FO: Thom 2

Today, I finished a sweet little worsted sweater for my son. I used Miss Babs "Yowza - Whatta Skein" worsted, which is lovely and squishy and there's a massive amount of it per skein - 560 yards. It's lovely stuff.


A simple top-down raglan is my favorite thing to knit, and I already had this pattern from a previous newborn sweater I knitted for my kiddo, so it was great for a quick guideline for cast-on, etc. Except when it wasn't, which is to say that the age 2-3 size fits my 22 month-old son quite well. I even sized up to a US 8 needle, so either my son is gigantic, or my gauge isn't.


I am so glad I finished this quickly. It took just about a week, and the cold has rolled in to Texas. Well, the "cool", anyway, as I'm sure most of you would crack up to think of 50 degrees as anything but downright balmy.

Aww, I love my little dude. Especially in knitwear.

-YX

FO: On the Grass

It's pretty ridiculous that it took me an entire year to finish this. Honestly, self, what the heck. This is Joji's On the Grass.

I went through a period of a few months where I didn't touch it... The bottom was pooling badly, and I didn't want to rip out those stitches- painful moss stitch, in fact- to fix it.

I eventually made peace with those pooling stripes and moved forward. The sweater was so bulky and stiff on the needles, but the yarn blocked beautifully. It's incredibly wearable and lovely now. The yarn is Dragonfly Fibers Damsel, which I got last year at Rhinebeck. I've finished this guy just in time for this year's show, and I'm already planning the other sweater quantity that I got there (ahem) for a new sweater. I'm trying to talk myself into some convoluted cables, but not finding any patterns I truly love.

My body has changed a lot since I had my son a year and a half ago, and adjusting to the new measurements- especially my increased hips- was an unexpected challenge. Things don't look the same on my body anymore, and I find myself second guessing what's flattering for this new shape.

As far as Rhinebeck is concerned, I'm going to try to stay away from sweater quantities and instead focus on shawls... Perhaps 2 or 3 skeins of things, to try to keep it simple. So many options, and I definitely overspent last year and haven't had much drive to touch the rest of it. I'm hoping the happiness I feel for this completed sweater will propel me into the next project. I'd like to work on some shorter-run items, since there are only so many sweaters one can wear in Houston. :)

I'm planning to go to Joji's meet and greet at the show, and she has mentioned that she'd like to see my Meridien, so I think I'll wear it on Saturday and this on Sunday. For the five of you still out there reading this, if you see me, please feel free to say hello! :)

- YX

FO: Planetary Pillow

I finished something! Here it is:

This was a really mindless knit, which has been great relief while I work on my On The Grass sweater. I got the planet buttons from the TessaAnn Etsy shop (similar here), and they are just about the best quality polymer buttons I've seen. It goes from the sun all the way out to Pluto (you'll pry my Pluto from my cold, dead, dwarf planet hands!)

This is going in the nursery, although I should probably do a slipcase for it, since you can see the white of the form a little bit, thanks to an aggressive blocking.

I ran short on yarn- my knit group can attest to the fact that my VERY LAST button loop was quite literally the last usable piece of the skein, which never happens to me! Anyway, this is going in my son's space-themed room, and I am really pleased with how cute it is.

It's been awhile since my last post- how are you guys? What are you working on?
- YX

FO: Golden Hour

I started this back in February, just a few days before the baby was born. I'd done so much baby knitting that I needed a break... Well, 6 months later, I'm finally done.

Raglan construction, fingering weight yarn... I used Tosh Sock in "Antique Lace", which was bought on a whim at my LYS. The wheaty color is something I usually don't wear, but I am finding I like it with my skin tone.

The chevron detailing was easy enough to do without the chart, so it was great tv and knit night knitting.

I need to block it, because right now it's this weird mid-crotch length, and I'm hoping to get an inch or two out of it. I already added a few rows of chevrons to the bottom to accommodate my long torso, but I really should've just started the chevron charts later. Ah well.

The little cable/button back closure is so cute. Completely unnecessary, as the neck is generous, but it gives a nice detail. I chose a blue button at the advice of some twitter friends, but also considered bright red and hot pink ones. I have a lot of buttons.

Oh, and before I go... That little green Wee Austin Hoodie I did for the baby? Well...

- YX

FO: Wee Austin Hoodie

This post contains spoilers about the Ysolda Teague Mystery Knit Along, "Follow Your Arrow". Proceed with caution...Again!

I finished the baby sweater I was working on last time:

It's blocking right now. Although the hospital has some decent AC, I definitely miss being able to block things under the ceiling fan in my guest room. One night under the fan, and anything was ready to go.

