Hufflepuff Scarf

I've finished the Hufflepuff 5th Year scarf for my future kid-in-law, altered to have fringe instead of ribbing at the ends.  Shown here being modeled by Jet Shee(p):

Yarn Philosophy

Yarn Philosophy: The end of one skein is just the beginning of another.

FO: Stripey Scarf

This scarf was made as a gift for my daughter's friend, who wanted the Harry Potter Slytherin look.  I didn't want to knit yet another plain striped scarf, so I added smaller stripes between every third large stripe, and mixed up the colors for the fringe.  Bruce Shee(p) was kind enough to model it for me:

Tres sheep chic, non?

This was made with Ella Rae Classic in dark green (125) and Ella Rae Classic Heather in grey (122), using US 5 circular needles, which yielded about 4.25 st/in.

Lacy Scarf and Mitts

These were knitted for a co-worker who's been a lot of help to me since she started with us almost a year ago. It's nearly assistant's day or whatever they're calling it now, so I thought I would knit her something in her favorite color. There was some variation in the yarn colorway so the stripes don't match exactly: 

These were made with SMC Select extra soft Merino, color 5284 (100% Merino wool), size US5 circular needles (3.25mm), using "Lush Fingerless Mitts" (pattern by Susan Mills, Classic Elite Yarns). 

The scarf is not part of the original pattern; for that I adapted the cabled portion of the mitts using 3 repeats; one in the center of one side and two at the our edges of the other side:

 

The toughest part of this was getting my gauge consistent for the mitts; I developed tendonitis in my right elbow in late January, so as the condition of my arm changed, so did my gauge. I ended up knitting the mitts four times to get two the same size. As a result, this one gets the "scurvy yarn projects" label.

WIP: Black and Red Frilly Scarf

It's a couple feet long now, and thankfully looking more scarf-like and less bloody-organ-like. Whew.

WIP: Black and Red Frilly Scarf

I'm making this for my younger daughter:

Yes I realize that right now it looks a bit like either "The Blob" or a disembodied organ, but it'll get better ;-)

Also, I've finished a few more projects over the holidays and will post soon :-) I did manage to make cookies but they were eaten too quickly to ice, so no pics of those.

FO: Purple Sparkly Hat-Scarf-Mittens Set

This set I knitted for the 3-year-old daughter of one of my co-workers:

The little one loves purple and princesses, so I hope she likes it. Given her height, I decided to go with a pom-pom edge rather than a fringe.

FO: Hideaway Scarf and Hat

This set I made for my older sister's son, age 8:

His favorite color is purple; I long ago discovered it's difficult to find a masculine purple yarn, but this one isn't too bad; it's Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn 100 Ombre in 501 Hideaway.

FO: Pink Sparkly Hat and Scarf

I made this for my older sister's youngest daughter (age 6):

It's knit with Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn 100 Sparkle, #752 Razzleberry Sparkle.

FO: Blue Sparkle Hat and Scarf Set

This is a gift for one of my older sister's children:

I'm not worried they'll see it early because my older sister has only recently figured out how to use instant messaging; she certainly isn't going to accidentally show them my blog (which for the moment is convenient).

Knit with Hobby Lobby's I Love This Yarn #100 Sparkle yarn in 740 Royalty Sparkle using US 7 circular needles.

FO: Scarf and Hat Set

This is my anniversary present for my Hubby, and believe it or not, both were completed on time:

The whole set

I thought the inside of the hat looked like a sunburst; quite accidental

All pieces are reversible

For these, I used Katia Odisea in color 132, with size US 10 (6mm) needles. I made this up, so if someone wants the pattern, I'll have to type it up first.

Another Yarnblob Undone

Remember the Pink Scarf of Doom? I finally got my older daughter to give me some dimensions (9"x6') for the original (cartoon) scarf we're approximating, and it was considerably less wide than the one we were working on. At last measurement, it was 3' wide (yes, 3 feet wide) by about 3.5' long. After informing her that I could probably unwind it and re-knit it to 9" wide by 6' long much more quickly than continuing with the 3' wide version, she finally agreed, and here it is, ripped, wound and waiting to be cast on in the new, compact version:

Yes, this is just the yarn we'd already used. Yikes.

WIP Progress: Hex Blanket and Pink Scarf

Despite a tumultuous week, I did actually make some progress. The hex blankie is up to 4 rows completed:

Unfortunately, the blankie is now too large to simply lay over the dungeon (game mat), and the library doesn't have great light for photography, so I normalized the color as best I could.

Meanwhile, the Pink Scarf of Doom is now 20 inches long, and I've had to buy another Pound of Love because the first one ran out:

In all fairness, I didn't use the entire first Pound of Love for this scarf; part of that went to a baby blanket I haven't finished (I still have some of the first POL set aside for that blanket). I'm contemplating just using the pull-out skein on this one, rather than winding it into multiple cakes, but I'm not sure which tactic will yield fewer Yarnblobs. Either way, I'm also going to have to switch to a larger project bag.

WIP Progress

I'm up to 5 hexes on the blankie now:

Had to take the picture diagonally and turn it because it was too wide for the camera

Not exactly that one-hex-a-day average I was looking for. I was hoping to work on it more this past weekend but I was busy playing Pathfinder. Oops.

