to wait until the little brother sweater is done, too, before adding the duplicate-stitch letters on the front and back. (They’re going to be a set of matching Weasley-inspired sweaters, so cute!)
Now that I’m in a good mood, and on a roll (and, shockingly, both kids are asleep at the same time), I’m going to go wind up the yarn for the baby version and get knitting! I’m so excited!
Y’all. I couldn’t be more pleased with how my self-striping socks turned out. They’re totally cute, totally functional, and totally done, with only a couple weeks’ work and the bare minimum of ends!
You know how I feel about ends (anti), and how I feel about stripes (pro), so these self-striping socks are just about perfect for me- the best of both worlds. I love how the little addition of slipped stitches gave the socks just a smidge more character than regular-old vanilla socks, and I’m beyond happy with how evenly the stripes worked out.
For some reason, I never really trust self-striping yarn to give me evenly matched stripes for both feet. It’s probably some weird deep-seated trust issues or something, but I always assume that self-striping socks will turn out as fraternal twins at best. But, look at these guys! They’re just about perfect!
They go super fast (at least compared to a grown-up sweater).
I usually have just enough yarn just hanging out in my stash to make something fun.
The dang kid grows so fast, I don’t really have to worry about sizing (as long as I make the sweater big enough). He’ll grow into it in about fifteen minutes.
Makes me feel like some sort of Type-A-Martha-Stewart-Ma-Ingles impressive mom who’s got it all squared away.
Why I don’t love making sweaters for my kid:
The dang kid refuses to wear them.
I mean, he’ll wear them sometimes, if it’s cold enough. But currently, Seattle is not cold enough in his opinion. (He runs hot like his dad. I’ve been wearing sweaters since August.) Also, with being in quarantine for the last… several months, I’ve been a little lax about the whole “getting dressed in actual clothes” thing. Most days he spends in last night’s footie PJs, or just running around in a diaper. I can’t really blame him. I currently have my “Day PJs” and my “Night PJs,” so I’m not doing much better.
Anyway, all that is to say: I finished his Striped Pullover. It’s super cute. It’s gigantic. And he probably will refuse to wear it until mid-December. So, here’s a picture of it, nicely blocked and laying out on the floor. (Not pictured is my kid, just out of frame, spreading LEGOs all over the living room.)
I love how the stripes turned out, and how all the disparate colors ended up blending pretty seamlessly (though, part of that is the poor color balance on the photo. The green stripes are much more green and the red stripes are much more red in person.) And, as far as I can tell, it’s going to fit the kid. (I managed to get the collar over his head, just to check if my bind off was too tight for his giant noggin. It’s not.)
Though, compared to his current favorite outerwear, it’s massive. I’m just going to say it’s “oversized,” “cozy,” and “he’s going to grow into it”.
Maybe by the time he’s ready to wear real clothes again, he’ll fit into it properly.
OK. So, I finally finished my “Quarantine Sweater,” and the best thing I can say about it is that… it’s done.
It might be the least-flattering sweater I’ve ever made. I might even go as far as to say it’s ugly.
I mean, the shape ended up super weird (it’s way too wide, the sleeves are droopy, and the armpits start around my belly button). It’s not even worth taking a flattering picture of myself wearing it… sorry…
The colors are… fine, but I really dislike how some of the sections ended up super-marled (but I suppose that’s what happens when you knit exclusively to use up the random half-skeins of yarn in your stash without a lot of planning), and why did I include that puke-yellow color?
And the fabric itself is… odd (it’s nice and soft and warm, but also the stitches are very open and loose. I much prefer a wooly, structured sweater; this one is altogether too drapey and shapeless).
But, it’s done, so there’s that. Maybe I’ll grow to love it? Or maybe I’ll find a very wide, short friend with very long arms that grow out of their rib cage I can give it to? Or, I wonder what would happen if I tried to felt it? Does alpaca even felt?
Oh well. At least it used up a bunch of yarn.
Have you ever finished a big project, only to hear a great big sad trombone?
,” and the best thing I can say about it is that… it’s finished.
It might be the least-flattering sweater I’ve ever made. I might even go as far as to say it’s ugly.
I mean, the shape ended up weird (it’s way too wide, the sleeves are droopy, and the armpits start around my belly button). It’s not even worth taking a flattering picture of myself wearing it… sorry…
The colors are… fine, but I really dislike how some of the sections ended up super-marled (but I suppose that’s what happens when you knit exclusively to use up the random half-skeins of yarn in your stash without a lot of planning), and why did I include that puke-yellow color?
And the fabric itself is… odd (it’s nice and soft and warm, but also the stitches are very open and loose. I much prefer a wooly, structured sweater; this one is altogether too drapey and shapeless).
But, it’s done, so there’s that. Maybe I’ll grow to love it? Or maybe I’ll find a very wide, short friend with very long arms that grow out of their rib cage I can give it to? Or, I wonder what would happen if I tried to felt it? Does alpaca even felt?
Oh well. At least it used up a bunch of yarn.
Have you ever finished a big project, only to hear a great big sad trombone?
I’ve had a little run of… we’ll say “projects that haven’t been too successful.” There were the socks that ended up three sizes too small, the woven scarf that took a left turn (literally) and the sweater that didn’t go to plan. What with *vaguely gesturing* everything that’s happening, it just seemed to make sense that none of my knitting is working out either. This whole spring/summer/year seems cursed.
Anyway, with all that, I decided I needed to finish something. I have had my Stonecroft shawl literally sitting on my desk, looking at me for a good 4 months now. It was basically done, except that I had lost yarn chicken while binding off the last 10 or so stitches. I got frustrated with it, couldn’t decide how to fix it, and just… let it sit there.
So, last weekend I decided NO! I’m going to finish something. And it’s going to be successful, by god! I ripped out a couple rows and re-bound-off. (I had been toying with the idea of ripping way back to make the border wider, but I couldn’t bring myself to do that. A decision I’m glad I made.)
And, within an evening, I had finished the project that had been sitting, teasing me for months.
I couldn’t be happier with how it turned out- I’m not even mad at the slightly-narrower-than-called-for border. It’s lovely, and I’m so pleased with how it turned out.
Of course, now that I’ve finished it, the weather has turned and I have no use for a cozy shawl… But isn’t that always the way?
My Sheep in a Jeep sweater is done in time for our big Midwestern Trip for Thanksgiving! I’m going to have a very cozy (and dapper) boy.
Fair warning: these pictures are a little silly, because the kid is a little silly, and is incredibly interested in the camera clicking. Honestly, most of the pictures looked like this:
Looking for cars: (You can actually see the knitting in this one, if only the back. I’m so pleased with how the color work blocked out! I was worried it would be a little pucker-y.)
Blue Steel:
This is the face he’s started making when I ask him to “smile.” It’s not a real smile, but I love it very much. Silly boy.
Anyway, the verdict is: The sweater fits great, but still has a little growing room. The floats on the cuffs caught both of his hands as we were getting dressed this morning, which will be something to keep in mind in the future (hopefully they felt up a little). All together, I’d count it as a success!
On the Needles 