I'm excited to get home and take some nice images of all these FOs, but sadly it's looking like I'll be here until the beginning of March sometime. Our baby will probably be in the NICU at first, so either I'll keep producing lots of knitted things, or I'll end up going radio silent again for a few weeks.

I'm still working along on the Ysolda KAL, and this time chose clue B, the short row clue. Here's the progress:

Sigh... All this terrible photography!

Anyway, I like the way this weird geometric thing is shaping up. I can't wait to see the next clue set!

- YX

Yarn ball ornaments

I love all of the knitted holiday ornaments that I see in stores and on Ravelry. Unfortunately for me, I don't have the patient to knit a million little sweaters or mittens or penguins.

But I can make these:

These little yarn ball ornaments are pretty easy to make, and make use of your scrap yarn. I've been meaning to make these for a few years now, and I'm happy to show you my process!

Materials: 

2" Styrofoam Balls

1/4" dowels

Caps for the dowels

Silver cording (I used embroidery floss)

Sand paper

Scissors

Pencil sharpener

Something to cut the dowels (not pictured)

A thin, sharp knitting needle (optional)

Some type of glue. (I chose 1991's favorite adhesive, my trusty hot glue gun.)

Scrap yarn (The green ornament uses fingering yarn, the red one at the end of the tutorial is worsted)

Step 1: 

Cut dowels into 1-1/2" pieces. I used a model-making chopper for this, but strong scissors, wire cutters, or a hand saw could do the same. 

Step 2: 

Use the pencil sharpener to sharpen the ends of two of the dowel segments. Use sandpaper to blunt the ends of the points. Place the caps on the remaining two dowel segments. The caps held on to the dowels with friction, but you could use a good white craft or wood glue if they don't. 

Step 3:

Stick dowel segments into a styrofoam ball, being careful to line up the segments so they look straight and continuous. 

I used a sharp knitting needle to make holes all the way through the styrofoam, which showed me exactly the angle I needed to use to place the dowels into the ball. 

Step 4:

Glue the dowel segments to the styrofoam, and make a small hole in the top of the ball, sticking both ends of a piece of cording into the hole. Glue cording in place. (I used 4" of cording)

Step 5:
Wrap your scrap yarn around the ball multiple times, in many directions. I didn't even secure the starting end of the yarn, I just overlapped it enough that it held. When I was finished, I slipped the yarn under the wraps and stuffed it under wraps in an opposite direction. Sometimes I could find a little hole of styrofoam and mash the end into the foam, securing with a teeny bit of glue. 

Ta-da! Knitting ornaments!

You could paint or stain the "needles", use i-cord or crochet chains in place of regular yarn, put beads on the yarn... Lots of options! You could even use some large, pretty beads for the needle ends. 

If you make these ornaments, send me a picture and I'll be sure to share it here!

Happy holidays!

- YX

FO: Baby Love Hat

I finished another baby hat. This time, for the daughter of some friends.

It was just a quickly improvised hat. I cased on 111 stitches, size 3 needles. The yarn is that lovely Anzula Cloud laceweight I used on my Meridien sweater.

A little scrap of Wollmeise for the "embroidery" on it...

And pow! Baby hat time.

The fabric is so soft and drapey-- it's great for a little teeny head that can't have a bunch of hefty, thick fabric on it!

I'm working on a grown-up project, again, so I'll have some WIP photos for you at some point... AND ANOTHER GIVEAWAY!

- YX

FO: Sultan Pompom Hat

Click here to check out  the October Giveaway

I've made a new little hat:

It's a top-down beanie, and I love it. A quick pompom made without cardboard, and some leftover yarn turned out really well. I love the variation of color in the pom:

This heavily-variegated yarn looks like a ton of different colors in one pompom, but is much easier to make.

Both yarns are Wollmeise sock, and the stitch definition is, as always, gorgeous. I should get around to writing up the pattern. By making the hat top down, I was able to control exactly how long the hat was without being afraid of running out of yarn.

I made this hat for a very special recipient... My husband and I are expecting our first baby! He or she is due in April. I'm so happy to share this news with you! We've been through a lot together since I started this blog TWO WHOLE YEARS AGO! Hopefully I'll have more baby knits to show in the future!

- YX

FO: Meridien

Well, it's finally done:

I'm super happy with how it turned out, too! The fabric is great. Could use a second blocking, though, so get the fronts to drape properly...

Of course, the typical back shot was necessary:

It really shouldn't have taken so long to finish, but it was worth the wait. Super cozy and ready for the fall. Too bad it's over 100 degrees here in Texas. 

