colorblock rikke, bitsy & bobbsy (II), mistake rib hat
21 finished objects: 13 hats, 2 sweaters, 2 scarves, 1 cowl, 1 pair of mitts, 1 pair of socks, 1 toy. a slightly ridiculous amount of hats. an unprecedented amount of sweaters. 1,561 yards, though that is a very approximate conjecture. as opposed to last years 16 finished objects: 4 cowls, 4 hats, 2 mitts, 1 pair of socks, 1 pair of slippers, 1 pair of legwarmers, 1 camisole, 1 sweater, 1 baby blanket. so less diversity than last year, but more FO’s.
rosy fingered dawn, honey block hat, belafonte
goals for 2012:
publish one pattern
knit one sweater (doesn’t have to be for me!)
finish 20 knits
knit for pleasure
knit selfish
go back to spinning. maybe 6 skeins?
with an olive, winter is coming, bough
welp. i failed at a few of those. no patterns published, as i never could choose one to start pursuing! and i didn’t spin 6 skeins, though i did actually start making headway on that goal! i think i got 2 skeins spun up? but the balance on my spinning wheel got a little wonky, and i still need to get that looked at.
what the frack-tal, reduced circumstances, pops hat
but i accomplished more goals than not! 21 FO’s, one more than i hoped for! 2 sweaters! knitting for pleasure and knitting selfishly. this was kind of a big deal for me. in 2012 i experienced a bit of… knitting malaise. primarily due to taking on projects i did not have enough interest in. so i tried to be more careful about the projects i took on this year. i tried to make sure that even when i was knitting for others, that i was making choices consistent with what i wanted to be making. and it worked out! i’m still knitting a little less than i used to. but my peak was when i spent a minimum of 10 hours on a train every week. i don’t commute by train anymore. and now that i’m more active in the producing of PoPS, i don’t know that i can expect my output to equal those heights. and that’s okay. it’s just an adjustment.
stripey magee, tinker bell mitts, el pescador
this next year:
– de-stash. i want to have a stash that inspires me, not weighs me down. i don’t mind how i de-stash. it doesn’t all need to be knit up, i can donate, gift away, whatever. right now my ravelry stash claims i have 93 yarns in my stash. let’s aim for… 85 by next year? i would also like it all to fit in the closet i have allocated for it.
– try a new technique. i made a toy for the first time this year! one of the things i love love love about having knitting as my favorite hobby is that there are always new ways to challenge yourself, to learn more. if there’s a ceiling to what you can know about knitting, i’ve never glimpsed it! that said, i certainly can get sucked into remaining in my comfort zone. so this year, i want to make sure there’s at least one adventure! maybe brioche stitch? i’ve never done that. or stranded colorwork with more than 2 colors per row? maybe it’s time to get over my intarsia aversion?
– work from some new designers. while i was doing the round up, i realized how many designers i admire but haven’t knit from! so i’d like to try at least one design by joji and alicia. i’ve admired both of their styles for quite a long time now, but never made anything they’ve designed!
once upon a midnight dreary, ne me quitte pas, sloe berries
and i’m keeping the following:
– knit 20 objects. this is just a goal, not a resolution. i’d be happy with less, if they were a little larger in scope this next year.
– keep spinning. i was really loving getting back to it before i got interrupted.
slow news day, turn a square, clean slate cowl
i think that’s plenty to accomplish, honestly! i wouldn’t mind publishing another pattern, but i’m still not sure which one to pursue, so i’m not going to toss it on the official list. what did you knit this year? which was your favorite project? are you making any goals for the new year?
pattern: margaret dashwood shawl by joanna johnson
yarn: ursula’s alcove kettle sock, a gift from the lovely chronographia and her mother, 560 yards (512 meters)
needles: US size 5 (3.75mm), both because ursula’s cove is a tad lighter than the suggested loft, but also because i tend to prefer a slightly firmer stitch.
i fell in love with this pattern the moment i saw it. i’m sure you are all aware by now what a fan i am of jane austen, and period pieces. i also love historical fashion, and the sweet old-fashioned quality of this, while simultaneously transforming easily to the contemporary fashion. for a related post, i bow to the superior scholarship of kate, who recently published a pattern for a similar garment, though the knitting style is quite different: sontag.
this was my on-the-go project for several months. it lends itself well to this, being garter stitch based, one skein, easily memorized repeats. but it stayed in my purse, only to be taken out while waiting for things to happen, or long conversations, so it took awhile to complete it.
