2014

Well, I wrote all of six posts in 2014.  At the beginning of the year I stopped writing posts for this blog, but I also stopped knitting for a while.  I really hadn't noticed this until I went searching through Ravelry for the projects I worked on in 2014.  I'm not quite sure why this is.  I don't remember feeling too off.

But, to get back on the bandwagon, I thought I'd write a little recap of what I happened in 2014.

Probably the most "news worthy" thing was that Don and I tied the knot in May.  It was a very small ceremony with just our immediate families attending.  Neither of us were interested in a fairy tale wedding, so this is what we chose.  I of course made my own "something blue."  (Though I didn't bother to find a "something borrowed," so it was just an excuse to knit a pretty blue thing.)  The pattern I used was Beth King's Henslowe, a pattern I've admired for quite a while.  You can find my scanty notes on the project here on Ravelry.

I frogged an entire sweater!  I finished AND decided I hated the Cocoa sweater I mentioned here, way back in October 2013.  I detailed a few reasons why on my Ravelry page for the project.  Now, with the same yarn, I'm working on the Beach House Pullover from the Summer 2010 edition of Interweave Knits.  I'm knitting it in the round, and all is well so far.  I'll dedicate a post to it some time soon.

Maybe you recognize these beauties?  They're a pair of Spatterdash Wristwarmers that I knit as a wedding present for my sister, and I finally added buttons to them!  It was so, so easy to put the buttons on, and I waited so, so long to do it!  Now they're done and gone, and I don't have to look at them all sad and buttonless any more!

 Look!  Not knitting!  I probably hadn't crocheted anything more than a stabilizing neckline since I was nineteen, but I picked it back up again this year.  I'm quite unimpressed with modern crochet patterns, but feel inspired to make up my own.

When I started knitting again at the end of the year, I knit eight holiday presents.  You can see all of them here on Ravelry.  I'm most proud of the two cabled hats, this Antler Hat and a Ribs 'n Cables Beanie.  I didn't intend to knit two cabled hats back to back, but the Antler Hat came out too small for my boss, so I had to quickly come up with another present.

It's been a pretty decent year!  I've knit exclusively stashed or thrifted yarn.  I fell off the bandwagon of not buying new yarn recently, and then again this past week (which I've yet to photograph).  If I'm being honest I probably have two years worth of yarn stashed away.  Which is fine, because I looooove yarn.

What's to come this year?  Hopefully more blogging.  Definitely more knitting!  And I've tentatively started a 365 photo challenge.  So stay tuned!  You might see more of me here!

off the bandwagon, or, what's in my stash?!: the madtosh edition

How about I come back with a bang, and tell you I bought yarn?  Lots, and lots, and lots of yarn.  Enough yarn to negate any stash knitting I've done in the last year.  And I've only been doing stash knitting.

You see, Webs had MadTosh grab bags.  MadTosh!  So much MadTosh, for not very much money!  What person, especially one who hadn't bought yarn in about a year, could resist that?  Not this person, obviously.

I bought two grab bags: one with five skeins of Lace, and the other with five skeins of Vintage.  I wasn't able to request specific colorways, but could request color families.  I asked for blues, greens, greys and purples, and oh boy did I receive!  Honestly, the Lace I got is a bit boring, but it's fabulous stash yarn.  The colorways I received, from left to right, are Moonstone, Logwood, Aura, Celadon, and Cousteau.  The Celadon and Cousteau are my favorites from this bunch.

Cousteau is an easy favorite: those greens and blues!  Most likely it will become a Fairy Mist so that the yarn itself can really be the star.

Celadon is a much more subtle yarn, but it has beautiful sea foam green and grey variations.  Again, I'd like to use a simple pattern for this yarn, maybe Purl Soho's Simple Pleasures hat, but modded so the yarn isn't held double.

I don't have a group shot of the Vintage yarns, but from left to right in the very first photo of this post the colorways are Tannehill, Jade, Margeaux, Ink and Whitewash.  Margeaux has a close-up just above.  She'll become a Magnolia hat.  I believe the Jade will also become a hat, but most likely a Crooked Paths tam.

These next two yarns I feel so unsure about what to do with them, but I also love them.  This is Tannehill.  It's totally not my thing, but so pretty.  I felt so unsure about this yarn that I started knitting with it right away, so it wouldn't just sit.  I've knit a single loop Stockholm Scarf with it.

