FO: French Press Felted Slippers

Pattern: French Press Felted Slippers, available for purchase on Ravelry.
Yarn: Ella Rae Classic, about a skein and a half.
Needles: US 15/10 mm Knit Picks Options
Mods: I think I knit them as written?

So… this was really my first experience with felting, though that’s not even the problem with these. The first one came out the proper size from the washing machine. It needed to be felted a little more, which I did by hand, but it wasn’t difficult. I had to cut a triangle out of the toe to make it smaller and fit better, but it came out alright.

The other one… hoo boy, let me tell you about the other one. First, I wasn’t paying attention when I was knitting it, so all of the pieces came out too big. Then it didn’t felt as much as the other one in the washer/dryer, so I had to felt it by hand more. THEN, even when I felted it as much as I could, it was still too big, so I had to Frankenstein it and chop the slipper in half and resew it back together smaller:

(It’s deceptively well-hidden. Felt is pretty forgiving.)

Yeah. AND THEN they still didn’t work right, so I had to sew a Frankenstein seam in the heel. AND THEN I had the hardest time getting the strap straight. And when I finally got the strap straight and the button on, I realized I SEWED THE STRAP ON BACKWARDS. Rip out, redo. And when I finally get the whole thing put together, Frankenstein seams and everything, it looks like this:

It’s functional but ridiculous. I guess I’ve never really had an epic knitting fail or a too-big sweater or whatever, so it’s about time. I’ll definitely be making this pattern again, but I’ll be paying closer attention to the row counts so they come out a proper size.

FO: Ribbed Shrug

(sorry for the crappy pictures. It’s snowing, and February in Virginia is not shrug-modeling weather)

Pattern: Two-Tone Ribbed Shrug by Stephanie Japel (from Fitted Knits)
Yarn: Cascade 220
Needles: US 8/5 mm
Mods: Moved the pfb to the RS. I’m not even sure why she doesn’t use regular raglan increases. Probably did shorter sleeves and whatnot.

So I’m a big fan of this shrug. It’s cute, it’s a neutral color, and it fits well. And Cascade 220 is pretty soft, so I can wear it comfortably next to skin (I mean, I have a high tolerance for itchy wool next to my skin, but still). I think I will get a lot of wear out of it. Also, this sweater makes number two for NaKniSweMo. 1/6 of the way done! Whoo!

As for the pattern: It’s pretty simple, and it’s easy and leads to a lovely finished object. I’ll almost definitely be making more in other colors. I also might adapt the pattern somewhat to make one in a lighter weight. Or maybe I’ll just use a different pattern.

In non-craft news, little Fredericksburg is apparently supposed to be hit with up to 30 inches of snow over the next couple of days, so don;t worry too much if you don’t hear from me for a bit. There’s a chance the power could go out, which I hope it doesn’t cause then we’ll have no heat, which would suck. This also means that my photos might suck for a while cause I’m not about to go outside in a little sweater or whatever when there’s two feet of snow on the ground.

In other crafty news, I’m doing some more swapping, including a sewing project that gave me hell, which I’ll tell you about probably Sunday or Monday or something. Stay tuned!

FO: Charade

Pattern: Charade, a free download on Ravelry.
Yarn: Red Heart Heart and Sole, one skein in Rustica.
Needles: US 1 metal dpns
Mods: Worked toe-up and pretty much just used my own toe-up sock pattern and threw in the stitch pattern on top. Also, I probably have fewer stitches than the pattern. I went up to 60. Also, I used self-striping yarn cause it’s what I had, even though the pattern says not to use self-striping yarn. I’m a rebel, damn it.

The ankles of these are a little loose, as usual. I think I need more ribbing before I bind off. **shrug** I do like them though. They’re super cute and they stay on well enough.

I want to venture out in the world of sock knitting and make some that are a proper height. I like the short ones because when I’m done with the heel, I’m pretty much done, but I would like to have some taller socks. The problem with this, of course, is that taller socks require more yarn, and I’d have to get more than 50 grams. Maybe I will and maybe I won’t. In the mean time, I’m content making anklets. And like, other things.

