A Tiny Heart

Ok, so I was forced just absolutely forced..to take a small break from "The Dad Sweater" to do some quick knitting for the shop. Yea... Its been tough not working on that huge ribbed sweater because it's so exciting and stuff, but its a sacrifice that I will have to make.

I'll manage somehow.. I guess... :)

My first order of business was to quickly knit up this cute little heart which is the "Heart Pin" pattern from the book Closely Knit. This weekend Hannah Fettig is coming to the shop for a book signing and the owner of the shop is providing materials for everyone who comes to sit down and make this cute little heart.... Which by the way, Hannah offers the pattern for as a free download off of her blog.

I made a sample to find out exactly how much yarn it takes to make and also because its just so dang cute...

I have quite a few ideas for this little heart. How cute would it be pinned to my daughters denim jacket, or overalls? Or wouldn't it be so sweet attached to a handmade card for someone? I also thought of threading it on a ribbon and hanging it up somewhere... or I could make several and make a little crib mobile for a baby shower gift. Who knew a little knitted heart could have so many possibilities?

My daughter likes it as is.

She was really enjoying playing with it. I had to wrestle it away from her in order to take it to work with me and things got ugly and all tantrumy after that.

I think I ended up promising to knit up many more hearts to make up for it... I better get knitting.

NeverNotKnitting Podcast : Episode 8 : Facing The Felt

Shownotes:

"The Dad Sweater" pattern

Striped Baby Berets

Evangeline Fingerless Gloves

Ruffled Jacket

Leaves Sweater

Forecast

New Tweed

Sienna Cardigan

Zara Plus

Rambling Rose

Domesticat's Version

RYC Cashsoft DK

Mademoiselle Jacket

RYC Natural Silk Aran

Classic Knits

Mary's Garden Socks

Audknits.com

Puttermeister On Ravelry

Puttermeister's Blog

NeverNotKnitting Ravelry Group

Episode 7 Drawing Winners:

1st place: Denise/CT wins Amelie sock pattern

2nd place: Ikkinlala wins Vogue Magazine

3rd place Tied: BethanyG wins Knitters Magazine

3rd place Tied: Prof. Askey wins Amelie sock pattern

Thanks Everyone! Congratulations!

Subscribe with iTunes or RSS

The Dad Sweater That Just Wont Quit...

Ahh.. The Endless Ribbing...

I have been faithfully working on just my Dad's sweater now for over a week. I did waver once when I started a hat for my daughter but have since ripped that out and its probably for the best. I need to finish this sweater!!! Its getting colder and colder outside and there is my Dad all "handknit-sweater-less" and I feel a twinge of guilt every time I see him!

The pocket is a nice detail, eh?

Did I mention? This sweater is taking forever!!!!!

Evening Stockings

I finished them!!!

I started these stockings in July and just now got them finished!!!

The pattern is called Evening Stockings For a Young Lady out of the book Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.

I just love them! I think that they turned out so cute! They will be extra warm to wear under pants in the cold weather, but stylish enough to wear with a skirt.

Like most knitters on Ravelry, I made some modifications to this pattern. I was surprised by how short the socks were in the original pattern. They weren't knee-high at all! I had to add 8 extra pattern repeats to get them the right length. Also the heel flap was really really long for some reason, so I shortened the heel by 10 rows. I also worked a standard toe. I am really happy with how they turned out. The modifications that I made worked perfectly for the shape of my foot.

I worked these stockings up with US size 1 needles, and it took a little over 2 skeins of Panda Silk to complete the pair. I was surprised by how far just one skein went! One skein made almost one entire sock, I just had to finish up the end of the toe with another skein.

I also love the way that these stockings look with shoes!!!

Wow that was a lot of pictures! I just couldn't decide which ones to put up, so I used them all!!!

Thankyou to my Sister In Law, Malaree for helping me take them today!

NeverNotKnitting Podcast : Episode 7 : The 17,698 Dollar Sweater

Shownotes:

Fiber Trends Sock Blockers

Panda Silk

Legwarmies

Baby Cashmerino Baby Beret

Baby Shrug

Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran

My New Repurposed Baby "Shrug"

Crystal Palace Straight Knitting Needles

Addi Turbo

Addi Natura

Knit Picks Knitting Needles

Redsknits on Ravelry

The $17,692 Sweater

NeverNotKnitting Ravelry Group

If you'd like to enter the drawing for Episode 7 please leave a comment guessing how many projects worth of yarn I have in my yarn stash. You have until October 25th to enter! Please remember to specify which magazine you would like to receive if you win the drawing!

Subscribe with iTunes or RSS

Baby Shrug: Size 18 months - 25 years

So in Fall of 2007, I made this "shrug" for my daughter...

It is the pattern "Baby Shrug" out of the book Simply Baby by Debbie Bliss. Yeah... Baby Shrug... Whatever...

Something went terribly terribly wrong with this pattern and its Ginormous!

I thought that I messed up with my gauge swatch but after reviewing all of the shrug projects on Ravelry, I realized that I'm not the only one with a huge "Baby Shrug" on their hands. Alot of knitters were surprised that it ran so big. Many compensated for this by making a smaller size or using smaller needles.

I wish I had known this! If only I was on Ravelry before I started this thing! After finishing the shrug, I blocked it and of course it only got bigger. I was pretty disappointed about it so I just put my daughter in the shrug anyways. I rolled up the sleeves 4 times and sewed a silk ribbon to the two fronts to tie the thing on her. She wore it all winter and looked pretty...uh... silly.

As you can see she is swimming in the thing. And last year when she wore it, she was even smaller than she is now! I was just hoping she would grow into it. But alas, another year has past and the shrug is still huge.

"What the heck is up with this sweater, Mom?"

Over time the silk ribbon that I had sewn on it previously had gotten pretty tattered so I set out to repair it. In the process I found out that the shrug looks way more fantastic on me as a cute little bolero style sweater.

Hey problem solved! I removed the tattered ribbon and sewed on this cute vintage button and made a crochet chain loop for a closure. I happened to have a Rowan 4-ply yarn for the loop in a very similar color. That was pretty exciting!

Yea, I know its kind of wierd to be wearing my 2 year old's sweater. But I think it's gone to good use and looks way more appropriate. Maybe Debbie Bliss should just move this pattern into one of her women's design books?

It's kind of fun repurposing this shrug because now I get to enjoy a new handknit without feeling like I put alot of work into it. I made it so long ago now I barely remember the project.

I'll eventually give the shrug back to her when she's bigger and can fit into it... in I dont know... say... 10 or 15 years?

Lace Tipped Striped Scarf

I finally got some pictures taken of my new "Lace Tipped Striped Scarf".

I really really like it. The colors are great and will add a dash of color to a blah winter outfit.

I knit this scarf using 2 balls of Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk DK and one ball of Rowan Kid Silk Haze on US size 4 needles.

The combination of dk weight and lace weight made an interesting, lightweight but warm texture. Its very soft!

I was craving something something striped to knit and this project was perfect! I like that there is a bit of lace detail on the bottoms to add a little interest, so that its not just plain old stripes.

I also think its so pretty how the yarn combinations make this scarf transparent when held up to the light.

Great pattern. Fun to knit. Fun to wear. What more could a knitter ask for?