my favorite pastime

If you know me at all you know how much I love all things knitting and crocheting, including yummy yarns and fancy needles. I've actually been quite busy with various projects lately. And, I recently had the opportunity to stop into my favorite LYS (Local Yarn Store) while up in Thousand Oaks over Easter weekend. I found some great deals on some super yummy yarn. Here's pics of what's been happening in Heidi's Happy Place.

Araucania 100% cotton yarn ... I just couldn't pass up this colorway! I only bought one skein, on account of its price, but I think its dying to become an awesome new beanie.

Malabrigo worsted weight, 100% wool yarn. Olive green. And 40% off! I'm thinking ... baby sweater?

Malabrigo chunky weight, 100% wool yarn. Pollen (aka yellow). And 40% off. I'd been considering buying some of this at full price online, but decided to wait until I could check out the yarn store ... I'm so glad I waited! I already have the perfect hat in mind.

Araucania 100% cotton. The hat I made for Chamberlyn a while back looked so cute on Josephine, I wanted to make her one too. So I got this yarn for that explicit purpose.

This sweater was knit in 100% wool bulky yarn (perfect for Spring in California, I know). Because of the weight of the yarn, it knit up fairly quickly. Since this picture I've added two buttons for closure, but otherwise, this is the finished product. What I'm most proud of is how it came out to the exact right size! All that math and calculating paid off!

The lovely cable detail on the back (above) and front (below).



I know I recently posted pics of this hat, but since it was finished around the time the rest of this was, I thought it deserved to be posted here again. Besides, its just so cute! This is the hat I want to make again for Josephine, in the pink Araucania yarn above.

I knit this sweater some time back, as a pullover. When it was finished, I didn't care for how it looked on me. So, I decided it needed to become a cardigan. I attempted a technique I've been wanting to try called steeking. I reinforced two rows down the front, on either side of where I wanted to cut and then put on button bands, and then I cut the sweater ... right down the front! It was a bit nerve-wracking, to tell you the truth. But it worked out! The finished sweater is still a little bit big, and my reinforcing actually stretched out the front a little bit, but all in all, I'm pleased with the finished product. I need to put buttons on the button bands and then I'll take FO pics. For now, I'm so excited I tried something new, and it worked!

a new hat

My cousin Darcy had a baby (her fourth!) a couple weeks ago, and in honor I decided she (Chamberlyn Shay, 6 lbs 9 oz, 19 inches long) needed a new hat. Doesn't every baby need a new hat? I scoured my books for something suitable (translation: I could finish in a day), and found this oh-so-cute number. I had great soft cashmerino yarn in my stash and an excuse to go buy some gauzy ribbon. I finished the hat just a couple hours before the shower: Mission Accomplished! I had Josephine model it before I gave it away.

I had to add a green stripe because I didn't have quite enough ivory yarn. But I think the green actually turned out quite cute!

I just LOVE the ribbon detail in this hat.

I cast on and knit 240 stitches, and then did a row of k3tog to get the cute ruffle around the edge.

After the photo shoot, I decided I'm going to have make one for Josephine, too.

planning ahead

I finally finished the double breasted jacket I've been making for Josephine. Its actually been done for a while ... I just had to sew on the buttons. It came out a little bigger than I'd intended, but that's not too big a deal, since she'll grow into it ... eventually. [Used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease yarn (50% cotton, 50% acrylic)]

latest knitting projects

Somehow between working and cleaning my home and cooking for my family and caring for my baby, I've actually been finding time to knit. The cooler weather kind of demands it. I know it might not seem like it, but I've chosen simpler projects because I have to be able to start and stop at a moment's notice ... there's no telling when Josie will need me. Anyway ... thought I'd share some of the latest.

Lush and Lacy

I'd been wanting to make this sweater for a couple years. I've had the yarn for about that long, and so I finally decided it was time to make it. There are a few things I would change about the finished product: I would make it longer and I would definitely do it in a different color (this pink is too close to my own pale skin color). I would also change the construction on the front (I'm a bit bigger right now, post-baby, than I 'm used to, and so I didn't account for how that would change the fit). However, I learned a lot in the knitting of this sweater. Because my gauge was so far off, I had to rework the entire pattern ... and I did it right! It fits me perfectly, which impresses even me. And even though there are things I would change, I've learned from those mistakes and now I know to make those changes BEFORE I knit something new (Of course, I already have a plan for the next sweater ... after all my Christmas knitting is done of course).