Whitewash is the other yarn I feel conflicted about.  It's so pretty (just like all MadTosh yarns) but I'm well aware of my own dislike of variegated yarns.  Most likely I'll knit a pair of mittens out of it, because I need mittens more than any other knitted object right now.  Not that I'm really lacking in the knitwear department...

tiny fisherman

I was hoping there would be some cute baby action in this sweater before I put it up on the blog, but no such luck! May I present to you the finished Tiny Fisherman Sweater!  I'm really proud of this sweater, even if my sister and her husband are afraid to put it on Baby J.  The yarn is a washable, soft acrylic, so they better put the baby in this before he grows out of it!

I had to rip out and start over a couple times before I was satisfied with the cable pattern and sleeve decreases.  They look nice, but I'm not sure how they fit yet.  Probably the aspect that I'm most proud of is the open neckline: easy to get on and off of baby!  The neck closes with buttons and a crochet band with button holes.

Pattern: None!  I made up the pattern based off average 3 month sweater sizes in a baby knits book.  The project has a Ravelry page, though I don't think it will be updated with a pattern.

Yarn: Patons Pearl DK.  Sadly discontinued (I got mine from a thrift store).  It's such a soft baby yarn!

wip: sam's stripes

Last week while the world outside was working on this...

I started working on this:

I know the holidays are behind us and my gift is only getting later and later, but it's a striped scarf for my boss.  It may look a bit familiar, because the stripes are leftover yarn from the rest of the holiday knits I've made!  It's another "design" of my own, and hopefully it will be the one I finally write up!

what's in my stash?!: holiday acquisitions

I thought I was done with new fiber acquisition!  I was going to be so good, diligently working through my stash over the coming year!  And then my wonderful siblings both gave me new yarn over the holidays!  So much for making more space!

Along with a couple other little goodies, my sister gave me two big ol' hanks of Lion Brand Fishermen's Wool!  I'm already in the middle of a brown sweater, but I think nothing short of a little cabled sweater will do this yarn justice.  I'm not quite sure how the rustic wool-y-ness of this yarn will play with Andi Satterlund's Chuck, but I think I'd be willing to give it a try when I get to this yarn!

My brother (of hat shrinking fame) gave me two hanks of SMC Northern Worsted.  I'm working on another "design," so I see even more stripes in my future!  I'm pretty sure these yarns will be gifted back to my brother in scarf form, though maybe not until the end of this year.

That brother of mine really went all out: he gave me not one, not two, but three yarns!  The third yarn my brother gave me is a silky soft little skein of Jojoland Crown.  This yarn absolutely DID NOT want to have its picture taken!  It's a very springy green in person.  I'll probably do something very simple with it; maybe this Heavenly Cowl or Haze?

Then, to top off these fibery delights, Don's mom also gave me a gift card to the little yarn shop in the town she lives in!  I am so, so lucky to be surrounded by people who care so much about me.  And who encourage me in my bad habit of hoarding yarn.

finished holiday gifts

Finished object... Saturday?  Ok!  Before heading too far into 2014, I wanted to share the gifts that I knit for the holidays.  They aren't anything earth shatteringly exciting, so I'll lump them here together.

The most exciting of the bunch - and that says a lot about the bunch, because this is not the most exciting scarf - is the scarf I knit as a gift for a Yankee Swap.  I added fringe!  Weirdly enough, this is a new technique for me.  Tassels I can do.  Pom-poms are a no brainer.  But I'm just not into fringe on scarves.  However, my cast off end was none-too-pretty so I added the fringe to disguise it!  I have some notes on Ravelry, but there really isn't much to say about such a simple scarf.

Pattern: Scrunchable Scarf (free on Ravelry)  Yarn: Berroco Vintage

Next up, the Brother Hat Part Two!  (See Part One here)  The hat I knit my brother last year was made up in some beautiful Malabrigo Twist; it was so thick and had these wonderful subtle color variations... and then he put it through the wash with his regular laundry.  So this year my brother got the same hat in a washable yarn.  Again, I left some notes on Ravelry, but it's a very simple hat.

