Eleven Stitches

Side Slip Cloche (Again)

I liked the Side Slip Cloche I made for my cousin-in-law so much that I wanted one for me as well.  Also, I just got a new coat (for 60% off!) and I really, really wanted a red hat to go with it.

Pattern: Side Slip Cloche (Rav) from Boutique Knits by Laura Irwin
Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca Sportweight in #23, almost 2 skeins
Needles: US 1.5
Time to Knit: January 23-26

Since the yarn was a lot thinner than what the pattern called for, I had to make some changes.  I made a swatch and figured out my gauge was 8 sts/inch, while the pattern used 5 sts/inch.  I have to admit that I just guessed and checked to make the ruffles the right size and then I knit the band to the correct length.  I re-calculated the number of stitches to pick up around the band, and knit to the specified length.  Since my row gauge was a lot closer to the pattern (9 rows/inch vs. 8 rows/ inch), I decided to decrease at 8 points intstead of at 6.  This way I would be decreasing a lot more stitches in a similar number of rows.  This all seemed to work nicely!

When I linked the hat in my previous post, I realized that the model was wearing the ruffle over her right ear instead of her left.  I liked her look a little bit better, so I made the switch.

So for all of you who commented that you'd like to make this hat: you should!  I love the look, and it's quite nice to wear in cold weather.

Snow Day: A List

1.  Get an automated early morning call stating that school is canceled for the day.  Scare the cat when exclaiming "Hooray!"  Consider getting up right then just to enjoy the snow day longer, decide against it and sleep in instead.

2. Continue working on a new project just started last night: Wedding Mittens (Rav link)

3. Call husband (who is working in southern California this week) and leave a voice mail asking if he got the day off because there is too much sunshine.

4. Do a few chores that did not fit into last weekend's time restraints.

5. Seam up Violette-le-duc.

6. Have dinner with a friend.

7. Spend the entire day enjoying the fact that today is a snow day.  Is there a better kind of day?

Procrastination

A week ago, I was deep in the middle of the collar for Violette-le-duc. It was inches and inches of 1x1 ribbing, and I had had enough!  I had to cast on for something different.

Pattern: Droplet Hat (Rav) from Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan
Yarn: Dream in Color Classy in Midnight Derby, less than 1 skein
Needles: US 6 and US 8
Time to Knit: January 17
Modifications: This pattern was written to be knit flat and then seamed, so I converted it to knit in the round.  I don't see any reason at all to knit this flat, unless you really like straight needles!

This pattern was fun to knit, and I liked the resulting hat more than I thought I would.  Even though there are a lot of bobbles in the pattern, the hat doesn't seem to scream "Bobbles!" when worn.

I didn't check my gauge before I started, and the hat ended up just a little too small.  This yarn does grow when wet, so I got a little extra room from that.  I then went back to the cast on edge, picked up a stitch in every cast-on stitch, and worked a few more rows (purl 2 rows, knit 1 row, repeat) and bound off using the decrease bind off. 

Even after knitting this hat, I still did not feel like getting back to that 1x1 ribbing.  So I knit another hat.

Pattern: Side Slip Cloche (Rav) from Boutique Knits by Laura Irwin
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted, less than 1 skein
Needles: US 5
Time to Knit: January 18-19

This hat was the reason I bought Boutique Knits, and I really like it.  The sideways band really fits snugly around my ears; this is great for cold weather!  My gauge was a little tight with this hat, too, so it doesn't have as much slouch as I might have liked.  It was a fun and simple knit, and I started a second one for me!

Both of these hats are knit for my husband's cousin.  She was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and is going through chemo.  I haven't met her yet, but I've been told she likes blue. I thought I'd send her two pretty different hats in the hopes that she really likes at least one of them and is able to wear it when she needs it.

Since it took me a week to tell you about these hats (hey the post IS titled "Procrastination"), I've since finished the pieces for my sweater and they're blocking now.  I'll give you an update soon.