Speaking of other things: I also finished the shrug I’d been working on and I started some felted slippers. But I’ll tell you more about that later. : )

FO: Girl Friday

Pattern: Girl Friday, from the most recent Fall Knitty.
Yarn: Valley Yarns Northampton in Amethyst, almost four skeins.
Needles: US 8/5 mm
Mods: Changed the lace pattern to omit the purl bits, did fewer sleeve increases, increased length.

So I’m completely in love with this sweater. Great color, great pattern. Warm. I LOVE the shawl collar. The sleeve caps came out a little short (my fault), but totally wearable. The sleeves are long enough and the body is long enough. LOVE. I will wear it all the time. Especially since the shawl collar will protect my neck when I flip it up.

So: Great sweater. I made the XS which resulted in sweater fronts that aren’t quite wide enough, but fortunately, I love how the sweater looks with an open front. My original plan was to do button loops and buttons, but I decided against it. I wear my cardigans open most of the time anyway.

I’m really glad I changed the lace pattern too. The purl bits made the lace look too arrow-like to me, so I just replaced them with knits. And now I have diamond-type things, and I love it.

The pattern is great though. Clear and easy to follow, and I love the extra-long sleeves. They’re actually perfect for me–I wear all of my sleeves rather long. The yarn is also quite lovely. I used Valley Yarns Northampton, which I got from WEBS. I think I used about 3.5 skeins. I obviously can’t comment on wear and tear or how it holds up over time, but it seems to be a pretty sturdy yarn. It’s definitely a lot… beefier than the Wool of the Andes or Cascade Eco I’d used in sweaters before. It’s a little heavy (though I think thinner than the 220 I’m using for another sweater currently).

Anyway, I will definitely be getting a ton of wear out of this sweater. I’m ridiculously thrilled with how it came out, and it looks pretty great on me, if I do say so myself (and I do).

Snow Day

I had a post planned for today, but instead I played in the snow.

We got something like four or five inches, which, as a gal from Virginia Beach, is basically the snowpocalypse.

I managed to fit seven different knits on my person:

My superman sweater, my knee-high boot socks, my geometric spirals hat, my cotton/silk triangle scarf, my llama cowl, my blue Regia fingerless mitts, and alternatively my purple gloves and my shark mittens (I switched to the mittens when my gloves got too wet).

My boyfriend had on some of my knits too:

That’s the Counterpoint Scarf and the hat I made him last year.

I hope you guys had as lovely a day as I had. : )

Swappage

Kudos to the USPS because even though I fucked up with my address on my most recent OWS claim, I got my package today anyway. Like, two days after I called about the zip code thing. They found it and sent it my way almost immediately.

Anyway, cjclark claimed me for a reusable sandwich wrap and snack bags:

She also sent me chocolate (which I’d already started eating), gummies, stamps, and the extra oilcloth. Yay! I’m planning to make another large snack bag out of the extra oilcloth, and I’m super thrilled about the stamps for their inchie-framing possibilities. The snack bags will be lovely for transporting snacks to class and while I don’t believe I have an immediate use for the sandwich wrap, it will be wonderful for transporting sandwiches to work wherever I happen to be working this summer. Yay! I now have a whole eco-friendly and reusable lunch kit! *is excited*.

Girl Friday, by the way, is almost done. I have another row or two of button band, then I need to do button loops (cause I didn’t feel like planning ahead for holes) and block, then find buttons. It’s coming. When I finish the ribbing, I can resume work on the ribbed shrug (which is on break because I needed the needle tips for the ribbing). For my portable project, I started a sock. More on that later.

Sweaters

Sorry for the unintentional radio silence, people. It’s amazing how lax I get about posting when I don’t have a ton of finished things to show you.

Anyway, I’m still working on Girl Friday. I finished the sleeves and got them sewn into the body. Currently, it looks like this:

I just have to do the collar/button band, block it fully, then sew on the buttons. Since this project is no longer portable, I started another sweater type thing:

It’s the two-color ribbed shrug from Fitted Knits (which I got for my birthday and love) in grey Cascade 220. It will be perfect for getting to wear cute little dresses and tanks in colder weather. I have a feeling this is going to knit up reeeeeally quickly.

