The blanket in action

The blanket in action, a photo by hannah8ball on Flickr.

This year has been a year of big gift projects. And I've been surprising myself with how quickly I'm burning through these projects.  I decided (rather late) that my gift to brother-in-law and his fiance  for their end-of-May wedding was going to be a blanket.  And no, that is not my (now) sister-in-law trying the blanket out.  She was far too busy to take a breather on the couch.  I hope she is enjoying it now though!

So, I ordered my yarn and got to work on the wonderful Hemlock Ring Blanket.  And even though I'd left myself barely a month to knit a blanket (and a super-duper busy month at that!), I finished this lovely work in 20 days.  And the bind-off took 3 of those days!  But look how gorgeously it turned out!

Worth every moment of it.  My only regret is that I decided for some crazy reason to use size 9 needles, and so the blanket only measured 54" at the end (even with an extra lace repeat in there!).

The pattern was a delightful combination of mindless and pay-attention rounds - perfect for TV and camping knitting.  And I love how the shape of this blanket is so atypical.  I'll be on the lookout for more interesting doily patterns to make large.  Yes, there are definitely blankets in my future.

And doesn't it look just perfect on their couch in their livingroom?

Ravelry deets here.

327/366

327/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Mmmm, cowly goodness. The perfect antidote to cold weather. I can see more of these in my future - fast and useful - just like mitts!

314/366

314/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

I finished Yosemite! And it was well received. Of course, I forgot to get modeled shots. I made a tiny mistake on the collar, but I think that in the scheme of things, it ended up working out well. I am glad to be able to give it to such an appreciative recipient!

295/366

295/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

FO: Big Girl Pants.

Yes. When she wears them, I am reminded of Chewbacca. But they keep her warm!

290/366

290/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Autumn socks are finished! I am really pleased with the way these turned out. And I really liked working with the yarn, Louet Gems Fingering. It has a tight twist that really made the stitches stand out.

I've got the charts worked out for the acorns, leaves, and acorn/leaf combo, I just need to finish out the actual construction instructions (ha ha, say that fast 10 times).

I think these may be my favorite socks yet.

257/366

257/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Lace and decrease detail on flora. I loved the way this turned out. And it's just long enough that I think Little Bit will be able to wear it next year too.

Its done! Well, mostly. I just need to get some elastic thread and figure out what to do for straps. I'm thinking a sand stitch band will work well, and be consistent with the texture of the top.

FO: Olympian mitts

FO: Olympian mitts, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

FO: Olympian mitts

This is all you get until someone else is awake to take a pic with both my hands in the picture. You can see just a teeny bit of the first glove as it crossed over the lense to push the shutter release.

How do left-handed people take pictures, anyway? do they make left-handed cameras?

Ravelry page here.

229/366 - Saturday

229/366 - Saturday, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

FO, baby! Finished my socks in record time. That 2nd one was knit in 3 days flat!

I am so proud of myself!

Today was also really special because I got a visit from a dear friend, completely unexpectedly. She called me last night just as we were getting Little Bit ready for bed to tell me she was in town. I am so glad that we were able to spend the morning together and get caught up. I really should be doing a better job of keeping up. But it is nice to know that no matter how much time has gone by it isn't that hard to pick back up where you left off last. Love you!

205/366

205/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Finished the Baudelaire's! I have now knit 2 pair of socks in my knitting career. Bring on the cooler weather so I can wear these!

18/366 - Monkey FO

18/366, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

I wore my Monkey's to work! They are awesome. The fit is perfect, especially on the second sock, and they are a lovely spot of color in this otherwise very grey day.

I learned a lot with this pair:
1. Think tight. Ladders are not so great. But, they won't keep me from wearing it.
2. Get an interesting pattern. I flew through the monkey lace section, but my boring foot mods dragged me down. I like to be engaged in my patterns.
3. Ball winders rock.

So, for my next pair, I'm thinking Slippery with my desert yarn from Lori. But then, the sock club starts up next Friday. Until then I have a sweater to finish.

FO: Fetching

DSC_0011, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

As promised, photos of a finished fetching. I used WoolEase again with this one as it is a gift to my office mate (who loved them BTW).

Mods: I did this without a thumb, mods as follows:

Replace the instructions from Work 18 rounds in 4x1 Rib to Work 4 rounds in 4x1 Rib with the following:

Work 16 rounds in 4 x 1 Rib. For the next 8 rounds you will be working back and forth to create the thumb opening. Use your circular needle/DPN as if they were straight needles. Be sure to knit the knits and purl the purls.

At the end of round 8, join work and continue working in the round.

