FO Friday #17: That's Better

Seeing as my sister-in-law is in labor as I type and my new little nephew should be arriving some time today, I'm thrilled to have finished this baby set:

This is an extensively modified version of Jared Flood's Turn A Square hat pattern and a troublesome pair of matching socks knit out of The Sanguine Gryphon Bugga in Box Jellyfish and Common Emerald Moth. I love these colorways together, the green just glows. Also, the hat and socks together used less than 40 grams / 126 yards of yarn, so it's great for sock leftovers. You can see the modifications I made on my Ravelry page. Also, this set is finished item #6 of the 13 SG/VG/CY in 2013 projects that I'm doing as part of my fiber goals for the year and #22 of the 50 total projects I hope to finish this year. Not bad progress, eh?

Proof that they do, indeed, match now. Also, flash reveals all sorts of messiness regarding the weaving in of ends!

Thanks for all the suggestions on what might have gone wrong with these little socks. I checked the gauge, which was the same, and counted all the rows between sections of the sock. Turns out I had somehow worked about 5 extra rows in the foot and toe of Sock 1... and then wrote down different instructions? Still not clear on what exactly happened (I blame airplane turbulance) but I ended up frogging back the foot of the larger sock and reknitting it to what I knew I had done for the second sock. I liked the slightly smaller version better anyhow.

As the Yarn Harlot says*, I've finished the baby knitting, so now the baby can arrive. Exciting!

*It did not escape my notice that the Yarn Harlot is also having bootie problems. It's like we're the same person**. 
**I wish. She's my hero.

FO Friday #15: The Homestretch

Well folks, we're coming into the last few days of March, which means I've been knitting as much as possible on my Malabrigo March projects... which means I have two more FOs to show you! Also, a final reminder that you can still receive 20% off any of my patterns on Ravelry with coupon code "YayMal13" for 2 more days.

Baby Huacaya:

Malabrigo Rios, colorway Lettuce (most accurate in this photo)

What is this vaguely jellyfish-or-hot-air-balloon-like object, you ask? It's a teeny tiny babysized version of my slouchy hat pattern, Huacaya, blocking over a conveniently-sized spherical candleholder.

Post-blocking

This hat is going to my friend's new baby, Lyra, whom I will finally get to meet tomorrow! It goes along with the coordinating cardi and booties I finished earlier this month. It is oddly satisfying to knit tiny baby versions of my adult hat patterns!

Aguas Shawlette:

Malabrigo Rios, colorway Aguas

I'm so glad I finally knit something out of this colorway! I've called it my favorite since I first saw it but never hadn't had the chance to knit with it until now. This design is the Impari Shawlette by Nina Machlin Dayton, a very profuse and knowledgeable designer who is a major Malabrigo Junkie. Nina is also very generous, she is a moderator in the 'Budding Designers' group on Ravelry and is always willing to answer questions and share what she's learned during her design career. I've admired many of her designs but this is the first one I've actually knit and I think it was great, especially for beginner knitters as the pattern is simple and well explained. I love the asymmetrical shape of the shawl and those tassels just slay me. Nina explains how to make the tassels very clearly but I thought it would be fun to show you some photos of the process, too:

Steps 2 & 3

I skipped pictures of step 1, which is to cut multiple lengths of yarn, fold them in half, and join them to the corner of the shawl as you would a normal shorter fringe. Then anchor the corner of the shawl with some heavy books. Step 2 is to split the yarn in two and twist each half in the direction of the twist of the yarn, so that it holds so much twist energy that it kinks up when relaxed like the strand on the right in the first photo. I recommend putting in more twist than you think you need. Step 3 is to hold both strands taut and make a big knot at the end.

Steps 4 & 5

Step 4 is to let go! The tassel will snarl and kink up on itself as the twist energy escapes and that is ok. Step 5 is to run your hand down the length of the tassel multiple times, smoothing it out and letting the twist energy settle into that lovely braided-looking shape. What's really interesting is that this process is essentially the same thing you do when you are spinning a cabled yarn. Cool, huh?

Lastly, there were some really great comments about what we all like and look for in patterns in response to my last post, I encourage you to check them out if you haven't already. And finally, don't forget to see some more FO's by clicking the photo below! Have a great Friday, everyone.

