fall has finally arrived!

at long last, we have finally had a frost! happened just the other day and it hit hard! lots of windy weather and a real drop in temperature, down into the 20's. brrrrrrr!!!! yesterday we had a winter storm warning which turned out to be be 'much ado about nothing'!

tuesday, i got busy out in the garden and cut my last bouquet of these for this season. boohoo!

actually, i can't be too sad as i've been lucky since our first frost was so late this year, my dahlias have rewarded me many times over with beautiful flowers in many hues. i've now put my dahlias to rest for the winter by cutting back and covering them with a nice blanket of straw! enjoy your nap my dear friends - see you in the spring!

on the knitting front, i've been busy! to get in the mood for the fall season, i knit a lot of these little cuties.

i downloaded this pattern from mochimochiland and knit them out of leftover blue moon fiber arts 'socks that rock' lightweight yarn. they made great little halloween trick or treats! no calorie keepsakes! yum! yum!

also coming off my needles was this scarf/shawl.

this is the 'gingko shawlette', knit in koigu premium merino. i call it 'scrambled eggs'! the yarn has been in my stash for many, many moons (i purchased it at the wonderful yarn shop 'lint' which has been closed for many years!) and the pattern has been on my "gonna' do someday" list for almost that long! at last, task complete!

also off the needles is this cute little number - 'shore hat'. i ended up knitting it twice, first in the yarn that i had planned to use, which turned out to be a disaster as it wasn't heavy enough, and for a second time in plain old lily sugar'n cream cotton yarn. the turned up edge was created by knitting an icord edging over some copper wire.

so, what about that yarn that didn't work? well, i knit a 'one skein cowl' designed by lorna misner for brown sheep company. i picked up this free pattern when i bought the yarn, which is brown sheep cotton fleece, a lovely blend of cotton and merino wool, in the colorway 'columbine blossom'. glad i grabbed the 'freebie' as it came in handy when i had to repurpose my yarn from its original mission!

the cowl is a variation of the 'feather and fan' pattern and is perfect for those days when you need just a little something to warm up your neck!

why, oh why!

whenever i take on a project for someone else i ALWAYS end up kicking myself in the arse for doing so, and this time it was no different! 

do you think i will ever learn? sadly, i doubt it (way tooooooo much catholic guilt!).

i can't put my finger on it exactly but the pressure placed on me (no matter how simple the project might be) drives me crazy! i have doubts, lots of them, but by and large i've always successfully completed the task. i just know that it isn't the most pleasant knitting, quilting, sewing, etc. that i've been involved with in my life. it probably comes down to the fact that i'm not totally 'in charge' of all aspects of the project. apparently, i like being 'the boss!'. (all of my friends and family at this point are laughing hysterically and saying: "no, duh")  don't get me wrong, i love making products for others but i'm a much happier camper if it is on my terms and what i want to make!

with that said, here is the aforementioned project:

a snowman head christmas stocking from the mary maxim christmas stockings pattern book #9042, made for the new daughter-in-law of a dear friend.

i knit this sucker three times before i was pleased with the result! 

first time out, i used size 8 needles as called for in the pattern and thought i would use the intarsia method (carrying little bobbins of yarn in different colors behind the work) of knitting for the name and color changes. starting from the top down, i got as far as the holly in the hat and knew that this method was not going to cut it. sooo, frog it i did! 

on the second go round, i moved to a size 7 needle, knit the name in intarsia and started on the hat. at that point, i had decided to knit the hat, face, and ribbon solidly and then add the holly and face accents, after the fact, with duplicate stitch. i got all the way down to the toe before i decided that i just wasn't happy with several areas of the sock - i wasn't happy with the name knitted in intarsia, somehow my stitch count was off in the white area and i hadn't added a new yarn bobbin when i should have in the ribbon area so i had carried my yarn too long over the other stitches before using the color again. i also didn't care for the way i had turned the heel. once again, i frogged. 