when i first began to knit, i was stuck for a very very long time on garter stitch before i really branched out. this had a bit of a whiplash effect once i did branch out, and i disliked garter stitch for feeling rather unrefined, implying a time when i did not know anything else. it took awhile, but i’ve come back around to being fond of it. now i perceive it as a really ‘handknit’ aesthetic.
how about you? any knitting qualities or stitches you stay away from? or have come around to? any strong feeling about garter specifically?
i’ve been reading north and south by elizabeth gaskell. i watched the mini series a few weeks ago on the suggestion of a friend, and fell in love with it. it took me a bit of hunting to get a copy in my hands, but i’ve been tearing through it at a pretty good pace.
i’ve been working on a test knit of sierpinski’s hat.
and i started margaret dashwood’s shawl the other night while watching game of thrones (season two). i’ve been enamored of this pattern since it was first released, so i’m hoping the end result will live up to my expectations.
other than that, i’m recovering from being ill. today is the first day i have really started to feel better. the world always seems extra cheerful and wonderful the first day after being ill, don’t you think?
so, if you read kessa‘s blog, you will have perhaps noticed that she and i indulged in a swap?
she got her package (a while ago, actually… i’m a little behind in my blogging) so now i can tell you guys all about what i made for her!
FO: rosy fingered dawn <– ravelry project page
named after homer’s usual description of eos, goddess of dawn, in the odyssey.
pattern: a mash-up of annis and echo flower shawl
yarn: madelinetosh dk in molly ringwald (isn’t that a great name for this sweet pink?), exactly two skeins. i think i had maybe 5 feet of yarn left after binding off this shawl. approximately 450 yards.
needles: US size 9 (5.5mm)
mods: well, obviously, this is true to neither pattern. when i saw elven‘s lothlorien, i just fell head over heels in love with it. so i used the same mods: the crescent shaping and length of annis, and the last two lace charts of echo flower.
it took me a few tries to get the crescent shape where i wanted it to be. in case you guys are trying to do something similar, i added an additional 6 stitches to each row, in the usual manner of the annis shaping, and that got me a gently curved edge that i like. this is such a great, versatile shape. i can imagine picking practically any lace edging from a stitch dictionary and applying it to this shape and having a satisfying result.
it’s neither here nor there, but when it came time to do my nupps, i got over-excited and made bobbles instead for the entirety of the first row (40 total, i think?). only to facepalm when it came time to purl back. ^_^ ah, well. one row ain’t so terrible.
this is probably the most color accurate. i loved the quiet peachy tones, but you gotta get right up in the shawls business to see them. they remind me of the color of the inside of a seashell.
the echo flower shawl had a bind off that i hadn’t seen used before, which doubled the yarn and had the knitter purling the bind-off row. if the shawl was knit up in a thinner yarn, lace or fingering weight, and were a low or loose ply, i think this would have the effect of weighing down the edging, and helping it to drape better. i’m not convinced that it will have the same effect with madelinetosh dk, which is sturdy, stout, and tightly plied. but i gave it a go, if for no other reason than novelty.
images of kessa are from her blog, and used with her permission. if you wanna check out what else she got in her package, she blogged it, which is good, considering i totally forgot to document it. ^_^ thanks, kessa!
j. crew gingham shirt thrifted belt target grey skirt, ballet flats
i always forget that i actually really like november. when the trees first go bare, i love looking at the shapes they make in the sky, and the cold weather is more fresh and new than frigid and overlong.
i’ve been on a quest recently for the perfect shade of nude nail polish (still pursuing this). i was really excited about trying this shade, but less so once it was on. the sparkles helped quite a lot though. my quest might… still… be… on? i’m not sure really. i like having ridiculous little quests, though. so, if this does end up being the right shade, i’ll need a new one…
i saw this bridge while i was taking the outfit pictures, but it was a little inaccessible. i’ll try to get to it in the future though!
since it’s been a really long time since i last showed you any kind of knitting, how about a wip pic?
i started this stockholm scarf (yeah, another one) on our trip to england, and it’s been my carry-around knit ever since, getting a few minutes of attention here… and then a few more minutes a couple days later… the yarn is actually from a thrifted sweater, so it’s all ramen-noodle-looking. i’m kind of excited to see the big transformation at the end, when i block it out all proper like. at the rate i’ve been knitting it, i might finish the cowl before the new year.
