Ta-Da! Tuesday and WIP Wednesday # 23

Hello all!

Well, we sprung forward last weekend.  Yes, it is the time of year again when we change our time to "save" daylight.  I do not mind falling backwards but springing forward always throws me off my game for a week or two.  It is hard to sleep, and my internal clock is all wonky -- leaving me rather.... disagreeable.

However, I have had time to complete the Stained Glass Seaglass Cowl - a pattern recently released by Linda Dawkins aka Mamma4Earth on Ravelry.  It is a wonderful knit, was a great test-knitting experience, and I hope you will take a look at it...

That would be this week's Ta-Da!

I am now back on the boot socks.  They are, as I noted before, nearly completed.  At about 80%, I think they can be completed soon.

I am still spinning the fiber from last week.  I have spun up 50% of it already and I cannot wait to ply it!

Let me know what you are currently working on!

Happy WIP Wednesday Everyone!

Joining Steph@Woolythyme, Ginny@SmallThings, Linda@NaturalSuburbia, and TamisAmis for Yarnalong and WIP Wednesday!

Oh yeah!  I would like to introduce you to Cash, our latest Foster Schnauzer:

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!

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 #15

Good Morning Everybody!

Well, I finally have completed the oiling and reconstruction of the beautiful wheel my wonderful wife, R, surprised me with at Christmas!  Now I just have to learn how to use it...

For anyone who doesn't know, on Christmas day my wife gave me a card which said that she had procured for me a spinning wheel that I had been coveting for some time and that we just had to go pick it up in Atlanta.  The last weekend in January, we set off to go and get it.  It was a good weekend with friends and on our way home we stopped to pick it up.  It's a beautiful wheel but it was unfinished.  Doug, (remember Doug from my retreat last fall?  He of the Perpensockular socks) suggested that I take it apart and oil it with some Danish oil which would not only give the wood a nice "glow" but would also harden the surface to protect it.

After driving home in this for 6 hours:

I started the oiling of this wheel.  But with no time to work on it during the week and a rainy weekend every weekend for a month(!), it took a long time to finish the project.


It's done now, however, so I give you my beautiful new (to me) Mach spinning wheel from Spinolutions:

 On another note, I've been battling a sinus infection for two weeks now, and here's why:

Apparently, Memphis doesn't really do winter and instead likes to skip to spring early so everything's in bloom here now and there's lots and lots of pollen in the air.  Oh well....

Happy Ta-Da! Tuesday Everyone!

Please be sure to check out others Ta-Da! Tuesday posts via the Linky List below....

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.

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.