Barbarian Dice Bag II

Quick! Make your spot/perception check!

A friend of mine recently saw my first "barbarian" dice bag and liked it.  I didn't have enough of the specific yarn to duplicate it, so I was inspired to design another.  I incorporated an asymmetrical slash of color and left the strings long so it would look rough-hewn:

This was made with Lion Brand Homespun in Sierra and Deco, using US9 (5.5mm) DPNs. The tie strings were made with Lionbrand Suede in Desert using a random crochet hook.

F.O.: Blue-Green Stripey Socks

Texas summer or not, I've still been knitting socks:

I used size US00 circular needles, with Online Supersocke 100 Emotion II - Color yarn in colorway 1219. I made them for a close friend of my middle child; it took rather longer than normal because I had to stop and knit several hats and mittens for cosplay outfits.

WIP Progress: Pink Kimono

So, apparently it's been quite a while since I worked on the Pink Kimono:

Since then, I've started school, separated from my husband, and moved me and three of my kids out on our own.  Here's the view from my balcony:

You can see two of my gnomes; two more are to the left of the picture, but that side of the view is mostly wall and Whataburger.  It's funny how moving has a way of helping you find old projects you misplaced in the daily chaos; that's how I found the pink kimono. My last memory of this project was that I had somehow messed it up again; the picture in my head was all those bobbins tangled together. Turns out, I made more progress than I remember; I'd already cast on the sleeves and compensated for having forgotten to do a color change at the ends of the sleeves when I cast them on:

It's wider than it looks; the needle wire isn't long enough to stretch the thing out to its full width.  I am also going to make a kimono using a size-altered version of this pattern for my best friend; I do not plan to finish this one first because my poor friend would be waiting until retirement. Hers, however, will not have color changes; we have a variegated yarn she bought long ago that is perfect for this pattern. Thus, no color-changing bobbins! Yay!

Doily of Doom

This is a doily I made years ago for my best friend's kitchen table:

Looking at it now I think I did a pretty decent job on it, but with one major flaw; it should have been 16 inches in diameter but my gauge was so tight that it's only about 12 inches across. As with most things I crocheted long ago, I didn't know much about gauge (okay, nothing about gauge) and held the thread so tight it dug into my fingers. Now, I would probably get a lot closer to the proper gauge but I haven't been adventurous enough to try any major crochet projects.

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.

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.

Late Post - FO: Card Bag

Remember the card bag I was working on? I finished it at the beginning of September (told you it was a late post):

Exterior, tied

Interior, untied

Kitchener stitch: not perfect, but functional

I've been knitting plenty, but my blogging is way behind :-(

WIP Progress: Purple Shiney Card Bag

Well I'm almost done with the card bag, and I've managed to make the "Bag End" (Tolkien reference) rectangular-ish:

As you can see, I've completed the liner as well, and it's also rectangular-ish. Here's where I've hit a major snag. I mean Major Snag. Are you ready?

I cannot do the kitchener stitch. I just don't get it. At all. I mean, I understand what the point is, but not how to get there. Since this bag is rectangular at the bottom, I can't just decrease the liner in the round, nor do the 3-needle bindoff without it being really visible inside the bag. I. Am. Stuck.

I guess I'll have to head to my LYS this weekend and get someone to show me. The real challenge is not to get distracted by all the pretty new yarns there and forget about the whole "kitchener stitch" fiasco.

WIP: Card Bag

This is going to be a card bag for a friend of mine; the coloration isn't great in the pic because the photo was taken with my phone at work:

The yarns are:
Outer layer (on needles): GGH Gigolo, color 2
Inner layer (in high-tech anti-yarnblob device in the back): Louisa Harding Jasmine in color 29

I'll take better pics when it's finished. Meanwhile, the challenge has been to make it rectangular rather than round as for dice. I haven't quite figured out the bottom yet but I've got a few more inches of knitting before I have to know what I'm doing.

She Has Been Assimilated

I've mentioned my non-blogging friend a time or two in past posts. At long last, I talked her into getting her very own blog! Woohoo! She can be found at Trefot Stitches.

