So I actually have another finished project to share. I have been knitting lately, and I need to blog about it more! This quick little project was one that was related to work and with our recent cold weather, and late snow storm, I might have a reason to wear this one!

My store hosts a monthly Knit Along for our customers. Twelve projects were chosen from 101 Designer One Skein Wonders and we knit one up each month. Normally, yarn isn’t really my department, but a coworker had a previous commitment and drafted me to fill in. She gave me her sample for the spiral hat worked in varigated Paton’s Soy Wool Stripes, which turned out nicely. Since I thought it would be wise to actually work into the project a bit, I picked up some yarn and cast on for a hat for myself.

Here’s what I came up with
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I love the way this worked up in a solid color even better. I really think it shows off the stitch pattern, and the gorgeous spiral is even more front-and-center.

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I used Louisa Harding, Grace Silk-Wool for my version. I wanted something just a bit softer that Paton’s which is what we recommended to the KAL members. I also wanted something just a bit thinner than the Paton’s as well. I have a relatively small head, and short hair, so not much to fill up a bigger hat. The guage worked out nicely in the alternative yarn I would say.

More knitting and sewing coming soon! I have stepped off the deep end and started a sweater. It’s finally to the point where pictures will do it justice, so I’ll take some pictures.

Hello again,  I have been absent for quite a while.  Mr. Nemesis and I finally returned home and are re-settled in our apartment again.  I have been busy busy at work.  Apparently I was missed because I got tossed right back into the fray at work. 

I haven’t had a lot of time for projects since I got back.  I have been doing a lot of work to get my apartment cleaned out.  I got back and realized just how much junk I have sitting around, that I just don’t use.  Amazing what sitting in a (rather sparsely) furnished government issue apartment will teach you!   So I got back and realized just how much I have in crafty supplies.  In honor of a New Years resolution to use up some of my stash I bring you Tudora.

This little pattern was from Knitty’s Winter 2007 issue. This simple asymetrical neckwarmer made a great stashbusting project for me. As well as my first finshed project of 2009. I learned how to do cabling as well. I loved the Tudor theme of this project. As my family and friends can attest I am a history junkie with a particular interest in the Tudor and Elizabethan era’s of British history.

I found the perfect buttons for this in my stash, a stylized pewter rose fits with the Tudor theme perfectly. The pattern was designed with only one button, so this was my first time making substantial changes to a pattern. I added and extra button hole and also changed the stitch pattern of the button flap. I really feel that 2 buttons balances the look of the piece better anyway. I have seen other versions using a much larger single button or toggle type closure.

I will try to have a few more things to put up here soon. My work schedule has evened out a bit now, so I am having a bit more time to work on crafty pursuits…..plus I cleaned out my studio/guest room and rediscovered all my treasures

Hi All,

I just wanted to post and say Happy Thanksgiving everyone! My house smells like cinnamon from the home-made pecan caramel rolls (recipe on Breadworld.com, the Fleishmanns yeast website) and I’m just relaxing after dinner with friends and an afternoon spent at Mission Bay Park flying kites. I am thankful that I have had so long here in San Diego to explore so many new things with Mr. Nemesis. We have had a chance to visit so many fun places, and try out lots of new activities, as well as a few old favorites. I have been able to spend more time getting to know Mr. Nemesis’s family, especially my siblings-in-law, which has been great fun. I have also been fortunate enough to have several of our friends stationed down here, and to make several new ones.

Since my time is coming to a close, less than 3 weeks now! I have been feeling the time crunch and started cranking out knitting projects. I know when I get home I will have plenty to do with work and holidays, and getting back to my sewing.

So here are a few of my latest finished objects.

Here is Turn A Square from Brooklyn Tweed My super simple project used some scraps of Berroco Ultra Alpaca and Noro Silk Garden. I did use a smaller set of needles than called for, which was good, the hat is still a bit big on me, it would work better if I had longer hair to fit under there. This took about 8 hours to make, so I was done in 2 days.

This next one is a titch blurry and not quite as much of a close up as I wanted, but its the best I could do by myself in my living room mirror. At least you can get an idea of the fit.