Pattern: The Boy Hat (free on Ravelry), with some modifications  Yarn: Berroco Vintage

You may not be able to actually see the hat I made my brother-in-law, but what he's holding is a plant hook he gave me and Don THAT HE MADE!  This is hands down the best hand made gift swap ever.  Who cares about the hat I made, I can't wait to hang some pretty plants in the spring!

Pattern: The Boy Hat (again), one tiny modification Yarn: Berroco Vintage

If only Andi Satterlund had published this new hat pattern before the holidays I could have added some variation to my gift knitting!

2013

Well my friends, 2013 has come to a close.  I spent last night taking care of a sick pup (she had an allergic reaction to a bug she tried to eat), but we were planning on having a quiet evening at home already.

While this year may have been a tough year personally - I don't talk about it here on the blog - it's been a great year knitting-wise!   It's difficult to pick a few favorites, but I've created some categories to narrow it down to five favorites.

My favorite big project of 2013 was, well, my first successful "big project" ever!  I finished my first real sweater, the Shawl Collared Sweater, early in the year.  It definitely isn't without it's problems, but I wear it to this day and still think it came out well.  It has some pretty stiff competition since I finished Miette at the beginning of September, but this sweater was such a labor of love that it comes out on top.

The first of my two smaller size favorites is my Bad Haircut Hat.  Something about the color of the yarn and the feathery lace really makes me glow.  Good choices, self!  It's also a great hat to throw on and instantly feel a bit more put together.

This also reminds me that I haven't gotten a haircut since "the incident."  Still too scared!  Maybe I should make a resolution to get another haircut in 2014?

With my Opaline shawl I took a step outside my comfort zone with my yarn choice.  I don't like yarns with high contrast color variations.  I just don't.  But I couldn't resist the siren call of this Madeline Tosh yarn so I'm proud to have knit a very wearable shawl out of it.  Now I have to figure out what to knit with a couple other variegated yarn choices I've made.  Another 2014 resolution?

There's no way I could put together a list of my favorite knits without including one of my designs.  I may not be publishing them (yet), but I'm very proud of them.  The one I'm most proud of is my Tessa hat.  I'm not satisfied completely with that center cable, but it's a darn nice hat idea and the recipient loved it!

Last, though certainly not least, in the "gift knits" category we have my sister's Wedding Spatterdash mittens.  They turned into birthday/holiday gift mittens (one for each!) because I'd had enough for a while after I finished the first one.  They still need buttons, but I was able to "give" them to my sister when I saw her a couple weeks ago, do a fitting, and take them back to finish them.  I'm proud that I even started the second mitten, let alone finished it!

I haven't posted finished object posts for everything I made in 2013, but if you're interested in the rest of the bounty you can click this 2013 tag and see all there is to see!

The greatest non-knitting highlight of my year was definitely the birth of my nephew, Baby J.  He is so, so sweet, and I can't wait to get to know him as he grows up.  He also gives me an excuse to make all the teeny tiny baby knits I could dream of!

My runner-up non-knitting highlight is starting to learn about dyeing with natural dyes!  I have another batch of black walnut dyed yarns to show off, and am still collecting avocado pits for my next dye experiment.

Here's to a brand new year!  May it be way better than 2013!

i've been pinned!

This is definitely a first!  I've been pinned!  My Lining the Very Warmest Mittens tutorial made it's way onto Pinterest!

I just set up my own account on Pinterest (I know, I know, I'm so behind), otherwise I probably wouldn't have even noticed!  What a nice feeling, to know that someone found my tutorial useful!

Do you friend people on Pinterest?  Is that a thing?  If it is, you can find me here.

zig zag

Happy holidays to you and yours to anyone reading this!  I staged a last minute photo shoot for one of my "designs" under the Christmas tree a couple days ago, so I thought I would skip ahead and share.

This is my Zig Zag Cowl from back in September.  It was an incredibly quick and fun knit.  I like it so much that I would have kept it if the mysterious white yarn hadn't turned out to be alpaca.  Oh, how I wish I wasn't allergic to alpaca!

For my next attempt I might leave out a pattern repeat.  The cowl turned out just a little bit too long.  The other little issue I have to iron out is the extra stitch that the provisional cast on creates.  I'd like to streamline that so seaming it together at the end is easier.  Then maaaaaybe I'll write up a pattern!

