Ta-Da! Tuesday #22

Good Morning and Happy Ta-Da! Tuesday Everyone!

Today is Ta-Da! Tuesday and there is definitely a Ta-Da!, but we are going to change it up a bit this week.  For those of you new to the blog, I am a knitter, crocheter, and -- recently -- a spinner.  What you may not know, however, is that I am married to a wonderful woman who -- in order to spend more quality time with me -- decided last spring to take a class and learn to knit.

R has been knitting now for about 10 months and is a natural.  She has fearlessly tackled cables, lace, and the altering of patterns to suit her own personal style.

This morning R will be guest blogging about her most recent FO.  It is a beautiful piece and I know you will all enjoy her way with yarn as well as her way with words.

Please welcome my better half, R...

Thanks! It's true--I used to be the one who was the oft-spotted "yarn spouse", standing around aimlessly, staring at all the colors and types of fiber and waiting impatiently for J to hurry the heck up. Then I started paying attention to all the pretty colors. Then I started feeling all the wonderful soft and squishy balls of alpaca, the sturdy balls of cotton, and the sleek and shiny hanks of lace. Slowly, I started sneaking a couple of skeins into his shopping cart after securing a promise to make me this or that. After a while though, it dawned on me that if I was ever going to get those things which never made it to the top of his queue, I'd better figure out how to do it myself. Of course, learning to knit was also a self-defense mechanism, seeing as pretty much all of our retirement savings are invested in stash and we needed something new to work on together. :)

Now, to my Ta-Da! I'm fascinated with the idea of test knitting and sample knitting--I love the idea of it. I love the process of helping a designer finish a product; I love being one of the first people to make something new; I love knitting, but I rarely wear my own work--preferring to give it away as gifts or sell it because I don't want to be the one that messes it up. As I was trolling in the Testing Pool group on Rav one day, I came across a call for completing a test knit that I couldn't pass up. So, I signed up and dutifully bought 8 skeins of Manos del Uruguay Classica in cornflower. 

Beautiful, right? After diligently finishing, washing, and blocking my swatch and choosing a needle size (I almost always have to go up one because I knit tightly.), I was off to the races. 

The pattern for the sweater is now available on Ravelry and is called Emilie June. It has an awesome side-to-side construction, so no seaming for the folks that prefer to avoid such difficulties. There's a neat cable design along the bottom edge and a comfy shawl collar. The sleeves are done almost like the afterthought heel--you knit in a piece of waste yarn where the sleeve will go and then keep knitting. Once you're ready to do the sleeve, you just pull out the waste yarn and pick up the stitches and off you go. How cool is that? 

One of the things that I love about knitting is that you learn something new every time--this time, my new skill to learn was how to do hidden short rows in stockinette. I'm not going to lie--I made J. do the tink and redo the first set after I messed it up, but then I figured it out and just look how good I did!

As usual, I didn't really want to keep it and be the one to wear it out, it's also pretty significantly too big if I wanted to keep it, so it's off to a new home as a gift. The cardigan is super warm and soft. I'm not a huge fan of the thick and thin aspects of the Manos Classica generally (why do the thick bits and thin bits always seem to pool together--you'd think they would even out. Perhaps this only happens to me...), but they worked out well in this pattern. I also decided to be super brave and didn't alternate balls of yarn--the luck of the knitter was with me though, because none of my skein changes are noticeable. Here are a few more pics for good measure, a little bit so you can see how well the design elements worked out, but mostly so you can see how awesome I did. 

Thanks for letting me steal J's show! P.S. This is my first blog post, and J says it's poor form to use contractions. I'm pretty sure that's hooey though--feel free to comment if you've a good reason why I mustn't use them. :)

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Fiber Fever Friday # 20

Good Morning!

I hope you are all looking forward to the coming weekend!  The weather forecast calls for sunny skies and mid 50's here in Memphis this weekend, but the Fiber forecast calls for a downpour of good fortune!  

Late last week I spun my first pair of singles (see Fiber Fever Friday # 19) and last weekend, I plied, set and thwacked my first ever 2-ply.  It did turn out to be a bulky weight yarn, but a great bulky weight yarn!  I am very happy with the result -- although I do not think I will ever be able to use this yarn.  It is going straight into the core stash!

Not too bad, all in all, for a first hank.

Have a wonderful Knitful weekend everyone!

Joining Linda@Natural Suburbia and Steph@Woolythyme for Creative Friday and TamisAmis for FO Friday.

Ta-Da! Tuesday #20

Two Furry Hats...

Back in September, I saw a sample for a Cocoknits pattern and hatched an idea for a Christmas present.  It was a cool hat -- good for the chill of winter and it would give me the opportunity to learn "thrumming".

