A Knit Mouse!

I recently ran across several very cute mouse patterns. This one came with free instructions on the website, so the knitting choice was easy.



Details:
Pattern: Marisol Mouse (yarnigans.vox.com/library/post/marisol-mouse.html)
Needles: 4 size 3 DPNs
Yarn: leftover Lyon Brand wool-ease in dark gray and Encore in dusty rose
Start date: April 27, 2009
Finish date: April 29, 2009



This mouse is going to a dear, dear person who needs a great deal of cheering after a long string of bad luck. I hope it makes you laugh!!



And the knitting de-stressed me greatly too. There is nothing like dealing with the stress of administering standardized testing (for the third time this year!) during a school day. An evening knitting diversion is just the ticket for continued sanity.



Happy Knitting!

Humans have usable wool too...

It's donation time! Last Friday I decided time was up for this long mop of mine. I got 10+ inches chopped off and made my 5th donation to Locks of Love (locksoflove.org). If your hair grows quickly, please consider donating 10+ inches to this fine organization, which makes wigs for children who don't have hair.



Since I am a teacher, I try to donate every 2 years to inspire my students to also grow out their hair. 80% of donations come from children under 18 who wish to help other children. Two years ago four other students and another teacher joined me in cutting their hair. I hope this year will be as inspirational!

Spring Break Sweater

Clever marketing is such a beautiful thing. It works. It persists and follows you. And so it was that every single time I walked into Stitches n Scones the winter of 07-08 - BaBUMPHFF - there was this gorgeous sweater on a mannequin right in my face as I opened the door. I don't even like pink - at all. Well, one day on my way there, I just knew that if the sweater was still there, I would have to make an impulse purchase. Ironically, they didn't have the exact colors in stock and I had to wait a few days to get the yarn. Half of my spring break, no less. Oh the "wasted" knitting time. However... well yes... read on...



This project had many lessons in store for me.


Body, no border

I taught myself how to do a basic cable (YIPPEE!), but was too lazy to buy a cabling needle. Trust me on this one: buy a cabling needle. Instead, a size 3 knitting needle held the cable stitches for me. This caused great undue tension on my left index finger. I knit continental style, so there is already extra tension on that finger. Add to that my extreme obsession with seeing the cable pattern unfold before my eyes, the mesmerizing rib knitting, and all the free time of a spring break, and I developed extreme tendonitis in my left index finger. And had to stop knitting for at least two weeks. And wear a finger brace to keep me from moving the finger unnecessarily. It was torture, especially since I was not even close to finishing this sweater. All is well that ends well and I was busily knitting away again by early May.


Body back, no border

I learned some actual techniques as well, thanks to local knitters meeting at the LYS. Being a mostly self-taught knitter, picking up stitches usually meant putting the loop on the edge of the knitting on a needle. OOPS, not so much! And I wondered why there were always holes at the pick-up line... Now I know how to do it right. There are still examples of the old technique at the sleeves.



Finishing off the sweater was also a major dilemma as I could not figure out a sewn bind-off to save my life. I finally swallowed my pride and thanks to a private knitting lesson with Lin at my LYS, I was able to forge ahead. The best instructions were found the ancient Readers' Digest Knitting book and Lin drilled me until I got the tension right. Thanks! The finish is so smooth.


Besides some of the obstacles and set-backs, I loved every minute of working on this sweater. The rib knitting had a very soothing effect. I never dreaded knitting a row of all purls because there were manageable amounts of purl every few stitches. The wool was so soft and gorgeous to touch and work with. I recommend this sweater to anyone.



The Details:
Pattern: Gedifra Fall 2007, Pattern #1034
Size: Medium
Wool: Gedifra Volata Tweed in 9057 Pink and 9021 Brown
Needles: Size 6 & 8 metal circulars
Start date: April 3, 2008
Finish date: September 28, 2008



Modifications -
First off, less seaming is better than more, so I knit the two front sections and the back in one huge row. I divided the sections when it was time to make sleeves. Then I picked up stitches for the sleeves right off the body, leaving me with only shoulder seams! I tried to kitchener stitch those together, but it doesn't really work in rib, so I went back to my normal seaming method.
I also knit two stitches together every other knit rib on the end of the sleeve before the bind-off row. This prevented flaring at the end that just didn't seem to go with the knitting. Finally, the pattern did not mention this, but the picture looked like the sleeve bind-off was in purl, which think looks great.

