Friday’s Finished Object

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A finished Object: Knit Wrap Dress

I finished the dress I was working on all week. It is a little wrap dress for a little girl and while I am in love with the idea, it is not perfect so I am going to modify the things that are bothering me and start again.

But not today. I cast on a pair of socks.

It has been a while.
I charted a pattern.
Sadly, although it looked pretty, my gauge was off and it wasn’t working for me.

I started over, with a new pattern, but I didn’t like it, so I made some changes and I am starting again for the third time.
Hope that third time is a charm.

Have you noticed my new needles?

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

I finally sewed the handles and the lining on this bag

I also finished my socks and they are being tested.

And a little kitten named Peck

Can you tell I am not in a very wordy mood?

Spring Break

My daughter was off all week for spring break so things were totally hectic. I try to post a couple of times a week but this week I just couldn’t so here I am.
We were out and about every morning.
We went to the beach. She made sand castles for the first time.

We went to the zoo.

We also took Noony the doll on most of our excursions.

There was a lot of arts and crafts.

Overall it was a good week. Exhausting but satisfying.

Are you on Instagram? I am jessyzz (with two z in the end) come on and join me, the more the merrier.

There was also a little bit of knitting.

I finished a sock.

I still can’t think of a name for the pattern, any suggestions?

I also cast on for a little red cardigan (4 times).

I worked a little on the uncoordinated blanket but probably only knit 3 rows.

And I had ordered some leather handles for a bag I had knit but still need to line and sew them in so I will probably show you next time.

I am also starting to think about sewing summer dresses for the little girl. I am thinking lots of linen dresses.

I have been pinning patterns on pinterest.

I also finished the blue socks and they are being tested.

Oh boy, am I ready for a break myself.

Happy Easter to you if you are celebrating it too.

I think I will go lie down now.

Friday’s FO: Socks

You might remember these socks.

I threw them in the washing and totally forgot they were not superwash.
And the lesson learned is that fingering weight yarn that knits up beautifully into socks but is not superwash is just a recipe for disaster.
On the bright side, I finished a pair of baby socks by turning a perfect pair of 4 year old socks by washing them.

Friday’s FO: The Oatmeal Kina

My daughter ends up really cold in malls and restaurants in the summer because they always have their A/Cs set on too low for her summer wardrobe so I felt that a light cotton short sleeved cardigan made a lot of sense.

I took her and my husband yarn shopping and he picked out the yarn. It is Schachenmayr nomotta Eco Cotton Color a 100% certified organic cotton sport weight. And when it is knit up it looks like a bowl of oatmeal.

The pattern is the Kina which was nicely written and easy to follow.

I found a little wood button in my stash that just matched it perfectly. I have a thing for wooden buttons and buy them whenever I find them even if I don’t really have a use for them. I think they are elegant in an understated way and since this was organic yarn in beige, browns and slight hints of orange. This brown wood matched it amazingly.

She likes it so I guess all is well.

If I do ever decide to knit this again I would probably start with fewer stitches on the neckline and just do more increases because it is kind of too wide at her shoulders. Not too wide that they fall off but they just don’t sit where I would like them too. I think I might even knit it a little longer, while it is the perfect length as a layering piece over shirts and dresses I think a longer one with long sleeves might be a cute item too.

The yarn was strange to knit. I always think that people who say that cotton is hard on their hands are just being cry babies. But boy was this cotton torturous to work with. I LOVE cotton and have a couple of shawls done in cotton so I know that it wasn’t the abstract thought of cotton but this specific brand.

I also think it is time I get a decent set of interchangeables. My current set is a Boye Needlemaster which I got when I first started knitting and while the tips are wonderful the cables are stiff and annoying. I got it for a really ridiculously low price and I was still a beginner so it just didn’t make sense to get anything more expensive. I recently ordered a knitpicks fixed circular and just love the tips and cable. Yes they are sharp, but I have found that I really like sharp tips. I am still researching for the perfect set though.

Friday’s FO: Little Pink Socks

I finished the pink birthday socks. They are a success and the little one approves. She loves the color because after all little girl really loves Peeeeenk. Oh and the red streaks on her legs are a result of experimenting with markers, she also painted her toenails and claims that she gave herself a manicure. It is washing off slowly and I don’t really want to exfoliate it off just to teach her not to do it again.

