New Knitting Projects Frenzy

In preparation for my upcoming vacation to Washington state, I've been casting on new projects like crazy, so that I have a variety of items to work on for the week that I'll be gone.  I also picked up the Crochet One Skein Wonders book at the library to start browsing for easy crochet patterns.  My awesome aunt knows how to both knit and crochet, and she will be teaching me a new skill while we're out there.  This trip is what I like to call the Family Convergence Trip.  My parents and I will be on one flight, and then my brother will take a flight out of Vegas to meet all of us at the airport within the same hour.  It will be the first time our entire family has been together since Thanksgiving, plus the addition of the aunt and uncle we are venturing out to visit.  My uncle is the grand tour guide for the week, and from what I've heard he has lots of things in store for us.  It will include an overnight venture to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, thanks to everyone's last minute efforts on gathering passports.

The kitties have been exceptionally lazy the last couple days.  I think the heat made them even more sleepy than usual.  Which is fine by me - there were minimal Linus antics, unlike his usual "I must destroy everything" attitude, and Apollo sat next to me and supervised all of my knitting projects with only a couple attempts at using my yarn as kitty dental floss.



Apollo the big orange beast, and Linus the slightly smaller gray guy.  The resident yarn supervisors.

To start off my projects, here's the most recently finished and eagerly anticipated item (at least for me!) - the Owls Sweater is DONE!!  The buttons seemed to take ages to complete, but I finally powered through it on Friday night and knocked out the last few pairs that were holding me back.  It's definitely going on the trip, as nights in WA will likely be chilly enough to be considered sweater weather.  I love it!  I hate cold weather, but I'm actually legitimately excited for it to be cold enough to wear this all the time.  And I'm already considering yarns for my next sweater project - I'll be making the Vertebrae Sweater for the Fat Squirrel Speaks podcast knit-along, taking place September thru October.  Unless I find a yarn I fall in love with on vacation (I'm pushing for at least one Local Yarn Store stop), I'm planning on using Knit Picks Comfy, a 75/25 pima cotton/acrylic mix in the Planetarium color, a gorgeous greenish blue jewel tone color.



Sewing on 34 buttons is definitely less than thrilling.  But well worth the many patient hours!

I've also been making some slow but steady progress on the Bright Light Market Bag for my MIL's birthday.  It doesn't need to be done until the end of September, so I can take my time on it. The multi-colored yarn tends to pool, so it looks like waves of light!  I love these bags for gifts since they are so durable, stretchy, and easily washable.



It's starting to resemble a bag now!

On to the new projects!  I'm starting a Hitchhiker shawlette/scarf out of some souvenir yarn from last time I was at University of Illinois.  I love how it's turning out so far!  Mine is named the Hacho Hitchhiker, after the brand of yarn used.  This pattern is extremely easy.  Every stitch along the top edge is knit front and back to increase a stitch every row, and then every 8 rows, you cast off 5 stitches along the bottom to create the points.  It is great mindless knitting, as long as you have a row counter or scratch paper handy to keep track of where you're at.



I love the spikey effect, and the gradually tapering edge.  This will be so fun to wear!

Stitching Right Along

Lots of progress happening here!  I have been knitting up a storm the last few days.  I'll start right off with the fabulous Purple Owls Sweater that is rapidly nearing completion!  I think I love my second attempt at Kate Davies' ever popular Owls Pattern even more than my first version.  I've gained some improved skills with finishing, weaving in ends, stretchy cast-ons and bind-offs, and magic looping to make it more enjoyable to make and to make it look a bit more polished as well.  This one is closer to gauge, too, so it is more form fitting and a better fit in general.  My first Owls sweater was my first adult sweater, so it will always have a special place in my heart, closet, and wardrobe.  But I'm also super excited to have more Owls to add to the line-up.  Especially ones in my favorite color!

The Owls are (mostly) done!  Top right picture is most true to actual color of the yarn.  Left to do is weaving in ends, choosing and sewing on buttons, and blocking.

Right now, I'm working on weaving in the many ends.  I did the Kitchener stitch to close up the underarms last night.  There were four stitches on each arm and each side of the underarm, that are then Kitchener-ed (is that a word? it is now.) together to mostly close up the armpits.  There were small gaps on each side of the Kitchener, but certainly easier to close up little openings than a large hole a few inches across.  A lot of people I've talked to seem to have strong feelings against the Kitchener stitch, but I honestly kinda like it.  I've gotten a groove going with it, and it's easy for me to remember what to do.  It always goes smoothly for me. 

A full view of the sweater.  With Apollo prancing around in the background, and possibly a Linus in the lower right.