To top it all off, my husband got me this awesome pin to close it. Check out Romi Designs to get yours: http://www.designsbyromi.com/index.html. My music students also enjoy the G-clef theme.



I don't know which I like better, knitting the sweater, or wearing it. I do know that it made last year's spring break very fun and this year's spring break a little warmer... Because of course, it's snowing right now! (Perfect knitting weather!)

Katelyn Sweater & Emma Jacket

[Edit: I decided to rename this post for easy Emma Jacket finding, for those of you linking here from Christina's blog.]



For my birthday in 2006, I received a very uncharacteristic, but highly cherished, gift from my husband: a rather large sum of money on a gift card to a local yarn store. For months I couldn't decide what I wanted to buy and made at least a half dozen trips to see what might inspire me. Sometime early 2007, there was a clearance sale, and that's when I spotted eight balls of Katia Tundra in colorway "greens." It was magically soft and the colors were very appealing to me. It was also going to be the first project that I wanted to knit for myself, and it would be a sweater. I thought it would be a cardigan, but when I couldn't find a pattern that I liked, I decided to knit a somewhat generic pattern with the help of this pattern: http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/katelyn/katelyn.html. I used a store-brought sweater to help me size it just right. I was a little skeptical if the collar would stay firm and not expand on me and then went for a turtle neck look, which I really like. I also didn't want the additional work of the stitching, and I think it turned out perfect.



This is a gratuitous shot of my dog Loki, helping me model the sweater.



The details:
Pattern: http://www.berroco.com/exclusives/katelyn/katelyn.html
Size: Small
Yarn: Katia Tundra in colorway "greens"
Needles: Size 6 & 8 metal circulars
Start date: February, 2007
Finish date: June 1, 2007





Recently, I've been in "stash bust" mode and was looking for a smaller project to finish using up this yarn. I ran across the "Emma Jacket," the product of local designer, Christina Wall.



Check her patterns out at classiccables.blogspot.com. This was my first opportunity to try a top-down sweater, and it was so addicting and a quick project. I love trying the sweater on during the knitting process. I made only a few modifications. I knit one less sleeve increase than recommended for the size. I was afraid that I would run out of yarn. Around 5 yards of yarn remained at the end of the project. That was perfect planning! The sleeve length turned out to be exactly as long as the sweater body, a look which appealed to me. I also used size 8 circular needles for the sleeves, because I was knitting way too tight on size 7 DPNs. Finally, I knit an extra two rows before dividing the sleeves, to reduce the possibility of too little room under the arms.



The Details:
Pattern: Emma Jacket, cropped version
Size: 34
Yarn: Katia Tundra in colorway "greens"
Needles: Size 7 Clover bamboo 36" circulars, Size 8 Clover 16" circulars, Size 5 Clover bamboo circulars
Start Date: March 2, 2009
Finish Date: March 18, 2009



Finally, a blocked update on the previous post. The little sweater that troubled me so much really turned out not so badly after all. It's all ready to be gifted to a lucky new someone. :o)

Minor Miracles

Miracle #1: I actually managed to post on the blog TWICE in one month! I may be getting the hang of this after all.

Miracle #2: I finished off a sweater that I thought would be my first incomplete knit object in my adult knitting life. I was so excited that I had to share before blocking. :o)



It sure took a long time and provided plenty of challenge. The first challenge was not liking the colors. My husband helpfully nicknamed this sweater the "Beach Blanket." I don't think it was a compliment. The second challenge was that the wool is very fine and that takes a long time to knit and sew up seams. And finally, all those stripes and my 2006 rookie knowledge provided endless sewing in of ends. I should have carried more of the color up the sides and knit in the round. There are plenty of visible mistakes. Like how I didn't know how to pick up stitches around the collar. (I have learned the proper way to do such a thing since then.)

The yarn was left over from a previous jacket project for two nieces in which I knit all three colors together. Knit together the colors looked a lot more cohesive, especially modeled by these cuties!