Here is a close up of the color. The yarn is Knit Picks Stroll Tonal in the Summer Blooms colorway. It is soft but quite strong. It looks pink but there is orange and purple in it too. The pattern is Ribbed Socks for kids by Susan B Anderson. I used the pattern before and it is nice and simple. Simple and no fuss. I considered downsizing a pretty lace sock pattern but in the end decided it just wasn’t really suitable for her and that these would just be more comfortable. And the best thing about the yarn is that a skein has enough yarn for a pair for me ( I don’t really like long cuffs) and a pair for her with a little left to spare.

Friday’s FO: A sock, sock blockers, hanks to balls and knitting with 9 inch sock circulars

This is the first time I have turned a hank into a center pull cake ball.

I hung the hank on the backs of two chairs, stood on one of the chairs, made sure that the yarn was coming out from the outside and used my nostepinne to wind it. I think it took about 25 minutes which was ok since it was about 450 yards.

I used my new ChiaoGoo 9″ circulars. Yes you heard that right, 9″ circulars. They are so cool. At first they were really fiddly and I considered going back to my DPNs a couple of times but hung in there enough until it became easier. I used DPNs for the heel and toe, but I am pretty certain the heel could be made with them with a little practice too.

Since these were my first lace socks, I realized that lace socks do look better once they have been blocked a bit, so I made my own sock blockers too.

And since I also knit smaller socks, I made sock blockers for smaller socks.
I made them using some foam like the packing foam kind so I think I need something more waterproof and more substantial, these feel like they might break if you pull a little hard on your sock. My daughter also decided to leave her mark on them and bit into them, so they look kind of gross now with mini bite marks all over them.

For more info on the socks visit my ravelry project page here

I forgot to share the mittens

I totally forgot about sharing these

She loves them. Which makes me really happy. We went out yesterday and I realized that she was decked in handknits. She was wearing a poncho, a hat and these mittens. It is nice knowing that the things I make keep her warm and happy too.

Friday’s FO: Kindle Fire Cozy

Just a little something to keep the Fire warm and safe . I am still not 100% satisfied with the results, so I think I need to make more. I need to make more anyways for my daughter’s Leap Pad. I didn’t add a button and used ties instead because for some crazy reason I think the button could get lots of pressure in my bag and totally kill my screen. Talk about strange ideas

What have you finished this Friday?

Friday’s FO: The Liliaceae

I have been wanting to knit the Liliaceae for quite a while now, but the idea of having to cast on 347 stitches held me back, until this week. Well I actually cast this on 3 times, the first time I didn’t have enough yarn to finish casting on when i had already cast on 300 stitches the second time I cast on 374 instead of 347 for some reason, then I cast on properly. But that wasn’t the end of the problems with this project. After knitting the first row, I realized I had missed a stitch in the first 10 when I was at the end of the row so I had to unknit a whole row ( there was no way that I was going to frog the whole thing and cast on a fourth time). There were a couple of other rows where I had to go back 50 or 60 stitches. The lace pattern was so difficult to remember and I had to keep checking the chart.

All this is not the fault of a beautiful pattern which is well written, I was just having a bad knitting week. I also think I should have gone down a needle size or two.

I am glad I kept going because it really is a beautiful piece.

The lace is gorgeous and the short row shaping makes it curve without being very round. This was the first time I attempted to knit a short row shawl and an applied i-cord bind off. Both were very useful techniques to learn. I love the i-cord bind off, it gives a much cleaner edge than a garter stitch edge. I did a bit of research on short rows and realized they weren’t so scary after all.

As usual the little person who lives here tried to ~~steal~~ claim it. She helped me block it.

Yes I block on the bed, it is the easiest thing for me. I don’t wet block since I don’t have a blocking board but I do have a steamer so it is much easier and faster to pin on the sheets and steam it away. Yes I know the bed is a mess, but hey I wanted to block this baby so I didn’t pull the sheets properly, as if you never do that kind of thing?

I would definitely love to knit this again sometime in the future, but I think I would make it deeper. I am so happy I kept on knitting this instead of giving up, it really is gorgeous.