Cardigan progress.

The cardigan is coming along nicely. I just completed the 5th wedge (3 left and the collar will be done). The picture below was taken yesterday evening, so 4 1/2 wedges done in it.

Lionbrand Lacework Cardigan

I haven't made very much progress, I've completed the second wedge. I knit while watching TV in the evenings mostly, and I keep getting too wrapped up in the show and forget to knit. Guess I need to watch something less interesting than House, lol

I've been a tad frustrated with Lion Brand, they keep updating their pattern! I realize that's a good thing, really I do. I was just lazy and instead of printing out a pattern I was using the web browser on my phone. It gets a bit confusing late at night when you go to check what row you are on and suddenly there are twice as many rows in the pattern. Thanks goodness I've gotten it all memorized and don't need to look at the pattern any more. It was rewritten to be clearer regarding how to work the short rows, only it made it harder to just quickly glance at and see how many stitches to leave unworked before the turn. It now also includes instructions to purl that first stitch on the return row. I mentioned in my previous post how I slipped that stitch so things would line up right. I can't imagine working that stitch would look very nice, wouldn't that make it too high next to its neighbor stitch and look horrid once you worked back across those? I am sticking to slipping it since that is what makes sense to me.

 

So more details about what I am actually working on are in order. I am not scrawny slender like the pretty redhead in the picture, but it's a cardigan and hopefully a bit forgiving. It would have been nice to have a picture of the front, but Lion Brand is not known for their awesome pattern pictures for a reason (at least it is a light color that you can actually see). I usually snoop through projects on Ravelry, but alas the pattern is new and there are no completed patterns up yet :(

 

The pattern is free, but requires a free sign up like all Lion Brand patterns do.

 

The yarn called for is Martha Stewart Crafts Extra Soft Wool Blend.

It is 65% Acrylic, 35% Wool, machine wash and dry, and runs $7.49 each on their website. I'm making an XL size, so would have cost me $75 if I had bought this yarn. That's a bit out of my price range at the moment, though I'm not sure I'd pay that for 65% acrylic yarn if I did have the money to blow on yarn.

The yarn I'm using is from my stash - Cascade Sierra - which is an 80% Pima Cotton and 20% wool blend. It is soft and light-ish and thankfully I had a gift certificate for the local yarn shop where I bought it a couple years back. Prices online are good for it now that it's been discontinued. Webs is currently selling it for about half what it was listed locally. I can't stand Webs; too much yarn I really want to buy at such good prices!!! (oh the things I'd splurge on if rich! lol).

Hopefully I'll get time Mother's Day to relax and get some serious knitting done, maybe splurge on a really nice cup of coffee too :)

Update and new project

No jean quilts. My family moved into a small apartment a month ago which has more complications than just lack of storage space. The apartment is far too well heated at the moment (no clue if this is true when it is actually cold outside). I am rather put off of blankets right now, not to mention overwhelmed by moving clutter (yes, still). I haven't decided if I will toss/donate the material or hang onto it. I really had my heart set on making those quilts, but not right now at least.

I have started a new knit project very recently. It is a lion brand pattern they recently posted to Facebook, titled simply "Lacework Cardigan." Essentially it is a long sleeved shrug with a very wide collar on it (wide enough it can be used as a hood). I liked the look of it and was frustrated with a project I had just cast on (hated the way all increases looked, just needed to make more mods to the patterned than I cared for at the time).

This pattern calls for an Aran weight wool and acrylic blend by Martha Stewert Crafts (can't remember exactly what it's called, but it has very mixed reviews on Ravelry and a much higher acrylic content than I like). The yarn I had been working with was Cascade Sierra which is 80% Pima Cotton and 20% wool, soft and has a beautiful drape (rather splitty, but I don't mind that much). I had worked up 5 hanks into a shirt previously, and while I liked the look of it, it just didn't fit me in the bust quite right and is not nursing friendly. I plan on extended nursing as long as that's what my son wants (no hard cut off date yet at least), so I really don't see a point in having clothes I can't wear. This cardigan is quite nursing friendly, so I will repurpose the yarn from the shirt and have something pretty and functional that I can actually use.

I'm not very far on the cardigan. You work the collar in short rows on the side to create a big donut shape which you attach to the arms and back piece later. The collar consists of 8 wedge shapes to complete the "donut," I have 1 1/2 wedges completed so far.