Pattern: Zig Zag, not yet self published pattern

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, left over from my Miette sweater; mystery worsted weight alpaca yarn from the thrift store

miette

Oh that verdant greenery!  Forget about my hand knit sweater, if only it was that lush and warm out!  Right now I am surrounded by a half foot of snow and it is too cold for anything but a full length sweater!  Sigh.

Even if it is too cold to wear this sweater now, I did finish it (back at the beginning of September) and am very proud of it.  I didn't make any mods, but it does have a Ravelry page.  The pattern I used is Andi Satterlund's Miette; it's the first of her sweater patterns I've knit.  The construction of this sweater is different than her others, but I'm hooked on her patterns!

In fact, I fell so in love with Andi's newest pattern Hetty that I was rushing to finish Miette to join a knit along.  I finished in time, but never found a yarn I liked for Hetty so I didn't join in the end.  I wish I hadn't rushed quite so much, but I got a beautiful new sweater in the end!

One of the most special details I added to my Miette was backing buttons!  I was feeling a bit too lazy and a bit too rushed to add the grosgrain ribbon I was considering, but these vintage buttons still needed a little something to keep the stress of being done and undone off them.  The backing buttons came from my button jar.  I've had a button stash for years, but never seem to use any of them.  It was so nice to finally be able to!

I really enjoy having a sweater in the works, so shortly after finishing Miette I started Cocoa!

Pattern: Andi Satterlund's Miette; no mods, 38" bust size

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

wip wednesday: another hat

Are you sick of looking at the large swathes of ribbing I'm knitting?  Me too a little bit.  It's all in the holiday spirit though!  I'm also working on a hat to give to my brother in law (Baby J's daddy) as a gift.  It's the same pattern as the second Brother Hat, but I won't be knitting a fold over brim.  I should be done with all this unselfish knitting soon, so I can get back to my poor left by the wayside Cocoa sweater!

what's in my stash?!: fin

Are you ready for the final installment of "What's in My Stash?!" I sure am!  I know my little collection of yarns is nothing when compared to some, but you have to take into account that I only live in a two bedroom apartment and Don works from home.  His needs for space definitely trump my tendency to squirrel away yarns!

This batch of yarns I have zero plans for, but bought anyway.  That's consumerism for you!  They sure are pretty, so I don't mind having them around.

This first hank is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport.  I bought it back in the beginning of July, when I went on a baby yarns buying rampage.  I initially thought that I would knit a new born sized sweater out of it for Baby J, but it's such a special yarn that I wanted it to be made into something that would be used for more than a few weeks.  Now I'm not sure what to do with it, especially since I already know that I'm just not that into variegated yarns, even it they are beautiful.

This Madeline Tosh Merino Light made me the "victim" of a sale at Webs!  I have absolutely no idea when I bought it, because I seem to have ripped the date off the receipt!  The colors are washed out in this picture, but this yarn is very pretty.  It varies from a natural color to light grey to a milky chocolate brown, and I have no idea what to knit with it.  Me and variegated yarns don't mix well as stated, but I want to love this in a knit form as well as in hank form!

Last, and definitely least in this set of yarns (though possibly most easily used as far as my tastes go), are two hanks of Cascade 220.  It was a closeout in a nice coral-y red, I couldn't resist!  I have no set plans for this yarn either, but it's not hard to use like the other two are.  It can easily become a warm scarf or mittens or hat.  It's also not as interesting as my other yarns, which is probably why I have no plans for it.  A very tame stash yarn.

not where's waldo

This hat was actually a very, very quick project, but hasn't made it onto the blog in it's finished state because of my, ahem, little obsessive problem.  But now we're back on track!

The name "Not Where's Waldo" came from my future mother in law telling me that every striped item looked like Where's Waldo.  I felt a little hurt (Do I look like Where's Waldo?  Am I that silly looking?), but it made for a great hat!  You can find my Ravelry project page here.

The brim on "Not Where's Waldo" came out a little tight, so over the course of a few hours the hat tends to wiggle its way up and takes on a slouched look, but it's so very warm that I can forgive it for this.  The peaked crown issue that I mentioned on Ravelry, and that you can see in the pictures, has been solved by "blocking" the hat over my own wet hair.  Voila!