Here is the view from the top. I really liked the raglan decreases on this pattern. They really give a tailored look to the hat.

Next up is the popular Chevron Scarf Pattern from the book Last Minute Knitted Gifts I made my scarf with Socks that Rock Medium weight. Its an awesome yarn that I can’t say enough good things about. My version is made in the Lagoon and Algae colorways. This is a hugely long scarf…..mine turned out around 8-9 ft long. I don’t have a long enough tape measure to check it with. I do have to say there is no way that this qualifies as a last minute gift….It would have taken me probably 40-60 hours of knitting to do this, but since I have been working on it since last February, so I’m really not sure.

The last finished project I have to share now, is the Gust Scarf from Anne Hanson at Knitspot. I actually purchased the yarn and pattern together as a kit at Ball and Skein The yarn is a lace-weight 80/20 Alpaca and Silk blend called Arequipa. I was really pleased with how this yarn knitted up, and am just absolutely thrilled with my first lace project. The pattern was well written and easy to follow, with both a chart and written instructions.

I’m putting this picture in full size so you can see the lace pattern better. This lovely colorway was a fabulous combination of purples, lavendars, charcoal, and black.

So there you have it, my projects for the last 3 weeks. Oops, there go my cinnamon rolls. Happy Thanksgiving everyone, have a safe trip if you are travelling and otherwise may your pumpkin pie be spicy and your turkey be moist

Hi All,

It’s been an interesting week or so, since my last post. I finally finished a Monkey Sock! This one has been on the needles for so long it’s not even funny. I had finished it up to the point of the heel and just kind of put it aside. I heel flap was diffrent for me, as my first sock was done with a short row heel.

This is how it turned out! I am really pleased, as this was my first project using in any type of lace patterning, and chart reading. Although, let me tell you, I sure am glad all this was written out long-hand…..I really don’t like trying to read charts….it’s so hard for me and I kept losing my place. I also really have a hard time with charted cross stitch as well….I’ve only been working on the same cross stitc project for the last 8 years .

I haven’t started the second one yet……I did start a different sock entirely. I needed a bit of a change of pace sock wise, and am working on the Cedar Creek Sock by Kaci Kyler Hays. This one is a much more simple pattern, that I have been able to memorize. I’m already 4″ into this sucker, so it’s going quickly. I guess I have the Second Sock Syndrome that I have heard so much about I don’t have any pictures of this one yet, but will post as soon as its recognizable. The yarn is a great Socks That Rock yarn in the Hard Rock Colorway

So in other news. We went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park last week. What a fun day! It was only in the mid 90’s so it was a good day to go out there. We hit it in the afternoon, with the intention of doing “The Park at Dark” which was just them staying open late. It ended up being a smart move, as many of the animals were a lot more active. Since we received a membership to the park as a gift (Thanks Mom and Dad!) we had some money to put towards one of the additional activities. We went ahead and sprung for the Photo Caravan Safari. It was a great move on our part, they take you out in a truck and actually drive through the enclosures….additionally, you get to hand feed an animal! We hit the Giraffe feeding which was awesome…..but I must warn you, giraffes have the longest, stickiest, and bluest toungues I have ever seen.

Mr. Nemesis got lucky and managed to lure this little (in relative terms) cutie over to feed.
This guy was one of the baby giraffes, he was about 8 feet tall! Here are the two of us with the Mama giraffe. Please ignore the really awful tan lines!

Here I am with the Mama Giraffe. She was not shy about nosing around you to get at those yummy yummy leaves. One of the other girls on the tour got her ear licked by the baby…..She needed about 4 wet wipes to get off all the giraffe spit.

We also got a lovely close up view of these guys too. Cape Buffalo….Unfortunately, I couldn’t talk to the guide into going out and staring it down a’ la’ Crocodile Dundee. This one was definitely giving us the stink eye. I have some other great shots of an ornery ostrich, the cutest little baby rhinocerose and his mama, and various and sundry other critters. They may make appearances here from time to time.

Hope everyone is having a great end of summer!

