February Lady Sweater Completed

The February Lady Sweater, which I knit following the directions given at:

http://www.flintknits.com/blog/?cat=61

by Pamela Wynne is finished.

It is the first lacy sweater I have made & the pattern was really easy. I used Cascade 220 & no it is not a superwash wool. I must remember to be careful washing it!! It took 5 skeins & I used 5mm circular needles.

Apparently there are more than 5000 people that have knit with this pattern. That is so impressive Pamela. Thank you to Pam for generously posting the directions.

Lacy sweaters are not the first thing I would knit for myself, but I was drawn to this one.

What new lately? Mitts & hats

and a pair of socks that have been on the needles a few months.

Felted mitts. Thrummed mitts.

People are going to have warm hands this winter.

I've been working on a couple of sweaters too; one for my hubby with a cable going up the sleeve and a lacey one for myself. More on those another day because I'm tired tonight.

I finished the Tailored Sweater

I tried an I-chord trim all around the neck & front edge on this sweater and it was just a no-go even with adjustments I made. I had tried increases at the beginning of the V-neck and decreases at the back of the neck & it was just a disappointing failure.

So I took the edging off again & just did a garter stitch border. I did 2 increases on different rows at the V-neck on both sides & 3 decreases on the first row of real knitting in the back of the neck. This seems to have worked.

All that remains to be done is blocking. I don't think I can skip this step because it looks a bit 'bunchy' on each side of the front near the shoulders.

This will be a nice cozy sweater to throw on during the long Canadian winter coming soon.

The yarn is Patons SWS, a soy/wool mix. It is a feltable wool, so handwash & lay flat to dry only. I knit this with Knitpicks.com 'Zephr' interchangeable needles, size 5.5mm using Tuulia Salmela's 'Tailored Sweater Method'. It is available at: http://tuulia.blogspot.com/2009/03/tailored-sweater.html . The pattern on the sweater is a basket weave done in three separate bands & feels very squishy.

Future Project

One of the next projects is going to be striped socks for my hubby. I'm lucky because not only is he a wonderful husband & friend, but the wilder the socks, the better. Yea, he's lots of fun!!

My Tailored Sweater

This sweater in progress will have 3 sections on the body of a simple basket weave for texture interest. It feels really squishy.

Yarn is Patons SWS, wool & soy. Don't really like using it very much because it is too easy to split, but the price was right. I get to use the new Knit Picks Zephr needles - they are very nice to use.

The Other Socks

I bought this wool (Fortissima Socka) at 'The Needle Emporium' in Ancaster, ON last week. It is 60% superwash wool & 40% polypropylene. I decided I would make a pair of socks from a pattern in Mary Thomas's Knitting Book. I used 64 stitches on 3 DPNs worked from the cuff down to the toe. I made 2 socks at once on 2 sets of DPNs. New to me was using a seam stitch down the center back of the sock, but which I discontinued after the heel turn was completed. I made a heel flap and used a Dutch heel to be different.

I am also attempting to learn how to read charts. My progress has been to read stitch patterns and simple instructions. So far so good.

The pic with the 2 finished socks has one of them on a wire hangar bent to sock shape.

The closeup is the pattern in the leg part. These pics are taken with the new Nikon camera, which I have not had time to explore very much. I am just resizing the pics for the web with software as some of the original pics contain 12 megapixels, a bit too large.

What up this Labour Day Weekend?

Well for one thing I am recovering from some day surgery, only it feels like it will take longer than a couple of days to recover from this. I really feel like I have had a setback & am definitely slowed down.

But that will go away & be part of the past soon.

I am taking inventory of what knitting I have on the needles or just finished lately. So here I go...

These are socks I am doing from Charlene Schurch's book, Sensational Knitted Socks. It is a 6 stitch tesselated pattern, which is a repeated use of a single shape.

The ribbing is K2P2 in two colours. Looks good so far & has sat for a week while I did another sock project & worked on a sweater for myself.

My Socks Finished

Just finished these last night after returning from work. Just a little bit here & there; not at all in a hurry to finish these because I just love the colour, so it was a pleasure to work with. These were started near the beginning of the year & worked on more or less on my work breaks.

Apart from telling you that it is a mixture of wool & nylon I can't tell you any more about the yarn. My mistake by not making any notes about it before.

SWS Sweater Project

This is my sweater using Tuulia Salmela's top down method. It is not a pattern, but a method that let's you type your measurements into a spreadsheet along with your gauge you get from the swatch you knit up.

