Headwind

A friend of mine, Rachel, the lovely lady behind Arbor Twist yarns and designs, was featuring a new hat pattern and needed test knitters.

The hat comes in Beanie or Slouchie, and she was in desperate need of Beanie testers, so I signed up in a heart beat, and was able to use some deep-stash yarn from way back in 2013 when I went to Tennessee.

I'm very happy with it, and it's warm, comfy, and beautiful - what more can a girl ask? I love the pattern - it's so simple to follow but beautiful - and I love the result!


Ravelry Project Page

SM2 - Rose and Thorn Socks

Round Two of Sock Madness was the first competition round. So, after completing the Qualifying Round, and giving some background to the organizers, participants are sorted into "teams" of about 50 people. In theory, all the members of your team should knit at roughly the same speed, factoring in life situations as well as actual knitting time.

Then the pattern for round two drops. As with all the other patterns, you must knit the socks to be a minimum of 9" long, and follow various minimums in the pattern. However, on this one, only the first 40 people on your team make it to round three. You also have a minimum of two weeks to complete the pair, meaning even if there are five spots left on your team, the cutoff is two weeks.

Spoiler alert: I made it to Round Three!
Ravelry Project

Emiliana

After completing the Slip Stripe Spiral Socks for Sock Madness, I had just enough time to finish up a shawl I had started - Emiliana! The moment I saw this pattern, I knew I had to have it, and I bought yarn for it at Stitches West 2016.

This is a mosaic knitting pattern, and I used Miss Babs Yummy 2-ply yarn in Naked and Russett, along with size 7 needles, to get such an oversized shawl.

I wear it all the time and I am absolutely in love!

Ravelry Project

SM 1 - Slip Stripe Spiral

This year, I participated in something called "Sock Madness." This is a competitive knitting event, very loosely based off of March Madness - there are seven elimination rounds, and participants are sorted into teams or leagues. All of the patterns for the socks are sent to the participants by email, and as soon as the pattern "drops," it is a flurry of knitting to be earn a spot to advance.

The first round is a qualifying round - you simply have to knit a pair of socks in two weeks. The socks were called "Slip Stripe Spiral," and relied predominately on slip-stitches and two contrasting skeins of yarn. I completed them using Black Cascade Heritage yarn, as well as my Black Squirrel Yarn, from the Kickstarter for the Black Squirrel Fabric and Yarn Shop.

In general, I'm pleased with how they came out, though I rarely get to wear them, since it's almost always too hot for socks here.

Ravelry Project

Reyna

Shortly after Christmas, one of the knitting forums I'm a part of on Ravelry was doing a shawl knit-a-long, and one of the patterns that was suggested was "Reyna" by Noora Laivola. Now, they didn't actually end up using that pattern as a main pattern, but I still participated (just not for prizes), because it was a pattern made for self-striping yarn, and boy did I have a lot of that.

I used a Socks that Rock Lightweight skein that I had inherited from a lovely friend that was moving and didn't want to move all her yarn, and I love they way it turned out. However, as you may know, Socks that Rock Lightweight is still an extremely heavy fingering blend, and despite the fact that it's a 115g skein, it doesn't have nearly the yardage usual sock yarn skeins do. I had to leave off the last 4 rows of eyelets on the bottom of the pattern, and the shawl ended up being more of a neckerchief. However, with a shawl pin, I can still make it work.

This project also marks my first ever serious knitting injury. I spent over 12 hours knitting this straight one Saturday, a feat which is not unknown to me, but I've never done it before with bigger needles and heavier project, and I strained my left wrist to the point of needing to stop knitting for over a week, and then monitor the progress due to pain.

I sure learned my lesson.

Ravelry Project

Oktoberfest Socken

This beautiful pair of socks was one that I had tried to complete before my Christmas trip. Since the weather ended up being uncharacteristically warm (hence to the ATV sledding) while we were there, it wasn't a big deal that they weren't finished. However, as soon as we got home, I worked to get them off the needles as quickly as I could.

These are my Oktoberfest Socken, made with a free Ravelry pattern, and they are my first cabled socks. Even though they are a little big, I'm very happy with the results. I absolutely love the yarn, and since I got it for free at a yarn swap, I'm considering this a steal!

French Braid

As the holidays approached, I was panicked and overcome with the need to finish all of the gifts, but when I noticed that this was the November KAL pattern on the Ravelry Mega-KAL group, I could not pass the opportunity up. I was even able to use stash yarn from my Brantingham Tree Rings blanket!

I was not that difficult of a knit, and I even managed to get through most of the body before we left. After taking a break from it to finish up my brother's Christmas socks, which I had put on hold to do a heel-sizing test on the first one, I got right back on it, and I managed to finish on Christmas itself.

It wasn't blocked, of course, but I still wore it the next day, and while we were grass-sledding, it came in handy for my cousin Anna (very front - and yes, those are sleds being pulled by an ATV). I blocked it the minute we got home, and I've been wearing it ever since.

Insulate!

My brother-in-law is a huge Doctor Who fan, and so when I found this pattern, there was no question that it would be his gift. I ended up adapting the pattern quite a bit to make it fit.