So, for today's Ta-Da! Tuesday, we have the Fleeced Earflap Hat (well two of them really):

I made one for a family member and enjoyed it so much I made another for myself.  The yarn in both cases is Malabrigo Rasta (Tip: Knit the medium size to get a large hat in this yarn!).  The thrumming is pure wool dyed brown...  You can find my project in Ravelry here.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Ta-Da! Tuesday #19

Hello All!

It has been a while since I have posted for Ta-Da! Tuesday but I am happy to be doing so now...

Back in December I was wasting some knitting time browsing patterns on Ravelry and I ran across a group requesting test knitters for a male intended cowl.  It was not, at first glance, a pattern that would blow you away or anything but it was arresting.  I thought about it for a day or so and decided that I wanted to make it -- and so I joined the group of test knitters for the pattern.  (This is one of the reasons that I love Ravelry!)  A day later I had the pattern and ordered the yarn.  By the end of the week I had cast on.  Now this pattern has changed my outlook on knitting...

The pattern was The Other Million by Brenda Burrell ( brendadada on Ravelry ).

As you can see the sample is very handsome, fun and simple.  Through color choice it could be flashy or conservative...

Having only been knitting for about 4 years now, my progression in skill as a knitter has been about the "next" thing -- progressing from simple knit stitches early on to cables, charts, fair isle, mosaic, double knitting, lace, etc...

Not until this pattern did I begin to see the appeal of simple colorwork.  Simple colorwork can be beautiful, infinitely customizable, showy or conventional, the list goes on and on.  I could not see that before because I was on a path to conquer knitting.  Does that make sense?  I wanted to attain the skill to do anything in knitting.  Being a "good" knitter is not defined by being able to design and work your own Guernsey sweater.  What I have come to realize is that I already have the confidence to do anything I want to do in knitting and so I should focus on making myself happy.

The thing with being a male knitter is that very little is designed successfully with men in mind.  Men's apparel generally has a limited set of color choices... This is not the result of societal pressures so much as personal taste.  I mean if I wanted to wear pink, I would wear pink. In fact I have a pink shirt -- but if you stand back from my closet and eye it you are going to see a lot of blue.  Successful men's knitted apparel is not only limited in color, however, it is also limited in the variety of stitches.  Usually, this means little or no lace, no yarn overs, no bobbles, certain cables, and the list goes on and on...

Colorwork, therefore, can provide a refuge from most of these perils.  It can be simple and interesting to knit.  It can be successfully wearable for many men and add a bit of extra color to their wardrobe.  Many people do not want to knit men's socks because they are usually black, navy or brown and they consist of a lot of stockinette stitches -- again I am not saying they have to be bland, just that most men prefer them that way.  Colorwork will let you add variety in simple stitches.

I am probably singing to the choir or nobody at all...  Most of you have probably already figured this out or knit for men who wear bright colors all the time... But for me, this changed the game in terms of my knitting goals.

Sorry for the rant.  You are here, after all, for a Ta-Da! moment...

For my version of The Other Million I decided to work it in five colors rather than nine.  It is originally designed to be worked in four blocks of two colors (eight stripes) with a random stripe somewhere between blocks.  Something like the following:

AB
CD
E
FG
HI

However, I chose to work it as follows:

AB
BC
E
CD
DA
E

This meant that at any given time, if you saw two blocks together, they would share at least one color.

And here it is:

Ta-Da!

The Other Million by Brenda Burrell.  The yarn is Cascade 220 Sport Wool in colors Ginger, Straw, Navy, Silver Grey, and Walnut Heather.  It was knit in the round from a provisional cast on and once the knitting was done, the ends were folded and grafted together (so as to create an inner tube).  Let me tell you, that is a long graft!

It was so much fun -- I highly recommend the pattern...

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Ta-Da! Tuesday #17

A very Happy Tuesday to everyone!

Those of you who have been following have seen today's Ta-Da! progress slowly since before The Great Move last fall...  It's been a very fun project and even though the garter stitch bit was a little boring, it was also very relaxing...

I used five skeins for the middle and I very scientifically used up two skeins and then weighed the third.  When I had used exactly half the grams, I changed from increases to decreases and do you know I still feared that I would run out?!  I think I had just a couple yards left when it was all over -- and I'm pretty sure I should have had a lot more than that considering I worked a gauge swatch out of the first skein!

Oh well...



...




Ta-Da!

The blanket turned out to be 37.5 inches square in the center with an additional 3.5 inches per side with the border (which I changed to work knitted on and with short rows for the corners).

I'm pretty happy with this blanket, although these night-time pictures don't exactly do it justice.

It feels good to get this one off the needles.  I finished another object last night and I'm hoping to wrap another one up this evening!  It's like Knitter's Christmas around here these past two weeks.

Apparently when you cast on a lot of things in a frustrating bout of startitis and then work on them in a constant round-robin fashion they all cascade in completion at the same time!  So here I am working on the remaining WIPs and dreaming of a whole new slew of knits!