Pattern: Regular Guy Beanie, free on Ravelry and altered for a fold over brim.

Yarn: Valley Yarns Sheffield, leftover from my Shawl Collared Sweater.  Unfortunately this yarns seems to be discontinued, what a pity!

wip wednesday: swap scarf

If you've scrolled through this blog at all, this scarf might look eerily familiar.  Early this year I knit almost exactly the same scarf for a birthday present and liked it so much - not too girly or manly!  such a nice color!  easy for a non-knitter to take care of! - that I'm essentially knitting the same scarf again as my gift for a Yankee Swap!  It's not very exciting as far as gift knitting goes, but it's quick and easy!

what's in my stash?!: part five

Aaaaand, hopefully we're back to the regularly scheduled programming! I just have to keep repeating to myself, "I can write blog posts, I can write blog posts, I can write blog posts!"

This will be yet another yarns for baby things post.  I can't help it!  Knitting baby things is so satisfying, and did you see how darn cute my nephew is???

These two balls of Cascade 220 Superwash were actually the first yarns I bought to knit cute things for Baby J, way back in April when I found out my sister was pregnant.  My plan for this yarn was, and still is, to knit a baby bear sweater from the Baby Sweater Buffet.  Even though Baby J is so teeny tiny right now, I think I'll knit a 1 year size for him over the summer so he can wear it all next fall!

"Another two balls of superwash yarn?!" you say?  Well, yes.  Because babies.  These two balls of Valley Superwash have a much more immediate purpose, a Baby Vertebrae for the holidays for Baby J!  Hopefully this stash yarn, in there since early July, will be out in the next couple weeks.

My poor little camera just couldn't handle this light yarn + my dark desk.  I tried to take pictures on two different occasions, but this is as good as it got!

Last of this set of stash yarns is some thrift store yarn with no plan other than "for future babies."  Would you believe me if I told you I know a number of people who are expecting babies, but none of them are girls?!  I couldn't pass up this one-dollar-each batch of Valley Yarns Longmeadow at the thrift store back in June though.  Into the stash it went, and in the stash it stays for now!

I have one more post to finish off the "What's in my Stash?!" series.  That's a lot of yarn!  I haven't used any of it yet since I'm knitting gifts right now, but after the holidays it will be stash knitting only for me!  If any of my wonderful readers (all three of you!) would like some of their favorite stash yarns featured here, just comment and your wish will be my command!

stripey loop

Is this what I think it is?!  Yes indeed, it is!  It is a finished object post!!!  Can I let you in on a little secret?  I haven't been posting finished object posts for the slightly (very) obsessive reason of not having pictures of this loop, and wanting my projects to be in mostly chronological order.  Oops!

Anyway, here is my finished Stripey Loop that made its first appearance here on the blog way back in July!  I still don't have a name for it besides "Stripey Loop," but I'm not quite satisfied with it so that's ok in my book.  I think it should be one stripe repeat shorter.  I also might not like the way the linen wrinkles, even though that's what I was going for in this casual spring loop.  Hopefully I'll be a little more fond of it when the weather warms up and it doesn't make me shiver a bit just looking at it.

Pattern: Stripey Loop, of my own devising.

Yarn: Main color: Classic Elite Yarns Firefly (left over from my Firefly shirt)
                Contrast color: Plymouth Yarn Linen Concerto

wip wednesday: laraine

Oh, gift knitting!  I usually don't offer to knit gifts - friends and family get what I want to knit for them, and that's that.  This year Don's mom asked me to knit her a shawl and I agreed, said we'd check out Ravelry together and pick something out.  The next time I saw her she handed me a little bag with yarn and a pattern and told me she'd gotten excited.

So I am knitting a huge lace weight shawl for her, oh boy!  This is the first time I've knit with a lace weight yarn, and while the yarn itself is very nice I'm not really enjoying it.  D's mom took the ball band off, but I'm almost positive it's the yarn called for in the pattern, the Twin Leaf Shawl.  I'm maaaaaaybe half way done with it at this point.  I'll jot down some of the small changes I made to the pattern on my Ravelry project page, but haven't done so yet.  Ok, back to knittng!  This behemoth isn't going to knit itself, unfortunately!