It features the look of set in sleeves and no sewing is required. If you are interested in more information here is the addy:

http://tuulia.blogspot.com/2009/03/tailored-sweater.html

I recently started the body and am thinking about adding a texture or pattern. The neck & front opening will be a kind of I-chord trim. I haven't done that before and must search out some instructions.

I shy away from using buttons; at this point I intend to use a zipper. I have been known to change my mind, so you never know.

I have been reading a couple of Elizabeth Zimmerman books this week - 'Knitting Around' & Knitter's Almanac. I am really enjoying her style of writing & her digressions. One of the books includes her percentage method of making a sweater. I have that on my list of roundtoits.

Also on my list of things I would like to knit are:

1. an Aran sweater

2. a Fair Isle sweater

3. mittens with Scandinavian type of colour work

4. sock patterns from my few sock books

That's all for now! Have a good night.

Last Pair of Hubby's socks done a couple of weeks ago

These are toe up & I ran out of wool before the cuffs were as long as I would have liked, but oh well...

What's on the needles?

More socks of course. These little beauties were started earlier this year, but left for awhile to take up some other knitting projects. I had considered doing a patterned rib, but reconsidered & instead am doing a K2P2 rib.

Toe up on 2- 2.5mm Hiya Hiya circs. 75% wool 25% nylon. Can't remember the brand name.

New Camera New Pics

Nikon P90 did this:

Photo Shop resized them for the blog.

Both were given to my daughter Lauren for her 23rd Birthday today. The lower pic is pair of pedicure socks, which raised her eyebrows. It made her very happy to know she could just throw them in the washer & dryer.

New Socks for ?? It's a surprise...

This was a new yarn I spotted last week at my local Mary Maxim & it was very reasonably priced - so it came home with me & I knew right then that it was destined for my daughter's upcoming July birthday. Before that point I wasn't sure what I would do for her Bday.

The socks were knit on 2 circular Addi 2.5mm turbo needles using Crazy Toes & Heels top down method. I might have done one other pair this way, but I don't recall. My DD has very slender feet, so she likes my home made socks when I make them for her.

The yarn is Serenity Sock Weight by Premier Yarns. Deborah Norville Collection. The colour in the photograph is a bit off. The darker blue is a mid denim blue, turquoise blue & there is a sparkle of white that doesn't show up at all. Just the colour combination that I would love for myself.

This yarn is 50% merino superwash wool, 25% bamboo, 25% nylon.

I started these on the 23rd June. Today is the 30th. That the quickest I have finished anything in quite awhile. So I am quite pleased.

Warren's Quoddy Blue V Neck Cardie

Here it is finished. I got a 22'' zipper & sewed it in by hand today. It looks really very nice on Warren & I am sure he will appreciate it next winter when I try & keep the price of heating this place under control with the thermostat set at 68. It is 100% wool & I expect it to live up to its warm reputation.

My New Row Counter

I went out & bought some jump rings, eye pins & flat head pins, and just a few turquoise beads. Here's what I came up with after reading a tutorial. I haven't had my wire wrapping jewellery tools out for years!! Talk about me forgetting things!!

I now have a beautiful row counter.

My hubby's blue sweater is coming along pretty good. I have completed the body, one sleeve & I am heading down the other sleeve. I think when I get there that I will add any left over yarn to the body & make it longer.

I am back to work for 3 days tomorrow. Not much knitting will be done in the next few days.

My Hubby's Blue Sweater

I recently had some time out for redecorating a bedroom which really took quite a bit of time away from gardening & knitting, but the room is done & looks wonderful & fresh.

At this point in the life of my husband's sweater, I am about to attach the third ball of yarn. Each one is 113 grams. I am now working my way down the body. 

One of the things I seem to be doing wrong is picking up an extra stitch between 2 stitches & then discovering it later when I spot a hole in the work.

This is a 'Cabin Fever' method with long sleeves & a V neck. I am not using buttons, but sewing in a zipper.

Last Installment on Blue Sweater

Okay the sleeves are done. The zipper has been sewn in by hand & I have done a line of special treatment on the back of the neckline that should prevent it from being stretched out.

I just have to remember this is strictly a hand wash & air dry sweater.

I wanted something very warm for our cold, drafty wintertime house. This should do the trick. Although I could use an ivory coloured one.