Ribbons and Bows
I designed this pattern as a gift for a friend's baby. Josie is my model (which she LOVES, as you can see). I think it turned out pretty cute!

Snow Baby
I also designed this hat. I made it before Josie was born and it just now fits her ... which is perfect actually, since nobody needs a warm hat in the summer anyway.

the sipalu bag

Several months ago I saw this kit on a favorite knitting website of mine (Knit Picks) and immediately thought of my sister-in-law Julie. It had all the right colors, and the pattern looked exotic and bohemian. With Julie's 30th birthday approaching in May, I ordered the kit (which came with 17 different colors of yarn and size 2 needles) back in December. Unfortunately, Knit Picks didn't make it truly available until the middle of March, so I didn't get started until then. However, two months turned out to be just the right amount of time to get the project finished.

Fair isle is the knitting term for working with two different colors of yarn at a time to create a pattern. As you can see, by the time I finished this purse I had used 17 different colors (no more than two at a time though) to create the beautiful and intricate design. It was a great learning experience, and though I hope I'm the only one that can tell, there is one side that turned out a little better than the other. My mom helped me make and sew in the liner (I may enjoy the knitting challenge, but sewing is not something I've ventured into yet). I finished just in time to wrap it up and give it to Julie on her birthday, Saturday the 23rd. I think she was happy with it.

The bag of yarns ... Seeing all these colors arrive in one bag was a little bit overwhelming ... but when you start working with just two at a time, it becomes manageable.

The purse in progress. I started with the side welt (the green and yellow part) and then knit the front and back panels along its edges. The panels were knit in the round, with even decreases in each round, so the knitter ends up knitting toward the middle of the bag, eventually ending up with just four stitches left to sew together. The last, top welt, is knit directly into the tops of the panels, and then the handles are knit into that. The construction is actually really intuitive and easy to work with.

The finished project. Not too bad if I do say so myself. And Happy Birthday Julie! It was so fun to knit something special for you for your big day.

baby rooms and finished knitting

So, I've started to actually go a little bit baby crazy. Everything has become so real since I found out we're having a girl, she has a name, and daily now I can feel her squirming around in my ever-growing belly. So, of course the first thing we must do is prepare a room in which to welcome her when she arrives in June. On Saturday Caleb and I tackled the first of several tasks necessary to turn the study into a baby's room / office. We cleaned out two full book shelves of books ... stored some, relocated some, gave some away.... Overall, the room redesign is going to be an organizational and decorating challenge, but the very kind in which I revel. So I'm excited about the possibilities.

While the cleaning and organizing continues at home over the next several weeks, my mom has been helping me with the decorating part. I'm not much of a girly girl myself, and tend to find most put-together baby room ideas a bit too ... pastel, for my tastes. So we're branching out on our own, and I'm counting on my mom and mother-in-law to help much with things like curtains, bumpers and crib skirts. Below are the colors we're starting with ... still totally girly and fun, but not so ... pastel. I have dreams of painting stripes and / or murals on the walls, but we'll get to that later.

This week's decorating step is paint colors, and this week's cleaning project is cleaning out the over-loaded closet in Josie's room. (There will be Before and After pictures once the whole project is done.) My goal is to have the room gutted and painted before Caleb leaves for Liberia March 7. Then, upon his return, we can focus on filling it with all things baby.

A veritable rainbow of fun and bright colors. I love these fabrics, too, but I bought the swatches mostly for their color properties for now.


On to the knitting part of this post ...

I finished this wrap/scarf a couple weeks ago, but just this weekend got around to actually photographing it in its finished glory.

The original pattern calls for a wrap probably twice as wide as the one I ended up with, but I wanted something I could wear more easily as a scarf, as I don't know quite what to do with wraps.

My scarf. Yay! I love how it turned out ... now if we could just get this little Southern California heat wave to go away, maybe I could wear it!

knitting update

I'm SO enjoying January's lighter schedule and the fact that all my gift knitting is finished (for now). I'm having plenty of time to work on some projects that have waited patiently since September to be continued. I've also posted a few pics from the finished pieces I made for Christmas.

Detail on the sweater I made Rachel for Christmas.

The back of Rachel's sweater.

Rachel's sweater, finished and fitting just right!

The hat I designed and made for my bro-in-law Hans. Though he wouldn't admit it, I think it came out a tiny bit small. He was wearing it damp on Christmas in an effort to stretch it out just a little. Hope he finds occasions to wear it!