the third time was the charm! i moved down to a size 6 needle which gave me a tighter knit and decided to duplicate stitch both the name and accents after the fact. i added an extra bobbin or two to the mix which kept things less bulky and i paid more attention to my heel turning! i was extremely happy when i completed the toe and bound off the final stitches!

i had now reached the point when the real work began! with lots of different colors and different bobbins, there were lots of ends to weave in on the back side of the sock! argh!

once that was done, i moved onto the duplicate stitch face details. a duplicate stitch is actually a stitch in another color sewn over the original knit stitch. this involves counting to get things positioned properly.

i used a piece of graph paper to graph out the name for the name band. a problem arose when the name was longer than the space available so i had to narrow a couple of letters in order to get the name to fit in the available space.

after i finished all the stitching, i sewed up the seam from the bottom to the top (i had knit the sock as a flat piece instead of in the round). a final wash and blocking of the sock provided the magic that made the project a success! i could hardly believe it, but the thing looked good! thank goodness! 

now, all that's left is delivery to it's owner and the monkey will totally be off my back! whew!

endeavor to persevere!

i find that when i am planning a vacation or get away, my first concern is always the knitting project that will accompany me on the journey - i know, somewhat obsessive but remember, 'idle hands are the devil's workshop'!

so, on a recent trip to kauai, my knitting consisted of wip's (works in progress) that needed completion, including a hat, a sock and a scarf.

first up was the hat: pattern - sockhead hat by kelly mcclure

 

this is my 'go to' hat pattern for 2014, which i am using as a stash buster with plans to knit one per month! we'll see if i can stick to that plan!

the yarn is a mill end skein of blue moon fiber arts mediumweight 'socks that rock'. i knit this particular hat twice. first time, i knit it 'straight up' from the skein - not such a good idea as the yarn pooled horribly and it was butt-ugly! really, really butt-ugly and i just could not stomach it so...... frog it, i did, and recaked the yarn in two equal weight cakes and began, again, alternating each row between the cakes. much, much, much improved!!! 

since this was a mediumweight yarn, i cast on less stitches (96 instead of 144) but used the same 16" circular needles in size 3.00 mm. it might be a tad tight on my head but i have a pretty big head so it should be perfect on a child. next time i use a mediumweight, i'll try casting on 108 stitches.

next up: a pair of two-up socks in lanna grossa meilenweit cotton fun & strips, a mix of cotton, wool and polyamid (whatever that might be!). i have no idea when or where i acquired this yarn but there must have been two skeins on a sale table somewhere, perfect in my mind for a pair of everyday socks. knit from the toe-up with my favorite gusset heel, i tried a new toe.

i started each sock by provisionally casting on 4 stitches and knitting 10 rows in stockinette stitch. i then turned the work 90 degrees and picked up 8 stitches along one side, turned another 90 and picked up the 4 provisionally cast-on stitches, turned again and picked up another 8 stitches on the final side for a total of 24 stitches. i added stitches on the short ends on every other round until i reached 64 stitches.

this produced a wider, rounder toe which was great. i completed the first sock in no time! i had started the second sock and i was about half way through the foot when this happened!

i accidentally sat on my knitting bag and heard a crack - a crack that i knew did not sound good! i was sure that i had broken one needle and i reasoned that that would be fine as i had 5 needles and i could get by with 4. imagine my surprise when i dug out the socks and discovered that i had broken not one, but two needles! argh! and here i was on vacation in a tropical paradise where knitting and knitting shops aren't popular like they are back in the northwest! needleless to say, i was forced to punt - where there's a will, there's a way! i couldn't knit a circular sock easily with only three needles so i slipped six stitches on one of the broken needles and endeavored to persevere - it was a slow slog to completion but i did complete the mission and wrapped up sock number two! phew! i was glad when that ordeal ended!

i guess the lesson i learned from this experience was perhaps i should bring some extra needles with me on my next adventure, just for safety's sake!

only time will tell!

these sweet little mitts.....

kicked my arse! 

and i really don't know why! could it be that the pattern write-up was poorly done (true!) or that i didn't totally zone in and take proper notes (true!) but, my gosh, there were no fancy or unfamiliar stitches! should have been a piece of cake, right? wrong!!!