This little shrug, I’ve decided, is going to be my NaSweMoDo (it’s called something different on Ravelry this year though) number two. I didn’t count the shrug I made last year cause it was little, but I’m not sure I really need another 12 full-sized sweaters, so I’m counting shrugs. And probably a capelet that I’m planning to make around September.

I’ve got several sweaters planned for this year, including a yoked zip up (for Ravelympics, which I’ll talk more about later), another (light-weight) shrug, a striped button-up, and I’m going to finish that damn Featherweight. Sometime this year.

Also: remember the fuck-up with my address I told you about the other day? I think I probably fixed it. I just called USPS, and the woman I spoke to put in the right address, so hopefully it will get to me with speed. : )

OWS, also Fail.

So, like I said before, I’m doing another round of the Ongoing Wish Swap over on Craftster. I claimed PhoenixFireDesigns for some knit wristwarmers. They are awesome and look like this:

Pattern: My own, using a Norwegian Star pattern that’s all over the internet.
Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in Fog and Red Heart Heart and Sole in Spring Stripes.
Needles: US 3/3.75 mm

They’re really pretty and I love how they came out. I did the star motif using intarsia in the round which was a pain in the ass, but worth it. I was afraid I was going to run out of the Heart and Sole because I only had a little bit left, but I actually ended up only using a couple of yards and probably have enough to make another pair or two of similar mitts (or something else with a pretty self-striping contrast row).

And now for the fail: So, as it works in OWS, someone claimed me for something off my list, then pm’d me for my address so they could send it to me. I very carefully replied with my address. OR SO I THOUGHT. See, I have two addresses, sort of. I have my school address/mailbox number that I use for mail when I’m at school in Fredericksburg and I have my home address, which I use when I’m at home in Virginia Beach. Now, I’m at school in F’Burg til May. I managed to type in the correct address for school EXCEPT FOR THE ZIP CODE, which, if you know anything about the USPS, you’ll know is the MOST IMPORTANT PART.

So, yeah. Now my package is sitting is Post Office limbo. I’m hoping it’ll get to me eventually. Cause I’m sort of really excited about what I was claimed for. So everyone, cross your fingers and hope for the best. I’d appreciate it. : )

Some spinning, some knitting

So if you read the subject, you’ll know what I’ve been up to lately in the craft world. Mostly, I’ve been working on my Girl Friday sweater, which now has half a sleeve:

I also started spinning the superwash merino I got from my boyfriend for my birthday:

(Yes, it’s hella pretty)

My goal for this is about 400 yards of a fingering weight single. I’d like to make a shawl, probably something Ishbel-like (with a stockinette section and a lace edging). I might even just buy the Ishbel pattern and knit that.

So that’s what I’m working on currently. I also just finished a pair of fingerless mitts, but I’m going to wait on showing those to you because I want to at least mail them first. But they’re really pretty. : ) Knit Picks Palette in Fog and Heart and Sole in Spring Stripes (I was seriously worried I wasn’t going to have enough contrast color, but I did).

FO: Cable Socks

Pattern: Toe up socks. Short row heel. And I threw some cables on the foot.
Yarn: Red Heart Heart and Sole, Watercolor Stripes
Needles: US 1

So I finished the cabled socks I was working on. Once I got the yarn, the second sock took like, two days to knit up. Win. They fit pretty well, though one is a lot more snug than the other. As for the yarn… I like Red Heart’s sock yarn. It’s cheap and it’s no-frills. What I don’t like about this particular batch is the colors. I dunno. I don’t like this colorway. It was really pretty in the skein but it looks kind of crappy knit up. Which is unfortunate, since I LOVE the Spring Stripes colorway (in a shawl I made) and the Toasted Almond colorway (the last socks I made). I’ll just avoid this one in the future. **shrug**

Anyway, I know I said after I finished the socks I’d go back to Girl Friday, but I joined another round of Ongoing Wish Swap over on Craftster, so I’ll be knitting some wristwarmers for that before I go back to the sweater. The mitts are super cute though, and I will definitely have pictures of them when they are finished. : ) Stay tuned!