Ishbel, Blocked

Snapped these pics while I blocked the Ishbel scarf, finally.  It's beautiful.  It's a gift for my friend, but I'm 97% sure she's never seen this blog, so I feel safe posting these pics.

Here's a little washcloth made using short rows.  I used Christmas yarn, and every time I spy it in my kitchen now I think it looks like a giant Christmas mint.  Yum.

Teacher Gifts and Other WIPs

I made it into Chart B on the Travel Shawl but now I am feeling burned out.  That thing is getting really big.  I was going to try to knit it on the 24" circular I already had.  I gave up on that.  I bought a 32" from the LYS (all they had in stock was an Addi Turbo - completely fake sadness here).  That was many rounds ago.  Now even the 32" is packed with stitches.  Approximately 460 stitches.  Plus Chart B is awkward to knit.  And honestly I just needed a break from the Travel Shawl.

I made a hat for my friend:

It is the Rustling Leaves Beret from Coastal Knits.  I used Fiddleknits Dye-a-Tonic and I am pleased as punch with how it turned out.  The pale green looks great worked up in wavy leaves on the hat.  Also the yarn blocked up all soft but still defined.  Ravelry details here.  Friend says she loves it!

  

I also started some cross stitching.  I've been making tiny things, because they don't take long, but then I have something cute to show for my labors.  As opposed to a giant gray blob that is still on needles.  Ahem.

I made a tiny sewing machine as a tag for a Christmas present.  Obviously I can't show that one yet.  I am also stitching up little ornaments for the kids' teachers (3 school, 2 church).  At first I wanted to make 5 snowflakes:

But that freaking snowflake took like 4 hours.  You can't even tell but it's a boatload of backstitching.  Plus I foolishly did white on red felt which looks snappy when finished, but when I was stitching white on WHITE waste canvas it was a pain in the neck.  So I was like, forget that.  The remaining four are two reindeer with a heart between.  Takes an hour to pop out one.  I'll take another pic once I have them in actual ornament state.  I have 1.5 left to stitch.

WIPs

I got the Amande Vest off the needles.  It just needs buttons and then to be blocked.  I'm a little concerned because the vest really seems to pull down at the bottom from the weight of the yarn, while there's not much holding it up at the top.  Hmm.

I still need to block the Ishbel shawlette!  I am a blocking procrastinator.  Partially because I have to block on the floor of my bedroom and then make sure the baby doesn't get in there.  Not easy.

Anyway, I did finally finish that scarf for Miss E too.  It's only like 3.5 feet long.  Haha  But she wore it today to school, and she said she wore it all day except at PE, so I'd call that a knitting win.

The pink Marian cowl was finished in one day.  Very easy, very cute.  E uses it like a baby sling for her dolls.  I liked hers so much that I bought the proper sized needle (19, not 15) and made myself one of navy yarn.  Love it.  I also popped out a pair of fingerless mitts for myself from Eco Duo.  They're extremely basic, I use them on chilly mornings when I run.  So, only twice so far.  Haha

Right now I am halfway through a pair of fingerless mitts in green camo, to match M's cap.  Not so motivated since we are having gorgeous fall weather and mitts are a bit excessive.  Honestly though reason one is it is time for the thumb and I sort of hate doing thumbs.

Reason two being I started the Travel Shawl from Knitting 24/7.  I've been focusing on that project, and really enjoying it!  I only had to rip out the beginning and start over once (and I had only made it to about row 8, so very little invested), which I think is pretty good.  As usual, once the pattern got established the shawl became 9,000 times easier to knit.  It's good tv knitting.  Also I am now quite proficient at a k3tog!  Haha  Right now I'm on a 24" circular (size 5).  I'm slightly concerned I'll have to invest in yet another circular needle, bite the bullet, get a 32".  I have a feeling I'm going to have a very hard time fitting 500+ stitches on a 24" circular.  We'll see.  I do have some credit at my LYS...Anyway, I love this pattern and I think I'm going to LOVE the finished product.  I am using the yarn called for by the pattern, Peace Fleece, even the same color (Father's Gray).  It's very rustic.  Picking out bits of straw as I knit!

And here's my hambone baby just for fun!

The Scarf for Miss E

This scarf is making me crazy.  I started it in the Xs & Os cable pattern, but I was out of yarn and the scarf was only 2 feet long.  So I frogged it and started over with fewer stitches and a different pattern - Chevron from Barbara Walker's 1st stitch dictionary.  But I didn't like it.  It was too dense and the pattern was barely visible in the Sundara yarn.  So I frogged AGAIN.  I HATE frogging.  I opted for something a little lacier.  I'm using the Hourglass Eyelet pattern from the same stitch dictionary.  I think this one will be the final version.  It's only 17 stitches wide so hopefully I can get to 4 feet at least?  I guess I had less yarn than I thought.  :(

So...to make myself feel better I cast on for a Marian cowl in a fun pink also for Miss E.  I am using a size 15 instead of a 19, but I figure, eh, Miss E is only 6 so smaller is fine.  Hopefully.

