Chakra with Mittens

The Pattern: Chakra by Alysa Joaquin
The Yarn: 1 ball Noro Kureyon in #253 Turq, Royal, Red, Pink 1 ball (110yds/100m) and 1 ball Ella Rae Classic Superwash in cream (219yds/200m)
Needle size: US 7 (4.5mm)

Started: 8/12/11
Finished: 8/13/11

I knit this hat once before for a swap. I loved it, but I had to give it away. So I decided I'd make one for myself.

This time I decided to make mittens too. I made up the pattern as I went along.

Have you seen this?

It is a fun little video. The creator describes this it as "a short stop motion, knitted adventure about a boy and his cat who travel far and wide to deliver parcels in their little red plane."

Baby Kimono x2

The Pattern: Garter Stitch Baby Kimono by Joji Locatelli
Size: 1-3 months
The Yarn: Rowan RYC Siena (153.0yds/139.9m) in Flounce (3 balls), Grasshopper (3 balls), and Frost (1 ball)
Needle size: US 4/3.5mm

Started: 7/6/11
Finished: 8/11/11

Quick knits made for these two cuties, our soon to be god-kids. Twins born to good friends of ours. The one with the smirk is Grant and Gabby is the angel on the right.

I had a larger vertical gauge than was called for so I didn't do as many decreases along the neckline, so the necks ended up a little tight.

The edging is an applied I-cord.

Overall they turned out pretty cute.

Deluxe Oblique

I love love love this sweater and I almost ruined it!

The Pattern: Oblique by Veronik Avery
Size: XS
The Yarn: Gedifra Shetland Deluxe in Med Brown (9293) 9 skeins (1143yds/1045.2m)
Needle size: US 7 and 9

Started: 1/26/11
Finished: 2/21/11

This sweater sucked up more yarn than was called for.
I only worked 2.5” of twisted rib on cuffs (I didn't do a reverse cuff as called for), my sleeves were still pretty long. I also eliminated rows 13-16 (36 sts remain unworked at each end of Row 12) of collar and then skipped to rows 17-20.
I still ended up using every last strand of yarn (a couple hundred more yards than specified) and then had to sew some of the seams with a different yarn.

I really hate sewing seams, I am just not good at it. But I wasn't sure I could figure out the shaping if I tried doing this in the round. So I sucked it up and knit everything in pieces :'(

This sweater turned out really well. I loved the fit and the yarn was soft and silky. Then I lost my mind and put it in the washing machine where is was viciously shrunk to 2/3 its size!
After several hundred gallons of tears and some elbow grease I managed to reblock it to the correct dimensions. Although the yarn has lost some of its silky softness *sniff, sniff* it still remains one of my favorite knits.

Keeping Warm

It is a little hard to think about these legwarmers during 90 degree summer weather. But during January in Minnesota these were fabulous.

The Pattern: Bulky Cabled Legwarmers with Buttons by Liat Gat
The Yarn: Cascade Yarns 220 1 skein in black (220yds/201.2m)
Needle size: US 14 - I think, I forgot to write it down again :'(

Started: 12/29/10
Finished: 1/19/11

I made these as a gift for myself :) It seem appropriate to post them today since its my birthday.
I've been looking for a good pair of tall boots for awhile now, but I just haven't fallen in love with any yet and I don't want to shell out a few hundred dollars on something I don't love or $80+ on something that isn't going to last.

So I decided that I would knit some legwarmers to help keep me warm until my I find my sole mates.

I used this yarn double stranded and I'm pretty sure that I used size 14 needles. I'm really kicking myself for forgetting to record my needle sizes Aargh!
I really love how these turned out. They look cool and really help keep me warm.

Eggplant Ascot

Continuing with the gifts. I made this ascot for a friend's January birthday. It is being modeled by my mommy.

The Pattern: Huckleberry Ascot by Kat Coyle
The Yarn: Frog Tree Alpaca Sportweight in Eggplant 2 skeins (260yds/237.7m)
Needle size: US 6

Started: 12/25/10
Finished: 12/27/10

I really like the Frog Tree Alpaca, soft and light.

Short rows are used to get the ends to flair out.

Then you pick up stitches along the edges and line them with bobbles.
A very nice looking quick knit.

Heads and Hands

I had a lot of time off in Dec and Jan so I made hat and mitten sets for Megan and Anna.

The Hat Pattern: Ear Cozies (CH-34) by Bev Galeskas
Hat Sizes: Large for Megan and Medium for Anna

The Mitten Pattern: Kathy's Mittens by Chris de Longpré
Mitten Sizes: Preschool for Megan and Toddler for Anna

The Yarn: 1 skein of Lion Brand Vanna's Choice Baby in Berrylicious and 1 skein each of Caron Simply Soft Party Black Sparkle and Purple Sparkle
Needle size: US 9

Started: 1/5/11
Finished: 1/14/11

I really like the ear cozie pattern. It has two versions the pointed and rounded. I made the pointed for Anna in the past, so I used the rounded this time and added pom poms.