i finished this cowl… a little while ago now. sometimes i am a bad blogger, what can i say?
but let me tell you a story! it starts with this yarn, four(ish) skeins of which were gifted to me several years ago:
this colorway? not so much for me. but, oh, if you could feel this yarn! (it’s 70% angora, 25% merino, and 5% nylon) you would understand why i couldn’t give it away. so it stayed, languishing in my stash, uninspiring to look at but so so divinely soft…
and then last autumn, i was overdying a pair of jeans (still need to do round two with those!) and i stuck this yarn in, because a dunk to darken it up & mute the colors a little definitely couldn’t hurt it in my estimation!
and then it only took me practically a year to start knitting up the intended project! for an eliza timeline, that actually isn’t too bad…
stockholm cowl <– ravelry project page
pattern: stockholm cowl by knitted bliss
yarn: louisa harding kimono, a little over 4 skeins, 500+ yards
needles: US Size 9
i knit this up pretty verbatim to the pattern. i followed the notes to knit it up seamless and in the round. this pattern is fantastic! it is the perfect mix of easy to memorize and interesting to knit.
and then, of course, there was the drama of tearing a hole in it while it was blocking. but it’s all fixed and done now! huzzah!
FO: zig und zag cowl <– ravelry project page
pattern: zig and zag cowl by foggyknits
yarn: my very favorite worsted, stonehenge shepherds wool in pansy and lions brand wool-ease in silver grey
needles: US size 8 (5.0mm) dpns
the classic: ‘there’s something stuck to my lip gloss’
this cowl turned out much smaller than i had anticipated. it was clearly noted in the pattern that it would be smaller than the cowl shown, but because i was a test knitter, i didn’t have any project pages to browse to find out what size it would be. i followed the directions dutifully, and added a little length by doing a few repeats of the first chart when it became clear that i would need a little more length.
if i were to remake the cowl, however, i would follow the directions for the larger cowl, as i like the look of it a little better.
i used the same trick for colorwork kitchener for this cowl as i did on the triangle loop, where i did more of a duplicate stitch version of kitchener into the top side of the row, as opposed to the proper kitchener, which goes into the bottom of the row, but means that the colorwork would line up a little wonky. my version does create a little bit of excess bulk, though less than a 3 needle bind off, or a regular bind off with additional seaming to join it.
does that make sense? did i explain that well enough? is this something that would warrant a tutorial? or, conversely, is there a better way to do this?
the blog has kind of been getting away from all things fiber-y, but believe me when i say it isn’t intentional. to prove it, here’s a post about only fiber-y things!
this is my current wip (work in progress). it’s a test knit of the ZIG and ZAG cowl for foggyknits! i’m almost done… just a few chevrons away from the length i want it to be!
i stopped by the thrift store the other day, on a quest for a duplicate of the perfect belt for a friend (i found a pretty good one!), and in a little basket right next to the register were these cones of single ply fingering weight yarn, 100% new wool, 1000 yds, for $2. how was i supposed to say no? above is the cornflower blue. below is the bronze-y/split pea soup/chartreuse colored one…
no idea what to do with them. any ideas?
and in other fiber-y news, i’m working on getting the pattern for this hat finalized so i can finally publish it! jill and i met for coffee yesterday, and she was kind enough to use her photographic skillz on me and my hat:
whooo alliteration! i realized that i haven’t actually been talking much about my knitting recently. fear not, tender readers! knitting has been happening! what hasn’t been happening is pictures! but i remedied that…
seussian snood. a basic stockinette cowl, made for stash-busting and momma-birthday-present-making purposes. i still need to take some good FO shots. hopefully soon.
norby. it’s been making it’s way around ravelry recently, and everytime i saw it, i became slightly more enamored with it, until i felt that i MUST make it. while i actually have plenty of loft (and i got more for my birthday!), i have a grand plan for that yarn (more on that soon). so i was pleased when i remembered the one sad skein of sunday knits brigadoon i had in a lovely marled slightly tweedy birch grey. my hat needs a couple of tassels, and a good blocking.
and this is actually… further adventures in thrifted sweaters… i pulled out the seams of a thrifted sweater and unraveled the shoulder shaping, and then knit 2×2 ribbing to turn it into a legwarmer. i’m currently on the second sleeve-turned-legwarmer. more details on the transformation when they’re done!
