Knitting in a Holidaze

My dad noted that I hadn't been posting a lot lately. And this is true. I have been busy with work and I have also been working on Christmas knitting gifts so I haven't wanted to spill the beans (not that any of the recipients read my blog). Now I can tell a little bit because I have given one knitted gift already, to my friend Stacey. She runs, and I thought this would be nice on cold days:

I used the Braided Ear Warmer pattern in Rowan Lima and it knitted up pretty fast on the metro and home after work. It is super soft and feels like it will keep her ears nice and toasty. I was worried that the cables wouldn't show up but they ended up much more defined than I thought.

Another gift I just finished and can share here is the Zelda Cloche from the most recent KnitScene magazine which I made for my husband's aunt using Karabella Soft Tweed. I loved the colors used for the hat in the magazine and the model totally worked it! I felt like my aunt-in-law would like something a bit more neutral, however, so I used a brown color for the contrast stripes. I absolutely love this yarn. I have several skeins of it hanging about and I want to make a Turn a Square hat in it for my husband, but the way my holiday knitting is going, I think this is going to be a 2012 project.

So here is the cloche. I will be replacing the button for a toggle button because I don't like the way this button looks. I was just curious to see how the loop worked.

Cowls and Socks and Podcasts, Oh My!

So many things to talk about today. First, obviously, the WIPs for WIPW:  

My second burberry inspired cowl

I only have one more repeat left to do in this pattern and then the most annoying challenging part- kitchener stitching it all together. I am actually looking forward to it a little bit because I feel like I  have the kitchener rhythm down now (famous last  words).

sock

Then there's my sock, which I took out on the metro today instead of the cowl because it was rainy and gross outside and I didn't want the cowl to get soaked from people dripping their umbrellas or jacket sleeves all over it.


I think I am still on track to finish this sock by the end of Socktober, thus meeting my goal of completing my first pair of socks but it would have been nice to make two pairs. I know, I know. Given my schedule that is not only greedy but also ridiculous and impossible. There is something wrong with me.

After Socktober of course, comes Glovember (join my group on Ravelry!) during which I will be completing a pair of handwarmers for a good friend. I started them in the spring so yeah...good timing.

What else to share? What else? Oh well there's this- poor little penguins. Apparently they have enough sweaters now, oops, jumpers? But it doesn't hurt to keep some handy and model them on your cats. Do send pictures if you do. 

cats love being dressed, promise!

There's also this, which I heard about on Cast On. It is so cool. I want one.

ALSO- what is going on with Cast On? And Never Not Knitting? Is everyone leaving the podcast-o-sphere? Where did Sticks and String go? Thank goodness I still have Just One More Row and 2 Knit Lit  Chicks and Stash and Burn. I don't know what I am going to do when I am caught up with all the episodes.

My knitting podcast obsession started several weeks ago when I started a new work project. My work involves looking at hundreds of billions of boring documents all day. It doesn't involve a lot of brain activity though and so we are allowed to listen to music or whatever else while we do this. It became pretty clear early on that ABBA Gold loses its magical powers when you listen to it three times a day and I didn't want to waste it so I turned to podcasts. Generally speaking, they have changed my life. I listen to NPR, The Nerdist, WTF, Rachel Maddow, Freakonomics to name a few (I am not linking to them all) and I feel like I learn all these cool things every day. I also listen to a whole bunch of knitting related podcasts. Ones I didn't mention above that I have started listening to are YarnGasm, Cogknitive and Purl Diving (are there any more I should be listening to? I prefer them to be over half an hour and audio only so I can pay attention to my computer screen).Oh no! There are not going to be any new Purl Diving episodes either.

My only issue with the podcasts, the knitting ones specifically, is that I can't keep up with all the knitting I am hearing about. Relatively speaking, I am quite a new knitter, but because of the podcasts I feel like I know all this stuff which I don't have the time to put into practice all at once. I want to do cool things like the ravolympics, or go to fiber festivals, or dye my own yarn because it all sounds SO AWESOME. But I am at work, working, and I just can't. The good side of it is that I am constantly inspired and look forward to going to work, if only to learn about what is going on out there in the world. All these podcasts have also inspired me to create my own, but that dream has been hindered by my work and volunteering schedule the past few months. I hope to get my weeknights back at the end of next week (finally) as well as my weekends, and am going to start putting together episodes then. Phew.