i knit this mitt five times before i got a pair that i was somewhat satisfied with but they still have a way to go! i think my next go round, and there WILL be a next go round as i have no plans of letting this little number beat me, i will produce a pair that i am totally happy to call my own! i downloaded the pattern (circle mitts - free on ravelry) in goodreader so i was able to make notes right on the pattern which really helped with stitch counts and such.

now that i've finished this diversion, i've got to get back on task and get some positive mojo goin'!! yeehaw!

happy vd!

yah! yah! yah! so i'm a day late and a dollar short! the story of my life!
but it was finished before and i took the pictures on valentine's day so that should count in my book!

 i got the idea for this hat when i was grocery shopping and saw a young gal with a similar cabled hat. i caught a glimpse of her several times throughout the store but the clincher was when i was in my car and she pushed her cart right past me so i got a good look! i thought 'i can do that!'. i could hardly contain myself until i could get home and get on it! her hat was a bright pink but with the holiday fast approaching i thought this wonderful tonal red in 'cherry splash' by brown sheep lanaloft worsted weight would be perfect!

and it is! i started with an inch edging of k2,p2 and then combined an eight stitch cable and a four stitch cable for the body with three purl stitches between each cable.

i finished the top with a ssk/k2tog, beginning in the middle of the four stitch cables which decreased the top by twelve stitches each round.

i stayed with the pattern throughout and ended with six stitches which i finished by threading a yarn through and finishing off on the inside. i used size 7 needles and cast on 108 stitches. when i knit it again, i think i will use a size 5 or 6 needle for the k2/p2 band at the beginning so it is just a tad tighter! all in all, i'm very happy with the results and it will be perfect for our next snowpocalypse which i hope is a long, long, long way off! 

deux!

here they are! the other two hats that i knit in january.

this little number is the sockhead hat by kelly mcclure which is a freebie on ravelry and uses one skein of sock yarn. i used blue moon fiber arts socks that rock in the colorway 'knitters without borders' which has been occupying my stash for way too long (i shudder to think of how many years!). love the slouchey look and the fact that it uses up an entire skein of sock yarn as i have declared 2014 the year of sock yarn reduction!

speaking of slouchey, here is the rikke hat by sarah young, who is the owner of happy knits in portland. it is completely knit in garter stitch in the round which actually involves knitting a row of knit stitches followed by a row of purl stitches. this wonderful madelinetosh aran yarn in the colorway 'vanilla bean' made it just perfect for the cold, snowy days we've had this week! brrrrrrrr!

hats off!

january - come and gone!
and, and, and
what do i have to show for it?
well, not much, i'm sorry to say - just a couple of hats!

and a couple more that i haven't photoed yet (i promise i'll get on that sooner than later!)

supposedly january is 'selfish knit' month with the holidaze finished and such, this is our (knitters in general) opportunity to knit for ourselves. since i don't seem to have a problem doing that most of the time, i decided that bustin' stash with some hats was the ticket for me!

the first pic is of a hat designed by erica jackofsky entitled: southmoor and is knit from blue moon fiber arts 'socks that rock heavyweight'. it is a delicious combo of green, brown and blue and i used size 3 and 5 needles for this adventure.

the second hat is designed by linda shelhamer and is entitled: xenocryst. this was knit on #6 needles out of cascade yarns '220 heathers'. along the way i got to try out a new cast-on and a new lace stitch - always a plus when you learn a new technique!

and stepping back in time just a tad, i'll share a couple of pictures of holidaze knitting.

i knit four scarves out of cascade yarns 'indulgence' with lots of cables and a keyhole opening for securing around ones neck.

four pairs of fingerless mitts, baby cable handwarmers by linda kirschner out of debbie bliss 'cashmerino aran'.

and a burnished leaves cowl by chrissy prange out of cascade yarns 'indulgence'.  looking back, i guess i do deserve a little break during january as i did do a lot of knitting in december! whew!