Elfin Charms

My new book, Charmed Knits, has me enraptured. I'm a total dweeb and I admit it - but a knitting book....ispired by Harry Potter??? Total inner squeal.

The first thing I knit out of the book was an elf hat, for my friend's baby, due in November. I had the yarn in my stash, put on some reruns from the On Demand menu, and began.IT took two commercial-free episodes of Drop Dead Diva (there, I admit it, I love Lifetime), and then a little time with the creative top seaming, but I love one-day projects. I picked The PRincess up from school and brought her home, where she tried on the hat, which is stretchy enough (having been knit in garter st throughout) to fit a newborn or a toddler.

My favorite part is the top, which is very sweet and unexpected.

Next up, a knitted Errol. Wheeeeeeee.....

Indelicate

Now that I've finished the Daphne Stole, and given it to my mother, I can post the pictures of the blocking process.

Blocking is very counter-intuitive to me. After spending so many hours meticulously working on such precious pieces, the idea of soaking them in water and then stretching and pulling them just seems so....indelicate. I comprehend the necessity, I just don't ever wanna do it.

So, this is a crap picture, but this is what the FO is supposed to look like.

(Taken from the pattern, credit to French Girl.)

I chose to use a smaller needle size and a different kind of yarn, instead of Summer Tweed I used a cotton/silk blend. Because of these two choices, I ended up working about 80 rows instead of the prescribed 48, and I still thought it was narrow.

So here is the shawl, all blocked on my bed.

I know I could have been more precise with the pinning, but I was going for width, not a pretty edging.

I used all of the pins in my arsenal, and I know for a fact that I had at least a couple hundred in there.

I got through it, the shawl turned out sweet, especially after I added small oval gold beads at the ends of the fringe. Mom loved it, and I'm glad I put so much effort into it.

"i princess!"

In an attempt to combine my need to economize and my tendency toward nostalgia, I decided to make Princess J's easter dress this year. I remembered seeing a little dress in an infant boutique years ago where the top was knit and the skirt was fabric sewed on. I remember my mother saying I could make that easily.

So I snooped around for a while and found some patterns that weren't exactly what I was looking for, but I combined a few and came up with a cropped tank top sort of thing.

(these are the pieces before assembly.)

Sidenote, I don't actually know what kind of yarn this is, but I think it may be cotton. I'd knit an embossed leaf scarf out of this yarn with ruffles on the ends - which is totally not my style - a long time ago, and it's been hanging on my belt rack for years, unblocked, unworn, and unloved. I decided to rip it out and reuse the yarn. Hey, it's a pretty color.

So in my cleaning frenzies over the last few weeks, I found a dress that I wore for easter about 5 years ago. The dress never fit me properly, but the fabric is so beautiful I attempted to wear it that one time, then stashed it away for some future use. Like if I dropped a good 50 lbs and grew three inches.

Lucky, I still love the fabric's pattern, so I decided to use it for this dress I was making. I learned a lot about pleating as I began to pin it out.

I also became reacquainted with my old friend, the sewing machine. Gotta love winding bobbins.

Finally, it was done, and J tried it on. As soon as she swished side to side, she yelled "I princess!"

So next I'm going to knit up a matching kimono-style jacket for her to wear over it, as easter is still in April and it'll be chilly. I decided to do a wrap style as to smooth out some of the flounciness of my inexpert pleating. But, all in all, I made a dress - out of materials I already had. I'm almost glowing with pride.

You can clap now, I'll wait

Turns out my camera cable was in my camera bag (go figure!), the absolute last place I would look. Unlocking my pictures from the camera prison was a liberating feeling, though I realized far too late that when a knitter takes pictures near a window at night, that knitter should wear pants.

My blocking system for the noro scarf was pretty cool, thanks.

For a knitter who usually just steam-presses stuff, this is pretty involved for me. Again, I wasn't terribly impressed by the way it didn't soften up completely, but I worry I'm being picky.

Don't forget the requisite blogger-in-the-bathroom-mirror pic.