Blue Sweater yet again

Here it is ready to get on with the sleeves. I forget exactly when I got to this point, maybe last weekend... but between a terrible head cold & working last weekend, I did fit in a little bit of knitting.

More Progress on Blue Sweater

I get a few rows in everyday, but it seems to be going slowly, but oh well....

I am almost at the point where I will be starting the ribbing; just a few more rows to complete 23".

Progress on Blue Sweater

Here it is at about 13.5" (34.3cm). I am below the armholes & just moments ago felted in the end of my 3rd skein. I started with 6 - 113 g skeins. It is coming along very nicely. It is though very plain. Bye for now. Have a good evening.

Sweater Progress

Here is the progress on my cardigan. It is about 8 1/2" from the top of the neck ribbing & I am into my second skein of wool. My swatch did not work out to my hopes & since I did not want to go down another size in the needles so I decided to use the smallest size in the pattern. (My stitch count on the swatch did not have enough stitches in the 4" measurement.) Hopefully the size difference should compensate. 

I am not doing buttonholes, but instead a zipper. I am using a 4mm circular needle from my Denise set. 

Time out from socks for a bit with a cardigan being knit using Briggs and Little Regal 2 ply 100% wool.  This is Blue BW. I'm in the middle of doing swatches to get the right gauge. You can see the book, from 'Cabin Fever',  I am using for the pattern in a DK weight yarn which was brought to my attention by a friend of mine, Debbie O.

Deb also recommended the Denise interchangeable needle set. She loves it & has nothing but good things to say. So I got a set & now it is so much easier to just open this little case & get what I need in one spot. I must say they are very nice to use.

When this is done, I have more Briggs and Little yarn for a cardigan for my husband in Quoddy Blue.

Lana Grossa Marmi

This is my latest sock project with yarn bought at The Needle Emporium in Ancaster, ON. I bought another fine yarn again, but was taken in by the colours. This is knitted toe up on two circs. which I guess is my favourite method for socks. I'm deciding what sort of a pattern I would like to do up the cuffs.  Colours are blues, greens and white being knitted on Hiya Hiya 2.5mm.

Scheepjes Invicta. Black and white variegated.

Done for my hubby with a short row heel, I have my doubts if they will fit. They look a bit short in the foot. This was a long slow process of knitting with a very fine wool using my breaks at work. The knitting process probably took three months. Mixture of wool & nylon.

Paton's Stretch Socks

Going back to January, here is one of the finished socks made from Patons Stretch colour 31206, Kelp. It is a blend of cotton, wool, nylon & elastic. They are 'manicure socks', toeless.

Kroy Socks with decoration

These are made with inexpensive Kroy sock yarn. It's kind of a mousy gray colour with a little bit of decoration done in burgundy. This was such a pain to knit with because it was a loose twist & many times I split the yarn & noticed later. I then had to go back countless times to fix the errors.

The decoration was an experiment. 

They also feature an afterthought heel. To get the right number of rows to use for the heel was experimental; I've only done this heel once before.

I didn't think I would like these, but they feel so good on my feet. They are so soft, cushy & warm.

When summer comes I'll be in my bare feet & sandals, but for now my woolies are wonderful.

Latest Addition to Our Sock Family

What I have here are socks knit toe up, the dark blue, and top down socks with a heel flap in the lighter blue. Both are Briggs & Little Tuffy for heavy socks. I must say none of the socks pictured above are blocked & therefore don't look as 'pretty' as they might. The leg & instep are knit in K3 P1 rib. The unwashed yarn is 'not soft', but once it was washed it got really nice & soft. I'm really impressed with the laundered result. My hubby really likes being spoiled with new socks all the time. 

I think I like the look of the dark blue heels which were knit in Crazy Toes & Heel method rather than the look of the heel flap which is in the lighter blue.

I have washed the completed socks by hand & today I washed them in my front load washer on the hand wash cycle. It seems to have done a lovely job. I did let them air dry.

Lost Sock Update

My lost sock has been found. It took the internet to find it - would you believe? I sent my blog address to my daughter, who spends a lot of time (too much), in her room on facebook.

I got an email later telling me she has it in her room & it came up with her laundry. I'm so glad I have it back. I think the finder's fee is a new pair of felted slippers.

I have been saying for years how great the internet is. Proven 

Lauren's are finished

Yea! They're done. They are definitely bright & eyecatching; a sure way to add a splash of colour to a black outfit. Have fun with them.