This has been a very long post for me so I am going to go and work on my cowl now. I hope to be able to update soon with pictures of the matching hat I will be casting on tomorrow if not (fingers crossed) tonight.

WIP 'em out Wednesday!

It has been a busy week, both knitting and otherwise. My mother-in-law is visiting this weekend so I have been making sure things are neat and tidy and that I have the house stocked up with yummy snacks. I have made quite a few runs to the grocery store and I am finally done with all the preparations so I can relax and hang out when she is here. Also, now I can knit without guilt. Phew.

In keeping with the WIP Wednesday theme- this week I am continuing work on my second sock. It has become my Metro project as it fits in a teeny bag I can slip into the side compartment of my pocketbook. Now I have reached the part of the sock where I just have to continue knitting in the round until it is a little shorter than the rest of my foot, so it is perfect for picking up and putting down when I get on and off the train.






I am more excited about my second WIP- my first adult size sweater. It's for me, of course, and I can't wait to wear it! I am not thrilled with the yarn (Palette from Knit Picks) but it appears several people on Ravelry have also used it, so maybe it will be okay. The pattern is adorable and I am knitting it up in similar colors because I love the grey/yellow combination.

Finally, something I thought I would be posted as a WIP graduated to FO last night and I couldn't be happier/prouder. It is a hat to match my stripey sweater. Aren't they going to look so cute together!?

Too Much Brim

The brambles hat has dried, and it is too big. The band. If the band was smaller/tighter it would be just wonderful. It covers my head down to my eyebrows and over my ears. It could go down over my eyes if I wanted it to. It might be useful if I have to go run an errand with my curlers in, but I don't see that happening more than once every few years or so. I guess I am going to have to try this one again. Good thing it was fun to knit and this time I can fix the wonky cable.

I have binded (bound?) off on the zebra striped sweater. It looks pretty good. All I have to do know is close the holes under the armpits! Yay!

My Hat Won't Dry!

My beautiful brambles hat is still not dry! I soaked it, stretched it out over a dinner plate and scrunched in the brim as instructed. It has been two days and it is still damp to the touch. I can't wait to try it on. I am almost finished (or so I keep telling myself) with the zebra striped sweater- I am a little concerned about sewing up the arm holes because I don't really understand kitchener's stitch even though I have watched many how-to videos and been shown how in person. Not looking forward to that. Also I am curious to try this sweater in just one color and possibly with garter stitch edging- I think it would go way faster and I would want to try button loops and big buttons instead of the smaller buttonholes. Hope to finish tonight- both sleeves have been attached and hope to start the decreases in the shoulder area soon!!

Blocking Time

Unblocked

 

So I have completed the brambles hat and now it is soaking in a bowl on my kitchen counter. After reading a lot about blocking and Soak, I decided that I want to buy some Soak because it sounds awesome but for right now a squirt of baby shampoo would have to do because I cannot wait to stretch that baby over a dinner plate.

I think I should have opted for a smaller size (I started the chart at the beginning instead of at row nine) and one of the cables is definitely a bit messed up but you can't really tell. And it's for me- I don't mind a fincable! Anyway, that's one less thing on my UFO list and it's one of the first things I have cast on for me in ages, maybe ever, although I did keep something else I made for no one in particular.

When Your Kittycat is Not a Knittycat

My cat hates knitting. Actually, I'm pretty sure she loves knitting because she's really into playing with yarn and chewing up my bamboo needles and clawing through finished projects. She just hates me knitting. Right now she is sitting on the chart I need for this beautiful hat. I have had my eye on it on Ravelry for a while and I was pretty eager to cast on and complete my ribbing and begin the cable patterns shown on the chart. Despite my best efforts the ribbed edge isn't perfect mainly because I hate unknitting in the round and I figured since it was for me it wasn't a big deal. I may have fudged the increases as well. But now I am almost upto a cable row! But Missy is on the pattern. Of course.