I wish I wish I wish

I wish I could find my camera cable to upload pictures of my recent knitting.  Sadly, I can't find the elusive cable and my pictures are stuck in the dungeon of my camera until I can.  For a photographer, this is a special kind of torture, and for a knitting photographer who has just completed her first noro scarf after 2 months of knitting on it, I am beyond frustrated.

I wish I could post pictures of the ingenious blocking system I had going with the noro scarf - it included multiple bath towels, 5 hangers, a couple chip clips, and my shower curtain rod.  (Intrigued, now, aren't you?)

I wish I wasn't so @#$% fascinated by the 1x1 ribbing of this SECOND noro scarf I've begun, about half the width as the last on as to still get the amazing color effects but stretch (quite literally) 2 skeins of expensive (for me) silk garden.  

I wish I could put into words how much I love my scarf but am a bit let down by the itchiness factor.  I was wooed into the project with promises that it would soften up after blocking, and while it did, to a point, it still itches.  I'm sure after more research, I'll end up re-blocking using SOAK (which is what I should have used in the first place) and I hope, I wish, and I pray that it gets softer.  It's so gorgeous and I love how long it is - over 98 inches! - so this will make it all types of perfect.

Shhh....

.......it's a secret....

First, a **something** knit out of soft soft sky blue mohair, embellished with dark irridescant beads. I'm especially proud of this **** because I knit it, sewed in the beads, and sewed it up in less than 24 hours - and I worked and made food and even slept in those same hours.

And second, a little **something** for The Princess, made out of cotton and ribbon. Very sweet, very little. I'm so happy that I have 2 of my 3 V Day gifts done with days and days to spare.

True Love

Duke Zephyr LOVES the Noro Scarf.

Rip it out and start again

About a year ago, I found a pattern for a wrap that I liked. I bought the yarn for it, a gorgeous turquoise cotton. After I'd knit it about 9/10th of the way, for some reason it fell by the wayside and I never finished it. Maybe it was because I was worried it wouldn't block correctly (it was a weird shape), maybe the *yo k2tog* pattern got too boring, I don't really know.

When I picked it up a few weeks ago, I realized that while it was a well-knit piece of fabric, even if I did finish it (a big if), I would rarely wear the wrap itself, and the yarn was such a rich color I couldn't let it go to waste.

So I started ripping it out. After reading YarnHarlot's post on the matching set of knitwear she made for her daughter, I decided I'd copy the hat that she's used as a jumping off point. I knit it up fine but decided to attempt a raglan decrease for the top. I realized only after I'd completed the hat that the top was pointy and there was no way I was going to put that on my head unless it was a part of a halloween costume. So I did what any dedicated knitter would do. I ripped out the hat and started again.

The Princess tried on my hat, and it was pretty big on her, but she didn't care.

This is the first hat that I have ever made for myself that I am truly truly in love with. I love the shape, I love the fit, I LOVE the color, the pretty little vintage button. I love it all. I can't wait to wear it.

I've been looking for interesting celtic knot cable patterns for a while. I really enjoy working cables, but I always want more variety than I find. Imagine my surprise and delight when I stumbled upon the Knitting Scotsman's pattern for a triquetra cable. Not only was it a doable chart, I quickly realized I could incorporate it onto the back of my favorite mitten pattern! So today, during nap time, I knit up a left mitten, working in a triquetra.

"Second mitten syndrome" has not hit me, and I genuinely excited to finish the set. Now THAT'S the sign of a great project.

Not on the list

Recently, I realized that I had a lot of projects on the horizon.  I kept forgetting what I'd planned to knit and bought yarn for, so I decided to make a list.  Though my usual prerogative is to write such a list on the back of an envelope, I actually got out a partially used notebook with a gorgeous beaded cover, moved the bookmark, and knighted it my new knitting notebook.  When I make calculations about gauge, plan out decreases (damn you "decrease evenly across the row" !!!!), etc, I will now write them all down in this pretty notebook.  

So the first thing I wrote in the notebook was the list of upcoming knitting projects.  Things that I had planned to knit and had bought yarn for already, things that are still just in the planning stages, and projects already on the needles.  All in all, it totalled about 12 projects.  Within 48 hours of writing the list, I had crossed off three.  (Beam proudly here.)