Progress on Lauren's Socks

Here on the right, the heel has been completed & to the left is progress up the leg. I would like to see these finished today or tomorrow.

Lauren's sock preview

Lauren: Immediately above you see the beginning of your new socks started from the toe up. Over top of that is further progress where I am doing the gusset increases.  Next will be the heel area which I should get to this weekend.

This project is made using the Tie Dye yarn which is such a pleasure to work up; it just glides over the needles. At first I thought it was very splitty & unpleasant to work with, but was I wrong. It is so soft on my hands. 

2.5mm Addis circs (2). Crazy Toes & Heels method. I have misplaced the label, so I cannot tell you the content of the yarn; I think it's wool/nylon.

Another View of my 2008 Collection

Collage of my 2008 collection. Same socks, different view.

My 1st Year in Socks. 2008

This pretty much represents my first year in hand sock knitting. Above are 16 plus 2 being worn today & 2 given as gifts, so that is 20 altogether. On the needles I have 2 going so far. I am thinking about starting a couple more. When I put some leftovers away today, I spied some of my stash I'd like to get started on.

I started knitting socks with 4 dpns, then switched to 2 circs, size 2.5mm after I subscribed to a couple of sock knitting lists & read about what people use. I find the lists, Socknitters & Crazy Toes & Heels very helpful.

Peasant Heels & Toes

This was an experiment where I knit the socks & then went back & did the replaceable peasant heels from the Crazy Toes & Heels book.

I really like that book a lot.

I doubled the yarn in the heel area, but it wasn't a really good idea. It's a little too heavy for normal shoes, but since I wear backless shoes a lot, it's okay.

Regular single strand would have been fine.

Where I really need replaceable areas are at the toes - they always wear out there first.

This is a mix of blue, purple, teal, with heels & toes dark grey. Wool/nylon mix. 2008.

I love these colours!

These are fun socks; I just love the colours!! These are done toe up & as you can see they are quite the same until up near the cuffs. At that point I came across a knot & it would not match up.  I was not willing to waste the yarn to match & I probably wouldn't have enough anyway, but when I fold the cuffs down, it is very obvious.

This definitely livens up a plain black outfit... otherwise I have nothing to wear with them.

Wool/nylon mix.

Warren's 1 Finished Sock

Here's one of WB's socks finished with a crochet hook. Very nice stretchy edge. He has a high instep and the yarn went around the foot more than up & higher. Great fit!! He's spoiled.

Again wool/nylon mix.

Lost Sock

Believe it or not I lost the mate to this sock in the laundry a month ago & it still has not shown up. 

I suppose this is a tweed wool/nylon blend with a leg done half in stockinette stitch & half in a k2p2 rib. 

Depending on the situation, I can fold the cuff down if I want.

I hope I find the mate for it! It's one of my favourites.

Lauren's Christmas socks 2008

This was my first purchase of such an expensive, hand dyed yarn, but it was for someone really special, my daughter, so there you go.

It's a soft all merino yarn requiring hand washing. The colours are actually not quite so bright & there is more green. I don't see how I could possibly have matched this one up; it would have meant too much wastage.

This was a nice one to knit.

My Hubby's Forever Socks

It seems like I have been doing these for a very long time, but that's because I always have 3 or 4 sock projects on the go and am knitting a little on this one or starting a new one.

These colours are rather dull looking, but I am hoping the wonderful fit will be so good that I will forget about how dull they look.

I did not even try to match the pattern or colour where I started. I could have had these done today, but I have taken many breaks today.

This is a mix of wool/nylon; regular wash & dry.

This is a Crazy Toes & Heels method using 2 circs, size 2.5mm.

Some socks I did in 2008

These socks are ones I finished New Year's Eve 2008. I started them as a Magic Loop project, but got hopelessly confused about the needles when I was doing the heels. So I switched back to my 2 circular needle method, which right now I must say I really like.

I have no idea why the magic loop went 'wonky' on me, but it did. I'm very happy with the Queen Kahuna Crazy Toes & Heels methods, so I shall stick with that for now. There are some variations with it, so I won't get bored for a while, though I admit I am always looking at other books & am curious to try, but alas I don't have enough time for it all.

I did a pattern on the leg, similar to a waffle pattern, but it's quite subtle. This is a Mei Mei all wool sock yarn I ordered on Ebay; must remember to hand wash & dry flat.