I wanted the sets to be similar, but not identical. So for the body of Anna's mittens and hat I used a polka dot pattern.
Anna has the hat on backwards in this picture. When it is turned around the cozies fit over her ears better.

Then for Megan I did stripes. Hmmm Megan has her hat on backwards too, I can see the seam O_o
The mitten pattern was relatively easy to follow. The only modification I made was lengthening the cuffs.

Christmas Cardigans

The nieces and nephew recieved cardigans this past Christmas

This is Wes (4mo.) in his old man sweater. I love this picture, he looks like such a little gentleman.

The Pattern: Baby Sophisticate by Linden Down
Size: 6-12 mo.
The Yarn: Berroco Vintage™ Chunky 1 3/4 skeins of Crackled Pepper 6107 (227.5yds/208m)
Needle size: US 8 or 9, sorry I forgot :'(

Started: 11/23/10
Finished: 11/30/10

This is a very easy to follow pattern and I love the shawl collar. I also really liked the yarn, it was nice and soft.

These plastic buttons fashioned to look like woven leather really helped complete the look.

Continuing from youngest to oldest...this is Anna (2 yrs 8 mos). with my brother. She is wearing Tiny Tea Leaves

The Pattern: Tiny Tea Leaves by Melissa LaBarre
Size: 3/4 yrs
The Yarn: Knit Picks Shine Sport in Grass 4.5 skeins (495yds/452.6m)
Needle size: US 7 and 8

Started: 11/13/10
Finished: 12/20/10

I was worried about the neckline. A lot of projects on Ravelry seemed to have loose necks, which I didn't want. So for garter stitches on the yoke I used the smaller needles. It helped tightened up the neckline, so it didn't look sloppy.

The yarn was from my stash. I had started making the hexacomb cardigan with it, but didn't really like how it was turning out so I frogged it. I think it worked well for this project though.

And here is Megan (4 1/2 yrs). I started out planning to make the Lion Brand hooded raglan cardigan, but realized it required a lot of seaming. So I switched to the Duck Soup pattern eliminating the knot on the hood and replacing the garter stitch edge with a 2x2 rib.

The Pattern: Duck Soup by Anny Purls
Size: 4/5 yrs
The Yarn: Lion Bran Wool Ease Chunky in Wheat 2.25 skeins (344.3yds/314.8m)
Needle size: US 11

Started: 12/20/10
Finished: 12/23/10

I had already bought the yarn called for in the LB hooded cardi, but it is a lot heavier than what is called for in the duck soup pattern. So I followed the instructions for the 3 mo. size for the stitch counts (remember that you still need to follow the vertical height measurements for the 4/5 size).

In order to do the 2x2 edging along the button bands and hood I eliminated 9 stitches on each side. When you get to the raglan increases start the row with K1 M1 place marker M1 work 2 sts for the sleeve M1 place marker M1 following pattern instructions for the number of stitches along the back then M1 place marker M1 work 2 for the sleeve M1 place marker M1 K1.

When you're finished with the hood and body pick up stitches along the edge to create the 2x2 rib. I used a 2:3 ration. Remember to add evenly space button holes on one side of the band.

If you look at the first pic you'll notice I knit the sleeves a little too short the first time around, so I had to go back and lengthen them. Unfortunately I didn't get a new pic.

Kiki Mariko

I've basically been finished with this for over a year now. I've been waiting to post it 'cause I kept thinking that I would get around to binding the edge. But I don't think that'll ever happen :)

The Pattern: Kiki Mariko from Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines by Kay Gardiner and Ann Meador Shayne
Size: 42.5 in x 35 in (108 cm x 89 cm) before felting
        37.5 in x 29 in (96 cm x 74 cm) after felting
The Yarn: Valley Yarns Berkshire Bulky 2 balls of Chocolate and 1 ball each of Lime, Navy, Red-Purple, Burgundy, Pumpkin, Gold, and Oatmeal (108yds/99m)
Needle size: US 11 - 8.0 mm

Started: 6/6/10
Finished: 6/13/10

This is a colorwork project knit in the round, so you basically end up with a big tube.

A checkerboard pattern is knit at the beginning and end of the round to form the steeked egde.

To felt the rug I placed it in a pillow case and put it through the hot wash cycle of my washing machine.

As you cut through the middle of the checkerboard pattern your knitting will not unravel because the separate strands of yarn were fused together during the felting process.

The steek should be cut while the rug is still wet from washing, so that you can shape the rug. It took a lot of pulling and stretching to get the rug into a even rectangle. With a little more effort I could have also straighten out the edges. But I liked the slightly wavy look, so I left them alone.

The felting creates a nice tight fabric.

This is the edge that I had meant to bind in brown using a whip stitch. I just never got around to it and after a year I don't think I ever will. And I like the checkerboard pattern just as it is anyway.