Updated projects with photos

I took some time this weekend to upload photos of projects I hadn't yet uploaded onto Ravelry. Here are just a few photos:


Muffin playing with the bumble bee toy I made for her:



"Crusoe" socks (because they're "stranded"):



"Monterey" socks from The Eclectic Sole:



"Endpaper Mitts", pattern by Eunny Jang:

Busy Weekend.

For such a busy weekend I actually got a bit of stuff done. Well, not "completed" done, but progress nonetheless. I finished up the first ball of Patons SWS for my "My So-Called Scarf". I finished a couple more rows on that Athenian Scarf. I even finished 3 rounds of my star shaped blanket! Sure, that doesn't sound like much, but each of those rounds get progressively bigger and the blanket feels pretty big already.

Here are some pictures of these projects. They aren't the most recent, but better than nothing. :P

"My So-Called Scarf" using Patons SWS


Athenian Scarf in Bernat Alpaca Natural


Star-Shaped Blanket in Lion Brand Homespun


AND, as a bonus, here's a picture of my first lace project (started last year), completed and blocked. I gave it to my mom when I went home over the weekend.

Socks!

I've been on a sock knitting binge ever since that first pair of Hedera socks. I can totally understand the craze over sock knitting now.

• You can't stop at just one pair of socks, you've got to have several pairs of socks (with the ultimately goal of course of replacing all your mass-produced socks)
• Sock yarns come in SO many different beautiful colors and patterns. You've got plain solids, semi-solids, gradiented (slow color changes), variegated (jumbled colors), self-striping, self-patterning, brights, darks, contrasting colors, harmonizing colors.
• They're small and portable from start to finish. Even with 2 socks at once, it's a perfect project to carry everywhere. I even worked on them while walking.
• So many variations in techniques. You can do them on double-pointed needles, 2 circular needles, or 1 long circular (Magic Loop). You can do them one at a time, 2 at a time side-by-side, or 2 at a time one-inside-the -other. You can knit them from the cuff down or from the toe up. There's various techniques for shaping the toes, the heel, the gusset.
• They can also incorporate various other knitting techniques like lace, cables, entrelac, & colorwork.
• You can shape them to fit your feet, and once you've done enough you should be familiar with how to size them for your feet. They knit up much faster than a sweater too, so there's not so much to lose by experimenting.

These are the Hedera socks made with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock. They may be a tad tight on my feet because they were knit on size 0 circulars. These socks were knit from the cuff down, and ended up being a good size for my feet. I was afraid of not having enough yarn so I made the leg short than the pattern called for. I ended up having a bunch of yarn left over.

These next socks are 'Vog On socks. These were made with Cherry Tree Hill Supersock DK on size 2 needles. The pattern came with instructions for both cuff down and toe up versions, so I went ahead and did the toe up version. I also did these 2 at a time on one circular. Unfortunately, these ended up being too big for my feet! Since I worked on these at work and while walking, by the time I realized they were too big, I was already done with the heel and did not want to bother frogging back. There's probably a good inch in the length of the foot that could be taken off for it to properly fit my foot. They fit Lawrence's size 11 feet perfectly. Too bad wool irritates his skin.

This next photo is of the Zephyr Socks that I'm working on. This is using Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome on size 2 circulars. I'm doing it only 1 sock at a time and it's cuff down, as you can tell by the picture. Sockittome has nylon in it, unlike the Supersock which is 100% merino wool. I can already tell that I should have used a stretchier cast-on. Instead of 4 pattern repeats for the leg portion, I only made 3 repeats so the top of the sock doesn't have to ride too far up my thick calves.


I think most people block their socks, but I haven't bothered for any of mine. I don't want to spend to much on sock blockers so I'll probably look up a way to make my own. I remember seeing instructions on how to bend wire hangers into the right shape. These socks feel rather loose, but maybe having nylon fiber will help keep them more durable. We shall see. Other things on my to-get list include wool wash so I can properly wash these socks and sandals so I can wear these socks at home without worrying about wearing holes in them.

Doh, still no pictures

Lawrence left the camera at work yesterday...tonight I'm going to my parents' place. Bleh. I did finish the bulky socks, so that's pretty cool. I'm going to give them to my grandpa tonight instead of waiting for Christmas. I've started a pair of Dashings for my brother, which I had to frog and re-knit because I did NOT check the gauge (bad!). I started crocheting baby ducky parts for the duck amigurumi. I really don't like working with the pure cotton. The non-stretchiness is tough on my hands and the fiber splits really easily so it's hard on my eyes too.

My list of things to finish:

• puffy slouchy hat (tweedle dee cinnamon twist)
  
• dashings (nashua creative focus) - 25%
  
• 3 baby ducks and a mommy duck (lily's sugar'n cream) - 10%
  
• triforce scarf (vanna's choice) - 40%
  
• crochet striped scarf (vanna's choice)
  
• bunny slippers (bernat cashmere/moda dea dream)
  
• shrug (black shimmer snowflake chunky)
• argyle golf cozy (red heart)
• baby booties (bernat be mine)
• basketball (orange yarn)
• amigurumi/fetching
  

Wow, that's still quite a bit. Most of these aren't difficult...just time consuming.