I cast on at night when I was tired like I usually do, lol NOT the best time to be figuring out stitch patterns obviously. I had a hiccup with the lace that took some figuring out (I didn't go to bed until I solved it, who can sleep with an unsolved puzzle harassing their thoughts so relentlessly?). The pattern states not to wrap the stitches when working the short rows (in the notes section), but it says nothing about slipping the first stitch on the return row. I knit exactly what the pattern said and it didn't work right. I had to rip out a few rows and start over. Slipping that one stitch lined everything up right. The instructions really need to be written more clearly, or at least mention the needed slipped stitch in the notes section where it says not to wrap the stitches.

I'm liking the way it is knitting up and think it will be beautiful when it is finished and blocked to open up the lace better. My yarn is a rather bright coral color, so this should look nice for this spring and summer. I'm enjoying working on it, but I can't wait to finish it and get to wear it!

This picture shows how far I made it with one hank. The blue is holding my stitches on the live edge to graft once my donut is complete. You can see I made a full wedge section and a little ways into the eyelet portion of the second wedge.

My gauge tends to be spot on, so I didn't do a swatch but checked my gauge once I got some progress made. Not the best way to do things unless you are confident of your gauge and it remains consistant (now that it the case for me, but it certainly wasn't when I was a beginner). I check before I get so far into the project that it would be upsetting to rip it all out, because when you don't work a swatch that is the risk you are taking. I do feel like I get a more accurate gauge measurement taking it from the actual work instead of a swatch, plus I don't feel like I've "wasted time" working that swatch. I've heard people suggest using all those swatches to make a blanket, but honestly, that is WAY too much seaming for my sanity to hold through (have I ever mentioned how much I don't enjoy seaming/sewing?).

Hopefully I can remember to post progress pictures periodically. Also this post is from my phone, so I'm not including links. I hope to do a post with direct links to the pattern and yarn I'm using soonish - ideally within the next day or so.

Recently completed projects.

I've been pretty lax on my posting, but here's what I've gotten done recently.

This first one is a shirt I knit for my 7-year-old daughter. I used about 1 1/2 skeins of Lion Brand Wool-Ease; what was left over from the Steggie jacket for my older daughter. I used a top-down raglan recipe and used a simple eyelet diamond stitch pattern for the bottom section. I made it tunic length so it will fit her for at least a couple years. She likes it, and I'm pleased with how it turned out!

The next project is a bit similar. I used the same raglan recipe and number of stitches, but used a larger needle and bulky weight Lion Brand Homespun yarn (color Baroque). This was all yarn that was frogged (previously was an adult sweater and a small child's dress). I used an eyelet flower stitch pattern for the skirt with increases running down the sides for shaping. Again, I made this on the large side so it will fit for longer. My eldest is a big fan of dresses, and is really pleased with this long and flowy one.

I also finished the orange socks, but don't have a picture currently. I am working on a pair of cabled socks on teeny tiny needles that is taking forever (but they will last forever because of the tight knit (that is the theory anyway)).

The weather is perfect for knitting, cold and snowy, but I have been so busy with other things I haven't had much time for knitting. I don't have any plans for new projects for awhile, at least not knit. I have a few boxes of old jeans waiting to be made up into blankets. The idea is that I'll make one for each of my children, though it seems ambitious enough to get through one, lol

Steggie #2 finished!

I finished up the weaving in of ends and finishing the hood up last night. Sewed the hood spines on and sewed in the zipper today. It fits her great and she seems quite happy with it. Now what to make next ;)

Steggie #2 Progress

I've completed the body section (14 inches) and bound off for the underarm sections (12, 6 for each side of the body and 6 for each front piece), now to start the raglan shaping! Pretty tired of plain stockinette, so I'm excited to do some decreases, lol

This is only my second skein of yarn and not even halfway through it. I had 7, so pretty confident I have enough yarn to finish.

I have a big decision to make. Do I work one piece at a time, or use three skeins and work all three at the same time? Heck, might as well make it interesting and work all three at once ;)

Steggie #2

Just started the Steggie jacket for my daughter's 9th birthday next month. Instead of making the back and front pieces separately, I cast all stitches for the XL size and will work as one piece then split it at the arm holes. I'm using Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Cranberry as the main color.

It is going good so far, except I have to work a bit slower because the yarn is pretty splitty. I will be making it custom length to fit her, so will order a zipper after the body is done.

Steggie - Finished!

Here it is, finished! My daughter is modeling it for me. I do like how it turned out, and I think my nephew will like it as well (both my daughters want one now!).

I have a bunch if pictures I took along the way, but didn't get around to posting. I won't put up all of them, just the relevant ones. I apologize for the size and quality of the pictures, I uploaded these with my phone since my computer was having issues these past couple days.

