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.