Finished-Object-Friday #8

Man, this week flew by. I hope everyone in the northeastern US is all hunkered down in time for the big ol' snowstorm we're supposed to be getting today... Thankfully I finished a cozy new winter hat!

Handspun Hat:

This project went from fiber to 2-ply to 4-strand cabled yarn to hat in just over a month, which blows my mind! I'm really happy with the finished hat, too. It's very warm and dense, matches my purple coat perfectly, and the the bulky-ish yarn knit up nicely on size 10 needles.

I especially love how the colors worked out. Just as I was getting tired of ribbing, the mostly green-and-purple part started to run out so I broke the yarn and skipped a few inches to begin the green-purple-white bit on the main stockinette body of the hat. Then when it was tall enough to begin decreases the mostly green-and-blue part of the yarn began, so it made a fun little bullseye on the crown.

Itty Bitty Booties:

Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga, colorways Blue Ringed Octopus and Ghost Moth

These were made with the Yarn Harlot's very simple and sweet Cutest Booties pattern. For the ties, I tried essentially cabling some of the Skinny Bugga to a better thickness like I did for the coordinating hat, but it didn't work as well this time, perhaps because I used a spindle instead of my wheel and maybe didn't get enough twist in there. I'll probably make some L-cord to finish these off properly. I forget which book I read it in but L-cord is like i-cord except faster: you cast on a butt-ton of stitches, as long as you want your cord to be, then you cast them off = instant lazy cord. Despite that, I'm calling them done. The little lady who will claim these booties still hasn't arrived yet so I still have some time to redo and mail them off.

I hope you have a wonderful Friday and stay warm, wherever you are!

Itty Bitty Knitting

Let's start the week off adorably with tiny knitted things!

Cephalopod Yarns Traveller, colorway San Francisco Bay

This is a wee version of my Beribboned Hat pattern that I whipped up in an evening for a dear friend's baby shower. I love the soft aquas with the contrasting coral pink, it is feminine and sweet without being overly so. As soon as I finished it the Fiasco declared it the cutest thing I've ever knit. The recipient will be the first bqby born within my circle of friends and I do believe that she will be well and truly spoiled! She is due to join us in just about a month and I am ridiculously excited to meet her.

Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga, colorway Ghost Moth

 I was in a bit of a pickle about what to lace it with, though. I knew I loved that color combo but when I knit i-cord with the fingering weight coral yarn it felt too thick and clunky for a little baby's head. I didn't have the right color ribbon hanging around nor the right color thicker yarn. So, I bust out my trusty spinning wheel and ran a length of the fingering weight yarn through in the same direction it was plied to give it a bit extra twist. Then I used my spindle (I couldn't wrap my head around how to do it with the wheel!) to chain ply it in the opposite direction, creating a thicker 3-ply yarn from the one strand. It made a nice, bouncy chord that worked well for the lacing and the bow, and I felt a little bit like a yarn-y genious. I'll have to make some more more to lace these up:

Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga, colorway Blue Ringed Octopus

Wee little booties!!! This whole knitting-for-babies thing is going to be all sorts of (miniature) fun. What's your favorite pattern for little baby girl items?

Hurricane Hat

So the nice thing about being holed up inside waiting out a hurricane is that there's plenty of time to knit:

Malabrigo Chunky,  colorway Purple Mystery

That's the Snappy Hat pattern by Corrina Ferguson. It's free and works up quickly. At first I was concerned because I know I like my Chunky hats knit on size 10 needles with a 60 stitch cast on and this pattern called for size 10 3/4 needles and a 70 stitch cast on that increased to 80 for the body of the hat. I was doubtful that it would fit well and thought it would be much too large. However, after waffling back and forth I decided to trust the designer and I'm glad I did. All those cable twists really tighten up the fabric so the hat fits just fine and I really appreciate how smoothly the cables decrease at the crown. (I love a good set of crown decreases and hate it when hat patterns are lazy about it!) Corrina has a bunch of great patterns, including her Gaenor shawl, which is one of the first shawls I ever made.