I went off pattern a little bit and did a long ribbed cuff instead of the seed stitch border. I like my sleeves to fit my arms snugly, and I often push up my sleeves to 3/4 length, so the ribbing helps keep them from getting floppy and sad. 

But it's done! Woohoo!

- YX

Another FO and a discovery

Greetings from very cold and beautifully snowy Crested Butte, Colorado. I spent most of yesterday in route to this unique little ski town, and I really wanted to share my most recent FO with you:

It's Renfrew, by the lovely Jane Richmond! I made the hat for a young boy in my family who is expecting a new sibling... Since babies normally get an influx of gifts, I thought it might be nice to knit him something that was just for him.

The pattern is great- very simple to follow and creates these adorable little bubbles up the side (or front). The pattern accounts for crown decreases, too, so there's one bubble at the very top that's scaled down in size. This may not seem like a big deal, but I really appreciate a pattern that takes the time and care to properly resolve a design motif.

You might notice that the vast majority of the hat is reverse stockinette stitch... The pattern accounts for the fact that a good lot of us hate purling, so the hat is actually knitted inside out to minimize the use of the purl stitch as you make it. This pleases me. Yes, yes. It does.

I used madelinetosh tosh sport for my hat, and size 6 needles. A different yarn and different needle size, but not enough to really veer to far off gauge. I knitted the beanie version (as opposed to the more popular toque), and was pleasantly surprised to find the hat was small enough to possibly fit on a kid's head. It certainly stretched to fit mine, since I tried it on before blocking. After seeing my petite FO, I was pretty skeptical that the beanie pattern as written would make an adult-sized hat of any sort. It stretched to fit nicely, but I have a small head. I suggest sticking with the size 7s suggested or popping up to an 8 if you're more normal-headed and knitting the beanie for yourself.

One last shot... I love the RED RED RED of the Tosh Scarlet color way:

I'll be updating you about the yarn situation in my tiny town, too... A swift in a store window has been spotted, despite all Ravelry discussions to the contrary...

-YX

FO: Plicate

The holidays are awesome for so many reasons... The time off for knitting doesn't hurt!

I finished this hat in a few sessions over the course of 3 days... Not counting my first attempt and subsequent frogging! I started the hat at the wrong gauge, but figured it'd stretch to accomodate. I didn't like the outcome, so I started over, which is so rare for me! Nonetheless, I think it turned out alright:

The fit is excellent, but I think, if I were to do it again, I'd leave out perhaps an inch of slouching.

The hat is bunched up via a few hidden strings in the back. You bunch it up, tie off the bunches, and weave in the ends to create the shape. I just have mine tied in bows and tucked under the hat for now. I'm not sure if I like the amount of bunching- I may do more!

The yarn, Old Maiden Aunt's alpaca/silk blend, is gorgeous and utterly buttery. Utterly. Butterly. I love it. And great stitch definition for something with a bit of a halo:

Super happy with how it turned out! I'd love to do this pattern again in a gray or blue.
- YX

FO: The green socks

So excited to show you my latest FO... Remember that skein of green and gray sock yarn I got from Sunrise Fiber Co? And the resulting sock project?

Well, I finally finished them:

The toes are a figure 8 cast on, which I can never seem to make nice and tight:

I always have to go back in and reinforce the toes with more yarn on the insides. Probably not a terrible thing, though.

Although I don't knit socks often, I'm a big fan of the toe-up method. For one thing, I'm forever fickle about what length my socks should be. These are a bit higher than mid-calf, but I kept knitting until I decided enough was enough. Toe-ups also allow me to try on my socks frequently, without stretching the knitting across my heel as often. That keeps the stitches from popping off the needles.

I also love short row toes... I know this is a point of contention among sock knitters, but I love the traditional look of the short row over the flap. Especially with a self-striping or variegated yarn like this one, the heels end up amplifying the pattern:

I'm super happy to have them off the needles and on my feet! Next time, I'll show you what I'm working on now. :)

- YX
(Have you entered November's giveaway? Two winners will be chosen!)

FO: Fisherman hat

I finished my fisherman hat. Love the shape and the feel of the Rialto DK!

The pattern, Stephanie Nicole's A Hat Fit for a Boyfriend, was super easy to follow and made a good product!

The pattern calls for the ribbing to display as 3x2, but I liked the look of the inside, instead. Either way, stretching the fabric out gives some nice, open ribs. I chose to cast on 90 stitches instead of the suggested 100, since the fabric was so stretchy. 

Thanks to my husband for being a patient model! I was woefully unprepared to model it myself!
- YX