Since the sweater used bulky yarn, it seemed like my skeins ran out instantly.  In total, I used just under five of the six balls I purchased of the Wool of the Andes Bulky in the Blackberry color.  I love this yarn knitted up.  It's the perfect shade of purple, which in case you didn't know is my all-time favorite color EVER.  The stitches show up nicely, and it is fairly soft.  I think after a wool wash bath or two it will soften up even more.  And I only had to deal with one mid-skein knot out of all of the ones I used, so that was great. Sometimes it is a lot more.  Plus, since I overestimated yardage, I have an extra skein!  Maybe I'll make some Owl mittens, a hat, or a headband to match

Just a few of the many tools used on this sweater!

After all the finishing is done, I'll bust out my scale for a more exact yardage estimate.  And after the weaving of ends is done, I have button decisions to make.  I already know I want to put eyes on all 17 owls, which means I need 34 buttons.  I have a considerable button stash, but I only have eight maximum of any given style on hand.  Luckily, all of the ones in the running for Owl Eyes are from Joann Fabrics, so it will be easy to track down enough for these hooters' peepers.  Unfortunately... I am slow to narrow down decisions.  There's 12 possible styles, and I am nowhere close to deciding!  I think last time I laid out 8 or 9 buttons all right next to each other, one set per owl, and just stared at it for a couple hours, slowly taking set by set out of the running. 

On to my other main project!  I've cast on for the all-cotton market bag for my MIL's birthday in September.  I'm naming it the Bright Light Market Bag because the colors remind me of a sunrise, with their bright orange and yellow tones.  This is my sixth bag using the awesome Grrlfriend Market Bag pattern, and I highly recommend it if you're looking to make something similar!  I'm just starting the base now on US 6 needles to get a sturdy bottom fabric, and then once it has reached 25 stitches on each needle, I switch to circulars with US 10 or 11 needles and start the stretchy mesh sides.  These bags make great gifts - they are super durable, are washer and dryer friendly, and are endlessly useful.  Every recipient thus far has loved them!

The starts of the Bright Light bag.  This is the base, working outwards.  The multicolor Dishie yarn will be for the sides of the bag.

The orange/red/yellow on this bag is the Dishie once it is worked up.  It will look like waves of bright light!  Oh, and don't mind the kitten toes.  Linus needed to supervise me.

Speaking of sunlight colored yarns, I got myself a treat while I was in Chicago this weekend.  I had a 20% off deal, so I got a skein of Malabrigo Silkpaca Lace in the Sunset color for under $10 at Loopy Yarns.  They have a great program where if you bring in a yarn label from yarn purchased at the store and a finished object using it, you get a discount on the next yarn purchase.  I now have 420 yards of lace-weight yarn to experiment with.  I've never used such a fine weight of yarn before.  I think it is going to be a shawl.  I'll definitely be doing some Ravelry browsing to find the perfect pattern.

So excited to try a new type of yarn!  Haven't used much alpaca, never used silk, and never used lace-weight.  It will be a fun experiment!

Crazy Quick Knits

I've discovered the absolute fastest way to make a scarf.  My sister-in-law and I tried out arm knitting, and I love it!  While at the craft store looking for buttons for my Owls Sweater, I got distracted by an endcap with this arm knitting yarn in all sorts of fun and fluffy colors.  I picked up two balls, and already used up my favorite.  An entire scarf or cowl can be made in under 20 minutes.  I sense lots of these in the near future for Christmas gifts!

There are 3 ounces and 22 yards in each ball.  Full price is $6.99, but Joann Fabrics always has sales or coupons. 

This is the "Fruity" colorway.  It is 74% acrylic, 22% wool, and 4% other fibers.  Hand wash and lay flat to dry.

Just a few minutes in and already making significant progress!

And, done.  This is the full length.  One scarf/cowl uses the full ball.

I like it better doubled up.  I love warm and cozy things in the winter!

IT'S SOO FLUFFY!!

This is the other ball, in the "Spicy" colorway.  This one hasn't been used... yet.  I'm sure it will be soon, though!

When the Yarn Fights Back

I am so grumpy.  My Pretty Purple Owls Sweater project has battled me again.  This is my second time making the Owls sweater, so you would think it would go nice and easy.  But no.  First it was the sizing problem due to my lack of gauging and excitement to start without doing proper measurements.  Now, I just finished solving another crisis.  At the underarms, the pattern calls for putting 4 stitches aside on each arm and on each side of the body.  In my excitement to get the arms attached, I skipped one of those sets of stitches on an arm.  And I didn't realize that until I was 4 rows past it, and just starting the Owls chart.  Instead of moving on to the nifty part I had been waiting for, I spent my day tinking back and undoing my mistake.  So far with this project, I've learned two valuable lessons.  1.  Gauge.  I need to check it.  At the very least I need to pay closer attention to it on larger projects.  Hats, cowls, and smaller things, I'm entirely OK with ripping out and re-doing.  But large garments are an different story.  And 2.  I need to pay more attention at pattern transitions, and maybe not work on complicated bits around midnight.  But despite all these issues, it is so far coming along nicely, as you can see.