But.

But after I finished the C Family's knitting (Prince Chase, Prince Alec, and Princess Brooke's hats, King Nate's mittens, and Queen Vic's socks - see previous post), I had lots of scraps of mission falls cotton in a variety of colors.  So I decided I had enough to make a striped hat for The Princess.  And after I'd knit it, I knew I had just enough cotton to make a little matching scarf for her.  I finished it all last night, and while I don't have any pictures today, I can assure you, they're both really cute.

So, the point is - I wrote out this lovely list, and after accomplishing just a few items, I knit two things completely off the list.  So glad this is working out.

The Lady Knits Again

This is a new forum for me, Lady Knits-A-Lot. Previously, I was using a service that wasn't fantastic, so I have packed up and move (cyber-ly speaking) over here.

It is fitting that my first post here should be about the xmas knits I've made for the C Family, as that is *exactly* what my first blog in my previous cyber-home was about last year. So without further ado, here are the knits.

Prince Chase's hat is made out mission falls cotton and was knit from domiknitrix's jughead hat pattern. I made it striped and added buttons to make it more fitting for Prince Chase. I have knit this pattern once before for The Princess, but I made it out of soy yarn, and I much preferred working with the cotton.

The pattern is knitted sideways with short rows and is in straight garter stitch. With all the markers needed to keep your place with the short rows, it looks daunting, but just like the pattern says, after you've done it twice, "mindless knitting ensues."

The buttons were a find and worked really well with the pattern. I wanted to put some embellishment on the hat so it was clear which side was worn outward, and I heard a suggestion to put jewels on it to make it look more like a crown. However, I didn't want this hat to look foolish or childish (Prince Chase is almost 5, after all), so these buttons gave just enough flair. I completed this hat in two evenings, significantly quicker than the last time I knit this pattern.

Prince Alec's hat was done fairly quickly as well. Also knit in mission falls cotton, the bulk of the hat was knit in Barbara Walker's heraldic pattern. It is supposed to be reminiscant of battle flags hanging on a castle wall, a very masculine pattern. This hat is second-generation from the same skeins, as I had a completely different hat planned for Prince Alec but ended up ripping out all 8 inches of it. I can't wait to see this on Prince Alec's head.

Princess Brooke's hat was the first of the three I knitted. Again, it is made from mission falls cotton, and is of my own design. I knit a 19" long panel with a 4-row repeat cable in the center with garter stich on both sides. I joined the panel's ends, then picked up and knit from one side. I chose the purple colorway because I remembered seeing a picture of Princess Brooke in a two-toned purple coat. Little did I know, her current coat is the same purple theme, so this hat should make a great addition to her winter wardrobe. (And after Yarn Harlot's recent discussion about matching winter knitwear, I thought this was a lovely antidote.)

King Nate's handknit xmas present is a straightforward pair of striped cotton 2-needle mittens. In navy and robin's egg blues, they seemed manly enough for a grown man. (Mittens for a guy is pretty safe, methinks.) (Right?) (Ok, now I'm not so sure.)

And lastly, Queen Vic's socks! My own ankle-sock variation on YarnHarlot's vanilla sock pattern, I added 4 repeats of Barbara Walker's knit-twist lattice to the top. I wanted some embellishment for the top that wouldn't be too bulky inside a shoe, so a cable was out. I found this pattern simple enough not to be overwhelming, but interesting enough to hold my attention. They are ever-so-slightly too small for my feet, which works out well considering Queen Vic's feet are smaller too.

I'm darn proud of these socks, really. If it weren't for this sickness that's keeping me homebound, I wouldn't have finished them so efficiently. The colorway is right up my alley - it feels like an autumn afternoon.

So now that I'm finally done with the xmas knitting (yes, I am aware that it is January 25), I am using the leftover mission falls cotton to make a hat for The Princess using 2 repeats of the knit-twist lattice to make a little argyle pattern. If this sickness doesn't let up, I'm worried I may completely catch up on my knitting, a scary, scary thought.