Well after moving, I finally found my USB cable so I could download my pictures! I got my bag felted yesterday.

Wow, it’s finally finished! Nearly a year later, I have finally got this beast done. While not a particularly difficult pattern, it was a long term project for me. This has been such a busy year, that I have been working on several knitting projects simultaneously.

The French Market Bag on Knitty was designed by Polly Outwhaite. The bag itself on Knitty wasn’t particularly inspiring to me, but after seeing this version by PA KnitWit, I was inspired to make my own. I loved her use of Paton’s Soy Wool Stripes.

So my version is Paton’s Soy Wool Stripes; 6 balls. After looking at the pattern I was puzzled why such small needles were used for a felting project. That really kind of worried me, because I like a really tight felt….and it always seems like the tighter I knit, the less it really felts up the way I like it. So I did go up from the recommended size 7 needles to size 10’s.

Despite making it about 4 inches taller than the pattern called for, it still was smaller than I expected, but I am guessing that might be due to how tight I got it felted.

I did notice that the yarn felted up really nice and tightly, but it had an awful lot of fuzzy halo around it. The fuzz was so long that it kind of ended up matted and sticking up funny. I wasn’t so happy with that, but a good once over with a set of Barber clippers set on No. 2 fixed that.

I am definitely pleased with the outcome, and can always use knitting bags and totes, so this works great. I would certainly recommend the pattern, it is quite easy using simple increases, decreases, and stockinette stitch. It’s a good introduction to Kitchner stitch used to graft the handles together, especially given that it’s felted, so if you goof it like I did, no one will ever know

Thanks for reading! Monkey Sock pictures coming soon!

Hi Everyone,

I think I have finally gotten into the groove with my knitting. I have had The French Market Bag from Knitty on the needles since last October. It’s not a particularly complicated pattern, it just was rather tedious to knit through the miles of stockinette stitch on the body of the bag.

I haven’t been able to felt it yet, as I only have access to laundromat style machine at our temporary housing. But here is a picture of it unfelted.

I think we will be moving into permanent housing next week, with hopefully our own washer and dryer, I will be able to do the felting. If not, then it will just have to wait until I get home this winter.

I have also been working on the ever so popular Monkey Sock by designer Cookie A. This is my second pair of socks, and these have also been on the needles for a long time…..Over a year in this case! I like the pattern, but got sidetracked with other projects, and kind of lost my vision for them. Mine are in my favorite Socks that Rock yarn, in the Rolling Stone colorway. I am nearly finished with the first sock. I think now that I have the pattern down, and have gotten through the heel (this is the first time I haven’t done a short row heel, so it’s a little different for me) the second sock will be a lot smoother.

I will have pictures of the sock soon! In the meantime here are a couple more shots from our San Diego adventures!

From  the Shamu show “Believe”  I don’t remember which whale this one was, but its not Shamu.

The whale trainers really have to be in great shape for this to work.  In order to do this stunt the trainer had to dive to the bottom of the really deep tank so the whale could get a good momentum going to get the trainer up.  They are under water for quite a while!

This lady trainer was great!  She actually “surfed” around the tank on this guys back.  Boy, were these whales spoiled rotten!

The elusive Mr. Nemesis!  I finally got a picture of him, he isn’t too big on pictures……This is right before the dolphin show Ignite.  Fireworks and Dolphins OH MY!  Actually it was a good show, but very difficult to photograph.  Since it was full dark, I didn’t really get any good shots of the dolphins or pilot whales that were performing, the back lighting from the pyrotechnics was too brigh for my little camera.  I got smart and took my little one with me, it fits in a ziplock bag so it doesn’t get splashed

Ok,  Next up, the Baby Bolero from One Skein by Leigh Radford.

This was another sample for work.  Since we don’t carry the recommend Blue Sky Alpaca’s yarn, I used Lion Brand Organic Cotton in the “Bark” colorway.  It was a reasonable substitution, but I remember that I really don’t care to knit with cotton all that much.  All the cotton yarns I have worked with shed and split a lot.  This was really no exeption.  But it did block out much nicer than I had thought it would.