Will I finish in time??

I didn't spend my Saturday knitting/crocheting as much as I would have liked. I did play WoW and my Ravelry-guilded hunter is now level 19.

This weekend I finished the cat sweater, and it cracked me up so much as I was making it because it's just the most ridiculous thing. I'm glad it didn't take too long, just in case the cat won't let us put it on her. I also finished sewing together one baby duck.

I need more Vanna's Choice yarn for the flower scarf. I think I'll just be perpetually buying the red or yellow as I run out of one and then the other every time I make this scarf.

I've been trying to decide which yarn I should use for the bunny slippers. I'm thinking maybe the Bernat Alpaca. I decided to use my second ball of Tweedle Dee Blackberry to make the socks for my grandpa. The baby booties, using the $2 ball of Patons Be Mine my mom found, are now on the needles (KnitPicks Options, hell yeah).

The triforce scarf is in progress, this is my biggest worry because I decided to knit this tubularly. It's going to be around 60 inches of tubular stockinette fun. I don't know how long it will take. I have about 4 inches done from last night and this morning's commute. That may be about 1.5-2 hours-worth of knitting. That means I may need 30 hours to finish within 3 weeks. Piece of cake! Right? Right?? :( I dunno...we'll see. It is going faster than I expected it to. I attribute that to my switching over to continental knitting. The yarn isn't helping, though. The Vanna's Choice isn't really stretchy with my knitting (maybe my needles are too small) and I have to readjust and tug often, slowing my knitting down a lot.

Looking at my list, it's so obvious why knitters have such large stashes.

• crocheted basketball plushy (need yarn)
• fetching (for bro, haven't decided on yarn)
  
• golf club cozies (need yarn - cheap acrylics)
  
• gray/blue bunny slippers (have yarn, not started yet)
  
• triforce scarf (in progress)
  
• bulky socks (have yarn, not started yet)
  
• flower scarf (on hold pending more yarn)
  
• basic booties (in progress)
  
• soft amigurumi for baby (need yarn)
  
• amigurumi (need 2 more babies & 1 mommy, need more yarn)
• slouchy hats (for 3 friends, pending yarn)

Other Photos

Ok, I guess it just felt like I had a lot of pictures. There aren't really that many new finished projects.

Mommy Duck from Anapaulaoli's Mommy Duck & Baby Duck pattern
Lily's Sugar'n Cream cotton yarn - yellow & orange
polyester filling, black snap on eyes


Saartje's Bootees
Bernat Satin Sport Solids in Aran and Wine, buttons from JoAnn's
- nice spare booties for last minute baby gifts, probably going to my erhu teacher, Karen Han


Ela's Scarf (finished at last)
Vanna's Choice in chocolate, olive, & honey
- doesn't look that much different from the last picture of it I put up. There's more brown...but it IS done and being shipped to its recipient this week.

Parade of Photos

And so it starts. I shall separate them into groups. Here are the pretty puff slouchy hats (I must've posted it a few times already, but for consistency's sake, pattern here).

Slouch Hat #1
JoAnn Sensations Bellezzo Collection Dolcetto in Dolcetto Blue


Slouchy Hat #2
Moda Dea Tweedle Dee in Blackberry


Slouchy Hat #3
JoAnn Sensations Bellezzo Collection Dolcetto in Dolcetto Yellow


Sorry the angle on these pictures is so boring and repetitive...but I suppose this is the only way Lawrence sees me since he's 9 inches taller than me. Can you tell I like this hat? :) Someone on Ravelry was able to find me some more balls of the blue Dolcetto at her local JoAnn's, so I will be making at least one more hat in the blue. One goes to JoJo and the other to Ally. I would make one for Peggy but she never puts her hair down. I think I will make one in a darker color for Becky.

Finishing

I think I have a problem with finishing my projects. Or maybe it's just that I'm starting so many.

On Thanksgiving I went to my parents' place and I made a Pretty Puffs Slouchy Hat using the "Bellezza Collection Dolcetto" yarn I got for $1.97 at Jo-Ann's. I had to modify the pattern by not doing one of the increase rows because the yarn I'm using is chunky and it would have been way too big. Yesterday I made one out of my Tweedle Dee in Blackberry, following the instructions except for one sc round. It is wayyy too big. I'm going to have to frog it back and remove the last increase round. x_x That means doing 3 rounds of puff stitch over again. GAH.

The party lace scarf & clapotis are now on repeat status...repeat until desired length. I don't have the cat's paw pattern memorized yet so that one is reserved for periods where I can devote undivided attention. Ela's scarf still needs one more row of brown I think. Today I'm going to go visit my grandpa in the hospital so I suppose I'll have some time to work on finishing these things.