I'm also finishing a scarf WIP for my older daughter, who started one for a friend:

Good thing this is a simple garter stitch project

Despite being fairly inexperienced at knitting, her gauge is fairly consistent though I can tell she did some "distracted" knitting (having done my fair share of it). Understandably, she'd rather focus her efforts on drawing than on knitting; we each have our strengths (drawing is decidedly not mine). This is a very wide, very long scarf she fashioned after the one "Russia" wears in Axis Powers Hetalia. Thus, what you're looking at is the end, not the side. Big scarf. How'd she talk me into this again?

Sorting Hat says "Sheepfyndor"!

Here's a recently completed FO; a scarf knitted for a friend of my older daughter's:

Cocoa Bear was asleep since my youngest had gone to bed already when I took the photos. The sheep seemed a bit leery of the bright colors, but then he seemed to calm down a bit:

At the end, he seemed genuinely cozy:

Now both daughters and another friend of my older daughter's want scarves for "Sheepyrin." (Okay, they said Slytherin, but I control the yarn around here.) Now the question is, do I have grey and green in my yarn stash. Probably. After all, the Sheepfyndor was made with leftovers from the stash. Not sure I have enough grey for three scarves, but I am certain to have enough green (it's my favorite color).

Ship Ahoy

My Hubby and I were talking a while back about my blog pic (currently a picture of a tea cozy I knitted). We were talking about maybe making some kind of 3D setup with yarn and taking a photo, and I envisioned a Viking-style ship with scarf blowing from the mainmast and a ram's head at the bow. It was hard to explain and I didn't want to lose the idea, so I scribbled it out as best I could:

Clearly, I am just not an artist, so to explain, the mountain on the island is a cone of yarn and the shrubbery and trees are yarn cakes with DPN's sticking out. The cargo and shields on the ship are spools, and the main mast is a crochet hook. Those things on the sails that look like nails are supposed to be knitting needles. The single cloud is supposed to be a skein of white yarn and the oppositely-colored dots in the Yin-Yang symbol are supposed to look like the end of a skein or cake. It looked a lot better in my head than it does on paper. Perhaps for now I'll just stick with the tea cozy.

FO - Blue Cabled Scarf

I finished the blue cabled scarf for my best friend while we were playing Pathfinder Saturday night/Sunday morning (*knit two, purl two, check for traps, repeat from*). I wanted her to pose with it for the blog entry, but she said she was having a bad hair day. The trollhead, however, was not so shy:

"Watcha think? Does this bring out my eyes?"

"Wait.. take a pic of me good side!"

Encouraged by the trollhead's bravado, my best friend decided maybe she wasn't having such a bad hair day after all:

Scarf Progress

Last night I thought I'd break out the measuring tailtape to check my progress on my best friend's cabled scarf:

Lil Bo Sheep says we're at 53 inches:

That's officially longer than our D20 RPG gaming mats:

Note that the last pic had to be taken quickly, because the troll head was right behind me and, well, you just never want to turn your back on a troll.

Mens Worsted Weight Socks - Free Pattern

While shopping at Hobby Lobby recently, I came across a worsted Red Heart yarn in a color called Marrakesh:

It was too vibrant and pretty not to pick up a skein. Naturally, I made socks with it, and naturally, they have already been deployed:

At first I sized these for myself, but it’s really not my color. Despite the bright pink, my Hubby likes the color, so I re-sized them for him. Now I can expect to see them quite frequently around the house, since we tend to wear the worsted-weight socks as slippers. Once I’ve seen them around awhile, I can decide whether I like the color enough to make something bigger, like an afghan. Meanwhile, here’s the pattern.

I wanted to use this color to show how I use the stitch markers for the increase on the arches. I use three: one in the middle of the back, and one at each side of the back, between the original number of stitches and the increased stitches. It starts out a bit odd-looking:

But once you’ve increased a few stitches, it becomes very easy to count how many you’ve increased:

Once I get to the number of stitches I need and begin the heel decrease, I use the middle marker as my counter for the first decrease and turn (which is generally the middle stitch plus 2). Once I’ve done that, all the stitch markers come out, though the middle one can be left in to mark the center of the back row for bind-off purposes.

Now, off to a late lunch with my Hubby, who has chosen to wear the new socks today. Guess I'll take the cabled scarf with me to work on.

Cable Knitting Test Swatch

This is a test swatch for a hat and scarf set I'll be knitting for my best friend (who has no blog - what's up with that?):

The yarn is Ella Rae Classic Superwash (100% wool) in Color 36, which is a dark teal, though the scan doesn't quite match the actual color. The pattern I'll be using is a set from Cables Untangled (pp. 33-35), by Melissa Leapman, which is a wonderful book with lots of schematics. Here's how the original looks:

Isn't that cute? Let's hope I can make the finished product look like that. But in teal.

To my credit, my cable knitting has improved over time. I used to pull the yarn too tight on the crossovers, trying to make sure there were no gaps, and this did interesting (translated: bad) things to my gauge. I gave that up and now it looks like it should, and my gauge is right. Boo-yah.