Knit Happy Everyone!

Ta-Da! Tuesday #16

Good Morning Everyone!  and Happy Ta-Da! Tuesday…

A couple weeks ago while I was completely overwhelmed by the number of projects I had going. I found myself listless and apathetic and needing to do something fun and quick to try and get my knitting mojo back…

So I dug through the stash and decided on this beautiful Cascade Tuscany Grande – a super bulky, warm, and luxuriantly soft yarn… But what to make?

I had a limited amount of yarn, so it had to be small and delicate…  A baby item seemed a good choice because I enjoy their quick turnaround and immediate gratification.  Finally I chose to design a baby sleep sack…

Ta-Da!  This is Chrysalis.  It is my first pattern, ever, and I’m still working out the kinks, but I expect to post it to Ravelry soon.  Chrysalis features a split in its top 1/3^rd —to make getting a baby into it a bit easier – as well as two button-hole columns to adjust the snugness for swaddling.  It also features a super stretchy cast on at the top for a comfortable fit.

This was a lot of fun to make and it certainly gave me my mojo back!  The FO’s are just cascading now...

Come back tomorrow to see and share some WIPs!

As always, Knit Happy Everyone!

Ta-Da! Tuesday #14

Happy Ta-Da! Tuesday Everybody!

My beautiful wife, R, and I have been running a rat race fit for a hampster the past couple of months.  We've run and run on this wheel but don't feel like we are getting anywhere.  Despite the many twists and turns, our view has been the same.  Having never bought a house before, I am not sure if this is a normal feeling to have while you wait on The Others.  Those mysterious people that are supposed to be working for you on the title search and the bank paperwork...  I'm sure they're doing something.  I don't know what...  After pestering our realtor for things to do ( I mean, c'mon there has to be some paperwork to fill out!) we've been told to relax and decorate.  So here we are, spinning on our wheel and trying to fill our countdown days with work, housework, and playtime.


Usually I'm a rather monogamous (monotonous?) knitter.  I tend to work on one project at a time until it reaches completion and then I start a new one.  To be honest this is probably a result more of my own procrastination than of anything else (I mean a baby takes 9 months to make right?  Am I the only one that does 90% of the knitting the last week or two before a due date?)...  I've been trying to complete a commissioned work for a while now and although I'm making good progress on it, it has been a slow go.  I started right before our big move and have had to steal time away to work on it for months.

Well, this past weekend I was itching for a small project that I could finish in a short time with big results.  You know, to boost my Knitter's self esteem...  After burrowing in the Stash, I came up for air grasping a plastic Ziploc bag containing three beautiful skeins of discontinued Mission Falls 1824 Cotton.  A quick query on Ravelry easily produced a perfect pattern for my needs -- all but scoffing at the menial task I asked of it.

After that how could I not justify a quick affair with a beautiful, new and exciting project?  Besides, who had to know?

Well, here's the result:

The pattern is called Baby Yoda Sweater, although it's really more of a wrap/kimono than anything.  These photos were taken before the I-Cords were added and the blocking took place.  But it is a beautiful little sweater.  It's also the first thing I've been able to make for the Etsy store and you can find it here.

It was a lot of fun to make and the finishing went really well.  After reading Deborah Newton's Finishing School I've been putting a lot more thought into the way I might finish an item before it's done and I have to tackle the task.  I must say it really payed off!

We're heading home to visit with friends and family one weekend soon and I hope to meet with my first commission customer and talk a bit about what she wants in the other three item sets.

Well that's it for now.  Please leave a comment and let me know how you are doing and what you're working on!

Knit Happy Everyone!

Below is a Mr. Linky list if you'd like to add a link to your own blogpost.  It's cached, so give it a minute or so to add your link to the list.

A couple courtesy requests:

     1. Submit the URL of your WIP post and not to the main blog page or a previous WIP post.

     2. Please include a link back to this page in your own WIP post.
     3. No comment is necessary -- the request is added automatically by Mr. Linky. 

Tuesday Ta-Da! Day #13

Good morning and Happy Tuesday to everyone!

Superwife, Sasha (the dog), Houdini (the cat) and I are all settled into our new dwelling in Cordova, TN -- a Memphis suburb.  We are finally returning to a sense of normalcy even though we are a house divided (between apartment and storage unit).

The house-hunt is going pretty well and we have found two that have great potential for us, so we shall see about them in due time.

I have finally unpacked and settled into something of a knitting routine again and it has been a great relief to return to something of a schedule.  On that note, and since it is Tuesday Ta-Da! day,  I give you the Dapperly Dashing hat from Ravelry:

This being the first of the three that were commissioned before we began our move.  The pattern, although not displayed well in this photograph, is a fun and easy pattern to work on -- especially in the round.

The companion piece, the Dapperly Dashing Scarf, is in progress now...