A Little Bit of Random

1.  I have completed the back and both fronts of my current sweater.  If I start complaining about how long it takes to knit the collar, please remind me how shrimpy the fronts of this sweater are.

They did not take very long to knit!

2. Speaking of this sweater, I have really come to love the yarn I'm using.  It's the recommended Berroco Inca Gold.  The yarn is smooth, strong, soft, and squooshy!

3. I am very soon going to start on a sweater for David.  I know that a lot of women complain that their men only like black or grey, and they can't convince them to wear something more colorful. Well, this is what David picked out for his sweater!

4. Last week our school went on lockdown because a convict escaped from a work detail a few miles away from us. (He was caught 2 days later.) The same night this started, I got together with Jody for some knitting.  That night I dreamt that the way I wove in ends was crucial in whether or not I would be attacked by an escaped convict.  Heh.

5. I picked up a new hobby around Thanksgiving.  My MIL taught me how to make bread, and I've been really enjoying making a loaf on the weekends.  This weekend I made the Sandwich Bread from Baking Illustrated (a Christmas gift from my MIL), and it was a great success.  Easy to make, and very good too!

Irresolute

It seems that in mulling over my resolutions for this year, I have two conflicting goals: knit more, and knit less.

Knit More:

• I signed up for NaKniSweMoDo (Rav link) because I like to knit sweaters, and because I knit 11 sweaters/vests last year.  Given that I also planned a wedding last year and I don't have to plan one this year, it seems like this is a reasonable goal for me.

• I need more accessories.  When my fingerless gloves went missing, there wasn't much in the way of back ups.  I want fingerless gloves and a pair of mittens for each coat or jacket where appropriate, and a few hats to choose from as well.  Besides, a lot of accessories can involve colorwork, and I really love colorwork!

• I want to knit a really ambitious project again, and I already have the kit (it was a birthday gift from David). It seems like this would be an ideal for Maryland Sheep & Wool, since it's in May and beginning to get warm by then, but I'll see how it goes (see my last resolution).

• I want to try new things.  I haven't done double knitting, mosaic knitting, entrelac, intarsia, and probably other interesting knitting techniques.  I think I'd like to give a lot of these a try, and this very possibly ties in well with Goals 1 & 2 anyway!

• I really would like to design, or more accurately, write up my designs for other people to use.

• It turns out that I knit every single day of 2008.  There were some days that I only knit 1 row just to say that I knitted that day, but almost every day I sat down and knitted for at least five minutes.  I want to do that again this year.

To prove I'm on my way with NaKniSweMoDo, here is the beginning of Violette-le-duc.

Knit Less:

• As I was diving into my second book over winter break, I realized that I really do miss reading.  I decided that sometimes reading should win out over knitting.  Usually if I have a choice, knitting wins, but it really doesn't need to every single time.

• Once the warm weather gets here I'm certain that I'll get back into sewing again.  I want to try more difficult fabrics this year instead of just quilting-weight cotton.  Although I'm sure there's a lot of quilting cotton in my future-- there's just too many pretty prints not to use it!

• I want to get back into quilting again.  I've got a lot of scraps left over from a lot of dresses, and I'm pretty sure they would make a pretty awesome quilt or two.

• In general, I agree a lot with Liz's post about knitting.  I think that I do sometimes allow myself to get in a rut and spend an entire evening/day/weekend knitting.  I'm not saying that I want to cut this out completely (days like that are really quite wonderful sometimes), but I do want to make sure I'm not missing out on too many other opportunities in the meantime.  Mindfulness is half the battle with this, I believe.

• Finally, I don't want to stress out about any of these resolutions!  All of the things listed above are my hobbies, and should be enjoyed and savored.  They should feel like a reward and not a duty. If I do stick to these resolutions I'll be thrilled.  If I find something else even more interesting, how could I be anything but happy about that?