I have to admit, making the sleeves was the most interesting part of making this project. I've only done intarsia once before, but it is a fun technique to use. I did not use yarn over increases on the spikes. Many people on Ravelry complained that it didn't look nice and suggested to use make one increases instead, which I did. I had no issues sewing up the sleeves.

 This is a close up of the sleeve seam between the spikes.

Because I made chain edges on the pieces of the body, it seamed up easily and looks like this on the inside

and like this on the outside.

All done except weaving in the ends and sewing in the zipper.

A shot showing the hood when down.

Sewing in the zipper went okay. It certainly wasn't my favorite part of making the jacket, but it wasn't as horrible as expected. I found an excellent tutorial which made the process much more painless than how I was going to do it. I used a tutorial from chicknits.com. While sewing it on, the foot of the machine pushed the zipper out a bit more than I was expecting. It would have went better if I owned a special zipper pressure foot, maybe I'll buy one down the road (my daughters are expecting Steggie jackets of their own and the Scarlow jacket for my husband also calls for a zipper). The zipper teeth show while it's zipped up, but I'd say it looks decent for my first time. The black zipper looks fine, my husband admitted it didn't look as bad as he expected.

Just showing the inside of the zipper here.

This was a really fun project and worked up fairly quickly. It took me  around 22 days to make it, but there were several days where I barely worked on it. My oldest has a birthday in less than a month, and she wants a Steggie for her birthday. I have some red Wool Ease that I had bought back when Joann Craft's was having a sale, I plan to use that (hopefully there is enough!).

Steggie progress - day 10.

I now have all the main parts completed and am working on sewing them together. I omitted the yarn overs on the spines and worked left leaning increases instead, as suggested by many on Ravelry. I made the sleeves 15.5 inches before working the raglan decreases instead if the suggested 13 inches. I used my daughter for size reference since she is slightly bigger than the recipient.

Following are some pictures of the sleeves, one grafted together.

Steggie progress - Day 2

I cast on for size large, but added an inch to the length. I started the raglan decreases right after this picture.

The back section completed! I know understand why the pattern calls for blocking before sewing, this thing rolls up like crazy. Getting the piece somewhat flat to take a picture was a pain.

 This is what was left of my cake after knitting the back. I got 8 1/2 inches of the left front knit up with this.

 

 2 1/2 inches of progress into my new cake, and I come across this little gem. I wound the cakes and came across two joins (in separate hanks, if memory serves), but I did not keep track of which cakes contained them. I was about 3 inches of yarn short of completing the row that would allow me to tie on on the seam edge. I tried just working it in, but it looked horrible. I tinked back to the previous seam edge and cut the piece out. That is two joins I'll have to work in when I finish up, but at least it will be at the seam and not be so obvious.

 Here is the left front piece completed. You can see the ends where I joined yarn in both places, as well as how little of the cake was used to finish up the piece.

I think I've made favorable progress so far. I hope to get a lot done tomorrow as well, perhaps the right front and a sleeve.

eLoomanator's Diagonal Knit Dishcloth

When I bought the Swish yarn for Steggie from Knit Picks, I grabbed a skein of Dishie in the color "Maps" as well. Dishie makes great dishrags, and I am in need of more (my husband is obsessive about throwing them in the dirty clothes hamper). eLoomanator's designs had caught my eye on Ravelry.com, and her Diagonal Knit Dishcloth has been printed out and sitting in my heap of patterns for awhile now. It is a variation of "Grandmother's Favorite," a very popular dish cloth pattern that I've knitted up before. I knit this up in an evening while watching tv.

 See how little of the skein was used? I'm hoping to get 2 more (even if I have to make one smaller).

Just a close up of the center

Steggie - Started!!

I am excited for this post! I have been wanting to make a "Steggie" jacket for a couple years now, but never seemed to have the money for an "extra" project. I made it a priority now though, seeing as how the little boy I wanted it make it for is turning 7 very soon.

 Here is all the yarn I bought for the jacket, all 5 hanks wound into neat cakes :)

 I picked "Allspice" and "Merlot Heather" for the spine colors.

 I don't do gauge swatches generally (I fairly reliably knit on gauge), but seeing as this is to be a gift I did one just to be 100% sure. I was exact on for rows, but 1/4 of a stitch too many over 4 inches - good enough for me!

 My current progress! I like how the tonal yarn looks so far, and is lovely to work with.

I have made one small modification so far; working a chain edging up the sides. I am not a huge fan of sewing, so am trying to make the sewing as easy on myself as possible. Plus this should give a nice clean look on the edge at the zipper as well.