Update

These pictures are a bit old, but here is Ishbel.  It's finally off the needles.  I have a bunch of other things I want to make right now, but I was making myself finish Ishbel first.  I made a few mistakes, but I didn't care enough to frog & restart.  It's nice that my perfectionism occasionally takes a break.  Haha  I'm giving this to EK for Christmas.  The color (on my laptop these pics look bright blue, kinda gross) is really a dusky blue.  It's St Denis Boreale in Fjord.  It will look smashing on EK.

Now I'm working on the hugs & kisses scarf for E, then probably some fingerless mitts for M to match his camo cap.  Then a balaclava for Husband (I found the His Or Hers Cowl, which suggested you present it to your man as a balaclava, worked like a charm  haha).  Then maybe some tiny mittens for Baby.  Then a little something for myself.  Or a big something, since I am planning on making the Travel Shawl. 

And here is a T Rex roller skating, courtesy of Friday Freebies at Knit Picks.  I made a few washcloths to give me a little breather on Ishbel.

WIP: Amande Vest

I just started the cable on the back of the Amande Vest.  It's knitting up quite quickly, thanks to bulky yarn.  I'm using KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Bulky in Coal (black).  I'm making it in the smallest size.  New skill: applied i-cord edging & i-cord.  I can see why people like that edging, it looks polished.  I did the 2nd increases in the side seams wrong because I was chatting with my friend and therefore couldn't be bothered to look up how to M1L and M1R.  I can never remember those!  Haha  There are therefore small holes at the increase sites because I just did whatever.  I decided that's not a big deal since those increases are under my arms.  And I really, really hate frogging.  For the needles, I went down one size to 9s to get gauge.  I think I'm really going to like this vest when it's done!

Next week on our road trip, the vest will be staying home.  :(  haha  It's too bulky for lugging around in the car, which will be packed to the gills with all the crap one needs for three small children.  I'm planning on starting the Ishbel shawlette for my friend EK.  I have two balls of St Denis Boreale in Fjord - the most beautiful blue, which will look great on EK.  I figure that will be small enough to tuck into a small bag and tote around with me.

Multnomah Shawlette

Here are some pictures of the Multnomah Shawl while it was being blocked.  On my laptop, it looks dark blue, when it is really more of a teal.  I used Spud & Chloe Fine in Anemone #7805.  I call this a shawlette.  Honestly I wish it was a bit bigger.  Wish I had read other reviews on Ravelry to know that others were dissatisfied with the size.  Especially since I have quite a bit of the second skein of yarn left.  Oh well.  I do really like it, but now I want a shawl pin for it!  Haha

Not So Motivated

 Here are pics of the mitts & hat I made for my husband.  He actually used the hat several times before Oregon warmed up.  He says it is perfect for hunting.  The mitts are a bit big, I'm going to try to felt them a bit.  Otherwise I'll just knit him a new pair in the next smaller size.

 I can't remember if I posted this pic or not.  This is my Pinkerton Shawl which I blocked after wearing at least five times!  Haha  I wear it wrapped around my neck anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.  Though of course now that it's blocked it can actually function as a shawl.  Ha

And finally, here is what I am not so motivated about.  I have four rows left of my Multnomah Shawl, and yet!  Still not done!  And not motivated!  FOUR ROWS.  What is wrong with me?  I don't know.  But hopefully my next post will be very soon, with a pretty picture of a completed Multnomah Shawl.

Off the Needles!

I got so excited about that ribbing being out of the way, I finished the Watch Cap that very night! (Sunday) My husband likes it and it fits him well.  He even wore it out and about running errands yesterday, so I know that he actually likes it and isn't just saying that to make me happy.  Haha  He said it's warm and not itchy.  How it doesn't itch him, I have no idea because it's Fisherman's Wool!  And it's not like I washed & blocked it before handing it to him to wear.

The next day I pulled out my yarn for the Amande Vest (KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Bulky, fyi) and got it all into balls, sat down with the pattern...and realized I don't have the correct needles.  Hate that.  I ordered them and they should arrive soon.

In the meantime I had to get something else going and I didn't want to have to wind any more balls because I had just put my swift and winder away.  I grabbed a ball of Spud & Chloe Fine that I already had wound and searched Rav for a shawlette to match.  I am about 25-30% into Multnomah.  In the most un-Multnomah-ey (new word, that one) color - a bright teal.  Haha  The body is garter, garter, garter so it's ideal for tv knitting.  And the color is gorgeous, especially against the silver Addis.

The shawl revealed to me that my tension has improved dramatically since I started knitting a lot a couple of years ago.  I used to have to go down TWO needle sizes.  Now I actually can go with the needle size in the pattern often.  Sometimes I still need to go down one size.