I have discovered, despite sewing for many many years now, that I really hate seaming my knitted garments.  Its not second nature for me like hand sewing is.  The blocking definitely helped with the poor seaming job, but I’m still not really happy with it.  I probably need to break down and take a class on finishing, since once I see how things are done, I can usually copy them with reasonable success.

Despite my issues, I am still thrilled with how nicely this turned out, and I’m ready to jump into more knitted garments.  I’m not quite ready to do sweaters for myself yet…..I wan’t to work out my issues with finishing before I try that.  But still. this was a fun little knit, and only ended up taking about 8-9 hours of work.  Someone faster could certainly turn this out in a day. 

*Note – There are errata for this pattern listed at the designer website.  I also increased the number of sleeve stitches by 2 on the sleeve increases.  I don’t think I could have gotten them to fit otherwise.

Well, I found another knitting project to embark on.  I have started a chevron scarf from Joelle Hoverson’s Last Minute Knitted Gifts So far this is a super simple project.  I have been eyeballing this project for a while and just happened upon my ideal color scheme.

I chose Socks that Rock Yarn in medium weight from my stash in the Lagoon and Algae colorways and away I went.

Here a couple pictures of my scarf thus far.

I’m very much liking this color combination.  I was really wondering what I was going to use for this one, but seeing those two colors next to each other really jumped out at me.  I wanted something a little more subtle than some of the other versions I have seen.  I think this one will be for me, unless one of my family members really just decides that they must have it.  Now I will just have to order another skein of the algae colorway, since I had bought it for a different project.

Happy knitting

I had a few questions come up about this, so I thought I would address it.  The original Lizard Ridge pattern did not call for a backing.  The blanket was just supposed to be seamed.  After looking at the back of the blanket, I didn’t care for the look of the seaming and garter stitch fabric on the back.  I just really prefer a more finished look, especially for the amount of time and money spent on this piece.

 First of all the choice of fabric to back the blanket is extremely important.  I chose a light weight polar fleece, because it had similar degree of stretch as the knitted blanket did.  Also, fleece is 60″ wide and the blanket was 54″.  I wanted to make sure that I didn’t have to piece the back side to make something big enough. 

 Had I chosen a woven (non-stretchy) fabric I would have had a miserable time trying to match up the the edges because the knit fabric would stretch out.  I layed the fleece out on the floor, making sure that it was particularly smooth, if just slightly stretched.  I layed the blanket on top of the fleece, and smoothed it and stretched it taught.  I trimmed the excess fleece away making two matching layers. 

After getting my two layers set.  I took large safety pins and pinned through both layers of fabric at the corner of each square to keep things from shifting around.  I took the yarn that I intended to use as edging and also used it to whip stitch each layer together.  I kept the stitches approximately 1/4″ apart.  The most difficult part of this was getting the yarn through the very tight weave of the polar fleece.  In order to get the needle through the fleece easier I used a rubber jar lid gripper to get a good grip on the needle.

In the pictures you can also see that I tied the blanket, rather like a quilt.  I tied through to the back of the blanket so I wouldn’t have visible ties on front.   Each tie is at the corner of each square, and trimmed to about a 1/2 inch on the back of the blanket.  The tie is hidden on the front, so it doesn’t distract.

In order to pick up the stitches for the crochet border I used the whip stitching as a guideline to pick them up evenly.

If there are anymore questions on backing, please let me know.  I will be happy to answer any additional questions.

After a years worth of work, a lot money the Lizard Ridge is finally finished.  I absolutely love how it turned out. 

 I did end up backing it.  I found a lightweight polar fleece that matched the edging yarn exactly and stitched it to the back.  I chose fleece because the stretch was similar to the stretch of the knitted fabric.  Sewing together two different fabrics with different degrees of stretch is a real mess, but because these were so similar, I just slapped one on top of the other and whip stitched around the edge.  The beauty of this is that the whip stitching is completely hidden on the front by the crocheted edging.  I did end up tieing it as you would a quilt, but I tied it on the back rather than the front. 

 Without further ado, here are pictures of the finished blanket.

~Finally Finished~