Major Knitter

Inclusion Socks

I knit up a new pair of socks this week in less than three days.  I'm making them part of my uniform.  I call them my inclusion socks.

Knit Picks Felici Yarn - 2 skeins of Rainbow
US Size 1 needles
Basic Top Down sock with heel flap

I love these socks.  They are so happy and bright.  They respect everyone.  They don't judge.

Wilma doesn't even see what the big deal is.  She doesn't judge anyone.  She loves everyone.  

Let's all be happy and live in a judge-free zone.  Wouldn't that be nice?

Just Peachy!

In just under a week, I finished my Peachy socks.

Details:

• Knit Picks Felici sock yarn in Peachy color way
• US Size 1 circular needles
• Magic Loop method
• Charlene Schurch's Garter Rib sock pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks
• See tip below for turning the heel and maintaining the broad stripe pattern

I noticed when I looked on Ravelry that other people who had knit top-down socks using Felici ended up with an awkward looking 1-2 round stripe just as they started the gusset.  This occured because most of the color from that stripe is used turning the heel.  So I decided to turn the heel and cut out the rest of that stripe's color.  Then I began picking up the stitches for the gusset just before the next stripe's color began.  This created a nice broad strip right at the gusset.  It's not as wide as the leg or the foot, but it works and doesn't have that awkwardness to it.

And when it's done an all woven in, it looks great.

And on a positive note, I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the Knit Picks Felici yarn.  I haven't purchased any sock yarn from Knit Picks since they first opened for business.  Back then, I wasn't too impressed with their sock yarn.  It was a bit "crunchy" and turned me off.  Felici has more than made up for that first bad impression.  This felt a lot like one of my favorite sock yarns - Regia - so I will definitely be knitting more socks with this yarn.  Plus, I just love the thick stripes and the yarn comes in so many wonderful colors.  I also bought some Felici in Rainbow when I purchased this yarn, so that will be knit up for my next pair of socks.

I highly recommend you go buy some Felici yarn for your next pair of socks.  You'll be tickled pink, or rainbow, or blue, or...

 

 

All*Stars

I have a Finishing Friday Object to share with you.  

My purple socks in my clear plastic All*Stars.  Fun!

Beaded Rib Hat

When I was going through my stash to find the cashmere yarn for BF's Valentine's Day socks, I discovered two skeins of black bulky Lobster Pot cashmere.  I must have erroneously purchased these thinking they were worsted weight - intending to make another pair of socks at some point for BF.  

Well, fortunately for me, two skeins of bulky Lobster Pot cashmere yarn is just what is required for Laura Hein Eckels Beaded Rib Hat - available excusively from my LYS Westport Yarns.

And what's better than wearing a very warm cashmere hat in the dead of winter?

So call Westport Yarns and order the pattern today.  You'll want to make more of these hats.  This is my third and I already have more planned down the road.  I have some leftover Cascade Eco+ in a denim blue that I think would make a lovely hat and scarf.  Please tell Laura I sent you!  She'll be thrilled.

Pig in a Blanket

Yeah!  Another FO.  I finished another sampler blanket.  

Last January when I bought the yarn for Lisa's Friendship Blanket, I bought TWICE the amount I needed.  I'm always so afraid that I'll run out of yarn that I inevitably end up buying way too much.  Fortunately, I had just enough leftover to make an entire blanket.  I finished joining the strips and the edging last night.  It's not quite finished in that I need to soak it and block it today.  It will take about 2-3 days to dry.  Fortunately, I have a rarely used pool table with a plastic cover in the basement which will be the perfect spot for blocking and drying.

When it's completely blocked and dried, I'll post another picture to show you the details (and some errors and my fixes).  For now you get a picture of the pig in a blanket.  Enjoy!

Let Me Call You Sweetheart

It only took 1,460 days or exactly four years, but I finally resurrected this Forgotten Object and turned it into a Finished Object.

It's my Sweetheart Baby Blanket which was knit using the following

• 5 skeins of Plymouth Encore worsted weight yarn in a lovely purple Color 2426
• US size 7 needles
• My own pattern - which is really only a graph
• Lots of seed stitch hearts and borders.
• Finished measurements = 

Here it is draped over a chaise longue.

A close up of the seed stitch hearts.

This was a lazy weekend and yesterday at the diner for a very late brunch, Secundogeniture asked some questions about this epic blanket:

Secundogeniture:  Who's the blanket for?

Major Knitter:  I don't know.  Maybe I'll just put it away and it can be for your child someday.

Secundogeniture:  That's a little creepy.  Here's a blanket I knit for you fifty years ago for a child you didn't even have.

Alrighty then.  I guess it won't be going into Secundogeniture's baby hope chest any time soon...  Maybe Primogeniture's hope chest?  He probably doesn't read this blog and would never know.  Bwahahahaha.

Finishing Friday - Finally!

I'm finished (I think) with my Faery Ring.