Speaking of zippers... *gulp* I ordered one today. I was considering just doing buttons instead, but I suppose it is time I stop avoiding zippers and just do one. It can't be as bad as I'm assuming, right?! Like I said, not a fan of sewing! I am assuming that sewing a tough zipper onto a knitted sweater is going to be a b****. I could be wrong; I hope I am wrong.

AFTER I ordered a black zipper (what I thought was my best option given the choices with free shipping) my husband tried to tell me that black won't look good with the orange. I thought it would look better than white, blue, or any of the other colors offered. He'll probably be right and I'll hate it when I see it next to the yarn. I just thought that black would contrast, but in a good way and be kind of cool. I am making this for a 7-year-old after all. I could order an orange zipper, but I would have had to paid extra shipping. It really irks me to pay for the Amazon Prime subscription and ever have to pay shipping on items from Amazon.com

Old Projects Update.

 I am terrible at finishing projects once I step away from them for any length of time. I forced myself to go back and work on a couple projects that have been abandoned for months.

 

 This is my first sleeve for the Scarlow jacket (knitty.com pattern by King Bee) for my husband (back and front pieces were finished long ago). I frogged an old crocheted afghan that I never finished for the yarn. If I like how it turns out using the Super Saver, I will buy some wool to make a nicer jacket for him (given he actually wears this one and doesn't just stuff it in the back of the closet while telling me he likes it). It's really irritating this picture posted upside down :/

These orange socks are made using one of my favorite sock patterns - Brainless. The pattern is simple, yet fun. I am using Knit Picks Comfy Cotton in fingering weight. I had been working on these socks towards the end of my pregnancy... my baby will be 5 months old here in a couple days. I was partially through the heel sections (not the best place to leave off, lol) and now have a bit of the legs done. It shouldn't take me long to finish these, assuming I ever work on them again ;)

I also have a pair of black socks hidden away somewhere. The plan was to make thigh-highs, though I think I may just make the cuff at knee length instead (if I ever find where I put them).

Baby Sweaters.

 I used up a ball of leftover Super Saver making a sweater for my baby. I used a top-down raglan recipe I found via ravelry.com The Incredible, Custom-Fit Raglan Sweater was a fun knit. I kept it simple and fairly plain, though I may make a more creative version in the future. I made it a tad large so he can grow into it over the winter.

 This is the earliest picture I have, one sleave finished. I didn't decrease on the sleeves for shaping at all, rather I decreased right before adding the cuff.

 All the knitting except the collar is finished here and the ends aren't woven it, but I just had to try it on him to see if it fit :) When your teething baby is in a good mood, you need to seize the moment, lol

 Poorly taken picture, but all finished!

 This is the second sweater. I have a few more rows done on it than is shown here, but not enough to warrant a new picture. I am doubtful that I have enough blue to finish the sleeves, but I plan to try anyway. The blue yarn I believe is some recycled acrylic that is either Red Heart or Bernat; I bought it too long ago for me to remember. The grey yarn is a smaller weight, closer to a DK or Sport than Worsted, and honestly I have no idea what brand it is. The horrid darker stripe is pencil lead... my 7-year-old colored the yarn darker for me, but left it a surprise that I didn't discover until I had knit a bit with it and my fingers were all grey and yucky!!

No pattern used for this blue sweater, just a basic bottom up using a geometric stitch pattern I'd used on a sweater for my husband years ago. I adapted the stitch pattern to be shorter/smaller to look better on a smaller man ;) That old light-blue sweater I made for the hubby was a complete disaster, by the way. I didn't check my gauge (hated it as much then as I do now, only I didn't knit on gauge then). It looked nice until he put it on and it became apparent it would fit at least two of him, lol

I am not terribly fond of using cheap acrylics, especially for baby clothing. This is what I had that needed used up though, and I plan to try to soften it up some. I have never attempted this, but googling has led me to believe there is a way to do it that involves using hair conditioner... I'm a touch skeptical, but it's worth a try. I won't attempt the experiment until I have the second sweater completed as well.

Yarn for Steggie.

My yarn order came a couple days ago! I am currently working on winding the hanks of Swish into workable cakes (surprising how much time it takes up). The Swish Tonal in "Harvest" colorway is very pretty. I am pleased with it, I think it will work out very nicely. I ordered a black 16 inch separating zipper off Amazon. I wasn't sure about the black, but of my options that didn't include paying shipping fees, it was the best option. I am dreading sewing in the zipper. I don't sew very much, and have never sewn a zipper in before, let alone on a knitted garment. We'll see how it turns out. I do hope to get my gauge swatch done today and hopefully start working on the back this evening.