• I increased the amount of stitches in the top quite a bit
• I increased sooner on the thumb and made one extra row
• I went longer before switching to the brown/yellow lines

Overall, he loves them. When he opened the box, it was covered with an image of a Dalek yelling "INSULATE!" which, for you Doctor Who fans, was just the icing on the cake.

Ravelry Project

Mommom and Pop's Tiny Sweaters!

I already posted about the tiny sweater ornament I made for Grandma, but I didn't trust Mommom and Pop not to read the blog, so I didn't post about theirs!

I also made little ornament sweaters for my other set of grandparents, as you can see, but there's a little bit more context to this one. You see, my great-grandmother Lily, after whom I am named, and whom I never met, was apparently an avid knitter. She used to knit my mom's family beautiful thick, wool, fair-isle sweaters for Christmas every year.

Last year, my grandmother passed on her needles. You deserve them, she said, You're the only one who can do them justice.I cried.And I knew, at that moment, that there was no other option for their Christmas gift. It has to be sweaters on Great-Grandma Lily's needles. And even though I used her sock needles, and even though they're really sweaters for keys, not people, I think I did the best I could with the time I had.

Mommom and Pop, if you're reading this, I hope you understand how meaningful those needles were to me. I love you dearly.

Ravelry Project: Mommom
Ravelry Project: Pop

Kindling Bells Socks

Using some yarn that I purchased in my initial Cold Sheep failure, I whipped up some ankle socks as the temperatures dropped in October. These are nice enough to be worn under dress shoes, and warmer than those thin liners. I used the Knit Picks Fancy Feet book, focusing on the bell pattern, and I absolutely love the fit! The heel was a lifesaver, and I'll definitely be implementing it on other ankle socks.
Ravelry Project

Eliana's Baby Booties 2.0

Guess what I found in my desk drawer the other day?

Eliana's Baby Booties and Headband.

I doubted the booties would still fit the little munchkin, so I made her another pair! These ones have little bows instead of flowers, but they were too cute to pass up.

I opted not to make another headband, since I thought the old one would probably still fit her.

Below, you can see all three together, as they are currently in a package off to Texas!

Fall Hand Warmers!

Firstly, let me say that I'm sorry this is coming to you late.  Things have been a little crazy recently, what with it being the start of a new school year, working at a new school, and all that comes with the first year of teaching.

I've also been having a little problem coming up with things to post since the vast majority of the projects I'm completing are Christmas gifts - I'm running out of non-surprise completions!

So on that note, I'd like to ask - if I know you in real life, could you please comment below?  I'd like to know which sub-sets of gifts I can post!  My fingers aren't quite fast enough to make extra things right about now (though I do wish they were!).

With all of that said and done, I decided to give myself a grace week, so I will not be attempting to post a late entry from last week - I will just skip it and move on.  It feels good.

And on to the main event...

As some of you may know, particularly if you've seen me over the summer, I have been knitting away at a set of wrist warmers modeled after the changing colors of fall leaves.  These were a test knit project for my amazing friend Lea over at Leafcutter Designs, who recently published a book called Knit the Sky.  The book is filled with creative designs and patterns that show knitting in a whole new light, and once my Cold Sheep stash is mostly busted, I'm hoping to jump on several more of her delightful ideas!

In any event, these handwarmers were knit with her yarn choice, the same are you would receive in the kit if you were to purchase it from her, and they are perfect for their purpose!

As you can tell, I haven't blocked them yet, but right now they are touring the country with Lea and her book!  I encourage you to take a look at it, and I'm not getting paid to say that!  I really enjoyed reading it, and the perspective it gave me has really encouraged me to keep being passionate about my craft - it doesn't always have to be about getting through enough yards of yarn a day to make it to Christmastime!  And so, because of that new realization, and because everything has been so hectic at work for the past few months, I'm choosing to take a month off of this blog.  I want to focus on enjoying my knitting for a while.  See you in a month!

Ravelry Project

PS: Stay tuned; I also have another knit-kit from this book, but I'm not sure when exactly I'll get a chance to work on it!

Fair Isle Tam

Last week, I wrote about my adventures at Stitches West and how on Saturday, I took a class on Traditional Fair Isle Tams.

I must say, it was worth it.  Best money I've ever spent.

The class was with Beth Brown-Reinsel of KnittingTraditions.com, and she was one of the most wonderful knitting teachers I've ever had.  Everything that she said was clear and concise.  She taught multiple methods for each technique, but never in a way where you got them confused with each other.  She broke the group up into small sections so you could see better, but you never felt like you had to wait for her, since there was always something more to do.

She taught extensively about Tams themselves, their construction, and their makeup, and with the nature of Tams as they are, you were able to work steadily as she went around from person to person and checked your work.

The class was over a morning and afternoon session, each one three hours, so it was a long day, but it didn't feel like it.  By the end of the class, I had almost finished the Tam, and quickly finished it up and wove the ends in that night at the house with the ladies.