From 2010! Apparently I like to knit her patterns in purple.

I feel like I'm playing hookey today because I was supposed to start a brand new job as a Marine Biologist for an environmental consulting firm in Rhode Island. Kind of tough to do, though, when there are declared states of emergencies in both RI and CT and all the major highways are being closed down. So my first day will be Wednesday, instead. Wish me luck! And wherever you are, I hope you stay safe and dry!

Huacaya Release!

There were so many wonderful things about my first Rhinebeck experience that I can't wait to tell you all about, but I think the most exciting part for me was seeing this:

Huacaya hat

That's my newest design on display at the Burgis Brook Alpacas booth! At Rhinebeck! (Did I mention that?) Their booth was lovely and inviting and for most of the two days it seemed to be thronged with people, which hopefully means that many festival-goers were able to see my little creation.

Pretty alpaca everywhere!

And now the pattern is available digitally on Ravelry, if you'd like to make one for yourself. It is a feminine, slouchy hat featuring gently-curving lace that works really well with a drapey worsted weight yarn, like an alpaca or silk blend. Knit with alpaca it is soft, fluffy, and beautifully delicate while staying nice and warm due to the properties of the fiber.

Everybody say hi to the back of Rachel's lovely head! :)

The hat is finished with wedge-shaped decreases that converge neatly at the crown. The pattern includes one size (fits an average adult or teen, 18"-22" head) and has both written and charted instructions. It has been test knitted by several knitters on Ravelry and tech edited by Paula over at Knit and Seek!

Just a bit of silliness.

As evidenced above, I am very excited about this design and hope you enjoy it, too. :)

Huacaya

$4.00

Finished-Object-Friday #1

It is rare for me to actually have a Finished Object to share (I'm much better at WIPs) and it almost never happens to fall near a Friday, so I'm pretty excited to participate in my first FO Friday! This post is also about the first project I finished from my Year of Projects goals. (Please excuse the crummy Ipad photos, my camera battery charger went missing and I am anxiously awaiting the new one.)

This is my aptly-titled Shiny Slouch project, also known as the Regina hat designed by Carina Spencer. I can say without a doubt that I love everything about this design, the pattern, and the finished hat. The pattern is well-written, detailed, and provides instructions for knitting the hat in different weights of yarn, of which I am a strong supporter and aim to do in my own patterns. The design is also interesting in and of itslef: an unusual brim, simple shaping, and easy knitting that feels like a surprise when you turn the hat inside out at the end.

I love the way the slipped stitches look over the reverse stockinette background as well as how they come together neatly at the crown. I appreciate a hat with well-constructed and interesting crown decreases.

For my hat I used the The Sanguine Gryphon Codex, which is sadly discontinued. It is a fantastic mix of 52% silk and 48% BFL wool, meaning it has a lovely shine and drape which I highly recommend for this hat. It will be available from The Verdant Gryphon on Monday, August 13th at 9pm. It will likely sell out extremely quickly so I suggest you seriously stalk the yarn if you want it, its fans are many and quite fervent.

I used about half a skein for the hat body and just a small amount for the brim, the whole hat weighs 65 grams. I made a few modifications based on how it was knitting up at the time. I initially knit my brim to about 17" and then picked up 60 stitches and increased to 80. I knit for a few inches before I felt the hat wouldn't be slouchy enough so over a couple of rounds I increased to 90 stitches total. I also knit to about 7.5" before decreasing. I'm very glad I did this even though I have a pretty average-to-small-sized head. The hat is slightly under-slouchy but the silk still helps it drape nicely and I love the way it looks. Other people on Ravelry have mentioned that it is more like a beanie than it is slouchy, so if you want the slouchy look and are in doubt, increase more and knit longer.

Overall: I adore this hat and highly recommend the pattern, which is incredibly offered for free as I would gladly have paid for this one. What's your favorite hat to knit or wear?

Also, don't forget about the little giveaway I'm running right now for some knitting needles in larger sizes, a couple of mini skeins, and a free pattern. Details in this post. I will pick the winner on Sunday. There aren't very many entries yet (leave a comment to be entered) so chances are pretty good!

Check out more FO's here!

And more YoP posts!