I wore it all day this week... and even though I think I need to go back and rip out the button band and pick up fewer sts (it puckers and flares) - I am not sure I'm ready to do that.  

POSITIVE COMMENTS - 

• This is a really warm coat.  It's more than a sweater.  
• It's too big for me.  I take that as a positive comment because I see myself larger than I really am.  I could have made the next size smaller and it would have been fine.
• I love the look of the hood and tassel.  
• I bought way too much yarn for this project, fearing that I wouldn't have enough.  Suffice it to say I'm thinking about knitting an entire sweater for myself out of the leftover yarn.  I'm thinking another Ribby Cardi may be in my future.

FIXES FOR OTHERS

• Remember first, that the directions are not complete for the larger sizes of the Faery Ring - so I had to wing it.  I picked up too many sts for the button band.  While I thought it looked fine when I picked them up and knit them, once I sewed the band, I noticed the puckering and flaring.  Since it was more than 400 sts, I was loathe to rip it out.  I know now that I should have.   I probably will some day, but not today.
• The hood is too big and heavy.  It weighs down on the coat and when I wore it unbuttoned, it pulled off on one shoulder and I constantly had to tug it and put it back on my shoulder.  I'm not sure what the answer is here.  On the Wonderful Wallaby, there is a K1, P1 neckline after the body of the sweater and before the hood.  It has fewer sts and the ribbing pulls in the sweater.  More sts are then added for the hood.  I think this might be a good fix and something worth trying.

Now I need to get some black slacks and a black turtleneck to wear with my Faery Ring and really show off the coat's handiwork.  I'm really pleased with this project that took more than 2 years to knit.  I love the design and the cables.  The silver Faery Ring buttons are the perfect addition to this beauty.  I am just thrilled to pieces to have finished it in time to wear while it's still winter (even if the temperatures say otherwise).  

 

Project Update

Thanks for all your votes on my WIPs and UFOs.  

I decided to finish the socks (since I was traveling and they were easy).  So here's a peak at my Appalachian Trail socks in Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn in the "birch" colorway.

These are a gift for a Scouting friend of mine.  I think they'll be really appreciated.  

Now that these are complete, I need to concentrate on finishing the next project.  The votes nearly unanimously came in for the Faery Ring - and I agree.  I'm very close to finishing it.  I think I can focus on it this upcoming week and still wear it this winter.

I do want to focus my energy on the Alhambra, too, as it's intended to be a gift for a friend.  I'd like to give it to her this winter.  Maybe I can finish the Faery Ring next week and the Alhambra the following week.  

How's that for some serious knitting goals?  Did I mention that BF will be traveling a lot in the upcoming month?  I'll have lots of alone time to focus solely on my knitting.

Thanks for all your input and votes of confidence.

Sorry to all of you who are still pining away for a finished Floral Jacket.  She's not on the short list... yet.

Ribby Cardi

I finally finished the once ill-fated Ribby Cardi.  I cast on for this sweater in April 2009 and feverishly knit for a quick finish.  Unfortunately, after I blocked all the parts and was ready to sew, I realized I had made a huge mistake in the sleeves.  I frogged the sleeves and shoved the project in a bag in the back of my knit nook.  There it sat for nearly 18 months.  But in August, in my frenzy to finish UFOs, I resurrected it and reknit those sleeves, carefully paying attention so they wouldn't face the same fate as their antecedents.  It worked.  I seamed the pieces together, sewed in the zipper, and wet blocked the entire cardigan.  Yesterday I debuted the sweater and am happy to say, it's a keeper.

There are a few things I would change next time - 

• I'd take 1.5-2 inches off the sleeves.  
• I'd add 2 inches to the body.

And you know how I like to repeat a pattern when I like it (can anybody say Wonderful Wallaby?) - so I think I'll definitely make another Ribby.  Of course, I wear so much black, that the first color that comes to mind is the eye-numbing, blindness causing black.  Sigh.  Good thing I recently got an OTT lamp.

 

Finessing Friday - Go Around Again!

Do you remember way back in 2009 when I was zooming through the Ribby Cardi and it looked like an actual sweater FO was on the horizon?  

Then *BAM* there was a problem with the sleeves - they would never fit the armholes.

I cried.  I bit the bullet. I pulled the plug.  I frogged.

I ramen noodled.

And then I did nothing.

And then I did some more nothing.

Months passed.

Seasons came and went.

Secundogeniture entered middle school.

Primogeniture became a senior.

And finally, I decided the time had come to conquer my fears.  And I cast on for the sleeves once more.

I carefully knit the sleeves checking my progress against the pattern at regular intervals.  I entered the dreaded sleeve caps with fear and trepidation.  And this time, I completed them successfully.

So now my two newly knit sleeves are blocking - waiting to be joined to the body - and become one Ribby Cardi.  I suppose I really should have jumped immediately back into the saddle.  Two years was perhaps too long.  I can almost taste the sweet success of a FO.