The hat I made my brother David for Christmas. He and Rachel just moved to Washington, and he's now requesting more warm hats.

New projects ....

This is a sweater I'm working on right now. Here's what it will look like when its finished (hopefully). I've finished everything but the sleeves ... because when I got to the sleeves, I realized I didn't have the right needles! So I've ordered them.

The other great thing about this pattern is that its A-line construction and lack of buttons all the way down should suit my growing pregnant belly.

Detail.


So while I wait for my needles to arrive ....

... I started another project I've been wanting to get to. This is what the finished product will look like (well, except mine will be more scarf-like than wrap-like ... and purple, instead of pink). I'm already half-way done. I'd be almost totally done if I weren't using much smaller yarn and needles than the pattern calls for. As a result, I'm having to do almost twice as many repeats of the pattern to get it the length I want.

My mom made me the stitch markers for Christmas. They're perfect!

Slightly wider view.

Here's to lots of knitting in 2009!

finally finished!

I actually finished this sweater more than a week ago, but just yesterday got around to taking pictures of the finished product. This might be my favorite finished knitted sweater to date, mostly because of the yarn I used. Its 50% silk / 50% wool, warm and soft. Its WONDERFUL.

In the magazine, this sweater pattern is called The Minimalist. I get what they're trying to say, the finished sweater is quite basic, not even including any buttons or clasps to keep it closed. However, if ever I've knit something NOT minimalist in its technique, it would be this sweater. The entire thing is knit in k1/p1 moss stitch, meaning I had to change the direction of the yarn for EVERY SINGLE STITCH. It was definitely a bit laborious, and I'm not sure I'll do anything quite like it again any time soon. BUT, the finished sweater IS quite fabulous, so I suppose it was worth it.

Cherry Tree Hill Silk and Merino DK yarn. Color: Java. Yummy.

I had one major setback with this sweater. When I got to this point, which is the entire main body of the sweater up to the armpits, I took a good look at all I had done, and realized that the colors in the yarn skeins were different, and you could see a definite line where one skein ended, and the next began. (If you look closely, you can definitely see the difference in the lighter pinks on the bottom part, and the darker, more burgundy, pinks at the top.) I knew I would be unhappy with it FOREVER if I didn't start over and fix it ... so even after all this knitting, I ripped the ENTIRE thing out, rolled up the yarn, and started from scratch. As I began anew, I used TWO skeins of yarn and alternated them every two rows, working the lighter colors in with the darker ones. It worked, and I'm happy with the end product ... even if the process was mildly infuriating.

And here she is! Don't be put off by the look on my face ... I didn't know Caleb had my face in the picture. I really am very happy with it! And don't you love the way the colors change??

Close up. One thing I think I might do is go back and make the sleeves a little shorter. I have them pushed up a bit here to show what its supposed to look like, but when I washed the sweater the sleeves grew a bit too long. They're supposed to be 3/4 length, and they actually land just above my wrists. Its awkward.

The back. One other knitting note: I did not knit the sleeves separate and then sew them in as the pattern called for ... I picked up stitches directly off the armholes and knitted straight down. I found the technique from a girl on Ravelry (my knitting community website) who found a formula for doing sleeves this way ... and I love it! It took a couple tries to get it right, but in the end it was so much less work. I hate seaming sleeves into armholes!

Close up of the details ... you can see the pretty moss stitch pattern (that's the waffly looking part) and the regular stockinette stitch for the front bands. I think it turned out really pretty.

the first gift sweater

For Amy's birthday this year I really wanted to knit her something. But it was becoming a huge challenge to choose something I thought she might like, and then since it was the first time knitting for someone else I was nervous about it coming out the right size and proportion and all that. When you prepare to spend 40-50 hours hand-making a garment, you want to be pretty certain the finished piece will be well received. Well, whether she remembers it or not, several weeks ago this was a pattern she said she liked ... so I got her measurements and dove in. Last night she was over and I decided to have her take a look and try it on, even though it hasn't been washed yet and has no buttons. And low and behold, it fits! And its actually perfect! And she loves it! Sorry for all the exclamation marks, but the finished product actually exceeded even my own expectations. Maybe I'm getting better after all ...

She's as excited as me that it fits!

This picture shows the sleeves a little better. They're super cute, if I do say so myself.

This is the detail of the hexagon pattern.

Another shot ... imagine buttons and you'll imagine the finished sweater!

Lucy likes it too!