Also, I would like to mention that January is National Hot Tea month so in this, the dead of winter, you have every reason to put the kettle on!  There are 31 ways to celebrate hot tea this month and they can each be found here: Ways to Celebrate Hot Tea Month

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Ta-Da! #12.... on hold.

Hey All,

Well, I'm officially on hold.  As in my life, projects, and all my things are in a state of suspension around the house.  We've almost completely packed the non-essentials and are down to the truly essential pieces now.  With 8 days to go until we load the truck.  We're down to the single digits and isn't that scary?

My poor blanket, was put on hold as it was packed with the rest of my stash:

Ah, well, it'll re-surface, hopefully in the near future and not much later as an UFO (un-finished object), as Woolythyme refers to them...

In the mean time, since I can't be without anything to work on, and even though I have virtually no time in which to knit, I've cast on the first of the 8 commissioned works that I need to complete.  It is, or will be, a very nice charcoal grey hat for a gentlemen.  The pattern is from the Dapperly Dashing Scarf & Hat combo on Ravelry...

Pictures tomorrow for WIP Wednesday, I promise...  In the meantime, feel my pain (or at least Sasha's) would you?



The bookcases are all as empty as the one for my cookbooks here (so no food comforts):

The exercise equipment has been dismantled for the move and buried in kitchen boxes (so no endorphin comforts):

and, perhaps worst of all, my neat and orderly garage has been metamorphosing into box mountain:

Sasha has never moved before and is clearly unhappy about the entire situation:

Oh well, this will all work itself out and for the better... eventually.

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Join me tomorrow for Work-In-Progress Wednesday!

Ta-Da Tuesday #11

Happy belated Thanksgiving Everyone!

I've been trying to write this Ta-Da! Tuesday post all day today with very little success...

Anyway, now that the move to Memphis is pressing in on us -- and two of my larger projects with work are coming to a head here in the first week of December, I've been busier than ever.  My wonderful stash and needles -- those that aren't currently married to a project -- have all been packed up in two large trunks, a storage footrest in the living room, and a 3 drawer rolly cart thing in the closet.

So far the office and the one and a half bedrooms have been packed up.  We've gotten through the most time-consuming part of house ( the office) and are feeling a bit better now that we're on to things that pretty much just have to end up in a box somewhere.  We'll keep stray donate and toss boxes around the house but we're pretty much done with that...

Anyway, is this a Ta-Da! Tuesday or what?

This past weekend, SuperWife and I turned this beautifully blue colored office from this:

back into this:

I'm not a big fan of the institutional beige color that seemingly all rental places come in and since I work from home, the blue in the office was totally worth it.

Anyway, we're getting through it all!  Can't wait to get this circus moved and set back up...

Speaking of circuses -- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern was really a great book.  Add it to your Christmas wishlist if you haven't already read it!

What are you working on in your fiber time these days?  

Leave a comment and keep me in the loop!

Happy Knitting Everyone!

Ta-Da! Tuesday #10 and Big/Busy/Scary News

Whew! the last week has been ridiculously busy.  There's no other way to describe it.  I feel like I've been running ever since I got home from SEMKR.  This past weekend, SuperWife and I cleaned like devils because we were having our Thanksgiving on Saturday (it was wonderful), because we are moving to Memphis around December 16th and our property manager was coming by on Sat. to inspect the house (he arrived, as property managers do, at the exact time we were scheduled to sit down and eat), and because we had to clean before we could start making piles of stuff that we refuse to move 900 miles (whether to throw away, donate, or sell).

I can already tell this whole moving thing is going to suck the life out of my knitting for the next month. :-( but there's not much that I can do about that.  SuperWife was offered a job at the Naval Air Station in Millington, TN and it's only 5 hours away from our home and families as opposed to the 22-24 hour drive we have from Virginia Beach.  It's the right thing to do, but it couldn't possibly come at a more stressful time.

So, my life is all boxes boxes boxes!  But back to the yarn -- does anyone have any suggestion for how to pack my stash so as to not invite any kind of bug into it?  I'm assuming I have to put everything in 2Gallon ziploc bags and then pack them in boxes...  Any better ideas out there?

My Ta-Da! today is small but beautiful.  I really love how this turned out:

It's a washcloth in a Lily Sugar and Creme Cotton in Denim...

If anyone knows any really great LYSs in the Memphis area, please share them!

Happy Knitting Everyone!

How are you all doing?  What are you working on?

Below is a Mr. Linky list if you'd like to add a link to your own blogpost.  It's cached, so give it a minute or so to add your link to the list.

A couple courtesy requests:

     1. Submit the URL of your WIP post and not to the main blog page or a previous WIP post.

     2. Please include a link back to this page in your own WIP post.
     3. No comment is necessary -- the request is added automatically by Mr. Linky.