Besides the yarn I ordered for the jacket for my nephew, I also got one ball of dishie in the colorway "Maps." I completed one dish rag last night.

I have a couple posts planned that I hope to get up today, mostly current pictures of what I am working on and have recently finished. I made a sweater for the baby, am working on another one, made some more progress on the orange socks, started over on a sleeve for my husband's jacket, and made that dish rag last night (mostly while watching Marvel's Agents of SHEILD on Hulu, my husband really likes that show).

Current knitting plans.

I have wanted to knit "Steggie" for nearly two years now. It is a really cute children's jacket with dinosaur spines on the arms and hood. This is a pattern designed by Julia Farwell-Clay, and is available for free on Knitty.com here. I had originally planned on making this for my nephew, who will be turning 7 in approximately one month.

I missed Knit Picks black and orange yarn sale by one stupid day...grrrr The 50% off would have made it so much more manageable to buy the yarn for this project (his favorite color is orange, so it would have been perfect). So I missed that sale, thankfully there is another one currently going on (though not as deep, it's still a good sale). I had selected Swish worsted for easy care and warmth (I love working with this yarn, and my son's baby blanket knit in swish is so soft and huggably squishy!). The exact colorway I will buy is Harvest, which is a very pretty tonal yarn with shades of orange and yellow. The current sale will save me 20%

I would skip this entirely and pick something cheaper if I didn't currently need the yarn therapy so badly, lol Knitting is my therapy, and I've been in need of some lately. Things haven't been terrible, but my exclusive breastfeeding perks seem to be ending and I'm getting some pretty wonky (probably not the word my hubby would pick, lol) hormonal moods (that or I'm loosing my mind, lol). Using up old bits of Super Saver just isn't cutting it right now.

Hopefully I'll order the yarn soon...before this sale ends too :/

Striped longies complete!

The longies were finished a bit ago (my concept of time is way off right now, so best guess would be a couple weeks). I have not tried these on the little boy yet, as I am slowly working on lanolizing them. They are sitting in their 3rd lanolin soak as I type.

Hooray for something finished! lol

Baby bib.

I just finished making this baby bib today. I used the pattern "I-Love-Stockinette Baby Bib" by Laura Treadway (downloaded free from Ravelry.com), size 6 needles ('cause that's what was on my cable from the last project) and Sugar 'N Cream yarn. I've never used this yarn before. My mom uses it all the time for dish rags, but I kinda hated knitting with it. It just sort of felt cheap in hand and didn't move very easily on my needles which really slowed down my knitting. The price was good though and it's just going to be catching baby spit, so no biggy. I have another skein, so all in all, I will most likely end up with 3 bibs in this color. If I were to buy yarn for this again, I would get a blend that was softer (not that I could find such a thing locally).

Update: 10/11/2013

I was correct on getting 3 bibs out of the two skeins of yarn. They soak up a good amount of drool, and bub enjoys chewing on them. I'm happy :)

Striped longies.

I have no red wool yarn :( So no monster longies for now. I frogged the striped longies and am reknitting those instead. The orange and black alone would not be enough yarn, so I added the avacado green and reduced the size of the black stripes.

I am using size 6 needles (size 4 for the waistband) for a gauge of 5.5 stitches per inch. I measured my little guy at 17 inches at the waist, 20 hips, 17 rise. I intend for them to be big so cast on with a 3 inch ease, or 112 stitches. Each color stripe has an increase of 4 stitches (ending up with 124 stitches), plus one short row. I could have added two short rows per color stripe, but don't want it to be so obvious that there are short rows (nothing like chunky stripes on the tush to give it away). In the photo the back is on the right side.

I am nearly done with the body section of the longies. I will finish the green stripe, the next black stripe, then start the gusset in the -orange- color. I am a bit nervous about possibly running out of black yarn, as I intend the cuffs to be black. I have used up approximately half a skein worth of yarn. Now that bub is getting bigger, those skeins of Wool of the Andes worsted don't seem to be going very far.

I've been working on these for nearly a week now. I hope to have more time over the weekend, and possibly get them finished up. Lanolin is on my shopping list, and I have some woolies waiting to be lanolized so might as well do these at the same time if I can. I have been getting very little knitting done, so it will feel great if I do manage to finish something.

Braided longies - on.

I said I would post pictures of the re-knit braided longies, and I am finally getting to it. They fit my baby okay for now, but not for long. I did not count on the legs being so snug and would prefer to have quite a lot more ease in the thigh portion. Next time I make these I will keep that in mind.