today’s photo a day challenge: ‘something you wore’
oh, you know how i despise sharing my outfits with you guys…
dkny thrifted green coat
lands end birthday plaid shirt
jake borrowed belt (can you tell i’m super into this belt right now? it’s a good thing jake favors his black belt…)
target jeggings
bertie thrifted white boots
the time has come again! 2012 is in its infancy, and i’m taking a look at what i accomplished in 2011.
toast at the seaside,waldo, sr, oops, what just happened here
i made some strides in terms of knitting. i finished several long term, slightly larger scale projects. jake’s big bear beast sweater was kind of huge for me, and it took me over a year from cast on to cast off (and still isn’t 100%…). also kind of a big deal was my urban bolero, which i began reverse engineering three years ago (three!). it was a lot of math and a lot of charts, which is why it was easy to put down and a bit of headache to pick up. so i’m really proud that i finally finished it.
phoenix eternal, rain on bricks, urban bolero
stash-busting: 25 of these projects were knit out of my stash. i am including remnants of the day in that count, because despite the fact that i bought one skein of yarn for it, i used every inch of that skein in the project. the rest that weren’t knit out of my stash were commissioned knits, and i either didn’t own yarn to their specifications, or the commissioner’s bought the yarn for their projects.
heart of a nation, flames, flames at the side of my face
i’ve been stash-busting for the majority of the year. part of that means that i’ve knit several projects that have been in my mind for eons, like sideways and schmetterling. but somehow i have managed to sneak a good bit of yarn into my stash without ever buying from a local yarn store. i’ve pulled apart thrifted sweaters, and helped others by taking some of their overflowing stash, and i certainly never turned down gifted yarn. and EVERYONE knows it doesn’t count when you buy yarn on vacation. so while my intentions were good, and i have totally managed to not spend much money on yarn this year, you would never be able to tell by looking at my stash.
enter-stage right-parakeet, wild honey
the projects that were the most fun during and after were lavendulus marina, rain on bricks, remnants of the day, and oops, what just happened here. lots of fun to knit, and i’m so so pleased with all of the finished objects.
lumberjack’s delight, remnants of the day, big bear beast
2011 was kind of a big deal. at the end of 2010, i switched from livejournal to wordpress, which probably didn’t effect most of you guys in terms of my blog, but for me it was huge. the structure and organization of wordpress has been huge in making blogging easier and more enjoyable for me. i meant to do a big shebang for my wordpress changeover blogiversary, but when it passed, i was in the middle of about umpteen things. i may still do a belated changeover blogiversary. but only if i can think of a snappier name. stay tuned.
i finally published a pattern! huzzah! it wasn’t duck duck goose, as i had intended, but that ship has sailed, and i was pleased to not have to worry about those troublesome decreases anymore. it was, in fact, one of the easiest patterns of ever. but it turned out that’s a good place to start! i’d like to keep going and publish some more patterns this year.
fancy boy lip glitter, choose your own adventure #1, der waffle hat
this year, for the first time in my life, i made it off my home continent. traveling (especially to europe) has been a dream of mine for as long as i can remember, and this year i finally got to start chipping away at turning all of my dream travels into reality travels. (i don’t really have a specific post about germany, but here are all of my pictures!)
purple cowboy, i am a jelly donut, hey, princess!
this year i also started blogging about my outfits. it’s something that had been quietly lurking in the back of my thoughts for a long time without any real impetus. but when a friend introduced me to kendi, and she started her summer 30 for 30 (maybe her last? there hasn’t been a word about it recently), i jumped aboard. i did a summer 30 for 30, and one in the fall as well. (i’m thinking i’ll do another in jan/feb, per-maybe-haps?)
smoke & daggers (that’s right, i totally owe you an FO post for that one! pending, my dears.), slippers for the rustic man, nemesis!
in summation:
27 finished knits this year. honestly, the technical number is higher. there’s multiple projects that i have completely knit up and and bound off on. but some of those are bound for frogging, and some of them need a little more work and a photoshoot before they are done. i was feeling a little sad about how low my FO number was until i remembered that.
1 pattern published.
no sweater knit for myself.
grey goose, lavendulus marina, julie’s chapeau
goals:
-i would like to publish two more patterns in 2012.
-i’m just gonna keep saying it until it happens: i want to knit myself a sweater.
what about you guys? what are you happy/proud to have accomplished in 2011? what are your 2012 goals? dish.
all right, 2012. bring it on!
ifandany 