Yep, she has been assimilated :-)

FO: Stripey Socks

Well my plan to ship off the surprise socks to the original intended recipient rather changed when I gave them to a co-worker who's going through some difficult times:

So while trying to decide what to make for the original intended recipient, I made these for myself:

They're made from Berroco Sox color 1474 using my basic toe-up pattern that doesn't require require me to carry the pattern around. Meanwhile, I've chosen the yarn for the original intended recipient, so that's next.

On a side note, I've had to start binding off socks with needles double the circumference of the needles I use to knit the socks because I tend to pull the stitches tight when I'm binding off. For this project, I used these to bind off the cuffs:

Cheerful little guys, aren't they?

Green-Brown Dice Bag and New Year's RPG'ing

They say that what you do at the end of the old year and the beginning of the new colors the rest of the year to come. To celebrate this New Year's, my Hubby and I played Pathfinder most of the weekend with my oldest, my best friend, her husband and my brother-in-law. We also managed to squeeze in some painting, some knitting and a few other crafty-type things. Naturally, much of the knitting was done while we were gaming, so while my Pathfinder rogue was looking for secret treasure rooms and good positions in combat, I managed to produce a new dice bag for my oldest:

The guardian spider, however, was a gift from my Hubby (shown here warding off my youngest just outside the dungeon):

Painted Minis

I took this random picture in our game room:

I admit to feeling some pride that most of the minis we use for gaming these days have been painted. Most of the character minis in this case were painted by me; the monsters, the campfire and the barbarian were painted by my Hubby. One character was painted by my youngest and another by my best friend. Unfortunately, we've not been painting much lately. I'm hopeful that this year we'll get to spend more time on our hobbies. Call it a resolution: Happy New Year!

Gloves (FO)

At long last, I finished my best friend's gloves. Here they are with the flaps folded back under the bands:

Here they are with the flaps folded over the fingers and thumbs:

Here they are on my best friend, who now has a complete hat/scarf/glove set:

One more project completed. Boo-yah.

Pathfinder Yarnblobs

This is what happens when you leave your knitting at home with your cat:

This is what happens when you attempt to de-blob your yarn while playing Pathfinder until the wee hours of the morning:

Note: The makers of Pathfinder (Paizo) and HeroLab (Lone Wolf Development) are not responsible for the Yarnblobs pictured above. While they are makers of cool products, I don't think they knit.

New WIP: Baby Set

We've got yet another friend with a baby due to be born any time now. I cast on this blanket Friday night, and by Saturday night, had gotten this far, which is not quite halfway:

By Sunday night I'd gotten this far, which is 6 rows from binding off:

Once I complete the bottom border, it's on to the side borders, and I have a vague notion what I want to do with the hat and booties.

Naturally, there are Mad Knittist Notes involved:

Years from now I'll probably find that page in my notebook and wonder what the heck it means.

WIP Progress: Gloves

I've made actual progress on my best friend's gloves, and the right one is nearly complete:

As you can see, I've added the finger flap, which I chose to make asymetrical to more closely follow the natural lines of the hand. You can also just see the tip of my finger, which apparently I couldn't keep out of the photo. What you can't really see in those pics is that instead of a button or snap, I've added a little strap to keep the finger flap down when not in use:

It actually works quite well. Here are some in-action photos with the flap off and on:

She also wants a thumb flap, so that's next and then I can duplicate the process for the other glove.

Flora Renewed

This is a gerbera daisy plant I got last year for Admin Asst Week that had all but died after a re-plant:

You can't see it, but under this bloom is another waiting to open. Boo-yah.

WIP Progress: Whole Lotta Froggin' Goin' On

I finished the main part of my best friend's short-fingered gloves about a week ago:

I've been working on them almost daily ever since and yet they look exactly the same as they did a week ago. That's because I keep having to frog out the convertible finger flap. So far, we're up to three attempts. Having discovered the yarn is a bit too dark to try to start this phase away from home, I started a "travel" project. I grabbed one of many skeins of sock yarn in my Yarn Booty and started knitting. So far, I'm up to my third attempt on this project as well, but have now gotten this far:

On my first attempt, I realized the size 00 needles were really too small for the yarn and the thing was going to be more like a cast than a sock. My second undo was when I realized I'd added too many stitches and needed to remove some so I wouldn't end up giving the socks to my Hubby. Now it's good and going along as it should, and I'm about an inch or so further than I'd gotten on my first try.

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).