When I make these for myself, I intend to make them a bit longer and may take out a repeat so that it fits closer on my hand/arm. This was my first time doing something other than the long-tail cast on and I must say I was impressed with the cable cast-on's stretchiness. I'm definitely adding that to my repertoire.

One more day of work, and then I'm off until day after Christmas, but there are some pretty large projects in my way between now and the end of the day tomorrow. Let's hope Little Bit takes good naps again tomorrow so I have as much time as I need.

Rannoch: FO

Rannoch: FO, originally uploaded by hannah8ball.

Loved the pattern, the cables look great and I think this will be a big hit with the recipient. I ended up not doing the thumbs because I still have a laddering problem and didn't want my gift to look so much like homemade. I used the thumb technique as described in the pattern for Handwarmers from Last Minute Knitted Gifts.

I really like these mitts, I must say, I'm having a hard time wrapping these up. I'm sure I'll be casting on a pair for myself just as soon as I finish all my gift knits.

Speaking of, my stats are as follows:

Waschloths: 5 done, 1 shipped, 1 on the needles (6 of 11 completed)
Mitts: 1 pair done, 1/2 done on a second pair, patterns picked out for the last 2 pairs. (3/8 completed.)

Not too bad for the end of November.

How are you doing on your gift knits?

FO: Little Bit's hat

Here's another for the FO pile.
Pattern: Kim's hats from Last Minute Knitted Gifts
Made for: Little Bit
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpacas Organic Cotton
Notes: The yarn is SUPER soft... loving it... I'm thinking I'll make sweaters for the little bit with the rest of this yarn in my stash... or a blanket, or something soft :) This was my first pom pom and I didn't have enough yarn in it, so it isn't as poofy as I'd like it to be... Little bit seems to like it :)

FO: Shedir

Yes, Shedir is finished. What a lovely knit. Only problem is that is just about 2" too big (for my head anyway). I'm afraid it may be too big for Marcia's head as well, especially with her going through chemo, but I read somewhere that sometimes it is good to have space between the hat and the top of one's head, so maybe it will be just the right size for that...

Next time, I will only do half the ribbing and 3 cable repeats. But it is a beautiful hat nonetheless.

My baby is VERY sad... so that's all you get... I must attend to her.

Blog, what?

I am not such a great blogger, many apologies... I blame it all on Ravelry. It is so easy to just update my projects on there, add pics and details, and then on to the next project.

Lets see, in the last month or so I have finished several objects, bought lotsa yummy yarn for a sweater for my hubbo, started Christmas knitting, knit several longies, harvested tomatoes, shortened my netflix queue, eaten lots of good food, had lots of good conversation. Oh, and A has started walking! (Yeah, she's only 10 months... eep!)

Here's a quick run down of FOs (not in any specific order)

Irish Hiking Scarf - I knit this for the red scarf project. As a redhead who doesn't like to wear red, it was important to me to knit a scarf for that special someone who wants a scarf, just not a red one. Mission accomplished. I used Patons Soy Wool Stripes and fell in love with the softness of it. I'm definitely going to have to add more of this to my stash.

Kim's Hat - knit with the rest of the SWS skein to match the scarf. quick and easy. The first project from Last minute Knitted Gifts that actually held to the time constraints.

Soakers - a greenie from Peace Fleece, with the addition of the Honeycomb motif from the sock pattern at interweave knits. Love this little detail, makes the pants cute and feminine.

Blue jeans from Patons Merino wool. Basic pattern (from Little Turtle Knits). Easy peasy.

And I've been working on my first pair of socks. Loving it. I've got one done, am making some mods to the second one to make it work better for me... I'm not the sort who needs to make two pair of identical socks... If I want to change something, I'm going to change it so that I can figure out with the next sock whether I liked that change or not.

Well, I need to get back to work. And then clean the house, we have a play date in half an hour. Wee! Later!

FO: Kate

Pattern: Kate, from knitty
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Worsted. I used the yarn recommended in the pattern, right down to the colors. I liked the way she looked, and I didn't want to mess it up.
Needles: I used two circulars for the body, and dpns for the legs and ears.
Mods: Instead of the recommended dpns, I used the two circular method, mostly because I thought that I could avoid laddering at the needle joints. Well, laddering still happened, and I found it fairly difficult to get the tension right with the two circulars. So, I went back to dpns for the rest of her and loved it. I guess I'm a dpn kind of gal. I also decided to not add any face decoration. I'm afraid that anything I'll add will look frankenstein-y. Best not to mess with a good blank slate.



Overall, I loved this pattern. It was easy to follow, the colors are great, the yarn is nice and much loved by my little one. We are so happy to have this rockin' kitty join our toy collection.