Sleeves added, this time with all of the underarm stitches in proper places.

Finally mastered the Two-at-a-time Magic Loop method.  Did both sleeves simultaneously!

In better news, I finished my Traveling Woman Shawl!  After a little over a month of efforts, it is finally off the needles!  I only had one minor crisis with this project.  While blocking it, I stretched out the fabric near one end and realized a stitch had slipped off and was not included in the bind-off.  It was now threatening to pop out and undo even more stitches.  I was able to use a piece of scrap yarn left over to loop the stitch back through a few loops and then tightly secure it.  I can only find the mistake spot by finding the yarn ends that had to be weaved in from it.  I'm so thrilled it is done, and it is light enough that it can even get some summer use.  I'm going to Washington state at the end of the month, so it will definitely get some use there.  Here it is!

Depending on the light, it will show up more blueish than purple.  I love that the colors seem to shift around!

It has about a 5'6" wingspan.

Such a cozy little shawl!  It will also work as a winter scarf if it's wrapped around a few times.

I also have a few little projects I'm starting up.  Because I obviously need half a dozen things to work on simultaneously...right?  My excuse is that since I'll be on vacation for a week, I need multiple things to work on while on the plane, in the car, or sitting around talking with family.  And I need variety so I don't get bored.  The first thing I have is the Reindeer Tracks Cowl in Misti Alpaca Baby Me Boo, an alpaca/merino/bamboo blend yarn.  It is soo soft, and it is very colorful as well.  I've never used yarn that has varied thickness, so it is taking a bit of getting used to.  But overall I like it.  Here's my progress so far.  All of five rows in.

Love love love the colors!

I'm also starting yet another stretchy Grrlfriend Market Bag.  This one will be a gift for my Mother-in-Law's birthday coming up next month.  They are so simple to make, but are super handy to have.  This will be my 6th one!

The solid orange/red will be for the bottom, top border, and the handle.  The multicolor will be for the stretchy body of the bag.

A Re-Do and Some New Beginnings

Being a risky knitter has come back to bite me.  I don't gauge swatch.  Ever.  I just take my best guess on how things will turn out and dive right in.  For small things, this is fine.  If my gauge is off on a hat or cowl, then it's not a huge deal to me to rip it out, or keep going and add it to the gifting pile.  But for a sweater, especially one that I really want for myself like the Purple Owls... that causes problems.  When I made the first one, I made size 2 and it came out a bit big, so I figured this time around I'd use size 1.  But I did not take into account the slightly thinner yarn.  So upon trying on my several inches of progress, I realized it was super tight.  Not just form fitting tight, but corset levels of air constricting tight.  No good.  So I reluctantly ripped it out, re-wound the yarn, and started over on the next size.  I just tried it on again, and it's much more suitable.  It's form fitting, but with plenty of breathing space, and even a little bit of layering space.  And I'm up to about the point where I had to rip it out before.  I have done the waist decreases, and am in the middle of the waist increases.  I also remembered the part of this sweater that I did not like doing the first time around - magic loop sleeves.  I'm just not a fan of it.  I like DPNs better.  But it's difficult to find DPNs in sizes above 8, so it looks like I'm stuck with magic loop for now.  I suppose it is better for this, since I seem to be prone to getting ladders when using larger sized DPNs.  Maybe with a bit more practice I will learn to love it.

The waist decreases are moving right along... for the second time.

I also finally found a matching pattern for my Mirasol Hacho Yarn.  I'll be making the very popular Hitchhiker Shawl.  Due to my yardage, mine will likely be smaller than the pattern shows.  But I really think the colors will work quite well for this scarf.  I can't wait to start it!  I'm trying to hold back though.  I need to finish a few other In-Progress items before I can justify starting this up.

Paired together!

One of my usually non-knitting related hobbies is thrift store shopping with the husband.  Earlier this week, I got lucky and found some high-quality yarns at Goodwill, so I have some bargain bin new material to work with eventually.  The first one is Spud and Chloe Sweater in Moonlight, a very soft 55/45 wool/cotton blend.  It's quite soft, so I think it will make a great baby sweater, hat, or fingeless gloves.  The other one is a small ball of 100% superwash merino wool.  It's not a brand I've really heard of before, but I'm certainly excited to find a use for it.  Total cost for these was only $4, compared to the $23 it would have cost new.  Yay for bargain finds!

The awesome Goodwill finds from this week!