The facts:
Pattern - From an Anny Blatt book for kids
Size - 9-12 months
Yarn - Knit Picks Pallette, cream, hot pink, gray
Needles - size 3, metal circular
Begin - December 27, 2006
End - February 26, 2009



Originally I thought that I would donate this sweater, but recent pregnancy announcements amongst siblings and cousins make me think that I might want to hang on to it for a while and gift it... Here are Nephews #3 & 4 "helping" Auntie E knit the sleeves last summer. Perhaps a little sister would like to wear this in a few months??

Finishing objects... and a hat obsession

Recently, my unfinished objects and my stash have been calling my name. Loudly. Obsessively. Or maybe I am heeding their call obsessively. At any rate, I am slowly working my way through some overdue items.

But before I share my knitting, allow me to introduce another crafty item. In 2007 I took a class called "Teaching Creativity." During a group invention project, we were asked to come up with an invention to help our life flow more smoothly. I found a great apron pattern by McCall's (I think). I then added some plastic pockets in front of the cloth pockets as my "innovation" to have a place to display flashcards to start a lesson plan. The plastic pockets ended up being way too fussy for me, so I reverted back to the plain old pattern version. The apron holds all of my teaching materials in one place on my person and has made my life in the classroom much easier. My student teachers last year also thought they were great, and so I made one for both of them as well. I also stocked it with a few "teacher-ly" items... very fun gift! I wear my apron daily.



Our head night custodian caught sight of this item and "threatened" to steal it one night. She felt that it would be perfect for her job cleaning. And I agree. So this year for her birthday, I made her one too! Here is the fourth organizer apron that I have made. Each one took me just under 3 hours, not including time to get the supplies at the fabric store.



Thanks for all you do, EW!



I have to confess that I have been annoyed with one of my favorite knit blog designers the past few months. It seems like every new post is of a new hat. I am not a big hat fan, and feel like knitting a hat is way too simple, fast, easy. If I am not laboring for a month or more, the knitting pattern is not really a project for me. (I have to do everything the hard way!) Imagine my surprise when I noticed the other day that I have made nothing but hats this year! I think the combination of very cold weather and high stress days allowed me to succumb to these quick and easy little knitting treats.



Besides intarsia hearts, the rest weren't that difficult. I followed the basic directions for the beanie from "Charmed Knits" and kind of experimented with stripes and decreases. I had enough Plymouth Encore wool from the Gryffindor scarf project left over to make two additional hats! One was made to match my husband's Gryffindor scarf.



Here is a poem he wrote me:

Ode to Scarf
Ah, how I love my Gryffindor House Scarf,
Whether I am chasing bludgers through the winter air,
Walking to class on frigid morning,
Sneaking up a drafty tower carrying a dragon,
Walking around DG house properties,
It always keeps me warm, toasty, comforted, and loved.
Also stylish.

I especially enjoy the last line!



The intarsia hearts were inspired by a motif I found in "Traditional Scandinavian Knitting" by Sheila McGregor, page 52. I repeated the pattern five times, using 110 stitches.



The hat, made of Encore worsted weight yarn, verges on size extra large, but I was afraid that four repeats (88 stitches) might be a little too small for an adult. I will probably try this pattern again, because it was fun to knit. I may try four repeats for the sake fun and experimentation.



I also found two other remnant hats that I made last year with the same pattern. I used leftover Cascade yarn that I used for the Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin Harry Potter scarves with (see June 2008 post).



Finally, I found some little "quilt squares" designed to be affixed to note cards. Unfortunately, my choice of "fall colors" looked more like "Revenge of the 1970's" when knit together. The Hempathy yarn by Elsebeth Lavold knit up to a texture more like a washcloth than a charming quilt square. Each square took a surprising amount of time. Think 3+ hours. The thicker yarn combined with size 000 needles was cumbersome at best. The pattern is promising, though: http://www.interweave.com/needle/projects/quilt_blocks.pdf



The end result could have been worse. I'm sure some crafty or artsy friend of mine will enjoy receiving one for their next birthday!

2008 Christmas Reveal Post

I didn't have nearly as many finished projects as I had for Christmas 2007, but when I look at the projects all in one place, the number is still fairly significant. So here's the fruit of the labor!