Finished my Garden Scarf

Here it is! :D This is the Garden Scarf from The Happy Hooker. I made a 2-leaf chain using instructions I found here. To keep the scarf in place, I merely cross the ends and stick one of the leaves through 2 overlapping holes. Instant wearable cuteness! :D

Scarf Pictures

3 scarves, with pictures!

Sly's scarf - I designed it myself, although it was more *ahem* improvised than designed.


Ela's scarf - I need another ball of the brown to finish this up. This is the Stars (and Stripes) Forever scarf from The Happy Hooker, but modified for 3 colors instead of 4. Lawrence said adding in the red would be overkill.


Mom's scarf - This is the Party Lace Scarf, without beads.

Bunny Slipper pictures!

Here they are! :) One of them is a little wonky, he looks confused.

While (yarn<infinity) { yarn+=100; project+=1;}

The yarn I ordered from Knit Picks arrived last week! I picked it up yesterday because I didn't realize it would ship SO quickly! I made my order on Sunday, Oct. 28th, and apparently the package arrived at the end of the week. I didn't even check the mail because I thought it would take 2 weeks minimum. Then Lawrence told me yesterday that when he checked the mail, there was a package notification slip...which must have been my package of yarn!

I bought several skeins of lace weight yarn in colorways that were on sale. In fact, I think they still have more of it that's on sale because they're making room for more colors. Of course, I ordered $47-worth of yarn because orders over $45 get free shipping.

Shadow
100% merino wool
440 yards
$1.99/hank

Gossamer
100% merino wool
440 yards
$2.99/hank

Alpaca Cloud
100% baby alpaca
440 yards
$3.99/hank

Then yesterday when we went to Arcadia to buy Chinese newspapers, we stopped by the JoAnn's there and I bought $27 more in yarn. I bought some Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn for amigurumi, some JoAnn Sensations yarn that was on sale (omg that stuff is so soft!), and some Patons worsted weight classic wool in Aran so that I can try dyeing and maybe felting.

.._.._.._.._.._.._..

Last night I finished weaving in the random ends that were sticking out of the bunny slippers. So that project is completed.

On Sunday, I finished up the lace cuff of the butterfly wrap and wove the ends in. I didn't have time to properly finish the ribbon ties, so I will need to do that. I didn't end up wearing it to the Nightwish concert...and truthfully I probably would have been very cold if I wore it. It still needs to be blocked, and I hope I find another occasion to wear it.

Being a productive weekend, I also finished up Sly's scarf last night. I don't know what the hell is up with my row counting, but it turns out that after "fixing" the red stripe, I ended up with an extra row. However, it's okay because I just made sure that the horizontal red stripe connecting the two pieces had the same number of stitches on both pieces so when I sewed it together, it would just kind of...line itself up. It doesn't look so bad, and will probably be better after I block it. If I can block it. I just realized the Vanna's Choice yarn is acrylic.

I frogged the beginning of Ela's scarf and restarted it to go along with the striped self-fringing scarf pattern in The Happy Hooker. I made it slightly shorter so it's 250 stitches-long instead of 300.

I sewed the body to the head of the amigurumi elephant. I ran out of yarn in the ball I was using, so I'm using the other balls of random blue yarn I had. I thought they were all the same color, but it looks like the other balls are slightly darker. This elephant is going to be kind of weird looking. I also sewed on two of the legs, but I think I sewed them in the wrong place. Maybe it will still be cute in a sort of deformed way... :/

This morning on my way to work, I wound one of the hanks of Knit Picks Shadow into a yarn cocoon so I can start knitting (w00t, knitting!) a lace scarf for my mom's Christmas present. The pattern looks insanely easy...it's just 4 rows of alternating knit increases/decreases & purls, repeated to the desired length or until your yarn runs out. It's the Party Lace Scarf from MagKnits, but without the beads. I'm just doing knit stitches where the beads would have been.

Baby Jellyfish Amigurumi Photo

Here's a photo of the finished baby jellyfish (pattern by Anapaulaoli), made with Sugar 'n Cream cotton yarn.


I put the bunny slippers through the washer & dryer so they're a lot fuzzier now. But, after giving them to Lawrence to play with, somehow I'm missing a slipper so I won't have pictures of them up tonight.

finished Hearts

Here are the Hearts (designed by Anna at Mochimochi Land) I've finished, with their uh, interesting expressions. Adding embroidery for facial expressions is something I'm new to. I've seen some really cute pieces that had so much character to them just by having a slight curve to the mouth. I hope I get the opportunity to practice this some more.

Knitty - Womb

Womb, from Knitty

I made a few of these several years ago to give to friends because they're SO cute! :) Whenever people see it, their first reaction is that it's cute. They start wondering what it is, and then they think: "No way, it can't be. It's not.....is it?" This one was actually the first one I made, and I screwed up on the bottom where the cervix is. As you can see in the photo, it just goes straight down. It's supposed to flare out a bit, like in the photos on the Knitty website. I actually have a properly flared Womb almost finished, but I still need to sew on the fallopian tubes and fill it with stuffing.