The end result was a child's Tam, which was a little sad because you couldn't wear your accomplishment right away, but I think it would probably have been overwhelming if we had tried to make an adult tam in that time.

She also had dozens of beautiful examples and tips for great ways to improve our knitting as we went on and other resources to use to create our own patterns.  We got to experiment with color (and I learned that I probably should have switched the green and orange placements in my tam).

I am so glad I took this class.

Oh, and here's my cute little finished tam!

Ravelry Project

Carry-On Bag Liner: Instructions

Before I left for my fantastic family reunion, I whipped up a quick Day-Bag to take with me as my carry on, based on the DayTripper Bag I found on Pinterest.  However, I knew that my bag needs were left desperately unsatisfied by the liner provided in the bad tutorial, so I designed a new one.

Here is the pattern, as promised, for the new bag.  In this tutorial, I will be re-making a half-size version of the bag as I go using paper.

All seam allowances are 1/2" unless otherwise stated.

Materials:

• 1 yard of the main fabric (brown fabric/ printed paper)
• 1 yard of the lining fabric (yellow fabric/ plain paper)
• 1.25 yards of stiff, iron-on interfacing, such as the kind that comes on a bolt
• .5 yards of thin, iron-on interfacing, such as the kind that comes in a folded package in notions
• two buttons
• thread

Directions: Bag Outside

Figure 1

• Cut your fabrics into 15" x 22" pieces.  You will need (1) piece in your lining color and (3) pieces of your main color.

• Iron the thick interfacing onto (1) of your main color pieces and (1) of your lining color pieces.  Iron your thinner interfacing onto (2) of your main color pieces; these two will become your "front-pocket" pieces.  Set all un-interfaced pieces aside.

• (Figure 1)

  

  Figure 2

  
  Place your two front-pocket pieces right sides together and fold them in half to measure 15" x 11".  Measure 3" down the folded side and mark; then, draw a curved line from that mark back up to the corner, and seam along that line.  Cut the excess off, trim the curve, turn the pieces right-side out and press.  Top-stitch at 5/8" and 1/8".  This will become the front pocket.

• (Figures 2 and 3)

  

  Figure 3

  
  Place the lining piece with interfacing on the table with the right side facing up, and place the front pocket on top of it.  Then, place the main piece with the interfacing on the pile with the right side facing down.  Line up the pieces as precisely as possible and pin them together.  Then, measure, mark, and cut two three inch squares out of the bottom corners of the pile.

• (Figure 4)

  

  Figure 4

  
  Seam across the sides and bottom of the pile, and then square the corners.  Turn the piece right side out.  The inside will have the interfacing showing.  You have now completed the outside of the bag.

Directions: Bag Lining

• Cut your lining fabric into the following pieces:
• (2) 18 inches x 15 inches
• (2) 10 inches x 15 inches
• (2) 7 inches x 7.5 inches
• (2) 11 inches x 5 inches
• (2) 8 inches x 7 inches

• Take both 8x7 pieces and seam them, right sides together, almost all the way around with a half-inch seam allowance.  Then, turn this piece inside out, and seam it all the way around at 5/8" and 1/8" from the edge.  Repeat this with both the 11x5 inch pieces and the 7x7.5 inch pieces.

• (Figure 5)
  Place the larger lining pieces right side up, and lay these pieces on top of the corresponding pieces, as seen in Figure 5-a, b, and c, and then sew over the pre-existing 1/8" seam, as seen in Figure 5-d, so that these smaller pieces become pockets.  If you prefer to divide the pockets, particularly the larger one, for phones, pencils, or whatnot, then simply add an extra line where you want the division to be.  Be aware, though, that the more you separate them, the less the top will open, so, particularly for pencil-sized pockets, you might want to ruffle the bottom a bit so you get more room.
• Note: if you prefer to have the pocket for the "smaller" section on the outer edge, you can complete the next step first for the 10x15 pieces, and then return to attatching the pocket over the seam.

Figure 5

• Place the two 18x15 lining pieces, right sides together, and square the edges, as with the outside sections.  Repeat with the 10x15 pieces.  Sew the seams open at 5/8" and 1/8" on ONE side seam of each pocket.

• You now have two pockets that will fit exactly in the outer shell.  Press the top edges over half an inch.  Line the two pieces up, un-sewn-seam to un-sewn-seam, and sew at 1/8" and 5/8" to join the pockets.  Place your finished lining in your outer shell, and whip-stitch by hand across the top layers, keeping the ends tucked in.  Seam the top edge again at 5/8" and 1/8".

• As a finishing touch, measure how long you want your straps to be, including 4-5 inches extra to attach them to the bag (mine measure 29-30 inches).  Cut two pieces of main fabric 4 inches x length measurement, and fold them each in half lengthwise, with right sides together.  Sew along the edge, with a half-inch seam allowance, almost all the way around, and then turn them inside out, so that you have two strip-tubes that are 1.5 inches x length-1inch.  Press them flat and sew a seam at 1/4" from each edge.  Measure and mark where you will attach them to the bag, and then do so, sewing 4-5 horizontal lines, about 1/4" apart, on each strap-end.

Congrats on your finished bag!