Crafts

FO Friday

mildlygranola, , , 22 Comments

Last week, after I finished my Farmhouse Cardigan I was excited to see how much yarn I had left over. I could have put it back in my stash, but I decided a better thing to do was try to make a sweater for Audrey in a week. I mean, why wouldn’t I add knitting stress to the regular stress of the holiday season?
I cast on the Oxbow Cardigan by Andrea Mowry and started knitting like mad. I didn’t make Christmas cookies or party mix in order to gain knitting time. I finished it on Christmas night, and I love the results.

This is an open cardigan without buttonholes. That does not fly with a certain five-year-old. I sewed the buttons she picked out on to the sweater. She is a big fan. I did not block this sweater, because it seemed like a lot of work for something for a child. It looks fine.

This sweater pattern is sized from baby to adult. I think I’ll be making this sweater for myself soon, because now that I see it close up I adore it.

WIP Wednesday

mildlygranola, , , 6 Comments

As I hoped, casting on all sorts of projects has helped me fall in love with knitting my Farmhouse Cardigan. It is still slow going, but I feel like I’m actually making progress now. I would love to have this done in time to wear at Christmas.

I’ve been picking up the Darwinian Evolution scarf and working a few rows here and there, and it’s really adding up. John has been giving this project googly eyes of knitting admiration, so it’s going to be a scarf for him.

My grab and go project has become the sockhead cowl. It is mindless knitting, which will be perfect for knitting at holiday celebrations or when my friends get together to knit.

What are you working on this week?

WIP Wednesday

mildlygranola, 14 Comments

OK, it’s not Wednesday, but I was out really late last night and didn’t get a post written. I was at an Indigo Girls concert, which really brought me back to my college days. I forgot to bring my knitting, which I was kicking myself for when there was 30 minutes between the opening act and the real show.

I’ve been doing some knitting this week, primarily on my socks. They are easy to knit and really fun to see progressing. I’m done with the gusset and hope to finish the foot in the car tomorrow. I live in a dream world where I can accomplish ALL OF THE KNITTING on a three hour drive.

My sweater has been ignored most of this week. I have attached the pocket linings, which was exciting. I now have about 9 inches to go before I get to do anything interesting to it again. I think we’re looking at our newest Finishing Friday project.

I’ve started to love the baby sweater. This is some of my last Garden Wool & Dye Company yarn, and working with it makes me realize how much I will miss her yarn. The yarn is dyed with indigo and osage orange, making for some nice variation. I’m looking forward to seeing the lace blocked. I need to find buttons for this sweater, but I suppose I don’t need to start worrying about that until I start the button band.

I’m heading off to a craft weekend tomorrow, and my hope is to finish this sweater. I have a lot of hopes for the weekend – I’m packing about 10 projects. Apparently I don’t plan on sleeping.

WIP Wednesday

mildlygranola, , , 23 Comments

Riding high on the thrill of finishing Whitehorse, I quickly cast on the Roxy Baby Cardigan by Erika Flory. I’m making the 24 M size, because I always make the biggest size I have the yarn for when knitting for a baby. Now that I’m on the boring body portion this will be my playground knitting.

My range shawl has grown a bit, but progress has slowed substantially. I plan on working on this in the evenings, as it is too big to travel with. I like how it is turning out.

I have several other WIPs languishing that I cannot bring myself to knit. I think I need to hold myself to Finishing Fridays until my WIP count is under control. When I have projects I don’t feel like knitting I tell myself I need to work on them on Fridays until they are done. Usually I fall back in love with the project and start working on it regularly.

How are your WIPs coming along?

Whitehorse

mildlygranola, , , , , 13 Comments

Had you told me a month ago that I would knit a cropped sweater with bobbles and love it, I would have assumed you were making fun of me. I am not a cropped sweater person. I think bobbles are ridiculous. And yet, here we are.

Pattern is Whitehorse by Caitlin Hunter. I used some yarn that my cousin gave me when she was destashing. I think it is worsted instead of the DK it calls for. I knit my sweater with less positive ease than the pattern called for. I did not go down a needle size on the cuffs or bottom ribbing. I probably should have on the cuffs, but I don’t like tight things on my elbows.

Will I ever wear this sweater out of the home? Maybe. I need to find a dress I can wear it with, which would alleviate the muffin top I developed this summer. Even when I’m back to my normal size I doubt I’ll ever want to wear a sweater this short. That is OK though, as this sweater was very fun to knit.

Now I’m off to knit something else. I’m really glad to have my knitting mojo back.

I Can Explain…

mildlygranola, , , 20 Comments

I’ve spent most of this year doing a great job sticking to my yarn diet. I only buy the yarn that I have earned (100 g earned for every 300 g knit). Recently I went off the rails, and now I’m 2052 g in the hole for the year. I don’t think I’ll be able to knit my way out of it this year. I’m disappointed in myself, and I’ll be continuing my yarn diet next year.

It all started out so simply. My sister is going to have a baby, so I wanted to get yarn to make a baby sweater. I found a pattern and yarn I liked on bluprint and decided to buy it.

I didn’t want to pay for shipping, so I added on a sweater kit I’d been eyeing.

But when the kit arrived I noticed that I had made a grave error. Instead of selecting coral, I distractedly ordered two different teals.

Obviously that wouldn’t work, so when I ordered the coral I added on some yarn to get to free shipping. I found a nice wool/silk blend on sale, so I bought a sweater quantity. The problem is I wanted to buy 1000 yards, but instead I convinced myself I needed 100 g, so now I have enough yarn for two sweaters.

I was going to be done, but I had already promised Ivy I would go to an Andrea Mowry KAL at a local yarn shop. I decided on the Range shawl, but I didn’t have the right yarn for it. So I bought four skeins of Malibrigo for the shawl.

I know I will use all of the yarn I’ve purchased, but I sure do wish I would have utilized my stash first. I have never gone on a yarn binge like this before. I hope I never do again.

So now I’m off to learn brioche so I can continue to work on the shawl. I am also going to work on my whitehorse sweater so I can finish it and cast on the baby sweater. It’s a good thing I feel inspired to knit again, as I have a lot of knitting to do.