First, I was doing a bit of stash busting and found some blue and white nubby wool that I had made nephew #3 a birthday sweater with in 2007. I decided to make a scarf for the custodian who cleans my room at school every day. She and I have some great conversations and I definitely felt like I needed to kick my appreciation up a notch this year. Our building custodial staff is understaffed and overworked. Hey look, it's the Colts colors! (She loves the Colts). Merry Christmas JM!!



DETAILS:
Pattern: knit 15 stitches with garter stitch till yarn (held double) runs out.
Needles: Cheap plastic brand in size 17
Started: October 22
Finished: October 22
Notes: It was a fun road trip to NYC with the husband!



I had the extreme pleasure of spending some quality time with my youngest cousin during the summer of '08. Upon showing her my knitting photo book she "ordered" a "headband in 'ice-blue' with a reindeer motif," a motif that I used in several hats. I nearly forgot about this and I don't have a picture of her modeling it yet, but it turned out comfortable and pretty. I hope she enjoys it for many years!



DETAILS:
Pattern: My own + reindeer design from "Traditional Scandinavian Knitting" by Sheila McGregor
Needles: Bamboo 16" circulars size 4
Yarn: Lion Brand Microspun in Lilac and Lily White, 1 skein each
Started: December 1
Finished: December 11
Notes: I loved this yarn for the color work knitting. It was easy to manage both strands as it was being knitted together.



The third project was the big one this fall. My sister in law expressed an interest in a new afghan for her couch. So I sent her a pattern book and asked her to visit a yarn store to pick out the color and the yarn. This is the fabulous result. Great choices!



DETAILS:
Pattern: "Done By Monday Afghans" pattern #13
Yarn: Cascade Superwash color #904, 12 skeins held double
Needles: Addi Turbos size 13
Started: November 4
Finished: December 20

I adjusted the pattern so that it had 8 cables across instead of 7. The substitute yarn was just a WEE bit thinner than the yarn recommended. I also used 12 balls of yarn instead of 10 so that it would be longer. It was a fun and pretty fast project, but it was not "done by Monday!" The lady at the yarn store suggested I should start knitting on a Tuesday. Another person's blog suggested it would be done by "some" Monday!

Here is the lucky sister in law wearing it inside out at the Christmas reveal.



My #4 nephew still did not have a hand-knit sweater from me, so I whipped one up with a number of patterns and past projects inspiring the size and shaping.



He loves cars and so I applied one using duplicate stitch. I made a similar sweater a few years back for nephew #2 and knitted the car with the intarsia method. I decided both ways were quite a bit of extra work. The wheels are buttons and always a tactile hit with the little ones. He loved it and couldn't stop talking about how it had a car on it!



DETAILS:
Pattern: Conglomeration of several including Hogwarts Sweater from "Charmed Knits" and a free Bernat pattern that I got on some Bernat wool; the car was inspired by something I found in a knitting magazine that has been gone and buried for a few years - sorry! The blue stripes on the sleeves... I was running out of red yarn!
Yarn: Encore Worsted weight in red and royal blue
Needles: Bamboo size 8 circular, metal double pointed size 8 for sleeves and collar.
Started: October 23
Finished: December 31 (Our get-together was late this year - WHEW!)



Finally, these hand warmers were an experiment with my new cable needle necklace and another stash busting idea. It turned out that my mother loved the design (though it is quite retro and 80's!) and so I surprised her with a little extra package at our late Christmas celebration. This is actually the first official knit product of 2009, but it was a Christmas gift, so I am including it in this post.



DETAILS:
Pattern: Mine - 42 stitches in the round. K2, (P2, K4 repeat)... and K last 2. Cable the K stitches every 5 rows. Knit back and forth when you wish to have and thumb opening and rejoin into a circle when opening is large enough. Cabling every 5 rows was a problem only on the thumb opening rows. Just a little cumbersome to cable while purling.
Yarn: Encore worsted weight in cream, dusty rose, and maroon
Needles: size 8 double pointed, new cable needle necklace
Started: January 1
Finished: January 3



HAPPY NEW KNITTING YEAR TO ALL!!