Last and First

I have some of last year's FOs to show you, as well as the first FO of 2009.  Two of them were compelled by the loss of my Natalya Mitts.  I had worn them to school and left them in the classroom at the end of the day.  One of my co-teachers picked them up and left them for me in a spot where I would find them.  It turns out someone else found them first, and I was left fingerless gloveless.

I made these in one day, because I needed something to wear outside! 

They're knit with Rowan Felted Tweed on size 2.5 needles, I think I had 48 stitches.  I did some ribbing at the ends, and a simple stockinette tube in between.  I did make two thumb holes. One the allows me to use my fingers, and another that allows me to warm my fingers.

The look a little funny, and my thumb get a little cold, but they were functional and it only took a day to knit them.

After finishing up these, I knit up a Christmas gift for one of the teachers I work with.  We go outside a lot with the children, and having something to cover our hands is quite important!

Pattern: Juniper Mitts (Rav link)
Yarn: Briar Rose Fibers Abundance
Needles: US 7
Time to Knit: December 5-11
Modifications: I cast on fewer stitches than suggested and added a gusseted thumb instead.

I love these mitts and I totally thought about keeping them for myself.  Fortunately, this teacher has almost exactly the same taste as me (we have the same jacket, dress, and 2 different vests, all bought separately!) (they're all different colors, thank goodness), so I knew she would love them too.

And finally, since I needed a longer-term solution to the no-fingerless-gloves problem, I knit myself a pair of these.

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Tess Supersock & Baby (green), and Socks that Rock LIghtweight in Tanzanite
Needles: US 1
Time to Knit: Dec 23 - Jan 4

I do love colorwork, and so I made a little chart and set off.  They were fun to knit, and I think I have enough yarn left over to make a Selbu Modern (pdf) for me!

Welcome 2009

Happy New Year!  2008 was a roller coaster year for me and David. We got married (twice), and today is our first first anniversary! It was also the year I started a new job which makes me much happier.  But also this year we lost many loved ones and faced several other emotionally difficult challenges.  How could I say that 2008 was either a bad year or a good year? I'm looking forward to what 2009 brings.

This year I made quite a few knitted items.

The final tally is
    11 pairs of socks (plus 2 singles)
    8 sweaters
    7 pairs of gloves (2 not pictured because I gifted them before I took pics)
    4 hats
    3 vests
    1 shrug
    1 cowl
    1 phone cozy
    1 hedgehog

Pretty good, huh?  I need to write a blog post about a few of these items, still, but I can fit in one right now because it's so teeny.

David doesn't use his cell phone very often, and when he does, he carries it around in an old sock.  Not only is it not pretty, he has trouble getting the phone out of the sock in time to answer it.  So I used a little bit of yarn left over from his socks and knit him a cozy.  I just cast on enough stitches to cover the phone (32 for ribbing, then 35 in stockinette) and made a tiny toe when it was long enough. 

I think it's really cute, and a big improvement!

As for last year's resolutions, my review is mixed. 

• Write (and publish) patterns.  Eek!  This was a resolution?  That was going to be one for 2009, but I didn't realize I had it for this past year.  OK, that one is a FAIL.
• Finish up my non-single-sock FOs quickly.  Eh, another fail.  I did pick up one of them, but I lost interest.  I think at least of my languishing WIPs just doesn't look good on me, so I should decide what exactly to do with it.
• Knit a really ambitious sweater for Rhinebeck next fall.  Yep, did that.
• Finish more sweaters in general. I'm also really happy with this goal.  With 8 sweaters and 3 vests, I'm really set for cool weather!
• Post more WIPs.  I think I accomplished this.  I didn't have quite so many projects that leapt onto the blog for the first time as a FO.
• Quilt and sew more.  Well, I didn't quilt, but I sewed a lot more than I expected to.  I made more dresses than I could blog, and I had a lot of fun doing it.  Here are the ones I have pictures for, and the rest might show up here eventually.

I hope all of you are enjoying celebrating the New Year, and I'll be back soon with my 2009 resolutions.